Month: December 2012

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

A little poem for you:

Tis the Season

To have a Reason

For sending Blessings

And eating Dressings

Comfort and Joys

in every snowflake

and giving Toys

and baking cupcakes

Pursuing the Stars

Wishing for Good Tidings

while Thanking Above

for All that one Loves

Gathering together

In Wintery Weather

Family, Friends, Pets

Food, Fun, Games, Gifts.

 

Have a wonder holiday season everyone!!!

 

On this day in…

1849 – The first ice-skating club in America was formed in Philadelphia, PA.

1879 – Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” was first performed in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a revised happy ending.

1898 – Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.

1913 – The “New York World” Sunday edition included a crossword puzzle as an added feature of the “Fun” supplement. It was the first crossword puzzle to be published.

1925 – Eisenstein’s film “Battleship Potemkin” was first shown in Moscow.

1937 – Walt Disney debuted the first, full-length, animated feature in Hollywood, CA. The movie was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
Disney movies, music and books

1944 – Horse racing was banned in the United States until after the end of World War II.

1948 – The state of Eire (formerly the Irish Free State) declared its independence.

1958 – Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France.

1968 – Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon. The craft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.

 

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

– M. Scott Peck

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

 

Market Closes for December 21^st, 2012:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13190.84	-120.88    -0.91%
S&P 500	1430.15	-13.54    -0.94%
NASDAQ	3021.006	-29.382    -0.96%
TSX	12385.70	-3.01
		-0.02%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9940.06	-99.27
		-0.99%
HANG  SENG	22506.29	-153.49
		-0.68%
SENSEX	19242.00	-211.92
		-1.09%
FTSE 100	5939.99	-18.35
		-0.31%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.805	1.839
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.371	2.409
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7623	1.7962
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9312	2.9807

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99340	0.98765
US   $	1.00664	1.01251
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31021	0.76324
US  $	1.31891	0.75820

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1657.25	1647.85
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	88.31	89.68
BRENT	111.53	113.16

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day as Research In Motion Ltd. plunged after the company decided to scrap service fees for some users, offsetting gains in gold producers.

RIM, which is set to release its BlackBerry 10 line of smartphones early next year, tumbled 27 percent for the biggest drop since 2008. Yamana Gold Inc. and Iamgold Corp. rose at least 2 percent as the price of the metal snapped three days of losses. Stantec Inc., an engineering and architectural services firm, declined 2.9 percent after Raymond James Financial Inc.,downgraded the stock.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 3.01 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,385.70 in Toronto. The equity gauge is up 3.6 percent this year, underperforming every developed market in the world except for Spain. Trading volume was 74 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“Gold had been weak because fiscal cliff discussions were progressing,” said Patrick Blais, a fund manager with Manulife Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages about $218 billion. “Now with talks breaking down, it’s not surprising to see gold rebound, given the flight to safety.”

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner yesterday scrapped a vote on his tax plan, which would have allowed higher rates on annual income above $1 million. He said last night that President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should come up with legislation to avoid more than $600 billion in tax-and- spending changes.

Now that Boehner has pulled his plan, House members and senators won’t vote on the end-of-year budget issues until after Christmas, giving them less than a week to reach an agreement.

Yamana added 3.1 percent to C$16.89 and Iamgold rose 2 percent to C$11.10. Gold for February delivery advanced 0.9 percent to settle at $1,660.10 an ounce in New York.

The S&P/TSX Gold subindex rallied 0.8 percent as 18 of 32 members advanced.

RIM slumped 27 percent to C$10.86, its biggest decline since September 2008. Users who do not want enhanced services, including advanced security, are expected to generate “less or no service revenue,” Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said on a conference call yesterday. Service fees accounted for about $982 million in sales last quarter, out of a total of $2.73 billion.

The company posted earnings excluding some items of 22 cents a share, beating the 35-cent loss predicted by analysts.

Stantec dropped 2.9 percent to C$39.79. Ben Cherniavsky, an analyst with Raymond James, lowered his rating for the company to market perform from outperform after the stock rose to its highest level since 1994 yesterday. The shares have risen 44 percent this year.

“We remain big believers in Stantec’s long-term prospects but see a less attractive near-term risk/return profile on the stock,” he said in a note to clients today.

Cogeco Cable Inc., a Montreal-based cable television operator, dropped 5.4 percent to C$38.78. The company said it will acquire Peer 1 Network Enterprises Inc. for C$3.85 a share, a 31 percent premium to yesterday’s close. Standard & Poor’s has put Cogeco Cable’s rating on creditwatch with negative implications due to the level of debt in the deal. Peer 1 jumped 30 percent to $3.83.

US

By Will Hadfield and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Stocks sank around the world, Treasuries gained and the yen strengthened after House Republican leaders scrapped a plan to allow higher taxes on top earners as budget talks stalled. Commodities declined.

The MSCI All-Country World Index dropped 0.8 percent at 4 p.m. in New York and the Standard Poor’s 500 Index slumped 0.9 percent to 1,430.15, with volume 45 percent higher than the 30- day average at this time of day. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.3 percent, falling from a 19-month high. The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased four basis points to 1.76 percent.

The dollar strengthened against 14 of 16 major peers, while the yen gained against all 16. Oil and nickel fell at least 1.3 percent to lead commodities lower.

The S&P 500’s loss was its worst since Nov. 14 and came after House Speaker John Boehner yielded to anti-tax resistance within his party, fueling concern Republicans and Democrats will fail to agree on a budget. Lawmakers won’t vote on budget issues until after Christmas, giving them less than a week to prevent tax increases and spending cuts from taking effect in January.

The standoff overshadowed data showing bigger-than-estimated growth in personal income and durable goods orders.

“With such a staunch group in the House, it looks as if the odds of going into 2013 without a deal have increased,” Kevin Caron, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $130 billion in assets, said by telephone. “I don’t know whether we’re going to reach a deal, when we’re going to reach a deal, if there’s going to be a deal. It’s just a complete wild card at this point.”

Boehner called on President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to come up with legislation to stop more than $600 billion of additional taxes and spending cuts from coming into force. The Congressional Budget Office has said that failing to avoid the fiscal cliff would probably lead to a recession in the first half of 2013.

“The president’s main priority is to ensure that taxes don’t go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses in just a few short days,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. “We are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly.”

Gauges of energy, financial, telephone and consumer companies lost at least 1 percent to lead declines in all 10 of the main industries in the S&P 500. The index pared its weekly gain to about 1 percent.

Bank of America Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Walt Disney Co. lost at least 1.9 percent for the biggest declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which slumped 120.88 points to 13,190.84. Micron Technology Inc. slid 6.9 percent after posting a wider first-quarter loss.

Research In Motion Ltd. tumbled 23 percent, the most in four years, after the BlackBerry maker said it will overhaul the service fees it charges subscribers. Nike Inc. advanced 6.2 percent after the world’s largest sporting-goods company reported profit that exceeded analysts’ projections.

Risk perceptions for U.S. equities have risen to the highest level in four years compared with European stocks as the American economy faces a potential recession should lawmakers fail to reach a budget agreement.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 option prices, rose to 17.67 yesterday. That’s the highest level since December 2008 versus Europe’s VStoxx Index, which closed at 15.76 yesterday. U.S. equities are lagging behind Europe, with the S&P 500 up 13 percent from its June 1 low through yesterday, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index has gained 20 percent since then.

U.S. consumer confidence fell in December to a five-month low as Americans grew more concerned about the possibility of higher taxes next year. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index decreased to 72.9, the weakest since July, from 82.7 in November.

Another report showed spending by U.S. consumers climbed in November as Americans bought gifts for the holidays and made up for shopping lost to superstorm Sandy. Purchases increased 0.4 percent last month after a 0.1 percent drop in October that was smaller than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed. Incomes rebounded, increasing 0.6 percent, after being depressed in October by lost wages due to Sandy.

The S&P GSCI gauge of commodities has slipped 1 percent this year, heading for its first annual decline since 2008.

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery fell 1.6 percent to $88.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. commodity analysts yesterday stepped away from a previous forecast that the spread between the two grades would narrow to $4 a barrel within three months.

They now predict $14. The gap today is more than $20 currently.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid from its highest level since May 2011. ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, dropped 2.5 percent after saying it will write down the goodwill for its European businesses by about $4.3 billion.

The equity benchmark has still soared 15 percent this year, its biggest annual rally since 2009. European stock trading may be more volatile than usual as futures and options contracts expire in a process known as quadruple witching.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against those of six major U.S. trading partners, snapped a five-day decline to rise 0.4 percent to 79.59. It reached 79.01 on Dec. 19, the lowest level since Oct. 18.

The yen has tumbled 12 percent this year, the worst performer among the 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The dollar has weakened 2.9 percent and the euro has dropped 1.1 percent.

Emerging-market stocks fell for a second day as the deteriorating U.S. budget talks threatened the outlook for exporters’ earnings. The MSCI Emerging Market Index slid 1 percent, its biggest drop in six weeks. China’s stocks retreated from a four-month high on concern that the rally from the beginning of this month was excessive. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7 percent and India’s Sensex slid 1.1 percent.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!!

 

Be Magnificent!

 

“As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.” – Emmanuel Teney

 

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5808

Fax: 778-430-5838

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

This is my last newsletter to you for 2012.  I shall be here tomorrow during market hours and then I’ll be back after the first week in January, 2013!  In my absence, my team will keep you updated on news etc.  I wish you and your families a very happy holiday season and may 2013 bring peace, prosperity and love.

On this day in…

1790 – The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, R.I.

1803 – The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.

1879 – Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J.

1963 – The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.

1989 – The United States sent troops into Panama to topple the government of Manuel Noriega.

1999 – The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples.

 
Man loves company – even if it is only that of a small, burning candle.  –Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Photos of the day

12.20.12 »

Photos of the day 12/20

 

Market Closes for December 20th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13311.72	+59.75    +0.45%
S&P 500	1443.69	+7.88    +0.55%
NASDAQ	3050.389	+6.024    +0.20%
TSX	12388.71	-14.92
		-0.12%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	10039.33	-121.07
		-1.19%
HANG  SENG	22659.78	+36.41
		+0.16%
SENSEX	19453.92	-22.08
		-0.11%
FTSE 100	5958.34	-3.25
		-0.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.839	1.844
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.409	2.415
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7962	1.8031
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9807	2.9881

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98765	0.98908
US   $	1.01251	1.01104
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.30719	0.76500
US  $	1.32354	0.7555

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1647.85	1669.40
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	89.68	89.51
BRENT	113.16	113.42

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, led by gold producers as the metal dropped to its lowest level since August after U.S. economic growth beat forecasts.

Yamana Gold Inc. and Goldcorp Inc. dropped at least 2.1 percent. Silver Wheaton Corp. of Vancouver declined 1.4 percent as the price of the metal retreated the most in almost six months. Bombardier Inc. rose 3.1 percent, the most in almost three weeks, after the aircraft maker announced its second sale agreement for the CSeries jet in two days.

The S&P/TSX fell 14.92 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,388.71 in Toronto. The equity gauge has gained 3.6 percent this year.

“Gold the commodity has been very weak and it’s broken down here,” said John Kinsey, a fund manager with Caldwell Securities Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$1 billion ($1.01 billion). “That’s put the kibosh on gold stocks.”

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the third quarter, more than previously reported, and exceeding the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg Survey, which called for a 2.8 percent advance.

