Month: February 2012

Dear Friends,

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

“Love is never lost.  If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.” –Washington Irvine.

 

I realize that a few of you did not receive the nightly newsletter last week, so please accept my apologies.  Toronto was having trouble with a new server that was installed last weekend, but the problem appears to have been resolved today, so there should be no further interruptions.

 

Tangents:

-from The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time

Edited by David H. Lowenherz, Random House, N.Y.

 

Dylan Thomas to Caitlin Thomas

 

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), Welsh poet and writer; Dylan was a sickly and neurotic child who dropped out of school at age sixteen.  He made a name for himself at twenty with the publication of his first book, Eighteen Poems (1934).    In 1936, the year Twenty-Five Poems was published, he met a young Irishwoman, Caitlin Macnamara, and married her the following year.  Lacking any business acumen, and with a growing family to support (the couple had three children), Dylan quickly fell upon hard times.  It became increasingly difficult to sustain a happy life, especially under the burden of his heavy drinking problem.  After suffering a nervous breakdown in 1947, friends were able to find a cottage for Dylan’s family in Wales.  In 1950, the first of four lecture tours to the United States was arranged, and Dylan gave numerous and well-attended readings.  His letters to Caitlin are often far more passionate than her responses – she no doubt had a hard life with this exceptionally gifted poet.  But long-standing income tax debts, a shaky marriage, and increased drinking contributed to his unhappiness.  After an enormous binge in a New York bar, Dylan collapsed and died just a few days after his thirty-ninth birthday.

 

March 16^th, 1950

 

Cat: my cat.  If only you would write to me:  My love, oh cat.  This is not, as it seems from the address above, a dive, joint, saloon, etc., but the honourable  and dignified headquarters of the dons of the University of Chicago.  I love you.  That is all I know.  But all I know, too, is that I am writing into space: the kind of dreadful, unknown space I am just going to enter.  I am going to Iowa, Illinois, Idaho, Indindiana, but these, though misspelt, are on the map.  You are not.  Have you forgotten me?  I am the man you used to say you loved.  I used to sleep in your arms – do you remember?  But you never write.  You are perhaps mindless of me.  I am not of you.  I love you.  There isn’t a moment of any hideous day when I do not say to myself, “It will be alright.  I shall go home.  Caitlin loves me.  I love Caitlin.”  But perhaps you have forgotten.  If you have forgotten, or lost your affection for me, please, my Cat, let me know.  I Love You.

 

photos of the day

February 14, 2012

Britain’s Catherine Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a visit to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, northern England.

Nigel Roddis/Reuters

A couple embrace as they watch the sunset from a promenade along the Arabian Sea on Valentine’s Day, in Mumbai.

Vivek Prakash/Reuters

 

Market Closes for February 14, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12859.92	-14.12 -0.11%
	S&P 500	1348.76	-3.01 -0.22%
	NASDAQ	2931.83	+0.44 +0.02
	TSX	12350.19	-48.50 -0.39%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 9052.07 +52.89 -0.59% HANG SENG 20917.83 +30.43   +0.15% SENSEX 17848.57 +75.73 +0.43% FTSE 100 5899.87 -5.83 -0.10% CAC 40 3375.64 -8.91 -0.26% DAX 6728.19 -10.28 -0.15% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.016	2.072
CDN. 30 year bond	2.595	2.638
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9344	1.9741
U.S. 30-year bond	3.0809	3.1202

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99925	0.99928
US $	1.00075	1.00072

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31160	0.76243
US $	1.31255	0.76188

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1715.90	1723.00

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	101.01	100.80

 

 

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the third time in four days, led by raw-materials companies, after U.S. retail sales increased less than forecast and European officials said Greece must do more to cut its debt.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, dropped 0.7 percent as the U.S. Dollar Index rose. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, lost 4.7 percent after saying its Horizon oil-sands upgrader may be out of service until mid- or late March.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 44.22 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,354.47, the lowest close since Jan. 18.

“The problems south of the border are still not resolved,” David Cockfield, a managing director at Northland Wealth Management in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$200 million ($200 million). “A lot of people are still waiting on what’s going on in Europe. The earnings season hasn’t been a spectacular one. We’re starting to lose ground here.”

The index gained 5.4 percent in the two months ending yesterday as data from the U.S. signaled an improving economy.

The U.S. accounted for 74 percent of Canada’s exports last year, Statistics Canada said last week.

U.S. retail sales climbed 0.4 percent in January, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Economists had forecast a gain of 0.8 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Stocks extended their retreat after Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the group of euro- region finance ministers, said he “did not yet receive the required political assurances from the leaders of the Greek coalition parties” on budget cuts.

Gold futures fell for a third day on the Comex in New York as the euro dropped against the U.S. dollar. Barrick decreased 0.7 percent to C$47.64. Silver Wheaton Corp., Canada’s third- biggest precious-metals company by market value, declined 1.3 percent to C$35.16 as silver retreated. Eldorado Gold Corp., the country’s fifth-largest company in the industry by market value, slipped 2.1 percent to C$13.02 to extend its streak of losses to eight days, the longest since June.

Volta Resources Inc., which explores for gold in Africa, soared 35 percent, the most since December 2009, to C$1.51 after reporting a discovery.

Base-metals and coal producers in the S&P/TSX fell to the lowest since Jan. 9 as copper futures dropped for a third day on the Comex in New York.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest company in the industry, lost 0.8 percent to C$38.97. Inmet Mining Corp., a copper and zinc producer, decreased 3.1 percent to C$63.75.

Lundin Mining Corp., which operates in Europe, slumped 4.5 percent to C$4.86.

Canadian Natural decreased 4.7 percent to C$36.36 after cutting its 2012 production forecast for the Horizon upgrader, which processes oil sands into refinery-ready crude. The company shut the plant on Feb. 5 for maintenance, expecting to complete the work by the end of the month. More damage was found to a unit at the plant than was originally thought, Calgary-based Canadian Natural said today.

Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-biggest energy company, gained 2.3 percent to C$38.60 after Menno Hulshof, an analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank, raised his rating on the shares to buy from hold. In a note to clients, Hulshof said he based his upgrade in part of the progress of the Christina Lake joint venture with ConocoPhillips.

TransCanada Corp., the owner of the country’s largest pipeline system, advanced 1.6 percent to C$42.15 as natural gas rallied 4.2 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange on forecasts for colder weather in the western U.S.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd., which operates in Albania, slumped 5.6 percent to C$4.70 after plunging 5.9 percent yesterday, when the company reported a decline in production for January and increased its development-cost estimates. At least six analysts cut their 12-month share-price forecasts today.

Calvalley Petroleum Inc., which operates in Yemen, tumbled 19 percent, the most since October 2008, to C$1.30 after saying it will shut down its Block 9 production due to the strike at Petromasila, the state-run operator of the Masila oil field.

“Certain groups within the region have organized blockades on major roads within the Masila basin,” hampering oil transportation, Calvalley said in a press release.

Imax Corp., the maker of giant-screen movie projection systems, rallied 11 percent to C$24.45 after saying box-office revenue this year through Feb. 12 increased about 45 percent from a year earlier.

Trimel Pharmaceuticals Corp. surged 36 percent to C$3.41 after closing at the highest yesterday since becoming publicly traded through a reverse takeover in July. The company said today its Tefina female sexual dysfunction medicine was successful in a study.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks retreated as an advance in the final half hour spurred by optimism that Greece will commit to budget cuts stopped short of erasing a decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Bank of America Corp. slid 3.3 percent as Citigroup Inc. cut its recommendation. Yahoo! Inc. slumped 4.7 percent as talks on an Asia asset swap are said to have stalled. Masco Corp. tumbled 12 percent after the home improvement and building products maker reported a wider-than-projected loss. Boeing Co.

added 1 percent after signing a 230-aircraft order worth $22.4 billion, setting a record for the planemaker.

The S&P 500 decreased 0.1 percent to 1,350.50 at 4 p.m. New York time, trimming an earlier decline of as much as 0.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.24 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,878.28 today. Almost two stocks declined for each that rose on U.S. exchanges.

“To say that Greece doesn’t matter is probably short- sighted,” David Goerz, chief investment officer at Highmark Capital Management Inc., said in a phone interview from San Francisco. His firm oversees $17 billion. “There’s a lot of skepticism on whether Greece will be successful. They are trying to make it work.”

Equities fell earlier today as European finance ministers canceled a meeting scheduled for tomorrow. After Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker canceled the gathering, citing the lack of political assurances from Greek leaders to stick to austerity pledges, a government official in Athens said the leaders of Greece’s two biggest political parties, New Democracy’s Antonis Samaras and Pasok’s George Papandreou, will provide the written commitments demanded.

A report showing that sales at U.S. retailers rose less than forecast in January also drove earlier losses. The 0.4 percent gain reported by the Commerce Department today in Washington was half the 0.8 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Today’s decline came after the S&P 500 closed less than 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008. The index has risen 7.4 percent this year as the U.S. economy showed signs of accelerating and European leaders moved closer to a solution on the region’s debt crisis.

“You’ve had a significant run-up in the market and you haven’t really had any significant pullback,” Paul Simon, chief investment officer at Tactical Allocation Group LLC in Birmingham, Michigan, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $1.6 billion. “We approached the highs of 2011 and that’s going to be a resistance in the very, very short term.”

The KBW Bank Index fell 1.3 percent as 21 of its 24 stocks retreated. Bank of America lost 3.3 percent, the biggest decline in the Dow, to $7.98. The stock fell after Keith Horowitz, an analyst at Citigroup, cut its rating to “neutral,” meaning he believes there aren’t enough reasons to take a positive or negative view on the stock. His previous rating was “buy.”

The recent rally in shares reflects “capital concerns subsiding, but earnings headwinds persist,” analyst Horowitz wrote in a note today.

Yahoo slumped 4.7 percent to $15.37. Representatives of Alibaba and Softbank Corp., co-owner of Yahoo Japan Corp., are prepared to approach Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson to explore another arrangement that would let companies buy back their stakes, said a person briefed on the matter. Dana Lengkeek, a spokeswoman for Yahoo, didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Masco dropped 12 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $11.63. It reported a fourth-quarter loss from continuing operations of 9 cents a share, wider than the average analyst estimate of a loss of 2 cents.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. sank 5.2 percent to $13.25 after reporting fourth-quarter profit that was less than analysts’ estimates as the number of tires sold declined 5 percent.

First Solar Inc. fell 6 percent to $39.21. The maker of thin-film solar panels may “have the most near term downside risk” under a German proposal to cut subsidies that is likely to be “worse than expected,” Deutsche Bank AG said in a note.

Boeing gained 1 percent, the second biggest advance in the Dow, to $75.56. The accord with Indonesian budget carrier PT Lion Mentari Airlines today at the Singapore Airshow, which solidifies a provisional agreement last year, includes 201 orders for the in-development 737 MAX and 29 for the extended range 737-900.

Avon Products Inc. climbed 1.5 percent to $17.80. The door- to-door cosmetics seller conducting an internal bribery probe said it will cut jobs and identify other ways to reduce costs.

Apple Inc. rose 1.4 percent to $509.46, gaining for an eighth day. That’s the longest winning streak since July 26. The largest technology company yesterday surpassed $500 for the first time.

Dividend-paying stocks are still a “winning theme” for investors even though they have gotten off to a relatively slow start this year, according to Gina Martin Adams, a strategist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index rose 4.2 percent for the year through yesterday, the gain was 2.6 percentage points smaller than the S&P 500’s advance. By contrast, the indicator fared better than the S&P 500 in the past two years, its first back-to-back wins since 2002. The index is comprised of companies that have raised payouts for at least 25 consecutive years, relative to the S&P 500.

Payout ratios suggest companies can distribute plenty more money to shareholders, Martin Adams wrote yesterday in a report.

She noted that dividends equal 27 percent of S&P 500 earnings, the lowest figure in more than a century, according to data compiled by Yale University Professor Robert Shiller.

“Companies may be only just beginning to catch on to the fact that investors are keenly interested in dividend-paying stocks,” the report said.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Free yourself from anger and desire, which are the causes of sin and conflict,

and thereby make yourself whole.  This is the essence of yoga;

this is the means by which you come to know the soul, and thereby attain the highest spiritual state.

Learn to meditate.  Close your eyes; calm your breathing; and focus your attention

on the center of consciousness.  Thus you will master the senses, the emotions, and the intellect –

and thereby free yourself from desire and anger.

The Bhagavad Gita

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue,

but the parent of all the other virtues.

-Cicero, 106 BC-43 BC

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

As a trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontations, I had outlined the Dresden story many times.
– Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

photos of the day

February 13, 2012

A woman lights a candle in front of the famous 18th century Frauenkirche cathedral, Church of Our Lady, to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden during WWII, in Dresden, Germany. British and US bombers destroyed Dresden’s centuries-old baroque city center from Feb. 13-14, 1945.

