February 27, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

MARCH 1^ST on Sunday!

March is the Month of Expectation

                       -by Emily Dickinson

March is the Month of Expectation.
The things we do not know—
The Persons of prognostication
Are coming now—
We try to show becoming firmness—
But pompous Joy
Betrays us, as his first Betrothal
Betrays a Boy.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Flowers adorn the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of Leonard Nimoy in Los Angeles Friday. Nimoy, famous for playing first officer Mr. Spock in ‘Star Trek’ died Friday. He was 83. Damian Dovarganes/AP

People release sky lanterns ahead of the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival in Pingxi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Believers release the lanterns as a form of prayer for good luck and blessings. Pichi Chuang/Reuters

Market Closes for February 27^th, 2015     

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little-changed, capping the biggest monthly rally in more than a year, as declines among health-care and technology shares offset a gain in miners and lenders.

     CGI Group Inc. sank 3.5 percent, the biggest drop in a nearly a year, to pace declines among technology stocks. Catamaran Corp. dropped 2.9 percent for a fourth straight decline. Aimia Inc. sank 10 percent after the loyalty management company posted profit and revenue short of analysts’ estimates. Eldorado Gold Corp. rallied 4.2 percent as gold futures advanced in New York. Toronto-Dominion Bank increased 0.9 percent as the nation’s largest lenders climbed a third day.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 6.82 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,234.34 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing earlier gains in the final minutes of trading. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 4.1 percent this month, the biggest gain since October 2013.

     Six of 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge retreated Friday on trading volume 15 percent above the 30-day average. Raw-materials producers advanced 1 percent to pace gains.

     Catamaran, the pharmacy benefits management company, lost 3 percent for the biggest drop in almost two months. Shares have slumped 6 percent in the past four days. The midpoint of Catamaran’s forecast for adjusted earnings for the year fell short of analysts’ estimates.

     Eldorado Gold rose 4.2 percent and Detour Gold Corp. advanced 2.6 percent. Gold for April delivery added 0.2 percent to settle at $1,213.10 an ounce in New York.

     Teck Resources Ltd. rose 3 percent and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added 0.4 percent as copper posted a 7.9 percent gain in February, the most since September 2012

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, paring the best month for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 2011, as technology shares slumped and data showed the economy expanded at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than previously reported.

     Apple Inc., one of the best performers of the month, and Facebook Inc. slid more than 1.5 percent to lead declines among technology shares. J.C. Penney Co. tumbled 6.8 percent after giving a lower-than-estimated annual forecast. Gap Inc. rose 3.1 percent after profit beat estimates. Bank of America Corp. declined 1.4 percent after UBS Group AG downgraded the shares.

     The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 2,104.50 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 81.72 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,132.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.5 percent.

     “The last day of a month or quarter is always hard to explain — it can be anything, especially with algos playing such a big part of trading,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in Newton, Massachusetts. Investors taking profit after a month of gains “played a part as well,” he said.

     Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 2.2 percent annualized rate, down from an initial estimate of 2.6 percent, Commerce Department figures showed. The median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 2 percent pace.                          

     Consumer spending last quarter climbed by the most in four years, underscoring the underlying strength of the expansion. An improving job market and cheaper fuel costs will probably keep underpinning households this year, which will help the U.S. overcome a slowdown in exports as the dollar climbs and foreign economies struggle.

     Separate data showed more Americans signed contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes in January, rounding out a week of housing data that depicted an uneven recovery.

     Consumer confidence cooled in February from an 11-year high, reflecting recent gains in fuel costs and bad winter weather in parts of the U.S. A Chicago index of business activity fell to 45.8 in February from 59.4 in the prior month. Economists were looking for a level of 58.

     U.S. stocks rallied this week after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said inflation and wage growth remain too low for the central bank to raise rates at its next meeting. She signaled that a change in the Fed’s guidance on interest rates won’t lock it into a timetable for tightening.

     The S&P 500 reached fresh records four times in February, capping its best monthly performance since 2011 with a gain of 5.5 percent. The Dow rose 5.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 7.1 percent for February, advancing at one point to within 1.2 percent of its 2000 record.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slid 36 percent in February, its biggest monthly drop on record after it jumped as much as 17 percent in January. The gauge, known as the VIX, fell 4.1 percent to 13.34 on Friday.

     Eight out of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 dropped, with technology shares falling the most. The industry had the best performance for the month, surging 7.9 percent.

     Apple lost 1.5 percent, trimming its rally for the month to 9.6 percent. The maker of iPhones reached an all-time high on Feb. 23. Facebook tumbled 1.8 percent after gaining 2.5 percent in the previous two days.

     Salesforce.com Inc. lost 1.2 percent after soaring 12 percent Thursday. Cisco Systems Inc. slumped 1.3 percent.

     J.C. Penney tumbled 6.8 percent. The department-store chain attempting a turnaround gave a disappointing annual forecast and posted a loss in the holiday quarter.

     Gap gained 3.1 percent. The biggest U.S. apparel-focused retailer posted fourth-quarter profit that was higher than analysts estimated as the company’s discount brand Old Navy boosted sales.

     Monster Beverage Corp. surged 13 percent to the highest ever after reporting fourth-quarter revenue and earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. The maker of energy drinks amended a pact with bottlers to make Coca-Cola Co. its preferred partner globally.

     Ross Stores Inc. added 6.8 percent after the apparel retailer announced a buyback.

     The earnings season is drawing to a close, with 96 percent of companies having already reported. Of those, 74 percent beat profit projections and 57 percent topped sales estimates. In the current quarter, analysts predict profit at S&P 500 companies will drop 4.5 percent after a 4.3 percent increase in the final three months of 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Bank of America lost 1.4 percent. The bank was downgraded to neutral from buy by UBS analyst Brennan Hawken, after the lender disclosed that U.S. banking regulators demanded changes to capital models ahead of annual industry stress tests. The firm’s changes raise the risk the bank could fail the Federal Reserve’s Comprehensive Capital Analysis Review, Hawken wrote.
 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

The freedom of the seed resides in its fulfillment of its dharma, of its nature and its destiny,

which is to become a tree; the failure to achieve this

becomes for the seed a prison.

The sacrifice through which one thing reaches its fulfillment is not a sacrifice that leads to death;

it is the casting off of chains and the attainment of freedom.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.

                                                         -Peter Drucker, 1909-2005

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7