Basic-materials companies contributed most to losses in the S&P/TSX as four of 10 industry groups retreated. Trading volume was 4.4 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Gold for February delivery dropped 1.3 percent to settle at $1,645.90 an ounce in New York, the lowest since August. The S&P/TSX Gold subindex dropped 1.5 percent as 28 of 32 members declined. Gold mining companies account for 8.8 percent of the S&P/TSX weighting, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Yamana, based in Toronto, fell 2.4 percent to C$16.39 and Vancouver-based Goldcorp declined 2.1 percent to C$35.17.

Barrick Gold Corp. lost 0.7 percent to C$33.22. Toronto-based Barrick and Goldcorp are the world’s largest producers of the metal. Yamana is Canada’s fourth-biggest.

Silver Wheaton slipped to C$34.39 and Silvercorp Metals Inc. of Vancouver declined 2.5 percent to C$5.02. Silver for March delivery slumped 4.6 percent to $29.678 an ounce in New York, the biggest loss since June.

Capstone Mining Corp. sank 7.3 percent to C$2.30 after the Vancouver-based copper miner issued 2013 production guidance yesterday of 85 million pounds of copper, plus or minus 5 percent, less than the forecast by PI Financial Corp.

“The contracted output is due to much lower-than-expected output at the Minto mine,” due to lower copper grades, said Aleem Ladak, mining analyst in Vancouver at PI Financial, in a note to clients today.

Bombardier gained to C$3.68 after saying that AirBaltic agreed to buy 10 CS300 airliners in a deal with a value of $764 million that may rise to $1.57 billion if purchase rights are exercised. The Montreal-based company said yesterday an unnamed carrier signed a letter of intent to buy 12 of the smaller CS100 models, which have a list value of about $870 million, with options to buy 18 more jets.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounding from its biggest drop in five weeks, as House Speaker John Boehner said he expects to keep working on a budget plan with President Barack Obama.

NYSE Euronext rose a record 34 percent as IntercontinentalExchange Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.2 billion. Accenture Plc slid 2 percent after revenue from technology consulting fell 3.6 percent from a year earlier.

Merck & Co. slipped 3.4 percent after saying it won’t seek U.S. marketing approval for a cholesterol drug. Financial stocks rose the most in the S&P 500, leading gains in all 10 groups.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent to close at 1,443.69 today.

The equity benchmark yesterday slipped from its highest level since Oct. 18 as a White House spokesman said Obama would veto a proposal presented by Boehner. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 59.75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,311.72.

“The market continues to be driven by the state of the fiscal-cliff negotiations,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $3 billion of assets as co-chief investment officer at Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments LLC. He spoke in a telephone interview.  “That’s what people are keeping an eye on and that’s what is causing the swings in the market.”

Stocks also advanced after third-quarter economic growth was revised higher. The 3.1 percent growth in gross domestic product exceeded the highest projection in a Bloomberg survey and compared with a previously estimated 2.7 percent gain, according to Commerce Department figures. The median estimate of economists called for a 2.8 percent advance.

Republicans in Congress will vote today on Boehner’s plan to raise taxes on incomes over $1 million. The proposal is aimed at preventing more than $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts from coming into effect next year.

Boehner accused Obama of being unwilling to stand up to fellow Democrats in the fight over how to avert spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to begin in January.

“I did my part; they’ve done nothing,” Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told reporters in Washington. “I’m convinced that the president is unwilling to stand up to his own party.” Still, the speaker said “I remain hopeful” a deal can be reached.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments rose for the first time in five weeks, a sign further improvement in the labor market depends on faster economic growth, Labor Department figures showed today.

The S&P 500 has gained 15 percent this year, its largest annual rally since 2009. The benchmark measure has risen 1.9 percent this month.

Other reports today signaled expansion in the world’s largest economy. Sales of previously owned homes rose more than forecast in November to reach a three-year high as lower borrowing costs sustained the U.S. housing rebound, the National Association of Realtors reported today in Washington.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index increased to 8.1 in December from minus 10.7 a month earlier. A reading of zero is the dividing line between expansion and contraction in the area covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

NYSE Euronext surged 34 percent to $32.25 after IntercontinentalExchange, the 12-year-old energy and commodity futures exchange, agreed to acquire the company for cash and stock worth $8.2 billion, moving to take control of the world’s biggest equities market. ICE added 1.4 percent to $130.10, while an S&P index of financial stocks gained 1.4 percent.

ICE, based in Atlanta, will pay $33.12 a share for the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, 38 percent above yesterday’s closing price, according to a statement today. Last year, the U.S. Justice Department blocked a joint hostile bid by ICE and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. for the New York-based company on concern the combination would dominate U.S. stock listings.

Accenture, the world’s second-largest technology consultancy, slid 2 percent to $69.02. Sales from advising clients, its biggest source of revenue, declined to $3.96 billion, the company said late yesterday. Customers have opted for contracts over longer periods that don’t generate revenue as quickly, a trend that will continue into the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer Pamela Craig said.

Merck lost 3.4 percent to $42.16 for the biggest retreat in the Dow. The company won’t seek U.S. marketing approval for its good cholesterol drug Tredaptive after a key study showed it ineffective and potentially harmful.

Video-game makers and retailers fell amid growing pressure from Washington and advocacy groups concerned about possible links between violent games and tragedies like the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. A bill introduced yesterday by U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller directs the National Academy of Sciences to examine whether violent games and programs lead children to act aggressively, the West Virginia Democrat said in a statement.

Electronic Arts Inc., publisher of “Medal of Honor,” fell 3.2 percent to $13.94. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the maker of “Grand Theft Auto,” fell 2.4 percent to $11.69.

GameStop Corp., the video-game chain, slid 5.2 percent to $26.13.

Carnival Corp. slumped 5.3 percent to $36.99. The world’s biggest cruise-line operator provided a full-year earnings forecast that fell short of analysts’ forecasts. The company said earnings will rise to as much as $2.40 a share next year, excluding some items. Analysts predicted $2.46 a share, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Illumina Inc. jumped 7.8 percent to $56.22 after Swiss newspaper L’Agefi said Roche Holding AG may buy the U.S. genetic-sequencing company for $66 a share, a higher price than its first bid in April. The newspaper said it failed to verify the source of the information.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. lost 6.5 percent to $56.36. The operator of more than 1,400 home-furnishing stores projected full-year profit that trailed analysts’ estimates. Profit will be $4.48 to $4.54 a share this year, the retailer said yesterday. Analysts projected $4.62 a share, the average of 25 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Rite Aid Corp. soared 16 percent to $1.21. The third- largest U.S. drugstore chain gained the most in more than three years after forecasting better full-year results and returning to a profit in the third quarter.

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. slumped 47 percent to $3.06 after saying a drug it was developing with GlaxoSmithKline Plc failed to perform better than a placebo.

CarMax Inc. jumped 9 percent to $37.97. The largest U.S. seller of used cars rose to a record as increased vehicle sales drove quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be Magnificent!

 

The sum-total of the experience of the sages of the world is available to us

and would be for all time to come.

Moreover, there are not many fundamental truths,

but there is only one fundamental truth which is Truth itself,

otherwise known as nonviolence.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Take what you can use

and let the rest go by.

-Ken Kesey, 1935-2001

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, Obama is named Time’s Person of the Year for 20012.

The Poem:

Winter Travels

–by Bei Dao (translated by David Hinton with Yanbing Chen)

who’s typing on the void

too many stories

they’re twelve stones

hitting the clockface

twelve swans

flying out of winter

 

tongues in the night

describe gleams of light

blind bells

cry out for someone absent

 

entering the room

you see that jester’s

entered winter

leaving behind flame.

From the new edition of Poems on the Underground

On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine published his American Crisis essay that began “these are the times that try men’s souls.” The essay was read to Washington’s troops camped on the west side of the Delaware River, and would inspire them to the famous Christmas crossing and attack. –Paul Vigna, WSJ, 12/19/12.

And also on this day in…

1790 – William Parry, explorer, was born.

1915 – Edith Piaf was born.

1941 – Adolf Hitler assumes the position of commander in chief of the German army.

1959 – Reputed to be the last civil war veteran, Walter Williams, dies at 117 in Houston.

1974 – Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as vice president of the United states after a House of Representatives vote.

1984 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement that committed Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system. Hong Kong was leased by China to Great Britain in 1898 for 99 years.

1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached. The House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton was the second president in American history to be impeached.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.- Albert Einstein.

Photos of the day

12.19.12 »

 

Market Closes for December 19th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13251.97	-98.99    -0.74%
S&P 500	1436.65	-10.14    -0.70%
NASDAQ	3044.365	-10.166    -0.33%
TSX	12399.95	+65.61
		+0.53%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	10160.40	+237.39
		+2.39%
HANG  SENG	22623.37	+128.64
		+0.57%
SENSEX	19476.00	+111.25
		+0.57%
FTSE 100	5961.59	+25.69
		+0.43%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.844	1.840
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.415	2.416
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8031	1.8170
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9881	2.9979

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98908	0.98605
US   $	1.01104	1.01415
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.30656	0.76537
US  $	1.32098	0.75702

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1669.40	1670.95
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	89.51	87.93
BRENT	113.42	112.43

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a second day, led by bank and energy stocks, after the International Monetary Fund said the nation’s central bank should avoid raising interest rates until the end of 2013 to help fuel growth.

Uranium One Inc. added 7.1 percent for a fourth day of gains after the pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide election victory in Japan on Dec. 16. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank rose at least 1.1 percent as financial stocks contributed most to gains in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index. Taseko Mines Ltd. gained 6 percent after reaching a tentative labor deal with workers at its mine in British Columbia.

The S&P/TSX rose 69.29 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,403.63 in Toronto. The equity gauge has gained 3.8 percent this year.

“Today is a day of risk-off with financials leading the way,” said John Goldsmith, deputy head of equities with Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$5.2 billion ($5.27 billion).

The IMF said the Canadian central bank has room for further monetary easing if growth fades. The federal government is on track to balance its budget by 2015 and has room for new temporary fiscal stimulus if needed, the IMF said in a report.

The Bank of Canada has kept its key lending rate at 1 percent for more than two years, the longest pause since the 1950s. The country’s expansion is estimated to be “just below 2 percent” in 2013, the IMF said.

Canadian wholesale sales rebounded in October from the biggest drop in almost two years, led by higher food and motor vehicle receipts. Other reports published this month have shown greater-than-forecast increases in employment and building permits.

Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lender, advanced 1.1 percent to C$60.53 and Toronto-Dominion added 1.2 percent to C$83.10. Bank and energy stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX as nine of 10 industries advanced. Trading volume was 17 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Cenovus Energy Inc. increased 1.3 percent to C$33.35 and Husky Energy Inc. rose 1.2 percent to C$29.13 as oil rallied for a fourth day. Crude for January delivery climbed 1.8 percent to settle at $89.51 a barrel in New York.

Uranium One soared 7.1 percent to C$2.26. The LDP, led by Shinzo Abe, captured a two-thirds majority in Japan’s lower house of parliament in an election on Dec. 16. The country shut down its atomic reactors after last year’s tsunami and earthquake triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. The LDP campaigned on Japan’s need to restart the reactors.

Taseko, a copper and molybdenum mining company working in British Columbia, rallied 6 percent to C$3. The company said it has reached a tentative labor agreement at its Gibraltar copper mine in southern British Columbia. The deal is subject to ratification by the union.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, pulling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from a two-month high, as deteriorating federal budget negotiations fueled concern that automatic tax increases and spending cuts will be triggered.

Alcoa Inc. fell 3 percent as Moody’s Investors Service placed the aluminum producer’s credit rating under review for a downgrade. Consumer-staples, health-care and phone stocks lost more than 1 percent for the worst performance among 10 S&P 500 groups. General Motors Co. jumped 6.6 percent on plans to purchase 200 million shares from the government. Knight Capital Group Inc. rose 5.4 percent on plans to be bought by Getco LLC.

The S&P 500 lost 0.8 percent to 1,435.81 today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 98.99 points, or 0.7 percent, to 13,251.97. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, jumped 12 percent to 17.36 for the biggest gain since Oct. 23.

“The underlying situation for U.S. equities isn’t bad, but a lot hinges on the fiscal cliff negotiations,” George Feiger, chief executive officer of Contango Capital Advisors Inc., the San Francisco-based wealth management arm of Zions Bancorporation, said in a phone interview. He manages about $3.6 billion at Contango and Western National Trust Co. “If we get through the fiscal cliff with a reasonable result, then the odds are quite substantial that things are going to be better than many people expect by the middle of 2013,” he said. “All of this can be postponed for a year if they screw up on the negotiations and we slide into a recession.”

The S&P 500 has rallied 14 percent this year and is up 1.4 percent in December after the Federal Reserve extended its unprecedented monetary-stimulus efforts. Stocks retreated today as White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said President Barack Obama would veto a tax and spending proposal presented by House Speaker John Boehner because it would put “too big a burden on the middle class.”

The House may vote tomorrow on Boehner’s “Plan B,” which would raise tax rates on income over $1 million, rather than the $400,000 threshold the president proposed in his latest offer.

Boehner said Obama will be responsible for “the largest tax increase in American history” if Democrats don’t accept a measure the House plans to pass tomorrow.

General Electric Co. slipped 3.1 percent, the most in the Dow, to $21.01. AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. telephone company, decreased 1.3 percent to $33.91. Phone stocks lost 1.2 percent as all of the 10 main industry groups in the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities fell. Consumer staples stocks slumped 1 percent, while health-care companies retreated 1.1 percent.

Housing starts in the U.S. fell 3 percent to a 861,000 annual rate from a revised 888,000 annual pace in October, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The median estimate of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a drop to 872,000.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, fell 3 percent to $8.64 for the second-biggest retreat in the Dow. Moody’s placed Alcoa’s Baa3 senior unsecured rating, the lowest investment-grade level, under review for downgrade, the ratings company said in a statement. The review applies to all of Alcoa’s $8.3 billion of debt.

American Express Co., the biggest U.S. credit-card issuer by purchases, fell 1.8 percent to $56.79. White House officials have approached Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault about joining President Obama’s second-term administration, possibly as Treasury secretary, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The S&P reached its highest level in two months yesterday amid signs of progress in efforts by Obama and Republicans to reach agreement on a new budget in Washington.

“The stock market has rallied in anticipation that a deal on the fiscal cliff will be reached soon,” Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Florida, wrote in an e-mail today. His firm oversees $350 billion. “In theory, an agreement could be reached and signed into law after Christmas, but that’s unlikely. There’s simply not enough time to iron out the details.”

GM surged 6.6 percent to $27.18. The automaker will purchase 200 million shares of its stock from the U.S. Treasury as part of the department’s plan to sell its entire holding of GM stock within 15 months. At $27.50 a share, the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the year, provides a 7.9 percent premium over yesterday’s closing price. The Treasury plans to begin selling its remaining shares as soon as January, the company said.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. and Sturm Ruger & Co. rebounded after sliding for three days following a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six adults. Smith & Wesson rose 7.2 percent today after plunging 18 percent in the previous three sessions, its biggest drop in three years. The stock had more than doubled this year before the shooting.

Obama said his administration will come up with “concrete proposals” by next month to help stem gun violence in the U.S. and endorsed restrictions on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. Obama said there is a growing consensus in the country for restricting high-powered weapons and urged Congress to hold votes on such measures early next year.

Oracle Corp. gained 3.7 percent to $34.09. The largest database-software supplier reported fiscal second-quarter sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates on growing demand for Internet-based software.

Profit excluding some items was 64 cents a share on adjusted revenue of $9.11 billion, the Redwood City, California- based company said yesterday. That compares with analysts’ average projection for profit of 61 cents on sales of $9.02 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Knight Capital added 5.4 percent to $3.51. The company, pushed to the brink of bankruptcy in August by a trading error, chose Getco’s proposal yesterday over a competing offer from Virtu Financial LLC, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The high-frequency trader offered $3.75 a share for Knight, one-third of it in stock, for a total price of $1.4 billion, according to a statement from Knight today.

Markel Corp. fell 10 percent to $436.24. The seller of property-casualty coverage agreed to buy Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd. for about $3.13 billion in cash and stock to expand in reinsurance. Alterra surged 22 percent to $28.18.

First Solar Inc., the world’s biggest thin-film solar manufacturer, added 3.2 percent to $33.03. Bank of America Corp. analysts raised their share-price target for the company to $35 from $30, saying that rapid declines in crystalline solar module prices are over for the medium term and the company will remain competitive with Chinese rivals.

Herbalife Ltd., the maker of namesake nutritional supplements, tumbled 12 percent to $37.34. Activist investor William Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP is betting against the stock, CNBC reported.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

For me, nonviolence is not a mere philosophical principle.

It rules my life.  It is the rule and breath of my life.

It is a matter not of the intellect but of the heart.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

People as you for criticism but they

only want praise.

-Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965

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:

Got a new brain?

“Technology has changed the way people think, creating a ‘new brain,’ two Italian psychology experts say,” reports United Press International.  “Psychologist Maria Beatrice Togo, who collaborated with psychotherapist Tonino Cantelmi on a new book…Technoliquidity, postulates entertainment technology such as video games ‘has triggered an evolutionary leap, just like the written word 3,000 years ago.  It has changed our memory; our brain has lost certain connections… Some circuits have been lost and others have developed, circuits that are more closely linked to perception.  The human brain has not changed on an anatomical level but it now works differently.  It is a new brain…[T]he ones with a ‘new brain’ are the children and adolescents of today.’”  -from The Globe & Mail, 12/18/12

On this day in 1912, the skeletal remains of the Piltdown Man, a purported missing link between man and ape, were “discovered” in a gravel pit in Sussex, England. It would take 41 years, but eventually the find was exposed as a hoax.  –Paul Vigna, WSJ, 12/18/12

And also on this day in…

1737 – Antonio Stradivari, violin maker, was born.

1787 – New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1892 – Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1947 – Steven Spielberg, filmmaker was born.

1957 – The first nuclear facility in the United States to generate electricity, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, went online.

1958 – The world’s first communications satellite was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.

1987 – Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street’s biggest insider-trading scandal.

2003 – A jury in Chesapeake, Va., convicted teenager Lee Boyd Malvo of two counts of murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings. (He was later sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

What is life?  It is a flash of a firefly in the night.  It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. –Crowfoot (last words).

photos of the day

December 18, 2012

A girl looks out of the door of a temple as her mother offers daily prayers inside in Lalitpur, Nepal.

Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

Qatari Heritage policemen ride camels during National Day celebrations in Doha, Qatar.

Fadi Al-Assaad/Reuters

A pine grosbeak chews on a berry in a tree in Montpelier, Vt.

Toby Talbot/AP

 

Market Closes for December 18th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13350.96	+115.57    +0.87%
S&P 500	1446.79	+16.43    +1.15%
NASDAQ	3054.530	+43.926    +1.46%
TSX	12334.34	+52.99
		+0.43%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9923.01	+94.13
		+0.96%
HANG  SENG	22494.73	-18.88
		-0.08%
SENSEX	19364.75	+120.33
		+0.63%
FTSE 100	5935.90	+23.75
		+0.40%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.840	1.827
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.416	2.405
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8170	1.7682
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9979	2.9417

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98605	0.98395
US   $	1.01415	1.01631
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.30414	0.76679
US  $	1.32259	0.75609

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1670.95	1697.90
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	87.93	87.20
BRENT	112.43	111.50

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as energy and financial shares advanced on optimism U.S. policymakers are moving closer to a budget compromise.

Athabasca Oil Corp. added 4.8 percent after it outlined its 2013 budget and analysts with UBS Securities raised the stock’s rating. Rubicon Minerals Corp. dropped 6.5 percent after saying the Wabauskang First Nation filed a lawsuit related to its gold project in Ontario, citing media reports. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Encana Corp. increased at least 1.2 percent as crude oil gained for a third day.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 52.99 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,334.34 in Toronto. The equity gauge has gained 3.2 percent this year.

“What’s driving the Canadian market is what’s driving the U.S. and global markets at this point, and that is the fiscal cliff,” said Anish Chopra, managing director and fund manager with TD Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. The firm manages about C$204 billion ($207 billion). “As negotiations appear more favorable for a resolution, we’ll see a risk-on trade.”

U.S. President Barack Obama lowered his tax revenue demand by $200 billion and offered to start tax rate increases at $400,000 in income instead of $250,000. House Speaker John Boehner said he will push a budget “plan B” measure that will include tax increases on income of more than $1 million, while he continues to negotiate with Obama.

Government leaders are negotiating to avoid more than $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to begin in the new year.

Manulife Financial Corp. advanced 3.3 percent to C$13.43 and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 1.1 percent to C$57.28 as bank and energy stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX. Eight of 10 industries advanced, with trading volume 39 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Canadian Natural Resources gained 2.2 percent to C$28.25 and Encana increased 1.2 percent to C$19.99. Crude for January delivery advanced 0.8 percent to settle at $87.93 a barrel in New York.

Athabasca climbed 4.8 percent to C$10.80. Chad Friess, analyst with UBS, raised his rating to buy from neutral while cutting his price target to C$13 from C$14 on higher oil sands spending after the company outlined a “fairly conservative” 2013 capital budget of $236 million for its light oil business.

This was offset by a surprisingly large $502 million budget on the thermal side of its business, Friess said in a note to clients.

“The 2013 budget is well funded and we see upside to production guidance,” he said.

Rubicon Minerals slumped 6.5 percent to C$2.45. The company said it has not yet received notice of the lawsuit from the Wabauskang First Nation relating to its Phoenix Gold project in Red Lake, Ontario.

Daniel Earle, an analyst with TD Securities, said the group is objecting to the ability of the province to approve the mine over the group’s concerns, citing a media report.

“We would stress that the Phoenix Gold project is fully permitted and the objections of the Wabauskang First Nation appear to be as much with the province and the mine review process as it is with the company,” he said in a note to clients.

AuRico Gold Inc. dropped 4.2 percent to C$7.92 after David Haughton, co-head of metals and mining research with BMO Capital Markets, downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform.

“The company now trades at a premium to BMO Research mid-tier gold stocks,” he said in a note today.

US

By Lu Wang and Rita Nazareth

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the highest level in two months, amid signs of progress in efforts by President Barack Obama and Republicans to reach agreement on a new budget in Washington.

An index of homebuilders gained 2.3 percent as confidence among U.S. homebuilders climbed in December to the highest in more than six years. Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley rose more than 3.1 percent to pace gains in financial shares.

Apple Inc., the most valuable company, added 2.9 percent.

The S&P 500 rose 1.2 percent to 1,446.79 at 4 p.m. in New York. It has gained 15 percent so far in 2012. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115.57 points, or 0.9 percent, to 13,350.96 today. About 7.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 20 percent above the three-month average.

“There is certain optimism that it could potentially be done before the end of the year and that would be a very positive sign to the market,” Philip Tasho, chief investment officer at Alexandria, Virginia-based Tamro Capital Partners LLC, which manages about $1.8 billion, said in a phone interview. “Once the solutions are in the rear view mirror in terms of fiscal policy, we will simply look forward. It’s a blip in the long-term trend.”

The S&P 500 sank as much as 7.7 percent from its 2012 high in September as Obama’s re-election set up a budget showdown with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The benchmark gauge has climbed 6.9 percent since its November low amid optimism a compromise will be reached to avoid more than $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts.

Obama lowered his tax revenue demand by $200 billion and offered to start tax rate increases at $400,000 in income instead of $250,000, moving closer to a budget deal with House Speaker John Boehner.

The president’s revised plan would raise $1.2 trillion in taxes in the next decade and cut $1.22 trillion in spending, said a person familiar with the talks. Obama wants a large enough debt ceiling increase for the next two years and would accept a new inflation yardstick that would reduce Social Security cost-of-living increases, said the person, who sought anonymity.

Boehner said he will push a budget “plan B” measure that will include tax increases on income of more than $1 million a year, while he continues to negotiate with the president.

Obama’s administration and other Democrats immediately rejected the proposal as inadequate.

“People have been very fearful to move into stocks and this might be one of the things to get them go back to stocks,” Brian Gendreau, a market strategist at El Segundo, California- based Cetera Financial Group Inc., said in a telephone interview. The firm has about $20 billion in assets under management. “We see a pickup in housing. The consumer continues to spend. The recovery is there, it’s real.”

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 advanced today as energy, technology and financial companies gained at least 1.4 percent.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index rose 1.8 percent to the highest level since July 2011. The Dow Jones Transportation Average jumped 1.6 percent to the highest level since May.

An S&P index of homebuilders rallied 2.3 percent to the highest level since Oct. 19. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence increased to 47, the highest since April 2006, from a revised 45, the Washington-based group reported today.

Lennar Corp. climbed 2.4 percent to $39.71. D.R. Horton Inc. added 2 percent to $20.08 and PulteGroup Inc. gained 3.2 percent to $18.61.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. lender by assets, advanced 3.3 percent to $11.36. Morgan Stanley rose 3.2 percent to $19.12.

Apple, the world’s most valuable company, gained 2.9 percent to $533.90. Bank of America said the selloff of the stock could be overdone. Shares fell 4.4 percent last week as UBS AG cut its price estimate to $700 from $780, citing concern that growth may slow for the iPhone and iPad.

At least five analysts have cut their price targets for Apple since Dec. 16, with some saying Apple’s purchases from suppliers indicate sales of iPhones and iPads, the company’s largest sources of revenue and profit, may not meet projections.

The reports from Citigroup Inc., Pacific Crest Securities, Mizuho Securities USA, BMO Capital Markets and Canaccord Genuity mark a reversal from earlier this year, when analysts were racing to issue upbeat predictions, with at least two saying Apple would top $1,000. Instead, the shares have dropped more than 25 percent from a September record amid speculation the iPhone is saturating the market, ratcheting up pressure on Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to introduce a new hit product.

Separately, Samsung Electronics Co. said today that it will withdraw patent lawsuits targeting Apple’s use of its technology in European countries.

Arbitron Inc. rallied 24 percent to $47.03. Nielsen Holdings NV agreed to buy Arbitron for about $1.26 billion, adding U.S. radio audience ratings to its television data as more users listen to and watch programs on the Internet and mobile devices.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. rallied 4.1 percent to $32.47, the highest since 2006. The hospital chain was rated overweight, an equivalent of buy, in new coverage at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. led a decline in stocks of firearms makers as Cerberus Capital Management LP, the New York- based investment firm that owns the largest U.S. gunmaker, said it will put the company up for sale, acting four days after one of its rifles was used in the Connecticut school shootings that left 26 people dead.

Cerberus said it will seek to sell Freedom Group Inc. just hours after California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he’ll propose that the state’s public pension funds, the two largest in the U.S., divest investments in firearm manufacturers that make guns prohibited under state law.

Smith & Wesson slid 10 percent to $7.79, plunging 18 percent over three days. Sturm Ruger & Co. declined 7.7 percent to $40.60.

General Electric Co. slipped 1.1 percent, the most in the Dow, to $21.69. The world’s largest jet-engine maker may reach an agreement to buy Avio SpA, an Italian supplier of aerospace components, from Cinven Ltd. this week, according to two people familiar with matter. A deal may be valued at about 3 billion euros ($4 billion), said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because talks are private.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

To make a decision is an illusion.

Behind the decision

is the hidden belief

that everyone is the same.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Knowledge of what is possible is the

beginning of happiness.

-George Santayana, 1863-1952

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:

December 17-23 known as Saturnalia: Roman masters served their slaves.  Saturnus is one of the most puzzling gods in Roman cult.  His festival was part of the Calendar of Numa, and its position on December 17^th, midway between Consualia and Opalia, is intelligible if we suppose, as has commonly been done, that his name Säturnus is to be connected with sätus and taken as that of a god of sowing, or of seed-corn.  Other historians derive the god from the Etruscan Satre.  There is little known of the cult of Saturn.

On this day in 1843, Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol was first published.  –Paul Vigna, WSJ, 12/17/12.

And also on this day in…

1777 – France recognized American independence.

1790 – Aztec calendar stone is discovered.

1903 – Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a heavier-than-air plane at Kitty Hawk, N.C.

1944 – The U.S. Army announced the end of its policy of holding Japanese-Americans in internment camps, allowing “evacuees” to return home.

1948 – The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk – the Wright brothers’ plane, 45 years after its historical first flight.

1969 – The U.S. Air Force ended its “Project Blue Book” and concluded that there was no evidence of extraterrestrial activity behind UFO sightings.

1992 – Canadian PM Brian Mulroney signs historical North American Free Trade Accord (NAFTA) between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, at a ceremony on Parliament Hill.

 

A single day  is enough to make us a little larger.  –Paul Klee

photos of the day

December 17, 2012

Ski instructor Alberto Ronchi, dressed in a Santa Claus costume, takes a ski jump in Madonna di Campiglio in northern Italy.

Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

A herd of adult and baby elephants walks in the dawn light through Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya. Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, which is in neighboring Tanzania, is seen in the background.

Ben Curtis/AP

 

Market Closes for December 17th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13235.39	+100.38    +0.76%
S&P 500	1427.50	+13.92    +0.98%
NASDAQ	3010.604	+39.269    +1.32%
TSX	12267.15	-29.57
		-0.24%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9828.88	+91.32
		+0.94%
HANG  SENG	22513.61	-92.37
		-0.41%
SENSEX	19244.42	-72.83
		-0.38%
FTSE 100	5912.15	-9.61
		-0.16%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.827	1.790
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.405	2.381
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7682	1.7015
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9417	2.8640

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98395	0.98580
US   $	1.01631	1.01440
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.29520	0.77208
US  $	1.31633	0.75969

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1697.90	1696.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	87.20	86.73
BRENT	111.50	111.99

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as raw materials companies declined after manufacturing slumped more than forecast in the New York region, showing weakness in the industry is persisting as the year draws to a close.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., a producer of copper in Africa, dropped 4 percent after it raised its bid for Inmet Mining Corp. to C$5.1 billion ($5.17 billion). Inmet rose 4.3 percent. First Majestic Silver Corp. plunged 10 percent after it announced a deal to acquire Orko Silver Corp. yesterday. Sun Life Financial Inc. slipped 3.9 percent after the insurer agreed to sell a U.S. annuity business to a firm owned by Guggenheim Partners LLC in a $1.35 billion deal.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 15.37 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,281.35 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has gained 2.7 percent this year.

“Commodities are pretty flat today,” said Paul Harris, fund manager with Avenue Investment Management in Toronto. His firm manages about C$300 million. “Gold doesn’t look as great on the charts; it could go to $2,000 but people are feeling it will go lower short-term before it goes higher. Gold went from $1,500 in June to $1,800 and now it’s pulled back.”

The price of gold has fallen more than 5 percent since reaching a second-half high of $1,798.60 in October. Gold for February delivery gained 0.1 percent to settle at $1,698.20 an ounce in New York.

Yamana Gold Inc. lost 1.9 percent to C$16.90 and Goldcorp Inc., the second-largest producer of the metal, dropped 0.4 percent to C$36.33.

A Federal Reserve gauge of manufacturing in the New York region shrank more than forecast to minus 8.1 in December. The median forecast of 55 economists in a Bloomberg survey called for minus 1. Readings of less than zero indicate contraction.

Mining and bank stocks contributed most to losses in the S&P/TSX. Trading volume was 28 percent higher than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

First Majestic plunged 10 percent to C$20.29 after it announced a plan to acquire Orko for about C$387 million. As part of the deal, First Majestic will issue 17.1 million common shares. Orko, which is developing a silver project in Mexico, surged 51 percent to C$2.39.

Silvercorp Metals Inc. retreated 7.7 percent to C$5.18 and Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. sank 5.5 percent to C$4.26.

First Quantum fell 4 percent to C$20.11 after raising its bid for Inmet a second time. The company is now offering C$72 in stock and cash for each Inmet share. The bid is 2.9 percent more than the previous offer of C$70 a share.

Inmet, which is developing the Cobre Panama copper project in Panama, climbed 4.3 percent to C$72.85, suggesting investors are speculating other suitors will bid for the company.

HudBay Minerals Inc. lost 3 percent to C$10.37. Copper for March delivery slipped 0.5 percent to settle at $3.666 a pound, as inventories tracked by the London Metal Exchange jumped the most in more than four years.

Sun Life Financial Inc., Canada’s third-largest insurer, lost 3.9 percent to C$26.74. Sun Life expects the sale of the U.S. annuity business to reduce earnings by about 22 cents a share in 2013.

US

By Lu Wang and Rita Nazareth

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest gain in about a month, as investors weighed prospects for a budget deal in Washington.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose as financial companies gained the most, adding 2.1 percent. American International Group Inc. climbed 3 percent on plans to sell as much as $6.5 billion of AIA Group Ltd. shares. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. jumped 3.6 percent as Sun Life Financial Inc.’s deal to sell a U.S. annuity unit raised the prospect for the insurer seeking to sell a similar business. Tenet Healthcare Corp. rose 1.8 percent as Deutsche Bank AG upgraded the hospital chain.

The S&P 500 added 1.2 percent to 1,430.36 at 4 p.m. in New York. The measure capped its biggest gain since Nov. 23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100.38 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,235.39. About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 2.3 percent above the three-month average.

“It’s a historic tug of war: pulling on one side is the fiscal cliff, pulling the other side is continued global monetary easing,” David Sowerby, a portfolio manager at Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees about $175 billion. “The most positive thing for the market is valuation and an accommodative Fed policy.”

The equity benchmark has lost 0.7 percent so far this quarter as President Barack Obama and House Republicans differed over how to avoid automatic deficit-reduction measures. The Federal Reserve said last week that it will buy $45 billion a month of Treasury securities starting in January to help boost growth, in addition to $40 billion a month of mortgage-debt purchases under a previous plan.

The S&P 500 is trading at 14.6 times reported earnings, compared with the average of 16.4 since 1954, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The benchmark is up 14 percent this year.

Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met for about 45 minutes at the White House today with two weeks remaining to avert more than $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases set to start in January. The Congressional Budget Office has said a failure to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff may lead to a recession in the first half of 2013.

Obama is considering a possible budget concession on Social Security cost-of-living increases after Boehner dropped his opposition to raising tax rates for some top earners, said two people familiar with the talks. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today it appears the chamber will need to reconvene Dec. 26 to work on the budget.

Manufacturing in the New York region shrank more than forecast in December, showing weakness in the industry is persisting as the year draws to a close.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose to the highest in eight months after the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power on a campaign for more economic stimulus and the doubling of the nation’s inflation goal.

AIG climbed 3 percent to $34.95. The insurer plans to sell out of AIA Group, exiting the business from which it was formed in Shanghai in 1919. AIG is selling about 1.65 billion shares in Hong Kong-headquartered AIA at HK$29.65 to HK$30.65 each, according to a term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News.

Hartford advanced 3.6 percent to $22.05. Sun Life struck a deal to sell its U.S. annuity business to a firm owned by Guggenheim Partners LLC shareholders for $1.35 billion.

The Guggenheim deal shows “there are potential buyers out there for these troubled books of business, which could open up opportunities for Hartford,” said Randy Binner, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, in a note to investors today.

Tenet climbed 1.8 percent to $31.18. The hospital chain was raised to buy from hold by Deutsche Bank, which said the company’s 2013 growth will “stand out.”

Compuware Corp. surged 13 percent to $10.76. Elliott Management Corp., which owns 8 percent of the software maker, offered to acquire the company for $2.3 billion, or $11 a share.

An index of homebuilders rallied 4.5 percent, the most since Oct. 3, as all its 11 members gained. A Wells Fargo & Co. monthly survey of homebuilding sales managers showed that 1 percent of respondents lowered prices in November, the fewest in seven years. Lennar Corp. climbed 4 percent to $38.80. D.R. Horton Inc. added 5.1 percent to $19.69 while PulteGroup Inc. gained 5.3 percent to $18.04.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. led a decline in stocks of firearms makers amid talks about gun control following last week’s elementary school shooting that left 20 children dead.

Smith & Wesson dropped 5.2 percent to $8.66, after a 4.3 percent loss on Dec. 14. Sturm Ruger & Co. slipped 3.5 percent to $44.

J.C. Penney Co. fell 1.6 percent to $20.64, ending a seven- day, 20 percent gain. The department-store company is “resuming a more aggressive promotional stance” to boost store traffic, said Brian Nagel, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. While the strategy may help strengthen its cash holdings, the recent stock rebound might not prove sustainable, Nagel said in a note today.

Clearwire Corp. slumped 14 percent to $2.91. The company’s board agreed to a sweetened, $2.97-a-share takeover bid from its wireless partner Sprint Nextel Corp., which is now offering $2.2 billion to acquire the portion of Clearwire it doesn’t already own. Shares of money-losing Clearwire jumped above $3 last week after Sprint made an initial $2.90-a-share offer, a sign that investors were anticipating a higher bid.

The U.S. budget debate is holding stocks hostage, as chief executive officers prepare to cut capital spending for the first time since 2009 should President Obama and Congress fail to reach an accord.

Expenditures by S&P 500 companies will fall 1.3 percent in 2013 after three years of growth, according to more than 10,000 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Companies from Verizon Communications Inc. to Rockwell Collins Inc. said they don’t plan to boost investment amid concern political leaders will fail to agree on a plan to avert the fiscal cliff.

Bears say CEO pessimism will sap the rally and note that the last time capital spending declined was at the end of 2008, just before stocks slumped to a 12-year low. Bulls point out that estimates for corporate spending show any decline will be limited and say the improving U.S. economy will lift equity valuations, now 12 percent below the 58-year average, Bloomberg data show.

“In an environment where the economic and political outlook is highly uncertain, it is hard for executives to make investment decisions,” Abi Oladimeji, who helps oversee $4.3 billion as head of investment strategy at Thomas Miller Investment Ltd. in London, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 12. “The danger is that we see policy errors, which could undermine equity markets and the broader economy.”

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

We do not progress from error to truth, but from truth to truth.

Thus we must see that none can be blamed for what they are doing, because they are,

at this time, doing the best they can.  We learn only from experience.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The truth is always the strongest argument.

-Sophocles, 496-406 BC

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:

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this week:

-by Robert Lee Holtz

Researchers on Wednesday said they found the earliest known chemical evidence of cheese-making, based on the analysis of milk-fat residues in pottery dating back about 7,200 years. The discovery suggests Europe’s early farmers added a cheese course to their diet almost as soon as they learned to domesticate cattle and started regularly milking cows.

Mélanie Salque/University of Bristol

A fragment of a sieve that researchers say were used as cheese strainers.

Mélanie Salque/University of Bristol

Another sieve fragment

Scientists led by geochemist Richard Evershed at the U.K.’s University of Bristol tested ancient, perforated clay pots excavated at sites along the Vistula River in Poland, and found they had likely been used by prehistoric cheese mongers as strainers to separate curds and whey—a critical step in making cheese.

The pots have long puzzled archeologists, but their new analysis, reported in Nature, revealed unique carbon isotopes of milk in the traces of fatty acids that had soaked into the ceramic sieves.

“It is a no-brainer,” said Dr. Evershed. “They have to be cheese strainers.”

No one knows exactly when or where cheese-making began, but experts said the traces of milk fat on these unglazed clay strainers are the clearest evidence yet of the origins of this basic biotechnology, which launched a dairy trade that today produces more than 11 billion pounds of cheese every year and as many as 5,000 different named varieties world-wide, from Appenzeller to Zamorano.

Cheese historians suspect that the first cheese was most likely a soft, watery concoction, resembling a contemporary cottage cheese or a fromage frais, that was naturally curdled by the bacteria commonly found on a cow’s teats.

Shards of the distinctive urns, which resemble pottery cheese strainers still in use today, are found often at sites settled by the Neolithic-era tribes who first brought the innovations of agriculture and animal husbandry to central Europe. They almost always turn up in association with large numbers of cattle bones.

In prehistoric times, when almost every adult was lactose-intolerant, the invention of cheese-making offered herders a way to turn fresh whole cow’s milk into a food that they could consume without getting ill, experts said. Cheese contains far less lactose than milk. Moreover, cheese, which normally takes up a tenth of the volume of the milk from which it is made, is easier to store, transport and preserve.

“Making cheese is a particularly efficient way to exploit the nutritional benefits of milk, without becoming ill because of the lactose,” said archeologist Peter Bogucki, an associate dean at Princeton University, who was part of the international research team.

In fact, evolutionary biologists at University College London have suggested that a genetic mutation to better tolerate lactose first originated in central Europe about the time this prehistoric cheese-making began. The inherited ability to digest cow’s milk more easily is widespread today among people of European ancestry.

For decades, archeologists have debated how the vessels pocked with holes were used. Some scholars theorized that the pots were used to brew beer. Others speculated that primeval chefs used them to separate meat from stock or honey from honeycomb. The containers also may have been fire pots to hold glowing embers safely.

“Scholars have been duking it out for decades as to what these sieves were used for,” said University of Vermont cheese chemist Paul Kindstedt, author of “Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in Western Civilization.” He wasn’t involved in the research. “This new finding is really definitive —beyond a reasonable doubt—that this utensil was used for cheese making.”

On this day in…

1799 – George Washington died at age 67.

1819 – Alabama became the 22nd state in the United States.

1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole, beating an expedition led by Robert F. Scott.

1939 – The Soviet Union was dropped from the League of Nations.

1967 – DNA synthesized for the first time.

1981 – Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights.

 
Feel the fear and do it anyway. – Susan Jeffers.

photos of the day

December 14, 2012

The 78.74-foot-tall Christmas tree is lit in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican.

Gregorio Borgia/AP

Winner Lara Gut of Switzerland (l.) and Nadja Kamer of Switzerland, who came in third, celebrate with champagne on the podium after a women’s Alpine Ski World Cup downhill race in Val d’Isere, France.

Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP

 

Market Closes for December 14th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13135.01	-35.71    -0.27%
S&P 500	1413.58	-5.87    -0.41%
NASDAQ	2971.335	-20.827    -0.70%
TSX	12296.72	+7.55
		+0.06%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9737.56	-5.17
		-0.05%
HANG  SENG	22605.98	+160.40
		+0.71%
SENSEX	19317.25	+87.99
		+0.46%
FTSE 100	5921.76	-7.85
		-0.13%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.790	1.799
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.381	2.399
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7015	1.7299
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8640	2.9054

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98580	0.98449
US   $	1.01440	1.01576
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.29753	0.77069
US  $	1.31622	0.75975

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1696.10	1696.95
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	86.73	85.89
BRENT	111.99	109.44

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam and Whitney Kisling

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed, extending their gain for the week, as optimism about the global economy fueled by American and Chinese manufacturing reports offset a slump in factory sales and concern about U.S. budget talks.

Dundee Corp. surged 14 percent after the company said it will give shareholders a 50 percent stake in Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust, its 70 percent-owned real-estate unit. China Gold International Resources Corp. declined 5.8 percent as the precious metal dropped for a third straight week. Encana Corp. slipped 4.3 percent a day after PetroChina Co. agreed to pay C$1.18 billion ($1.2 billion) for a 49.9 percent stake in an Alberta shale formation.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 7.55 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,296.72. The equity gauge gained 1.1 percent for the week and is up 2.9 percent this year.

“You’ve got some positive impulses and some negative impulses, so we’re stabilizing and we’ll see more stabilization later,” Robert “Hap” Sneddon, president of Castlemoore Inc. in Oakville, Ontario, said in a phone interview. “We had a little bit of a positive with Harper allowing two sovereign deals to go through in the oils.”

Industrial production in the U.S. rose in November by the most in two years. In China, the December preliminary reading was 50.9 for a purchasing managers’ index released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics, beating estimates.

Canadian factory sales fell faster than economists forecast in October on declines in aircraft and automobiles, while inventories reached the highest in almost four years.

President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner remained deadlocked yesterday during their third White House meeting on next year’s budget. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said today that Canada would enter a recession if U.S. policy makers are unable to reach an agreement to avoid fiscal tightening scheduled for January.

“There is good reason for concern in the next quarter or so if that issue is not resolved satisfactorily,” Flaherty told reporters today in Ottawa.

Encana fell 4.3 percent to $19.96, after jumping 2 percent yesterday. PetroChina’s deal marks the first between Canada and a state-owned company since Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled new foreign investment rules on Dec. 7.

The rules, announced after the approval of Cnooc Ltd.’s purchase of Nexen Inc., prohibit state-owned enterprises from taking control of Canadian oil-sands businesses unless there are “exceptional circumstances.” Joint ventures and minority stake acquisitions aren’t barred under the rules.

China Gold fell 5.8 percent to C$3.41. Gold futures for February delivery rose 20 cents to settle at $1,697 an ounce in New York. The metal was down 0.5 percent this week.

Dundee rallied 14 percent to C$30.47 after its board approved a tax-efficient plan to give shareholders a 50 percent stake in Dundee Realty Corp.

Inmet Mining Corp., the target of a proposed takeover offer from First Quantum Minerals Ltd., climbed 4.7 percent to C$69.83 after the miner boosted the copper resource estimate at its Cobre Panama project by 27 percent.

US

By Lu Wang

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks had their first weekly decline in a month as budget talks dragged on, overshadowing the Federal Reserve’s plan to expand bond purchases and better-than- estimated economic data.

Consumer companies fell the most among 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index as analysts cut ratings for Family Dollar Stores Inc. and Priceline.com Inc. Apple Inc. sank 4.4 percent after UBS AG and Jefferies & Co. lowered their share- price estimates. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and DuPont Co. each climbed 2.1 percent amid optimism over share buybacks. An index of steelmakers rallied 7 percent as economic data beat forecasts in China, the world’s biggest buyer of industrial metals.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,413.58, snapping a three- week gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 20.12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,135.01 for the week.

“The market would love for a fiscal cliff deal to be announced, then it would trend back to really the fundamentals, which are actually looking better,” David Chalupnik, head of equities at Nuveen Asset Management in Minneapolis, said in a phone interview. His firm manages $112 billion. “Time is running out here pretty quickly for certainly a grand bargain type of deal.”

President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner remained deadlocked during their third White House meeting on next year’s budget. More than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts are scheduled to start taking effect in January unless Congress acts to avert them.

Government reports showed retail sales and industrial production rebounded in November while jobless claims declined to a nine-week low. The Fed said it will buy $45 billion a month of Treasury securities starting in January to help boost growth, in addition to $40 billion a month of mortgage-debt purchases under a previous plan. Asset buying will continue until the labor market improve “substantially,” the central bank said.

Three rounds of bond purchases from the Fed have helped the S&P 500 more than double from a 12-year low in 2009. While the benchmark gauge is up 12 percent this year, it’s fallen 1.9 percent this quarter, worse than any other developed market among 24 tracked by Bloomberg.

“The fiscal cliff is creating value in equities as there is too much negativity priced in,” said Scott Minerd, chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners LLC, who oversees more than $125 billion from Santa Monica, California. “I’m of the mindset that the fiscal cliff is a non-event.”

Consumer-discretionary shares in the S&P 500 fell 1.2 percent for the week, the most among 10 industry groups.

Family Dollar slumped 7.2 percent to $65.86 as JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its rating for the discount retailer to neutral, an equivalent of hold, from overweight, citing increased competition. Dollar General Corp., the largest U.S. dollar-store chain, said it will match rivals’ price cuts to retain customers that analysts anticipate will spend more cautiously next year. Dollar General lost 6.4 percent to $43.83.

Priceline.com declined 6.9 percent to $613.54. The online travel agency was cut to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank AG on concern competition in the industry may heat up next year.

Apple tumbled 4.4 percent to $509.79. Steven Milunovich, an analyst at UBS, cut his price estimate to $700 from $780, citing concern that growth may slow for the iPhone and iPad. Based on checks with Apple’s suppliers, Milunovich said that the company is starting to curb production of the iPhone. Peter Misek at Jefferies trimmed his forecast to $800 from $900.

Berkshire climbed 2.1 percent to $89.15. The company said it will pay as much as 120 percent of book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities, for stock buybacks, signaling Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett views the shares as undervalued. The previous limit was 110 percent.

DuPont advanced 2.1 percent to $44.09. The biggest U.S. chemical maker by market value said 2012 earnings will reach the upper end of the company’s forecast and it will spend as much as $1 billion to repurchase shares.

An S&P 500 index of steelmakers rallied 7 percent for the biggest weekly gain since September as data from China showed factory output and retail sales beat economists’ estimates while manufacturing may expand at a faster pace.

U.S. Steel Corp., the country’s largest producer of the metal by volume, jumped 9.6 percent to $23.85. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., the largest U.S. iron-ore producer, surged 15 percent to $33.96.

TripAdvisor Inc. advanced 8 percent to $41.67. Liberty Interactive Corp. bought about $300 million in shares of the online travel-review company, gaining voting control from billionaire Barry Diller, who stepped down as its chairman.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Do not destroy.  Iconoclastic reformers do no good to the world.

Help if you can; if you cannot, fold your hands, stand by, and see things go on.

Therefore say not a word against any man’s convictions, so far as they are sincere.

Secondly, take man where he stands, and from thence give him a lift.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Everything comes gradually and at

its appointed hour.

-Ovid, 43 BC- 17/18 AD

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:

Of to our holiday season office party tonight.  In that spirit, let me share with you a new piece of music for the season.

There is a specially commission new Christmas carol by Luke Styles, Glyndebourne’s Young Composer in Residence.  It is called When Icicles Hang From The Wall and it is  based on words from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.  Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of William Shakespeare’s early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.  You can see the video of the recording at www.ft.com/ftcarol.

The fabulous Sir David Tang is at the ivories!

And on this day in…

1929 – Christopher Plummer was born.

1981 – The Polish government imposed martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.

1990 –  GST goes through after a 6-month filibuster.

2000 – Al Gore concedes presidential election.

2003 – American forces captured Saddam Hussein who was hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

 
Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius. –Pietro Aretino.

 

photos of the day

December 13, 2012

A giant Christmas tree stands in the middle of the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris.

Charles Platiau/Reuters

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights a Hanukkah menorah in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood. The Jewish festival of light is an eight-day commemoration of the Jewish uprising in the second century B.C. against the Greek-Syrian kingdom, which had tried to put statues of Greek gods in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

Ariel Schalit/AP

Market Closes for December 13th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13170.72	-74.73    -0.56%
S&P 500	1419.45	-9.03    -0.63%
NASDAQ	2992.162	-21.653    -0.72%
TSX	12289.17	-63.92
		-0.52%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9742.73	+161.27
		+1.68%
HANG  SENG	22445.58	-57.77
		-0.26%
SENSEX	19229.26	-126.00
		-0.65%
FTSE 100	5929.61	-16.24
		-0.27%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.799	1.759
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.399	2.367
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7299	1.6988
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9054	2.8918

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98449	0.98463
US   $	1.01576	1.01561
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.28736	0.77678
US  $	1.30765	0.76473

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1696.95	1711.55
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	85.89	86.77
BRENT	109.44	110.82

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in five days as gold and crude retreated, sending commodity stocks lower amid an impasse in U.S. budget talks.

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. plunged 15 percent after cutting its production guidance. Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc., the two largest producers of the metal, dropped at least 2 percent as gold prices fell the most in a week. Oncolytics Biotech Inc. soared 28 percent after the Calgary-based drug company received positive results from a study on a cancer drug it is developing. Sears Canada Inc. rose 5.8 percent after the retailer declared a special dividend.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 63.92 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,289.17 in Toronto. The equity gauge has gained 2.8 percent this year.

“We had a bit of a rally the past few weeks for commodity prices, but the companies in those sectors aren’t getting full value for the prices so investors may sell when there’s a bit of profit on the table,” said Kevin Headland, director of the portfolio advisory group with Manulife Asset Management in Toronto. The firm manages about $218 billion. “From a fiscal cliff perspective, a lot of it is rhetoric right now. We expect something will be announced at the last minute.”

Negotiations for a U.S. budget compromise have stalled with House Speaker John Boehner saying President Barack Obama is “unserious about cutting spending.” Obama said the negotiations are “still a work in progress.” Democrats and Republicans remain hundreds of billions of dollars apart as a year-end deadline to avoid more than $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts approaches.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned yesterday fiscal stimulus measures will not be able to offset the impact of those automatic tax increases if government officials are unable to reach a deal. The Fed also lowered its forecast for growth next year, now expecting the economy to expand 2.3 percent to 3 percent, compared with 2.5 percent to 3 percent in September.

Gold mining companies and energy stocks contributed most to losses on the S&P/TSX as seven of 10 industries retreated.

Trading volume was 25 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Kirkland Lake plunged 15 percent to C$6.61 after saying gold sales for the year ending in April will be about 90,000 to 110,000 ounces. The company had previously forecast 180,000 to 200,000 ounces.

Barrick fell 2 percent to C$33.86 and Goldcorp dropped 3.2 percent to C$36.41. Gold for February delivery retreated 1.2 percent to settle at $1,696.80 an ounce in New York, the biggest loss since Dec. 4.

Suncor Energy Inc., the nation’s largest oil producer, lost 1.6 percent to C$31.68 and Cenovus Energy Inc. slipped 1.8 percent to C$32.75 as crude fell for the first time in three days. Crude oil for January delivery lost 1 percent to settle at $85.89 a barrel in New York.

Encana Corp., Canada’s largest natural gas producer, rose 2 percent to C$20.85 after PetroChina Co. said it will form a joint venture with the company by paying C$1.18 billion for a 49.9 percent stake in Alberta’s Duvernay formation. PetroChina will pay an additional C$1 billion over the next four years to fund development, Encana said in a statement today.

The deal is the first between Canada and a state-owned company since Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled new foreign investment rules on Dec. 7 that prohibit state-owned enterprises from taking control of Canadian oil-sands businesses unless there are “exceptional circumstances.”

Oncolytics surged 28 percent to C$3 after the company said initial data from a test of its product Reolysin in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, a type of chemotherapy, found 86 percent of those in the test arm of the study showed either tumor stabilization or shrinkage. This compares with 67 percent of patients in the control arm.

Sears Canada, the largest department-store chain in the country, added 5.8 percent to C$11.88. The company will pay a special cash dividend of C$1 a share following a partial spinoff of the company from its parent last month. Sears will pay out a total of about C$102 million on Dec. 31 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 24, the retailer said yesterday.

Research In Motion Ltd. climbed 3.7 percent to C$13.63. The company said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will test its new BlackBerry 10 devices early next year, becoming one of the first government agencies to try the new operating system.

US

By Rita Nazareth and Sofia Horta e Costa

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks retreated, snapping a six-day advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the standoff in federal budget negotiations overshadowed a decline in jobless claims and a rebound in retail sales.

Newmont Mining Corp. and Mosaic Co. dropped at least 1.4 percent to pace losses in commodity shares. Phillips 66, the crude refiner that was spun off from ConocoPhillips in May, declined 1.6 percent on plans to raise as much as $400 million in an initial public offering for a minority interest in some of its pipeline and logistics assets. CVS Caremark Corp. climbed 2 percent after forecasting profit that beat estimates. Best Buy Co. jumped 16 percent on a report that founder Richard Schulze will offer to take the company private by Dec. 15.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 1,419.45 at 4 p.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 74.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,170.72. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or in line with the three-month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It’s going to be a bumpy ride until we see some type of deal on the fiscal cliff,” said Matt McCormick, who helps oversee $7.3 billion as a money manager at Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Inc. “Speeches and speculation are the drivers of the market right now. I’m hopeful that we’ll see a resolution, but the politicians seem to be going a different tune.”

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner repeated his insistence that President Barack Obama’s budget proposal is “anything but” balanced and accused the president of being “not serious” about cutting spending. Obama said the negotiations are “still a work in progress.” The deadlock in talks to avoid more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts will start taking effect in January unless Congress averts them.

Obama and Boehner were scheduled to meet today at the White House at 5 p.m. Washington time for further budget talks, according to a spokesman for the speaker.

Applications for jobless benefits fell by 29,000 to 343,000 in the week ended Dec. 8. Economists forecast 369,000 claims.

Retail sales in the U.S. rose in November as demand for automobiles rebounded and holiday shoppers snapped up electronics and clothes. Wholesale prices in the U.S. fell more than forecast in November, reflecting the biggest drop in the cost of energy since March 2009.

The Federal Reserve said yesterday it would buy $45 billion of Treasuries per month starting in January in an effort to boost growth. Interest rates will stay low “at least as long” as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and if inflation is projected to be no more than 2.5 percent, it said.

European governments geared up to provide extra aid or debt relief for Greece after releasing the country’s first loan payment in six months, signaling renewed battles over how to stabilize the euro economy. Euro-area finance ministers approved the payout of 49.1 billion euros ($64 billion) of loans through March and committed to “additional measures” in case Greece’s debt reduction veers off track.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 retreated today as health- care, energy and technology companies had the biggest losses.

Newmont Mining dropped 2.9 percent to $44.17. Mosaic, the largest U.S. fertilizer producer, slid 1.4 percent to $55.63.

Phillips 66 slid 1.6 percent to $52.21. The company plans to hold the IPO in the second half of 2013 for units in a master-limited partnership, or MLP, and use the proceeds to pay for expansion of its oil and natural gas transportation operations, the Houston-based company said today in a statement.

CVS Caremark climbed 2 percent to $48.50. Chief Executive Officer Larry Merlo has increased marketing and promotions to retain customers that it won when Walgreen Co. ended an agreement to provide Express Scripts Holding Co. shoppers with prescriptions.

Best Buy jumped 16 percent to $14.12. Schulze will submit an offer to the board before the Dec. 16 deadline, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported, citing a person it didn’t name. The bid will be about $5 billion to $6 billion, the newspaper said.

Clearwire Corp. surged 15 percent to $3.16 as Sprint Nextel Corp. offered to take it over in a $2.1 billion deal. Sprint, which already owns more than 50 percent of Clearwire, is seeking to acquire the remaining shares at $2.90 each, according to a regulatory filing today. That’s 5.5 percent more than the stock’s closing price in New York yesterday.

Research In Motion Ltd. added 4.1 percent to $13.86 after saying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will test its new BlackBerry 10 devices early next year, becoming one of the first government agencies to try the new operating system.

PBF Energy Inc. advanced 1 percent to $26.25, paring an earlier rally of as much as 8.4 percent. The oil refiner backed by First Reserve Management LP and Blackstone Group LP climbed after raising $533 million in an initial public offering that valued the company at $2.52 billion.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. placed a higher floor under its stock by raising the price limit for share repurchases, according to Whitney Tilson, a co-founder and managing director of T2 Partners LLC. Berkshire’s Class A stock has closed higher than the original ceiling since September of last year, when the insurance and investment company began the buyback program.

Berkshire said yesterday that it’s now willing to pay as much as 120 percent of book value for its two classes of common shares, rather than 110 percent. Yesterday’s closing prices for both classes came close to the higher percentage, tied to the value of assets after subtracting liabilities.

Tilson added to his firm’s stake in Berkshire after the increase was announced, the New York-based money manager wrote yesterday in an e-mail. T2 owns Class B stock, according to a regulatory filing. Each share is equivalent to 1/1,500th of a Class A share in the company, based in Omaha, Nebraska.

“Needless to say, I’m even happier having this as my largest position,” he wrote. Berkshire was second to American International Group Inc. among T2’s biggest holdings at the end of September, the filing showed.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

We know that toleration is not sufficient toward another religion; we must accept it.

Thus it is not a question of subtraction, it is a question of addition.

The truth is the result of all these different sides added together.

Each religion represents one side, the fullness being the addition of all these.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

We all have the ability.  The difference is

how we use it.

-Stevie Wonder, 1950-

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:

Apparently tonight Barbara Walters has a special program featuring the 10 most fascinating people of 2012 (9:30PM, ABC).  Some rate a Meh.

December 12^th, 1901: Marconi makes the first radio transmission across the Atlantic.

-from the Globe & Mail today:

Three dots – pip, pip, pip – that in Morse code represents the letter “s” sent Newfoundland into the history books.  They were transmitted 2,735 km from Poldhu, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom to Signal Hill in St. John’s, where Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi and his assistants hoisted an antenna with a kite above.  It was the first transatlantic wireless signal – but it almost didn’t happen there.  Marconi chose Signal Hill after storms destroyed transmitters he built in Cornwall and Cape Cod, Mass.  After the successful transmission, he expressed confidence that “mankind would be able to send messages without wires….between the farthermost ends of the Earth.”  Marconi left Newfoundland because of legal issues but returned in 1904, setting up a wireless station at Cape Race – famous for receiving the Titanic’s SOS call in 1912. –Jane Taber.

**Speaking of Cornwall, I have forgotten who sent me the recommendation to read When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman, but whoever it was, THANK YOU!  (Part of the setting for the novel is in Cornwall). I took your advice and bought it when it was first recommended, but only got around to reading it recently.  It is an amazing read.   I loved it.  I recommend it.

 

Also on this day in…

1787 – Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1821 – Gustav Flaubert was born.

1914 – The New York Stock Exchange re-opened for the first time since July 30. The market had shut down when World War I broke out.

1915 – Singer Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, N.J.

I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. –Frank Sinatra

1975 – Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to trying to kill President Gerald R. Ford.

1998 – The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton and submitted the case to the full House.

 

This is the last  triple date for almost a century: next time is 01/01/2101.

photos of the day

December 12, 2012

A street performer poses with an iPad with the time reading 12:12:12 in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid.

Paul Hanna/Reuters

Workers walk past clocks showing a time of 12 minutes past 12 noon, on this century’s last sequential date, in a plaza in the Canary Wharf business district of London.

Toby Melville/Reuters

 

Market Closes for December 12th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13245.45	-2.99    -0.02%
S&P 500	1428.48	+0.64    +0.04%
NASDAQ	3013.814	-8.488    -0.28%
TSX	12353.09	+70.73
		+0.58%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9581.46	+56.14
		+0.59%
HANG  SENG	22503.35	+179.41
		+0.80%
SENSEX	19355.26	-31.88
		-0.16%
FTSE 100	5945.85	+20.88
		+0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.759	1.730
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.367	2.335
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6988	1.6541
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8918	2.8403

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98463	0.98603
US   $	1.01561	1.01417
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.28722	0.77687
US  $	1.30731	0.76493

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1711.55	1710.40
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	86.77	85.79
BRENT	110.82	109.44

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a fourth day after gold miners advanced as the U.S. Federal Reserve expanded its asset-purchase program and budget talks continued in Washington.

Lake Shore Gold Corp. climbed 14 percent after boosting its processing capacity. Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. advanced at least 2.9 percent as the price of the metal traded at a one-week high. Just Energy Group Inc. added 4 percent after the natural gas and electricity supplier announced a C$105 million investment from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Cenovus Energy Inc. fell 1.1 percent after it said cash flow will likely fall in 2013.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index advanced 70.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,353.09 in Toronto.

A technical error caused the calculation of the benchmark equity index to be incorrect for a period during the trading day. The S&P/TSX didn’t receive accurate data for stocks with tickers from A through L starting at 10:42 a.m. in Toronto, Carolyn Quick, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Stock Exchange, said. The company said the data issue was resolved at 12:21 p.m.

“People’s portfolios are fairly de-risked already and the bulk of the protection selling is done, so there’s a slow drift upwards as we come closer to the culmination of these fiscal cliff talks,” said Bob Decker, a fund manager with Aurion Capital in Toronto. The firm manages about C$5.5 billion ($5.58 billion).

Negotiations for a U.S. budget compromise continued with President Barack Obama yesterday reducing his demand for tax increases to $1.4 trillion from $1.6 trillion. Democrats and Republicans remain hundreds of billions of dollars apart as a year-end deadline to avoid more than $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts approaches.

The U.S. central bank said it will buy $45 billion a month of Treasury securities starting in January, in addition to $40 billion a month of mortgage-debt purchases. Asset buying will continue “if the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially,” the Federal Open Market Committee said today at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington.

Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.6 percent to C$81.08 and Bank of Nova Scotia added 0.7 percent to C$56.88 as bank and raw materials stocks contributed most to gains on the S&P/TSX as eight of 10 industries advanced. Trading volume was 40 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Lake Shore Gold surged 14 percent to 82 Canadian cents after the gold mining company said it now has a processing capacity of 2,500 metric tons a day, a 25 percent increase. The company expects to push capacity to 3,000 metric tons a day in the second quarter of 2013.

Centerra Gold Inc. climbed 6.1 percent to C$8.93 after announcing it has purchased from Stratex International Plc the 30 percent stake in the Oksut gold project in Turkey it doesn’t already own for $20 million in cash and a 1 percent smelter royalty.

Barrick, the world’s largest producer of gold, added 3 percent to C$34.56 and Goldcorp rose 2.9 percent to C$37.63.

Gold for February delivery increased 0.5 percent to settle at $1,717.90 an ounce in New York.

Just Energy gained 4 percent to C$9.70 after the Mississauga, Ontario-based company said the CPPIB has purchased C$105 million in five-and-a-half year bonds with a coupon of 9.75 percent. Just Energy plans to use the cash to reduce its drawings on its working capital line, fund future growth and for general corporate purposes.

Sprott Resource Corp. jumped 11 percent to C$3.88, the most in more than two years, after the investment company initiated a monthly dividend of 3.8 Canadian cents a share.

Cenovus slipped 1.1 percent to C$33.34 as the oil producer spun off by Encana Corp. said cash flow will be C$3.1 billion to C$4 billion in 2013. The company’s 2012 estimate is for cash of C$3.7 billion in 2012. Cenovus blamed the lowered guidance on “expectations of lower realized oil prices.”

US

By Lu Wang and Inyoung Hwang

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks erased gains as optimism about Federal Reserve plans to buy more bonds faded, with investor focus returning to the budget deadlock in Washington.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. climbed 2.4 percent after lifting the threshold it will pay for stock, signaling Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett views the shares as undervalued. DuPont Co. advanced 1.4 percent as the chemical maker announced a share buyback and said 2012 earnings will be at the high end of forecasts. Eli Lilly & Co. sank 3.2 percent after saying it’s conducting an added study for an experimental Alzheimer’s drug.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,428.48 in New York, erasing an earlier rally of as much as 0.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.99 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 13,245.45. More than 6.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 6.3 percent above the three-month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Traders have been poking holes in some of the Fed comments,” Michael James, a managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles, said in an e-mail.

“Nothing hugely ‘negative,’ just reason to be doing some selling with the strength we’ve had in the last couple days. Markets are very thin right now and subject to bigger swings this week.”

Stocks rallied after the central bank said it will buy $45 billion a month of Treasury securities starting in January, in addition to $40 billion a month of mortgage-debt purchases, as part of its effort to stimulate the economy. Asset buying will continue “if the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially,” the Federal Open Market Committee said today at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington.

The rally faded as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said monetary stimulus cannot offset the full effect of the so-called fiscal cliff of automatic tax increases and budget cuts set to go into effect next year.

President Barack Obama is seeking a deal with Republican lawmakers to avoid the fiscal cliff, lowering his demand for tax increases in the budget to $1.4 trillion from $1.6 trillion yesterday. House Speaker John Boehner said today that Obama’s revenue demand can’t pass the House or the Senate. Democrats and Republicans remain divided on taxes and spending, as well as on whether an agreement should include an increase in the debt limit and further programs to boost the economy.

“People finally realized that we still have the fiscal cliff waiting in the wings,” Thomas Garcia, head of equity trading at Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Thornburg Investment Management Inc., said in an e-mail. His firm oversees about $80 billion. What the Fed “said in the minutes should be bullish for equities,” he said.

The S&P 500 has erased its losses since Election Day, advancing 0.9 percent so far this month to give the benchmark index a 14 percent rally for 2012. Its average gain for December is 1.5 percent, the highest of any month except July, according to data dating back to 1928 compiled by Bloomberg. The stock market may also get a year-end boost from a so-called Santa Claus rally — an upswing in the last five days of the year and the first two in January, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

The S&P 500 will surpass its record to reach 1,580 at the end of next year, according to Thomas Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. His forecast is 0.9 percent higher than the benchmark equity measure’s all-time high of 1,565.15 and 11 percent above its closing level yesterday.

Stocks will rally as investors get clarity on political concerns in the U.S. and Europe, an acceleration in durable goods spending lifts price-earnings multiples and earnings growth picks up, according to New York-based Lee in a note dated today.

Phone, financial and energy companies had the biggest gains among 10 industry groups, adding at least 0.4 percent.

Technology, consumer staples and material stocks posted the largest losses, falling more than 0.2 percent each.

Berkshire climbed 2.4 percent to $89.32. The company said it will pay as much as 120 percent of book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities for stock buybacks. The limit was 110 percent. Buffett, 82, and Vice Chairman Charles Munger have been weighing buybacks as the company seeks to deploy part of its $47.8 billion cash hoard. Berkshire last year began a buyback program after shunning repurchases for four decades.

DuPont climbed 1.4 percent to $44.30. The biggest U.S. chemical maker by market value said 2012 earnings will reach the upper end of the company’s forecast and it will spend as much as $1 billion to repurchase shares. Earnings excluding one-time items will approach $3.30 a share this year and increase by the “low- to mid-single digits” for 2013, DuPont said.

Aetna Inc. rose 3.2 percent to $45.91. The third-biggest U.S. health insurer by membership said earnings excluding one- time items in 2013 will be at least $5.40 a share, while revenue will rise about 9 percent to $38.6 billion. The forecasts “should be good enough given low expectations, Chris Rigg, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, wrote in a note.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. jumped 3.8 percent to $24.31. The second-largest U.S. equity exchange agreed to buy Thomson Reuters Corp. units that provide investor and public relations and multimedia services for $390 million in cash as it seeks to diversify.

An S&P index of homebuilders surged 3.5 percent as Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications rose 6.2 percent last week and the group’s purchase measure reached the highest level in a year. D.R. Horton Inc. increased 3.5 percent to $19.21 while Lennar Corp. advanced 4 percent to $37.87.

Dolby Laboratories Inc. added 2.4 percent to $35. The audio-technology company whose products are used in cinemas, announced a special one-time dividend of $4 a share.

Eli Lilly sank 3.2 percent to $49. The company said it will conduct an additional late-stage study of its experimental Alzheimer’s treatment solanezumab, a move that could push the drug’s introduction back three years to 2016. Lilly said it doesn’t believe it has enough data to gain U.S. marketing clearance for the medicine, based on conversations with the Food and Drug Administration.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

That which is immoral is imperfectly moral,

just as that which is false is true to an inadequate degree.

Rabindranath Tagore1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Do not read, as children do, for the sake of entertainment,

or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction.  No,

read in order to live.

-Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880

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:

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10^th, 1830 at Amherst, Massachusetts.  She was reclusive, mysterious, and frail in health.  Seven of her poems were published during her life, but after her death in 1886, her sister, Lavinia, discovered almost 2,000 more poems written on the backs of envelopes and other scraps of paper locked in Emily’s bureau.  They were published gradually over 50 years, beginning in 1890.  She is now recognized as one of the most original poets of the English-speaking world.

The Only News I Know

-Emily Dickinson

 

The only news I know

Is bulletins all day

From Immortality.

 

The only shows I see,

Tomorrow and Today,

Perchance Eternity.

 

The only One I meet

Is God, – the only street,

Existence; this traversed

 

If other news there be,

Or admirable show –

I’ll tell it you.

 

And also on this day in…

1520 – Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication.

1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded

1915 – Ford Motors manufactures its One Millionth car

1965 – The Grateful Dead played their first concert, at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.

1967 – Singer Otis Redding died at age 26 in the crash of his private plane in Wisconsin.

1998 – Six astronauts opened the doors to the new international space station.

2002 – Former President Jimmy Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in the Middle East in the 1970s.

2007 – Former Vice President Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis.

2009 – President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize with a humble acknowledgment of his scant accomplishments and a robust defense of the U.S. at war.

2009 – James Cameron’s 3-D film epic “Avatar” had its world premiere in London.

 

Prosperity does not exalt the wise man, nor does adversity cast him down. –Seneca the Younger, 5 BC-65 AD.

photos of the day

December 10, 2012

Children watch as candles are lit for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood.

Ammar Awad/Reuters

Johan Huibers poses with a stuffed tiger in front of the full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark in Dordrecht, Netherlands. The Ark has opened its doors after receiving permission to receive up to 3,000 visitors per day. In the Bible story, God ordered Noah to build a boat massive enough to save animals and humanity while God destroyed the rest of the earth in an enormous flood.

Peter Dejong/AP

 

Market Closes for December 10th, 2012:

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13169.88	+14.75    +0.11%
S&P 500	1418.55	+0.48    +0.03%
NASDAQ	2986.961	+8.920    +0.30%
TSX	12230.47	+70.88
		+0.58%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	9533.75	+6.36
		+0.07%
HANG  SENG	22276.72	+85.55
		+0.39%
SENSEX	19409.69	-14.41
		-0.07%
FTSE 100	5921.63	+7.23
		+0.12%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.700	1.710
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.307	2.312
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6164	1.6215
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7979	2.8104

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98654	0.98875
US   $	1.01364	1.01138
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.27728	0.78291
US  $	1.29467	0.77239

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1712.60	1704.05
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	85.56	85.93
BRENT	108.25	108.39

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day as Nexen Inc. and Progress Energy Resources Corp. surged after the government approved takeovers of the energy companies.

Nexen, to be acquired by China-owned Cnooc Ltd. for $15.1 billion, soared 14 percent. Progress, which expects to close its C$5.2 billion ($5.2 billion) deal with Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd this week, rose 13 percent. Both deals were approved Dec. 7. Athabasca Oil Corp. and MEG Energy Corp. fell at least 2.4 percent after the government said it will limit foreign takeovers by state-owned companies interested in Canada’s oil sands.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index advanced 70.88 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,230.47 in Toronto. The equity gauge has gained 2.3 percent this year.

“It’s the haves and the have nots: Nexen and Progress have been taken out, but the state-owned enterprises are on the sidelines now where they won’t be able to buy Athabasca and those sorts of companies,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto.

His firm manages about $4 billion. “It doesn’t mean they aren’t still in play, but it’s always better to have more potential suitors.”

The Canadian market was also lifted by optimism for a budget compromise in Washington and better-than-expected economic data from China over the weekend, Nakamoto said.

“The sentiment on the fiscal cliff is positive, but hopefully it doesn’t become too positive because these things can always fall off the rails pretty soon,” Nakamoto said.

U.S. President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met yesterday at the White House, with representatives for the two leaders offering no details of the negotiations while issuing identical statements afterward that “the lines of communication remain open.” Leaders in the U.S. need to agree on a budget to prevent more than $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts from coming into effect next year.

China’s industrial production climbed 10.1 percent last month, while retail sales grew 14.9 percent, the statistics bureau said yesterday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had a median estimate of 9.8 percent growth in industrial production and a 14.6 percent increase in retail sales.

Energy and raw-materials stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX as all 10 industries advanced. Trading volume was 21 percent higher than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Nexen jumped 14 percent to C$26.44, its biggest gain since July. The deal by Beijing-based Cnooc is the largest-ever takeover by a Chinese company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It gives the state-owned company a stake in Canada’s largest oil-sands project and the biggest position in the Buzzard oil field in the U.K. North Sea.

Progress soared 13 percent to C$21.96. Following the acquisition, the companies will make a final investment decision on a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in British Columbia in late 2014, according to a joint statement on their websites.

The facility may cost $9 billion to $11 billion, with the exports expected in 2018, they said.

MEG Energy, which is developing the Christina Lake project in the Athabasca region of Alberta, fell 3.1 percent to C$33.65 and Athabasca Oil, which is also developing oil sands interests in the Athabasca region, slipped 2.4 percent to C$10. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced new regulations on Dec. 7 that will prevent further controlling investments by foreign state-owned enterprises in the oil sands industry other than in “exceptional circumstances.”

HudBay Minerals Inc. added 5.7 percent to C$10.33 and Dundee Precious Metals Inc. climbed 5.6 percent to C$9.01 as gold for February delivery advanced 0.5 percent to settle at $1,714.40 an ounce in New York.

Silver Standard Resources Inc. rose 5 percent to C$14.29 and Silver Wheaton Corp. added 2.1 percent to C$36.15. Silver for March delivery rose 0.7 percent to $33.377 an ounce in New York.

US

By Rita Nazareth and Adria Cimino

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) —  U.S. stocks advanced, after the longest weekly rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since August, as economic data in China beat estimates and investors watched the latest developments in American budget talks.

McDonald’s Corp., the largest restaurant chain, added 1.1 percent as its November sales rose 2.4 percent globally. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp. rose at least 1.5 percent to pace gains in commodity producers. American International Group Inc. slid 2.3 percent after the insurer said superstorm Sandy will cost the company about $1.3 billion.

The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,418.55 at 4 p.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 14.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,169.88. About 5.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 15 percent below the three- month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“China hit that trough and is starting to see an acceleration of growth,” said Tom Wirth, who helps manage $1.6 billion as senior investment officer for Chemung Canal Trust Co., in Elmira, New York, said in a phone interview. “As far as our market goes, I don’t think there’s anything out there right now. It’s waiting on the politicians.”

China’s stocks rose the most among Asian equity markets today as the Shanghai Composite Index jumped to a four-week high after factory output and retail sales data beat economists’ estimates. U.S equities fell earlier today as Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he lost support and will resign.

In the U.S., lawmakers from both parties are leaving rhetorical room for a split-the-difference agreement with President Barack Obama on a U.S. budget deal. The president and House Speaker John Boehner met one-on-one yesterday at the White House, with representatives for the two leaders offering no details of the negotiations yet issuing identical statements afterward that “the lines of communication remain open.”

McDonald’s added 1.1 percent to $89.41. Analysts projected a gain of 0.2 percent for sales at stores open at least 13 months, the average of 14 estimates compiled by Consensus Metrix. Sales in the U.S. increased 2.5 percent, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said today in a statement. Analysts anticipated a drop of 0.6 percent.

Commodity shares gained. Cliffs Natural added 4.6 percent to $30.86. Newmont Mining increased 1.6 percent to $45.11.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. added 3.5 percent to $5.94 after a filing by partner Roche Holding AG with European regulators triggered a $4 million milestone payment.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. climbed 3.9 percent to $25.06. The satellite equipment maker that derives about half its revenue from the U.S. government rose after a rating upgrade by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

AIG lost 2.3 percent to $33.36. The company will make a capital contribution of $1 billion to its U.S. property-casualty subsidiaries, the New York-based insurer said. Sandy’s cost was about $2 billion before tax, AIG said. Sandy made landfall in New Jersey in October and damaged homes, vehicles and commercial property while interrupting business in states including New York.

The S&P 500 Retailing Index dropped 1.5 percent in the biggest decline among 24 groups. Priceline.com Inc. retreated 5 percent to $625.96. The online travel service was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank AG by equity analyst Ross Sandler. The 12-month share-price estimate is $710.

Options traders are sending bearish contracts on Dell Inc. to the lowest level in seven years, reducing hedges after the stock plunged 29 percent this year and the third-biggest personal computer maker took steps to expand into new businesses.

Puts protecting against a 10 percent decline in the shares cost 0.98 point more than calls betting on a 10 percent gain, based on three-month data compiled by Bloomberg. The price relationship known as skew reached 0.38 on Nov. 15, the lowest since August 2005. While Dell shares have climbed 18 percent since reaching a 3 1/2-year low on Nov. 16, the stock is trading near its cheapest level compared with analysts’ profit estimates since 2009.

Dell is expanding with acquisitions in other businesses as customers turn to smartphones and tablets and demand for PCs declines. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. last week recommended buying the shares on speculation the company may be acquired.

Dell is buying companies that are “very high-margin, very high-growth,” Brian Frank, a money manager at Frank Capital LLC, which oversees $25 million, said in a Dec. 3 interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters. The New York-based investment firm has 3.2 percent of its assets in Dell, making the stock its ninth- largest holding, according to Frank.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Though they may take various roads, all are on the way.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Unrest of spirit is a mark of life.

-Karl Menninger, 1893-1990

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