Month: September 2012

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion, after studying the Rosetta Stone inscription, announced in a lecture attended by his chief English rival,  that he had solved the hieroglyphic alphabet.  The stone had been found by Napoleon’s army at a fort in Rosetta, Egypt, in 1799, and seized in 1801 by the British –setting off a race to decipher the hieroglyphics.  Using the Greek writing on the trilingual granite, Champollion isolated letters in a pompous 196 BC decree by Ptolemy V Epiphanes.  In so doing, the French linguist unlocked history’s longest-spoken language, supplied the key to Tutankhamen’s secrets and fathered Egyptology.  The iconic stone has now spent two centuries in London’s British Museum.  The French have an oversized replica in Champollion’s hometown.  Joy Yokoyama, G & M, September 27^th, 2012.

And also on this day in…

1920 – Eight Chicago White Sox players are charged with fixing the 1919 World Series.
1939 – Germany occupies Warsaw as Poland falls to Germany and the Soviet Union.
1942 – Australian forces defeat the Japanese on New Guinea in the South Pacific.
1944 – Thousands of British troops are killed as German forces rebuff their massive effort to capture the Arnhem Bridge across the Rhine River in Holland.
1950 – U.S. Army and Marine troops liberate Seoul, South Korea.
1956 – The U.S. Air Force Bell X-2, the world’s fastest and highest-flying plane, crashes, killing the test pilot.
1964 – The Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, issues its report, stating its conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman.

Singer Andy Williams, who died Sept. 26 at age 84, in his 2009 memoir “Moon River and Me”:

When Bobby [Kennedy] began his run for the presidency, I immediately volunteered to campaign for him and sing at a couple of fund-raisers. He then asked me if I would be one of the California delegates to the Democratic convention. “Shirley MacLaine is going to be one of my delegates, and I’d like you to be one, too.” I told him I’d love to do it, but a couple of weeks later a thought suddenly struck me, and I called Bobby and said, “I hope I haven’t screwed this up, but it’s just occurred to me: I’m a Republican.” He just laughed. “That doesn’t really matter. If you’d still like to do it for me, just go down and register as a Democrat.”

Four Rules For Life:  Show up.  Pay attention.  Tell the truth.  Don’t be attached to the results.  –Angeles Arrien, 1940-

photos of the day September 27, 2012

A painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci representing Mona Lisa, is displayed during a presentation in Geneva, Switzerland. The Mona Lisa Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Zurich, presents a painting and historical, comparative and scientific evidence, which demonstrates that there have always been two portraits of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the ‘Earlier Version,’ made ten years earlier than the ‘Joconde’ that is displayed in Le Louvre in Paris, France.

A site coordinator walks past a Luminarium installation by British designer Alan Parkinson during the British Arts Festival in Wuhan.

Reuters

Market Closes for September 27th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13485.97	+72.46
		+0.54%
S&P 500	1447.15	+13.83
		+0.96%
NASDAQ	3136.601	+42.899
		+1.39%
TSX	12338.85	+105.99
		+0.87%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8949.87	+43.17
		+0.48%
HANG  SENG	20762.29	+234.56
		+1.14%
SENSEX	18579.50	-52.67
		-0.28%
FTSE 100	5779.42	+11.33
		+0.20%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.757	1.746
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.348	2.331
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6542	1.6095
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8387	2.7785

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98080	0.98441
US   $	1.01958	1.01584
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.26655	0.78955
US  $	1.29131	0.77441

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1.777.30	1752.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.85	89.98
BRENT	113.41	110.92

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the first time in six days after Spain announced new austerity measures and commodities rallied on speculation China will introduce stimulus to support economic growth.

Colossus Minerals Inc. advanced 4.4 percent as gold rallied the most in two weeks. Niko Resources Ltd. jumped 8.8 percent as crude climbed the most in eight weeks. Research In Motion Ltd.

added 1.2 percent before posting better-than-expected second- quarter earnings after market close.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index soared 105.99 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,338.85 in Toronto. Raw-materials stocks rose 1.9 percent to lead gains as eight of 10 industries advanced. The benchmark Canadian gauge is up 3.3 percent this month.

“All the market needed was a little encouragement,” said David Cockfield, managing director with Northland Wealth Management in Toronto, which oversees about C$200 million.

“People say if Spain goes, then what happens to Italy, and how will the banking system hold together? So any solutions suggested would be very positive.”

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government announced its fifth austerity package, including a new tax on lottery winnings and a cut in ministries’ spending to shrink the euro area’s third-biggest budget deficit. The Shanghai Securities News, operated by the Xinhua News Agency, said there was speculation the China Securities Regulatory Commission would announce 10 measures to boost equities.

Colossus rose 4.4 percent to C$5.65 and Argonaut Gold Inc. added 4.8 percent to C$10.27. Gold futures for December delivery increased 1.5 percent to $1,780.30 in New York. The S&P GSCI Spot Index, which tracks a basket of 24 major commodities, jumped 1.3 percent to 660.29, its biggest increase in eight weeks.

China is the world’s biggest consumer of copper and a major importer of Canada’s commodity products.

“The markets needed some relief here,” said John Kinsey, a fund manager with Caldwell Securities Ltd. in Toronto. The firm manages about C$1 billion. “The rumors about stimulus in China have been there for some time because the numbers do point to a slowdown in their economy.”

Niko Resources, the worst-performing stock in the S&P/TSX this year, jumped 8.8 percent to C$12.49. Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd. climbed 2 percent to C$13.46 and PetroBakken Energy Ltd. rose 2.4 percent to C$13.95. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest energy company by market value, advanced 1.3 percent to C$32.42. Crude for November delivery rallied 2.1 percent to settle at $91.85 a barrel in New York.

Paramount Resources Ltd. soared 8.7 percent to C$29.72 and Trilogy Energy Corp. surged 7.4 percent to C$25.17. The excess of U.S. natural gas inventories has shrunk to 9 percent above the five-year average, compared with the beginning of the refill season in April when inventories were 61 percent above normalized levels, research from Bloomberg Industries shows.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. increased 3.1 percent to $20.88 and Inmet Mining Corp. gained 3 percent to C$47.44. Copper for December delivery rose 0.9 percent to settle at $3.744 a pound in New York. Prices have risen 8.3 percent this month, heading for the biggest monthly advance since January.

RIM rose 1.2 percent to C$6.96. The company wrapped up its annual developers’ conference in California.

After-market, RIM reported a second-quarter loss of 27 Canadian cents, better than an expected loss of 47 Canadian cents a share from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. RIM shares rose in extended trading.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, snapping a five-day decline for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as Spain pledged to cut its deficit and speculation grew that China’s government will do more to support economic growth.

General Electric Co., the world’s largest maker of jet engines and diesel locomotives, climbed 2.9 percent after raising its forecast for profit growth at its industrial units.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the largest U.S. tiremaker, rallied 3.9 percent as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised buying the shares. Discover Financial Services added 7.3 percent after the credit-card company’s earnings beat analysts’ estimates.

The S&P 500 rose 1 percent to 1,447.15 at 4 p.m. New York time, after slumping 1.9 percent in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 72.46 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,485.97. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5.7 billion shares, or 4.4 percent below the three-month average.

“People are still quite sensitive to news out of Europe and macro developments in general,” John Carey, who helps oversee about $220 billion at Pioneer Investments in Boston, said in a telephone interview. “Yes, people are encouraged by Spain’s austerity package. On the other hand, one does wonder what cuts will mean for growth. There’s also been speculation of Chinese stimulus.”

Stocks joined a global rally as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s nine-month-old government announced its fifth austerity package in what may be a move to head off tougher conditions demanded as part of a potential European bailout.

Shanghai Securities News said there was speculation the government would announce market-boosting measures.

In the U.S., fewer Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments last week. Equities rose even after data showed that the U.S. economy grew 1.3 percent in the second quarter, less than previously estimated.

Americans signed fewer contracts than forecast to purchase previously owned homes in August. Another report showed a gain in demand for capital goods such in August failed to make up for declines in the previous two months.

The S&P 500 has risen 2.9 percent in September and is on pace for the fourth monthly gain, the longest streak since March. Investors bought stocks amid better-than-estimated earnings and government measures to stimulate the economy.

If history is any guide, October may be another month of gains for stocks. Over the last 20 years, the Dow has risen an average 1.8 percent in October, with positive returns 70 percent of the time, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group. October has been the third best month for the 30-stock gauge behind November and April, the data shows.

Nine of 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose today as technology, energy and raw material shares had the biggest gains. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most-tied to the economy advanced 1 percent. Commodity producers joined a 1.3 percent rally in the S&P GSCI gauge of raw materials amid speculation that stimulus measures will spur demand from China. Alpha Natural Resources Inc. increased 2.4 percent to $6.75. Monsanto Co. advanced 2.1 percent to $91.36.

“The possibility of more Chinese stimulus is real,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage more than $3 billion at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “That does provide some hope to the market.”

GE added 2.9 percent to $22.73. Operating earnings at the company’s industrial businesses will rise about 10 percent this year, topping the previous forecast for a gain of 5 percent to 10 percent, according to a presentation today from the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company.

Goodyear increased 3.9 percent to $12.46. Goldman Sachs raised its recommendation to buy from neutral, citing improving replacement tire volume in North America and Europe and lower raw material costs.

Discover Financial Services added 7.3 percent to $39.71.

The credit-card lender that struck a partnership with EBay Inc.’s PayPal unit posted a fiscal third-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates as fewer loans soured.

The KBW Bank Index of 24 stocks added 1.1 percent. Bank of America Corp. climbed 1.8 percent to $8.97. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 1.1 percent to $40.68.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. jumped 6.2 percent to $11.95.

The prepaid wireless carrier rose as DealReporter said the company has held talks with suitors such as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Dish Network Corp. Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA also participated in talks with MetroPCS, DealReporter said, citing an unidentified source familiar with the matter. Spokesmen for MetroPCS, Dish, Sprint and T-Mobile USA declined to comment.

Sealy Corp. rose 2.3 percent to $2.19 as Tempur-Pedic International Inc. agreed to buy it for about $229 million, combining the two biggest publicly-traded mattress companies.

The offer is 2.8 percent more than Sealy’s closing price yesterday. Tempur-Pedic will also assume or repay all of Sealy’s outstanding and convertible debt, according to a statement.

Knight Capital Group Inc. posted its best two-day gain in almost two months after its new ownership structure forced a rebalancing in equity indexes. The stock climbed 2.3 percent to $2.67 today after rallying 8.8 percent yesterday. A $440 million loss spurred by a trading error Aug. 1 sent the shares plunging 73 percent last month.

Knight’s outstanding shares have increased to about 182 million this month from fewer than 100 million as investors in the company’s $400 million bailout swapped convertible securities for common stock. The Russell 3000 Index and the Russell 2000 Index increased their representation of Knight shares on Sept. 1, according to Russell Investments.

Dollar General Corp. retreated 1.6 percent to $52. The largest U.S. dollar-store chain reported a 30 million-share secondary stock offering.

Cepheid Inc. sank 10 percent to $35.18. The maker of medical tests cut its third-quarter sales forecast. Sales for the quarter will be $79 million to $81 million, the company said in a statement yesterday. Interruptions in the supply of Xpert cartridge parts will postpone more than $5 million in orders past the end of the quarter, Cepheid said.

H.B. Fuller Co. plunged 9.5 percent to $30.22. The U.S. manufacturer of adhesives lowered its outlook for 2012 sales.

The company, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, reported third- quarter results after the close of regular trading yesterday.

Costs to protect against losses in oil jumped to a 16-month high compared with U.S. stocks, a sign the slowing economic recovery may be a greater risk to energy demand than to share prices.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Crude Oil Volatility Index, tracking 30-day options on the United States Oil Fund LP, reached a two-month high of 36.58 on Sept. 19. The same day, the ratio between the oil gauge and the CBOE Volatility Index for equities rose to its highest since May 2011.

“We continue to get very sloppy economic data out of China and Europe, which are a headwind to oil,” Jim Russell, the Cincinnati-based chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees about $80 billion, said in a Sept. 24 phone interview. “The economic reality is that demand is likely to remain muted,” he said. “All of this hasn’t really been influencing equities just yet.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

What is it exactly that hurts you?

Open your heart and speak.  Open your eyes and see.

At the moment that you look with your eyes wide open,

everywhere you will find differences, an infinite variety.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

Carolann

 

Who, being loved, is poor.

–Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

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:

“Amasia – named for the crash and subsequent connection of the Americas and Asia – will fuse in 100 million years,” says National Geographic magazine.  “It won’t be a first.  The Earth’s land masses are constantly shifting, all together – a supercontinent – then apart again, no faster than a fingernail grows.  The most recent convergence, Pangaea, formed 300 million years ago; Rodinia, 1.1 billion; Nuna, 1.8 billion.  Most theories of Amasia’s creation show the Atlantic seafloor stretching or being swallowed, but geologies Ross Mitchell’s model, using paleomagnetic data from ancient rocks, predicts the Arctic Ocean will close up instead, the supercontinent sliding north into its place.  Where the rebroken land goes from there is unknown.”  G & M, September 25, 2012.

