Month: March 2012

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

March 15, 44 BC: Julius Caesar assassinated.

 

Men at some times are masters of their fates,  the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars.  But in ourselves, that we are underlings.  –William Shakespeare.

“…Not only had there been fearful portents in the night sky, but Julius Caesar’s spouse had dreamed of his death and – what does it take to make this guy listen?  – a soothsayer had warned:  ‘Beware the Ides of March.’  The great Roman general headed off to the Senate on March 15^th anyway, where he was promptly assassinated by conspirators who feared he wanted to become king.  Even Caesar’s best friend – ‘Et tu, Brute?’ – was in on it.  But the plot to prevent tyranny was for naught:  After a whole lot of bloodshed and a memorable affair between one rival for power, Antony, Egypt’s Cleopatra, Octavian – Caesar’s self-styled heir – became Augustus, and the Roman republic became an empire…” –John Ibbitson, G & M, March 15, 2012.

photos of the day

March 15, 2012

A woman poses for photos among some of the 10,000 clay flowers that form artist Fernando Casasempere’s ‘Out of Sync’ installation in the court at Somerset House in central London. Casasempere’s installation will be on show until April 27.

Andrew Winning/Reute

A woman wears a hat to the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meet in Gloucestershire, western England.

Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

 

Market Closures for March 15, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	13252.76	+58.66
		+0.44%
S&P 500	1402.60	+8.32
		+0.60%
NASDAQ	3056.37	+15.64
		+0.51%
TSX	12455.82	+77.92
		+0.63%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	10123.28	+72.76
		+0.72%
HANG SENG	21353.53	+45.64
		+0.21%
SENSEX	17675.85	-243.45
		-1.36%
FTSE 100	5940.72	-4.71
		-0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.203	2.154
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.734	2.704
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.2759	2.2722
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.4078	3.44122

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00822	1.00688
US $	0.99185	0.99317
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.29743	0.77076
US $	1.30809	0.76447

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1657.00	1642.90
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	105.41	105.70

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Joseph Ciolli

March 15 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rebounded from the biggest drop in a week as financial shares gained after U.S. economic data was better than forecast and Quebec said it plans to approve the takeover of the Toronto Stock Exchange’s owner.

TMX Group Inc. gained 3.1 percent after the province’s financial markets authority said it plans to approve the proposed C$3.73 billion ($3.76 billion) purchase by Maple Group Acquisition Inc., a group of pension funds and banks. Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s biggest lender, advanced 0.8 percent.

China Gold International Resources Corp. increased 2.1 percent on speculation that low interest rates will spur investment in gold.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index increased 77.92 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,455.82 in Toronto.

“The approval of the TMX deal is certainly a plus,” Stephen Gauthier, a money manager at Fin-XO Securities in Montreal, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$600 million. “Strength in the U.S. market, especially in financials, is also having a positive effect on the Canadian market today. It’s definitely helped the banks.”

The index has increased 1.3 percent since March 6, the day of its largest decline of the year, as stronger-than-forecast American jobs data and Greece’s debt restructuring helped offset concern over China’s lower growth target and Europe’s economic contraction. The U.S. accounted for 74 percent of Canada’s exports last year.

Canadian banks and insurers rose after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said manufacturing in the region expanded in March at the fastest pace since June 2010 and the Labor Department said claims for jobless benefits fell last week, matching the lowest level in four years. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index increased to 12.5 in March from 10.2 last month, beating economists’ estimates.

Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.8 percent to C$58.18. Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-biggest lender, advanced 2.1 percent to $55.35.

TMX Group gained 3.1 percent to C$45.09. Maple said today it was in discussions to extend its offer for Toronto-based TMX beyond the planned April 30 completion date as it pursues regulatory approval from provincial authorities and Canada’s Competition Bureau.

Materials stocks in the S&P/TSX rebounded from a three-day decline, led by gold companies, as futures for the precious metal rallied on signs that investors are stepping up purchases as an alternative to a weaker dollar.

China Gold, which focuses on Asian gold development and exploration, increased 2.1 percent to C$4.32. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold-mining company, rose 1.5 percent to C$43.54. Yamana Gold Inc., Canada’s third-largest company in the industry by market value, gained 1.8 percent to C$15.60.

US

By Stephen Kirkland and Rita Nazareth

March 15 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index above 1,400 for the first time since 2008, as reports on manufacturing and jobless claims bolstered optimism in the economy. Treasuries trimmed losses.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent to close at 1,402.6 at 4 p.m. in New York and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 58.66 points to 13,252.76, its highest close since December 2007. The 10-year Treasury yield added one basis point to 2.28 percent after gaining as much as eight basis points. Crude pared losses as an Obama official denied a report the U.S. and U.K. planned to release oil from strategic reserves.

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P 500 advanced as U.S. jobless claims matched the lowest level in four years and manufacturing in the New York region expanded at the fastest pace since June 2010. Other reports showed consumer confidence climbed to the highest level since 2008 and international demand for U.S. financial assets increased more than forecast.

“The stock market is not terribly cheap, but reasonably priced,” John Carey, who helps oversee about $220 billion at Pioneer Investments in Boston.

The S&P 500 is trading for about 14.5 times its companies reported earnings, the highest valuation since July while still below the five-decade average multiple of 16.4. Financials, commodity producers and industrial companies led gains among the 10 main industry groups in the S&P 500 today.

Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and General Electric Co. rose at least 1.9 percent to lead gains in the Dow.

Cisco Systems Inc. slipped 1.4 percent after the largest maker of equipment for computer networks agreed to buy NDS Group Ltd. in a deal valued at about $5 billion to add software used in next-generation video services.

Economic reports today showed the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to the highest since 2008, reaching minus 33.7 from minus 36.7 in the week ended March 11. An economic index from the Philadelphia Fed showed manufacturing in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware expanded at the fastest pace in 11 months as factory employment picked up.

The S&P 500 closed at its highest level since June 5, 2008.

On that date, the index climbed 2 percent to 1,404.05, led by a 7.8 percent rally in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The New York- based securities firm had lost a third of its value in the previous month and filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. The S&P 500 went on to plunge 52 percent before bottoming in March 2009.

Oil slipped 0.3 percent to $105.11 a barrel today, the lowest settlement since March 6. Futures rebounded from a 1.6 percent drop after an Obama administration official said there has been no agreement with Britain on a release of oil. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Reuters reported earlier that the two nations would cooperate in an effort to cut rising gasoline prices.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed up 0.3 percent, erasing earlier losses and reaching the highest level since July. Hennes & Mauritz AB advanced 2.4 percent after Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer reported an unexpected gain in sales. Aixtron SE surged 15 percent as Deutsche Bank AG recommended the shares.

Pernod-Ricard SA slid 2.1 percent as Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA sold a 499 million-euro ($651 million) stake.

Ten-year Treasury yields climbed for a seventh day, the longest stretch since 2006. The rate rose to as high as 2.35 percent, the highest since Oct. 28. The average yield on 1,277 government debt securities in Merrill Lynch’s Global Sovereign Broad Market Plus Index climbed to 1.743 percent yesterday from 1.647 percent on March 7. The yield was 2.274 percent a year ago.

While Treasury yields are rising, the 10-year rate is about 1.5 percentage points less than last year’s high of 3.77 percent reached on Feb. 9. The yield averaged 3.87 percent in the past decade.

International demand for U.S. financial assets rose more than forecast in January. Net buying of long-term equities, notes and bonds totaled $101 billion during the month, compared with net purchases of $19.1 billion in December, the Treasury Department said. Six economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast net buying of $38.5 billion of long-term assets, according to the median estimate.

The pound fell versus 11 of 16 major peers and borrowing costs rose at a bond auction after Fitch Ratings said the U.K. risks losing its AAA rating.

The 10-year U.K. gilt yield climbed three basis points to 2.37 percent, while sterling depreciated 0.3 percent against the euro. The U.K. sold 2 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) of bonds maturing in December 2042 at an average yield of 3.431 percent, up from 3.287 percent at an auction of similar-maturity debt in December.

The Spanish 10-year bond yield rose one basis point to 5.18 percent as the government sold 3 billion euros of bonds, compared with a maximum target of 3.5 billion euros it set for the sale. The bid-to-cover ratio for notes maturing in April 2016 was 4.13, compared with 2.21 when the notes were sold in January.

The 10-year French bond declined for the second day, with the yield rising four basis points to 2.97 percent, as the debt office auctioned sold 8.46 billion euros of notes, at the top end of the 8.5 billion euros targeted.

The euro strengthened versus eight of 16 major peers, climbing 0.4 percent to $1.3087 to halt a two-day slide versus the dollar.

The International Monetary Fund approved a 28 billion-euro ($36.6 billion) loan for Greece as part of a second bailout with the euro area that requires more austerity and steps up controls over the country’s spending. The Washington-based IMF said 1.65 billion euros will be immediately available under the new arrangement.

The Swiss franc strengthened 0.9 percent against the dollar and 0.5 percent versus the euro as the Swiss central bank kept its cap on the franc unchanged and said deflation still threatens the economy even as growth shows signs of stabilizing.

The Swiss National Bank, led by interim Chairman Thomas Jordan, maintained the franc ceiling at 1.20 francs per euro, as forecast by all 14 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The Zurich-based central bank said in an e-mailed statement today that it also kept its benchmark interest rate at zero.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.7 percent after foreign direct investment in China dropped for a fourth straight month, taking its two-decline to 3.3 percent, the most since Aug. 9.

The BSE India Sensitive Index lost 1.4 percent, its first retreat in five days, as the central bank kept rates on hold.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Man  has accepted conflict as an innate part of daily existence

because he has accepted competition, jealousy, greed, acquisitiveness and aggression

as a natural way of life.

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Try to be better than yourself.

-William Faulkner, 1897-1962

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 – 3.14, is Pi Day:

Pi

This article is about the number. For the Greek letter, Pi, ?, and ?.

? (sometimes written pi) is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any Euclidean circle’s circumference to its diameter. ? is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve ?, which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants. For instance, the area of a circle is equal to ? times the square of the radius of the circle.

? is an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction having integers in both the numerator and denominator (unlike 22/7). Consequently, its decimal representation never ends and never repeats. ? is also a transcendental number, which implies, among other things, that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) can render its value; proving this fact was a significant mathematical achievement of the 19th century.

Throughout the history of mathematics, there has been much effort to determine ? more accurately and to understand its nature; fascination with the number has even carried over into non-mathematical culture. Perhaps because of the simplicity of its definition, ? has become more entrenched in popular culture than almost any other mathematical concept, and is firm common ground between mathematicians and non-mathematicians. Reports on the latest, most-precise calculation of ? are common news items; the record as of September 2011, if verified, stands at 5 trillion decimal digits.

The Greek letter ? was first adopted for the number as an abbreviation of the Greek word for perimeter (??????????), or as an abbreviation for “periphery/diameter”, by William Jones in 1706. The constant is also known as Archimedes’ Constant, after Archimedes of Syracuse who provided an approximation of the number during the 3rd century BC, although this name is uncommon today. Even rarer is the name Ludolphine number or Ludolph’s Constant, after Ludolph van Ceulen, who computed a 35-digit approximation around the year 1600.

–from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

photos of the day

March 14, 2012

A man looks at artwork as he is seen through the installation ‘Red Concave Circle’ by De Wain Valentine in the Pacific Standard Time exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau exhibition hall in Berlin.

Thomas Peter/Reuters

A man takes pictures near The Monolith sculptures in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. The sculpture park features 212 bronze and granite sculptures designed by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland between 1939 and 1949.

Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Market Closures for March 14, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	13194.10	+16.42
		+0.12%
S&P 500	1395.28	-1.67
		-0.12%
NASDAQ	3040.73	+0.85
		+0.03%
TSX	12377.90	-159.79
		-1.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	10050.52	+151.44
		+1.53%
HANG SENG	21307.89	-31.81
		-0.15%
SENSEX	17919.30	+105.68
		+0.59%
FTSE 100	5945.43	-10.48
		-0.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.154	2.067
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.704	2.635
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.2722	2.1263
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.4122	3.2688

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00688	1.01171
US $	0.99317	0.98843
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.29331	0.77285
US $	1.30281	0.76757

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1642.90	1672.30
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	105.70	106.68

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Joseph Ciolli

March 14 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the second time in three days, led by gold companies, on speculation that an economic recovery will curb demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

Guyana Goldfields Inc., which explores for gold in South America, decreased 9.4 percent. China Gold International Resources Corp. fell 4.9 percent. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s third-largest insurer, advanced 6.6 percent a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its assessment of the economy and refrained from new actions to lower borrowing costs.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 159.79 points, or 1.3 percent, to 12,377.90.