Jens Meyer/AP

A man looks at Marc Chagall’s paintings during a media presentation of the exhibition ‘Chagall’ at Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Susana Vera/Reuters

Market Closes for February 13, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12874.04	+72.81 +0.57%
	S&P 500	1351.77	+9.13 +0.68%
	NASDAQ	2931.39	+27.51 +0.95%
	TSX	12398.69	+9.27 +0.07%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8999.18 +52.01 -0.58% HANG SENG 20887.40 +103.54   +0.50% SENSEX 17772.84 +24.15 +0.14% FTSE 100 5905.70 +53.31 +0.91% CAC 40 3384.55 +11.41 +0.34% DAX 6768.47 +45.51 +0.68% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.072	2.046
CDN. 30 year bond	2.638	2.614
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9741	1.9723
U.S. 30-year bond	3.1202	3.1258

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99928	0.99790
US $	1.00072	1.00210

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31772	0.75889
US $	1.31678	0.75948

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1723.00	1723.30

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	100.80	98.98

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katia Porzecanski

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, led by energy and financial companies, after Greece approved austerity plans to secure rescue funds. Mining companies’ shares fell as the bailout measure eroded the appeal of gold as a haven.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, lost 0.6 percent, while Goldcorp Inc., the second-biggest producer by market value, fell 0.5 percent. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals company, fell 2.3 percent as copper declined on concern demand from China may falter. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-biggest energy company by market value, rose 1.1 percent as oil recovered from a three-day low on concern sanctions against Iran will crimp supply.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index gained 9.3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,398.69 in Toronto.

“The fact that they took the bitter pill and are going to accept the austerity is puts to bed the uncertainty that the market always has trouble dealing with,” Barry Schwartz, a money manager at Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$400 million

($400 million). “Today was another one of those days where Canadian markets seem to lag and seem not to be paying attention to the news around the world. It should’ve been a much more positive day.”

The index snapped a seven-week rally last week on concern that plans to help Greece avoid default were unraveling and industrial production growth would slow in China. The index has gained 3.7 percent this year through today as falling U.S.

unemployment signaled Canada’s biggest trade partner was weathering the European debt crisis.

Financial companies rallied with global shares as Germany and the European Commission welcomed Greek approval of the austerity steps demanded for a financial lifeline, suggesting European finance chiefs will pull Greece back from the brink when they meet in two days.

Bank of Nova Scotia, the country’s third-largest lender by assets, gained 0.3 percent to C$52.47. Manulife Financial Corp., the country’s biggest insurer, advanced 2 percent to C$11.98.

Oil rallied on concern that Iranian crude supplies will be disrupted. Companies controlling more than 100 supertankers said they would stop loading cargoes from Iran, tightening sanctions on OPEC’s second-biggest producer.

Canadian Natural Resources rose 1.1 percent to C$38.17.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest partner in Syncrude Canada Ltd., rallied 2.7 percent to C$22.59. Nexen Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on five continents, gained 1.7 percent to C$22.59.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index fell for a seventh straight day as the chance Greece will win another international bailout improved and eroded the appeal of the precious metal.

“Ever since the resolution of austerity measures in Greece and Europe, people are looking at whether there will be more easing,” Timothy Lazaris, chief executive officer of Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto, which oversees C$54 million

($54 million), said in a telephone interview. “There would’ve been a view that the answer is yes, which would’ve been good for gold, and now I think the market’s turned the sentiment negative.”

Goldcorp declined 0.5 percent to C$45.70. Great Basin Gold Ltd., a prospector with operations in South Africa and Nevada, fell 4.1 percent to 94 Canadian cents.

Barrick lost 0.6 percent to C$47.97. The company plans to sell its 20 percent stake in Highland Gold Mining Ltd., the Russian miner part-owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich’s Millhouse Capital, after output stagnated.

Copper fell for a second day as climbing stockpiles signaled slackening demand in China, the world’s biggest metals consumer.

Mercator Minerals Ltd., an operator of an Arizona mine, declined 3.4 percent to C$1.69. Copper and zinc producer Inmet Mining Corp. slipped 3.3 percent to C$65.77.

Teck fell 2.3 percent to C$39.30. The zinc and coal producer may have bought a 2.89 percent stake in Fortescue for

A$480 million ($515 million), the Australian Financial Review reported, citing unidentified people. Marcia Smith, a spokeswoman for Teck, declined to comment on the report, citing company policy.

Pulp producer Canfor Pulp Products Inc. rose 4.7 percent to C$13.40. The company was raised to “outperform” from “market perform” at Raymond James Ltd., with a 12-month price estimate of C$17. Consumption of paper products will continue to grow with Chinese income, Daryl Swetlishoff, an analyst at Raymond James, said in a report.

Alliance Grain Traders Inc., which calls itself the world’s largest lentil and pea splitter, fell 5.5 percent to C$16.70.

The company was lowered to “sector perform” from “sector outperform” at Scotia Capital Inc, with a 12-month price estimate of C$22.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after the first weekly loss for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in 2012, as Greece approved austerity plans to secure rescue funds.

Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Caterpillar Inc. increased at least 1.7 percent to lead gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Apple Inc. climbed 1.9 percent to trade above $500 for the first time. Chesapeake Energy Corp.

added 2.4 percent after the natural-gas driller said it’s targeting as much as $12 billion in asset sales and joint ventures this year. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. surged 3.4 percent after being raised at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent to 1,351.77 at 4 p.m. New York time. The Dow increased 72.81 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,874.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1 percent to 2,931.39, the highest level since 2000. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies climbed 1.4 percent to 824.81.

“This has been a risk-on rally,” Mike Ryan, the New York- based chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas, said in a telephone interview. “The fact that the Greek Parliament was able to push through the austerity measures was widely expected. This eliminates one of the stumbling blocks, but it doesn’t solve the Greek issue. Our view is that Greece is going to struggle to make payments going forward.”

Today’s rally put the S&P 500 less than 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008. The index has climbed 7.5 percent in 2012, on expectations the global economy will withstand the impact of the euro area’s debt crisis.

Global stocks gained today as Germany and the European Commission welcomed Greek approval of the austerity steps demanded for a financial lifeline, suggesting euro finance chiefs will pull Greece back from the brink when they meet in two days.

“I’m confident that the other conditions, including for instance the identification of the concrete measures of 325 million euros ($430 million), will be completed by the next meeting” of finance ministers, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most-tied to the economy gained 1.1 percent. Caterpillar, the largest construction and mining-equipment maker, rose 1.7 percent to $113.70. The KBW Bank Index added 0.8 percent as 19 of its 24 stocks advanced. Bank of America rose 2.2 percent to $8.25.

JPMorgan advanced 1.8 percent to $38.30.

Apple added 1.9 percent to $502.60, after rallying for four straight weeks. On Jan. 24, the largest technology company reported quarterly profit that more than doubled. Its earnings are expanding so fast that even with the rally, the shares are trading at less than half their median valuation since 1990, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The gain since Apple reported results is almost four times as large as the advance in the Nasdaq 100 Index.

“It reminds us all of the amazing transformation of Apple over the past eight years,” Timothy Ghriskey, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer of Solaris Group LLC in Bedford Hills, New York, said in a telephone interview today.

“We think the stock has higher to go, $600 is next,” he said.

Chesapeake added 2.4 percent to $22.66. The sales will help the company reduce debt and fund its drilling operations as it faces gas prices that hit a 10-year low in New York last month.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon has vowed to cut long-term debt 25 percent by year end as the company reduces output.

Advanced Micro Devices surged 3.4 percent to $7.29. The maker of processors for personal computers was raised to “outperform” from “market perform” at Sanford C. Bernstein.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 12 percent, the most in the Russell 1000 Index, to $114.65 as the company raised its sales forecast for the eye drug Eylea to exceed analyst estimates.

First Solar Inc. tumbled 5 percent, the biggest decline in the S&P 500, to $41.72 after being downgraded to “hold” from “buy” at Brigantine Advisors.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. sank 3.6 percent to $37.21. The drug distributor said Chief Financial Officer Michael DiCandilo left the company. The company was cut to “neutral” from “outperform” at Robert W. Baird & Co.

U.S. stocks may extend gains this year and mirror the performance of 1995, when the S&P 500 rallied 34 percent even after Mexico devalued its currency and Treasury yields dropped, Laszlo Birinyi said.

Improved investor sentiment, central-bank actions and optimism that U.S. economic data will beat estimates, will sustain gains even after the best January for the S&P 500 since 1997, the president of Birinyi Associates Inc. in Westport, Connecticut, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today.

“We still think you should buy stocks,” the fund manager said in London. “It’s a continuation of the bull market and we’re encouraged by what we are seeing in Europe. I look at the markets, I find they are strong. There’s real buying going on.

This is not short-covering or a temporary or transitory thing.”

The fund manager reiterated recommendations to buy General Motors Co., Research In Motion Ltd., Hermes International, People’s United Financial Inc. and BlackRock Inc.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

An animal, a child and an ignoramus are slaves to their desires.

They want to satisfy them immediately, whatever the time, the place or the circumstances…

How can a man be distinguished from them?  Before satisfying his desires, a man takes into account the time,

the place and the circumstances, because he is trying to achieve an aim.

-Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

Don’t cry because it’s over.

Smile because it happened.

-Theodore Seuss Geisel, 1904-1991

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

I love the feedback I get from all of you.  After I mentioned the new Leonard Cohen CD in my newsletter last night, one of my clients sent this to me:

 

Carolann –

This is a stream of Leonard Cohen’s new album – maybe pass along – pretty cool…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/jan/23/leonard-cohen-old-ideas-stream?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

photos of the day

February 10, 2012

Marco Pichlmayer of Austria soars through the air during official training ahead of the Nordic Combined World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

Devotees walk around candles stuck to jars of honey, forming a Holy Cross shape, during mass for the ‘sanctification of honey’ at the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin church in the town of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Honey and beehives are sanctified by performing a ritual for health and rich harvest, marking the day of St. Haralampus, Orthodox patron saint of bee-keepers.

Valentina Petrova/AP

 

Market Closes for February 10, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12801.23	-89.23 -0.69%
	S&P 500	1342.64	-9.31 -0.69%
	NASDAQ	2903.88	-23.35 +0.8%
	TSX	12389.42	-108.52 -0.87%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8947.17 -55.07 -0.61% HANG SENG 20783.86 -226.15   -1.08% SENSEX 17748.69 -82.06 +0.46% FTSE 100 5852.39 -43.08 -0.73% CAC 40 3373.14 -51.57 -1.51% DAX 6692.96 -95.84 -1.41% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.046	2.092
CDN. 30 year bond	2.614	2.651
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9723	2.0364
U.S. 30-year bond	3.1258	3.1803

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99790	0.99538
US $	1.00210	1.00464

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.32239	0.75621
US $	1.31962	0.75780

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1723.30	1732.70

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.98	99.77

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katia Porzecanski

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, completing the first weekly decline this year, as oil and metals slumped on concern that plans to help Greece avoid default were unraveling.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, fell 2.1 percent as oil dropped from a three-week high. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal company, sank 1.4 percent and Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, lost 1.3 percent as the U.S. dollar strengthened, curbing demand for commodities. Manulife Financial Corp., the country’s biggest insurer, fell 1.1 percent after an analyst recommended selling the shares.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 108.52 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,389.42 in Toronto, for its first weekly decline since Dec. 16 with a loss of 1.5 percent.

“The fear of the market is that this is the first time you’ve heard something about a strong pushback from the Greek side,” Marcus Xu, director of equity investments at Genus Capital Management in Vancouver, said in a telephone interview.

The firm oversees about C$1.7 billion ($1.7 billion). “The market seems to worry that this could be the start of a whole bunch of negative news coming out.’

Canadian raw materials and energy companies fell earlier this week as China said industrial production growth is likely to slow this quarter and the U.S reported a bigger-than-forecast increase in gasoline supplies. The index had capped its longest streak of weekly gains since April 2009 on Feb. 3, as falling U.S. unemployment signaled Canada’s biggest trade partner was weathering the European debt crisis.

Global equities fell today as emergency talks of euro-area finance chiefs broke up with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean- Claude Juncker saying Greece must turn its budget cuts into law, flesh out 325 million euros in spending reductions and get the endorsement of major party leaders. George Karatzaferis, the leader of one of the three parties backing interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, said he wouldn’t support austerity measures.

Mining companies fell as gold and copper retreated. Copper shipments to China fell for the first time in eight months in January, while inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced to a record after rising for a ninth straight week.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, declined 2.5 percent to C$21.28. Romarco Minerals Inc., which is developing a gold project in South Carolina, lost 2.6 percent to C$1.14. Barrick fell 1.3 percent to C$48.25. Teck Resources fell 1.4 percent to C$40.24.

Copper and zinc producer Inmet Mining Corp. fell 2.5 percent to C$68.02 after reporting earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.

Energy companies sank for a fifth day, the longest losing streak since Nov. 25, as oil dropped from a three-week high on concern that the European debt crisis will reduce fuel demand.

Suncor lost 2.1 percent to C$33.87. Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., the majority owner of PetroBakken Energy Ltd., fell 3.5 percent to C$14.74. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest partner in Syncrude Canada Ltd., dropped 2.7 percent to C$22.

Manulife lost 1.1 percent to C$11.75. Ohad Lederer, an analyst at Veritas Investment Research, cut the shares to ‘‘sell” from “buy.”

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., Canada’s largest construction and engineering company, sank 5 percent to C$50.90 after the departure of two executives who were linked in a report in the Globe & Mail to the family of deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi.

Fibrek Inc. surged 17 percent to C$1.32 after Mercer International Inc. agreed to purchase the pulp maker for C$1.30 in a board-supported takeover bid.

Thomson Reuters Corp. fell 2.6 percent to C$26.66. The provider of news and information services was lowered to “buy” from “action list buy” by Vince Valentini, an equity analyst at TD Newcrest Inc., with a 12-month price target of C$33.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with Thomson Reuters in selling financial and legal information and trading systems.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, snapping a five- week-rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, on concern that plans to help Greece avoid default were unraveling and as confidence among American consumers dropped more than forecast.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. retreated more than 1.3 percent to pace declines among financial companies.

Commodity producers slumped as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., Alcoa Inc. and Halliburton Co. decreased at least 1.9 percent. First Solar Inc., the biggest maker of thin-film solar panels, tumbled 10 percent after permitting issues delayed a U.S. loan guarantee for a power plant in California.

The S&P 500 declined 0.7 percent to 1,342.64 as of 4 p.m.

New York time, the most since Dec. 28. The benchmark gauge has fallen 0.2 percent since Feb. 3, snapping the longest weekly rally since January 2011. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 89.23 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,801.23 today.

“We’ve had a flip-flop that triggered global selling,” Frederic Dickson, who helps oversee $28 billion as chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon, said in a telephone interview. “Investors are responding to the sudden change in direction or the lack of resolution of the Greek/European problem that they felt was resolved.”

Global equities tumbled after George Karatzaferis, who heads one of the three parties supporting interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, said he wouldn’t support austerity measures worked out for a rescue. He spoke hours after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told lawmakers in Berlin that Greece was missing deficit targets. S&P downgraded 34 Italian banks after reducing the nation’s grade last month.

Stocks extended losses as the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment dropped to 72.5 from 75 in January. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for 74.8. The gauge averaged 89 in the five years leading to the 18-month recession that ended in June 2009.

Today’s slump followed a three-day rally that yesterday put the S&P 500 less than 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008.

The benchmark gauge is up 6.8 percent this year as companies reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates while better- than-expected data on manufacturing and employment bolstered optimism about the world’s largest economy.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index dropped 1.2 percent amid concern about global economic growth. The Dow Jones Transportation Average lost 1 percent. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 fell as commodity, financial and industrial shares had the biggest declines.

The KBW Bank Index slid 1.3 percent as all of its 24 stocks retreated. Citigroup sank 2.2 percent to $32.93. Bank of America lost 1.3 percent to $8.07.

Concern that Europe’s debt crisis may curb global economic growth also drove energy and raw material producers lower.

Copper shipments to China fell in January, the first drop in eight months, while inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced for the ninth straight week to a record.

Freeport-McMoRan, the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, sank 3.2 percent to $44.94. Alcoa erased 3.3 percent to $10.29. Halliburton fell 1.9 percent to $36.06.

First Solar tumbled 10 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $43.91. Exelon Corp. purchased the 230-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One for $75 million in September, and the Tempe, Arizona-based solar company will have to buy it back if the project cannot win final construction permits and qualify for the $646 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee, First Solar said yesterday in a regulatory filing.

“First Solar will not be able to recognize revenues from AVSR construction unless a sale is completed and funded,” Dan Ries, an analyst at Collins Stewart, said today in a note to clients. He reduced his rating to “neutral” from “buy.”

Apollo Global Management LLC dropped 6.1 percent to $14.40.

The private equity firm that went public last year said fourth- quarter profit fell 66 percent as market swings hurt its private equity holdings.

NYSE Euronext rose 4.5 percent, the biggest gain in the S&P 500, to $28.94. Excluding some items, fourth-quarter earnings were 50 cents a share, beating the 48-cent average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The operator of the New York Stock Exchange is preparing to discuss its standalone strategy with shareholders after being blocked last week from merging with Deutsche Boerse AG.

LinkedIn Corp. surged 18 percent to $89.96. The biggest professional-networking website reported quarterly sales that more than doubled and forecast higher 2012 revenue, buoyed by advertising and subscriptions.

BlackRock Inc.’s Laurence D. Fink, who urged investors this week to put all their money in equities, said his call was aimed at getting cash back into the capital markets.

“It’s important to get cash off the sidelines and back into the markets so people can get the returns they need and we can get our economies moving again,” Fink, chief executive officer of the world’s largest asset-management firm, told BlackRock employees in Beijing yesterday. “Obviously, everyone needs a portfolio tailored to their risk-tolerance and goals; one size doesn’t fit all,” Fink said, according to a transcript of the comments obtained by Bloomberg News.

Comments by Fink that yields from traditional bonds are too low to provide meaningful returns for investors have been echoed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who said yesterday that bonds are among the “most dangerous of assets.” The Federal Reserve has kept borrowing costs near zero, and said last month that economic conditions may warrant “exceptionally low” interest rates through 2014.

“Too many people are underweight equities, and one of things I’m trying to do is to get people to think about the opportunities they’re missing, with valuations at these levels,” Fink said in Beijing.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plain living and high thinking

the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants.  Man’s happiness really lies in contentment.

-Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness

and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.

Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things

cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the

earth all one’s lifetime.

-Mark Twain, 1835-1910

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

I mentioned in my newsletter last night about seeing Michaël Jean on Tuesday evening in Vancouver.  Another poignant moment in the evening was when she was asked who was the person she most admired in the world.  Without a moment’s hesitation she answered, “a person with courage.”  I  thought of that this morning when I read that the last World War I veteran has died at the age of 110.  I’m reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain right now, and is the tale of the love story between Ernest Hemmingway and Hadley Richardson.  They met in Chicago just after WW I, and it is a story about life during the 1920’s and the effect the great war had on the world and in its aftermath.

If you haven’t heard the new Leonard Cohen CD – Old Ideas –  yet I highly recommend you pick it up.  It is full of amazing lyrics.  There are 10 terrific songs, from Going Home, Darkness, Anyhow to name a few.   You will love the poetry of his words.

The Starbucks’ barista gave me a little sample of their new blonde roast coffee which they introduced in Canada on Monday.  It is very mild, but apparently has a higher caffeine content than dark roast coffee.  It comes from central and south America.  It’s apparently attracting a lot of buzz…

photos of the day

February 9, 2012

Lava flows down the mountain during an eruption of Mt. Etna, a volcano near Catania, Sicily, in the early hours of the day. The lava flowed on the snow toward a desert valley and did not pose a threat to the inhabited area.

Carmelo Imbesi/AP

A surfer cuts off the top of a wave while surfing just south of the Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Mark Rightmire/The Orange County Register/AP

 

Market Closes for February 9, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12890.46	+6.51 +0.05%
	S&P 500	1351.95	+1.99 +0.15%
	NASDAQ	2927.23	+11.37 +0.39%
	TSX	12497.94	-23.08 -0.18%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 9002.24 -13.35 -0.15% HANG SENG 21010.01 -8.45   -0.04% SENSEX 17830.75 +123.43 +0.70% FTSE 100 5895.47 +19.54 +0.33% CAC 40 3424.71 +14.71 +0.43% DAX 6788.80 +40.04 +0.59% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.092	2.066
CDN. 30 year bond	2.651	2.642
U.S. 10-year bond	2.0364	1.9822
U.S. 30-year bond	3.1803	3.1509

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99538	0.99693
US $	1.00464	1.00308

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.32148	0.75673
US $	1.32761	0.75324

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1732.70	1729.30

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	99.77	98.71

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell after BCE Inc.’s failure to match analysts’ earnings estimates and a drop in wheat futures outweighed an agreement among Greek leaders on austerity measures.

BCE, Canada’s largest phone company, dropped 3 percent.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s biggest fertilizer producer by market value, slipped 1.1 percent as wheat futures retreated the most in four weeks after the U.S.

forecast a record world supply of the grain. Canadian Tire Corp., the country’s largest general-goods retailer, rallied 4.2 percent after beating the average analyst profit estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 23.08 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,497.94.

“With Greece, I think they forced an agreement so there could be a nice press conference, but nothing is really settled,” Stephen Gauthier, a money manager at Fin-XO Securities in Montreal, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$600 million ($600 million). “If it had been that Germany is guaranteeing everything, that would have pleased the market.”

The index gained 4.7 percent this year through yesterday as U.S. unemployment dropped to a three-year low, overshadowing the European debt crisis. Seventy-five percent of Canada’s exports went to the U.S. in 2010, according to Statistics Canada.

BCE fell 3 percent, the most since December 2009, to

C$39.62 after its fourth-quarter profit missed the average analyst estimate by 5.5 percent, excluding certain items. The company hadn’t trailed analysts’ earnings forecasts by so much since the second quarter of 2008, according to Bloomberg data.

Potash Corp. dropped 1.1 percent to C$45.79. Wheat inventories on May 31 will be 6.2 percent higher than a year earlier, the U.S. Agriculture Department said today. Most analysts in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a decrease.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index retreated for a fourth day after Suncor Energy Inc. shut down an operating unit at an oil-sands refinery in Edmonton, Alberta. The discount for oil from the Syncrude oil-sands project to West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to a record this week.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., which, like Suncor, owns part of the Syncrude project, fell 4.2 percent to C$22.61, a fifth straight drop. Penn West Petroleum Ltd., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, lost 2.1 percent to C$21.48. Suncor slipped

0.3 percent to C$34.59.

Manulife Financial Inc., North America’s fourth-largest insurer, slumped 1.9 percent to C$11.88 after saying its chief financial officer, Michael Bell, will leave the company to return to Philadelphia, where he lived before joining Manulife in 2009. “This is far from a positive as Michael had shown a very firm grasp on the company’s operations and, in our view, will be difficult to replace,” John Aiken, an analyst at Barclays Plc, wrote in a note to clients.

Canadian Tire rose 4.2 percent to C$66.15 after reporting fourth-quarter profit that surpassed the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 10 percent, excluding certain items. Irene Nattel, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada, raised her 12-month price estimate on the shares to C$85 from C$76.

Gildan Activewear Inc., Canada’s largest clothing maker, jumped 7.7 percent, the most since December 2009, to C$23.86.

The company reported a smaller first-quarter loss than it had forecast in December.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. fell for the first time in seven days after closing at the highest price relative to earnings since at least 2002 yesterday. CP dropped 1.7 percent to C$75.25. The shares soared 66 percent from Sept. 22 to yesterday as William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP bought a stake in the company and began a campaign to oust Chief Executive Officer Fred Green.

Lake Shore Gold Corp., which mines in Ontario, rallied 12 percent to C$1.55 after saying Franco-Nevada Corp. agreed to invest in and buy a royalty from the company.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a third day, as Greek political leaders struck a deal on a package of austerity measures needed to secure international rescue funds.

Technology shares had the biggest gain among 10 industries in the S&P 500, adding 1 percent. Akamai Technologies Inc., the operator of a server network that lets businesses speed data delivery, and Visa Inc., the world’s biggest payments network, advanced at least 3.7 percent as earnings topped analysts’

projections. United Technologies Corp. rallied 2.5 percent as it is said to be studying the sale of a pumps business.

The S&P 500 increased 0.2 percent to 1,351.95 as of 4 p.m.

New York time. The benchmark gauge declined as much as 0.4 percent earlier today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced

6.51 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,890.46. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies lost 0.4 percent to 824.99.

“I’d expect a better performance for stocks,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage about $2.6 billion at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “If the EU can show that they can deal with a small country with a big problem, then investors may be reassured that some of the larger countries with smaller problems can also be handled.”

Equities rallied around the world after Greece’s government reached a deal on austerity measures required for a 130 billion- euro ($173 billion) financing package. Greece faces a 14.5 billion-euro bond payment on March 20 and is struggling to secure financing to avert a collapse of the economy that could spark a new round of contagion in the euro area.

Today’s gain put the S&P 500 less than 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008. The benchmark gauge climbed 7.5 percent this year, as companies reported earnings that beat analysts’

estimates while better-than-expected data on manufacturing and employment bolstered optimism about the world’s largest economy.

A rally in stocks has pushed market momentum and breadth to levels that suggest any imminent retreat in the S&P 500 will be limited to 3 percent, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Michael Krauss, head of technical research at JPMorgan in New York, this week boosted the higher end of his 2012 forecast for the S&P 500 to 1,440, from a November projection of 1,350, after the market had its best start of a year since 1991. While prices may have risen too fast, any pullback will attract investors who missed the rally, limiting the decline, he said.

“There is no setup right now that to me would suggest a 5-

to-10 percent correction is imminent,” Krauss said in a note today. “There is nothing worse than underperforming a rising market. Hence, we see 2-to-3 percent corrective ‘non-crisis’

pullbacks will find buyers.”

Akamai jumped 11 percent, the biggest gain in the S&P 500, to $38.06. The company, whose customers include Apple Inc., is benefiting from rising demand for its services as companies seek ways to push data-heavy digital content, such as videos, around the world more quickly.

Visa rallied 3.8 percent to $112.42, a record. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joseph W. Saunders is positioning Visa for its next phase of growth after U.S. regulators capped so- called swipe fees, or interchange, that the company charges merchants for debit-card purchases. Visa, which derived about 56 percent of revenue from the U.S. in fiscal 2011, has said it intends to generate more than half from markets abroad by 2015.

United Technologies gained 2.5 percent to $83.78. It is studying the sale of a pump- and compressor-making division to raise cash for the planned purchase of aerospace supplier Goodrich Corp., people with knowledge of the matter said. John Moran, a United Technologies spokesman, declined to comment.

The KBW Bank Index fell 0.3 percent as 18 of its 24 stocks retreated. Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan and three other U.S.

banks reached a $25 billion settlement with 49 states and the U.S. government to end a probe of abusive foreclosure practices stemming from the collapse of the housing bubble. Bank of America added 0.6 percent to $8.18. JPMorgan lost 1.2 percent to $37.86. Citigroup Inc. retreated 1.7 percent to $33.66.

Cisco Systems Inc. slumped 2.1 percent, the most in the Dow, to $20. The biggest maker of networking equipment predicted a third-quarter revenue gain of 5 percent to 7 percent. That equates to about $11.4 billion to $11.6 billion, compared with an average estimate of $11.5 billion. Excluding some costs, earnings will be 45 cents to 47 cents a share. Analysts had projected 45 cents.

PepsiCo Inc. fell 3.7 percent to $64.27. The company plans to cut 8,700 jobs and boost marketing spending for its brands by as much as $600 million as Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi works to turn around the world’s largest snack-food maker.

Groupon Inc. sank 14 percent to $21.17. The largest daily- deal site reported a tax-related fourth-quarter loss that analysts hadn’t predicted. Groupon, based in Chicago, has expanded to 47 countries and set up a new international headquarters in Switzerland. That contributed to a higher-than- expected $34.8 million in taxes, Chief Financial Officer Jason Child said.

As global stocks return to a bull market, the losers in the U.S. are companies least tied to economic growth.

For the first time since 1999, S&P 500 utilities, phone companies and providers of consumer staples posted the only monthly losses, slumping at least 1.5 percent with dividends in January, and continued to lag behind this month. It’s a reversal from 2011, when the three defensive industries returned more than 6.3 percent as investors embraced stocks thought to do well during a slowdown.

Investors are shifting toward riskier assets as U.S.

manufacturing expanded the most since June and the jobless rate fell to a three-year low of 8.3 percent. In 2011, the global equity measure suffered its biggest losses since the subprime- mortgage crisis.

“Last year, investors tended to hide in things which are stable, paying reasonable dividends,” said Sudhir Nanda, a money manager and head of the quantitative equity group at T.

Rowe Price Group Inc. in Baltimore, which oversees $489.5 billion. “This year, people looked at the U.S. and said, ‘Things are not really that bad.’ If the economy is humming, people tend to buy more of the sectors which will profit from growth, industrials, materials and things like that.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

To understand pleasure is not to deny it.

We are not condemning it or saying it is right or wrong but if we pursue it, let us do so with our eyes open, knowing that a mind that is all the time seeking pleasure must inevitably find its shadow in pain.

They cannot be separated, although we run after pleasure and try to avoid pain.

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather

the judgment that something else is more

important than fear.

-Ambrose Redmoon, 1933-1996

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

I went to see Michaëlle Jean last night with one of my clients who lives in Vancouver.  She spoke for an hour and a half about her life, fleeing Haiti with her family to escape the brutal regime of Papa Doc Duvalier, what it was like to live under the oppression of a tyrant dictator.  She arrived with her parents and sister in Thetford Mines, Quebec, in February!  She and her sister had never seen snow before.  When asked what the greatest gift she ever received was, she replied:  Trust.   What a wonderful thought.

 

I am off to the distinguished alumni awards at UVic tonight, where one of my friends will be a recipient, very justly so.

 

photos of the day

February 8, 2012

Skaters ride a stretch of the 11 Cities Tour itinerary as they pass through the village of Hindeloopen, northern Netherlands. Dutch troops are joining a race against time to prepare ice for a legendary 125-mile (200 kilometer) race across frozen waterways in the northern Netherlands that could be staged for the first time in 15 years.

Peter Dejong/AP

Overnight snow covered these crocus that were blooming near Maysville, Kentucky. The area received nearly an inch of snow.

Terry Prather/The Ledger Independent/AP

Market Closes for February 8, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market  Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12883.95	+5.75  +0.04%
	S&P 500	1349.96	+2.91  +0.22%
	NASDAQ	2915.86	+11.78  +0.41%
	TSX	12521.02	+8.60  +.07%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 9015.59 +98.07  +1.10% HANG SENG 21018.46 +319.27    +1.54% SENSEX 17707.32 +84.87  +0.48% FTSE 100 5875.93 -14.33  -0.24% CAC 40 3410.00 -1.54  -0.05% DAX 6748.76 -5.44  -0.08% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.066	2.035
CDN. 30 year bond	2.642	2.619
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9822	1.9751
U.S. 30-year bond	3.1509	3.1492

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian   $	0.99693	0.99444
US   $	1.00308	1.00560

 

Euro  Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31929	0.75798
US  $	0.75566	1.32335

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1729.30	1745.90

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.71	98.72

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katia Porzecanski and Matt Walcoff

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — Most Canadian stocks fell as mining and energy shares declined after gold futures retreated and the U.S. reported a bigger-than-forecast increase in gasoline supplies.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second- biggest energy company by market value, decreased 1.6 percent.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer of the metal by market value, lost 1.3 percent as Greek political parties failed to agree on austerity measures and the U.S. dollar strengthened. Agrium Inc., a fertilizer producer and farm retailer, climbed 1.9 percent after its fourth-quarter earnings topped all 23 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Of the 253 stocks in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index 130 fell, 116 rose and seven were unchanged. The Canadian equity benchmark rose 8.6 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,521.02 in Toronto, as financial companies gained after housing starts in the country fell less than forecast.

Investors “are waiting for Greece,” Gareth Watson, vice president of investment management and research at Richardson GMP Ltd. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$16 billion ($16 billion). “Politicians and now the market are saying to Greece, ‘Look, you can’t keep pushing this off, and you need to come to a resolution now.’”

The S&P/TSX has risen 4.7 percent this year as manufacturing data from the U.S., Europe and China surpassed most economists’ forecasts in Bloomberg surveys, overshadowing the European debt crisis. Resources companies make up 48 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Euro-area finance ministers are due to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels tomorrow as the Greek government pushes to complete talks on terms of a rescue.

U.S. gasoline supplies increased 1.63 million barrels last week, the Energy Department said today in Washington. Analysts had forecast a gain of 875,000 barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The U.S. also reported higher distillate-fuel supplies. Most surveyed analysts had forecast a decline.

Canadian Natural decreased 1.6 percent to C$37.92.

Birchcliff Energy Ltd., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, retreated 4.6 percent to C$13.05.

Encana Corp., the country’s largest natural gas producer, fell 1.8 percent to C$19.48. The company’s bonds have dropped the most among global energy companies this year as investors project further declines in prices of the fuel. Natural gas tumbled 50 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the eight months ending today.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index declined for a fourth day as the metal retreated for a third time in four days on the Comex in New York.

Goldcorp slipped 1.3 percent to C$46.97. Yamana Gold Inc., Canada’s fourth-largest producer of the metal by market value, lost 1.2 percent to C$16.60. Among base-metals producers, Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest, decreased 2 percent to C$40.75.

Nevsun Resources Ltd., which mines gold in the African country of Eritrea, slumped 4.6 percent to C$4.20 after plunging 31 percent yesterday. At least three analysts cut their share- price forecasts on Nevsun today, a day after it said production may fall 50 percent this year.

The S&P/TSX Financials Index rose for a fourth day after Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. reported that work began on 197,900 units at a seasonally adjusted annual pace. Economists had forecast 194,000 starts, according to the median of 19 responses to a Bloomberg News survey. Royal Bank of Canada, the biggest stock by weight in the S&P/Index, rose 0.7 percent to C$53.93.

Chartwell Seniors Housing Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns retirement and long-term-care residences, rose 2.1 percent to C$8.80. Canadian Western Bank, the country’s eighth- biggest lender, gained 1.8 percent to C$27.39.

Agrium rallied 1.9 percent to C$82.63 after its quarterly profit beat the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts by 16 percent, excluding certain items. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, climbed 1.1 percent to C$46.31.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc., which makes factory- automation equipment, surged 7 percent to C$7.60 after reporting third-quarter earnings that surpassed the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 13 percent, excluding certain items. The shares jumped as much as 12 percent, the most intraday since June 2009.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. gained 4.2 percent to C$13.65 after the Calgary-based carrier posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and it moved closer to starting a low-cost regional unit next year as a majority of employees backed the idea after management sought their input.

Theratechnologies Inc. fell 14 percent, the most since Aug. 8, to C$2.26. The HIV drug developer failed to provide a sales forecast with its quarterly financial results.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a seven-month high, as Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos began talks with political leaders on terms required for a bailout.

Financial and technology shares gained the most in the S&P 500 among 10 groups. Bank of America Corp. rallied 3.6 percent to the highest price since Aug. 31. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. rose 7.6 percent as billionaire investor John Paulson said the insurer needs to take “drastic” action to reverse its decline. Cisco Systems Inc. jumped 3.2 percent at 4:09 p.m. New York time, extending its gain in regular trading, after reporting profit and sales that beat analyst estimates.

The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 1,349.96 at 4 p.m. New York time, after dropping as much as 0.4 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 5.75 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,883.95, the highest level since May 2008. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 2,915.86, the highest since December 2000.

“There’s just a news vacuum,” James Paulsen, who helps oversee about $333 billion as chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, said in a telephone interview. “If you just get Greece to come out with anything, you can actually maybe have people move on. I do think they are going to come out with some sort of agreement. That would be a big step forward in dealing with Europe’s debt crisis.”

Global stocks entered a bull market as the MSCI All-Country World Index extended its gain from last year’s low to 20 percent. Papademos began talks with political parties supporting his government as he works to secure a second aid package.

Greece will pledge permanent spending cuts, including lower pensions and a 20 percent reduction in minimum wages, according to the draft of the financing deal.

The S&P 500 closed 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008.

The index has risen 7.3 percent this year amid better-than- expected economic data and corporate profits. Earnings beat projections at 68 percent of the 304 companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results since Jan. 9, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Be 100 percent in equities,” Laurence D. Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Hong Kong today. “I don’t have a view that the world is going to fall apart, so you need to take on more risk. You need to overcome all this noise, and there are great values in equities.”

The S&P 500 trades for about 14 times its companies’

earnings and has been stuck below its five-decade average multiple of 16.4 since May 2010, the longest stretch since a 13- year period beginning in 1973.

Companies most-tied to economic growth led the gains in the S&P 500 as measures of financial and technology shares added more than 0.6 percent. Bank of America climbed 3.6 percent, the most in the Dow, to $8.13.

Hartford jumped 7.6 percent to $20.58. Paulson, a hedge fund manager who controls the largest stake in Hartford, told Chief Executive Officer Liam McGee he needs to reverse the insurer’s stock slide. It declined 39 percent last year and trades at less than half of the company’s book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities.

“Hartford needs to do something drastic because the stock is the lowest valuation relative to book value of any major insurance company,” Paulson said today at a conference call for analysts and investors held by Hartford. The company hired advisers to evaluate splitting the life insurance and property- casualty businesses, Hartford said today.

Cisco added 3.2 percent to $21.08 after the close of regular trading. Fiscal second-quarter net income rose to $2.18 billion, or 40 cents a share, from $1.52 billion, or 27 cents, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, earnings were 47 cents.

Sales rose 11 percent to $11.5 billion in the period, which ended Jan. 28. Analysts had estimated 43 cents in profit and $11.2 billion in revenue, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Chief Executive Officer John Chambers began a turnaround plan last year, when he cut jobs, eliminated businesses and refocused on more profitable products. Cisco also boosted its dividend and got a lift from so-called enterprise customers, which use its gear in their internal networks. The shares rose 1.1 percent to $20.43 in regular trading before the earnings report.

Ralph Lauren Corp. rallied 9.2 percent to $171.49. The retailer of its namesake brand clothing said revenue in the current fiscal year may gain more than it previously expected.

Computer Sciences Corp. surged 19 percent, the most since at least 1980, to $31.39. The technology contractor for governments and companies named Mike Lawrie as its next chief executive officer as it renegotiates a contract with the U.K.’s National Health Service.

A measure of energy shares had the biggest decline among 10 industries in the S&P 500 today, falling 0.6 percent. Exxon Mobil Corp. lost 0.6 percent to $85.32.

Sprint Nextel Corp. slumped 1.6 percent to $2.41 after reporting widening losses for the first quarter it offered the Apple Inc. iPhone, signaling the best-selling device may not be helping Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse turn around the carrier’s business.

Moody’s Corp. lost 1.7 percent to $38.31. The owner of the world’s second-largest provider of credit ratings said fourth- quarter profit fell 30 percent as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis slowed bond sales around the world, reducing demand for its services.

Western Union Co. tumbled 10 percent, the biggest decline in the S&P 500, to $17.73. The world’s largest money-transfer business forecast earnings in 2012 will be no more than $1.75 a share, less than the average analyst estimate of $1.81.

The Nasdaq Composite Index has entered a bull market and stocks may continue to rally through the end of March, according to Louise Yamada, who said in December that equity charts were signaling further losses.

“The Nasdaq has initiated a new structural bull market,” Yamada, managing director of Louise Yamada Technical Research Advisors LLC in New York, said in a radio interview today on “Bloomberg on the Economy” with Sara Eisen. “We’ve entered the year with short-term positive signals with the possibility that we could see a rally through the first quarter.”

Yamada, who worked as a technical analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, said in a December report that investors may be better off selling “weaker stocks into strength” after a 14 percent gain in the S&P 500 since October. She said in November that evidence the market’s advance will continue hadn’t materialized and the year-end rally may falter.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We would be happy to do the millions of things that we are not able to do.

The will is there, but we are not able to fulfill our desire.  Thus when we feel a desire,

but we are unable to realize that desire, we undergo a reaction we call suffering.

What is the cause of desire?  I am, only me.

As a result, I myself am the cause of all of the suffering that I have known.

-Swami Vivekananda, 163-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

 

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin

to understand.

-José Ortega Y Gasset, 1883-1955

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

Today is the 200^th anniversary of Charles Dickens birthday.   Author of so many characters and aphorisms indelibly impressed on our minds from Great Expectations, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, among others, he probably ranks only second to Shakespeare.

It was the Best of times, it was the worst of times…

There are celebrations happening all over the world, including a street party in Portsmouth, southern England, where he was born.

In this undated file photo, novelist Charles Dickens poses for a photograph. Britain’s Prince Charles will lay a wreath at Dickens grave in Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, to mark his 200th birthday.

AP/File

Market Closes for February 6, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12878.20	+33.07 +0.26%
	S&P 500	1347.05	+2.72 +0.20%
	NASDAQ	2904.08	+2.09 +0.07%
	TSX	12512.42	-47.43 -0.38%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8917.52 -11.68 -0.13% HANG SENG 20699.19 -10.75   -0.5% SENSEX 17622.45 -84.86 -0.48% FTSE 100 5890.26 -1.94 -0.03% CAC 40 3411.54 +6.27 +0.18% DAX 6754.20 -10.63 -0.16% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.035	1.974
CDN. 30 year bond	2.619	2.576
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9751	1.9066
U.S. 30-year bond	3.1492	3.0966

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99444	0.99640
US $	1.00560	1.00362

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31921	0.75803
US $	0.75381	1.32659

 

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1745.90	1722.20

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.72	97.15

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katia Porzecanski and Matt Walcoff

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day as commodities producers dropped after reports from China and Germany signaled that demand may slow.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-biggest publicly traded copper producer, decreased 2 percent. Nevsun Resources Ltd., which mines gold in Africa, plunged 30 percent after saying production may tumble by half this year. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, fell 3.7 percent as it said it will curtail production because of unplanned maintenance.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 41.22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,518.63 at 3:00 p.m. Toronto time. The benchmark equity index hasn’t declined two straight days since Dec. 15.

“China is the marginal driver of the Canadian stock market,” Mathieu Roy, a money manager at Louisbourg Investments Inc. in Moncton, New Brunswick, said in a telephone interview.

“A healthy China that grows quickly and can manage inflation will go a long way into the success of the Canadian stock market.”

The S&P/TSX gained 5.1 percent this year through yesterday as raw-materials and energy companies advanced in part on manufacturing data from the U.S., Europe and China that surpassed most economists’ forecasts in Bloomberg surveys.

Resources companies make up 48 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Chinese industrial output growth is likely to decline from December’s pace of 12.8 percent a year due to a slowing global economy and the European debt crisis, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said today in Beijing.

German factory production retreated 2.9 percent in December, the country’s Economy Ministry reported today. Most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast an increase or no change from November.

Base-metals producers dropped as copper fell as much as 1.8 percent on the Comex in New York before erasing its decline.

Teck declined 2.4 percent to C$41.47. First Quantum Minerals lost 2 percent to C$22.19.

Nevsun sank 30 percent to C$4.45 after plunging as much as

31 percent, the most intraday since October 2008. The company said production may fall 50 percent this year after it revised its reserve estimate for the Bisha mine in Eritrea.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index fell 0.8 percent, the most intraday since Jan. 30. Energy stocks slipped as natural gas fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange on speculation that a government report will show a smaller-than-normal drop in U.S.

inventories, boosting a surplus of the fuel over the five-year average.

Canadian Natural Resources lost 3.7 percent to C$38.79. The country’s second-largest energy company by market value said it curtailed production because of unplanned maintenance at the Horizon upgrader. Enerflex Ltd., which provides products and services to the energy industry, fell 2.3 percent to C$12.65.

Gold producers gained as the precious metal climbed for the first time in three sessions after the U.S. dollar weakened, increasing demand for the commodity as an alternative investment.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer by market value, rallied 1 percent to C$47.75.

Golden Star Resources Ltd., the owner of the Bogoso/Prestea mine in Ghana, rallied 2.5 percent to C$2.08. Avion Gold Corp.

rose 4.1 percent to C$1.54 after announcing drilling results.

US

By Rita Nazareth and Michael P. Regan

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average above its highest closing level since May 2008, while Treasuries fell and the euro strengthened as Greece’s government made progress on measures to secure international aid. Crude oil led gains in commodities.

The Dow increased 27.81 points, or 0.2 percent, to

12,872.94 at 1:20 p.m. in New York and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 0.1 percent after slipping as much as 0.6 percent earlier. Ten-year Treasury yields increased seven basis points to 1.98 percent and the euro advanced 0.9 percent to $1.3243.

Oil rallied 1.5 percent to $98.38 a barrel.

Greece’s government and international creditors are working on the final draft of an agreement on budget and structural measures needed to free up a second aid package, a Greek official said. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos plans to convene the nation’s political leaders to seek consensus on the cuts required for a bailout, as unions called a strike to protest and European leaders pressed Greece to reach a deal.

“Greece is on the front page again,” Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees

$160 billion. “It’s been the theme for at least a year that you had to take these governments near the edge of the abyss and look into it before they would agree to additional cuts or fiscal tightening or other types of concessions to get money.”

The S&P 500 declined yesterday for the first time in four days, retreating from a six-month high. The index is up 7.2 percent so far in 2012 and has rallied almost 23 percent from last year’s low in October.

Coca-Cola Co. climbed 1.1 percent to help lead gains in the Dow today after the world’s largest soft-drink maker reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as teas and juices boosted sales in Asia.

Yum! Brands Inc., owner of the KFC and Taco Bell fast-food chains, climbed 2.9 percent as profit surged 30 percent.

Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, slid 1.8 percent after Citigroup Inc. cut its recommendation for the shares.

Becton Dickinson & Co., a maker of medical devices and supplies, slumped 3.8 percent after a disappointing forecast.

Walt Disney Co. is among seven companies in the S&P 500 scheduled to release earnings after markets close today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profits have beaten estimates at about 68 percent of the 280 companies in the S&P

500 that have released results since Jan. 9, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Earnings-per-share have increased 3.5 percent for the group on a 6.5 percent increase in sales.

U.S. Treasuries remained lower after the U.S. sold $32 billion of three-year notes in the first of three auctions this week totaling $72 billion.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke repeated that the job market is still far from healthy after signs of economic improvement over the past year, and he called on U.S. lawmakers to reduce the long-term budget deficit.

“We still have a long way to go before the labor market can be said to be operating normally,” Bernanke said in testimony prepared for the Senate Budget Committee that is identical to remarks he gave on Feb. 2 to the House Budget panel. “Particularly troubling is the unusually high level of long-term unemployment.” The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to

8.3 percent in January, a government report showed last week.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.3 percent, paring a loss of as much as 1 percent. Swatch Group AG sank 4 percent after the largest Swiss watch maker reported 2011 operating profit that missed analysts’ estimates. Alfa Laval AB, the world’s biggest maker of heat exchangers, sank 7.1 percent as fourth-quarter orders declined from the previous three months because of contraction in the shipbuilding industry.

Greek Prime Minister Papademos will issue a statement tonight at the conclusion of a meeting with political leaders on measures and policies Greece has agreed in return for a second financing package, a spokeswoman at the premier’s office in Athens said. The spokeswoman, who declined to be named, said the Cabinet would meet tomorrow at around midday to approve the accord and that a meeting of euro area finance ministers was likely to be held on Feb. 9 on the bailout agreement.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed after yesterday slipping 0.1 percent from a six-month high. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong dropped 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index slid

1.7 percent, the most in six weeks, after China’s government said industrial output growth is likely to slow this quarter as the world economy cools and Europe’s debt crisis worsens.

A “hard landing” for China is a key risk for the global economy, Andrew Colquhoun, the Hong Kong-based head of Asia- Pacific ratings for Fitch Ratings, said in an e-mail.

The yen weakened versus all 16 most actively traded peers after Finance Ministry data released today showed Japan conducted 1.02 trillion yen ($13.3 billion) worth of unannounced intervention during the first four days of November, after selling a record 8.07 trillion yen on Oct. 31, when the yen climbed to a post World War II high of 75.35 per dollar.

The Australian dollar appreciated 0.6 percent to $1.0787 after the Reserve Bank of Australia signaled optimism global economic growth will strengthen.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We must always bear in mind

that we are not going to be free,

but are free already.

Every idea that we are bound is a delusion.

Every idea that we are happy or unhappy

is a tremendous delusion.

-Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

Because of our routines we forget that life

is an ongoing adventure.

-Jean Atwater

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

Queen’s Jubilee today.

Babe Ruth’s birthday:

I have only one superstition.  I touch all the bases when I hit a home run.

-Babe Ruth, 1895-1948

We went to hang out with some friends in Vancouver on the weekend and yesterday before we left for home, I suggested to  Gary that we should check out the Armory District which I had read about in Western Living magazine.   It is a wonderful area.   It is right around  the Seaforth Armoury on Burrard Street at First Avenue, hence the name.   It encompasses a small area east of Burrard to the Granville Street Bridge,  beginning at First Avenue up to and including Third Avenue. There are some neat shops and galleries.  We found a wonderful shop, Les Amis du Fromage, which sells an amazing variety of cheese and baguettes and other things.  We scored some great French olive oil there which our local supplier has been out of for some time.  Also found the most fantastic cook book store named Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks, www.bookstocooks.com, where I picked up Adam Gopnik’s latest, The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food (2011). I started reading it on the way home and it begins with a letter from an imprisoned resistance fighter in Nazi occupied France, to his parents, telling them about the meal he began that day with, an attempt to alleviate their anguish as well as underscore for the reader, the importance of the meal to in France.

There are also a few edgy furniture and carpet stores, and fabulous art galleries that we had to peak through windows to see the art because they were closed on Sunday.  One that seemed to have especially intriguing art is Gallery Jones on 3^rd Avenue.  A welcome discovery.

 

photos of the day

February 6, 2012

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth smiles after visiting Dersingham Infant and Nursery School in Dersingham, Norfolk, eastern England. Today marks the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.

Andrew Winning/Reuters

A dragon dance is performed amid fireworks during a Lantern Festival celebration in Chongqing municipality, China. The Lantern Festival occurs on the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year and marks the end of the Spring Festival.

Reuters

Market Closes for February 6, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12845.13	-17.10 -0.13%
	S&P 500	1344.33	-0.57 -0.4%
	NASDAQ	2901.99	-3.67 -0.13%
	TSX	12559.85	-17.43 -0.14%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8929.20 +97.27 +1.1% HANG SENG 20709.94 -47.04   -0.23% SENSEX 17707.31 +102.35 +0.58% FTSE 100 5892.20 -8.87 -0.15% CAC 40 3405.27 -22.65 -0.66% DAX 6764.83 -1.84 -0.03% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	1.974	2.016
CDN. 30 year bond	2.576	2.610
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9066	1.9224
U.S. 30-year bond	3.0966	3.1192

 

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99640	0.99410
US $	1.00362	1.00594

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.30712	0.76504
US $	1.31185	0.76228

 

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1722.20	1737.90

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.15	97.84

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff and Katia Porzecanski

Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined for the first time in five days as oil fell after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “time is running out” for Greece to accept the conditions for a bailout.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second- largest energy company by market value, dropped 1.4 percent as crude futures declined for the sixth time in the last seven days. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rallied 1.2 percent after William Ackman, the largest investor, renewed his call to replace Chief Executive Officer Fred Green. Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s biggest wireless provider, lost

1.5 percent after an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. cut his rating on the shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 17.43 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,559.85 in Toronto after closing at a four-month high Feb. 3.

“Greece has been an almost-deal for a long time,” Todd Johnson, a money manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about

C$335 million ($336 million). “The longer it goes on, the more one has to realize that there might eventually be what’s been called the ‘hard default.’ It’s going to be a huge political chaos if that happens. Likely, everyone’s going to hit the sell button at the same time.”

The S&P/TSX gained each of the previous seven weeks, the longest streak since April 2009, and has advanced 5.1 percent this year. Canadian stocks have climbed as improvements in U.S.

employment and manufacturing data have overshadowed the European debt crisis.

European leaders stepped up pressure on Greek politicians to meet the conditions of a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout. A gathering of Greek political leaders was delayed by a day until tomorrow as they struggled for a unified response.

Antonis Samaras, the head of the second-largest party, indicated he would oppose some measures put forward by international creditors.

“I can’t quite understand why we need a few more days — time is running out,” Merkel said today in a joint briefing with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index fell for the first time in five days as crude futures declined on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Canadian Natural lost 1.4 percent to C$40.28.

Antrim Energy Inc., which explores for oil and gas in the North Sea and Argentina, plunged 22 percent, the most since August 2006, to C$1.07 after abandoning a North Sea well.

Cenovus Energy Inc., the country’s fifth-biggest energy company, fell 1.8 percent to C$38.11.

C&C Energia Ltd., an oil and gas producer with operations in Colombia, sank 13 percent to C$7.80 after reporting a well in the Putumayo Basin is a dry hole and will be abandoned.

Most gold producers fell as the metal retreated to the lowest price in more than a week as a rally in the dollar curbed demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

Alamos Gold Inc., which mines in Mexico, fell 4 percent to C$18.75. Romarco Minerals Inc., which is developing a gold project in South Carolina, sank 7.9 percent to C$1.16.

Great Basin Gold Ltd., which mines in Nevada and South Africa, dropped 8.7 percent to C$1.05 after saying its 2011 production trailed its forecast.

Base-metals and coal producers fell as copper dropped on the Comex in New York. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, declined 3.4 percent to C$22.64.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, decreased 2.1 percent to C$42.50 after Greg Barnes, an analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank, reduced his rating on the stock to “buy” from “action list buy.” Barnes cited a lower coal-price forecast and higher copper-mining-cost estimates in a note to clients.

Rogers retreated 1.5 percent to C$38.07 after Greg MacDonald, an analyst at Macquarie, cut his rating on the stock to “neutral” from “outperform.” The company may report lower margins in the fourth quarter due to subsidies related to strong sales of Apple Inc.’s iPhone, MacDonald wrote in a note to clients.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. advanced 1.2 percent to C$74.34. Ackman, the founder of New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management LP, told shareholders at a meeting in Toronto the board “has chosen the wrong CEO.”

Ackman, 45, buys stakes in companies he deems undervalued and pushes changes to improve returns. He arranged the meeting in Toronto to win support for his slate of five directors, a group that he said would help persuade the board to replace the current CEO, Fred Green, with Hunter Harrison, the former head of Canadian National Railway Co.

SXC Health Solutions Corp., a pharmacy-benefits manager, fell 3.8 percent to C$61.02 after Reuters reported that “key people” at the Federal Trade Commission are seeking to stop the acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc. by rival pharmacy benefits company Express Scripts Inc.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined, following a five-week advance for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid concern about Europe’s debt crisis as Greek leaders wrestled with spending cuts to get aid and avert a default.

Banks in the S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent, following a retreat in European lenders. Boeing Co. decreased 1.2 percent as it ordered inspections of 787 Dreamliners after finding signs of fuselage delamination. Toll Brothers Inc. and Lennar Corp.

slumped at least 2.3 percent after Raymond James Financial Inc.

cut its recommendation for the homebuilders. Medco Health Solutions Inc. tumbled 8.1 percent amid concern that its proposed acquisition by Express Scripts Inc. may be blocked.

The S&P 500 decreased less than 0.1 percent to 1,344.33 as of 4 p.m. New York time, paring a decline of as much as 0.6 percent as energy companies advanced. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 17.10 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,845.13.

“It’s an ongoing Greek tragedy,” Stephen Wood, the New York-based chief market strategist for Russell Investments, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $137.6 billion. “We’re in the hands of the best efforts of European politicians. That’s a source of risk that’s difficult to forecast.”

Stocks fell as European leaders stepped up pressure on Greek politicians to meet the conditions of a 130 billion-euro

($171 billion) bailout, saying time was running out. French President Nicolas Sarkozy met German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Greece’s interim prime minister, Lucas Papademos, planned to confer with the so-called troika of international lenders. A gathering of Greek political leaders was delayed by a day until tomorrow as they struggled for a unified response.

Today’s decline in equities came after the S&P 500 capped the best start to a year since 1987 as a report showed that employment growth topped estimates and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent. Financial and commodity shares had the biggest losses among 10 industries.

“Markets are not a very patient beast,” Michael A. Gayed, chief investment strategist in New York at Pension Partners LLC, said in a telephone interview. “When you have these talks that the Greece situation is going to be resolved, then, it gets postponed, markets get impatient.”

Boeing fell 1.2 percent to $75.46. The new checks add to challenges in boosting output of the twin-engine 787, which entered service in 2011 after more than three years of delays.

Boeing said 2012 deliveries for the jet should stay on schedule after an initial slowdown for inspections. Delamination is a term for the separation that can occur in a composite material when its layers crack and lose strength.

A gauge of homebuilders in S&P indexes slumped 1.7 percent.

Toll Brothers, the largest U.S. luxury-home builder, slid 2.4 percent to $23.28. Lennar slid 2.8 percent to $22.69. KB Home tumbled 3.5 percent to $10.43. The companies are among those downgraded at Raymond James, which cited valuation concern.

Medco Health Solutions tumbled 8.1 percent to $58.47.

Reuters reported that “key people” at the Federal Trade Commission are seeking to stop the company’s proposed $29.1 billion acquisition by rival pharmacy benefits company Express Scripts. Medco and Express Scripts said they still expect to complete the transaction in the first half of this year. Express Scripts slumped 4.6 percent to $49.67.

Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, gained 1.9 percent to $34.28.

Humana Inc. slid 5.4 percent to $85.25. The second-largest Medicare provider raised its 2012 earnings forecast less than analysts estimated as more Americans were expected to seek medical care in a recovering economy.

Micron Technology Inc. retreated 2.8 percent to $7.73. The company named Mark Durcan as its chief executive officer, replacing Steve Appleton, who died on Feb. 3 after crashing an experimental plane. The shares fell 3.1 percent to $7.70 in late trading Feb. 3, after having been halted at $7.95.

With today’s drop in stocks, the S&P 500 traded for about

14 times its companies’ earnings and has been stuck below its five-decade average multiple of 16.4 since May 2010, the longest stretch since a 13-year period beginning in 1973.

Earnings beat projections at 66 percent of the 268 companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results since Jan. 9, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profits probably grew 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The projection has fallen from 6.2 percent at the end of last year.

Energy shares had the biggest gain in the S&P 500 among 10 industries, rising 1.1 percent as a group. Alpha Natural Resources Inc., a coal miner, rallied 3.3 percent to $23.54.

Baker Hughes Inc. added 2.1 percent to $52.09.

Walt Disney Co. gained 1.2 percent to $40.46. The world’s biggest theme-park operator was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Davenport & Co. by equity analyst Michael Morris.

The 12-month share-price estimate is $46.

Sprint Nextel Corp. climbed 6 percent to $2.46. The third- largest U.S. wireless, scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 8, offers a buying opportunity for investors because earnings during the period most likely marked the trough, Macquarie Group Ltd. said.

Kroger Co. rose 0.6 percent to $24.06. The largest U.S.

grocery-store chain traded last week at an 86 percent discount to its projected sales this fiscal year, leaving it cheaper than

99 percent of companies in the S&P 500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company, which has increased sales in every year since at least 1987 even as Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

grabbed market share from other supermarkets, may now become a target for retailers outside the U.S. or private equity firms, according to Northcoast Research Holdings LLC.

Valued at $13.7 billion last week, Kroger could still attract a takeover offer 30 percent above its current price, Point View Wealth Management Inc. said, making it the largest grocery acquisition on record.

“Of the traditional pure-play grocery stores, Kroger is the crown jewel,” David Dietze, president and chief investment strategist at Summit, New Jersey-based Point View, which owns shares of Kroger, said in a telephone interview. “They have a long consistent record of positive same-store sales performance.

It’s timely to acquire Kroger because it’s cheap.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Like a silkworm you have built a cocoon around yourself.  Who will save you?

Burst your own cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul.

-Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Make voyages. Attempt them.

There’s nothing else.

-Tennessee Williams, 1911-1983

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

 

Today is Gertrude Stein’s birthday, born 1874.

A rose is a rose is a rose.

-Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946

Super Bowl Sunday:  Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest sports gambling day on the calendar. According to RJ Bell, CEO of Pregame.com, $10 billion will be laid down on this year’s Super Bowl. Of that, a paltry $90 million will be wagered in legal Nevada sportsbooks.

(Reuters)

photos of the day

February 3, 2012

The Vince Lombardi Trophy sits between a New York Giants and a New England Patriots helmet during a press conferene for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, Indiana. Super Bowl XLVI is set for play on February 5.

Gary Hershorn/Reuters

 

A women swims at the Szechenyi Bath during a winter morning in Budapest. The Hungarian government has ordered a cold alert in eleven counties in Hungary from Friday due to freezing temperatures that are expected to fall under minus 20 degrees in some places, well below the seasonal average.

Bernadett Szabo/Reut

Market Closes for February 3^rd, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12862.23	+156.82 +1.23%
	S&P 500	1344.90	+19.36 +1.46%
	NASDAQ	2905.66	+45.98 +1.61%
	TSX	12577.28	+23.80 +0.19%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8831.93 -44.89 -0.51% HANG SENG 20756.98 +17.53   +0.08% SENSEX 17604.96 +173.11 +0.99% FTSE 100 5901.07 +105.00 +1.81% CAC 40 3427.92 +51.26 +1.52% DAX 6766.67 +111.04 +1.67% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	2.016	1.944
CDN. 30 year bond	2.610	2.553
U.S. 10-year bond	1.9224	1.8212
U.S. 30-year bond	3.1192	3.0028

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99410	0.99919
US $	1.00594	1.0081

 

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.30811	0.76446
US $	1.31588	0.75995

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1737.90	1759.50

 

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.84	96.59

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, completing a seventh straight weekly advance, as the lowest U.S. unemployment since February 2009 signaled Canada’s biggest trade partner is weathering the European debt crisis.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender by assets, gained 1.4 percent. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, lost 2.3 percent as the metal retreated the most in five weeks. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., the country’s second-biggest railroad, advanced 2.3 percent after an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised his rating on the shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index increased 23.8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,577.28, extending its weekly rally to 0.9 percent. The streak of gains was the longest since a seven-week advance ended April 2009.

“The number was a huge improvement over expectations,” Pat McHugh, senior managing director and Canadian equity strategist at Manulife Financial Corp.’s asset-management unit, said in a telephone interview. The unit oversees about $217 billion. “Almost twice as many jobs were created last month than economists had been predicting. The biggest beneficiary of an improvement in U.S. consumers is the banking system.”

The S&P/TSX has climbed to the highest since September, led by raw-materials producers, as U.S. gains in employment and manufacturing outweighed concern that Europe’s debt crisis will slow world growth. The U.S. accounted for 75 percent of Canada’s exports in 2010, according to Statistics Canada.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 243,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said today in Washington. None of the 89 economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a gain that big.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent.

The S&P/TSX Financials Index rose for the third time in four days. TD climbed 1.4 percent to C$78.83. Royal Bank of Canada, its bigger domestic rival, gained 0.7 percent to C$53.32. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s fourth- largest insurance company, rallied 3.4 percent to C$12.34.

Gold stocks dropped as the metal declined on the Comex in New York after settling at a two-month high yesterday. Barrick lost 2.3 percent to C$48.59.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer by market value, decreased 2.9 percent to C$47.25. Eldorado Gold Corp., Canada’s fifth-biggest gold company by market value, slumped 5.1 percent to C$14.64.

“The strength in the economy implies that the probability of more Fed easing or another quantitative package is being diminished, and gold’s going to take it on the chin,” McHugh said. “The flight-to-safety movement doesn’t appear to be as important as a result of the stats we’ve seen today.”

Energy stocks in the S&P/TSX advanced for a fourth day as crude oil futures climbed on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, increased 1.9 percent to C$34.90. Cenovus Energy Inc., the country’s fifth-biggest energy company, rose 2.9 percent to C$38.80. Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. jumped 6.8 percent to C$15.12.

Base-metals companies gained as copper futures advanced the most in two months. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest company in the industry, increased 2.1 percent to C$43.40. First Quantum Resources Ltd., the country’s second-biggest publicly traded copper producer, climbed 3 percent to C$23.43.

Copper Fox Metals Inc., owner of a mining project in British Columbia, jumped 12 percent to C$1.54 after reporting test results from four exploratory drill holes at its Schaft Creek property.

Canadian Pacific surged 2.3 percent to C$73.47, the highest since May 2008. Thomas R. Wadewitz, an analyst at JPMorgan, boosted his rating on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral,” saying the company is in the early stages of a turnaround.

Shares of the Calgary-based company have soared 59 percent since Sept. 22 as William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP bought a stake in the company and began pushing it to replace its chief executive officer.

Canadian National Railway Co., the country’s largest railroad, rose today for a fourth session, gaining 0.9 percent to C$77.91.

Smart Technologies Inc., which makes electronic whiteboards, plunged 12 percent, the most since May, to C$3.66 after cutting its 2012 earnings forecast. At least five analysts reduced their price estimates on the shares.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, extending the best start to a year for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1987, after a report showed that employment growth topped estimates and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent.

Bank of America Corp., Caterpillar Inc. and Alcoa Inc. rallied at least 3.2 percent to pace gains among companies most- tied to economic growth. The Dow Jones Transportation Average gained 1.2 percent as FedEx Corp. climbed 1.9 percent. Genworth Financial Inc., a mortgage guarantor and life insurer, surged 14 percent after swinging to a profit. Tyson Foods Inc. rose 4.1 percent as earnings at the meat processor beat estimates.

The S&P 500 added 1.5 percent to 1,344.90 at 4 p.m. New York time. The benchmark gauge has rallied for five straight weeks, the longest streak in a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 156.82 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,862.23, the highest level since 2008. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies jumped 2.2 percent to 831.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.6 percent to 2,905.66, the highest since 2000.

“Spectacular,” Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy for Wells Fargo Private Bank, said in a telephone interview from Phoenix. His firm manages $169 billion.

“It’s a very, very strong jobs number. It shows that companies have confidence that they see global demand growth through their products and services. That will support risk assets.”

Stocks and bond yields jumped as the report fueled optimism the economy is weathering Europe’s debt crisis. The 243,000 increase in payrolls was the most since April and beat all forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. The unemployment rate fell to the lowest since February 2009. Service industries in the U.S. expanded in January at the fastest pace in almost a year.

The S&P 500 has gained 6.9 percent so far this year, the most since it surged 14 percent over the same period in 1987.

The index has recovered after plunging 19 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3 amid better-than estimated economic data and corporate profits. It’s 1.4 percent away from surpassing its peak nine months ago, which would send it to the highest level since June 2008. It has rallied 2.2 percent this week.

Better economic data should help drive solid corporate earnings, said Brad Sorensen at Charles Schwab Corp. Earnings in the S&P 500 are forecast to rise 9 percent this year to $104.68, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. At yesterday’s close of $104.68, the index was trading at 12.7 times projected earnings in 2012 and 11.2 times predictions for 2013. It has traded at an average price-earnings ratio of 16.4 since 1954, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It will be a decent year for the stock market,” Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at San Francisco-based Charles Schwab, said in a telephone interview.

His firm has $1.68 trillion in client assets. “Investors are starting to rotate some money into stocks as they become more confident in the economic outlook.”

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index climbed 2.8 percent amid economic optimism. The KBW Bank Index rallied 3.3 percent. A gauge of homebuilders in S&P indexes gained 5.8 percent.

Bank of America added 5.2 percent to $7.84. Caterpillar, the largest construction and mining-equipment maker, increased 3.3 percent to $113.94. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, climbed 3.3 percent to $10.76. FedEx, an economic bellwether as it moves goods from pharmaceuticals to financial documents, jumped 1.9 percent to $94.54.

Genworth Financial soared 14 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $9.17. Chief Executive Officer Michael Fraizer has scaled back the retirement-products business to conserve capital as Genworth seeks to maintain sales of U.S. mortgage coverage.

Tyson Foods rose 4.1 percent to $19.38. The meat processor reported first-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share. On average, the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated profit of 34 cents.

Gilead Sciences Inc. jumped 11 percent to $54.70. The drugmaker that acquired Pharmasset Inc. last month for its experimental hepatitis C treatments gained after one of the medicines produced positive clinical trial results.

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. rose 1.4 percent to $5.91. Blackstone Group LP is studying a leveraged buyout of the company, said a person with knowledge of the situation. While Blackstone is in talks with Brocade, which has been seeking a buyer since 2009, reaching a deal may be difficult, said the person.

Estee Lauder Cos. lost 2.3 percent to $57.48. The maker of Mac cosmetics and Clinique skin care forecast third-quarter earnings of no more than 32 cents a share, before restructuring charges, missing the average analyst estimate of 41 cents.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. slipped 4.8 percent to $114.98. Wynn Macau Ltd.’s full-year profit missed analysts’ estimates as the Hong Kong-listed unit benefited less than its competitor, Sands China Ltd., from surging gambling revenue in the former Portuguese colony.

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, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Many men go fishing all of their lives without

knowing it is not fish they are after.

-Henry David Thoreau, 1817-62

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

Groundhog day: Punxsutawney Phil first predicted weather 126 years ago and has had about 39% accuracy ever since. –HuffingtonPost.com

Birthdays: a couple of my favorite writers,

Ayn Rand, Born 1905

James Joyce, born 1882

Part of PBS’s celebration of Black History Month, Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock, form “Independent Lens,” tells the story of an unconventional revolutionary who paid dearly for her public support of nine black students who registered to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., which culminated in a constitutional crises – pitting a president against a governor and a community against itself.  It airs tonight.

photos of the day

February 2, 2012

Groundhog handler John Griffith holds famed weather prognosticating groundhog Punxsutawney Phil before Phil makes his annual weather prediction on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Penn., on the 126th Groundhog Day. Phil saw his shadow, signaling six more weeks of winter.

Jason Cohn/Reuters

A gargoyle in a fountain in Zurich, Switzerland, wears a beard of ice. A cold spell has reached central and eastern Europe with temperatures far below zero.

Alessandro Della Bella/Keystone/AP

Market Closes for February 2nd, 2012:

North American Markets

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12705.41	-11.05 -.09%
	S&P 500	1325.54	+1.45 +0.11%
	NASDAQ	2859.68	+11.41 +0.40%
	TSX	12553.48	+35.82 +0.29%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8876.82 +67.03 +0.76% HANG SENG 20739.45 +406.08   +2.0% SENSEX 17431.85 +131.27 +0.76% FTSE 100 5796.07 +5.35 +0.9% CAC 40 3376.66 +9.20 +0.27% DAX 6655.63 +38.99 +0.59% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	1.944	1.905
CDN. 30 year bond	2.553	2.517
U.S. 10-year bond	1.8212	1.8300
U.S. 30-year bond	3.0028	2.9958

 

Currencies

 

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99919	1.00228
US $	1.0081	0.99773

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31373	0.76119
US $	1.31477	0.76059

 

Commodities

 

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1759.50	1743.80

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.59	97.46

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day, led by gold producers, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he sees signs the economy is improving and U.S.

initial jobless claims declined.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest gold producer by market value, gained 2.1 percent as the metal advanced to a two- month high. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, dropped 0.7 percent after Bank of Nova Scotia said it will sell shares. Open Text Corp., Canada’s biggest software company, rallied 15 percent in Toronto Stock Exchange trading after reporting earnings that beat the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index increased 35.82 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,553.48, the highest level since Sept. 8.

“Global economic growth seems to be improving,” Robert McWhirter, a money manager who oversees about C$140 million

($140 million) at Selective Asset Management Inc. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. “Europe may continue to have its own problems, but the rest of the world is picking up in economic growth to offset some of that.”

The index has jumped 5 percent this year as the U.S.

reported declines in unemployment and the Federal Reserve extended its low-interest-rate pledge to late 2014. The U.S.

accounted for 75 percent of Canada’s exports in 2010, according to Statistics Canada. The Labor Department is scheduled to report January’s unemployment rate and payrolls data tomorrow in Washington.

Precious-metals producers rose with gold futures after the U.S. reported a bigger decline in first-time unemployment claims than most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast.

Bernanke told a congressional committee today that economic indicators “have shown some signs of improvement.”

Goldcorp advanced 2.1 percent to C$48.67. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest company in the industry, increased

0.9 percent to C$49.73. Silver Wheaton Corp., Canada’s fifth- largest precious-metals company by market value, rallied 1.2 percent to C$36.61, extending its streak of gains to seven days, the longest since August 2010.

NovaGold Resources Inc., which is developing mines in Alaska and British Columbia, sank 8.6 percent to C$9.44 after disclosing a 35-million-share offering at $9.50 a share.

Atac Resources Ltd., which explores for gold in Yukon, soared 23 percent, the most since September 2010, to C$3.87, to extend its six-day jump to 61 percent. The company has no announcements immediately pending and does not know the reason for the shares’ surge, Vanessa Pickering, a company spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview.

Wildcat Silver Corp., which is developing a mine in Arizona, surged 20 percent to C$2.03 after Graeme Jennings, an analyst at Cormark Securities Inc., began coverage of the company with a “speculative buy” rating. New Millennium Iron Corp., which has projects in eastern Canada, jumped 17 percent to C$2.44 after Adam Low, an analyst at Raymond James Financial Inc., assigned it an “outperform” rating in new coverage, citing the prospect of high ore prices.

Natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 7.2 percent after the U.S. reported stockpiles declined more last week than most analysts in a Bloomberg survey had forecast. The fuel sank 45 percent in the year ending yesterday.

Encana Corp., the country’s largest natural gas producer, advanced for the first time in six days, increasing 5.3 percent to C$19.87. Tourmaline Oil Corp., a western Canadian natural gas and oil producer, climbed 3.3 percent to C$25.02.

Oil-sands developer MEG Energy Corp. rose 4.1 percent to

C$46.50 after reporting a fourth-quarter profit more than twice as high as the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey, excluding certain items.

Canada’s six largest banks each dropped after Scotiabank, the country’s third-largest lender by assets, said it will sell

30 million shares at C$50.25 a share to help pay for acquisitions.

Royal Bank declined 0.7 percent to C$52.93. Bank of Montreal, Canada’s No. 4 lender, slipped 0.6 percent to C$58.43.

Scotiabank lost 0.9 percent to C$51.38 in TSX trading. In composite trading, which includes trading platforms that remained open after the company’s announcement yesterday, the shares rebounded 1.9 percent to C$51.38 after decreasing 2.2 percent yesterday.

Open Text surged 15 percent, the most since August 2010, to

C$60.34 in TSX trading after its second-quarter profit surpassed the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 14 percent, excluding certain items. The shares gained 7.6 percent to C$60.34 in composite trading after soaring 10 percent yesterday.

Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, soared 9.5 percent to C$1.27 to extend its seven-day rally to 32 percent, the most since August 2009. The shares have advanced as Delta Air Lines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. reported earnings that beat analysts’ average estimates.

US

By Michael P. Regan and Rita Nazareth

Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks gained as a drop in jobless claims fueled optimism about the economy before tomorrow’s employment data. Oil slid to a six-week low as supplies rose. The dollar and Treasuries were little changed.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent to

1,325.54 at 4 p.m. in New York as three stocks rose for every two that fell on U.S. exchanges. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11.05 points to 12,705.41. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index reached to a six-month high as mining shares surged after Xstrata Plc confirmed takeover talks. The S&P GSCI Index of raw materials lost 0.5 percent as oil’s drop overshadowed a rally in natural gas. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields were little changed at 1.83 percent. The Dollar Index rose less than 0.1 percent.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told lawmakers in Washington that while the world’s largest economy is still vulnerable to shocks, measures of spending, production and jobs have improved. U.S. unemployment claims dropped by 12,000 to

367,000 last week. Olli Rehn, the European Union’s economic commissioner, said he expects a debt-swap agreement between Greece and private bondholders by the end of the week.

“It’s a wait-and-see approach,” Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage about $2.6 billion at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois, said in a telephone interview. “You have a number of people waiting for the jobs report tomorrow to make a decision which way they go. You have the ongoing negotiations on the Greek debt on the background. I wouldn’t read too much into today’s trading.”

U.S. stocks rose for a second day after yesterday halting a four-day retreat, the longest for the Dow since August.

Tomorrow’s monthly payrolls data is forecast to show employment grew by 140,000 last month after rising 200,000 in December and the jobless rate held at an almost three-year low of 8.5 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Gains among the 10 main S&P 500 industry groups were led by energy, financial and consumer-staples companies, while raw- materials producers, health-care companies and utilities declined.

MasterCard Inc., the second-largest payments network, jumped 6.7 percent after profit climbed 24 percent. Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, advanced 2 percent after raising its sales and earnings targets. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., the maker of Keurig brand single- cup pods and brewers, surged 24 percent as profit exceeded estimates.

Profits have topped estimates at about 67 percent of the

246 companies in the S&P 500 that have released results since Jan. 9, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Earnings-per-share have increased 3.2 percent for the group on a 6.6 percent increase in sales.

Internet and social media companies rose after Facebook Inc. filed to raise $5 billion in an initial public offering.

Zynga Inc., the largest developer of games for Facebook, surged

17 percent. Groupon Inc., the biggest Internet daily-deal site, added 7.4 percent.

Oil slipped to a six-week low, dropping 1.3 percent to

$96.36 a barrel, after government data showed supplies climbed and fuel demand tumbled. Natural gas in New York rose 5.6 percent, the first advance in four days, following a bigger- than-forecast drop in U.S. stockpiles.

The Stoxx 600 rose for a third straight day. Shares of Xstrata Plc jumped 9.9 percent as the mining company said Glencore International Plc offered to buy the shares it didn’t already own. Glencore advanced 6.9 percent. Joining the two natural resources companies would combine the world’s largest listed commodity trader with a producer of coal, copper and nickel from Africa to Asia.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 1.4 percent, heading for the highest close since Aug. 4. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 2 percent. Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index jumped 2.8 percent amid speculation policy makers will implement more measures to support the market.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Do we still not know that the appearance of a seed is in direct contradiction to its true nature?

If you submit the seed to a chemical analysis, you would find in it perhaps some carbon, proteins,

and many other things, but never the hint of the leaf of a tree.

-Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Life is unchartered territory.  It reveals

its story one moment at a time.

-Leo Buscaglia, 1924-1998

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

February is Black History Month

February was the month of purification among the ancient Romans (Latin februum means purgation).

The Dutch used to call the month Spokkelmaand, “vegetation month.”

The Anglo-Saxons knew it as solmönath, meaning “mud month.”

In the French revolutionary calendar, its equivalent from January 21 to February 19^th, was Pluviôse m “rain month.”

 

An old proverb:

February fill dyke, be it black or be it white;

But if it be white it’s better to like.

 

photos of the day

February 1, 2012

A copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, painted at the same time as the original in the same studio, is displayed at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The museum says the copy is perhaps the earliest replica of the masterpiece. A museum spokeswoman said the work was done by one of da Vinci’s key students and was painted side by side with the 16th century original that hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

Paul White/AP

An airplane flies past the moon over Freudenberg, Germany.

Ina Fassbender/Reuters

 

Market Closes for February 1^st, 2012:

North American Markets

 

	Market Index	Close	Change
	Dow Jones	12716.46	+83.55 +0.66%
	S&P 500	1324.08	+11.67 +0.89%
	NASDAQ	2848.27	+34.43 +1.22%
	TSX	12517.66	+65.51 +0.53%
International Markets   Close Change NIKKEI 8809.79 +7.28 +0.08% HANG SENG 20333.37 -57.12   -0.28% SENSEX 17300.58 +107.03 +0.62% FTSE 100 5790.72 +109.11 +1.92% CAC 40 3367.46 +68.91 +2.09% DAX 6616.64 +157.73 +2.44% Bonds

 

Bonds	%Yield	Previous %Yield
CDN. 10 year bond	1.905	1.889
CDN. 30 year bond	2.517	2.500
U.S. 10-year bond	1.8300	1.7919
U.S. 30-year bond	2.9958	2.9344

 

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00228	1.00291
US $	0.99773	0.99710

Euro  Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31395	0.76106
US $	1.31694	0.75885

 

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1743.80	$1739.80

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.46	$98.40

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, led by banks and energy producers, after manufacturing indexes in Europe and China surpassed most analysts’ forecasts.

Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, increased 1.6 percent as banks climbed for the first time in seven days. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-biggest energy company, rallied 2.5 percent as oil and gas stocks advanced. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Canada’s largest drugmaker, gained 4.6 percent after saying it will buy a Brazilian food supplements company.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 80.86 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,533.01 at 1:47 p.m. Toronto time.

“Canada is very much tied to global growth,” Jennifer Radman, a money manager at Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.

in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$1 billion ($1 billion). “Over the last several months, there’s been a pick-up in economic numbers. In China, there’s more and more confidence they’re not going to have this hard landing some people were talking about.”

The S&P/TSX gained 4.2 percent in January, its second monthly advance in 11 months, as raw-materials producers surged

10 percent on higher metals prices. Gold had its biggest January rally since 1983 and copper increased after the U.S. Federal Reserve extended its low-interest-rate pledge to late 2014. The industry accounts for 22 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Purchasing managers’ indexes from China and the U.K. showed manufacturing expanded faster in January than most economists in Bloomberg surveys had forecast. In the euro region, manufacturing contracted less than the median economist forecast.

Greece may offer to promise a reduction in bondholders’

losses in a debt swap that would take effect if the country’s economy rebounds, people with knowledge of the confidential talks said. Owners of Greek debt have been negotiating an exchange of their bonds for newer ones that would pay a lower interest rate.

Bank shares in the S&P/TSX ended their longest streak of losses since July. Royal Bank climbed 1.6 percent to C$53.20.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender by assets, rose 1 percent to C$78.28. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s fourth-biggest insurer, gained 2.6 percent to C$12.01.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index advanced for a second day. Cenovus increased 2.5 percent to C$37.49. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, climbed 1.1 percent to C$40.16.

Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd., the majority owner of PetroBakken Energy Ltd., jumped 7 percent to C$14.93 after agreeing to sell its May River property in Alberta to Grizzly Oil Sands Ulc for C$225 million.

TransGlobe Energy Corp., which produces oil and gas in Egypt and Yemen, rose 8.3 percent to C$10.58 to extend its three-day surge to 12 percent. The company’s daily average oil production increased 41 percent in January from the fourth quarter of 2011, Calgary-based TransGlobe said Jan. 30.

Flint Energy Services Ltd., an oilfield-services company, rallied 6.4 percent to C$15.73 after gaining 5.6 percent yesterday. Frederic Bastien, an analyst at Raymond James Financial Inc., began coverage of the company with a “strong buy” rating yesterday, citing its diverse activities and growth in the shale gas and natural gas liquids industries.

Raw-materials companies in the S&P/TSX advanced as the U.S.

Dollar Index fell to the lowest intraday level since Dec. 9 and base-metals futures rose.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Rio Tinto Group’s majority-owned partner in the Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia, climbed for the first time in five days, increasing 3.6 percent to C$16.76. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, rose 0.9 percent to C$47.42 as wheat futures gained after settling at a four-month high yesterday.

Valeant gained 4.6 percent to C$50.80 after agreeing to buy Probiotica Laboratorios Ltda., based in Embu das Artes, Sao Paulo, for 150 million reais ($86 million). Probiotica had about

80 million reais in revenue last year, Valeant said in a statement.

Westport Innovations Inc., which develops natural-gas engine technologies, dropped 6 percent to C$39.14 after Navistar International Corp. said it will sell heavy-duty trucks with engines it is developing with Clean Air Power Ltd. Westport closed at a 10-year high yesterday.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, snapping a four-day decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid signs that manufacturing across the world is strengthening.

Financial and industrial shares in the S&P 500 rose at least 1.1 percent to lead gains among 10 groups. Morgan Stanley added 4 percent as Facebook Inc. was said to pick the firm to take the lead on its planned initial public offering. Whirlpool Corp. surged 13 percent as the appliance maker projected earnings that beat forecasts. Technology companies in the benchmark index rallied to an 11 year-high. Broadcom Corp.

jumped 8.1 percent as its sales forecast may top estimates.

The S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 1,324.08 at 4 p.m. New York time, following the biggest January advance in 15 years for the measure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 83.55 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,716.46. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies jumped 2.1 percent to 809.66.

“The manufacturing is looking pretty good,” Allan Flader, a senior vice president at RBC Wealth Management, said in a telephone interview from Phoenix. His firm oversees $227 billion. “It shows that there’s not a contraction going on and that we’re progressing and moving forward.”

Equities rallied after data showing manufacturing in the U.S. grew at the fastest pace in seven months. Factory indexes in China improved and a U.K. manufacturing gauge jumped to an eight-month high. In Germany, output grew for the first time since September. Manufacturing contracted less than initially estimated in the euro region. A spokesman said Greece expects to complete talks on a private sector debt swap and a second international financing deal for the country in the next days.

“The news on the economy is better,” David Sowerby, a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co., which oversees $150 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The uncertainty in Europe has diminished. While corporate profits have been less robust, they are still growing.

That’s what’s moving stock prices higher.”

The S&P 500 rose 4.4 percent for the best January since it gained 6.1 percent in 1997, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings beat projections at 67 percent of the 209 companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results since Jan. 9, the data show. Profits probably grew 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The projection has fallen from 6.2 percent at the end of last year.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most-tied to the economy rallied 1.6 percent. A gauge of homebuilders in S&P indexes jumped 3 percent. Construction spending increased 1.5 percent in December, the biggest gain since August, Commerce Department figures showed today.

The KBW Bank Index rose 1.7 percent as 23 of its 24 stocks gained. Bank of America Corp. added 3.2 percent, the most in the Dow, to $7.36. Citigroup Inc. advanced 2.9 percent to $31.60.

Morgan Stanley climbed 4 percent to $19.39. Facebook will file plans with regulators today to raise $5 billion, though the amount may increase, two people said. Morgan Stanley stands to earn a larger share of the fees collected by securities firms for arranging the IPO.

Whirlpool surged 13 percent to $61.64 after also reporting a 20 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit. Cost reductions and price increases “positively impacted” the results last quarter, the company said today in a statement.

A measure of technology shares in the S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent as some of the industry’s largest companies rallied.

Microsoft Corp., the largest software maker, advanced 1.2 percent to $29.89. Hewlett-Packard Co. increased 2.8 percent to $28.76. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.4 percent.

Broadcom jumped 8.1 percent to $37.13. The company is benefiting from demand for radio chips that help Apple Inc.’s smartphones and tablets connect over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals. Apple’s phone sales more than doubled to 37 million in the quarter.

Casino companies gained after revenue in Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub, rose 35 percent in January. MGM Resorts International climbed 5 percent to $13.70. Las Vegas Sands Corp.

increased 2.2 percent to $50.18.

AOL Inc. soared 9.6 percent to $17.76. Profit exceeded analysts’ estimates as display advertising sales gained for the fourth straight period.

Amazon.com Inc. tumbled 7.7 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $179.46. Sales missed estimates, signaling that its investments in media services, Kindle devices and shipping promotions have been slow to pay off.

NYSE Euronext slid 0.5 percent to $26.43. European Union regulators vetoed the plan by Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext to create the world’s biggest exchange after concluding that the merger would have led to a “near-monopoly” in European exchange-traded derivatives.

Strategists at the biggest banks are capitulating on their bearish forecasts after the best start to a year for global stocks since 1994.

Just two weeks after saying that investors should “remain cautious,” Larry Hatheway, the chief economist at UBS AG, raised his recommendations on global shares and high-yield bonds in a Jan. 23 note to customers entitled, “Wrong, but not too late.” Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, and Benoit Anne, the global head of emerging-markets strategy at Societe Generale SA, said their estimates for developing nations were proven wrong.

The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 5.7 percent in January, surprising strategists at Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc who had forecast first-half losses because of Europe’s debt crisis.

“In hindsight, everybody was so beared up at the end of last year,” Mary Ann Bartels, the New York-based head of technical and market analysis at Bank of America, who predicted on Dec. 27 that the S&P 500 would probably fall about 15 percent in the first half before recovering, said in a Jan. 31 phone interview. “There was nowhere for the market to go but up.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Man must understand that when he cuts himself off from all stimulating and purifying contact with infinity,

and no longer relies on it for his subsistence and his health, he risks madness;

he tears himself asunder, and divorces himself from his very substance.

-Rabindranath Tagore,1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Make learning your business,

speak little, do much and

receive everyone kindly.

-Shamma, 1963-

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor