September 27, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Friday!

It took decades, but someone finally found Mark Twain’s signature in a cave he helped make famous in “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” -CNN.

On Sept. 27, 1964, the Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy. Go to article »

Separately, Anthony Mancinelli, from upstate New York, was recognized as the world’s oldest working barber by Guinness World Records. He died last week at 108, after recently — and reluctantly — retiring. -NY Times.

Today is Ancestor Appreciation Day.
It is certainly desirable to be well descended but the glory belongs to our ancestors. -Plutarch.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man whose Victorian ancestors buried a stunning fossil because it threatened their religious beliefs has had it dug up and put it on display for the first time ever. Cider brandy maker Julian Temperley knew that a 90 million-year-old ichthyosaurus fossil was buried in the garden at his family’s home in Thorney, Somerset. His god-fearing ancestors had kept it hidden away for years after its discovery in 1850, worried they would be ‘denying god’ by flashing it around. But flooding forced Julian to dig it up for good recently and after paying £3,000 for it to be cleaned he’s now having its image printed on his bottles of cider brandy.
CREDIT: RICHARD AUSTIN/ SWNS.COM

A rainbow over St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, UK.
CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/ PA WIRE

A musician plays the violin as fans arrive outside the stadium prior to the Rugby World Cup 2019 Group B game between Italy and Canada at Fukuoka Hakatanomori  Stadium in Fukuoka, Japan.
CREDIT: MARK KOLBE/GETTY IMAGES

People walk around the coronation figure of August the Strong’s during the press preview to mark the opening of August the Strong’s Royal State Apartments and the Porcelain Cabinet at Residenzschloss in Dresden, eastern Germany.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/JENS MEYER

Market Closes for September 27^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
At least two of the market’s traditional haven assets have so far shrugged off signs that Democrats may be moving toward impeachment. Gold and the Japanese yen, both popular destinations for nervous investors, are broadly unchanged for the week through Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note has inched lower, falling 0.069 percentage points. Yields fall as bond prices rise.
 
The Ukrainian hryvnia is the best-performing currency out of 41 tracked by The Wall Street Journal, topping its peers with a more than 14% year-to-date rise. Investors have been drawn by Ukraine’s double-digit yields and promises of economic reform.
On this day in 1985, Philip Morris agreed to buy General Foods for $120 per share, or $5.75 billion, the largest takeover on record at the time outside the oil industry.  
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks posted a weekly decline as marijuana shares weakened Friday, while U.S. equities also suffered a down session after a report that the Trump administration is considering opening a new front in its trade war with China. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6% Friday to 16,694. Health care stocks were the worst performers as ten of eleven sectors fell. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ CN) lost 5.5%. Additionally, Ontario is exploring allowing cannabis producers to ship directly to retailers, BNN Bloomberg reported, citing several unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.75 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price fell 0.5% to about $1,497 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.3244 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.357%
Insights
* Canadian stocks fell 1.2% on the week, the biggest decline since the week ended Aug. 2
* This quarter, the index rose 1.9%
* This month, the index rose 1.5%
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -31.6674| -1.7| 12/37
Industrials | -15.4315| -0.8| 10/21
Information Technology | -12.7087| -1.5| 0/9
Communication Services | -10.1974| -1.1| 0/7
Energy | -7.8079| -0.3| 5/26
Consumer Staples | -7.0270| -1.0| 2/8
Consumer Discretionary | -6.4832| -0.9| 5/11
Health Care | -5.3265| -2.2| 1/9
Real Estate | -4.7148| -0.8| 4/21
Utilities | -3.2977| -0.4| 7/9
Financials | 8.5486| 0.2| 15/12
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — A week dominated by political drama in Washington ended with the specter of a deepening trade war, sending U.S. stocks to a three-week low and bolstering demand for haven assets. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% in the five days to pare its gain in the third quarter to about half a percent. Friday brought the latest drama after a report that the Trump administration is considering sweeping limits to capital-market investments, forcing Wall Street to assess the impact on potentially billions of dollars of assets. Stocks most sensitive to trade and ones linked to China paced the selling. The index bounced from its lows after dipping below a key technical indicator. Stocks were under pressure for most of the week, but the start of an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump on Tuesday brought the steepest selling, as another major risk was added a market on edge over slowing global growth. The dollar advanced and Treasuries rose in the week. Heading into the weekend, stocks started stronger before the latest salvo from the Trump administration in its spat with China over trade rattled the market. Trade tensions had shown signs of easing in recent weeks ahead of a Chinese delegation’s visit next month for high-level talks.
“This back and forth escalation like ‘oh, we’re going to play nice and come to the table and the next day we’re going to limit money flows to this other country’ is just silly and it’s really playing with fire,” Jennifer Ellison, principal at San Francisco-based BOS, said by phone. “This is all part of what makes the economy tick and we could take some steps backwards if we really get this wrong.” A U.S. crackdown on capital flows would expose a new pressure point in the economic dispute and cause disruption well beyond the hundreds of billions in tariffs the two sides have levied against each other. The Invesco China Technology ETF dropped 1.6%, with losses accelerating midday. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF fell 1.4% while the broader iShares MSCI China ETF was off 1.9%. The KraneShares CSI China Internet Fund lost 2.6%. The news overshadowed data showing the U.S. economy cooled a bit in August. Tech shares were already under pressure after Micron Technologies lead losses after it cut its profit forecast, citing the U.S.-China trade war. Elsewhere, Bitcoin slipped for a sixth session close to the $8,000 mark, in its longest losing streak in almost a year. Earlier in Asia, Japanese equities tumbled as a swath of companies traded without the right to the next dividend payment. Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 lost 1.4%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.5%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.9%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 0.8%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0938.
* The British pound declined 0.2% to $1.2307.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 107.96 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell less than one basis point to 1.68%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.57%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 0.513%.
Commodities
* Gold declined 0.7% to $1,504.40 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $55.69 a barrel.
–With assistance from Constantine Courcoulas.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
                                              -George Santayana, 1863-1952

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com