“With the Fed statements yesterday and the data coming out of the U.S., the market is getting a lot better,” Greg Taylor, a money manager at Aurion Capital Management in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$5.5 billion

($5.6 billion). “With that happening, people don’t need their insurance policy, which has been gold. It looks like it has no support until C$1,600, and that’s just dragging these gold companies lower.”

The index has increased 0.6 percent since March 6, the day of its largest decline of the year, as stronger-than-forecast American jobs data and Greece’s debt restructuring helped offset concern over China’s lower growth target and Europe’s economic contraction. Energy and raw-materials companies make up 46 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Gold tumbled on speculation that the Federal Reserve will refrain from offering additional stimulus as the economy recovers. Futures for April delivery retreated 3 percent to

$1,646.90 an ounce at 1:41 p.m. in New York, the biggest loss since Feb. 29.

Guyana Goldfields fell 9.4 percent to C$4.04, while China Gold dropped 4.9 percent to C$4.23. Nevsun Resources Ltd., which mines the metal in the African country of Eritrea, decreased 6.5 percent to C$3.46. Eight out of the 10 biggest stock declines in the S&P/TSX were gold companies.

Financial stocks in the S&P/TSX, led by insurers, rose for a fifth straight day after the Fed yesterday said 15 of 19 U.S.

banks would be able to maintain capital levels above a regulatory minimum in an “extremely adverse” economic scenario. Treasuries slid, sending 10- and 30-year yields to a four-mouth high.

Manulife surged 6.6 percent to C$13.49 after rising 11 percent, the most intraday since November 2010. Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. gained 11 percent to C$31.05 on the increased yields, the biggest increase in the S&P/TSX. Sun Life Financial Inc. rose 4.5 percent to C$22.61.

“The move can be traced to the increased in the 10-year bond yield, which is good for life companies,” Taylor said.

“That’s why Manulife is having a strong move today.”

GMP Capital Inc. fell 7.9 percent to C$7.20 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings per share excluding some items of 5 Canadian cents, missing the average analyst estimate of 9 Canadian cents.

Energy stocks in the S&P/TSX slipped with oil prices after inventories climbed to a six-month high.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, dropped 3.8 percent to C$32.75. TransCanada Corp., the developer of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, lost 1.6 percent to C$43.82.

US

By Susanne Walker and Rita Nazareth

March 14 (Bloomberg) — Treasuries slid, sending 10-year yields to a four-month high, while the dollar rose and gold tumbled as the Federal Reserve’s improved economic assessment caused investors to reduce bets on more monetary easing. Most U.S. stocks fell a day after the biggest rally of 2012.

The U.S. 10-year yield increased 14 basis points to 2.27 percent and the dollar strengthened versus all 16 major peers.

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

1,394.28 at 4 p.m. in New York after yesterday closing at its highest level since June 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for a sixth day, its longest rally in more than a year, ending up 16.42 points at a more-than four-year high of 13,194.1. Gold futures slid to an eight-week low.

The Fed said yesterday that strains in global financial markets have eased and the labor market is gathering strength.

The central bank said separately that 15 of the nation’s largest

19 banks may keep adequate capital levels even in a recession.

European industrial output rose 0.2 percent in January from the previous month. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said relaxing property curbs could cause “chaos” in the market.

“Some worry that with the Fed’s upgrade of the economic environment, they may not do a bond purchase program on the long end,” said Ira Jersey, an interest-rate strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in New York, one of 21 primary dealers that are required to bid at the auctions.

The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury climbed 14 basis points to 3.41 percent, the highest since October. The government today sold $13 billion auction of 30-year bonds at yield of 3.383 percent, the highest since August. The Fed’s 21 primary dealers that are required to bid at the sale were awarded 56.3 percent of the securities, compared with an average of 52 percent for the past five sales. Two-year yields increased four basis points to 0.39 percent.

The S&P GSCI Index of commodities lost 0.8 percent as silver and gold led declines among 21 of 24 raw materials.

Copper dropped the most in a week, losing 1.4 percent to $3.848 a pound, on concern demand will ease in China. Gold for April delivery declined 3 percent to $1,642.90 an ounce. Oil for April delivery slid 1.2 percent to settle at $105.43 a barrel in New York after stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, climbed to the highest level in nine months.

More than two stocks retreated for each that rose on U.S.

exchanges. MetLife Inc. slid 5.8 percent after a plan for a share buyback was rejected by the Fed. The Dow Jones Transportation Average lost 1.4 percent as railroads CSX Corp.

and Norfolk Southern Corp. tumbled at least 2.9 percent. Apple Inc. advanced 3.8 percent to a record $589.58 after Morgan Stanley raised its share-price estimate to $720.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 218 points yesterday and closed at the highest level since 2007, while financial shares in the S&P 500 rallied 3.9 percent as a group, the biggest gain of the year. The Fed said that it expects “moderate economic growth” and predicted the unemployment rate “will decline gradually.”

“Investors globally believe that macro risks have subsided” because of central bank actions, Tony Crescenzi, a strategist at Pacific Investment Management Co., said today in a radio interview on “The Hays Advantage” with Kathleen Hays and Vonnie Quinn. PIMCO manages the world’s biggest bond fund in Newport Beach, California. “The data as it’s accumulated has convinced more and more investors that the U.S. economy is on firmer footing than many previously thought.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo joined banks raising dividends and authorizing share repurchases after passing the stress tests. The results of the Fed’s tests showed that almost three years of economic expansion have helped U.S. banks raise profits, rebuild capital and increase liquidity after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008.

Citigroup Inc., the lender that took the most government aid during the financial crisis, said it will resubmit its capital plan to regulators after failing to meet some minimum standards in the tests. Citigroup has repaid $45 billion in TARP money. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said in a memo to employees today that the bank still plans a “meaningful”

payout to shareholders.

“I was expecting all of the banks to pass, but when you look at the terms, the stress tests were so onerous that a modest miss really isn’t all that discouraging,” said William Fitzpatrick, a Milwaukee-based financial-services analyst at Manulife Asset Management, whose team oversees $800 million.

The Stoxx 600 advanced for a second day as three shares gained for every two that declined. Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG climbed at least 3.9 percent to lead a rally in bank stocks. EON AG, Germany’s largest utility, jumped 6 percent as earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates. Legal & General Group Plc surged 7.2 percent after the fourth-biggest U.K. insurer by market value boosted its dividend as full-year profit rose.

The dollar advanced 0.4 percent to $1.3026 against the euro and strengthened 1 percent versus the yen. The Dollar Index, a gauge of the currency against six major peers, increased 0.5 percent to the strongest level since January.

The pound strengthened versus 14 of 16 major peers and the yield on the 10-year gilt jumped 17 basis points to 2.34 percent.

Britain is proposing to revive “perpetual gilts,” first used in the wake of the 1720 South Sea Bubble crisis, to allow the government to borrow for as long as possible at record-low rates, according to two people familiar with budget discussions.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will use his March 21 budget to announce a consultation on introducing bonds of up to

100 years and reviving debt with no fixed maturity.

The two-year Italian yield slipped four basis points to

1.997 percent as the government sold 6 billion euros ($7.8

billion) of bonds today, with borrowing costs on its three-year debt falling to the lowest since October 2010.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed.

Benchmark indexes in Turkey, Poland, Hungary and South Korea gained at least 1 percent, offsetting declines in China and Brazil. Russia’s Micex Index added 0.8 percent.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index sank 2.6 percent, the biggest drop since Nov. 30. A gauge tracking Chinese property stocks in Shanghai slid 3.7 percent. Anhui Conch Cement Co., the nation’s biggest maker of the building material, fell 3.3 percent, and Poly Real Estate Group Co., China’s second-largest developer by market value, slumped 3 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

I am imperfect and want to be perfect – this alone is the starting point of my nonviolence.

The imperfect will turn perfect when it ceases to be and what is not comes into being.

-Acharya Mahaprajna, 1920-2010

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.

The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.

The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.

And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.

-Elie Wiesel, 1928-

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

 

March 13^th, 1781: Planet Uranus discovered.

 

I read this poem last night in this week’s edition of The New Yorker:

 

TRUTH

 

Came varnished,

prepackaged, required

scissors to break the seal.

Worn raw from use, reuse

it put up splinters.

I sanded it, wiped it

clear with turpentine.

Liked the look of it

newborn,  thought about

polyurethane, two coats

at least – varnish is old hat.

Rethought the climate:

cutting, quick to punish.

Went out for more varnish.

 

-Maxine Kumin

 

photos of the day

March 13, 2012

A man snaps a photo of a blossoming tree with his iPhone outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia.

Matt Rourke/AP

Jason Maguire on Cinders and Ashes (r.) jumps the last fence ahead of Robert Thornton on Montbazon during the Supreme Novices Hurdle Race, the first race of the day of the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meet, in Gloucestershire, western England. Maguire won.

Eddie Keogh/Reuters

 

Market Closures for March 13, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13177.68	+217.97
		+1.68%
S&P 500	1395.95	+24.86
		+1.81%
NASDAQ	3039.88	+56.22
		+1.88%
TSX	12537.69	+109.68
		+0.88%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9899.08	+9.22
		+0.09%
HANG  SENG	21339.70	+205.52
		+0.97%
SENSEX	17813.62	+225.95
		+1.28%
FTSE 100	5955.91	+63.16
		+1.07%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.067	1.996
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.635	2.583
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.1263	2.0296
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.2688	3.1655

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.01171	1.00758
US   $	0.98843	0.99248
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.29342	0.77314
US  $	1.30857	0.7614

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1672.30	1700.70
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.68	106.42

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Joseph Ciolli

March 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the fourth time in five days, led by commodity shares, after the U.S. Federal Reserve left policy unchanged, citing an improving labor market, and U.S. retail sales met forecasts.

Denison Mines Corp., the operator of three U.S. uranium mines, gained 9.3 percent after China Daily quoted an official as saying the country plans to increase imports of the nuclear fuel this year and buy uranium mines in Canada. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s third-largest insurer, rose 2.4 percent on the retail sales report. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest base-metals producer, rose 2.3 percent as copper climbed to the highest price in a week on prospects of improved demand from the U.S.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 91.54 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,519.55 at 3:07 p.m. in Toronto. The index extended gains in afternoon trading after Federal Reserve policy makers led by Chairman Ben Bernanke raised their assessment of the economy and refrained from new actions to lower borrowing costs.

“I would say the announcement is neutral,” Danielle Park, a money manager at Venable Park Investment Counsel Inc. in Barrie, Ontario, said in a telephone interview. The firm manages at least C$1 million ($1 million) each for more than 200 clients. “Stocks rallied this morning supposedly on hope for some message, but I wouldn’t say he delivered it. He’s saying that global market stresses have eased and that higher oil is going to push up inflation temporarily. That would suggest to me that he would be on hold for QE.”

The index has increased 1.8 percent since March 6, the day of its largest decline of the year, as stronger-than-forecast American jobs data and Greece’s debt restructuring helped offset China’s lower growth target and Europe’s economic contraction.

Energy and raw-materials companies make up 46 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Equities advanced today after Commerce Department data showed U.S. retail sales rose 1.1 percent in February, matching the median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Sales rose in 11 of 13 categories, including auto dealers and clothing stores, showing gains in demand were broad based.

Raw-materials stocks in the S&P/TSX rose on the retail sales data. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer increased 3.3 percent to C$21.13. Teck increased 2.3 percent to C$36.29.

Denison Mines surged 9.3 percent to C$1.64.

China plans to import more uranium this year than last, Qian Zhiming, the deputy director of China’s National Energy Administration, told China Daily. The country imported 16,126 tons of uranium in 2011, the newspaper said, citing customs data. China aims to buy overseas uranium mines, particularly those in Canada, Qian was quoted as saying.

Financial companies in the index increased for a fourth day. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, advanced 1.9 percent to C$57.88. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender, rose 0.9 percent to C$83.10.

Manulife climbed 2.4 percent to C$12.57.

US

By Nick Baker and Rita Nazareth

March 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level since 2007, and Treasuries fell after the Federal Reserve raised its assessment of the economy and JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its dividend.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.8 percent to 1,395.95 at 4 p.m. New York time and the Dow climbed 217.97 points to 13,177.68. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index dropped to 13.99, the lowest intraday level since 2007. Yields on 10-year Treasuries advanced a fifth day, reaching 2.13 percent. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 percent at 4:53 p.m. while Citigroup retreated 3 percent after the Fed said it failed a stress test.

The U.S. central bank said the economic outlook has improved as the labor market gathers strength. Policy makers refrained from new action to lower borrowing costs. Gains in equities were also spurred by U.S. Commerce Department data showing retail sales jumped 1.1 percent in February. JPMorgan’s shares rallied 7 percent after the bank boosted its dividend and announced a $15 billion buyback.