And on this day in…

1888 – T.S. Eliot, poet, was born.

1898 – George Gershwin, composer, was born.

1949 – Writer John Smiley was born.

1960 – Vice President Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy participate in the first nationally televised debate between presidential candidates.
1961 – Nineteen-year-old Bob Dylan makes his New York singing debut at Gerde’s Folk City.
1967 – Hanoi rejects a U.S. peace proposal.
1969 – The Beatles last album, Abbey Road, is released.
1972 – Richard M. Nixon meets with Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage, Alaska, the first-ever meeting of a U.S. President and a Japanese Monarch.
1977 – Israel announces a cease-fire on Lebanese border.
Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. –Golda Meir

photos of the day September 26, 2012

A woman walks out of the Sule Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar.

Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

A woman runs along the Ayalon expressway, during the holiday of Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv. Israelis are marking the holiday of Yom Kippur, or ‘Day of Atonement,’ which is the holiest of Jewish holidays when observant Jews atone for the sins of the past year and the Israeli nation comes to almost a complete standstill.

Oded Balilty/AP

People sleep on boats anchored in the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Varanasi is among the world’s oldest cities, and millions of Hindu pilgrims gather annually here for ritual bathing and prayers in the Ganges River considered holiest by Hindus.

Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Market Closes for September 26th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13413.51	-44.04
		-0.33%
S&P 500	1433.32	-8.27
		-0.57%
NASDAQ	3093.702	-24.025
		-0.77%
TSX	12232.86	-24.32
		-0.20%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8906.70	-184.84
		-2.03%
HANG  SENG	20527.73	-170.95
		-0.83%
SENSEX	18632.17	-62.24
		-0.33%
FTSE 100	5768.09	-91.62
		-1.56%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.746	1.815
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.331	2.381
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6095	1.6662
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7785	2.8450

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98441	0.98077
US   $	1.01584	1.01961
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.26757	0.78891
US  $	1.28765	0.77661

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1752.25	1760.90
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	89.98	90.99
BRENT	110.92	110.67

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a fifth day for the longest losing streak since May, after investment firm AGF Management Ltd. missed estimates and commodities tumbled amid concern that the euro-area debt crisis is worsening.

Penn West Petroleum Ltd. and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. retreated at least 2.3 percent as crude fell to a seven-week low. AGF plunged 9.1 percent after third-quarter earnings missed estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index slumped 24.32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,232.86 in Toronto, paring an earlier loss of as much as 0.7 percent. The benchmark equity gauge has fallen for five days, its worst losing streak since May 9.

“People are concerned Spain’s upcoming budget will not be as stringent as expected,” said Anil Tahiliani, portfolio manager with McLean & Partners Wealth Management Ltd. in Calgary. The firm manages about C$1 billion ($1.01 billion).

“There are whispers Spain is getting ready to ask for help, but the fact that they haven’t, the market is getting impatient. It seems like they can’t get their act together and Europe will take longer to resolve itself.”

Spanish bond yields surged the most this month as a second night of violent protests loomed amid sparring over the police response to clashes in Madrid. Spain’s 10-year benchmark yield rose above 6 percent, approaching the levels seen before European Central Bank President Mario Draghi offered to buy struggling nations’ debt.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has pushed for budget cuts and tax increases since taking power in December, in the midst of an economic recession and unemployment at 25 percent.

The S&P/TSX joined declines in global markets on trading volumes 8.4 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Energy shares dropped 0.7 percent as six of 10 industries on the Toronto Stock Exchange retreated. Commodity prices are slumping ahead of a seven-day “Golden Week” national holiday in China that will send the country’s industries to a virtual standstill and see a lack of potential stimulus announcements, Tahiliani said.

Alacer Gold Corp. decreased 2.5 percent to C$6.72 as gold futures for December delivery retreated 0.7 percent to settle at $1,753.60 an ounce in New York.

Bankers Petroleum dropped 2.3 percent to C$2.94 and Penn West Petroleum declined 2.5 percent to C$14.01. Crude fell below $90 a barrel for the first time since early August as the U.S.

Energy Department reported total fuel use decreased 1.1 percent in the four weeks ended Sept. 21 and inventories remained above the seasonal average after declining 0.7 percent. Futures for November delivery fell 1.5 percent to settle at $89.98 a barrel in New York, the lowest since Aug. 2.

AGF Management slumped 9.1 percent to C$11.30, its biggest percentage loss in more than three years, after reporting third- quarter earnings of 11 Canadian cents a share, compared with analysts’ estimates of 18.5 cents.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 0.4 percent to C$76.60 and the Bank of Nova Scotia declined 0.3 percent to C$54.08.

Cameco Corp., the world’s third-largest uranium producer, fell 4 percent to C$19.34 after Greg Barnes, analyst with TD Securities, cut his rating to hold from buy. Barnes also cut his price target to C$24 from C$30.

“The next 12 months are likely to be a continuation of the moribund market that has dogged uranium for the past 18 months,” he said in a note today.

Research In Motion Ltd. jumped 5.9 percent to C$6.88 as the company’s BlackBerry Jam conference in San Francisco continued with presentations from executives. Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins told press yesterday RIM still has a “clear shot” at becoming the world’s third major operating system behind Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google Inc.’s Android.

US

By Lu Wang and Inyoung Hwang

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a fifth day, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its longest retreat since July, as concern grew Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.

PulteGroup Inc. dropped 4.7 percent, helping to give homebuilders their biggest decline since June, after new homes sales missed estimates. Energy and technology companies dropped the most among the benchmark gauge’s 10 industry groups as oil fell to a seven-week low and Jabil Circuit Inc. tumbled 9.9 percent amid a disappointing forecast.

The S&P 500 slid 0.6 percent to 1,433.32 in New York. The benchmark index is down 1.9 percent over five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44.04 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,413.51 today. Almost 6.4 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 6.3 percent higher than the three-month average.

“We’re at a point where stimulus continues to be added and yet we’re seeing no meaningful improvements in the global economy,” Sean Lynch, the Omaha, Nebraska-based global investment strategist for Wells Fargo Private Bank, which oversees $169 billion, said in a telephone interview. “When you figure in some of the political risks along with Spain and Greece leading headlines once again, it makes equity investors want to pause right now.”

Stocks worldwide fell as Germany, the Netherlands and Finland said late yesterday that Spain should bear the cost of problems in their banks, with the European Stability Mechanism assuming only a limited burden in recapitalizations. The Bank of Spain said the economy kept falling at a “significant pace” in the third quarter.

U.S. equity indexes fell yesterday from their highest levels in almost five years as Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said new bond buying announced by the Fed this month probably won’t boost growth or hiring. The S&P 500 has erased all its gains since the Federal Open Market Committee said Sept. 13 that it will undertake a third round of quantitative easing by purchasing mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month until labor markets “improve substantially.”

Optimism that central banks around the world will take steps to boost economic growth has sent the S&P 500 up 14 percent this year. The European Central Bank this month approved unlimited bond-buying programs while the Bank of Japan unexpectedly increased its asset-purchase target.

“The Fed cheerleading and stimulus has lulled investors into a sense of complacency that the Fed can keep the economy afloat and growing,” Eric Thorne, who helps oversee about $6 billion at Bryn Mawr Trust Co. in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. “We’re afraid when reality sets in that this economic recovery may take longer than expected, the market could pull back quickly and meaningfully.”

The S&P 500 has rallied 5.2 percent so far in the third quarter and pension funds may need to sell stocks this week to rebalance their asset allocations, according to UBS AG strategist Boris Rjavinski. U.S. pensions, which UBS estimates hold about 55 percent of their $5 trillion in stocks, may pull as much as $36 billion from equities and put as much as $19 billion into fixed income, Rjavinski wrote in a note to clients dated Sept. 24. The largest outflows will be from stocks of large U.S. companies, with as much as $21 billion being sold, the strategist said.

The decline in stocks prompted investors to seek protection against losses, driving up the cost of options for a third day.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, climbed 8.9 percent to 16.81.

The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index tumbled 4.2 percent, the most since June, as all of its 11 members fell.

Purchases of new U.S. homes declined 0.3 percent to a 373,000 annual pace following a revised 374,000 rate in July that was higher than previously estimated, figures from the Commerce Department showed. The median estimate of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a rise to 380,000.

PulteGroup dropped 4.7 percent to $15.30, while D.R. Horton Inc. slid 3.9 percent to $20.90. Lennar Corp. decreased 4.5 percent to $34.64.

Energy shares in the S&P 500 slipped 0.9 percent. Crude futures erased 1.5 percent as the U.S. government reported lower oil demand. Noble Corp. retreated 2.9 percent to $35.17 while Denbury Resources Inc. fell 2.9 percent to $16.04.

Technology shares in the S&P 500 dropped 0.8 percent. Apple Inc. fell for a third day, losing 1.2 percent to $665.18, after earlier this week reporting debut weekend sales for the iPhone 5 that fell short of some analysts’ estimates because of supply constraints. The shares are down 5 percent so far this week, for the biggest three-day decline since May.

Jabil Circuit slid 9.9 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $18.90. The electronics supplier forecast first-quarter earnings will be no more than 62 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate of 67 cents, as demand across most of its business segments weakened.

NetApp Inc., which Jabil counts among its biggest customers, declined 4.2 percent to $32.98.

SanDisk Corp. fell 2.8 percent to $42.66. Alex Gauna, an analyst with JMP Securities LLC, downgraded the biggest maker of flash-memory cards to market perform from market outperform, citing weakness in electronics demand and supply constraints.

Blyth Inc. tumbled 21 percent to $25.68. ViSalus, a health- products business bought by the maker of candles and decorations in 2008, withdrew its filing for an initial public offering, citing “uncertain market conditions.”

Dean Foods Co. climbed 5.5 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $16.23. The largest U.S. dairy processor said it’s considering a sale of its Morningstar unit that sells milk products to retailers and restaurants.

American Greetings Corp. rallied 17 percent to $16.82. The biggest publicly traded greeting-card company said Chief Executive Officer Zev Weiss and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Weiss offered to take the company private for $17.18 a share.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

The intellectual aspect is, that love sees and understands.

The emotional aspect is to feel as one with the other person.

Love is unity.  There is no “me” in love, only “you.”

The behavioral aspect is, that love inspires us to give.

There is no expectation; we do not expect to receive.

Such love is wisdom and liberation in itself.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

Carolann

 

Life is a lot like jazz…it’s best when

you improvise.

-George Gershwin, 1898-1937

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in Judaism – a time for solemnity and soul searching.  It  begins after sunset today and ends almost 26 hours later tomorrow.

Know any good essayists?  Pass this information along – I read it in The Financial Times this past weekend:

The Financial Times and The Bodley Head, an imprint of Random House, UK, are running their first annual essay prize for the best young talent in long-form essay writing.  “We are looking for a dynamic, authoritative and lively essay of no more than 3,500 words on a topic of your choice.  It can be journalistic, it can be a case study; it can be wide-ranging or minutely focused.  It can address any topic – from finance to history, from current affairs to a scientific discovery.  We aren’t looking for a particular subject – we are simply looking for quality.

The prize for the winner will be £1,000, an e-publication with Bodley Head and a mentoring session with the Financial Times/Bodley Head.  If you are aged between 18 and 35 and would like your work to be read by a Bodley Head/FT judging panel including FT contributing editor Simon

Schama, submit your entry by midnight of November 18, 2012.

Entry forms are online at www.ft.com/BodleyHeadFTcompetition. “

photos of the day September 25, 2012

Thirty penguins walk to the ocean during their release on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. More than two hundred penguins found covered in oil following a spillage by a stricken bulk carrier were washed clean of oil, fed and restored to health by workers from the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.

Schalk van Zuydam/AP

A model presents a creation by Belgian designer Jean-Paul Lespagnard as part of his Spring/Summer 2013 women’s ready-to-wear fashion show during Paris fashion week.

Charles Platiau/Reuters

Boats cross the water in front of the 100-story Princess Tower (c.), the world’s tallest residential building at 414 meters, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Princess Tower opened on Sept. 13.

Kamran Jebreili/AP

Market Closes for September 25th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13457.55	-101.37
		-0.75%
S&P 500	1441.59	-15.30
		-1.05%
NASDAQ	3117.73	-43.06
		-1.36%
TSX	12257.18	-56.36
		-0.46%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9091.54	+22.25
		+0.25%
HANG  SENG	20698.68	+3.98
		+0.02%
SENSEX	18694.41	+21.07
		+0.11%
FTSE 100	5859.71	+20.87
		+0.36%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.815	1.818
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.381	2.390
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6662	1.7094
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8450	2.8959

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98077	0.97844
US   $	1.01961	1.02202
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.26540	0.79027
US  $	1.29021	0.77507

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1760.90	1764.15
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	90.99	91.63
BRENT	110.67	110.49

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Lu Wang and Eric Lam

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a fourth day, extending the longest losing streak in three weeks, as commodity companies retreated after a Federal Reserve official said the U.S. central bank’s bond-buying program probably won’t boost growth.

Energy producers fell the most among the 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 1.3 percent, leading health-care stocks to the best performance among the industry groups.

The S&P/TSX dropped 56.36 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,257.18 in Toronto, after rising as much as 0.6 percent. The benchmark index has slipped 1.4 percent over the past four days, the longest streak since Aug. 30. The gauge is up 2.5 percent this year.

“There is a natural second-guessing that goes on after a policy change,” Bob Decker, a money manager at Aurion Capital in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$5.5 billion ($5.6 billion). “If that debate becomes very public, especially by a Fed governor, that creates uncertainty and nervousness.”

Canadian equities joined U.S. markets in a selloff after Fed Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said new bond buying announced by the U.S. central bank this month probably won’t boost growth or hiring and may jeopardize the central bank’s credibility. Stocks climbed earlier as better-than- expected data on retail sales and America’s housing market eased concern about economic growth.

“The main thing right now is the psychology of investors in the stock market,” Irwin Michael, a fund manager at ABC Funds, said in an interview from Toronto. His firm manages about C$800 million. “If there is any hint that we’ve passed the bottom and things are looking better, I suspect a lot of money is going to look for places to go.”

Energy producers in the S&P/TSX fell 1 percent. Encana Corp. slipped 1.9 percent to C$21.47 while Precision Drilling Corp. declined 3.6 percent to C$8.10.

The S&P/TSX Health Care index advanced 1.5 percent. Valeant climbed 1.3 percent to C$54.43. Canada’s largest publicly traded drug-maker cut the interest rate on a $1 billion term loan it’s seeking to support its purchase of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

Bank of Nova Scotia increased 0.1 percent to C$54.22. Darko Mihelic, an analyst with Cormark Securities Inc., boosted the stock to buy from market perform, citing the lender’s purchase of the online bank from ING Groep NV.

GoldQuest Mining Corp. plunged 33 percent to C$1.22 after updating drill results from a coal and copper project in the Dominican Republic.

Research In Motion Ltd. jumped 5.2 percent to C$6.50. Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben said in an interview with Bloomberg that the BlackBerry smartphone now has 80 million subscribers, up from 78 million.

Thorsten Heins, RIM’s chief executive officer, demonstrated some of the upcoming BB10 operating system’s new features during a presentation at the BlackBerry 10 Jam conference in San Jose, California.

Novadaq Technologies Inc., a Canadian medical-imaging company, soared 8.6 percent to C$9.99, the highest level in almost seven years, after presenting positive feedback from surgeons and announcing a trial at an investor day yesterday.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined, erasing earlier gains after benchmark indexes approached five-year highs, amid concern that global stimulus measures won’t be enough to boost growth at the world’s largest economy.

Apple Inc. dropped 2.5 percent, extending a two-day decline to 3.8 percent, the most since July. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s biggest construction and mining equipment maker, slumped 4.3 percent after cutting its forecast for 2015 earnings.

Staples Inc., the largest U.S. office supplies chain, decreased 4.5 percent after announcing plans to close stores. Red Hat Inc., the largest seller of the open-source Linux operating system, lost 4.3 percent amid disappointing earnings.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated 1.1 percent to 1,441.59 at 4 p.m. New York time, the biggest decline since June 25. The index dropped a fourth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 101.37 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,457.55.

Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 6.7 billion shares today, or 12 percent above the three-month average.

“Things won’t get better as fast as people think they will,” Malcolm Polley, who manages $1.1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital in Indiana, Pennsylvania, said by phone. “The Fed’s actions are not going to lead to higher growth.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said new bond buying announced by the Fed this month probably won’t boost growth or hiring and may jeopardize the central bank’s credibility. Stocks gained earlier today as data showed confidence among American consumers rose in September to a seven-month high. Home prices climbed more than forecast in July from a year earlier.

Both the S&P 500 and the Dow average are near their all- time highs of October 2007 as investors bought equities amid optimism about better-than-estimated earnings and central bank stimulus measures. The Dow needs to rise 5.3 percent to reach its peak of 14,164.53, while the S&P 500 needs an increase of 8.6 percent to reach its record of 1,565.15.

“The economic numbers are decent,” Burt White, who oversees about $350 billion as chief investment officer at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston, said in a telephone interview. “The housing healing is here. The fact that you’re starting to see stabilization in housing is a real boost to confidence.”

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 retreated as technology, financial and commodity shares had the biggest declines.

Apple dropped 2.5 percent to $673.54 and trimmed this year’s gain to 66 percent. Jim Chanos, who oversees $6 billion as the founder and president at Kynikos Associates Ltd., said he’s skeptical on Apple after the shares surged this year. He prefers owning Microsoft Corp. to hedge wagers on declines in companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co., he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop” with Betty Liu.

“We’re getting afraid of heights,” Chanos said about Apple’s share price. “It has had an enormous run. Something about it is holding us back in that it’s had such a run.”

Caterpillar lost 4.3 percent to $87.01. The company said profit will be $12 to $18 a share, compared with a previous projection of $15 to $20.

Staples retreated 4.5 percent to $11.80. The company plans to shut 45 locations in Europe and accelerate the closing of 15 stores in the U.S. as part of a plan to save about $250 million a year. The closings, the impairment of goodwill in the European business and other actions will result in total pretax charges of as much as $1.12 billion in the fiscal year ending in January, Staples said in a statement.

Red Hat decreased 4.3 percent to $55.08. The company cited a slowdown in the services side of its business for the lower forecast. Demand for subscriptions to its software remains strong, Chief Executive Officer Jim Whitehurst said on the conference call.

Tesla Motors Inc. dropped 9.8 percent to $27.66. The electric-car maker led by Elon Musk cut its revenue outlook for the third quarter because of supplier shortcomings and other delays in accelerating production of its Model S sedan.

Gevo Inc. slumped 35 percent to $2.14, a record low. The U.S. biofuel producer backed by French oil company Total SA and specialty-chemicals maker Lanxess AG announced plans to stop producing isobutanol at its facility in Luverne, Minnesota.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. tumbled 17 percent to $9.09.

The developer of cancer drugs fell after insiders were allowed to sell shares for the first time following the company’s initial public offering.

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Inc. suffered in the past year by favoring gold-mining stocks over the precious metal, a strategy that Scotia Capital Inc. recommended last week. Two exchange-traded funds that Greenlight was buying in the third quarter of last year have declined since Sept. 30, 2011. Gold has risen about 9 percent during the same period in New York trading. Einhorn declined to comment on the performance.

Greenlight has stayed with one of the funds, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF, which invests in the metal’s biggest producers. The New York-based hedge fund is the third-largest shareholder even after cutting its stake by 17 percent in the second quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The other ETF is also one of Van Eck Associates Corp.’s Market Vectors funds and tracks smaller mining companies, known as juniors. Greenlight finished last year’s third quarter with 1.9 million shares and sold all of them in the first half of this year, according to filings.

“There is a case to be made that the equities should start to outperform bullion,” Tanya Jakusconek, an analyst at Scotia Capital, wrote in a Sept. 20 report. Capital-spending cutbacks may lead to greater cash flow for many producers, the Toronto- based analyst wrote.

Five gold-mining stocks have the equivalent of buy ratings from Jakusconek, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They are Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., Barrick Gold Corp., Eldorado Gold Corp., Goldcorp Inc. and Iamgold Corp.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

I am proud to tell you that I belong to a religion in whose sacred language,

the Sanskrit, the word exclusion is untranslatable.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever

Carolann

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of

the idea that life is serious.

-Brendan Gill, 1914-1997

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 marks the 45^th anniversary of the passing of three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg.  In his honor, tonight PBS is featuring a documentary, The Day Carl Sandburg Died, which includes rarely seen film clips and photographs as the backdrop for candid interviews with scholars, friends, and family in an expansive view of this controversial populist known as a poet of the people.

FOG

-Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

And also on this day in…

1789 – The First Supreme Court is formed by an act of Congress, signed by George Washington.
1890 – The Mormon Church officially denounces polygamy.

1896 – F. Scott Fitzgerald was born.

1960 – The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise is launched.

1962 – Nia Vardalos was born.

1964 – The Warren Commission report on the assassination of President Kennedy, is delivered to President Johnson.
1970 – The Soviet Luna 16 lands, completing the first unmanned mission to the Moon.

At 18 our convictions are hills from which we look.  At 45 they are caves in which we hide. –F. Scott Fitzgerald

photos of the day September 24, 2012

Larry, the Downing Street cat, waits to be allowed back into Number 10 during a rainy day in London.

Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

A woman walks past a house beloging to an artist on Abbey Street during heavy rainfall in Dublin, Ireland.

Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Market Closes for September 24th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13558.92	-20.55
		-0.15%
S&P 500	1456.89	-3.26
		-0.22%
NASDAQ	3160.78	-19.18
		-0.60%
TSX	12313.54	-70.06
		-0.57%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9069.29	-40.71
		-0.45%
HANG  SENG	20694.70	-40.24
		-0.19%
SENSEX	18673.34	-79.49
		-0.42%
FTSE 100	5838.84	-13.78
		-0.24%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.818	1.850
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.390	2.418
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7094	1.7528
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8959	2.9434

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97844	0.97644
US   $	1.02202	1.02413
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.26513	0.79043
US  $	1.29301	0.77339

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1764.15	1773.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.63	92.61
BRENT	110.49	112.47

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in three weeks as commodities slumped after data showed business confidence slipping in Germany and China.

B2Gold Corp. and Novagold Resources Inc. retreated at least 7.1 percent. Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. plunged 9 percent.

Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. fell 3.9 percent as crude dropped for the fifth time in six days.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index tumbled 70.06 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,313.54 in Toronto, its biggest percentage loss since Aug. 30.

“Europe is a major trading partner with China so the slowdown in Europe has definite knock-on effects in China as well,” said Robert McWhirter, portfolio manager with Selective Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$60 million ($61.2 million). “People are going back and forth.

Things are patched up in the short-term, but long-term the problems in Europe are still there.”

China, a major consumer of commodities including base metals such as copper, has shifted its focus toward health care and social issues and away from infrastructure building, McWhirter said.

The benchmark Canadian gauge joined a slump in global markets with mining and energy stocks leading declines on the S&P/TSX.

German business confidence unexpectedly fell to the lowest in more than two and a half years in September as the sovereign debt crisis clouded the economic outlook. China’s manufacturers and retailers are less optimistic about sales than they were three months ago and more companies are cutting jobs, according to the China Beige Book, a survey modeled on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index, which tracks a basket of commodities including oil, metals and grains, declined 1 percent to 657.68. The index fell 4.4 percent last week, its first weekly drop in eight weeks.

Advantage Oil & Gas dropped 3.9 percent to C$3.70. Crescent Point Energy Corp. tumbled 2.1 percent to C$44.76 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. retreated 2.4 percent to C$31.48 as crude for November delivery declined 1 percent to settle at $91.93 a barrel in New York.

B2Gold sank 8.8 percent to C$3.86 and Novagold Resources slipped 7.1 percent to C$5.66. Goldcorp Inc. retreated 3.7 percent to C$44.08 and Franco-Nevada Corp. sank 5.9 percent to C$55.76.

Gold tumbled the most in more than seven weeks, with futures for December delivery dropping 0.8 percent to settle at $1,764.60 an ounce in New York.

Fortuna Silver Mines plunged 9 percent to C$5.18 and Tahoe Resources Inc. fell 4.4 percent to C$20.34 after Dale Mah, analyst with Dundee Securities Corp., cut his ratings on both silver miners to neutral from buy.

“A short-term correction is a reality,” he said in a research note.

Canaccord Financial Inc. slipped 5.6 percent to C$5.76 after the investment firm said it will shutter 16 branches of its wealth management unit, half the total. Last month, the Toronto-based firm said it would cut 60 jobs after posting a larger-than-estimated first-quarter loss.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell a third day, its longest decline in seven weeks, as European leaders clashed on ways to stem the debt crisis and data from China and Germany signaled the slowdown is deepening.

Apple Inc. retreated 1.3 percent after reporting debut weekend sales for the iPhone 5 that fell short of some analysts’ projections on supply constraints. Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social-networking service, decreased 9.1 percent amid concern the company’s stock is overpriced. U.S. Steel Corp., Peabody Energy Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. declined at least 1.6 percent after analysts downgraded the shares.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.2 percent to 1,456.89 at 4 p.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 20.55 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,558.92 for its second straight decline.

Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5.5 billion shares today, or 7.5 percent below the three-month average.

“There’s no magic bullet to this European crisis,” said Hayes Miller, who helps oversee about $48 billion as the Boston- based head of asset allocation in North America at Baring Asset Management Inc. “The politicians have been trying to put on a face of unity. Yet there are no easy solutions. You’re going to have an economic growth rate that’s going to be quite poor over the next year. It’s going to be a challenging environment.”

Global stocks slumped after Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande disagreed on a timetable for starting joint oversight of Europe’s banking sector. German business confidence unexpectedly fell in September. China’s manufacturers and retailers are less optimistic about sales than they were three months ago and are cutting jobs, according to a survey by New York-based researcher CBB International LLC.

The S&P 500 last week had the first drop since August after European Union finance ministers failed to calm concern about the region’s debt crisis. The index was still up 16 percent this year amid better-than-estimated earnings, rising consumer confidence and home sales, and Federal Reserve stimulus. The S&P 500 briefly rose today amid gains in financial shares.

“I just think the market has an underlying bid between now and the start of the next quarter as the quarterly allocation process should strongly favor equities,” said Michael Shaoul, chairman of New York-based Marketfield Asset Management, which oversees $3 billion. “It will take something quite significant to derail the rally between now and then.”

Six out of 10 groups in the S&P 500 fell as technology and commodity shares had the biggest losses.     Apple fell 1.3 percent to $690.79. More than 5 million units of the iPhone 5 were sold in the first three days, surpassing a record set last year by the previous model, the iPhone 4S. Demand for the new handset exceeded the initial supply, Apple said. A successful debut for the iPhone, responsible for about two-thirds of profit, is crucial to fueling the growth that transformed Apple from a niche computer maker into the world’s most valuable company.

“The number is lower than what people had expected,” said Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets, in an interview. He had estimated debut weekend sales of 6 million to 6.5 million units. “This seems to be driven more by availability than demand.”

Facebook lost 9.1 percent to $20.79, after surging 27 percent since the end of August. Barron’s said the company is overvalued and may drop to $15 a share or lower as it falls behind in capitalizing on the growing number of mobile-device users. Richard Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG Research, said the mobile strategy makes him concerned, according to the newspaper.

Measures of semiconductor and computer companies led the losses in the S&P 500 among 24 groups. Evercore Partners Inc. cut its estimates for the personal computer industry. Hewlett- Packard Co. retreated 2.2 percent, the most in the Dow, to $17.21. Intel Corp. lost 1.4 percent to $22.80, the lowest price since November.

Two of the nation’s largest steelmakers were downgraded by Citigroup Inc., which cited declining steel prices and the companies’ fixed costs. U.S. Steel was lowered to a neutral rating, and AK Steel Holding Corp. was rated a sell, Brian Yu and Jonathan Sullivan, analysts at Citigroup, wrote in a note issued today. Citigroup reduced its forecast for hot-rolled coil to $625 a ton in 2013 and $630 a ton in 2014.

U.S. Steel, based in Pittsburgh, fell 1.8 percent to $19.59. AK Steel, based in West Chester, Ohio, dropped 4.6 percent to $5.01.

Peabody Energy, the largest U.S. coal producer by volume, dropped 4.5 percent to $22.94. Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform from buy, citing a more cautious outlook on the industry.

Micron Technology lost 1.7 percent to $6.26 after being cut to sector perform at Pacific Crest Securities LLC. The company is due to announce its results on Sept. 27. Micron reported its fourth-straight quarterly loss in June as chip manufacturers struggled to match production capacity with fluctuations in demand for personal computers, mobile phones and tablets.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. tumbled 37 percent to $19.08 after disclosing the company’s marketing practices are being investigated by the U.S. government.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. plunged 78 percent, the most ever, to $1.16. The biotechnology company said the survival rates from its lung cancer study reported earlier this month were unreliable.

Google Inc. rose 2.1 percent to a record $749.38. The world’s largest search engine is benefiting from rising demand for its advertising products, including search, display and mobile. The company is expected to become the leader in the U.S. for display advertising this year, including banner ads, replacing Facebook, according to eMarketer Inc.

MetLife Inc. advanced 1.6 percent to $35.42. The insurer seeking to exit banking to limit U.S. oversight amended a deal to sell about $7 billion in deposits to General Electric Co. so that Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approval is no longer required. The deal will now be subject to approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the New York-based insurer said in a Sept. 21 regulatory filing.

Chief Executive Officer Steven Kandarian is seeking to reduce supervision from the Federal Reserve after the regulator twice blocked his company’s plans to return capital to shareholders. MetLife may increase its dividend and repurchase shares after exiting bank status, according to Barclays Plc.

TiVo Inc. rallied 4 percent to $9.94. The pioneer of digital-video-recording technology gained after Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to pay it at least $250.4 million under a patent-litigation settlement.

Pandora Media Inc. climbed 3.7 percent to $10.89. The biggest U.S. online radio service rose after Albert Fried & Co. estimated a bill introduced to Congress would cut the company’s content costs by as much as half.

CIT Group Inc. jumped 5.9 percent to $41.25. The commercial lender led by John Thain gained after analysts wrote it could be a target for Wells Fargo & Co., and Fox Business Network said the firm is seeking a buyer. Curt Ritter, a spokesman for New York-based CIT, said the company doesn’t comment on market rumors or speculation. Mary Eshet, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, declined to comment.

Joy Global Inc. added 1.3 percent to $60.17. The mining- equipment manufacturer looks “increasingly likely” to be a General Electric acquisition target, Larry De Maria, a New York- based analyst at William Blair & Co., said in a note to clients today. GE is preparing to buy more mining-equipment and services companies as it creates a new unit using the blueprint for doubling oil and gas revenue in four years.

The unbroken streak of S&P 500 profit growth that spurred a three-year bull market would last another quarter if not for energy companies, whose profits are poised to slump the most since 2009.

Income at oil and gas producers will fall 24 percent in the three months ending in September, the largest decline in three years, according to more than 1,200 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Excluding the retreat, earnings in the benchmark gauge for U.S. stocks would climb 2.5 percent, the 12th straight increase, amid gains for banks and computer makers, data show.

Lower earnings from Apache Corp. to Occidental Petroleum Corp. reflect the dip in oil and gas prices in May and don’t signal lasting weakness in U.S. profits after they doubled since 2009, according to BB&T Wealth Management’s Walter “Bucky”

Hellwig. Bears say investors should heed the decline because energy suppliers are the fourth-biggest industry in the S&P 500 and their income reflects economic momentum.

“Over the past three years, companies have done well in growing earnings in a very challenging revenue environment,”

Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion at BB&T in Birmingham, Alabama, said in a Sept. 18 telephone interview. “For stocks as a whole, the earnings growth rate slowdown’s already been discounted. Companies will continue to generate favorable earnings and favorable earnings growth.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

Though there is repulsion enough in Nature, she lives by attraction.

Mutual love enables Nature to persist.

Mahatma Gandhi,1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

 

All I know I learned after I was thirty.

-Georges Clemenceau, 1841-1929

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:

September 21^st: It’s Leonard Cohen’s birthday today.  Cohen is spending his 78^th birthday in Romania, preparing for a concert Saturday night in Bucharest.

A poem ~

PRAYER FOR SUNSET

by Leonard Cohen

The sun is tangled

in black branches,

raving like Absolom

between sky and water,

struggling through the dark terebinth

to commit its daily suicide.

Now, slowly, the sea consumes it,

leaving a glistening wound

on the water, a red scar on the horizon;

In darkness

I set out for home,

terrified by the clash of wind on grass,

and the victory cry of weeds and water,

Is there no Joab for tomorrow night,

with three darts

and a great heap of stones?

And also on this day…

454 –		In Italy, Aetius, the supreme army commander, is murdered in Ravenna by Valentinian III, the emperor of the West.
1327 –		Edward II of England is murdered by order of his wife.
1520 –		Suleiman (the Magnificent), son of Selim, becomes Ottoman sultan in Constantinople.
1589 –		The Duke of Mayenne of France is defeated by Henry IV at the Battle of Arques.
		Exiled Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph dies of a “broken heart”.
1904 –		Stonehenge is sold by auction for 6,600 pounds sterling ($11,500) to a Mr. Chubb, who buys it as a present for his wife. He presents it to the British nation three years later.
1915 –		Fighting between China and the Soviet Union breaks out along the Manchurian border.
1989 –		General Colin Powell is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

photos of the day September 21, 2012

The pack cycles pass a windmill during the junior women road race of the World Championship Cycling near Valkenburg, southern Netherlands.

Peter Dejong/Reuters

McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain drives during the first practice session of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, as the Singapore Flyer is seen in the background.

Tim Chong/Reuters

Market Closes for September 21^st, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13579.47	-17.46
		-0.13%
S&P 500	1460.15	-.11
		-0.01%
NASDAQ	3179.96	+4.00
		+0.13%
TSX	12383.60	-25.65
		-0.21%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9110.00	+23.02
		+0.25%
HANG  SENG	20734.94	+144.02
		+0.70%
SENSEX	18752.83	+403.58
		+2.20%
FTSE 100	5852.62	-2.02
		-0.03%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.850	1.861
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.418	2.424
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7528	1.7648
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9434	2.9441

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97644	0.97690
US   $	1.02413	1.02365
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.26723	0.78912
US  $	1.29781	0.77053

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1773.10	1768.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	92.61	91.87
BRENT	112.47	111.43

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks erased gains in the last hour of trading as a plunge in Research In Motion Ltd. overshadowed gains in energy and mining shares.

RIM plunged 7.4 percent after BlackBerry service was disrupted for some users outside of North America. Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. fell at least 0.8 percent. Niko Resources Ltd., which explores for oil and gas, surged 17 percent. San Gold Corp. added 3.9 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 25.65 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,383.60 in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge slumped 0.9 percent for the week.

“People don’t want to hold risk into the weekend,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$55 million ($56.4 million). “Spain is potentially asking for aid, but until that actually happens it’s speculation. You won’t put both feet in the water unless you know that’s what’s going to happen.”

Seven of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX declined. Trading volume was 124 percent greater than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Mining and energy stocks climbed on higher gold and crude prices.

The Financial Times reported that European policy makers will unveil a financial bailout program for Spain as early as next week. Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said this week that Spain will consider seeking a bailout if the conditions imposed are acceptable.

Sun Life tumbled 1.9 percent to C$23.14. Manulife slipped 0.8 percent to C$11.77. Royal Bank of Canada dipped 1.3 percent to C$55.99. Financial stocks are up 6.9 percent this year.

RIM tumbled 7.4 percent to C$6.25, its lowest level in more than nine years, as users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa lost access to e-mail and the Internet. The malfunctions have since been resolved, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in e-mails. Apple Inc. also launched the iPhone 5 smartphone today, seen as the biggest threat to RIM’s shrinking market share, with sales expected to top 10 million over the weekend.

San Gold jumped 3.9 percent to C$1.08. Gold rose for a fifth week, the longest rally since February.

Niko Resources, the worst-performing stock in the S&P/TSX this year, soared 17 percent to C$11.79. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 0.5 percent to C$32.24 and Crescent Point Energy Corp. added 4.4 percent to C$45.70. Crude for November delivery advanced 0.5 percent to settle at $92.89 a barrel in New York for its first gain in five days.

Superior Plus Corp. fell 3.4 percent to C$9.11, paring earlier losses, after the propane distributor said the Canada Revenue Agency may reassess its tax obligations related to its 2008 conversion to a company from an income trust.

US

By Amanda Gould and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index erased gains, sending the benchmark index lower for the fourth time in five days, as a rally in Apple Inc. faded and banks retreated.

Apple, which is forecast to sell 10 million iPhone 5s this weekend in the device’s debut, rose 0.2 percent after climbing as much as 0.9 percent. Materials producers, consumer staples, and bank stocks led losses in the S&P 500. Alcoa Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and Bank of America Corp. slipped at least 0.8 percent.

Research In Motion Ltd. declined 6.5 percent as its BlackBerry service suffered disruptions in Europe.

“The market is trying to catch its breath,” Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees about $47 billion, said in a telephone interview. “We’ve had a pretty good run and, in the absence of incremental news, investors are resetting their portfolios.”

The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1 percent to 1,460.15 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17.46 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,579.47. Today’s trading came amid the expiration of equity futures and options contracts, a process known as quadruple witching, as well as S&P’s quarterly index rebalancing. About 8.4 billion shares changed hands, 37 percent more than the three-month daily average.

The benchmark index for U.S. equities fell 0.4 percent this week as reports signaled global economies are slowing. The benchmark index has rallied 16 percent this year and last week closed at the highest level since 2007 after the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank announced monetary stimulus measures. The index trades for about 14.9 times its companies’ reported earnings, compared with an average price-to-earnings multiple of about 16.3 since 1954.

“I think the market this week has clearly been digesting the gains of the previous several weeks,” Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Trust Co. in Radnor, Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $6.5 billion in assets.

Equities rose earlier today following a Financial Times report that Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos has held talks with the commission about a series of structural reforms that will be unveiled on Sept. 27. The newspaper cited unidentified officials involved in the discussions. The European Union needs Spain to meet specific conditions before it can authorize a full bailout.

“There may be some relief around Spain in particular, but there’s still the overhang of a deeper recession in many parts of Europe,” Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares Inc., which manages $4.5 billion in Raleigh, North Carolina, said in a phone interview. Apple’s iPhone 5 success “is a sign that the consumer is capable of continuing to spend and it provides a positive boost toward the technology sector.”

Apple added 0.2 percent to $700.10. The company may not be able to keep up with demand as customers lined up in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris and New York to pick up the latest model of its best-selling product. Deutsche Bank increased its price forecast for the shares of the world’s biggest company to $850 from $775.

Mobile-service carriers offering the iPhone gained. Sprint Nextel Corp. jumped 3.9 percent to $5.65, while AT&T Inc. increased 0.4 percent to $38.08 and Verizon Communications Inc. added 0.3 percent to $45.64.

Phone stocks had the biggest gain among 10 groups in the S&P 500, climbing 0.5 percent. MetroPCS Communications Inc. surged 3.9 percent to $11.63.

Research In Motion slipped 6.5 percent to $6.46. Some BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa lost e- mail and Internet access, wireless carrier Vodafone Group Plc said. The disruptions, disclosed earlier today, have since been resolved, Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM said in an e-mailed statement.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average decreased 1 percent today, completing its biggest weekly decline since November. The gauge of 20 shipping companies from FedEx Corp. to United Continental Holdings Inc. began slipping into a bear market three months before broader benchmark indexes in 2007 and peaked before the rest of the market when the technology bubble popped in 2000.

Bank of America fell 0.9 percent to $9.11. Beverage producer Coca-Cola retreated 1.6 percent to $38.03, while Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, slipped 1.3 percent to $9.13.

Genworth Financial Inc. lost 2.9 percent to $5.66. Acting Chief Executive Officer Martin Klein said the cost of defending its investment-grade status at Moody’s Investors Service may be more detrimental than a cut to junk, according to BTIG LLC.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. climbed 9.3 percent to $57.35 after increasing its forecasts for sales and profit this year as demand increases in North America and Europe.

Expedia Inc. rallied 4 percent to $59.37 for the second- biggest gain in the S&P 500. The online travel company was rated buy in new coverage from Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.

An index of homebuilder stocks rose for third straight day, gaining 1.7 percent. KB Home, the Los Angeles-based homebuilder that targets first-time buyers, rose 16 percent to $15.26 after reporting a profit for its fiscal third quarter. KB Home benefited from tax and insurance-related gains, as well as higher sales amid a U.S. housing market recovery.

Confidence among homebuilders climbed to the highest level in more than six years, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index showed this week. Single- family housing starts rose in August to the fastest annual rate since April 2010, the Commerce Department said Sept. 19.

The U.S. is the most attractive stock market because of the strength of corporate balance sheets, low interest rates and valuations, said billionaire investor Michael Price, who made his reputation as a value investor in the 1980s by buying shares of beaten-down lenders and running some of the best-performing U.S. mutual funds.

“As the economy improves and as uncertainty from our election and China and all the European issues go away, American consumers have enormous pent-up demand,” Price said in a “Bloomberg Surveillance” interview with Tom Keene and Sara Eisen. “It’s very early for European stocks.”

Price, president of MFP Investors LLC, said he’s bullish on J.C. Penney Co. because the U.S. retailer is “doing all the right things” and will benefit from rising demand among U.S. shoppers.

J.C. Penney shares, which tumbled 11 percent yesterday, will rally amid a rebound in consumer spending when concerns about the global economy subside, said Price. He said the retailer is trading for about half of its “intrinsic value.”

He also likes Citigroup Inc. shares because they’re the cheapest among large U.S. banks, he said.

J.C. Penney increased 0.2 percent to $25.89. Citigroup fell 0.4 percent to $33.67.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

Only the intelligence of love and compassion can solve all problems of life.

Krishnamurti,  1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

Originality is unexplored territory.  You get there by

carrying a canoe.  You can’t take a taxi.

-Alan Alda, 1936-

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:

Chideock Tichborne, a young man involved in the Babington Plot to kill Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote these lines on September 19^th, 1586, in the Tower of London on the eve of his execution:

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares,

My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,

My crop of corn is but a field of tares,

And all my goods is but vain hope of gain,

The day is fled, and yet I saw no sun,

And now I live, and now my life is done…

–from The Book of Days

And also on this day in…

1932 – William Golding, author, was born.
1948 – Moscow announces it will withdrawal soldiers from Korea by the end of the year.

1949 – Twiggy, model,  was born.
1955 – Argentina’s President Juan Peron is overthrown by rebels.
1957 – First underground nuclear test is takes place in Nevada.
1985 – An earthquake kills thousands in Mexico City.

Even after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with
A love like that.
It lights the whole sky.
– Hafiz of Persia

photos of the day September 19, 2012

Ladybugs (Coccinellidae) walk on the fruit during the harvest of Burgundy grapes on a vineyard of the Thueringer Weingut Bad Sulza near Sonnendorf, central Germany.

Jens Meyer)/AP

Models parade at the end of John Richmond Spring/Summer 2013 collection at Milan Fashion Week.

Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters

Market Closes for September 19^th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13577.96	+13.32
		+0.10%
S&P 500	1461.05	+1.73
		+0.12%
NASDAQ	3182.62	+4.82
		+0.15%
TSX	12436.16	+13.45
		+0.11%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9232.21	+108.44
		+1.19%
HANG  SENG	20841.91	+239.98
		+1.16%
SENSEX	18496.01	-46.30
		-0.25%
FTSE 100	5888.48	+20.32
		+0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.886	1.914
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.456	2.492
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7718	1.8109
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9604	3.0111

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97468	0.97503
US   $	1.02598	1.02561
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.27211	0.78609
US  $	1.30517	0.76618

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1770.25	1771.05
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.98	95.29
BRENT	108.91	112.67

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the first time in three days, led by metal producers as gold reached a 29- week high amid speculation that actions by central banks to support economic growth will boost demand.

Colossus Minerals Inc. jumped 11 percent after agreeing to sell some of its gold and platinum production to Sandstorm Gold Ltd. B2Gold Corp., which has assets in Latin America and Africa, plunged 12 percent after saying it will buy CGA Mining Ltd. for $1.1 billion. Gold mining companies made up six of the 10 stocks contributing the most to gains in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index.

The S&P/TSX added 13.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,436.16 in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge has advanced 4 percent this year.

The Bank of Japan unexpectedly expanded its asset-purchase fund by 10 trillion yen ($126 billion), seeking to counter a slowdown in the world’s third-largest economy. The decision follows last week’s vote by the U.S. Federal Reserve to extend its quantitative-easing program. The European Central Bank has agreed to buy the bonds of governments that accept austerity conditions to tame the euro turmoil.

“It seems like central banks are becoming more coordinated now, we’re seeing bigger and bigger announcements in terms of asset purchases,” said Jason Hornett, a fund manager with Bissett Investment Management in a phone interview from Calgary.

He manages about C$384 million ($393 million). “The market will continue to grind higher.”

Sales of existing American homes rose in August to a two- year high, an additional sign the U.S. housing market is gaining traction in the second half of the year. Another report showed construction began on more single-family homes last month than at any time in the past two years.

Raw-material producers rose 1.3 percent for the biggest gain among the 10 industries in the S&P/TSX.

The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index advanced for a sixth day, up 1.1 percent to 353.24, its highest level since March. Gold prices tend to rise in an environment of quantitative easing, or government bond purchasing, as a hedge against inflation.

Colossus Minerals surged 11 percent to C$5.95, for the biggest percentage gain in more than two years. The company announced a $75 million deal to sell gold, platinum and palladium produced from its Serra Pelada project to Sandstorm Gold.

Sandstorm Gold gained 7.6 percent to C$11.76, its highest share price ever.

Centerra Gold Inc. soared 17 percent to C$11.95, its biggest gain since December 2008 after the company said it got regulatory approval at its Boroo mine in Mongolia. Centerra has tumbled 34 percent this year, compared with a 1.4 percent gain for the S&P/TSX Materials Index.

B2Gold slumped 12 percent to C$3.79, its biggest loss since October 2008 after agreeing to buy CGA Mining to add the largest operating gold project in the Philippines. The Masbate mine in the Philippines has total resources of about 7.7 million ounces, according to the company’s website.

Barrick Gold Corp. added 1.6 percent to C$41.65 and Yamana Gold Inc. rose 1.7 percent to C$18.89. Gold futures for December delivery were little changed, settling at $1,771.70 an ounce in New York, after earlier reaching $1,781.80.

Suncor Energy Inc. slumped 2.1 percent to C$32.83 and Canadian Natural Resources Inc. fell 2.2 percent to C$32.02.

Crude for October delivery fell 3.5 percent to settle at $91.98 a barrel in New York after the U.S. Energy Department said supplies rose by 8.53 million barrels last week, more than eight times projections in a Bloomberg survey.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Amanda Gould

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, snapping a two- day decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the Bank of Japan increased its asset-purchase target and sales of existing American homes rose more than forecast.

Walt Disney Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. added more than 1 percent to lead gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. An S&P index of homebuilders soared 3.1 percent as PulteGroup Inc.

rallied 4.3 percent. Corning Inc. gained 1.2 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised investors to buy the stock.

Energy shares sank the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500 as oil prices tumbled to a six-week low.

The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 1,461.05 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow advanced 13.32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,577.96. About 6.2 billion shares traded hands today, 3.4 percent more than the three-month daily average.

“Markets are relying a lot on the support of central banks to stay alive here,” Michael Farr, president and founder of Farr, Miller & Washington LLC, which manages $825 million, said in a phone interview. “The U.S. economy is behaving in a constructive way, not fabulous but resilient.”

The S&P 500 rallied 15 percent from its most-recent low on June 1 through Sept. 14, when it reached its highest level since December 2007. The index is trading at 14.1 times the estimated earnings of its companies, close to the highest price multiple since the end of 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Equities climbed as sales of existing homes rose in August to a two-year high, an additional sign the U.S. housing market is gaining traction in the second half of the year. Purchases of previously owned houses increased 7.8 percent to a 4.82 million annual rate, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed. The median forecast of 78 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for sales to increase to a 4.56 million pace.

Another report showed construction began on more single- family homes last month than at any time in the past two years.

“The housing data looked decent,” Tom Mangan, who helps oversee $3.6 billion as a money manager at James Investment Research Inc. in Xenia, Ohio, said in a phone interview.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty about the economy, Europe and the Middle East, yet the stock market remains relatively firm.”

Global stocks gained earlier after Japan’s central bank unexpectedly expanded its asset-purchase target by 10 trillion yen ($126 billion) to 55 trillion yen, seeking to avoid a further slowdown in the world’s third-largest economy.

Central banks in Asia, Europe and the U.S. are continuing to loosen policy as the euro-area debt crisis continues, threatening global growth and financial stability. The Bank of Japan’s decision followed last week’s vote by the U.S. Federal Reserve to extend its quantitative-easing program. The European Central Bank has agreed to buy the bonds of governments that accept austerity conditions to tame the euro turmoil.

Disney gained 1.5 percent to $52.70 for the biggest advance in the Dow. Kraft added 1 percent to $40.84. Home Depot, the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, rose 1 percent to $59.47.

Consumer discretionary and phone stocks increased at least 0.7 percent, the most out of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500.

All 11 members of the S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index advanced. PulteGroup soared 4.3 percent to $16.43 and D.R. Horton Inc. climbed 4.1 percent to $22.22.

Corning, the world’s largest maker of glass for flat-panel televisions, rose 1.2 percent to $12.88 after Goldman Sachs raised its recommendation for the stock to buy from neutral.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., which runs country store-themed restaurants with attached gift shops, added 5.8 percent to $67.31 after forecasting fiscal year 2013 profit of as much as $4.70 a share.

Groupon Inc., the operator of the biggest-daily deals website, rose 14 percent to $5.34 after announcing the start of a payments service to provide merchants with low fees for credit-card transactions.

An index of energy stocks in the S&P 500 lost 0.9 percent, with Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. losing 2 percent each to pace declines in 38 of 45 companies in the group. Crude tumbled 3.5 percent to $91.98 a barrel after the U.S. Energy Department said stockpiles rose 8.53 million barrels last week to 367.6 million. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected a gain of 1 million barrels.

CVS Caremark Corp., the largest provider of prescription drugs in the U.S., jumped 0.7 percent to $47.71 after saying it plans to buy back as much as $6 billion in shares.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

The true source of rights is duty.

If we discharge our duties, rights will not be far to seek.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

 

Giving up is the ultimate tragedy.

-Robert J. Donovan, 1912-2003

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:

My greenhouse is never so pleasant as when we are just upon the point of being turned out of it.  the gentleness of the autumnal suns, and the calmness of this latter season, make it a much more agreeable retreat than we ever find it in summer; when, the winds being generally brisk, we cannot cool it by admitting a sufficient quantity of air, without being at the same time incommoded by it.  But now I sit with all the windows and the door wide open, and am regaled with the scent of every flower in a garden as full of flowers as I have known how to make it.  We keep no bees, but if I lived in a hive I should hardly hear more of their music.  All the bees in the neighbourhood resort to a bed of mignonette, opposite to the window, and pay me for the honey they get out of it by a hum, which, though rather monotonous, is as agreeable to my ear as the whistling of my linnets.

-Letter from William Cowper  to the Revd John Newton, September 18, 1784.

The Book of Days

And also on this day in…

1707 – Samuel Johnson was born.

1851 – New York Times first published.

1905 – Greta Garbo was born.

1929 – Charles Lindbergh takes off on a 10,000 mile air tour of South America.
1934 – The League of Nations admits the Soviet Union.
1939 – A German U-boat sinks the British aircraft carrier Courageous, killing 500 people.

1947 – US Air force established.
1960 – Two thousand cheer Castro’s arrival in New York for the United Nations session.
1964 – U.S. destroyers fire on hostile targets in Vietnam.

1971 – Lance Armstrong was born.
1980 – Cosmonaut Arnoldo Tamayo, a Cuban, becomes the first black to be sent on a mission in space.

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears. –Rudyard Kipling

photos of the day September 18, 2012

Dutch Queen Beatrix formally opens the new parliamentary year with a speech outlining the government’s plans for its 2013 budget, in The Hague, Netherlands.

Vincent Jannink/AP

A Syrian woman, who fled her home due to fighting between rebels and government forces, carries her infant as she waits to be registered at the UNHCR, in Baalbek, east of Lebanon.

Bilal Hussein/AP

Market Closes for September 18^th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13564.64	+11.54
		+0.09%
S&P 500	1459.32	-1.87
		-0.13%
NASDAQ	3177.80	-0.87%
		-0.03%
TSX	12422.71	-24.15
		-0.19%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9.123.77	-35.62
		-0.39%
HANG  SENG	20601.93	-56.18
		-0.27%
SENSEX	18496.01	-46.30
		-0.25%
FTSE 100	5868.16	-25.36
		-0.43%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.914	1.946
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.492	2.517
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8109	1.8415
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.0111	3.0359

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97503	0.97478
US   $	1.02561	1.02587
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.27178	0.78630
US  $	1.30434	0.76667

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1771.05	1761.65
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.29	96.62
BRENT	112.67	114.40

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam and Rita Nazareth

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index down a second day, on concern European leaders will struggle to tame the debt crisis.

Utility, energy and health-care shares in the S&P/TSX declined while technology companies advanced. Penn West Petroleum Ltd. dropped 3.1 percent after being cut at Macquarie Group Ltd. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. rallied 3.2 percent as it expects to receive a license next month to explore and produce at its CPE-6 block in Colombia.

The S&P/TSX lost 31.56 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,415.30 at 12:10 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark measure has risen 10 percent from its low for the year on May 18, and is up 4.1 percent for 2012.

“I don’t expect a strong direction in the market,”

Michael Sprung, president of Toronto-based Sprung Investment Management Inc., said in a phone interview. “The market has run up for a while. People are sitting and waiting for when the next shoe is going to drop.”

Concern about Europe’s crisis weighed on the market as Spain’s two-year notes stayed lower after a bill auction. Rising yields may force Spain to seek assistance and submit to European Central Bank conditions for aid, ECB Governing Council member Luc Coene said yesterday. The country will consider a rescue to cut borrowing costs if the conditions are acceptable, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said.

Penn West Petroleum slipped 3.1 percent to C$15.46. The shares were downgraded to “underperform” from “neutral” at Macquarie Research by equity analyst Cristina Lopez. The 12- month target price is C$14 per share.

Pacific Rubiales rallied 3.2 percent to C$25.19. The regulator will receive additional company data allowing the process for a license in Colombia to move ahead, Chief Executive Officer Ronald Pantin said in a phone interview yesterday in Bogota.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, said mining acquisition targets are looking more attractive as tougher financing conditions have depressed share prices. The 74 companies in a Bloomberg Industries index of gold explorers now trade at an average 1.54 times book value, versus a three-year average of 2.58.

“The development-company valuations have come down to where, at least on paper, it looks like there’s some opportunities,” Chief Executive Officer Chuck Jeannes said in an interview last week. “There’s a lot of looking going on.”

Exploration and development companies, or so-called juniors, underperformed the large gold miners last year after they struggled to raise funds and investors shunned risky assets. The juniors are on average lagging the seniors again this year, even after rising 25 percent since hitting a two-year low on June 28.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Amanda Gould

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks fell, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed to the highest level since 2007, as FedEx Corp. slumped and concern grew that European leaders will struggle to resolve the region’s debt crisis.

FedEx dropped 3.1 percent as it reduced its profit outlook after quarterly earnings fell. United Continental Holdings Inc. fell 2.3 percent amid a U.S. investigation of tarmac delays.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. dropped 9.7 percent after announcing its chief financial officer will resign. Apple Inc. closed above $700 for the first time.

The S&P 500 slid 0.1 percent to 1,459.32 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.54 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,564.64. About five stocks fell for every four advancing on U.S. exchanges today, as 6 billion shares traded hands, in line with the three-month average.

“We’re looking for the market to flatten out and hold where it is until the U.S. election,” Thomas Nyheim, a Wilmington, Delaware-based fund manager for Christiana Trust, which oversees about $13 billion, said in a telephone interview.

“Europe is an overhang that’s still there on the U.S. market.

Their debt crisis is not being handled, it’s Band-Aids here and there. It’s slowing us down.”

The S&P 500 is trading at 14.1 times the estimated earnings of its constituent members, close to its highest price multiple since the end of 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The equity benchmark rose to its highest level since December 2007 on Sept. 14 after the Federal Reserve said it will buy mortgage securities to support economic growth. Bearish options contracts on the S&P 500 have dropped to the cheapest level in more than three years.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent yesterday after a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Cyprus on Sept. 14 and 15 failed to agree on a timetable for a more unified banking industry, the terms of bailout requests and the role played by the European Central Bank.

ECB Governing Council member Luc Coene said Spain may have to ask the European Commission for aid and submit to conditions imposed by its creditors if bond yields continue to increase.

Coene spoke at a panel discussion in London yesterday.

The Spanish government sold 4.6 billion euros of bills at an auction today, more than its maximum target. Spain’s bond yields climbed to more than 6 percent yesterday for the first time since Sept. 7, the day after policy makers approved ECB President Mario Draghi’s plan to buy government debt to ensure the transmission of interest rates.

“We don’t think Europe is going to have a giant, broad- based, perfect solution, but we’ve come a long way over the last 12 months,” Kate Moore, the New York-based senior global equity strategist at Bank of America Corp., said on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop with Betty Liu” today. “We are very much worried about a slowdown in business spending and this uncertainty shock that could hit the economy over the next few quarters.”

Energy, financial stocks and companies that rely on consumer discretionary spending fell the most in the S&P 500, retreating at least 0.4 percent. Consumer staples, phone companies and health-care stocks rose the most.

FedEx slumped 3.1 percent to $86.55. The operator of the world’s largest cargo airline cut its annual profit outlook as a weakening economy spurs shippers in the U.S. and overseas to switch to cheaper delivery options.

The company, an economic bellwether because it ships goods from financial documents to electronics, pared its forecast for U.S. expansion next year to 1.9 percent from a June prediction of 2.4 percent. FedEx trimmed its forecast for global growth this year and next to 2.3 percent and 2.7 percent, down from 2.4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

“Fundamentally what’s happening is that exports around the world have contracted and the policy choices in Europe, the U.S. and China are having an effect on global trade,” Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith said on a conference call. “Over the last few months, exports and trade have gone down at a faster rate than GDP has.”

The Dow Jones Transportation Average declined for the second day, losing 1.1 percent. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index slumped 2.1 percent. United Continental fell 2.3 percent to $19.27. The world’s largest airline is under U.S. investigation for stranding 16 flights on tarmacs for more than three hours during thunderstorms.

AMD declined 9.7 percent to $3.62, the most in the S&P 500, after the second-biggest maker of processors said CFO Thomas Seifert will leave to seek other opportunities. The resignation is the latest disruption at the semiconductor maker, which is struggling to prevent larger rival Intel Corp. from taking market share and is facing slowing demand in the PC market.

OCZ Technology Group Inc. dropped 7.4 percent to $4.13.

Chief Executive Officer Ryan Petersen resigned from the maker of solid-state disk drives. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Chief Marketing Officer Alex Mei, the San Jose, California- based company said in a statement yesterday.

Clearwire Corp. declined 10 percent to $1.38 after Time Warner Cable Inc. said it plans to sell its 46.4 million shares in the money-losing venture to build a high-speed wireless Internet network across the U.S. Time Warner Cable has alerted other Clearwire investors, including Sprint Nextel Corp. and Intel Corp., of its intention to sell the holdings, according to a filing last week.

Apple rose 0.3 percent to a record $701.91, for a market capitalization of about $658 billion. The world’s most-valuable company said yesterday that it sold 2 million units of its new iPhone 5 in the first day of orders, more than double the record set by the previous model. The stock has advanced 73 percent this year.

F5 Networks Inc. rose 4 percent to $108.62 for the biggest advance in the S&P 500. The computer-networking company is an attractive investment as it benefits from mobile data traffic growth and spending on data centers, Piper Jaffray & Co. wrote in a note yesterday.

Oxigene Inc. jumped 30 percent to 72 cents after the pharmaceuticals company reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration for a Phase 3 trial of a thyroid cancer drug.

American Science & Engineering Inc. rose 7.7 percent to $66.71 after winning a U.S. government contract to provide body scanners used for security at airports. The Transportation and Security Administration yesterday announced the award valued as high as $245 million over five years.

Energizer Holdings Inc. soared 11 percent to $75.22 for the biggest gain in more than three years. The maker of its namesake batteries, Schick razors and Wet Ones wipes said it will reduce costs and change how it determines executive bonuses.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

The word duty indicates compulsion,

The word responsibility indicates freedom.

Duties lead one to demand rightfully.

Responsibilities lead one to command respectfully.

Sense of duty is out of attachment.

Sense of responsibility is out of love.

Duties can be thrust upon others.

Responsibilities are taken up by oneself.

There can be willingness in performing one’s duty.

Responsibility is always taken up willingly

-Maa Purnananda

As ever,

Carolann

 

Beware of no man more than yourself; we carry

our worst enemies within us.

-G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936

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: Rosh Hashana today: L’SHANA TOVAH 5773 – wishing all my Jewish friends a very good year.

And on this day …

1862 – Battle of Antietam, 25,000 killed.

1883 –William Carlos Williams, poet, was born.

1920 – Nationa Football league formed.

1932 – Gandhi begins fast in protest of caste separation.

1925 – Ken Kesey, writer, was born.
1939 – With the German army already attacking western Poland, the Soviet Union launches an invasion of eastern Poland.
1942 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meets with Soviet Premier Josef Stalin in Moscow as the German Army rams into Stalingrad.
1944 – British airborne troops parachute into Holland to capture the Arnhem bridge as part of Operation Market-Garden. The plan called for the airborne troops to be relieved by British troops, but they were left stranded and eventually surrendered to the Germans.
1959 – The X-15 rocket plane makes its first flight.
1976 – The Space Shuttle is unveiled to the public.

Leaders don’t force people to follow — they invite them on a journey. –Charles S. Lauer

photos of the day September 17, 2012

Ducati MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi of Italy kneels next to his bike during the third practice session of the San Marino motorcycling Grand Prix at the Misano circuit Saturday.

Max Rossi/Reuters

A decorated cow stands on a grassland before walking down from Mutterer Alm, some 10km south of the western Austrian city of Innsbruck on Saturday.

Dominic Ebenbichler /Reuters

Market Closes for September 17^th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13553.10	-40.27
		-0.30%
S&P 500	1461.19	-4.58
		-0.31%
NASDAQ	3178.67	-5.28
		-0.17%
TSX	12446.86	-52.61
		-0.42%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9159.39	+164.24
		+1.83%
HANG  SENG	20658.11	+28.33
		+0.14%
SENSEX	18542.31	+78.04
		+0.42%
FTSE 100	5893.52	-22.03
		-0.37%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.946	1.971
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.517	2.539
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8415	1.8660
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.0359	3.0884

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97478	0.97020
US   $	1.02587	1.03072
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.27844	0.78220
US  $	1.31147	0.76250

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1761.65	1770.40
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.62	99.00
BRENT	114.40	117.59

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as crude prices plunged the most in eight weeks and euro area finance ministers quarreled over the future of the banking system and the parameters of future bailouts.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. and BlackPearl Resources Inc. fell at least 4.9 percent as energy stocks contributed the most to declines in the benchmark index. Rona Inc. plunged 12 percent after U.S.-based Lowe’s Cos. withdrew its unsolicited C$14.50 ($14.91) a share offer for the Quebec-based home improvement retailer. Teck Resources Ltd. declined 3.8 percent after analysts at Canaccord Genuity cut the stock to a hold.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 52.61 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,446.86 in Toronto. The equity gauge has advanced 4.1 percent this year, rallying in September as commodities rebounded on stimulus moves from the U.S. Federal Reserve and signs of progress in the euro zone.

Eight of 10 industries on the S&P/TSX retreated, with volume for the day 19 percent above the 30-day average.

“It’s been a tremendously comforting rally that we haven’t seen in a long time, so you were bound to have a bit of a correction,” said Michael Smedley, executive vice president with Morgan Meighen & Associates Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$1 billion ($1.03 billion).

Oil declined more than $3 in less than a minute in late trading as October options were about to expire, ending the day with the largest drop in eight weeks.

Futures tumbled to $94.83 at 1:54 p.m. from $97.88 in the same minute on a surge in volume. Oil for October delivery settled 2.4 percent lower at $96.62 a barrel in New York.

Global stocks fell earlier after squabbling among European governments over the next steps needed to overcome the sovereign debt crisis. A Sept. 14 European Union finance ministers meeting in Cyprus deadlocked over the timetable for a more unified EU banking sector, with a German-led coalition pushing back against a more ambitious plan sought by France, Spain and Italy. The ministers also bickered over the terms of bailout requests and the role of the European Central Bank.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, slumped 3.8 percent to C$31.78 after Orest Wowkodaw, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, cut his rating to hold from buy and lowered his one-year price target to C$37 from C$39.

Paul Forward, analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc., said Australian metallurgical coal producers settled their fourth- quarter contract pricing at $170 a ton, compared with a benchmark level of $225 a ton in the third quarter. In 2011, coal accounted for 49 percent of Teck’s revenues.

Pacific Rubiales, which operates in Colombia, fell 5.4 percent to C$24.41 after a government authority said the country will decide on environmental licenses requested by the company by the end of the year. BlackPearl Resources declined 4.9 percent to C$3.71.

San Gold Corp., the third-worst performing stock on the S&P/TSX Materials Index this year, decreased 3.7 percent to C$1.04. Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. dropped 4.1 percent to C$11.38 and Franco-Nevada Corp., a gold royalties company, fell 2.2 percent to C$56.08. Gold for December delivery fell 0.1 percent to $1,770.60 an ounce in New York.

First Quantum Minerals slipped 4.7 percent to C$22.03. Copper futures for December delivery declined 1.1 percent to settle at $3.792 a pound in New York amid speculation the Chinese government will not ease monetary policy as quickly as anticipated.

Rona fell 12 percent to C$11.29, its biggest loss ever. Lowe’s withdrew its offer after the Rona board rebuffed its request for permission to conduct due diligence and proceed with a friendly transaction, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based retailer said today in a statement.

Jean Coutu Group Inc., a Longueuil, Quebec-based pharmacy retailer, dropped 0.7 percent to C$14.17. Alimentation Couche- Tard Inc., based in Laval, Quebec, slipped 1.3 percent to C$45.61.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Amanda Gould

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, pulling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from the highest level since 2007, as European finance chiefs deadlocked at debt-crisis talks and New York-area manufacturing slumped.

Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley slid more than 2.4 percent after two weeks of gains. Alcoa Inc. tumbled 2.6 percent as commodity shares plunged. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. lost 7 percent after its rating was cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Apple Inc. gained 1.2 percent as pre-orders of its iPhone 5 topped 2 million units in one day. Office Depot Inc. rose 5.3 percent after Starboard Value LP took a stake in the company.

The S&P 500 slid 0.3 percent to 1,461.19 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 40.27 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,553.1. About 5.7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, 5.4 percent below the three-month average.

“It looks like we need to take a small breather after the sizable rally that we’ve had,” Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab Corp., said in an interview from Austin, Texas. His firm has $1.83 trillion in client assets. “There’s the potential for a small pull-back, but I think we will move back into the bull territory later in the week unless there’s an unexpected negative news event.”

The S&P 500 rallied last week to the highest level since December 2007 as the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy mortgage securities fueled demand for riskier assets. Commodity, financial and industrial shares had the biggest gains among 10 groups in the benchmark gauge, helping to extend its two-week advance to 4.2 percent. The index is about 7 percent away from its all-time high set in October 2007.

Stocks fell today as European Union finance ministers failed to agree on a timetable for a more unified banking sector and clashed over terms of bailout requests and the role of the European Central Bank at a meeting Sept. 14 in Cyprus. Citigroup Inc. became the latest bank to cut its growth forecast for China. At least 13 banks and brokerages have reduced their 2012 economic growth forecasts for the world’s second-largest economy this month.

U.S. equities also declined as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index dropped to minus 10.41, the lowest since April 2009, from minus 5.85 in August. The median forecast of 53 economists in a Bloomberg survey called for minus 2. Readings less than zero signal contraction in the so-called Empire State Index that covers New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut.

“To me the only question is if the stock market is going to correct its current overbought condition by going sideways, or if it is going to correct back to the 1,400-1,422 support,” Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Florida, wrote in an e-mail today. His firm oversees $350 billion.

Financial and commodity shares had the biggest declines among 10 groups in the S&P 500. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index tumbled 1.2 percent after rallying for four straight days.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average slipped about 1.5 percent and the S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index lost 1.9 percent after rallying 8.5 percent last week.

The KBW Bank Index declined 1.7 percent as 23 of its 24 companies slipped. Bank of America, which climbed 20 percent in the past two weeks, tumbled 2.6 percent to $9.30 for the second- biggest drop in the Dow. Morgan Stanley declined 2.4 percent to $17.80. Wells Fargo & Co. fell 2.2 percent to $35.33 after Stifel Nicolaus & Co. cut the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets to hold from buy.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, fell the most in the Dow, sliding 2.6 percent to $9.58, as the S&P GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodities fell 2.2 percent, the most since July.

Cliffs Natural Resources slipped 7 percent to $42.36 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500. JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight.

Netflix Inc. fell 5.8 percent to $57.02. The world’s largest video-subscription service was rated underperform in new coverage at Macquarie Capital USA Inc.

Boeing Co. lost 1.9 percent to $69.92. Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Yair Reiner said shares of the world’s largest maker of cargo aircraft may fall, citing GEnx engine issues after one cracked on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner during testing in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 28, spewing hot metal parts.

Apple gained 1.2 percent to a record $699.78 and exceeded $700 in extended trading for the first time ever. Pre-orders of its iPhone 5 topped 2 million units in one day, more than double the sales record set by the previous model of the device.

Because demand for the iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply, some pre-orders will be delivered to customers in October, rather than September as previously planned, Apple said today in a statement.

Office Depot rose 5.3 percent to $2.60. Starboard Value, a New York-based investment firm, took a 13.3 percent stake in the company, becoming its largest shareholder, and said the retailer must improve its financial results.

Gilead Sciences Inc. rose 6.1 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $65.80 after JPMorgan analyst Geoff Meacham said the company’s AIDS drug, called Stribild, may emerge as a market leader based on a survey of 52 HIV specialists.

As politicians debate whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago, the stock market is saying yes. With 50 days before the national election, the S&P 500 has rallied 82 percent and touched a four-year high since President Barack Obama took office.

The advance puts the gauge closer to the all-time high than any of the world’s biggest stock markets, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The benchmark index of American equity is trading at 14.9 times reported earnings, the biggest discount to MSCI’s global measure since March 2010.

“We are in a healthier state right now,” Chris Hyzy, who helps oversee about $325 billion as chief investment officer of U.S. Trust in New York, said in a Sept. 12 phone interview.

“Next year, we think the growth clip in the United States and the globe is going to be better than expected. Over the next three years, we are bullish.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

No matter how insignificant the thing you have to do,

do it as well as you can,

give it as much of your care and attention as you would give to the thing

you regard as most important.

Mahatma Gandhi,  1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

 

Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.

-Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968

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:

KILLER PAISLEY Sequence:  Normal, Deadly Strain is Introduced, 48 hours later.

Fashion Week begins in London

And also on this day in…

1535 – Jacques Cartier reaches the Iroquois village of Stadacona [Quebec] on his second voyage; meets Donnacona again; greeted with Iroquois word ‘Kanata‘ or ‘Cantha;’ meaning ‘settlement of huts’; first recorded use of name.
1321 – Dante Alleghieri died.
1812 – Napoleon Enters Moscow.

1879 – Margaret Sanger, feminist, was born.

1901 – President William McKinley dies of an infection from gunshot wounds after being shot by a deranged anarchist at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY.
1946 – Oliver Stone, director, was born.
1982 – Hollywood Star and Real life Princess, Grace Kelly, dies in car accident.

photos of the day September 14, 2012

A visitor looks at an installation by US artist David Moreno exhibited at the 30th Sao Paulo Biennial in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to organizers the international art show is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial, which was set up in 1895. The Latin American premier art show opened Sept. 7 and runs through Dec. 9.

Andre Penner/AP

Spain’s David Ferrer returns the ball to Sam Querrey of US, during the first singles match at their Davis Cup World Group Semi-final in Gijon, northern Spain. Ferrer won the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

Alvaro Barrientos/AP

Market Closes for September 14^th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13593.37	+53.51
		+0.40%
S&P 500	1465.77	+5.78
		+0.40%
NASDAQ	3183.95	+28.12
		+0.89%
TSX	12499.47	+139.31
		+1.13%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9159.39	+164.24
		+1.83%
HANG  SENG	20629.78	+582.15
		+2.90%
SENSEX	18464.27	+443.11
		+2.46%
FTSE 100	5915.55	+95.63
		+1.64%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.971	1.875
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.539	2.473
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8660	1.7230
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.0884	2.9311

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97020	0.96909
US   $	1.03072	1.03190
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.27437	0.78470
US  $	1.31352	0.76132

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1770.40	1766.55
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	99.00	98.31
BRENT	117.59	115.72

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to its highest level since April, as commodities rallied a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would buy mortgage-backed securities to spur economic growth.

Diversified miners Inmet Mining Corp. and Teck Resources Ltd. added at least 5 percent. First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

advanced 1.5 percent as copper prices advanced. Centerra Gold Inc. climbed 13 percent as gold touched a six-month high.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index added 139.31 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,499.47 in Toronto. Trading volume was 61 percent higher than the 30-day average. Mining and industrial stocks led gains for the S&P/TSX as seven of 10 industries advanced. The benchmark equity gauge advanced 1.9 percent this week.

“It’s all follow-through from yesterday on the notion of ’don’t fight the Fed,’ so markets are going steadily higher,”

said Greg Taylor, portfolio manager with Aurion Capital Management, from Toronto. His firm manages about C$8 billion ($8.2 billion). “The underlying notion of the program yesterday is inflationary and that’s going to give an underlying bid to commodities because it’s going to take money out of the U.S. dollar, so you’ll get crude going up.”

Crude for October delivery advanced as much as 2.1 percent to $100.42 a barrel in New York, the first time it had crossed the $100 threshold since May.

Commodities are on the longest run of weekly gains since 2010. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI spot gauge of 24 raw materials gained 1 percent to 694.21, the highest level since April 3. The index rose 2.6 percent this week, its seventh weekly advance for the best streak since October 2010.

Canadian equities joined global markets in the rally after the U.S. central bank yesterday announced its third round of large-scale asset purchases since 2008. It set no limit on the purchase amount or duration of the program. Instead, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said stimulus will be expanded until the Fed sees “sustained improvement” in the labor market.

Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. surged 4.2 percent to C$7.44 for a seventh day of gains, its longest streak in nine months. Suncor Energy Inc. advanced 3.4 percent to C$34.32 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. increased 2.7 percent to C$33.67.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, added 5 percent to C$33.02 and Inmet Mining soared 6.9 percent to C$54.23, its highest price since April. First Quantum Minerals rose 1.5 percent to C$23.11. Copper for December delivery advanced 3.3 percent to settle at $3.8325.

Centerra Gold climbed 13 percent to C$10.08, OceanaGold Corp. rose 7.4 percent to C$3.04 and Alacer Gold Corp. increased 6 percent to C$7.02. Gold futures for delivery in December extended yesterday’s gains, rising 60 cents to settle at $1,772.70 an ounce in New York.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Canada’s largest publicly traded drugmaker, fell 3.6 percent to C$54.77 after the company announced yesterday that Rajiv De Silva, president and chief operating officer of specialty pharmaceuticals, will leave by the end of the year.

US

By Inyoung Hwang

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed to its highest level since 2007, as markets rallied around the world on the Federal Reserve’s bond-purchase program.

Alcoa Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. jumped at least 1.2 percent, as commodity producers rallied. Apple Inc. jumped 1.2 percent as the Nasdaq Composite Index rose to its highest level in 12 years. Staples Inc. climbed 2.1 percent amid a report private-equity firms are considering buying the largest U.S. office-supplies chain. Analogic Corp. surged 16 percent after profit topped estimates.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent to 1,465.77 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge is at the highest level since Dec. 31, 2007, after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke announced asset purchases to boost growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 53.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 13,593.37. About 8.5 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, 40 percent above the three-month average.

“Though the Fed has created a little short-term excitement, I think this is more fundamental than people appreciate,” James Paulsen, the chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees about $320 billion. “When the dust settles away from this, you’re going to be left with an economy still showing increasing momentum from where we were.”

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rallied yesterday after the Federal Open Market Committee committed to buying bonds until the U.S. labor market recovers “substantially.” The central bank said it will expand its holdings of long-term securities with open-ended purchases of $40 billion of mortgage debt a month. Asian and European equities extended the rally today, led by gains in basic-resource companies and automakers.

The S&P 500 is about 7 percent from reaching its record closing high after rallying 17 percent this year amid expectations central banks will take steps to stimulate the economy. Equities received a boost last week as the European Central Bank agreed to an unlimited bond-buying program to help reduce borrowing costs in the euro region.

Bank of America Corp.’s Savita Subramanian forecast the S&P 500 will rise to 1,600 at the end of 2013, 2.2 percent higher than the previous all-time high of 1,565.15. The equity index will continue to climb amid earnings growth, Subramanian, the New York-based head of U.S. equity strategy, said in a note.

Stocks rose today as data showed retail sales in the U.S. increased in August by the most in six months. The cost of living in the U.S. climbed in August by the most in more than three years, reflecting a surge in fuel costs. Industrial production shrank in August by the most since March 2009, while confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly improved in September.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. will replace Kraft Foods Inc. in the Dow, the first change to the 116-year-old U.S. stock benchmark in three years, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Kraft, the world’s second-largest food company, will be removed from the Dow average after deciding to spin off its North American grocery business on Oct. 1. The change goes into effect at the opening of trading on Sept. 24, S&P Dow Jones Indices said. UnitedHealth rose 0.7 percent to $54.25 today.

Kraft slipped 0.5 percent to $39.93.

Commodity companies posted the biggest advances out of 10 groups in the S&P 500, rising at least 1.2 percent as oil climbed to the highest level in more than four months. Investors bought shares of companies most tied to economic growth, sending the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index up 1.3 percent, for its fourth straight day of gains.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, gained 2.2 percent to $9.84. Exxon, the world’s biggest oil company, added 1.2 percent to $92.30, the highest since May 2008.

Financial companies rose 0.8 percent as a group. Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, advanced 1.6 percent to $9.55.

Apple, the iPhone and iPad maker, climbed 1.2 percent to a record $691.28. The shares have soared 4.7 percent over three days after the world’s most valuable company announced on Sept. 12 a new version of the iPhone that boasts a bigger screen, faster chip and access to speedier wireless networks. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.9 percent to 3,183.95, the highest since November 2000.

Staples rose 2.1 percent to $12.21. Fortune reported yesterday that private-equity firms including Bain Capital LLC are considering buying the retailer. Discussions to take over Staples are preliminary and an offer wouldn’t be made until late this year, Fortune reported, citing people it didn’t name.

Analogic jumped 16 percent to $80.44. The medical and airport-security device maker reported adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter of $1.32 a share, exceeding the average analyst estimate of 84 cents. Sales were $151 million compared with the average projection of $141 million.

Western Digital Corp. slid 3.6 percent to $41.06. The largest maker of hard-disk drives cut its forecasts for sales and market size in the current quarter, citing muted demand for personal computers. Revenue will be no more than $4 billion in the three months that end Sept. 28. That’s down from an earlier projection at least $4.2 billion and compares with an average analyst estimate of $4.28 billion.

Werner Enterprises Inc. lost 7.4 percent to $21.93. The trucking and logistics company forecast third-quarter earnings will be no more than 36 cents a share, below the 44 cents estimated by analysts on average.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication

but in the deliberate and voluntary restriction of the wants.

This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service.

A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above that level,

it becomes a hindrance instead of a help.

Therefore the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them

seems to be a delusion and a snare.  The satisfaction of one’s physical needs, even the intellectual needs

of one’s narrow self, must meet at a point a dead stop before it degenerates into physical

and intellectual voluptuousness.  A man must arrange his physical and cultural circumstances

so that they may not hinder him in his service of humanity,

on which all his energies should be concentrated.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

 

Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify

himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life

full, significant, and interesting.

-Aldous Huxley, 1894-1963

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:

In honor of New York Fashion Week:

Pattern and Snarl

Life likes a little mess. All patterns need a snarl.

The best patterns know how best to heed a snarl.

Every high style, every strict form was once nonce.

The best way to save a snagged pattern? Repeat the snarl.

Eden used to snow in fractals, rain in syncopated runs.

Adam never imagined he would hear its seedlings snarl.

Tug the wrong thread, and your wool sweater vanishes at once.

Death pulls at a wisp of us – and just like that, it’s freed the snarl.

What is it about order that we love? This sense,

Maybe, that a secret informs the pattern?

Is it a toddler’s joy in doing things again?

Is it the entropy in us that warms to pattern?

I never intended this line to rhyme on again again.

Then again, sometimes it’s the snarl that adorns the pattern.

-AMI MAJMUDAR

And on this day in…

1759 – The British are victorious against the French on the Plains of Abraham, in Québec
1814 – Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s National Anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”  It was inspired by the attack on Fort McHenry.

1903 – Claudette Colbert is born.

1944 – Jacqueline Bissett is born.
1976 – The U.S. announces it will veto Vietnam’s bid to join the UN
1961 – An unmanned Mercury capsule is orbited and recovered by NASA in a test
1951 – In Korea, U.S. Army troops begin their assault on Heartbreak Ridge. The month-long struggle will cost 3,700 lives

photos of the day September 13, 2012

A kiwi chick hatches at Auckland Zoo in Auckland, during its spring breeding season. The chick, a flightless bird that will grow to about the size of a domestic fowl, is the fifth born this season and has been named Nick 1.

Greg Bowker/New Zealand Herald/AP

A new species of monkey found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and identified as Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is seen in this undated photograph from an article published September 12, 2012 in the science journal PLOS One.

Hart JA, Detwiler KM, Gilbert CC/PA/Reuters

Market Closes for September 13^th, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13539.86	+206.51
		+1.55%
S&P 500	1459.99	+23.43
		+1.63%
NASDAQ	3155.83	+41.51
		+1.33%
TSX	12360.16	+127.54
		+1.04%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8995.15	+35.19
		+0.39%
HANG  SENG	20047.63	-27.76
		-0.14%
SENSEX	18021.16	+21.13
		+0.12%
FTSE 100	5819.92	+37.84
		+0.65%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.875	1.901
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.473	2.495
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7230	1.7576
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9311	2.9215

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96909	0.97589
US   $	1.03190	1.02736
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.25817	0.79481
US  $	1.29830	0.77024

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1766.55	1731.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.31	97.01
BRENT	116.24	115.72

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Lu Wang and Eric Lam

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied, pushing the index toward its highest close since April, after the U.S.

Federal Reserve said it will buy mortgage-backed securities and keep interest rates “exceptionally low” to spur the economy.

Raw-materials producers jumped 2.9 percent, the most among 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index, as Barrick Gold Corp. climbed 3.3 percent. Vero Energy Inc. rallied 15 percent after agreeing to be bought by TORC Oil & Gas Ltd.

The S&P/TSX increased 125.47 points, or 1 percent, to 12,358.09 at 2:23 p.m. in Toronto. Trading was 26 percent higher than the 30-day average at this time of day.

“The Federal Reserve is committed to generating some real growth,” Laura Wallace, vice president and portfolio manager for Scotia Private Client Group in Toronto, said in a phone interview. “Canada is an export-driven economy and very dependent on global economic growth. Anything that improves the outlook for the U.S. economy is very positive for Canada.”

The U.S. Fed said today in a statement that it will expand its holdings of long-term securities with open-ended purchases of $40 billion of mortgage debt a month in a bid to boost growth and reduce unemployment. The Federal Open Market Committee also said it would likely hold the federal funds rate near zero “at least through mid-2015.”

The S&P/TSX has climbed 3.3 percent this year, trailing all of the world’s 24 developed markets, except for Spain and Portugal, amid concern slowing global growth will hurt demand for oil and metals. Commodity companies account for about half the S&P/TSX.

Barrick, the world’s largest gold producer, climbed 3.3 percent to C$40.01. Gold futures topped $1,770 an ounce for the first time since February after the Fed announcement stoked concern inflation will rise, boosting demand for the precious metal as an inflation hedge. NovaGold Resources Inc. advanced 5.9 percent to C$5.36.

Vero Energy surged 15 percent to C$2.60. The oil and natural-gas explorer agreed to be bought by TORC for about C$3 a share.

Precision Drilling Corp. gained 2.6 percent to C$8.69. The oil and natural-gas drilling services company was boosted to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo & Co.

MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd., which made the robotic arm for NASA’s defunct space shuttle, plunged 5.8 percent to C$50.72. Steven Arthur, analyst with RBC Capital Markets, cut the stock to sector perform from outperform.

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. retreated 4.4 percent to C$11.91.

The company posted first-quarter adjusted earnings of 1 Canadian cent a share, compared with analysts’ estimates of 14 Canadian cents, according to a Bloomberg survey.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Amanda Gould

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks surged, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its highest level since 2007, as the Federal Reserve said it will buy mortgage-backed securities to bolster the economy.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 gained. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. jumped more than 3.7 percent to pace gains among financial shares. Alcoa Inc. and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. rallied at least 3 percent as commodity companies advanced. Pall Corp. rose 8 percent as it reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Apple Inc. added 2 percent after unveiling a new version of the iPhone yesterday.

The S&P 500 rallied 1.6 percent to 1,459.99 at 4 p.m. in New York, rising for a third straight day and closing at the highest level since Dec. 31, 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 206.51 points, or 1.6 percent, to 13,539.86. More than 8.1 billion shares traded hands in the U.S. today, the most since June and 35 percent above the three-month average.

“It was a very powerful statement,” Kevin Caron, a market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Florham Park, New Jersey, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about $127 billion. “The Fed is going all in here, especially with their commitment to continue asset purchases until they see the desired result in the form of a lower unemployment rate. This statement removes a lot of uncertainty about the Fed’s commitment to maintaining price stability.”

The Fed said it will expand its holdings of long-term securities with open-ended purchases of $40 billion of mortgage debt a month. The central bank will continue its purchases of mortgage-backed securities and undertake other asset purchases if the outlook for the labor market doesn’t improve substantially, the Federal Open Market Committee said today in a statement at the end of its two-day meeting in Washington.

The FOMC also said it would probably hold the federal funds rate near zero “at least through mid-2015.” Since January, the Fed had said the rate was likely to stay low at least through late 2014. Fed officials said economic growth will improve faster than they had earlier projected, as they upgraded their 2013 and 2014 estimates for gross domestic product.

“What the market didn’t expect was having this labor market kicker,” John Canally, an economist and investment strategist at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston, said by phone. The firm oversees about $350 billion. “The Fed said if the labor market doesn’t improve, the committee will continue.” He said, “That was a little bit of a bolder step than the market would have thought and what is adding to the risk-on trade here.”

Data today showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits rose more than projected last week, indicating scant improvement on the outlook for jobs.

Wholesale prices in the U.S. increased in August by the most in more than three years, reflecting a surge in energy costs.

Two rounds of large-scale asset purchases totaling $2.3 trillion have failed to reduce the jobless rate below 8 percent more than three years into the recovery. In a speech to central bankers and economists on Aug. 31, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said “the stagnation of the labor market in particular is a grave concern.”

The S&P 500 is about 7 percent away from reaching its record closing high from 2007 after rallying 16 percent this year. The equities index has climbed in the past three months amid expectations central banks will take steps to stimulate the economy. The European Central Bank last week announced a bond- buying program.

All 30 stocks in the Dow rallied and all 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose at least 1 percent, led by financial and commodity shares.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, increased 4.8 percent to $9.40. JPMorgan added 3.7 percent to $41.40. Shares of the New York-based lender have erased their decline since Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon disclosed a $2 billion trading loss in May. Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. jumped 2.1 percent to $132,851, the highest since October 2008.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, gained 3 percent to $9.63, and Cliffs Natural Resources, the biggest iron-ore producer in the country, jumped 6.3 percent to $43.18. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index, a gauge of 30 U.S. stocks tied to economic growth, rose for the third-straight day, climbing 1.7 percent. The KBW Bank Index, a measure of 24 U.S. lenders, jumped 2.8 percent to 51.02, the highest since May 2011.

Pall rallied 8 percent to $62.80 after the supplier of water-filtration systems reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as pharmaceutical and aerospace sales increased.

Apple gained 2 percent to a record $682.98, after advancing 1.4 percent yesterday. The company is betting the new iPhone, which has a bigger screen, a faster chip and access to speedier wireless networks, is loaded with enough functionality to set it apart in a market swiftly crowding with phones by Nokia Oyj, Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co.

The device may be poised to become the fastest-selling technology gadget in history. Carl Howe, an analyst at Boston- based Yankee Group, predicted Apple will sell more than 10 million by month’s end, surpassing the record set last year by the predecessor device, the iPhone 4S.

Northrop Grumman Corp. fell 1.4 percent to $67.01. Revenue and margins at the maker of Global Hawk surveillance drones may decline more than other large defense companies as the U.S. makes budget cuts, according to UBS AG analyst David Strauss.

Nike Inc. slid 1.6 percent to $99.20. Kate McShane, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., cut her recommendation on the stock from buy to neutral, citing valuation and the potential for deceleration of future orders.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

Sensibility is the capacity to feel, recognize, and distinguish

the most tiny and subtle changes.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

Carolann

 

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

-Mark Twain, 1835-1910

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