“People are realizing that the world is not ending,” John Canally, who helps oversee about $330 billion as an economist and investment strategist at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston, said in a telephone interview. “There’s a lot of good positive momentum in the market. The retail sales data is helping.”

The dollar strengthened against the euro and yen. Copper futures rallied 1.8 percent, crude oil rose 0.4 percent and gold declined 1.6 percent in electronic trading.

Today’s rally pushed the S&P 500 above its March 1 peak, completing its recovery from the subsequent three-day loss.

Before the Fed’s comments, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell to an almost five-year intraday low of 13.99. It’s a gauge of how much investors are paying to protect against losses in the S&P 500, which has rallied five straight days. The VIX ended the day at 14.80, down 5.4 percent.

JPMorgan led financial shares higher. The biggest U.S. bank raised its quarterly dividend to 30 cents from 25 cents and authorized a share-repurchase plan as lenders respond to the Fed’s tests of how they would fare in an economic decline. Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advanced more than 6.2 percent.

Citigroup declined after the New York Stock Exchange closed at 4 p.m. The third-largest U.S. bank failed to meet the Fed’s minimum requirements in a stress test when examiners considered the effects of the firm’s plan for managing capital.

The Fed said at 4:30 p.m. New York time that 15 of the 19 largest U.S. banks could maintain adequate capital levels even in a recession scenario in which they continue paying dividends and buy back stock.

Apple Inc. rose 2.9 percent, rallying for a fifth straight day, as Jefferies Group Inc. raised its share-price estimate to $699. That helped send the Nasdaq Composite Index above 3,000 for the first time since 2000. The Dow Jones Transportation Average, considered a proxy for economic growth, climbed 2.1 percent.

German bunds fell, pushing 10-year yields up by the most in a month, after a report showed investor confidence in Europe’s largest economy improved, sapping demand for the region’s safest securities. The yield on the 10-year bund rose six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 1.82 percent.

Greek bonds issued to investors as part of the nation’s debt swap declined on their first full day of trading. The yield on the 2 percent bonds due in February 2023 rose 57 basis points, to 19.02 percent.

Spanish securities slipped after European finance chiefs meeting yesterday called on the nation to make deeper budget cuts. The yield on the nation’s 10-year bond yield climbed eight basis points to 5.13 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The whole universe is bound by the law of causation.

There cannot be anything, any fact – either in the internal or in the external world –

that does not have a cause; and every cause must produce an effect.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody

wants to help Mom do the dishes.

-P.J. O’Rourke, 1947-

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:

Birthday, Jack Kerouac, March 12, 1922.  In a conversation with the writer John Clellon Holmes, Jack Kerouac coined the term “Beat Generation” to describe the “beatness” or “weariness with the world of his post-war generation.  As a young man, he criss-crossed the country, studying Buddhism, working at odd jobs, and staying with his friends Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs.  Eventually he wrote On the Road, the book that catapulted him into reluctant fame in 1957.  Other books followed, including The Dharma Bums and Big Sur.  By the time he died of alcoholism in 1969, Kerouac had left his mark on American literary history with his spontaneous prose style, and continues to inspire legions of young people to live life on their own terms…

“… and everything is going to the beat.  It’s the beat generation, it be-at, it’s the beat to keep, it’s the beat of the heart, it’s being beat and down in the world and like oldtime lowdown and like ancient civilizations the slave boatmen rowing galleys to a beat and servants spinning pottery to a beat…”  -Jack Kerouac.

We saw the wonderful opera Orphée et Eurydice for the first time on the weekend, presented  by Seattle Opera.   This French opera, with music composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, and the libretto by Pierre Louis Moline, premiered on August 2^nd, 1774 in Paris, but we had never experienced it before.  It is probably the most brilliant choreography by Yannis Adonious of Athens, Greece, ever – absolutely magical.  Art indeed can transform our lives…

 

photos of the day

March 12, 2012

Budding cherry blossom trees along the tidal basin are seen with the Washington Monument in the background in Washington, D.C. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the gift of the trees from Japan, with peak bloom expected between March 24-31, according to the National Park Service.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

People walk at a park near the river Main in Frankfurt, Germany.

Alex Domanski/Reuters

Market Closures for March 12, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	12959.71	+37.69
		+0.29%
S&P 500	1371.09	+0.22
		+0.02%
NASDAQ	2983.66	-4.68
		-0.16%
TSX	12428.01	-75.61
		-0.60%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9889.86	-39.88
		-0.40%
HANG SENG	21134.18	+48.18
		+0.23%
SENSEX	17587.67	+84.43
		+0.48%
FTSE 100	5892.75	+5.26
		+0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.996	2.008
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.583	2.595
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.0296	2.0279
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1655	3.1778

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00758	1.00957
US $	0.99248	0.99052
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.30580	0.76582
US $	1.31569	0.76006

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1700.70	1714.30
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.42	107.42

Market Commentary:

Canada:

By Matt Walcoff

March 12 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in four days as fuels and metals dropped after China reported a smaller gain in exports than most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, lost 3.1 percent as the fuels declined on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-biggest gold producer by market value, decreased 1.4 percent as precious metals retreated. Viterra Inc., Canada’s largest grain handler, rose 6.4 percent after an analyst at Bank of Montreal said the company may be bought for as much as C$17.50 a share.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 75.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,428.01.

“There’s been a number of cautionary straws in the wind, such as the slowdown in China: How deep is it?” Bob Decker, a money manager at Aurion Capital in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about $5.5 billion. “If you’re looking for growth, and equity markets typically live and die on growth, you’re going to have to see it somewhere, and emerging markets are where most people are expecting a resumption of growth to be most robust.”

The index fell 1.8 percent in the previous two weeks in its first back-to-back weekly decline since Dec. 16 as commodity producers dropped with the prices of oil, natural gas and precious metals. Energy and raw-materials companies make up 47 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Chinese exports increased 18 percent in February from a year earlier, the country’s customs bureau said March 10.

Economists had forecast a gain of 31 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. China also reported smaller-than-forecast increases in retail sales and industrial production for February last week.

Crude oil futures retreated for the first time in four days, while natural gas slipped on forecasts for above-normal temperatures in the U.S.

Suncor lost 3.1 percent to C$33.19. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, decreased 3.1 percent to C$34.40. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest owner of the Syncrude project, slipped

2.6 percent to C$21.86.

Precious-metals producers in the S&P/TSX retreated as gold and silver fell on the Comex in New York. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold-mining company, dropped 0.4 percent to C$45.29, extending its streak of losses to nine days. Goldcorp declined 1.4 percent to C$46.25. New Gold Inc., which mines in Mexico, the U.S. and Australia, slumped 4.9 percent to C$10.06.

China Gold International Resources Corp. soared 19 percent, the most since October 2009, to C$4.56. The surge probably reflects Van Eck Associates Corp.’s increase in China Gold’s weighting in the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index, which is used for a $2.41 billion exchange-traded fund, Marcus Xu, director of equity investments at Genus Capital Management in Vancouver, said in a telephone interview. Xu’s firm oversees about C$1.7 billion ($1.7 billion).

Base-metals companies retreated after the data release from China, the world’s largest user of the commodities. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest company in the industry, lost

2.9 percent to C$35.48. Copper, zinc and gold producer HudBay Minerals Inc. decreased 5.6 percent to C$11.49.

SouthGobi Resources Ltd., which mines coal in Mongolia for Chinese steel mills, fell 9.9 percent to C$6.19 after S&P said it will cut the stock from the S&P/TSX.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, fell 2.1 percent to C$42.75. China was the fourth-biggest importer of Canadian fertilizer in 2011, according to Statistics Canada.

Viterra advanced 6.4 percent to C$14.45 after surging 24 percent March 9, when it said it had “received expressions of interest from third parties.”

The company may sell for C$14.50 a share to C$17.50 a share, Kenneth B. Zaslow, an analyst at BMO, wrote in a note to clients today. Glencore International Plc, the world’s largest publicly traded commodities supplier, is among the companies that expressed an interest in a potential offer for Regina, Saskatchewan-based Viterra, according to a person familiar with the situation who declined to be identified because the details haven’t been made public.

US:

By Rita Nazareth

March 12 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks retreated, capping the thinnest trading day in 2012, as investors weighed whether a Chinese slowdown will lead to an easing of monetary policy.

Newmont Mining Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. lost more than

1.9 percent as commodities fell. Financial companies slid on concern about how banks will perform in Federal Reserve stress tests and as the cost of insuring against default on European sovereign bonds rose to the highest in eight weeks. Gauges of utility and telephone providers in the S&P 500, which are least- tied to economic growth, gained. Apple Inc. rose 1.3 percent.

Seven stocks declined for every five rising on U.S.

exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time, with about 5.2 billion shares changing hands. The S&P 500 advanced less than 0.1 percent to

1,371.09 today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 37.69 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,959.71. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies retreated 0.3 percent to 814.29.

“The U.S. is in good shape, yet China is a big question mark,” said Erick Maronak, chief investment officer of Victory Capital Management Inc. in New York. His firm oversees $28 billion. “How much will they have to ease to get things back on track? Europe is still going to be a huge work in progress. Now that there’s some greater visibility on the Greece situation, everyone starts looking at dominoes two and three.”

The S&P 500 advanced 2.1 percent in the past four weeks amid better-than-expected economic data and as companies beat analysts’ profit forecasts for a 12th straight quarter. The benchmark gauge is up 9 percent this year.

Equities swung between gains and losses as China had the biggest trade deficit in at least 22 years, the weakest January- February factory-production gain since 2009 and retail sales were below the median economist estimate. Euro-area finance ministers gather in Brussels to sign off on the 130 billion-euro

($170 billion) second package for Greece as they focus on Spain’s budget-cutting efforts and Portugal’s aid program.

Energy and raw material shares fell as the S&P GSCI index of 24 commodities dropped 0.4 percent. Newmont Mining, the largest U.S. gold producer, dropped 2 percent to $55.75.

Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, declined 2.4 percent to $74.02.

“Some people are pointing to the evidence of a slower growth in China as the catalyst for today’s weakness,” said Mike Ryan, the New York-based chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas. His firm oversees $754 billion.

“Incremental demand for commodities still largely comes from Asia. The central banks are not going to be providing as much liquidity as they had in the past.”

The KBW Bank Index lost 0.7 percent as 17 of its 24 stocks retreated. JPMorgan Chase & Co. slid 1.2 percent to $40.54.

Regions Financial Corp. slumped 2.9 percent to $5.63.

Investors may be disappointed by how U.S. banks perform in Fed stress tests as examiners expect consumer-loan losses to surpass the industry’s estimates if there’s another severe recession, analysts say.

The Fed generally has predicted firms would suffer greater losses on mortgages and credit cards than what banks estimated in capital plans submitted in January, two people with knowledge of the situation said last week, without identifying specific firms. The divergence may endanger some of the $9 billion in dividend increases and share buybacks analysts estimate may be announced after the Fed releases results this week.

“The concern is that while banks may not have to raise capital, they might not be able to return capital as fast as shareholders want,” Walter Todd, who oversees $950 million as chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital in Greenwood, South Carolina, said in a telephone interview.

Oracle Corp. slipped 1.4 percent to 29.71. The software maker was cut to hold from buy at Jefferies Group Inc., citing “greater challenges” to its engineered systems strategy.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index retreated 1.5 percent.

United Continental Holdings Inc. slumped 1 percent to $19.62.

Southwest Airlines Co. declined 2.4 percent to $8.28. The shares were cut to neutral from buy at Bank of America Corp.

Dynegy Inc. tumbled 35 percent to 50 cents, a record low.

The third-largest independent U.S. power producer’s bankruptcy should be taken over by a court-approved trustee who will better protect creditors, the U.S. Trustee monitoring the case for the federal government said in court papers.

Companies which are least-dependent on economic activity rose today. Constellation Energy Group Inc. advanced 3 percent to $37.23. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. added 1 percent to $60.68.

Apple rallied 1.3 percent to $552, a record high. The shares have risen 4.1 percent in four days.

Harley-Davidson Inc. added 2.6 percent to $48.11. The biggest U.S. motorcycle maker had its share-price estimate boosted to $50 from $46 by Citigroup Inc., which said the company’s retail sales have increased 16 percent to 18 percent so far in the first quarter.

Equifax Inc. climbed 3.4 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $44.09. The provider of consumer-credit information was increased to buy from neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc., which said the company is poised to deliver “sustainable above-average” growth in sales and earnings.

Transportation and industrial shares are diverging in the U.S., a signal that equity investors are starting to agree with what the bond market already knows: this economic recovery will remain sluggish for months to come.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average has fallen 3.9 percent from its six-month high on Feb. 3, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 percent. The gauge of 20 shipping companies peaked before the rest of the market when the technology bubble popped in 2000 and began slipping into a bear market three months before broader benchmark indexes in 2007.

While Laszlo Birinyi, the founder of Birinyi Associates Inc., says falling transport stocks don’t signal an end to the three-year bull market that doubled the S&P 500, money managers at Robert W. Baird & Co. and Legg Mason Inc. say the 25 percent rise in the index since October may have gone too fast.

Transport stocks are falling as 10-year Treasury yields stay near 2 percent, with economists forecasting the slowest post-recession recovery since World War II.

“In a healthy market, everything is going in the same direction,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird, which oversees $85 billion.

“When that starts to diverge, that raises a flag that potential trouble may be brewing.”

Monster Beverage Corp.’s escalating profit from energy drinks pumped full of caffeine and nitrous oxide may tempt acquirers to chase what would be the most expensive takeover in the industry’s history.

After the stock more than doubled in the last year, Monster Beverage is valued at 20 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the priciest multiple of any North American soft-drink maker greater than $500 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that includes net debt.

“What Monster’s so successfully done in the last few years is proven that demand for energy drinks is fairly universal among young people,” Caroline Levy, a beverage and household products analyst for Credit Agricole Securities USA Inc. in New York, said in a telephone interview. “This business is now too big to ignore. If you’re a player in soft drinks, I think it’s very hard not to be in the highest-margin, highest-growth category out there.”

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Knowledge relieves all suffering.  Knowledge liberates.

Which knowledge?  Chemistry?  Physics?  Astronomy? Geology?

They help a little, but only a little.  The true knowledge is the knowledge of our own nature.

Know yourself.  You must know who you are, understand your inner nature.

You must become conscious of this infinite nature in yourself.  Then you will break free of your shackles.

-Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

The wind and waves are always on the side

of the ablest navigator.

-Edward Gibbon, 1737-1852

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

 

Green therapy

Gardens can promote healing, says Scientific American.  “Scientists around the world are now digging into the data to find out which features of gardens account for the effect.”

 

• Lush, layered landscapes with shade trees, flowers and shrubs at various heights should take up roughly 70 per cent of the space.

 

• Abstract sculptures do not soothe people who are sick or worried.

 

• Gardens that can be seen, touched, smelled and listened to soothe best.  But avoid strongly fragrant flowers or other odours for patients undergoing chemotherapy.

 

• Fountains that sound like dripping faucets do not soothe anyone.

-Globe & Mail

 

photos of the day

March 9, 2012

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, fill the western sky above the Russian Orthodox Saint Nicholas Memorial Chapel in Kenai, Alaska. The display of lights came in the aftermath of a solar storm that struck Earth on Thursday.

M. Scott Moon/Peninsula Clarion/AP

People walk through the Casa Enzo Ferrari museum during a media preview in Modena, northern Italy. The museum honors the life and work of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Italian sports car manufacturer, and will officially open on Saturday.

Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

Market Closures for March 9, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	12922.02	+14.08
		+0.11%
S&P 500	1370.87	+4.96
		+0.36%
NASDAQ	2988.34	+17.92
		+0.6%
TSX	12503.62	+41.69
		0.33%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9929.74	+160.78
		+1.65%
HANG SENG	21086.00	+185.27
		+0.89%
SENSEX	17503.24	+357.72
		+2.09%
FTSE 100	5887.49	+27.76
		+0.47%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.008	2.009
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.595	2.595
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.0279	2.0156
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1778	3.1761

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99052	1.00972
US $	1.00957	0.99038
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.29983	0.76933
US $	1.31226	0.76204

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1714.30	1400.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	107.42	106.21

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 9 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, trimming a weekly loss, as energy and financial shares advanced after the U.S. reported a bigger gain in payrolls than most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast.

Nexen Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on five continents, climbed 2.1 percent as crude oil headed for a weekly increase. Viterra Inc., Canada’s biggest grain handler, jumped 25 percent after saying it “received expressions of interest from third parties.” Neo Material Technologies Inc., which makes rare-earths and zirconium products, soared 37 percent after agreeing to be bought by Molycorp Inc.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 37.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,499.50 at 2:15 p.m. Toronto time, reducing its weekly drop to 1.1 percent.

“The U.S. economy is clearly improving — not stellar growth, but improving,” Jeff Bradacs, a money manager on a Manulife Financial Corp. team that oversees about C$1.5 billion ($1.5 billion), said in a telephone interview. “The stronger job number in the U.S. is important because it’s driving demand for commodities and oil, and that’s important for the Canadian stock market.”

The S&P/TSX is set to retreat for a second-straight week for the first time since Dec. 16. Raw-materials and energy stocks have slipped as the U.S. dollar rose on concern about sovereign debt and a potential economic slowdown in Europe, amid speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve won’t begin a third round of asset purchases. Resources companies account for 47 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

U.S. nonfarm employers added 227,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Economists had forecast an increase of 210,000 positions, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Energy companies in the S&P/TSX gained as crude advanced for a third day on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nexen increased 2.1 percent to C$19.94. Penn West Petroleum Ltd., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, rose 1.6 percent to C$20.78.

Oil-sands developer Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. climbed 4.2 percent to C$12.12 after R. Jason Konzuk, an analyst at Dundee Securities, assigned it a buy rating in new coverage.

“Athabasca has demonstrated the ability to compress project timelines through the execution of joint ventures, and we believe has the necessary financial capacity and technical capability to allow it to concurrently advance its project portfolio,” Konzuk wrote in a note to clients.

The S&P/TSX Financials Index advanced after the release of the U.S. economic data. Manulife, North America’s third-largest insurer, gained 1.6 percent to C$12.19. Sun Life Financial Inc., Canada’s third-biggest insurance company, climbed 1.2 percent to C$21.10. Bank of Montreal, the country’s fourth-largest lender by assets, increased 0.6 percent to C$57.88.

Base-metals and coal producers rose as copper gained for a third day on the Comex in New York. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest company in the industry, advanced 1 percent to C$36.56. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second- largest publicly traded copper producer, increased 2.3 percent to C$21.02.

Copper and zinc producer HudBay Minerals Inc. rallied 5.6 percent to C$12.32. Shane Nagle, an analyst at National Bank of Canada, raised his rating on the shares to outperform from sector perform two days after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 40 percent, excluding certain items. An outperform rating means the stock will gain more than other companies the analyst monitors.

Viterra surged 25 percent to C$13.72 after rallying as much as 28 percent, the most intraday in nine years. The Canadian government’s plan to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly may encourage a takeover bid for the Regina, Saskatchewan-based company, Jason Zandberg, an analyst at PI Financial Corp. in Vancouver, said in a telephone interview.

Due to Viterra’s jump, the S&P/TSX Consumer Staples Index climbed the most intraday since January 2009, wiping out its decline for the year.

Neo Material Technologies jumped 37 percent to a record C$10.95 after Greenwood Village, Colorado-based mining company Molycorp agreed to buy the company for about C$1.3 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash and shares. Neo owners will receive C$8.05 in cash and 0.122 of a Molycorp share for each Neo share. Molycorp rose 16 percent in New York.

Rare Element Resources Ltd., which is developing a rare- earths project in Wyoming, surged 18 percent to C$5.95. Quest Rare Minerals Ltd., which explores in eastern Canada, soared 18 percent to C$2.93.

Uranium producer Denison Mines Ltd. plunged 11 percent to C$1.55 after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of 9 cents a share, excluding certain items. Analysts had forecast a loss of 3 cents a share, according to the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The shares tumbled as much as 14 percent, the most intraday in 11 months.

US

By Rita Nazareth

March 9 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, capping the fourth straight weekly rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after a government report showing stronger-than-forecast payroll growth bolstered optimism in the world’s largest economy.

Financial shares had the biggest gain among 10 groups in the S&P 500 as Greece’s private creditors agreed to a debt swap.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and BB&T Corp. added at least 1.2 percent.

Lennar Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc. rallied more than 3 percent, pacing gains in homebuilders, after Credit Suisse Group AG raised its recommendations for the companies. Starbucks Corp. rose 2.9 percent on plans to introduce a new single-cup brewer.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 1,370.87 at 4 p.m. New York time. The index rose 2.1 percent in four weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14.08 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,922.02. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies jumped 1.3 percent to 817. About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 6.4 percent below the three-month average.

“The jobs report was solid, but not spectacular,” said James McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago. His firm manages $663 billion. “This helps depict the U.S. as the standout Western economy continuing to slowly, but steadily repair. We didn’t see any improvement in the unemployment rate. That tells me the Fed is going to stay accommodative. The path of least resistance for stocks is up.”

Today is the three-year anniversary of the bull market in U.S. stocks that followed the global financial crisis. The S&P 500 has rallied 103 percent from its 12-year low on March 9, 2009, on better-than-estimated economic and corporate data. The index is up 9 percent in 2012.

Equities rose today amid the best six-month streak of job growth since 2006. The 227,000 increase in payrolls last month topped the median projection of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate held at 8.3 percent. The latest pickup in employment may not be convincing enough for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who last week said the labor market remains “far from normal,” a sign policy makers continue to see merit in keeping interest rates low for several years.

Investors also watched developments in Europe’s attempts to tame its debt crisis. Greece pushed through the biggest sovereign restructuring in history, opening the way for a second rescue package. An industry group ruled that Greece’s debt restructuring is a “credit event” that will trigger $3 billion in default insurance.

“This is a story of isolating Greece and preventing a massive financial contagion,” said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at San Francisco-based Charles Schwab Corp., which has $1.74 trillion in client assets.

Nine of 10 groups in the S&P 500 gained today, led by financial shares. The KBW Bank Index rallied 1 percent as 23 of its 24 stocks advanced. JPMorgan advanced 1.5 percent, the most in the Dow, to $41.03. BB&T increased 1.2 percent to $29.46.

A measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes rallied 3.3 percent. Lennar increased 3.1 percent to $25.45, while D.R.

Horton climbed 6.3 percent to $15.47. The shares were raised to the equivalent of buy at Credit Suisse.

Starbucks rose 2.9 percent to $51.84. The Verismo machine will make espresso-based beverages and brewed coffee. Starbucks will advertise and sell the machine and single-cup pods through a strategic relationship with closely held Krueger GmbH. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. tumbled 16 percent to $52.59.

Sprint Nextel Corp. surged 6.9 percent to $2.78. The request by regulators for Verizon Wireless and cable operators led by Comcast Corp. to provide more data on the companies’ proposed $3.6 billion airwaves deal appears to be “a partial victory” for smaller wireless operators such as Sprint, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. said in a note.

Molycorp Inc. soared 19 percent to $30.89. After losing two-thirds of its value in 10 months as demand for rare-earth metals imploded, it’s now seeking to boost shareholder returns with its biggest takeover.

The owner of the largest rare-earth deposit outside China yesterday agreed to buy Neo Material Technologies Inc. for C$1.3 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash and stock. With Neo Material, Molycorp will gain the ability to produce more types of magnets and increase sales to China, boosting profitability, Byron Capital Markets Ltd. said.

“It actually makes it a stronger story,” Jonathan Hykawy, a Toronto-based analyst at Byron Capital, said in a telephone interview. “Molycorp effectively has the pieces of the puzzle if this acquisition goes through to basically do the entire magnet industry. That’s a big, big, added slice of added cash flow that Molycorp really isn’t paying all that much for.”

Ten stocks in the Dow retreated today. Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s biggest personal-computer maker, slumped 1.9 percent to $24.18. The shares had the biggest decline in the 30-stock index, after rallying for two straight days.

Texas Instruments Inc. lost 1 percent to $32.27. The largest maker of analog semiconductors reduced its first-quarter sales and profit forecasts, citing lower demand for products that let wireless devices connect and run applications.

Pall Corp. fell 3.1 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $59.30. The supplier of filters for drugmakers and refineries was cut to neutral by Wedbush Securities, citing softness in markets including China.

Dynegy Inc. slumped 36 percent, the most in the Russell 2000 Index, to 76 cents. The independent power producer’s transfer of coal-fired power plants from a unit it later put into bankruptcy was fraudulent and harmed creditors, a court- ordered investigation found.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The only way to achieve consciousness is by concentrating on the physical, the mental, and the spiritual.

Concentration on the powers of the spirit to discover unity in diversity is called consciousness.

All that draws on unity is moral; all that draws on diversity is immoral.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Say yes to life even though you know

it may devour you.

-Stephen Larsen, 1970-2009

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: Full moon tonight!  Look north and you may be able to see the aurora borealis and the northern lights.  There is a solar storm that is going to occur tonight.

It’s International Women’s Day.

March 8, 1913: Income tax begins for the first time in the US.

March 8, 1917: Russian Revolution begins…

March 8, 1983: President Ronald Reagan calls USSR an “evil empire.”

 

photos of the day

March 8, 2012

Hindu priest Babulal jumps out of a fire to signify the burning of the demoness Holika during a ritual to mark the first day of the Holi spring festival at village Phalen, India. Holi in Phalen starts on the first day of the full moon where a Hindu mythological story will be re-enacted to symbolize the victory of good over evil.

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (r.) and first lady Michelle Obama present the 2012 International Women of Courage Award to Safak Pavey of Turkey on the 101st Anniversary of International Women’s Day at the State Department in Washington. Pavey, the first disabled woman elected to the Turkish Parliament, is being recognized for her work championing the rights of vulnerable populations.

Market Closes for March 8, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	12907.94	+70.61
		+0.55%
S&P 500	1365.91	+13.28
		+0.98%
NASDAQ	2970.42	+34.73
		+1.18%
TSX	12461.93	+111.77
		+0.91%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9768.96	+192.90
		+2.01%
HANG SENG	20900.73	+272.95
		+1.32%
SENSEX	17145.52	-27.77
		-0.16%
FTSE 100	5859.73	+68.32
		+1.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.009	1.966
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.595	2.570
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.0156	1.9721
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1761	3.1193

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00972	0.99782
US $	0.99038	1.00219
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.31482	0.76056
US $	1.327220	0.75345

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1400.10	1685.80
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.76	106.21

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in two weeks as commodities gained with the euro and banks advanced on speculation Greece will complete a debt swap.

Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, advanced 2.3 percent. Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s largest oil and gas producer, increased 1.6 percent as crude oil gained. Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-biggest gold producer by market value, rallied 1.1 percent as the U.S. dollar dropped the most intraday against the euro since Jan 17.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 111.77 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,461.93.

“The market has really figured it out,” Arthur Salzer, chief executive officer of Northland Wealth Management in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about

C$200 million ($200 million). “The banks are in shape for this large swap. They have to go along with it.”

After closing at an almost six-month high on Feb. 28, the index fell 3.1 percent through yesterday as raw-materials and energy companies dropped on concern Greece might not get enough bondholders to participate in the debt exchange. The industries make up 47 percent of Canadian stocks by market value.

Holders of about 85 percent of the Greek bonds eligible for the swap agreed to take part, according to a banking official in Athens who declined to be identified. The country had set a minimum of 75 percent participation. The deal would reduce Greece’s outstanding privately held debt by 53.5 percent.                       4

Banks in the S&P/TSX gained the most since Jan 23. Royal Bank advanced 2.3 percent to C$56.93. Toronto-Dominion Bank, its biggest domestic rival, rose 1.7 percent to C$81.70.

Regional lender Canadian Western Bank rallied after Sumit Malhotra, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd., boosted his rating on the shares to outperform from neutral. An outperform rating means Macquarie expects the stock to return at least 5 percentage points more than its benchmark over the next 12 months. The company’s net interest margin has probably bottomed, Malhotra wrote in a note to clients.

The shares climbed 2.8 percent to C$29.09.

Crude oil advanced on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Barclays Plc said international sanctions have reduced Iranian oil shipments by 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a day.

Suncor increased 1.6 percent to C$34.27. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-largest energy company, climbed 3.4 percent to C$37.89.

PetroBakken Energy Ltd., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, rose 6.3 percent to C$17.43 to extend its two-day surge to 16 percent. At least five analysts boosted their price forecasts on the shares today, a day after the company reported fourth-quarter cash flow that beat the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 15 percent. Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd., which owns a majority stake in PetroBakken, jumped 8 percent to C$16.60.

Oil and gas company NAL Energy Corp. rallied 5.1 percent to

C$7.63 after Travis Wood, an analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank, raised his rating on the shares to buy from hold. In a note to clients, Wood said the company is cheaper than its peers based on its price, debt and forecast cash flow. NAL Energy had declined six straight days through yesterday, its third streak of that length this year.

Gold futures gained the most in two weeks on the Comex in New York. Goldcorp advanced 1.1 percent to C$47.12. Yamana Gold Inc., Canada’s third-largest company in the industry by market value, increased 2.6 percent to C$16.98. Dundee Precious Metals Inc., which operates in Bulgaria, Armenia and Namibia, climbed

5.7 percent to C$10.02.

Base-metals producers rose after Germany reported a 1.6 percent increase in industrial production for January, beating the median economist forecast of 1.1 percent growth.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, climbed 2 percent to C$20.55 after plunging 14 percent in the previous four days. Coal and base-metals company Sherritt International Corp. surged 7.5 percent to C$5.88.

HudBay Minerals Inc., which mines copper, zinc and precious metals, advanced 4.9 percent to C$11.67 after reporting quarterly earnings that beat the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 40 percent, excluding certain items.

US

By Rita Nazareth

March 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest two-day advance of the year, as Greece moved closer to completing its debt swap.

Banks had the biggest increase in the S&P 500 among 24 groups. Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose at least

1.2 percent. Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. added more than 1.8 percent to pace gains among the biggest companies. Coach Inc., the largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, climbed 4.6 percent after saying its business continues to be “strong” in China.

McDonald’s Corp. lost 3.2 percent as sales trailed estimates.

The S&P 500 rose 1 percent to 1,365.91 at 4 p.m. New York time, adding 1.7 percent in two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,907.94. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies gained 1.3 percent to 806.34. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, or 8.8 percent below the three-month average.

“Greece has no choice and the bondholders have no choice,” said Stanley Nabi, New York-based vice chairman of Silvercrest Asset Management Group, which oversees $10.5 billion. “They’re both in the mud. The swap will go through.

That will cause a moderate sigh of relief in the market. How long it will extend? That’s the big question mark.”

Stocks gained as Greece’s government got about 85 percent of bondholders to tender their holdings of the country’s debt for new securities in the biggest restructuring in history. A final result will be released tomorrow at 8 a.m. in Athens, a government official said. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Athens time.

With Greece again the focus of the euro-area debt crisis now in its third year, the goal of the exchange is to reduce the

206 billion euros of privately held Greek debt by 53.5 percent.

Together with a 130 billion-euro second Greek aid package, the writedown is a key element in European leaders’ efforts to turn the tide against the crisis.

“They’ve bought themselves some time,” Alan Brown, the London-based group chief investment officer at Schroders Plc, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $283.9 billion.

“Reducing Greek debt is all well and good, but it doesn’t do anything to restore Greece’s competitiveness. This problem is likely to resurface and the question is when.”

Today’s rally in stocks extended the S&P 500’s gain in 2012 to 8.6 percent. The index has risen amid better-than-estimated economic data and expectations Europe would tame its debt crisis. Technology and financial shares had the biggest gains among 10 groups this year, adding at least 13 percent.

The KBW Bank Index advanced 1.4 percent today as 21 of its

24 stocks climbed. Wells Fargo climbed 3.3 percent to $31.40.

JPMorgan increased 1.2 percent to $40.44.

Investors also watched economic data as the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits rose to 362,000 last week, a level consistent with an improving labor market.

The Labor Department will report monthly jobs data tomorrow, which economists forecast will show an increase of 225,000 private jobs and total non-farm payrolls growth of 210,000.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most-tied to economic growth added 1.8 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average rallied 1.4 percent. A measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes increased 3.6 percent. Commodity and industrial shares had the biggest gains in the S&P 500 among 10 groups. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, rallied 2.3 percent to $9.77.

Caterpillar, the world’s biggest maker of construction and mining-equipment, rose 1.9 percent to $110.28.

Coach advanced 4.6 percent to $76.79. Analysts’ estimates are likely to increase because of a boost in revenue and gross margins, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. said.

Monster Worldwide Inc. surged 3.4 percent to $8.61. The online recruiting service that has lost almost 90 percent of its value is poised to extract a record takeover premium for investors. Chief Executive Officer Salvatore Iannuzzi said last week he is weighing options to boost the company’s shares after Monster traded as low as 0.67 times the value of its net assets.

competitor, said Matrix Asset Advisors Inc.

“It should wrest a high premium,” said David Katz, chief investment officer at New York-based Matrix Asset Advisors Inc., which oversees about $935 million and owned Monster shares as of February. Acquirers would still be “getting it at a steal.”

McDonald’s lost 3.2 percent, the most in the Dow, to $96.96. The restaurant chain said sales at stores open at least

13 months rose 7.5 percent worldwide last month, trailing analysts’ estimates for the first time since August, as consumers cut spending in Europe.

American International Group Inc. slumped 3.9 percent to $28.31. The U.S. Treasury Department is selling $6 billion in shares of AIG, the insurer rescued in 2008 after it suffered losses tied to wrong-way bets on the mortgage market.

Exxon Mobil Corp. slid 1.2 percent to $84.83. The company expects its natural-gas and oil production to drop 3 percent in 2012. Exxon’s forecast is based on an average price of $111 a barrel for Brent crude, it said in a slide presentation at an investor meeting today.

Dendreon Corp. tumbled 7 percent to $10.12. The shares had the biggest decline in the Russell 1000 Index. The maker of the prostate cancer drug Provenge slumped after Johnson & Johnson said its rival product, Zytiga, performed better than a placebo in a trial.

Apple Inc. gained 2.1 percent to $541.99. The shares closed almost unchanged yesterday after the company unveiled a new version of its iPad tablet computer. Apple took over from Wells Fargo as the stock most often in the top 10 holdings of the 50 largest mutual funds in the fourth quarter, and widened its lead among the biggest hedge funds, Citigroup Inc. said.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, was a top-10 holding for 18 of the 50 largest U.S. mutual funds in the period, Tobias Levkovich, Citigroup’s chief U.S. equity strategist, wrote in a note yesterday. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, and Microsoft Corp. are in the top 10 holdings of 17 of the mutual funds. Apple gained 6.2 percent in the quarter, while the S&P

500 rallied 11 percent. Wells Fargo rose 14 percent and Microsoft added 4.3 percent.

“The 30 most held stocks for hedge funds shifted more heavily” to technology, Levkovich said in the report. “Apple remains the most-held stock for both growth and value hedge funds as well as for growth mutual funds while Wells Fargo remains the most owned for value oriented mutual funds.”

The decreasing number of industry groups in “uptrends”

may foreshadow a retreat by the U.S. stock market, according to Craig W. Johnson, a technical market strategist at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.

The amount of industries trending higher increased from October through last month to about 95 percent before slipping last week, Johnson said, citing an indicator watched by analysts who use charts to predict market direction. He said the high proportion signaled the market was due for a retreat.

“This advance is getting tired,” Johnson said in a phone interview yesterday. “As the market gets to higher and higher levels, you start to see less and less participation,” he said.

“100 percent of the stocks up, 100 percent of the groups up”

all the time isn’t possible.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

What we are about to undertake is an expedition together, a journey of discovery

into the most secret recesses of our consciousness.

And for such an adventure we must travel light, we cannot burden ourselves

with opinions, prejudices, conclusions that is, with all the baggage that we have collected

over the past two thousand years or more.  Forget everything you know about yourself;

forget everything that you have thought about yourself;

we are going to set off as if we know nothing.

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

Each instant is a place we’ve never been.

-Mark Strand, 1934-

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

Went to listen to Clara Hughes last night in Vancouver…quite an inspiring and remarkable athlete and woman.

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. –Aristotle

Art installation ‘Key Frames’ by Groupe LAPS of France lights up during a media preview of the i Light Marina Bay sustainable light art festival in Singapore. Key Frame is comprised 20 stick-like figures that come to life in a display of light and sound.

Edgar Su/Reuters

The sun erupts with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle in this multi-colored NASA photo taken on Tuesday. This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare since early 2007. The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun’s normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013.

NASA/SD0/AIA/Reuters

Market Closes for March 7, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	12837.33	+78.18
		+0.61%
S&P 500	1352.63	+9.27
		+0.69%
NASDAQ	2935.69	+25.37
		+0.87%
TSX	12350.16	+51.53
		+0.42%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9576.06	-61.57
		-0.64%
HANG  SENG	20627.78	-178.47
		-0.86%
SENSEX	17145.52	-27.77
		-0.16%
FTSE 100	5791.41	+25.61
		+0.44%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.966	1.936
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.570	2.551
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.9721	1.9427
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.1193	3.0736

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99782	1.00123
US   $	1.00219	0.99877
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian  $	1.31198	0.76221
US  $	1.31485	0.76054

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1685.80	1675.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.21	104.96

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the first time in four days, led by energy companies, as more bondholders joined a Greek debt swap.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil and gas producer, rose 1.4 percent as crude oil climbed after settling at a two- week low yesterday. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, dropped 1 percent after Statistics Canada said building permits plunged 12 percent in January.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 22.75 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,321.38 at 2:22 p.m. Toronto time after falling as much as 0.5 percent earlier, before more investors joined the Greek debt swap.

“There’s a lot of blind optimism and hope on the part of the people that are trading this market,” Danielle Park, a money manager at Venable Park Investment Counsel Inc. in Barrie, Ontario, said in a telephone interview. The firm manages at least C$1 million ($1 million) each for more than 200 clients.

“Each leg of news that comes out of the Greek deal, they have a euphoric blast.”

The S&P/TSX slumped 3.3 percent in the previous three days, led by raw-materials and energy companies. Resources stocks fell with the euro on concern not enough owners of Greek bonds would take part in a restructuring meant to avoid a national default.

The industries make up 47 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Oil and metals rose after investors with 58 percent of Greek bonds eligible for the debt swap indicated they would participate. The country has set a minimum participation level of 75 percent for the transaction, which ends tomorrow.

Suncor gained 1.4 percent to C$33.80. Talisman Energy Inc., which produces energy in North America, the North Sea and Indonesia, climbed 1.5 percent to C$13.21. TransCanada Corp., the developer of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, advanced 1.6 percent to C$43.67.

PetroBakken Energy Ltd., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, surged 7.4 percent to C$16.15. The company reported cash flow per share that surpassed analysts’ estimates, reports from Bank of Montreal and Canaccord Financial Inc. said.

Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd., which owns a majority stake in PetroBakken, rose 6 percent to C$14.98.

Natural gas producer Paramount Resources Ltd. sank 6.3 percent to C$32.80 after saying that lower forecast natural gas prices and well-performance issues restrained the growth of its reserves.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, lost 2.7 percent to C$20.05 to extend its four-day tumble to 14 percent. The company disclosed fourth-quarter earnings that lagged behind the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 21 percent, excluding certain items. First Quantum has missed analysts’ average profit forecast for eight straight quarters.

Great Basin Gold Ltd., which mines in Nevada and South Africa, soared 8.8 percent to 87 Canadian cents after reporting drilling results. The shares closed at a 10-year low yesterday.

The value of municipal building permits filed in January fell to C$6 billion, the lowest total in four months, Statistics Canada said today. The drop was almost four times the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Canada’s seven-largest lenders each retreated. Royal Bank decreased 1 percent to C$55.57. Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-biggest lender by assets, slipped 1 percent to C$52.44.

Laurentian Bank of Canada, the country’s seventh-largest lender, dropped 1.6 percent to C$44.31 after first-quarter earnings excluding some items missed the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Technology-patent owner Wi-LAN Inc. jumped 7.4 percent to C$5.26 after increasing its quarterly dividend 20 percent to 3 Canadian cents a share. The stock declined to the lowest since December 2010 yesterday.

The shares’ surge reflected company executives’ confidence about Wi-LAN’s prospects on a conference call with analysts, including a forecast that revenue will double in five years, Dev Bhangui, an analyst at Fraser MacKenzie Ltd., said in a telephone interview.

Nordion Inc., which produces medical sterilization products and isotopes, fell 6.7 percent, the most since January 2011, to C$9.49 after reporting first-quarter earnings that trailed the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 14 percent, excluding certain items.

Propane distributor Superior Plus Corp. surged 6.2 percent to C$7.51 after Jason Granger, an analyst at BMO, raised his 12- month price estimate on the shares to C$7 from C$6. Granger cited the company’s efforts to increase profit margin.

Aecon Group Inc., a Toronto-based construction company, jumped 6 percent to C$13.05 after analysts at Toronto-Dominion Bank, Paradigm Capital Inc. and Stonecap Securities Inc. boosted their share-price estimates. Aecon reported fourth-quarter earnings on March 5 that beat the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey by 33 percent, excluding certain items.

US

By Rita Nazareth

March 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, following the biggest decline in 2012 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after a private report showed American companies increased hiring and more investors signed on to a Greek debt swap.

Equities extended gains on a report that the Federal Reserve is discussing a new type of bond-buying program.

Financial and industrial shares rose the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500. Bank of America Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. advanced at least 2.2 percent. Apple Inc. added 0.1 percent after introducing a new version of the iPad with a sharper screen.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 1,352.63 at 4 p.m. New York time, after slumping 1.5 percent yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 78.18 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,837.33. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies gained 1.1 percent to 795.95. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 9.1 percent below the three-month average.

“The market just wants to go up,” said Jack Ablin, who helps oversee $55 billion as chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. “The ADP report was positive. The bigger participation in the Greek debt swap is encouraging. Plus, there’s a report that says that the Fed would continue to buy bonds, but they are not going to expand their balance sheet.”

Stocks rose as companies added 216,000 workers to payrolls in February, according to ADP Employer Services. The report came two days before the Labor Department’s monthly jobs data.

Consumer borrowing rose more than forecast in January. Optimism about Greece’s debt swap also helped lift stocks. Investors with 58 percent of the Greek bonds eligible for the nation’s debt swap have so far indicated they’ll participate.

Equities extended gains as the Wall Street Journal said the Fed would print new money to buy long-term mortgage or Treasury bonds, then effectively tie up that money by borrowing it back for short periods at low rates.

“The Fed ought to be saving future bullets for a situation that requires a strategic intervention,” said Philip Orlando, the New York-based chief equity strategist at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $370 billion. “If the Fed does something now, what happens if six months from now, Greece does default and it does throw the world into a recession? What’s the Fed going to do then?”

Before today, the S&P 500 had fallen for three straight days on concern that a rally that restored more than $3.2 trillion to U.S. equity value since October outpaced economic prospects. The benchmark gauge trades at 13.9 times reported earnings, below the average since 1954 of 16.4 times.

Financial shares, which yesterday had the biggest loss among 10 groups in the S&P 500, led the gains today. Bank of America rose 4 percent, the most in the Dow, to $8.02. JPMorgan Chase & Co. advanced 1.6 percent to $39.95.

Industrial shares had the second-biggest gain in the S&P 500. Caterpillar advanced 2.2 percent to $108.28. United Technologies Corp. climbed 1.5 percent to $82.57.

General Electric Co. increased 1.9 percent to $18.77. The world’s biggest maker of jet engines, power generation equipment, health-care imaging equipment and locomotives reiterated its forecast of earnings growth of at least 10 percent from industrial and capital units this year.

Apple rose 0.1 percent to $530.69, trimming a gain of as much as 1.4 percent. The new iPad will cost $499 to $829 and include an A5X chip that enables better graphics. It will also boast a 9.7-inch screen that has more pixels than traditional high-definition televisions and run on so-called long-term evolution, or LTE, wireless networks. The device will be available March 16, and Apple is taking orders starting today.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is making the most significant upgrade yet to Apple’s tablet months before Microsoft Corp. introduces software that will run on competing devices. The new version is also aimed at helping the company fend off competition from Google Inc.’s Android operating system, as well as Amazon.com Inc., whose $199 Kindle Fire is gaining traction among budget-conscious buyers.

Microsoft gained 0.9 percent to $31.84. Google added 0.3 percent to $606.80. Amazon.com rose 1.5 percent to $183.77.

Ciena Corp. surged 4.2 percent to $14.01. The maker of network equipment for phone companies forecast fiscal second- quarter revenue that topped some analysts’ estimates. Ciena, which last month said first-quarter results would suffer from delays in recording international sales, today predicted stronger operating results in the second half of the year.

Rival JDS Uniphase Corp., the largest maker of fiber-optic testing equipment, added 2.5 percent to $12.80.

A measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes jumped 4 percent.

Lennar Corp. increased 5.6 percent to $23.62. D.R. Horton Inc. climbed 3.9 percent to $13.99.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. increased 2.5 percent to $2.46.

The largest homebuilder in New Jersey reported a narrower first- quarter loss as it reduced writedowns and increased sales.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. added 2.4 percent to $122.27. The hotel and casino operator asked investors to approve the removal of Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada as a director, after accusing him of making improper payments to Philippines gambling officials.

Kraft Foods Inc. fell 1.2 percent to $37.83 for the biggest decline in the Dow. The company was cut to “hold” from “buy” by Jefferies Group Inc., which said the stock has little incentive to outperform this year.

Pandora Media Inc. plunged 24 percent, the most in the Russell 1000 Index, to $10.86. The Internet radio pioneer forecast first-quarter results that missed analysts’ projections because of a seasonal lull in advertising sales.

Solar stocks declined as Canadian Solar Inc.’s loss exceeded estimates. Canadian Solar fell 13 percent to $2.85.

First Solar Inc. dropped 6.6 percent to $25.80 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear comes from the selfish idea

of cutting one’s self off form the universe.

-Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

A great deal of talent is lost to the world

for the want of a little courage.

-Sydney Smith, 1771-1845

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

Hello All,

 

My name is Ellora, I am one of Carolann’s new assistants, and since Carolann is gone to Vancouver to see clients for the day, I will be doing the newsletter!

 

Tangents:

On this day in 1947 one of my favorite Hollywood directors was born: Rob Reiner. Reiner is known for directing such great films as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, and my personal favorite The Princess Bride. You can see more about Rob Reiner’s career in the link bellow, it’s Inconceivable!

 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rob-reiner-born

 

 

A little background on me, I’m a recent graduate of Political Science at the University of Victoria. Being that today is Super Tuesday in American politics, it would be remiss of me not to mention at least something about what is happening South of the border. In an effort to avoid being partisan I thought I would post about the brief moment of unity Washington experienced at the end of February.

 

In celebration of Black History Month, the greats of Blues music descended on the White House for “Red, White, and Blues.” The likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, and Mick Jagger all performed and even the President got up and sang a song.  Reporter and professor of Anthropology Paul Stoller had this to say about the event:

 

“The music created a feeling of shared fellowship that melted away social and political differences. Given the contemporary dysfunction of government in Washington, such a much-needed convergence, however temporary, was quite special.”

Hopefully the power of Blues can hang around Washington for a while as politics become more divided during the run-up to the election.

 

You can watch the entire concert at: http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/

 

photos of the day

March 5, 2012
Flowers are thrown on Hindu devotees as they reach for a deity of Lord Krishna while celebrating Holi, the festival of color, at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, India. According to legend, Vrindavan is a famous place for Holi celebrations since it is where the Hindu god Krishna played Holi with his consort Radha.

Kevin Frayer/AP

Photographers take photos during Chanel fashion house’s presentation for Women’s Fall-Winter, ready-to-wear 2013 fashion collection during Paris Fashion week.

Thibault Camus/AP

Market Closes for March 6, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	12759.15	-203.66
		-1.57%
S&P 500	1343.36	-20.97
		-1.54%
NASDAQ	2910.32	-40.16
		-1.36%
TSX	12298.63	-225.32
		-1.80%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9637.63	-60.96
		-0.63%
HANG  SENG	20806.25	-459.06
		-2.16%
SENSEX	17173.29	-189.58
		-1.09%
FTSE 100	5765.80	-109.02
		-1.86%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.936	1.979
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.551	2.586
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.9427	2.0121
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.0736	3.1509

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00123	1.00617
US   $	0.99877	0.99387
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31378	0.76116
US  $	1.31226	0.76205

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1675.10	1705.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.96	107.18

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most this year as the U.S. dollar gained and fuels and metals dropped on concern a second bailout of Greece won’t stop the country from defaulting or the global economy from slowing.

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU), Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, declined 4.3 percent as crude futures retreated. First Quantum Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, plunged 6.2 percent as the metal lost the most in 12 weeks. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), the country’s second-biggest lender by assets, decreased 1.6 percent as financial companies dropped.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) fell 225.32 points, or 1.8 percent, to 12,298.63 after company reports showed the investors that have committed to Greece’s debt swap represent about 20 percent of privately held Greek bonds. The country has set a 75 percent participation rate as a threshold for proceeding with the transaction, which runs through March 8.

“As the markets rallied for 10 weeks, we’ve had lots of snippets of less-than-expected numbers, and the markets have gone up in the face of it,” Jeff Burchell, a money manager at Aston Hill Financial Inc. (AHF) in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$5.5 billion ($5.5 billion). “If you look behind it, it seems like an excuse to take some profits.”

After its biggest two-month gain to start a year since 2004, the index has decreased 3.3 percent to a seven-week low over the past three days. Raw-materials and energy companies retreated after Germany reported a decline in retail sales and China reduced its annual economic-growth goal. The S&P/TSX hadn’t slipped three days in a row since Dec. 15.

The U.S. dollar increased against 15 of 16 other major currencies today. The currency extended its advance after the European Union’s statistics office said its economy contracted 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, confirming an earlier estimate.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index (STENRS) decreased the most since Nov. 23 as crude oil fell to a two-week low on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Suncor dropped 4.3 percent to C$33.32.Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE), Canada’s fifth-biggest company in the industry by revenue, lost 4.3 percent to C$35.84.

Crew Energy Inc. (CR), a western Canadian oil and gas producer, fell 8.3 percent to C$11.45 after recording a C$181.9 million writedown due mostly to the impact of lower natural gas prices on asset values.

Gold stocks in the S&P/TSX extended their three-day slump to 5 percent as the metal dropped to the lowest since Jan. 24. Goldcorp Inc. (G), the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, lost 1.6 percent to C$46.89. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s biggest company in the industry, decreased 1.4 percent to C$45.72. Colossus Minerals Inc. (CSI), which is developing a gold project in Brazil, tumbled 12 percent, the most since February 2009, to C$5.75.

Base-metals and coal producers retreated, extending a 2012 low (STDIVM). Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK/B), Canada’s largest company in the industry, fell 2.3 percent to C$35.48. Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN), which operates in Europe, slumped 6.6 percent to C$4.51.

First Quantum tumbled 6.2 percent to C$20.60 after dropping 5.4 percent yesterday. The company, which is facing a strike at its Kansanshi mine in Zambia, is to report quarterly financial results today.

Major Drilling Group International (MDI) Inc., which provides services to mining companies, sank 5.1 percent to C$17.26 after its quarterly earnings trailed the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey by 16 percent, excluding certain items.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, retreated 3.2 percent to C$43.28 as corn futures declined after settling at the highest since September yesterday. China won’t need large imports of corn this year as it has ample supplies, Nie Zhenbang, the head of the country’s grain administration, told reporters in Beijing today.

The six largest S&P/TSX banks and all eight insurers fell. TD dropped 1.6 percent to C$80.55.Royal Bank of Canada (RY), its bigger domestic rival, lost 1.1 percent to C$56.15. Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC), North America’s third-largest insurer, retreated 4.1 percent to C$11.81.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP), the country’s second-largest railroad, declined 3.4 percent to C$72.25. North American railroads slipped after Consol Energy Inc., the third-largest U.S. coal producer, said it will cut output at its Buchanan mine in Virginia due to lower demand from foreign steelmakers.

 

US

By Rita Nazareth and Stephen Kirkland

March 6 (Bloomberg) — Stocks fell a third day, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting its worst drop of the year, and commodities slid after a report showedEurope’s economy contracted and as investors watched developments in a Greece debt-swap deal. U.S. Treasuries and the yen gained.

The S&P 500 (SPX) slid 1.5 percent, the most since Dec. 8, to 1,343.36 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 203.66 points to 12,759.15. Gold, silver and copper futures lost at least 1.9 percent. The yen gained versus all 16 major peers and 10-year Treasury note yields fell six basis points to 1.95 percent.

Europe’s economy shrank 0.3 percent last quarter, the European Union’s statistics office said, and the central bank’s balance sheet surged to arecord 3.02 trillion euros ($3.96 trillion) last week amid crisis-fighting efforts. The Greek government said it will use collective action clauses to compel bondholders to accept its debt restructuring if it receives sufficient consents from investors.

“I’m watching this market suffer,” Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees about $47 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The market has more questions than answers right now. The attention is turning internationally as investors focus on economic concerns and the possibilities of success or failure of the Greek bond swap. That makes investors nervous at these relatively lofty index levels.”

Financial (S5FINL), industrial and commodity companies helped lead declines in all 10 of the main industries in the S&P 500, retreating more than 1.6 percent. Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley paced losses among financial companies, falling at least 4.6 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Alcoa Inc. (AA) retreated as the S&P GSCI gauge of commodities slid as much as 1.6 percent, with 22 of 24 materials declining.

The S&P 500 slipped for a third day after last week closing at its highest level since 2008. At the start of today’s session, the index was up 24 percent from last year’s low in October and 8.5 percent higher in 2012.

Before today, the S&P 500 hadn’t retreated at least 1 percent and the Dow hadn’t fallen 100 points or more for 45 days, the longest streaks since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“You’ve got to believe stocks are not going straight to the skies,” Philip Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $370 billion, told Bloomberg Television. “We’re not going to have a year with no pullback in the middle of the year. So it’s perfectly reasonable that we could have a moderate correction, let’s call it 5 percent.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

 

Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity…

-Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989)

Cheers,

Ellora

Dwell in possibility.

– Emily Dickinson

 

Ellora Howie

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

Sir Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech took place on this day in 1946:

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has been descended across the continent…”

 

And as I responded in the affirmative to my client’s request below, please have a look:

Hey Carolann,

 

Hope you’re doing well.

 

I wondered if you could include our Dancing with the Octopus video contest info in your next newsletter please?

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TVTTpWv754&list=UUGYf_zBbS3eLgyjfwEb2V8w&index=1&feature=plcp

 

Announcing Dancing with the Octopus Video Contest!

First Prize $500. Deadline March 31, 2012

 

“What would it look like if your government was 75% women?”  Show us in 2 minutes or less.

 

Dancing with the Octopus is a portal to ‘start the conversation’ about equal representation of women and men in government. We want to hear what you have to say! Tell a story, draw a picture, write a skit, just keep it under two minutes. The top 5 videos will be judged by a panel of lady politicians from four of Canada’s federal parties. All the details at dancingwiththeoctopus.com

 

photos of the day

March 5, 2012

Supporters of the United States wait for the start of their Algarve Cup group B, third round, women’s soccer match with Japan at the Algarve stadium outside Faro, southern Portugal.

Armando Franca/AP

Britain’s Prince Harry watches a parade of students at a youth rally and cultural show at the National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. The Prince is on a week-long tour through Central America and the Caribbean acting as an ambassador for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as part of her Diamond Jubilee.

Suzanne Plunkett/Reute

Market Closes for March 5, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	12962.81	-14.76
		-0.11%
S&P 500	1364.33	-5.30
		-0.39%
NASDAQ	2950.48	-25.71
		-0.86%
TSX	12523.95	-119.87
		-0.95%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9732.28	-44.75
		-0.46%
HANG  SENG	21265.31	-296.95
		-1.38%
SENSEX	17362.87	-274.12
		-1.55%
FTSE 100	5874.82	-36.31
		-0.61%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.979	1.961
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.586	2.579
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.0121	1.9774
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.1509	3.1064

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00617	1.001104
US   $	0.99387	0.98908
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31427	0.76088
US  $	1.32238	0.75621

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1705.50	1713.30
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	107.18	106.70

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 5 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day, led by raw-materials and energy producers, after China cut its economic growth target and a purchasing managers’ survey showed a decline in euro-region services and factory output.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, lost 5.4 percent as the metal retreated for a second day. Silver Wheaton Corp., the country’s third-biggest precious-metals company by market value, decreased 3.1 percent after an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. reduced his rating on the shares. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, slipped 1.8 percent as natural gas futures dropped on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 119.87 points, or 1 percent, to 12,523.95 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

“It’s an open question how much China is going to grow for three or four years,” Todd Johnson, a money manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees C$340 million ($342 million).

“It’s important to the commodity sector because they’re the net price-setter on lots of materials: copper, iron ore, even oil.”

The S&P/TSX lost 0.6 percent last week as oil dropped the most since Jan. 13 on easing Middle East tensions and gold slumped the most since Dec. 16 on a stronger U.S. dollar. Energy and raw-materials companies make up 48 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

China reduced its annual growth target to 7.5 percent from 8 percent. The country needs to shift to a more sustainable and efficient economic model, Premier Wen Jiabao told the National People’s Congress today.

A composite index of euro-area services and manufacturing purchasing managers’ surveys dropped to 49.3 last month from 50.4 in January, London-based Markit Economics said today. The firm published an initial figure of 49.7 on Feb. 22. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.

Base-metals and coal producers in the S&P/TSX fell the most since Dec. 13. First Quantum dropped 5.4 percent to C$21.95.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, sank 6 percent to C$36.20. Inmet Mining Corp., a copper and zinc producer, slumped 8.1 percent to C$60.

Among gold producers, Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second- biggest by market value, lost 1.9 percent to C$47.65 as the precious metal retreated. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest company in the industry, decreased 1.1 percent to C$46.38. Semafo Inc., which mines in West Africa, fell 5.1 percent to C$6.21.

Silver Wheaton fell 3.1 percent to C$36 after Tony Lesiak, an analyst at Macquarie, cut his rating on the shares to neutral from outperform. A neutral rating means the shares will return within 5 percentage points of their benchmark over the next 12 months.

Primero Mining Corp. may reduce its reserves estimate for its San Dimas gold and silver mine in Mexico, Lesiak wrote in a note to clients. Silver Wheaton has agreed to buy the silver produced at the mine. Primero slipped 1.4 percent to C$2.76.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, declined 3.1 percent to C$44.72 after P.J. Juvekar, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., said Citigroup’s checks of fertilizer dealers found  “significant dealer caution regarding demand post the planting season.”         Juvekar made the comment in a note to clients about CF Industries Holdings Inc.

Energy companies in the S&P/TSX retreated as natural gas futures dropped to a six-week low on forecasts for mild weather in the U.S. Suncor lost 1.8 percent to C$34.81. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-biggest energy company by market value, slipped 2 percent to C$35.61. Progress Energy Resources Corp., a western Canadian natural gas producer, tumbled 5.7 percent to C$10.85.

Cancer-drug developer Aeterna Zentaris Inc. soared 23 percent, the most intraday since September 2009, to C$2.13.

Investors may be speculating the company will soon release successful results from the third phase of the trial of Perifosine, Reni Benjamin, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw LLC, said in a telephone interview.

US

By Rita Nazareth

March 5 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest two-day loss since January, as China cut its economic growth target and orders to American factories decreased for the first time in three months.

Commodity, technology and industrial shares dropped the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500. Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. fell at least 2.1 percent. Apple Inc. slumped 2.2 percent, snapping a seven-day advance. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. dropped more than 1.2 percent. International Business Machines Corp. closed above $200 on a split-adjusted basis for the first time, after rallying 9.1 percent in 2012.

The S&P 500 retreated 0.4 percent to 1,364.33 at 4 p.m. New York time, dropping 0.7 percent in two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 14.76 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,962.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.9 percent to 2,950.48. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 9 percent below the three-month average.

“It’s wise to take a little money off the table,” said David Joy, the Boston-based chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial Inc. His firm oversees $631 billion. “Some of the easy gains have already been made. We’re back to focusing on the economic fundamentals. China saying that they are targeting 7.5 percent growth raises concern of a hard landing.”

Equities joined a global slump as China pared its growth target to 7.5 percent from an 8 percent goal in place since 2005. In the U.S., data on orders to factories signaled manufacturing is cooling. Bookings fell 1 percent in January after a revised 1.4 percent gain in December that was larger than previously estimated.

A drop in Citigroup’s Economic Surprise Index for the U.S.is one of several concerns for the market in the short-term, according to Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup. The index, which measures the extent to which economic reports beat or miss forecasts, fell to 45.10 on March 2 from 83.70 on Feb. 3. The S&P 500 rose 8.5 percent this year amid better-than-estimated economic data.

“Too many data points are signaling near-term caution, and sticking to our disciplines always trumps emotions,” Levkovich wrote. Because the gauge is based on performance compared with estimates, “one does not have to predict any bad economic data in the months ahead to believe the surprise index will move lower from current extended levels,” which “may put some near- term downward pressure on stock prices.”

Companies most-tied to the economy slumped, sending the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index down 1.3 percent. Alcoa, the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, lost 3.6 percent to $9.87.

Caterpillar, the largest construction and mining-equipment maker, slid 2.1 percent to $110.09.

The KBW Bank Index declined 1.3 percent. Bank of America slumped 2 percent to $7.97. Citigroup lost 1.2 percent to $33.68 after naming board member Michael O’Neill to be chairman to succeed Richard Parsons, who is stepping down after overseeing the company’s recovery from near-collapse in 2008.

Apple sank 2.2 percent to $533.16, sending its market capitalization below $500 billion. The stock rallied 6.3 percent in seven days as investors anticipated a sales boost from the company’s latest iPad tablet computer, due on March 7.

Zynga Inc. tumbled 4.9 percent to $13.97. The biggest developer of games for social-networking sites was cut to neutral from overweight by JPMorgan Chase & Co., meaning the shares are expected to perform in line with the stocks the analyst covers over the next six-to-twelve months.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. decreased 5.7 percent to $9.96, while Leap Wireless International Inc. retreated 7.5 percent to $9.76. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. cut its recommendation for the shares.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. fell 5.5 percent to $177.98 after being cut to “neutral” from “buy” at Citigroup Inc. and removed from the firm’s “Top Picks Live” list.

IBM, the world’s biggest computer-services provider, rose for a third day. The shares added 0.9 percent to $200.66.

American International Group Inc. rallied 2 percent to $30.39. The insurer that received a bailout after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is selling $6 billion of AIA Group Ltd. shares to help pay back the U.S. government.

Big Lots Inc. climbed 3.4 percent to $44.15. The discount retailer was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Northcoast Research. The 12-month share-price estimate is $53.

Corporate profits that doubled since 2009 have left the S&P 500 cheaper than at all 34 peaks since 1989, even as options traders push the cost of protecting against losses to the highest in four years.

The S&P 500 rose 102 percent since March 2009 to an almost four-year high last week. Valuations are lower than at every 52- week peak since 1989. Traders have pushed the price of contracts that pay should the S&P 500 drop 20 percent to the most since 2007 compared with ones betting on a rally of the same size.

Rising oil prices and concern European leaders have yet to contain the credit crisis are keeping investors from paying more for profits, which are projected to reach annual records through 2013. Bears say equities aren’t cheap because the profit estimates are too optimistic. Bulls say shrinking price-earnings ratios provide a margin of safety should gains in the U.S. economy fail to match forecasts.

“Stocks have just gotten too cheap,” Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $160 billion. “We were worrying about a Chinese hard landing that didn’t happen. We worried about a U.S. double dip and that didn’t happen. We worried about Europe disintegrating, that didn’t happen. The worst risks have passed.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When a man begins to have a vision larger than his own truth,

when he realizes that it is much larger than it at first seemed, he begins to become conscious of his moral nature.

His perspective on life necessarily changes, and his will takes the place of his desires.

So comes about the conflict between our inferior self and our superior self,

between our desires and our will, between our greed for objects that appeal to our senses

and the purpose that comes from the bottom of our heart.

-Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The walls we build around us to keep sadness out

also keep out the joy.

-Jim Rohn, 1930-2009

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:

Birthday: Theodore Geisel, Dr. Seuss was born March 2^nd, 1904

Dr. Seuss’s eco-cautionary fable ‘The Lorax’: movie review

‘The Lorax’ is a reasonably entertaining version of Dr. Seuss’s eco-cautionary fable

By Peter Rainer, Film critic / March 2, 2012

‘The Lorax’ has a lively comic gallery of characters, including Danny DeVito as the titular tree-protector and Betty White as Grammy Norma.

Universal Pictures/HONS/AP

The Lorax – The 3-D animated feature “The Lorax” is a reasonably entertaining rendition of the 1971 Dr. Seuss eco-cautionary fable that now seems all too prescient. It’s about 13-year-old Ted (voiced by Zac Efron), who seeks out the legendary Truffula Tree far beyond the confines of his treeless, prefabricated town of Thneedville, where fresh air is sold in bottles.

Dr. Seuss: 10 favorite quotes on his birthday

Along the way a lively comic gallery emerges, including Ted’s Grammy Norma (Betty White), the orange sprite Lorax (Danny De Vito), and Thneedville’s reigning meanie Aloysius O’Hare (Rob Riggle). Director Chris Renaud and his team have fun with these dithery, frenetic characters. The film is less special when it slows down and takes a breath of fresh air. Grade: B (Rated PG for brief mild language.)

 

photos of the day

March 2, 2012

A man and a Buddhist monk ride a motor bike near U Bein bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world, in Mandalay. The bridge was built 200 years ago across the Taungthaman Lake and measures 0.75 miles in length.

Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

A woman rows on Lake Leman on a warm winter day in St-Sulpice near Lausanne.

Denis Balibouse/Reuters

 

Market Closes for March 2, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	12977.57	-2.73
		-0.02%
S&P 500	1369.63	-4.46
		-0.32%
NASDAQ	2976.19	-12.78
		-0.43%
TSX	12643.82	-79.64
		-0.63%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9777.03	+69.66
		+0.72%
HANG SENG	21562.26	+174.30
		+0.81%
SENSEX	17636.80	+52.83
		+0.30%
FTSE 100	5911.13	-20.12
		-0.34%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.961	2.006
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.579	2.614
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.9774	2.0261
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1064	3.1476

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.001104	1.01446
US $	0.98908	0.98575
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.30514	0.76620
US $	1.31984	0.75767

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1713.30	1721.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.70	108.85

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, completing a weekly retreat, as mining stocks dropped with the euro after Germany reported a decline in retail sales and oil futures slipped as Saudi Arabia denied speculation of pipeline sabotage.

Yamana Gold Inc., Canada’s third-largest gold producer by market value, lost 2.6 percent as the metal posted its biggest weekly slump since December. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-biggest energy producer by value, slipped

2.9 percent as crude oil finished its first weekly drop in four weeks. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, decreased 0.7 percent after an analyst at Toronto- Dominion Bank cut his rating on the shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 79.64 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,643.82, extending its weekly loss to 0.6 percent.

“The markets are showing a little bit of overbought conditions,” Philip Petursson, managing director of the Portfolio Advisory Group at Manulife Financial Corp.’s asset- management unit, said in a telephone interview from Toronto. The unit oversees about $217 billion. “The economic data that helped drive the markets higher has been fully digested in the marketplace.”

The index gained 6.4 percent this year through yesterday as gold, copper and oil futures each advanced at least 9.9 percent.

Energy and raw-materials make up 48 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

The U.S. dollar completed its biggest weekly climb against the euro since Jan. 6 after Germany reported that retail sales declined 1.6 percent in January. None of the 22 economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a drop that large.

Gold, silver and copper retreated on the Comex in New York.

Yamana lost 2.6 percent to C$16.82. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, decreased 2.6 percent to C$38.52. New Gold Inc., which mines in Mexico, Australia and the U.S., slumped 5.2 percent to C$10.76 after the average fourth-quarter earnings estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Oil dropped the most this year after Saudi Arabia’s oil ministry said there has been no sabotage of its oil facilities in the Qatif area. Iran’s Press TV said yesterday that an explosion had hit oil pipelines in eastern Saudi Arabia. Oil continued its retreat after The Atlantic magazine quoted U.S.

President Barack Obama as saying a pre-emptive strike on Iran might allow the country to “portray itself as a victim.”

Canadian Natural lost 2.9 percent to C$36.33. Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s biggest energy company, declined 1.1 percent to C$35.45. Calfrac Well Services Ltd. slid 7.6 percent to

C$32.48 after surging 26 percent in the previous three days.

Progress Energy Resources Corp., which produces natural gas and oil in Canada, rallied 6.7 percent to C$11.50 after Roger Serin, an analyst at TD, raised his rating on the shares to buy from hold. The company reported fourth-quarter cash flow per share 20 percent higher than Serin’s estimate.

Trinidad Drilling Ltd., an oil and gas services company, surged 5.4 percent to C$8 after Michael Mazar, an analyst at Bank of Montreal, said in a note to clients that the company has a “moderate-to-high” chance of raising its dividend when it reports quarterly financial results next week.

Royal Bank decreased 0.7 percent to C$56.40 to end its eight-day streak of gains, the longest in two years. Jason Bilodeau, an analyst at TD, reduced his rating on the stock to hold from buy. “Much of the opportunity for near-term outsized returns has been captured” after the shares soared 31 percent from Nov. 25 to yesterday, Bilodeau wrote in a note to clients.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., Canada’s biggest construction and engineering company, climbed 2.9 percent to C$40 after Gareth Tingling, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd., raised his rating on the shares to outperform from neutral. An outperform rating means the shares will return at least 5 percentage points more than their benchmark over the next year. SNC-Lavalin’s 21 percent plunge after disclosing an internal accounting probe was overdone, Tingling wrote in a note to clients.

US

By Rita Nazareth

March 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks retreated, trimming a weekly advance for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid concern that a rally that drove the benchmark gauge to the highest level since 2008 has outpaced global economic growth prospects.

Energy, industrial and financial shares had the biggest declines among 10 groups in the S&P 500. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Cummins Inc. and Morgan Stanley slid more than 1.6 percent to pace losses among the largest companies. Big Lots Inc. fell 4 percent as sales missed estimates. Yelp Inc., the site that lets users review everything from diners to dentists, gained as much as 73 percent in its first day of trading.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,369.63 at 4 p.m. New York time. It rose 0.3 percent since Feb. 24 for a third weekly gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 2.73 points, or less than

0.1 percent, to 12,977.57. The Russell 2000 Index lost 1.6 percent to 802.42, the lowest since Jan. 31. The gauge dropped 3 percent this week. About 6 billion shares changed hands on U.S.

exchanges, or 9.9 percent below the three-month average.

“Some people may think that the market is a bit ahead of itself after the rally in stocks,” said John Carey, a Boston- based money manager at Pioneer Investments. His firm oversees about $220 billion. “There’s concern about a potential slowdown as a result of Europe’s debt crisis. People seem to have been more relaxed about the situation in Europe, but when you look closely, you see that the underlying issues remain unresolved.”

Stocks followed a euro slump as Spain raised its budget- deficit target for 2012 and German retail sales unexpectedly declined. Treasuries gained for the first time in four days, while the S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities fell 1.2 percent.

Today’s drop came as the S&P 500 capped its best start to a year since 1991 on better-than-estimated economic data and expectations Europe would tame its crisis. It trades at 14.1 times reported earnings, which is the highest since August while still below the average since 1954 of 16.4 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Earlier this week, the Dow closed above 13,000 for the first time since 2008 and the Nasdaq Composite Index topped 3,000 for the first time since 2000.

“There’s a whole too far, too fast thing,” Rick Fier, director of equity trading at Conifer Securities LLC in New York, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees more than

$12 billion. “We don’t think that means it’s going to have a huge pullback, but a consolidation would be a relief.”

Seven out of 10 groups in the S&P 500 declined. Anadarko Petroleum fell 3.8 percent to $82.55, pacing losses in energy shares, as oil tumbled after yesterday topping $110 a barrel.

Cummins decreased 1.8 percent to $119.46. Morgan Stanley retreated 1.7 percent to $18.87.

Big Lots slid 4 percent to $42.71 after reporting fourth- quarter sales of $1.63 billion. On average, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated $1.66 billion.

Travelers Cos. lost 0.7 percent to $58.01. The only insurer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was downgraded to “equal weight” at Morgan Stanley. That means the stock’s total return is expected to be in line with the average for its industry peers over the next 12 to 18 months. The previous rating was “overweight.”

Overstock.com Inc. slumped 11 percent to $6.11. The online discount retailer reported fourth-quarter sales of $314.1 million, trailing the average estimate of $377.5 million from two analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Yelp climbed 64 percent to $24.58. The San Francisco-based company raised $107.3 million in the IPO, pricing the shares at

$15 each, according to a statement yesterday. The company earlier offered them for $12 to $14.

Facebook Inc. hired Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group AG and Citigroup Inc. to work on its $5 billion initial public offering, bringing the total of banks on the deal to nine, said a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Facebook’s new and existing banks will grant the company an additional credit line of more than $2.5 billion, said the same person, who declined to be identified as the decision isn’t public. The moves will be disclosed in a new regulatory filing in a couple of weeks, said the person.

Sara Lee Corp. added 7.1 percent to $21.83. Its international coffee company, which includes the Douwe Egberts, Senseo and Moccona brands, filed for a spinoff under the name DE International Holdings NV.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. jumped 4.3 percent to $127.27, as the stock resumed trading following an hour-and-a-half halt. The Las Vegas-based operator of its namesake and Encore casinos retracted a regulatory filing that suggested the company had completed a land concession contract on its proposed resort and casino in the Cotai area of Macau.

Shutterfly Inc. surged 17 percent to $31.36 after announcing an initial offer to buy Eastman Kodak Co.’s online- picture business for $23.8 million. Kodak, the photography pioneer that filed for bankruptcy protection in January, agreed to the so-called stalking horse bid in a court-supervised auction process, according to a statement yesterday.

Price swings in the S&P 500 have become more muted this year, making investors complacent about the outlook for stocks, according to Canadian brokerage firm Brockhouse & Cooper Inc.

There have been no daily swings of 2 percent or more in either direction this year, compared with more than 25 occurrences in the second half of 2011, when Europe’s sovereign- debt crisis triggered a drop in equities. The lower chart panel tracks the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, known as the market’s “fear gauge.”

“Volatility tends to come with negative surprises, and it’s been quiet since December,” said Pierre Lapointe, a strategist at the Montreal-based brokerage. “But quiet periods usually don’t last. There is a risk of complacency. This is a low volatility environment and investors shouldn’t think this is the new norm.”

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Everyone is but a manifestation of the Impersonal, the basis of all being,

and misery consists in thinking of ourselves as different from this Infinite, Impersonal Being;

and liberation consists in knowing our unity with this wonderful Impersonality.

-Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Confidence…thrives on honesty, on honor,

on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful

protection and unselfish performance.

Without them it cannot live.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882-1945

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor