Month: June 2013

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1859, the song “Happy Birthday to You”  was composed.

Helen Keller was born on June 27^th, 1880.

The world is full of suffering but it is also full of people overcoming it. –Helen Keller, 1880-1968.

I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today entitled How Woody Allen Sees It.  It is amazing that as he approaches 80 years old, he shows no signs of slowing down.  His next film, Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin is due to be released next month.  This will be his 48^th feature film!  I have always been a big fan of his movies – ever since Annie Hall.  Of his  recent ones, I loved Midnight in Paris and Vicky Cristina Bacelona.  Amazingly, he still rehearses  with his jazz ensemble most Thursdays and every Monday night he plays clarinet at the Carlyle Hotel in New York. I saw him there a few times – he really is a pretty good musician. And he frequently writes pieces for The New Yorker magazine, which whenever I see one, I immediately turn to it, because they are invariably funny and insightful.  Right now, according to the article, he’s also working with the theater director Susan Stroman on a Broadway musical version of his 1994 film Bullets Over Broadway, and he just finished acting in another movie written and directed by John Turtorro.

In the article, Allen ventured this explanation about his restlessness, “You know in a mental institution they sometimes give a person some clay or some basket weaving?  It’s the therapy of moviemaking that has been good in my life.  If you don’t work, it’s unhealthy – for me, particularly unhealthy.  I could sit here suffering from morbid introspection, ruing my mortality, being anxious.  But it’s very therapeutic to get up and think, Can I get this actor; does my third act work?  All these solvable problems that are delightful puzzles, as opposed to the great puzzles of life that are unsolvable, or that have very bad solutions.  So I get pleasure from doing this.  It’s my version of basket weaving.”

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. –Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955.

Photos of the Day –June 27th, 2013

Tristan Robertson Jeyes (l.) drives a $383 pink Cadillac next to Jayla Silva on a $244 mini dodgem in Hamleys toy store during the Christmas in June media event in London. Paul Hackett/Reuters

People line the streets to cheer the passing motorcade of first lady Michelle Obama as she travels to visit the all-girls Martin Luther King Middle School in Dakar, Senegal. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Market Closes for June 27^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15024.49	+114.35    +0.77%
S&P 500	1613.20	+9.94    +0.62%
NASDAQ	3401.863	+25.640    +0.76%
TSX	12005.78	+53.88
		+0.45%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13213.55	+379.54
		+2.96%
HANG  SENG	20440.08	+101.53
		+0.50%
SENSEX	18875.95	+323.83
		+1.75%
FTSE 100	6243.40	+77.92
		+1.26%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.414	2.502
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.893	2.957
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.4721	2.5390
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.5344	3.5800

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95439	0.95490
US   $	1.04779	1.04723
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.36586	0.73214
US  $	1.30355	0.76711

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1200.82	1226.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.05	95.50
BRENT	102.61	101.85

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

June 27 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as higher crude and copper prices bolstered commodities producers and utilities shares rallied after TransAlta Corp. agreed to split off its renewable power facilities.

Aimia Inc. soared 11 percent after agreeing to a conditional deal for Toronto-Dominion Bank to be its primary credit card partner. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. gained 4.1 percent as copper advanced. Enerplus Corp. jumped 3.2 percent after crude prices rallied to a one-week high. TransAlta surged the most in nearly five years after saying it will raise as much as C$250 million ($238 million) by selling a stake in a new renewable power-generating unit.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 53.88 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,005.78 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has lost 5.1 percent this month, erasing its gain for 2013, and is headed for the first quarterly loss in a year. Trading volume was 2.2 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“We’re in a slow-growth period but the direction is still up, and I don’t see any major elements to disrupt this market,” said David Cockfield, fund manager with Northland Wealth Management in Toronto. He helps manage C$225 million ($215 million) with the firm. “In the U.S. economy there’s lots of pent-up demand and it looks like the consumer is out there spending.”

U.S. consumer spending rebounded in May, rising 0.3 percent after a 0.3 percent decline in April, which was the most in more than three years. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner.

A semi-annual measure of exporter confidence in Canada rose to 72.6 from 70.7, according to a report from Export Development Canada, suggesting companies are less pessimistic about U.S. and European demand.

Eight of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX advanced today, paced by a 2.2 percent gain among utilities stocks.

TransAlta surged 10 percent to C$14.36, the biggest increase since October 2008. The electric generation and marketing company expects to raise C$200 million to C$250 million by selling a 15 to 20 percent stake in a new company that will house its wind and hydro power-generation assets.

Aimia, which operates the Aeroplan loyalty program, surged 11 percent to C$15.40, for the biggest gain since July 2009, after announcing the tentative deal with TD Bank. The company had been negotiating with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, its existing credit-card partner, to extend a 22-year partnership that expires at the end of the year.

CIBC, which has the right to match the terms of the agreement by Aug. 9, added 0.4 percent to C$75.31. TD Bank climbed 0.6 percent to C$83.90.

Raw-materials producers rose 1 percent, with 43 of 55 stocks advancing. The group has plunged 18 percent in June, headed for the biggest slump since October 2008.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, rose 2.2 percent to C$22.24 and First Quantum Minerals added 4.1 percent to C$15.25 as copper advanced 0.2 percent a pound in New York. Nickel prices in London rose from a four-year low to lead a rebound in base metals. Zinc and lead also gained.

B2Gold Corp. slid 3.9 percent to C$1.95 after the price of the precious metal fell below $1,200 to extend its slump to a 34-month low.

Enerplus increased 3.2 percent to C$15.34 and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. added 2 percent to C$2.61. Crude for August delivery rallied 1.6 percent to settle at $97.05 a barrel in New York, the highest since June 19.

Niko Resources Ltd. surged 23 percent to C$9.25, after the company said press reports in India indicate the government has approved a new pricing formula for domestic gas sales in the country. Upon expiry of current contracts next year, gas prices from the D6 block Niko is developing off the east coast of India will double, the company said.

Whitecap Resources Inc. climbed 2.5 percent to C$10.49 after agreeing to buy energy assets in Alberta from Barrick Gold Corp. for C$173.6 million. The light-oil assets produce 2,900 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The company is also raising its dividend by 5 percent to 5.25 Canadian cents a share, beginning with the October payment.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Katie Brennan

June 27 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest three-day rally since January, on better-than-estimated economic data and assurances on stimulus efforts from Federal Reserve officials.

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P 500 advanced. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. gained more than 1.2 percent as financial companies rallied. An S&P index that tracks homebuilders surged 2.9 percent as D.R. Horton Inc. and Lennar Corp. increased at least 3.8 percent. Time Warner Cable Inc. jumped 4.4 percent as billionaire John Malone was said to be exploring scenarios for how Charter Communications Inc. could acquire the company.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.6 percent to 1,613.20 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.35 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,024.49. Almost 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 4.4 percent below the three-month average.

“The data continues to show that the economy is growing at a very slow pace and that unemployment is improving at a very slow pace,” Oliver Pursche, co-manager of the GMG Defensive Beta Fund and president of Suffern, New York-based Gary Goldberg Financial Services, said in a phone interview. The firm manages about $650 million. “It means the likelihood that the Federal Reserve changing course on its monetary policy this year is very low, and that further solidifies the case that last week’s correction was emotionally driven and an overreaction.”

The S&P 500 has rallied 2.6 percent over the past three days, the most since Jan. 4 and paring its decline for June to 1.1 percent. The index dropped more than 5 percent from May 21 through June 24 as the Fed said it may reduce its bond purchases if the economy and labor market improve as forecast.

Central bank stimulus has helped fuel a rally in stocks worldwide, with the benchmark U.S. index surging as much as 147 percent from its March 2009 low. Despite this month’s decline, the S&P 500 is up 2.8 percent for the quarter and has soared 13 percent for 2013.

Consumer spending in the U.S. rebounded in May following the largest drop in more than three years. Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, rose 0.3 percent after a 0.3 percent decline the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes advanced 0.5 percent, more than projected.

More Americans signed contracts in May to buy previously owned homes than at any time in more than six years. Claims for unemployment benefits decreased by 9,000 to 346,000 last week, indicating employers are slowing the pace of firings.

Fed Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said in New York today that the central bank may prolong its asset- purchase program if the economy’s performance fails to meet its forecasts. Fed Governor Jerome Powell said in Washington that asset purchases may be scaled back later this year if growth holds up, and any such trimming depends on economic data rather than the calendar.

The comments came a day after Fed Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said he expects the U.S. expansion to remain “sluggish” for “a couple more years.”

Data yesterday showed gross domestic product expanded at a slower-than-forecast 1.8 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, fueling speculation the Fed will maintain the pace of quantitative easing.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, retreated 2 percent to 16.86. The benchmark gauge for U.S. stock options surged to the highest level since Dec. 28 last week. The index has fallen 11 percent this week.

Financial and phone companies advanced more than 0.9 percent to lead gains among S&P 500 industries. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of stocks whose earnings are most tied to economic growth increased 1.1 percent. Hewlett-Packard Co. climbed 3.2 percent to $24.77. Boeing Co., the world’s largest planemaker, rallied 2.4 percent to $103.15.

An S&P index of homebuilders jumped 2.9 percent for a third day of gains, as 10 of 11 members advanced following the report on existing-home sales. D.R. Horton jumped 3.8 percent to $21.71. Lennar surged 3.8 percent to $37.38.

Financial stocks jumped 1.3 percent as a group. JPMorgan climbed 1.2 percent to $53.15. Citigroup added 1.4 percent to $48.28. American Express Co. rose 1.7 percent to $75.12.

Time Warner Cable surged 4.4 percent to $108.22. Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., which owns 27 percent of Charter Communications, is working on how to structure an offer with enough cash to win over Time Warner Cable investors, according to people familiar with the discussions. Time Warner Cable isn’t interested in a deal and doesn’t think Liberty and Charter can come up with an offer that’s attractive, according to people familiar with management’s thinking.

ConAgra Foods Inc. added 5.1 percent to $35.04. The maker of Chef Boyardee pasta and Pam cooking spray reported quarterly profit that topped analysts estimates as acquisitions drove sales in its consumer foods unit.

Paychex Inc. dropped 3.7 percent to $36.60. The payrolls manager reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of 34 cents, below the average analyst estimate for profit of 37 cents.

Revenue in the period was $585.3 million, missing the $586.2 million average projection.

Investors should expect about $13 billion in selling of equities and buying of bonds as pension fund managers rebalance their portfolios at the end of the second quarter, Ramon Verastegui, a derivatives strategist at Societe Generale SA in New York, wrote in a June 25 note.

The S&P 500 has outperformed government bonds since the end of March with a total return of 2.7 percent through yesterday compared with a 5.1 percent loss for 10-year Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

U.S.-listed bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds saw record monthly redemptions of $61.7 billion through June 24, according to TrimTabs Investment Research, amid concern the Fed may scale back its unprecedented stimulus. Mutual funds that invest in U.S. stocks had $463 million in outflows in the five days that ended with the Fed’s policy statement on June 19, according to data from the Investment Company Institute released today. Redemptions since May 16 total $7.3 billion.

“The flows coming out of fixed income need to go somewhere,” Bill Schultz, chief investment officer who oversees about $1.1 billion at McQueen Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said by phone. “Money market funds don’t offer anything, bonds are less attractive, so U.S. domestic equities on a relative scale look like the most attractive asset going forward.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

We must always bear in mind

that we are not going to be free,

but are free already.

Every idea that we are bound is a delusion.

Every idea that we are happy or unhappy

is a tremendous delusion.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Cock your hat – angles are attitudes.

-Frank Sinatra, 1915-1998

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:

The air of June is velvet with her scent,

The realm of June is splendid with her state.

Asia and Europe to our island lent

These parents of our rose,

Yet Albion took her name from her white rose

Not from her cliffs, some say.  So let it be.

We know the dog-rose, flinging free

Whip-lashes in the hedgerow, starred with pale

Shell blossom as a Canterbury Tale,

The candid English genius, fresh and pink

As Chaucer made us think,

Singing of adolescent meads in May.

That’s not the rose in her true character;

She’s a voluptuary; think of her

Wine-dark and heavy-scented of the South,

Stuck in a  cap or dangled from a mouth

As soft as her own petals.  That’s the rose!

-V. Sackville-West,

from The Garden, Summer

This is the 50^th anniversary of JFK’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech.  The G & M today ran a piece by Andrew Cohen and also one by John Allemang which analyze parts of the speech, musing on its relevance and stature.  I found it interesting; in some aspects, the speech was quite prescient considering the current status of China and Russia, and of course the fall of the Berlin wall.  In his speech, Kennedy said, “There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future.  Let them come to Berlin.  And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists.  Let them come to Berlin.  And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress.  Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen.  Let them come to Berlin.”

Photos of the Day –June 26th, 2013

Indian Sadhus, or Hindu holy men, release a sky lantern to signify world peace at the end of the annual Ambubasi festival in Gauhati, India. Anupam Nath/AP

People at Union Station in downtown Chicago interact with a 3D art installation, created by Kurt Wenner, depicting the depleted Colorado River. Scott Boehm/AP

Market Closes for June 26^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14910.14	+149.83    +1.02%
S&P 500	1603.26	+15.23    +0.96%
NASDAQ	3376.224	+28.335    +0.85%
TSX	11951.90	-53.52
		-0.45%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	12834.01	-135.33
		-1.04%
HANG  SENG	20338.55	+482.83
		+2.43%
SENSEX	18552.12	-77.03
		-0.41%
FTSE 100	6165.48	+63.57
		+1.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.502	2.538
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.957	2.982
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5390	2.6082
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.5800	3.6224

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95490	0.95116
US   $	1.04723	1.05135
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.36270	0.73384
US  $	1.30125	0.76849

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1226.10	1277.47
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.50	95.29
BRENT	101.85	101.14

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

June 26 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, following the biggest gain in two months, as gold prices slumped to a 34-month low and phone companies plunged on concern Verizon Communications Inc. is poised to enter the market.

Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. dropped more than 8 percent after a report that Verizon made an offer for Canada’s Wind Mobile. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of gold, slumped 8.2 percent to a 21-year low.

Endeavour Silver Corp. retreated 8.6 percent as silver touched the lowest level since August 2010.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 53.52 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,951.90 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

Trading volume was 7.1 percent higher than the 30-day average.

The benchmark gauge climbed 1.4 percent yesterday, the most since April 24, after China’s central bank said it will ensure stable money markets and better-than-forecast U.S. data bolstered optimism about the world’s largest economy. The index is down 5.5 percent this month, erasing its gain for 2013 and on track for the first quarterly loss in a year.

“If the government rules on the ability for someone like Verizon to come into the market and create competition in the wireless space, that’s a landmark change to the way these companies do business in Canada,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage C$220 million ($210 million).

Telephone stocks plunged 6 percent as a group, the biggest decline since November 2008. Verizon has made a C$700 million offer for Wind Mobile, the Globe and Mail reported today, citing two people familiar with the situation.

Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest wireless carrier, plunged 9.2 percent to C$41.67, the most since October 2008.

Telus tumbled 8 percent to C$30.70 and BCE Inc. declined 4.1 percent to C$41.57.

Raw-materials producers sank 2.9 percent as a group to the lowest since December 2008, as 48 of 55 stocks in the gauge retreated. The index has retreated 35 percent this year.

Barrick Gold dropped 8.2 percent to C$15.50, the lowest close since 1992. OceanaGold Corp. retreated 9.2 percent to C$1.09 and Alacer Gold Corp. fell 16 percent to C$1.96 as the price of gold slipped 3.6 percent to settle at $1,229.80 an ounce in New York, the lowest settlement since August 2010.

Endeavour Silver lost 8.6 percent to C$3.08 and Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. tumbled 7.1 percent to C$2.86. Silver dropped 4.8 percent to $18.613 an ounce and earlier fell to the lowest since Aug. 24, 2010.

Bombardier Inc. fell 2.1 percent to C$4.57 after delaying the first flight of its CSeries jet to the end of July instead of June. The company said in a statement it needed additional time to install software upgrades to the aircraft.

BlackPearl Resources Inc. declined 7.6 percent to C$1.47.

The oil and gas explorer announced yesterday it was deferring construction of its Onion Lake thermal project after deciding not to proceed with a proposed $350 million term loan due to volatility in debt markets.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Katie Brennan

June 26 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a second day, as China’s cash crunch eased and slower-than-forecast economic growth fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. rose at least 0.7 percent as financial stocks rallied. Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp. jumped more than 2 percent to pace gains in the the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. fell more than 5.9 percent, leading a selloff in precious- metal producers as gold and silver slumped to 34-month lows.

The S&P 500 increased 1 percent to 1,603.26 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index has rallied 1.9 percent over two days, after slumping to a nine-week low on June 24. The Dow climbed 149.83 points, or 1 percent, to 14,910.14 today. Almost 6.6 billion shares changed hands today on U.S. exchanges, about in line with the three-month average.

“We’ve had a relatively sharp selloff over a couple of days and we’re getting a bounce here,” James Gaul, a portfolio manager at Boston Advisors LLC, which oversees about $2.6 billion in assets, said in a phone interview. “Weaker economic numbers may be met with favor by the market because it can suggest that the Fed can slow the tapering process or not taper if the economy looks weaker than expected.”

Gross domestic product expanded at a revised 1.8 percent annualized rate from January through March, down from a prior estimate of 2.4 percent, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, were revised to a 2.6 percent advance compared with the 3.4 percent gain estimated last month.

The S&P 500 climbed 1 percent yesterday after reports on durable-goods orders, new house sales and consumer confidence bolstered confidence in the economy. The gauge has still retreated 4 percent from a record high reached May 21 as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may start paring quantitative-easing measures this year if the recovery continues to improve in line with forecasts.

Central bank stimulus has helped fuel a rally in stocks worldwide, with the benchmark U.S. index surging as much as 147 percent from its March 2009 low.

Fed Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said he expects the U.S. expansion to remain “sluggish” for “a couple more years,” and today’s downward revision to first-quarter growth is in line with his outlook. Lacker, who doesn’t vote on the Federal Open Market Committee this year, said he sees growth of about 2.25 percent in 2014.

“The economy is telling us this is about all we’re capable of right now,” Lacker said today in a Bloomberg Television interview with Peter Cook. “We’re going to continue to get growth at a fairly disappointing rate going forward.”

Stocks advanced in Asia and Europe today as the cost of locking in China’s interest rates slid for a fourth day and money-market rates fell. The People’s Bank of China said in a statement yesterday that it has provided financing to some financial institutions to stabilize interbank lending rates. The central bank added that it will use short-term liquidity operations and existing loan-facility tools to ensure steady markets.

“The PBOC reiterated overnight that it is comfortable with its current stance on liquidity and stands ready to avoid a collapse, but it is not keen to give in to demand from banks,” said Ioan Smith, a strategist at Knight Capital Europe Ltd. in London. “This may have helped markets to some degree, but there will be a lot of posturing over the next few days as investors have the month end in their sights.”

The S&P 500 has lost 1.7 percent in June, paring its advance in the second quarter to 2.2 percent. It is on course to end a streak of seven monthly advances, the longest run since September 2009. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, retreated 6.8 percent to 17.21. The benchmark gauge for U.S. stock options surged to the highest level since Dec. 28 last week amid concern the Fed may begin tightening monetary policy.

All 10 industries in the S&P 500 increased today, with health-care companies climbing the most. UnitedHealth Group Inc. jumped 1.7 percent to $64.78 while Johnson & Johnson rallied 1.9 percent to $86.99. Microsoft increased 2 percent to $34.35 and Boeing added 2.1 percent to $100.75.

Financial shares advanced 1 percent. Citigroup gained 1.3 percent to $47.61, and Bank of America added 0.7 percent to $12.76.

Pandora Media Inc. gained 8 percent to $17.73. Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge boosted his rating of the biggest online radio service to outperform, the equivalent of buy, from market perform, following news that the number of U.S. listeners in cars topped 2.5 million.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. added 2.8 percent to $29.99. The insurer boosted its plan for buybacks and lifted its dividend by 50 percent after Chief Executive Officer Liam McGee sold assets to simplify the company.

Teradata Corp. surged 3.9 percent to $50.40. Morgan Stanley said shares of the database management company represent a buying opportunity after a recent slump, citing improving demand for data warehouses. The stock has fallen 19 percent this year, compared to a 12 percent increase in the S&P 500.

Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold miner, dropped 8.3 percent to $14.78, the lowest in a decade. Newmont slid 5.9 percent to $27.22. Materials producers had the weakest performance among 10 S&P 500 groups as gold and silver tumbled after yesterday’s U.S. economic data bolstered the case for the Fed to reduce stimulus.

Apollo Group Inc. sank 10 percent to $17.39 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The largest U.S. for-profit college said earnings in the fiscal third quarter fell 40 percent as new enrollment tumbled.

Apple Inc. slid 1.1 percent to $398.07, the lowest level since April. The maker of iPhones and iPads has fallen 14 percent from a May 8 peak, and is down 43 percent from a record high reached in September.

Customers of American equity mutual funds withdrew money for the fifth straight week, the longest stretch since Jan. 2, as stocks tumbled amid signs the Fed may scale back its unprecedented stimulus.

Mutual funds that invest in U.S. shares had $463 million in outflows in the five days that ended with the Fed’s policy statement on June 19, according to data from Washington-based Investment Company Institute released today. Redemptions since May 16 total $7.3 billion.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

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

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

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

People may hear your words, but they feel

your attitude.

-John C. Maxwell, 1947-

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

OK, as I have been describing to everyone today, The Rolling Stones concert was fantastic – and an amazing feat of aerobics on stage for Mick Jagger.  The band  performed without a break for three hours straight.  Mick never stopped moving throughout the entire performance and the quality of the music is as good as it ever was.  I don’t think anyone in the audience sat down once during the entire concert.  They keep adding dates and places on this tour so if you get a chance to see them – do!

The highlight of the trip was seeing the Barnes Foundation exhibit in Philadelphia.  It is really worth the effort to get there – more than once.  You can reserve times and tickets on line which is what I did before we went;  I booked two visits in advance because I thought it would suffice.   I’d recommend at least three reservations – there are so many incredible masterpieces you just want to gaze upon.  You can check it out at www.barnesfoundation.org/collections.  An easy way to get there is to book the Amtrak from Penn Station in NY – the fast train gets to Philadelphia in just over an hour.

Photos of the Day –June 21^st, 2013

A woman carries her bike at sunset across Lock One of the Rideau Canal where it joins with the Ottawa River, in Ottawa, Canada. Chris Wattie/Reuters

Visitors enjoy an art installation by Argentinan artist Leandro Erlich in London. The detailed facade of a Victorian terraced house lies horizontally on the ground with mirrors positioned overhead. The reflections of visitors give the impression they are standing on, suspended from, or scaling the building. Frank Augstein/AP

Market Closes for June 25^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14760.31	+100.75    +0.69%
S&P 500	1588.03	+14.94    +0.95%
NASDAQ	3347.888	+27.131    +0.82%
TSX	12005.42	+168.56
		+1.42%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	12969.34	-93.44
		-0.72%
HANG  SENG	19855.72	+41.74
		+0.21%
SENSEX	18629.15	+88.26
		+0.48%
FTSE 100	6101.91	+72.81
		+1.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.538	2.488
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.982	2.931
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.6082	2.5368
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6224	3.5473

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95116	0.95193
US   $	1.05135	1.05050
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37553	0.72699
US  $	1.30836	0.76432

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1277.47	1282.92
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.29	95.09
BRENT	101.14	101.55

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katie Brennan

June 25 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most since April, after China’s central bank said it will ensure stable money markets and better-than-forecast U.S. data bolstered optimism about the world’s largest economy.

BlackBerry rose 3.2 percent after a Morgan Stanley analyst raised his rating on the stock. CML Healthcare Inc. surged 47 percent after LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Service agreed to buy the diagnostic services provider for about C$1.22 billion ($1.2 billion). Enbridge Inc. gained 3.2 percent after restarting part of its oil-sands pipeline system in Alberta.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 168.56 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,005.42 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the biggest gain since April 24. Trading was 19 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“It’s like a tug of war between the bullish and the bearish factors out there,” Irwin Michael, portfolio manager with ABC Funds, said from Toronto. The firm manages about C$800 million. “People are worrying a lot about China. The economic data indicating that the U.S. economy is getting better is not linear.”

The benchmark gauge for Canadian equities dropped 1.3 percent yesterday to the lowest level since November as commodities producers slumped amid concern China’s cash crunch would hurt growth in the world’s biggest consumer of materials and energy.

China’s central bank said today it has provided liquidity to some financial institutions to stabilize money-market rates and will use short-term liquidity operations and standing lending-facility tools to ensure steady markets. China is Canada’s second-biggest trading partner behind the U.S.

U.S. economic data today showed orders for durable goods rose more than forecast in May and sales of new homes climbed more than estimated to the highest level in almost five years. A separate report showed confidence among U.S. consumers rose in June to the highest in more than five years.

The S&P/TSX has fallen 5.1 percent this month to erase a gain for the year and is on track for the first quarterly loss since the same period last year.

All ten industries in the index advanced, with technology health-care and industrial stocks adding more than 2.3 percent.

CML Healthcare surged 47 percent to C$10.60, the highest in 13 months. Closely held LifeLabs agreed to buy the company in an acquisition that combines two of Canada’s largest medical diagnostic laboratory operators. CML’s gain helped health-care stocks rise 2.3 percent as a group.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion Ltd., rose 3.2 percent to C$15.32, the highest since May 14. Morgan Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum said he expects sales of the company’s new BB10 smartphone to meet or beat his firm’s first-quarter estimates, citing strong global sales.

Enbridge rose 3.2 percent to C$43.99 after the largest transporter of Canadian crude to the U.S. restored operations on a segment of an Alberta pipeline network and said it will restart other lines over the next “several days,” according to a statement yesterday.

The Calgary-based company shut the Athabasca and Waupisoo systems, which have total capacity to move as much as 1.17 million barrels a day, after finding a 750-barrel spill caused by severe flooding.

Industrial stocks contributed the most to the benchmark index’s gain, rising 2.3 percent as a group. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. jumped 3.5 percent to C$126.51 after saying it re- opened its line west of Calgary and planned to open segments of its main line through downtown after floods interrupted service.

Tim Hortons Inc. gained 3.2 percent to C$56.29. Scout Capital Management LLC demanded in an open letter that the company increase debt for share repurchases and curtail the use of cash flow to fund a U.S. expansion. The New York-based investment firm has a 5.5 percent stake in the Canadian coffee and doughnut chain.

Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s biggest bank, is leading a group of investors and brokers creating a new Canadian stock exchange to compete with TMX Group Ltd.’s Toronto Stock Exchange.

The bourse, to be run by a venture called Aequitas Innovations Inc., is also backed by Barclays Plc, CI Financial Corp., IGM Financial Inc., ITG Canada Corp. and PSP Public Markets Inc., according to a statement today. The group will file an application to regulators by the end of the year.

US

By Inyoung Hwang

June 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounded from a nine-week low, after data showed durable-good orders and home sales increased more than forecast and consumer confidence climbed.

PulteGroup Inc. rallied 3.9 percent as an index of homebuilders jumped 1.1 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. gained at least 2.3 percent as financial companies advanced. Walgreen Co. sank 5.9 percent after posting quarterly profit that missed estimates. Netflix Inc. slid 1.3 percent after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. cut its rating on the company to underperform.

The S&P 500 climbed 1 percent to 1,588.03 in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100.75 points, or 0.7 percent, to 14,760.31 today.

“People are still digesting the news from the Fed, making mental adjustments for different levels of interest rates and what those might imply for securities’ prices over the next several quarters,” John Carey, a fund manager at Boston-based Pioneer Investment Management Inc., said by telephone. His firm oversees about $208 billion. “I’m encouraged the market has stabilized a little here.”

U.S. equities climbed today as the Conference Board’s index of U.S. consumer confidence increased to 81.4 in June from 74.3 a month earlier. Another report showed bookings for U.S. goods meant to last at least three years climbed 3.6 percent for a second month, topping economist forecasts.

Separate data showed sales of new U.S. homes climbed more than forecast in May to the highest level in almost five years, while home prices increased more than forecast in the 12 months through April.

The S&P 500 snapped a winning streak yesterday, tumbling 5.8 percent from a record on May 21, the day before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may start paring stimulus efforts as soon as September if the economy improves in line with its forecasts. The gauge spent 149 days through June 21 without incurring a drop of 5 percent or more from a peak, the longest since a 173-day stretch ended Feb. 20, 2007, about eight months before the financial crisis sent the market plunging 57 percent.

Quantitative-easing measures have helped fuel a rally in stocks worldwide, with the benchmark U.S. index surging as much as 147 percent from its March 2009 low. While the S&P 500 is up 1.2 percent for the quarter, it is down 2.6 percent in June, on course to end a streak of seven monthly advances, the longest run since September 2009.

“QE lifted all boats,” Witold Bahrke, who helps oversee $55 billion as a senior strategist at PFA Pension A/S in Copenhagen, wrote in an e-mail. “Equally, its removal will shake all markets. The recent comments from central-bank officials show that they are a bit scared about the consequences of their own words and do not want to see a cold-turkey reaction in markets in the context of a still-fragile world economy.”

The S&P 500 followed global stocks lower yesterday as Chinese equities entered a bear market amid concern a cash crunch will hurt growth.

China’s central bank will keep money-market rates at a reasonable level and seasonal forces that have driven them up will fade, Ling Tao, deputy director of the PBOC’s Shanghai branch, said at a briefing in Shanghai today. The overnight repurchase rate dropped 47 basis points to 6 percent, according to a daily fixing compiled by the National Interbank Funding Center. It reached a record 12.85 percent on June 20.

More than 6.7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, or 4.3 percent higher than the three-month average. About 28.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges in the previous three trading days, the most since August 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the measure of options on the S&P 500 known as the VIX, fell 8.2 percent to 18.47. The gauge surged 6.4 percent to 20.11 yesterday, and has climbed 63 percent since hitting a six-year low in March.

PulteGroup rallied 3.9 percent to $19.02. Nine out of 11 members of the S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index advanced.

The homebuilder index recovered after falling 19.6 percent from a May 14 peak through yesterday, close to the 20 percent threshold considered to be a bear market.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose today, with financial stocks rising 1.9 percent for the second-largest gain. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, added 2.3 percent to $52.08.

Bank of America, the second-biggest, gained 3 percent to $12.67 for the best performance in the Dow.

Investors bought shares of stocks most tied to economic growth, sending the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index up 1.4 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 1.9 percent, as all of the 20 railroads, shipping companies and airlines in the gauge advanced.

Carnival Corp. rallied 5 percent to $34.89. The cruise operator that had a series of mishaps at sea this year reported fiscal second-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates.

The company also said Micky Arison will step down as chief executive officer after 34 years as it splits the CEO and chairman roles.

Valero Energy Corp. rose 3.6 percent to $34.98 after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted the world’s biggest independent refiner to neutral from sell.

Walgreen sank 5.9 percent, the most since September 2011, to $45.22. The largest U.S. drugstore chain reported third- quarter adjusted earnings of 85 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 6 cents. Revenue during the period also fell short of analysts’ projections.

Netflix slid 1.3 percent to $212.90. The biggest online subscription video service was cut to underperform from market perform by Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner.

Barnes & Noble Inc. tumbled 17 percent, the largest decline since August 2011, to $15.61. The U.S. bookstore chain that’s considering breaking itself up posted a loss that was twice as wide as analysts estimated and said it would stop making tablets as the digital unit’s sales plummet.

While investors in U.S. stocks have suffered losses amid signs the Fed will pare stimulus measures, the declines look small when compared with the rout elsewhere in the world. U.S. shares have dropped at a slower pace than those in Asia and Europe since May 22, when Bernanke signaled that the central bank could taper quantitative easing as the economy improves.

The S&P 500’s 4.6 percent drop from its May high through the end of last week compares with 9.7 percent for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index and 12 percent for the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.

“The U.S. is regarded as a safe haven and as an economy that’s just beginning to get up and running, which has produced this relative outperformance in stocks in the short term,” said Nick Skiming, who helps manage about $2 billion at Ashburton Ltd. in Jersey, the Channel Islands.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

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

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

becomes for the seed a prison.

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

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

Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Our attitude towards others determines their attitude

towards us.

-Earl Nightingale, 1921-1989

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:

As Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be sending the newsletter on her behalf.

Are you looking for a fresh new taste to spice up your summer cooking?  Here are 4 herbs for your garden and your kitchen:

1 ) Mint: The most common variety of mint is spearmint. Also called garden mint, it is the main type you’ll see growing in backyard gardens and sold at grocery stores. It can help flavour condiments and it is great in salads, salad dressings, dips and potato and vegetable dishes. It can also be blended into marinades for meat, such as lamb.  Mint can also be used to flavour beverages such as smoothies, tea or lemonade. It is a great garnish to add to just about anything needing a splash of colour!

2) Basil: The most common type of basil grown and sold commercially is sweet basil, also called Italian basil. It has fairly smooth green leaves and a clove-like scent. Basil is wonderful to use in or to garnish soups, salads, brushetta or pasta sauces. You’ll also see basil added to seafood dishes such as steamed mussels, pizza and meat and poultry dishes, or sliced and sprinkled on saucy meatballs or chicken parmesan.

3) Oregano: This herb is also a member of the mint family and is closely related to another herb called marjoram. It has an inviting, almost spicy aroma with a slightly bitter taste. Some say it has hints of clove, pepper and pine.  This is a great herb to use in summer dishes, such as sprinkling it on grilled vegetables, using it in marinades and adding it to salads and soups.

4) Tarragon: This is a perennial herb and is a member of the daisy family. Its narrow leaves have a mild, peppery taste and it has a licorice-like aroma and flavour. There are two main types of tarragon. There is a more refined, bolder tasting French tarragon. And the milder-tasting Russian tarragon that is heartier and widely grown. There are many possibilities to use tarragon including using it to flavour dips, vinegar, salad dressings and sauces. Tarragon is a great herb to chop up and add to omelettes, stews, steamed vegetables, soups, and roast chicken.

Today In History:

1922 – The American Professional Football Association took the name of The National Football League.

1962 – The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-7, after 22 innings.

1964 – The Federal Trade Commission announced that starting in 1965, cigarette manufactures would be required to include warnings on their packaging about the harmful effects of smoking.

1998 – Walt Disney World Resort admitted its 600-millionth guest.
Disney movies, music and books

2002 – A painting from Monet’s Waterlilies series sold for $20.2 million.

“Try not to become a man of success but a man of value” -Albert Einstein

Photos of the Day –June 24th, 2013

Fireworks light up the sky over the Neva River and the Peter and Pawel Fortress during the annual school leavers night show in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The largest full moon of the year, also referred to as a ‘super moon,’ rises behind New York’s Lower Manhattan as a plane passes by Sunday night. Gary Hershorn/Reuters

Market Closes for June 24^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14659.56	-139.84    -0.94%
S&P 500	1573.09	-19.34    -1.21%
NASDAQ	3320.757	-36.489    -1.09%
TSX	11836.86	-158.80
		-1.32%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13062.78	-167.35
		-1.26%
HANG  SENG	19813.98	-449.33
		-2.22%
SENSEX	18540.89	-233.35
		-1.24%
FTSE 100	6029.10	-87.07
		-1.42%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.488	2.447
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.931	2.905
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5368	2.5384
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.5473	3.5902

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95193	0.95631
US   $	1.05050	1.04568
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37859	0.72538
US  $	1.31231	0.76201

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1282.92	1295.42
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.09	93.59
BRENT	101.55	101.30

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katie Brennan

June 24 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell to a seven- month low as commodities producers slumped amid concern a cash crunch in China will hurt growth in the world’s biggest consumer of materials and energy.

All 10 industries in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index retreated, led by a 3.8 percent decline in raw-materials producers. Teck Resources Ltd. and Endeavour Silver Corp. lost at least 6.8 percent as copper and silver prices tumbled.

Enbridge Inc. slid 2 percent as three oil pipelines in Alberta remained closed by a leak related to flooding.

The S&P/TSX fell 158.80 points, or 1.3 percent, to 11,836.86 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest level since Nov. 15. The benchmark index is down 4.8 percent this year. Trading volume was 2.7 percent below than the 30-day average.

“There’s weakness across the board. It’s getting ugly,” said John Kinsey, fund manager with Caldwell Securities Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage about C$1 billion ($953 million).

“People are very nervous on a number of fronts. Europe is just a mess but China and the U.S. are the two economies that everybody is focused on. China numbers show the economy is slowing there. That is something that has everybody worried.”

The S&P/TSX extended its monthly loss to 6.4 percent as China’s central bank signaled it would provide no relief from a cash squeeze. China is the world’s second-largest economy and Canada’s second-biggest trading partner behind the U.S. The country’s benchmark money-market rates last week climbed to a record as the central bank refrained from using open-market operations to provide liquidity.

Investors are also considering whether growth in the U.S. is strong enough for the Fed to begin phasing out stimulus later this year. U.S. durable goods orders probably rose and house prices continued to recover, economists said before reports this week. The S&P/TSX trimmed an early drop of 2 percent after Fed Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said investors shouldn’t overreact to plans to slow bond purchases.

Each of the benchmark index’s 10 sectors retreated at least 0.4 percent. The index that tracks producers of raw materials plunged 3.8 percent to the lowest since December 2008 as all but one of its 55 members declined.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, fell 6.8 percent to C$21.22 and Endeavor Silver slid 10 percent to C$3.35, its lowest level since August 2010. Copper futures plunged to the lowest in almost three years and silver lost 1.8 percent.

Energy producers declined 1.5 percent. Oil prices rose for the first time in four days on supply concerns, reversing an early drop that took crude to a three-week low. Niko Resources Ltd. fell 2.3 percent to C$6.85 and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. lost 2.4 percent to C$11.29.

Enbridge dropped 2 percent to C$42.64. The company closed one pipeline after discovering a 750-barrel spill on June 22. Two more lines, also in Alberta, were shut as a precaution. Enbridge, Canada’s biggest pipeline operator, has not given a timeline for service resumption. Alberta has the third-largest proven oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, according to the provincial government.

US

By Lu Wang and Stephen Kirkland

June 24 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell after Chinese equities entered a bear market on concern a cash crunch will hurt growth. Treasuries pared losses on speculation investors overreacted to a possible reduction of central bank stimulus.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index sank 1.2 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming an earlier drop of 2 percent. Ten-year Treasury note yields rose one basis point after earlier jumping to the highest level since 2011. The CSI 300 Index of China’s biggest companies tumbled 6.3 percent, the most since August 2009 and taking its drop from this year’s high to more than 20 percent. Copper fell to the lowest level in almost three years and aluminum extended the longest slump since 1987.

Richard Fisher, president of the Fed Bank of Dallas, said investors shouldn’t overreact to the central bank’s plans to reduce the pace of asset purchases. China’s central bank said there’s a reasonable amount of liquidity in the financial system and urged banks to control risks from credit expansion, signaling no relief from a cash squeeze. The nation’s overnight repurchase rate is 6.47 percent, more than double this year’s average.

“Investors have been shaken by the concept of rising interest rates and a reduction in stimulus from the Federal Reserve, coupled with the uncertainty regarding effectively how robust the Chinese central banking system is,”  Ethan Anderson, senior portfolio manager for Rehmann Financial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said by phone. His firm manages about $1.5 billion. “We found ourselves in a headline-dependent environment, which is difficult for investors to function.”

Global equities tumbled last week, with the MSCI All- Country World Index sinking the most in more than a year, after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said bond buying may be scaled back this year should risks to the U.S. economy continue to decrease. The equity gauge has fallen 8.7 percent from its peak on May 21, trimming this year’s gains to 2 percent.

Two Federal Reserve presidents with opposing views on how much stimulus the U.S. economy needs today emphasized that policy remains accommodative. Fisher, who doesn’t vote on monetary policy this year, said in a speech in London that “what we’re talking about here is dialing back.” He said, “The word ’exit’ is not appropriate.”

Fisher, in an interview with the Financial Times published on its website today, said investors behaved like “feral hogs” after the June 19 comments by Bernanke.

Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, who has called for easier policy, said to reporters in a conference call that the Fed must emphasize in its statement that policy will remain accommodative “for a considerable time” after the end of quantitative easing.

“Fisher’s comments seemed to dial back some of the negative rhetoric that people had in terms of Chairman Bernanke’s comments last week,” Michael James, a managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. “This remains a trader and sentiment-driven market that’s susceptible to swings in either direction at a drop of a hat.”

All 10 industries in the S&P 500 fell today, with raw- material and financial companies dropping the most. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. tumbled more than 2 percent. Boeing Co. and Hewlett-Packard Co. slid at least 2.1 percent to pace declines among the largest companies.

The S&P 500 slumped to its lowest level since April during the day, briefly slipping below a 2007 closing high of 1,565.15. The index surpassed that peak in March, recovering all its losses from the financial crisis.

The benchmark gauge has fallen 5.8 percent since a record on May 21, ending its longest run in more than six years of going without a retreat of 5 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The index spent 149 days through June 21 without incurring a 5 percent loss from a peak, the longest since a 173-day stretch ended Feb. 20, 2007, about eight months before the financial crisis sent the market plunging 57 percent.

The S&P 500 has also lost 3.5 percent in June, poised to snap a streak of seven straight monthly advances, the longest winning streak since September 2009. The index has rallied as much as 147 percent from its March 2009 low.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the measure of options on the S&P 500 known as the VIX, added 6.4 percent to 20.11.

While U.S. equity volatility reached a six-month high last week, expected stock swings are less than half as much as peaks in the last four years and traders are pricing in little increase for the rest of the year. Even after the gauge of options prices on the S&P 500 increased 67 percent since March through last week, it would have to rise 134 percent more to reach its average high of 44 from 2009 to 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. VIX futures expiring in six months trade only 10 percent higher than the index.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 1.7 percent, declining for a fifth day in the longest losing streak in 13 months. The gauge erased its gain for the year, and extended its retreat from the May 22 high to more than 10 percent. The volume of shares changing hands in Stoxx 600 companies was 27 percent greater than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Erste Group Bank AG slid 8.5 percent as Austria’s biggest lender said it will sell about 660 million euros ($865 million) of new shares in the third quarter to help repay state aid.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell for a fifth day to a one-year low, losing 1.7 percent. Benchmark gauges in South Africa, the Czech Republic, the Philippines and Thailand lost at least 2.4 percent.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong slid 3.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the largest mainland market, tumbled 5.3 percent, with trading volume 11 percent higher than the 30-day average. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its 2013 forecast for China’s economy and said the cash squeeze is hurting growth.

Chinese banks must control liquidity risks from fast capital expansion, especially credit, the central bank said in a statement dated June 17 and issued today, signaling no relief to a cash squeeze which risks exacerbating an economic slowdown.

“China has had a credit binge for way too long,” Vasu Menon, the head of content and research at OCBC Bank Ltd. in Singapore, told Bloomberg TV. “The government is trying to rebalance the economy, trying to downsize the shadow banking system. All that means credit is going to remain fairly tight.”

Treasuries pared earlier losses as yields at the highest levels since 2011 attracted traders. The 10-year note yield rose one basis point to 2.54 percent after climbing as much as 13 basis points to 2.66 percent.

Bonds slid across the globe earlier on expectation that a reduction in accommodation from the Fed will lead to an eventual end of record low central bank borrowing rates. The yield on Australia’s 10-year government bond surged 28 basis points to 4.04 percent, reaching the highest since April 2012. Germany’s 10-year bund yield rose nine basis points to 1.81 percent, the highest since March 2012.

U.K. 10-year yields reached 2.59 percent, the highest in almost 20 months, and Switzerland’s 10-year rate exceeded 1 percent for the first time since Oct. 31, 2011.

The dollar declined less than 0.1 percent to $1.3123 per euro after appreciating to the strongest level since June 5. The U.S. currency rose earlier versus the majority of its 16 major counterparts before U.S. reports tomorrow that economists said will show durable-goods orders gained and house prices increased. The U.S. currency weakened 0.2 percent to at 97.72 yen, while the Swedish krona slid to a seven-month low versus the dollar.

Copper fell 2.3 percent to settle at $3.0285 a pound after touching $2.9935, the lowest for a most-active contract since July 2010. Aluminum slid for the 13th consecutive day, the longest slump since at least June 1987.

Gold and silver fell as platinum plunged to the lowest since November 2009. Gold futures declined 1.2 percent to settle at $1,277.10 as Goldman Sachs trimmed its price forecasts through 2014. Silver dropped 2.3 percent to $19.493 an ounce and platinum slumped 2.9 percent to $1,329.10 an ounce, after reaching the lowest level since November 2009.

Crude oil gained for the first time in four days after three pipelines in Alberta were shut because of flooding. Crude for August delivery rose 1.6 percent, the most since June 3, to settle at $95.18 a barrel. Earlier, prices fell as much as $1.02 to $92.67 a barrel, the lowest level since June 4. Enbridge Inc. has yet to restart the pipelines shut by a leak related to severe flooding and hasn’t offered a timeline for service resumption.

 

Be magnificent!

 

To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: “Leave no stone unturned” –
Edward Bulwer Lytton

Karen Parnham

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: 778-430-5828

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

As Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be sending the newsletter on her behalf.

Do you have family or friends coming to Victoria this summer and are looking for a different way to tour the city? Check out Victoria Hippo Tours.  This unique tour takes you around the city, traveling both on land and water. They have specially designed amphibious vehicles that carry 40 passengers and function as both a bus and boat. During the continuous 90 minute trip onboard the Hippo, you will see many of Victoria’s best attractions, while also getting a glimpse of local life. It is relaxing tour around the city before splashing into the Pacific Ocean for the second half of the journey.  This will be an experience like never before, on the bus that floats!

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Photos of the Day –June 20^th, 2013

Children play at dusk on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, India. Biswaranjan Rout/AP

A tree branch is silhouetted as smoke rises from the Doce Fire in Yavapai County, Arizona. More than 500 firefighters were battling the Doce Fire, which has burned through 7,000 acres (2,830 hectares) of chaparral, pine and juniper since Tuesday morning. Joshua Lott/Reuters

Market Closes for June 20^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14758.32	-353.87    -2.34%
S&P 500	1588.31	-40.62    -2.49%
NASDAQ	3364.635	-78.566    -2.28%
TSX	11973.85	-294.44
		-2.40%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13014.58	-230.64
		-1.74%
HANG  SENG	20382.87	-604.02
		-2.88%
SENSEX	18719.29	-526.41
		-2.74%
FTSE 100	6159.51	-189.31
		-2.98%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.325	2.250
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.808	2.746
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.4117	2.3508
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.5055	3.4164

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96325	0.97337
US   $	1.03815	1.02736
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37241	0.72865
US  $	1.32197	0.75645

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1281.24	1351.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.40	98.24
BRENT	102.02	105.58

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

June 20 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks plunged to a two- month low, joining a global rout in equities and commodities, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it may phase out stimulus and manufacturing in China contracted.

All 10 industries in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index retreated, led by a 5.7 percent decline among raw- materials producers. OceanaGold Corp. lost 12 percent as gold plunged to a 2 1/2 year low. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. slid 6.4 percent as copper skidded to the weakest in seven weeks.

TransGlobe Energy Corp. fell 13 percent as oil retreated 2.9 percent.

The S&P/TSX lost 299.72 points, or 2.4 percent, to 11,968.57 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, as 94 percent of the gauge’s 237 members retreated. The index is down 3.7 percent this year.

Trading volume was 55 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“The reason why the market reaction today is noticeably strong is because people had set themselves up for a more dovish message than they received,” Michael O’Brien, fund manager with TD Asset Management Inc., said from Toronto. He helps manage C$204 billion ($197 billion) at the firm. “It’s a healthy shakeup in that we had a one-way trade in bonds, dividend-paying stocks and financial assets in general. The market is recalibrating, with the view of ’Maybe we shouldn’t have taken everything up together, maybe we’ll sort out the wheat from the chaff.’”

The MSCI All-Country World Index slipped 3.4 percent today, the most since September 2011. Asian stocks tumbled to the weakest in 21 months and European shares plunged 3 percent to a 19-month low. The S&P 500 plunged 2.5 percent for its worst decline since 2011.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday the central bank may begin reducing its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases this year and end the program in 2014 should the U.S. economy continue to improve.

Canadian 10-year government bond yields have risen about 65 basis points since May 2 to 2.33 percent, driving investors away from high dividend-paying stocks. The S&P/TSX Telecommunications and Utilities indexes, which yield higher dividends than the broader index, have fallen at least 9 percent in the past month for the worst performance in the benchmark gauge. Utilities stocks have plunged 6.9 percent in the last two days to the lowest level in almost three years.

A Chinese manufacturing gauge released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics reached 48.3 this month, from 49.2 in May. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. China, the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals and energy, is Canada’s second-largest trading partner behind the U.S.

The S&P GSCI Index, which tracks a basket of global commodities prices, slid 3.1 percent as gold sank below $1,300 an ounce for the first time since September 2010. Silver plunged 8.3 percent to settle at $19.823 an ounce in New York. In trading after the settlement, silver touched $19.56, the lowest since September 2010. Platinum slumped 4.2 percent and copper declined 2.5 percent. Crude for July delivery slid the most in seven months, losing 2.9 percent to settle at $95.40 a barrel.

Raw-materials producers extended their decline in June to 15 percent, falling to the lowest level since January 2009.

OceanaGold tumbled 12 percent to C$1.26 and Detour Gold Corp. plunged 16 percent to C$8.41 to pace losses among producers of the precious metal. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer, sank 6.9 percent to C$17.27.

First Quantum, a copper and gold miner, sank 6.4 percent to C$15.48 for a two-month low. The company fired 500 workers after it was ordered to stop building a dam at its Sentinel copper project in Zambia due to rights issues.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, lost 2.6 percent to C$22.51.

TransGlobe Energy slumped 13 percent to C$6.32 and Athabasca Oil Corp. declined 8.7 percent to C$6.61 as oil and gas stocks dropped 2.3 percent as a group.

Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurer, gained 1.5 percent to C$16.80, its highest close since July 2011. Tom Mackinnon, analyst with BMO Capital Markets, yesterday raised the stock to outperform, the equivalent of a buy, from market perform, equal to a hold, with a target price of C$19 a share.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Emma O’Brien

June 21 (Bloomberg) — Stocks tumbled, pushing the benchmark index of global equities down the most in 19 months, as bonds fell around the world after the Federal Reserve said it may phase out stimulus and China’s cash crunch worsened. Gold led commodities lower as the dollar rallied.

The MSCI All-Country World Index lost 3.5 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index sank 2.5 percent in New York, both gauges biggest declines since November 2011. Asian stock futures retreated, signaling markets in the region will extend the rout today. Yields on 10-year Treasuries touched the highest level since August 2011, as rates surged from New Zealand to Germany.

The S&P GSCI gauge of raw materials slid 3.1 percent, as gold sank below $1,300 an ounce for the first time since 2010.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said June 19 that the Fed may start reducing bond purchases that have fueled gains in markets globally, and end the program in 2014 should risks to the U.S. economy continue to abate. The Fed will cut its $85 billion in monthly purchases by $20 billion at its September meeting, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Data from China yesterday indicated manufacturing is shrinking at a faster pace and the benchmark money-market rate climbed to a record.

“It’s a knee-jerk downward reaction because everyone is afraid that if you’re taking the punch bowl away that must be bad for markets,” Philip Orlando, the New York-based chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, which has about $380 billion in assets under management, said by phone. “The market is choosing to ignore the good news embedded in the Fed’s comments. All it’s looking at is the reduction of the accommodation.”

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average due in September slipped 2.7 percent to 12,805 in Chicago, while contracts fell 0.5 percent to 12,970 by 3 a.m. in Osaka after closing at 13,030 yesterday.

Hang Seng Index futures in Hong Kong dropped 1 percent, while contracts on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 1.7 percent, after declining 2.6 percent yesterday. Futures on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland Chinese stocks traded in Hong Kong slid 0.7 percent. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 percent by 7:04 a.m. in Tokyo.

About 9.4 billion shares changed hands yesterday in the U.S., the highest volume of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 extended June 19’s 1.4 percent slump and fell to the lowest level since May 1 as all 10 of its main industry groups retreated at least 2.2 percent. The benchmark index extended its decline from its last record reached May 21 to 4.9 percent, trimming its 2013 advance to 11 percent and its rally from its bear-market low in 2009 to 135 percent. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the benchmark gauge of U.S. options prices known as the VIX, surged 23 percent to 20.49 to exceed 20 for the first time this year.

Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 2.1 percent, bringing its market capitalization to about $396 billion and leaving no company in the world valued at more than $400 billion for the first time since April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

An S&P index of homebuilders sank 7.1 percent, the most in a year, even after sales of previously owned U.S. homes climbed more than forecast in May to the highest level since November 2009. Purchases of existing houses in the U.S. increased 4.2 percent to an annualized rate of 5.18 million from 4.97 million in April, National Association of Realtors figures showed. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a rate of 5 million.

Another report showed the index of U.S. leading indicators rose less than projected in May, a sign the world’s largest economy may take time to accelerate. The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.1 percent after a revised 0.8 percent gain in April that was higher than initially reported. The median forecast of economists was for a rise of 0.2 percent.

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, with claims climbing by 18,000 to 354,000 in the week ended June 15 from a revised 336,000 the prior period, the Labor Department reported. The median forecast of 46 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase to 340,000.

Bernanke’s remarks prompted economists to predict a faster reduction in bond purchases. The first cut will come at the Sept. 17-18 policy meeting, according to 44 percent of economists in a Bloomberg survey. In a June 4-5 survey, 27 percent of economists forecast tapering would start in September.

Speculation that the Fed will begin withdrawing its stimulus measures stoked trading in an exchange-traded note tracking U.S. volatility. About 136 billion shares changed hands on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN, up from 87 million June 19, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The stock sell off pushed the MSCI all-country gauge down more than 7 percent from a five-year high reached May 21, the day before Bernanke raised the possibility of reducing stimulus should U.S. economic indicators improve. About $2.4 trillion was erased from global equity values over that stretch, with indexes in Hong Kong and Japan sliding more than 20 percent into bear markets.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 2.42 percent, after touching 2.47 percent earlier in the day. Thirty-year U.S. bond yields jumped 11 basis points to 3.52 percent, the highest level since August 2011, and two-year rates increased two basis points to 0.33 percent. Germany’s 10-year bund yield climbed 11 basis points to 1.67 percent, a four-month high.

Australia’s 10-year yield rose as much as 23 basis points yesterday to 3.65 percent, a level unseen since March 15, and New Zealand’s 10-year rate surged 30 basis points to 4.09 percent.

Volatility in Treasuries as measured by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch MOVE Index was at 86.89 June 19, the most since June 2012.

The Fed may be unable to calm the volatility that it triggered in global financial markets after signaling an eventual cut in its monetary stimulus, according to Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund.

“I doubt they can put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” Pacific Investment Management Co.’s founder Gross said in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Mike McKee.  Vice Chairman “Janet Yellen’s task was to damp volatility, to lower that term premium, to calm markets, and they did that. But now there is significant unrest.”

Investor confidence in U.S. corporate credit plunged.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade Index, a credit-default swaps benchmark that investors use to hedge against losses or to speculate on creditworthiness, increased 5.7 basis points to a mid-price of 91.4 basis points in New York, after climbing 3.9 basis points June 19, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the biggest two-day jump on a closing basis since the measure rose 8.8 in the period ended May 14, 2012, excluding rolls into new series of the benchmark.

The dollar strengthened against all 16 major peers except the Swiss franc and the pound. The yen weakened to 97.33 per dollar, after falling 0.9 percent against the greenback yesterday. Japan’s currency lost 0.1 percent to 128.74 per euro.

The Australian dollar was little changed at 92.06 U.S. cents. It touched 91.64 yesterday, the weakest level since September 2010, and tumbled 1.1 percent. New Zealand’s dollar was also steady at 77.64 cents after declining 1.8 percent yesterday.

The JPMorgan Global FX Volatility Index increased to as high as 11.51 percent, the most in a year. The average over the past 12 months has been 8.66 percent.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 3 percent, the most since November 2011, and closed at its lowest level of the year.

Germany’s DAX Index tumbled 3.3 percent for its biggest decline in more than 12 months. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 4 percent, the most since Sept. 22, 2011.

“We expect another round of correction in the period ahead, across the board, be it in emerging market currencies or emerging market fixed income,” a team led by Benoit Anne, head of strategy at Societe Generale SA in London, wrote in a report yesterday. “We are positioned quite defensively.”

The preliminary reading of 48.3 for a Chinese purchasing managers’ index released yesterday by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics compared with the 49.1 median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 15 economists. China’s seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of interbank funding availability, rose to the highest since at least 2006. The central bank has refrained from using reverse-repos to inject funds into the interbank market since Feb. 7.

All 24 commodities tracked by the S&P GSCI Index retreated.

Gold for immediate delivery lost 5.2 percent to $1,280.69 an ounce, the lowest price since September 2010. Gold futures were down 6.4 percent in New York. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest exchange-traded product backed by bullion, fell below 1,000 metric tons for the first time in four years. Silver plunged 8.2 percent to $19.6607 an ounce, the lowest level since September 2010, and palladium declined 4.4 percent, retreating for a sixth day in its longest slump in almost a year.

Copper for delivery in three months retreated 2.7 percent to $6,770 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Nickel dropped 3.5 percent to $13,700 a ton, the lowest price since May 2009.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell for a third day, slipping 0.4 percent to $95.03 a barrel after settling down 2.9 percent in New York at $95.40, its biggest decline in seven months. The volume of all futures traded yesterday was 45 percent above the 100-day average.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

 

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

As Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be sending the newsletter on her behalf.

Looking to improve daily meetings at the office? Check out these six ways to hold an effective meeting.

1)     First, ask yourself: is this meeting even necessary? A meeting is meant to involve only those who directly influence and are accountable for the outcome. How often have you looked around the room only to question why half of the people are even there? (Maybe you don’t even need to be there!) Make sure that all the participants are required, and that the content of the meeting isn’t one-way; otherwise an e-mail update or other group communication is sufficient.

2)    If a meeting is absolutely necessary, appoint a chair or moderator. He or she doesn’t need to be the most senior person in the room. In fact, delegating the management of a meeting can be a great way to show leadership and to give others the opportunity to shine. Furthermore, a subordinate is more likely to keep the conversation objective and on track, whereas the owner may feel at liberty to wander off in every direction while ‘chairing’ their own meeting.

3)    For meetings that involve day-to-day stuff, keep them short. This works especially well for marketing and communication teams, production, product development, etc. but not necessarily for strategic sessions or review of monthly or quarterly results.  Another way to cut down on time is to stand in a circle during meetings. Avoid laptops, but keep notes. Everyone focuses on the speaker and the materials, no checking e-mails or taking calls.

4)    Make sure the topics covered in the meeting result in action items that are assigned to the appropriate participants with defined completion dates. Your follow up meetings, if necessary, should review the status of each item.

5)    Hold meetings right before lunch or end of day so everyone is motivated to stay on topic and on schedule.

6)    Make them fun. A sense of humour is a good way to keep the spirits high. Also, be sure to give shout outs during the meeting to those who have done well or gone above and beyond. The public, positive attention will be appreciated by the receiver and motivating to others.

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

Photos of the Day –June 19^th, 2013

Pakistanis watch as an acrobat rides his motorcycle around a circular track, at an entertainment park set up outside a shrine in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Muhammed Muheisen/AP

An Indian villager keeps a watch as his herd of buffalo graze on the outskirts of the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar, India. Biswaranjan Rout/AP

Market Closes for June 19^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15112.19	-206.04    -1.35%
S&P 500	1628.93	-22.88    -1.39%
NASDAQ	3443.201	-38.981    -1.12%
TSX	12268.29	-99.17
		-0.80%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13245.22	+237.94
		+1.83%
HANG  SENG	20986.89	-238.99
		-1.13%
SENSEX	19245.70	+22.42
		+0.12%
FTSE 100	6348.82	-25.39
		-0.40%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.250	2.161
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.746	2.704
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.3508	2.1854
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.4164	3.3415

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97337	0.97872
US   $	1.02736	1.02174
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.36548	0.73235
US  $	1.32911	0.75239

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1351.60	1368.27
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.24	98.44
BRENT	105.58	106.24

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Lu Wang and Katie Brennan

June 19 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in a week, ending two days of gains, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it may reduce the pace of bond purchases later this year as economic risks subside.

Eight out 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index retreated as telephone, utility and raw-material companies plunged at least 1.5 percent. BlackBerry dropped 3.7 percent after Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. cut the stock’s rating, citing a “weak” take-up of its BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

Premier Gold Mines Ltd. and Barrick Gold Corp. fell at least 3.6 percent.

The S&P/TSX lost 99.17 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,268.29 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge had rallied 1.5 percent in the previous two sessions. Trading was 11 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“The expectation was the Fed’s statement would be more dovish in terms of when tapering will start,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage  C$220 million ($213 million).

“Unfortunately it came off hawkish and the sell-off came. We had a pretty nice rally into today, and taking money off the table after that statement is not unexpected.”

The Fed may “moderate” its pace of bond purchases later this year and may end them around mid-2014, Chairman Ben S.

Bernanke said. The Federal Open Market Committee said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington that risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market have “diminished since the fall.”

The U.S. central bank said it will keep buying bonds at a pace of $85 billion a month, and repeated that it’s prepared to increase or reduce the pace of purchases depending on the outlook for the job market and inflation.

Canadian equities fell earlier in the day as Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said in his first public speech since taking office June 3 that a pick-up in foreign demand for Canada’s exports, particularly in the U.S., is critical to bolstering confidence. The U.S. and China are Canada’s largest trading partners.

The S&P/TSX reached a five-month low in April as concern over global growth dragged down mining stocks. The index has since climbed 2.7 percent, but remains the third-worst performer among 24 developed markets in 2013.

Utilities stocks lost the most in the benchmark index today, declining 2.3 percent, the biggest one-day slide since November. Raw-materials producers fell 1.7 percent, with declines accelerating after the Fed announcement, as the price of gold dropped to a four-week low.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index slid 2.8 percent to its lowest in a month, as 26 of 29 members slumped. Premier Gold plunged 7.2 percent to C$2.05, extending its four-day drop to 18 percent.

Barrick Gold, the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, slid 3.6 percent to C$18.55.

“Inflation remains at a low pace and the easing may end, so there are no real solid reasons to back gold,” Edward Lashinski, the Chicago-based director of global strategy for futures trading at RBC Capital Markets LLC, said in a telephone interview. The Fed’s plan to scale back asset purchases “is making gold investors nervous,” he said.

Mobile-phone service providers fell, pacing declines among telephone stocks. Verizon Communications Inc. said it has expressed interest in acquiring wireless carrier Wind Mobile, a move that would let the leading U.S. mobile-phone service expand into Canada.

Rogers Communications Inc. slipped 1.4 percent to C$46.25 while Telus Corp. declined 3.1 percent to C$34.35.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., declined 3.6 percent today to C$14.58. The maker of smartphones was cut to underperform, an equivalent of sell, from market perform by Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu. Initial enthusiasm over BlackBerry 10 models appears to be waning and the company may disappoint investors in the second half, Ferragu said in a note to clients.

BlackBerry rallied 4 percent yesterday after an analyst with RBC Capital Markets increased his shipment estimates for the new phones.

US

By Michael P. Regan and Inyoung Hwang

June 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks and Treasuries slid while the dollar rallied as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S.

Bernanke said the central bank may reduce the pace of asset purchases later this year as economic risks subside. Japanese stock futures retreated and Australia’s currency tumbled.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 1.4 percent to 1,628.93, erasing most of a two-day rally. Ten-year Treasury yields jumped to the highest level in 15 months and the dollar strengthened against 14 of 16 major peers. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.4 percent to 13,160 in Chicago and traded at 13,200 by 3 a.m. in Osaka, after closing at 13,260 yesterday. Contracts on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 1.1 percent while Hang Seng Index futures rose. The Aussie sank to the weakest level on a closing basis since September 2010 versus the dollar. Gold futures declined.

Stocks and Treasuries dropped in New York as Bernanke said that the Fed may begin tapering bond purchases this year and end them in 2014 should the U.S. economy continue to improve. The Federal Open Market Committee said in its statement that risks to the economic outlook and the labor market have diminished, and reiterated that policy makers are prepared to reduce or increase the pace of bond purchases depending on the outlook for jobs and inflation.

“A lot has been predicated on their assessment of the economy, and the assessment is that the economy is improving,” Quincy Krosby, a market strategist for Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Financial Inc., which oversees more than $1 trillion of assets, said by phone. “The search for yield has forced investors into esoteric parts of the market. Just the hint that the Fed is going to start scaling back puts these positions at risk.”

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes jumped 17 basis points to 2.36 percent, the highest level since March last year. The Dollar Index, a gauge of the U.S. currency against six major peers, rose 0.9 percent to 81.32 yesterday. The Aussie extended yesterday’s 2 percent plunge, losing 0.1 percent to 92.84 U.S. cents by 7:35 a.m. in Sydney, the weakest level on a closing basis since Sept. 10, 2010. The yen was little changed at 96.39 per dollar after sinking 1.2 percent yesterday.

Fifteen of 19 participants on the Federal Open Market Committee expect the first rise in the federal funds rate to occur in 2015 or later, forecasts released yesterday in the U.S. showed. That exceeds the 14 of 19 who projected in March the first rate increase would happen after 2014.

The FOMC said in its statement that policy makers also anticipate that inflation over the medium term will probably run at or below its 2 percent objective. U.S. central bankers in December linked changes in benchmark borrowing costs to the outlook for employment and prices. The FOMC said the rate will remain in a range of zero to 0.25 percent so long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation is no higher than 2.5 percent. The nation’s jobless rate in May was 7.6 percent.

The unemployment rate will fall to 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent by the end of 2014, Fed officials predicted, possibly reaching the central bank’s stated threshold to raise the benchmark lending rate. The pace of its bond purchases, currently at $85 billion a month, will also be influenced by economic data, Bernanke said.

“The committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate to moderate the pace of purchases later this year” if economic data are broadly consistent with the Fed’s forecast, Bernanke said at a press conference in Washington. “And if the subsequent data remain broadly aligned with our current expectations for the economy, we will continue to reduce the pace of purchases in measured steps through the first half of next year, ending purchases around mid-year.”

Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gauge added 0.2 percent while contracts due this month on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland Chinese stocks traded in the city climbed 0.3 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional equities advanced 1 percent to a two-week high yesterday, up more than 3 percent from an almost six-month low reached June 13 after the Bank of Japan added to concern over reductions in global stimulus by leaving its lending program unaltered.

The Fed’s record low interest rates and bond purchases have helped fuel a rally in stocks that has lifted the S&P 500 as much as 147 percent from its bear-market low in 2009.

The quantitative easing program suppressed interest rates, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note reaching a record low of 1.39 percent in July and remaining below the S&P 500’s dividend yield for most of 2012 and 2013. The benchmark note’s average rate over the past year has been 1.78 percent, compared with an average of more than 6.5 percent in data compiled by Bloomberg starting in 1962.

The S&P 500 last reached a record 1,669.16 May 21, the day before Fed Chairman Bernanke told Congress the central bank could begin to reduce the pace of asset purchases should the job market shows signs of sustainable improvement The benchmark gauge has slumped 2.4 percent since then. Ten-year Treasury yields topped 2 percent that day for the first time since March.

The lowest rate of inflation since the brink of the Kennedy-era economic boom in the 1960s bought time for the Fed to press on with the central bank’s $85 billion in monthly bond purchases.

A gauge of consumer prices excluding food and energy that is watched by the Fed rose 1.1 percent in the year through April, matching the smallest gain since records started in 1960.

With inflation below the Fed’s 2 percent long-run goal and the jobless rate at 7.6 percent, the Fed is falling short of its mandate to ensure stable prices and maximum employment.

The Fed will probably wait to taper bond buying until its Oct. 29-30 meeting, when it will cut its monthly purchases to $65 billion, according to the median estimate in a June 4-5 Bloomberg survey of 59 economists. By then, inflation will be rising toward the Fed’s target, accelerating to 1.3 percent in the third quarter and 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter, according to economists’ estimates.

“The market has been looking for clarity and the Fed simply can’t give it to them,” Malcolm Polley, who manages $1.1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors LLC in Indiana, Pennsylvania, said by phone. “As relatively more clear as Bernanke tries to be, the Fed is still somewhat opaque in what they say. They can’t come out and say ’We are going to start raising rates on this day.’ They have to be guarded in how state it.”

While the end of Fed stimulus has preceded stock gains over the past two decades, those rallies usually followed periods of market weakness. The S&P 500’s 87 percent advance since the rate on overnight loans between banks was pushed to zero in December 2008 is more than five times the average advance in periods following monetary easing, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The S&P 500 has increased an average of 16 percent over two years the last four times the central bank started raising interest rates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Stock market volatility has been higher this year than during past periods when the Fed reversed policy. Daily moves for the S&P 500 have averaged almost 0.7 percent since March, compared with 0.44 percent in the month before the Fed tightened in 1994 and 2004.

U.S. stock investors may reap unusually high returns during the next five years thanks to interest rates on government bonds, according to a May 8 report from the Fed Bank of New York. Equities are inexpensive compared to government debt, according to the so-called Fed Model, which compares the earnings yield for stocks with Treasury rates. The valuation measure was derived from a July 1997 report from the central bank.

Per-share profit of $102.37 for all S&P 500 companies represents 6.2 percent of the index’s price level, or 4 percentage points more than yields on 10-year Treasury notes, according to Fed Model data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with an average spread of 0.21 percentage points since 1990.

European markets closed before the Fed statement, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index losing 0.2 percent.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell for a second day, sliding 1.4 percent to the lowest level since September on a closing basis. Brazil’s IBovespa sank 3.2 percent to its lowest level since April 2009 on a closing basis. South Africa’s rand extended its decline into a fifth day, losing 0.1 percent versus the dollar after dropping 1.9 percent yesterday.

Gold futures lost 1.2 percent in New York hours to $1,350.20 an ounce, erasing an earlier 0.7 percent gain, while oil slipped 0.5 percent to $97.97 a barrel.

The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials added 0.5 percent yesterday, rising for a second day, as corn, wheat and soybeans jumped at least 1.6 percent to lead gains on speculation that rain and cool temperatures during April and May reduced U.S. planted acreage and cut yield potential.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

 

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.”
Buddha

 

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:

As Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be sending the newsletter on her behalf.

As the summer months come, the bbq season begins.  Try out this amazing recipe:

Perfect burgers with spiked aioli

Aioli Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 to 2 tsp Sriracha

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Burgers

11/2 lbs coarsely ground chuck

11/2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

4 slices cheddar or other cheese

4 hamburger buns

Method

Mix mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, Sriracha and lemon zest until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve.

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Form the burgers into 4 rounds, each about the size of a tennis ball. Combine garlic and oil in a bowl and brush over meat.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Add burgers and flatten with the back of a spatula until they are each about 1-inch thick. Grill about 4 to 5 minutes a side for medium-rare, 6 to 7 minutes a side for medium or until desired degree of doneness. Place a slice of cheddar on top during the last minute of cooking.

Lightly grill buns and top with cheeseburger. Serve with spiked aioli and grilled onions on the side.

ENJOY!!!

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts

Photos of the Day –June 18^th, 2013

Lightning is seen during a storm over Havana, Cuba. Desmond Boylan/Reuters

A boat is seen at sunrise off the coast of Boa Viagem Beach in Recife, Brazil. Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

Market Closes for June 18^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15318.23	+138.38    +0.91%
S&P 500	1651.81	+12.77    +0.78%
NASDAQ	3482.182	+30.051    +0.87%
TSX	12367.46	+78.56
		+0.64%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13007.28	-25.84
		-0.20%
HANG  SENG	21225.88	-0.02
		—
SENSEX	19223.28	-102.59
		-0.53%
FTSE 100	6374.21	+43.72
		+0.69%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.161	2.140
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.704	2.690
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.1854	2.1781
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3415	3.3468

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97872	0.98162
US   $	1.02174	1.01873
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.36775	0.73113
US  $	1.33864	0.74703

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1368.27	1384.93
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.44	97.77
BRENT	106.24	105.99

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

June 18 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a one-week high as energy producers climbed with oil prices and investors await the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting for clues to the central bank’s stimulus plans.

Tim Hortons Inc. gained the most in 22 months after activist investor Scout Capital Management LLC bought a 5.5 percent stake. Petrominerales Ltd. jumped 14 percent as its chief executive officer said it has received interest for pipeline assets. Encana Corp. and Talisman Energy Inc. advanced at least 1.8 percent after crude rose. BlackBerry gained 4 percent after an analyst with RBC Capital Markets increased his shipment estimates for the BB10 smartphones.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 78.56 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,367.46 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has rallied 1.5 percent in the past two days to the highest level since June 10. Trading volume was 12 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“From a sentiment standpoint we’ve had a lot of lousy days, and I think it was overdone on the downside,” John Stephenson, fund manager with First Asset Investment Management Inc., said from Toronto. He helps manage C$2.70 billion ($2.65 billion) at the firm. “It’s idiotic if people didn’t realize that stimulus was going to end at some point. In Canada, everything that was interest-rate sensitive was slaughtered.

People have reassessed things and said effectively, rates will back up but we’ve sold way beyond that.”

The Fed’s policy-setting Open Market Committee begins two days of meetings today. Officials in recent months have debated whether to scale back, or taper, their $85 billion a month in bond purchases as the world’s largest economy continues its recovery. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner.

The benchmark Canadian stock index has declined 2.2 percent in June and is down 0.5 percent for the year, making it the third-worst performer among 24 developed markets in 2013.

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced today.

Technology companies, energy stocks and producers of consumer- discretionary products rose at least 1.2 percent to pace gains.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., increased 4 percent to C$15.13. Mark Sue, analyst with RBC Capital Markets, raised his estimates for BB10 smartphone shipments to 3.5 million from 2.75 million in the first quarter and 4 million from 3 million in the second.

Oil and gas stocks rose 1.2 percent as a group, for a two- week high. Encana added 2.6 percent to C$18.48 and Suncor Energy Inc. rose 1.6 percent to C$31.75.

Petrominerales soared 14 percent to C$6.82, the highest level since March 12, after saying it has received interest from prospective buyers of oil pipeline stakes and disclosing an oil discovery at one of its wells in Colombia.

Talisman Energy increased 1.8 percent to C$12.05. The company is considering selling its shale holdings in Texas for as much as $2 billion, Reuters said, referring to people familiar with the deal.

Health care stocks rose 0.8 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 1.7 percent to C$87.74.

The drugmaker has scheduled a bank meeting for this Wednesday to begin a $9.3 billion financing for its planned purchase of Bausch & Lomb, Reuters said.

Tim Hortons rallied 4 percent to C$56.05 for its biggest gain since August 2011. New York-based hedge fund Scout Capital said in a filing it has “engaged in discussions” with the coffee and doughnut retailer regarding its capital structure, spending, share buybacks and compensation.

Raw-materials producers were the only group in the benchmark index to retreat. The S&P/TSX Gold Index fell 3 percent, with 26 of 29 members declining. The precious metal’s price slumped to a three-week low on speculation the Fed may signal a reduction in economic stimulus.

OceanaGold Corp. plunged 9.8 percent to C$1.47 and Banro Corp. slid 12 percent to C$1 to lead losses among miners.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Katie Brennan

June 18 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for a second day, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its highest in June, as investors awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting for clues to the central bank’s plan for stimulus.

General Electric Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. rallied at least 1.7 percent, pacing gains among the largest companies. Flir Systems Inc. climbed 6.2 percent after Raymond James & Associates Inc. lifted its rating to strong buy. Walter Energy Corp. advanced 17 percent as Morgan Stanley said the coal miner’s shares may triple. Hormel Foods Corp. dropped 3.6 percent as the company cut its 2013 profit forecast.

The S&P 500 increased 0.8 percent to 1,651.81, extending its two-day rally to 1.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 138.38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,318.23 today. About 5.7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, or 8.6 percent below the three-month average.

“It’s like the market’s chewing on a piece of grass, trying to buy time,” John Manley, chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo Funds Management, which advises $222.7 billion in assets in the Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, said by telephone.

“Of course the Fed will taper. If they don’t taper, heaven help us, but I don’t think they’ll taper one minute too soon. If they do anything, they’ll probably err on the side of caution.

They’ll phase it back but only when they think they can do it safely. There are signs that it’s working.”

The Federal Open Market Committee began a two-day policy meeting today, with Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke holding a press conference tomorrow. Stimulus from the central bank and corporate earnings that beat forecasts have propelled the bull market in U.S. stocks into a fifth year and driven the benchmark index up 144 percent from a 12-year low in 2009.

The S&P 500 has fallen 1 percent from a record high on May 21, the day before Bernanke suggested the central bank could start to reduce bond purchases if the economy improves in a “real and sustainable way.” The gauge fell as much as 3.6 percent in the two weeks following the comments before paring the decline.

Housing starts climbed 6.8 percent in May to a 914,000 annualized rate after a revised 856,000 pace in April, the Commerce Department reported today. The median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 950,000 rate.

Applications to build one-family homes increased 1.3 percent to a 622,000 pace, the fastest since May 2008.

“The strongest parts of the economy where we are really getting growth is autos and housing,” Joseph Veranth, chief investment officer at Dana Investment Advisors in Brookfield, Wisconsin, said by phone. The firm manages $3.9 billion. “The Fed is still worried about a number of things: low inflation, weak employment growth, weaker commodities and some weakness around the world in China and Europe.”

The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 1 percent today, led by Kansas City Southern. The index of 20 stocks including railroad, shipping companies and airlines has climbed 20 percent this year, while an S&P index that tracks homebuilders is up 13 percent.

A separate report today showed the cost of living in the U.S. rose less than forecast in May, restrained by the first drop in food prices in almost four years and signaling inflation remains under control. Fed policy makers have promised to keep their target for the benchmark interest rate near zero as long as the outlook for inflation doesn’t exceed 2.5 percent and unemployment remains above 6.5 percent.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slipped 1.1 percent to 16.61. The gauge has rallied 47 percent since hitting a six-year low in March.

All 10 industries in the S&P 500 advanced, with industrial and telephone stocks rising the most. GE gained 2.4 percent to $24.33, its highest level in more than four years. Verizon gained 1.7 percent to $51.55. The company has expressed interest in acquiring wireless carrier Wind Mobile, a move that would let the leading U.S. mobile-phone service expand into Canada, three people familiar with the matter said.

Flir jumped 6.2 percent to $26.49, the highest since March 11. The maker of night-vision cameras was lifted to strong buy from market perform by Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale, who cited solid orders in the government division despite cuts in federal spending.

Walter Energy, a U.S. miner of coal used in steelmaking, gained 17 percent to $13.63. Morgan Stanley said the stock may climb to around $35 even if the company increases its share count by a third. The stock plunged 20 percent in the previous two days as it canceled a plan to refinance $1.55 billion of loans.

Newfield Exploration Co. jumped 4 percent to $23.94. Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Amir Arif boosted his recommendation on the oil producer to buy from hold.

BlackBerry gained 3.8 percent to $14.84 after RBC Capital Markets raised its estimates for sales of BlackBerry 10 devices to 3.5 million units in the first quarter from 2.75 million. The brokerage boosted projections for second-quarter sales to 4 million units from 3 million.

Hormel sank 3.6 percent to $39.19 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500. The maker of Spam lunch meat cut its profit forecast for 2013 to as little as $1.88 a share after earlier predicting at least $1.93. The company cited lower-than- anticipated results in pork operations, higher costs and softer sales of retail products in its refrigerated foods segment.

Investors cut bond holdings to a near two-year low this month and bought stocks as expectations the Fed may remove monetary stimulus bolstered growth forecasts, a Bank of America Corp. survey showed.

A net 25 percent of 190 global fund managers, who together oversee about $572 billion, said they are overweight U.S. equities, meaning they hold more of the shares than are reflected in benchmarks, the highest level in 13 months.

“Investors’ sentiment has been surprisingly resilient in recent weeks despite the jump in volatility in financial markets,” New York-based Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch unit, wrote in a note to investors today. “While our fund-flows data shows bond capitulation, the survey shows that there has been no capitulation in equities in the U.S. and Europe.”

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

 

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”
Mahatma Gandhi

 

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:

June of the iris and the rose.

The rose not English as we fondly think.

Anacreon and Bion sang the rose;

And Rhodes the isle whose very name means rose

Struck roses on her coins;

Pliny made lists and Roman libertines

Made wreaths to wear among the flutes and wines;

The young Crusaders found the Syrian rose

Springing from Saracenic quoins,

And China opened her shut gate

To let her roses through, and Persian shrines

Of poetry and painting gave the rose…

-V. Sackville-West,

-from The Garden

On June 17^th, 1928, Amelia Earhart began the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman ; she flew from Newfoundland to Wales in approximately 21 hours.

On June 17^th, 1885, The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France to the USA, arrived in New York.

Birthdays: Igor Stravinsky, b. 1882.

M. C. Escher, b. 1882.

Venus Williams, b. 1980.

Photos of the Day –June 17^th, 2013

A view of Earth from the Cupola on the earth-facing side of the International Space Station is seen in this NASA handout photo taken June 12, 2103 and provided June 17, 2013. Visible in the top left foreground is a Russian Soyuz crew capsule. In the lower right corner, a solar array panel can be seen. NASA/Reuters

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth walks in procession with Prince Charles (center l.) and Prince William (center r.) as they attend the annual Order of the Garter Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, southern England. Murray Sanders/Reuters

Market Closes for June 17^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15179.85	+109.67    +0.73%
S&P 500	1639.04	+12.31    +0.76%
NASDAQ	3452.131	+28.576    +0.83%
TSX	12288.90	+101.54
		+0.83%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13033.12	+346.60
		+2.73%
HANG  SENG	21225.90	+256.76
		+1.22%
SENSEX	19325.87	+147.94
		+0.77%
FTSE 100	6330.49	+22.23
		+0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.140	2.120
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.690	2.678
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.1781	2.1295
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3468	3.3046

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98162	0.98318
US   $	1.01873	1.01711
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.36164	0.73441
US  $	1.33661	0.74816

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1384.93	1390.74
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.77	97.85
BRENT	105.99	105.95

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

June 17 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, following the third weekly drop for the benchmark index, as a nine-month high in the price of crude boosted oil and gas producers and existing home sales rose in May.

Calfrac Well Services Ltd. and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. added at least 4.4 percent to pace gains among energy shares. Talisman Energy Inc. increased 1.7 percent after Lundin Petroleum AB began drilling in a field co-owned by the two companies in the North Sea. B2Gold Corp. jumped the most in six weeks, ahead of its inclusion in an index of gold mining stocks. Rogers Communications Inc. rallied 1.3 percent after an analyst with Canaccord Genuity Inc. raised his rating for the stock.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 101.54 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,288.90 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge slipped 1.5 percent last week and has lost 1.2 percent this year, making it the third-worst performing index among developed markets in the world, ahead of Austria and Hong Kong.

“We had a big shakeout in the market last week, so people are moving in after the weekend looking for bargains,” said Bob Decker, fund manager with Aurion Capital Management in Toronto.

The firm manages C$6 billion ($5.9 billion). “Existing home sales are stabilizing, putting to rest some of the fears of a housing burst. The Canadian economy is pretty resilient. Crude is at a high and that doesn’t hurt either.”

Canadian existing home sales rose at their fastest pace in more than two years in May, adding to evidence the nation’s housing market remains robust. Home sales increased 3.6 percent in May from the previous month, the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a statement today, the biggest gain since January 2011.

Consumer-staples companies rose 2.2 percent as a group to a two-week high. Alimentation Couche Tard Inc. gained 4.3 percent to C$61.55, a record high, and Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. rose 1.9 percent to C$45.85.

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced. Trading volume was 20 percent lower than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

Calfrac Well Services jumped 6.6 percent to C$31.41, the highest in a year, to pace gains among energy stocks, which rose 1.2 percent as a group. Dan MacDonald, analyst with RBC Capital Markets, raised Calfrac Well Services to an outperform rating, equivalent to a buy, and increased his price target to C$42 from C$30 due to an expected rise in gas licensing and drilling in British Columbia, he said in a note.

Bankers Petroleum rallied 4.4 percent to C$2.87 and Whitecap Resources Inc. added 3.7 percent to C$10.58.

Oil rose as much as 0.9 percent to $98.74 on renewed speculation that unrest in Syria will spread to other parts of the Middle East and disrupt supplies.

Talisman Energy rose 1.7 percent to C$11.84. Lundin Petroleum has begun drilling a development well on the Brynhild field in the North Sea. Lundin holds a 90 percent stake in the project, while Talisman holds a 10 percent rating.

B2Gold, a Canadian explorer and producer with assets in Latin America, Africa and Asia, soared 9.8 percent to C$2.46, the most since May 8. The Vancouver-based company is slated to join the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index on June 21, Ian MacLean, a spokesman for B2Gold, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg today.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. increased 2.6 percent to C$36.89 after agreeing to sell its Longview Timber and Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging units in two separate deals worth a total $3.68 billion.

Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest wireless carrier, added 1.3 percent to C$45.95 after Dvai Ghose, head of research with Canaccord Genuity, raised the stock to a buy from a hold rating. There is a buying opportunity with Rogers slumping as much as 14 percent since reaching a high on April 10, Ghose said in a note to clients.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Katie Brennan

June 17 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounding from last week’s decline, as investors weighed economic data with the prospects for stimulus cuts ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P 500 advanced, with energy and technology stocks leading gains. Netflix Inc. jumped 7.1 percent after agreeing to a multiyear deal with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. to obtain original programming. Micron Technology Inc. advanced 3.8 percent after Citigroup Inc. lifted its price target on the largest U.S. maker of memory chips.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to 1,639.04 at 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier gaining as much as 1.2 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 109.67 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,179.85. About 5.7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, or 9.4 percent below the three-month average.

“Although things are improving, we have a long way to go,” James Dunigan, who helps oversee $112 billion as chief investment officer in Philadelphia for PNC Wealth Management, said by telephone. “We’re ahead of ourselves with regard to the Fed acting anytime soon in reducing the support that it’s providing for the economy.”

Investors have been watching economic reports for clues to whether the economy is strong enough to allow the Fed to scale back its $85 billion in monthly bond buying. Data today showed manufacturers in the New York region felt more optimistic in June, indicating the area’s factories are looking beyond the current slowdown in growth. Separate data showed confidence among U.S. homebuilders surged last month to the highest level in seven years.

Equities trimmed their advance after a British official said the Group of Eight leaders see downside risks to the global economy abating even as growth prospects remain weak. U.S. stocks fell last week as the International Monetary Fund cut its outlook for U.S. growth in 2014 to 2.7 percent from 3 percent.

Today’s paring accelerated after the Financial Times reported that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to signal the central bank is close to tapering when he gives a press conference on June 19 following a two-day policy meeting.

The S&P 500 has fallen 1.8 percent since May 21, the day before Bernanke suggested the Fed could start to taper if the economy improved in a “real and sustainable way.” Stimulus from the central bank and corporate earnings that beat forecasts have propelled the bull market in U.S. stocks into a fifth year and driven the benchmark index up 142 percent from a 12-year low in 2009.

“The Fed and the Chairman have gone out of their way to say, ‘If we taper, we’re doing it for positive reasons’, which the market should view as a positive,” Mark Freeman, who oversees about $15 billion as chief investment officer at Westwood Holdings Group Inc. in Dallas, said by telephone. “If it happens, it’s for the right reasons and for reasons that are typically very supportive for the market. The problem from a market standpoint is that the market wants a specific date, but the Fed can’t give them a date because nobody knows.”

The Fed has held the target for its benchmark rate near zero since December 2008, and policy makers have promised to keep it around there as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation doesn’t exceed 2.5 percent. The S&P 500 rallied an average 16 percent over two years the last four times the central bank started raising interest rates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Concerns over economic growth and the pace of stimulus have led to widening swings in U.S. shares. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slid 2 percent to 16.80 today after earlier falling as much as 4.8 percent. The gauge climbed to an almost four-month high last week, jumping 13 percent in the five trading days to bring gains from a six-year low in March to 49 percent through today.

Energy companies rose the most out of 10 S&P 500 groups, gaining 1.3 percent. Technology shares had the second-biggest advance, increasing 1.1 percent. Cisco Systems Inc. jumped 2.5 percent to $24.70 to lead gains in the Dow. Phone stocks were the only group to decline, falling 0.6 percent.

Homebuilders rallied following today’s confidence report.

The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index jumped 2 percent as all 11 members gained. Toll Brothers Inc. rallied 2.4 percent to $33.66, and KB Home increased 1.7 percent to $22.02.

Netflix, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 this year, rallied 7.1 percent to $229.23. The dominant subscription video- streaming service agreed to a deal with DreamWorks to obtain original programming to lure subscribers. It is the largest contract for original content in the history of Netflix, the Los Gatos, California-based company said.

Micron advanced 3.8 percent to $13.24, the highest since July 2007. Citigroup lifted its price target on the largest U.S. maker of memory chips to $19. While shares are up 101 percent year-to-date through June 14, analyst Glen Yeung cited the acquisition of Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc., which is expected to close in the first half of the year, and continued increase in prices for memory chips.

Boeing Co. added 1.2 percent to $103.03, the highest level October 2007. The planemaker received on the first morning of the 50th Paris Air Show in France an order from General Electric Co.’s GE Capital Aviation Services leasing division for 10 of the largest 787 Dreamliners valued at about $2.9 billion.

Lockheed Martin Corp. increased 0.5 percent to $108.27. S&P upgraded its credit outlook on the maker of F-35 fighters to stable from negative after the close of markets on June 14, citing the company’s ability to generate strong free cash flow even as U.S. arms spending declines.

Lockheed expects to boost output of F-35s to more than 100 planes annually by about 2020 from 36 aircraft this year, according to Steve O’Bryan, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for the F-35 program. Higher building rates will allow for cost reductions of about 30 percent, he said in an interview at the Paris Air Show.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

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

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

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

Rabindranath Tagore,1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Unhurt people are not much good in the world.

-Enid Starkie, 1897-1970

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:

That month of sounds, that month of scents,

That sensuous month when every sense

Ripens, and yet is young;

Th’  external world, by which we judge

And sterner rules of reason grudge;

That dear misleading framework of our faith,

Truth in untruth, that picture slung

From such precarious nail, that nectarous breath

Of music, when the senses grow confused

And each might be the other; when, bemused,

We stray through thickets of the honeyed air.

But, Wanderer, then beware

Of beanfields amorous to strolling lovers,

Too dangerous (they say) to dally there

Along the hedgerow by the serried coverts

Where murmuring cushats hint that love is fair,

No sweeter load was ever laid at eve

Across the shoulders of the country’s sweep

Mantled in June that, drowsing, seem asleep

But stir to greet the dream that all believe.

-V. Sackville-West,  from The Garden

Photos of the Day –June 14^th, 2013

A double rainbow is seen during a heavy rainfall over Djurgarden and Nacka in Stockholm, Sweden. Johan Nilsson/Scanpix Sweden/AP

A dog passes by an ice-cream van by an empty beach at Brighton in southern England. Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Market Closes for June 14^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15070.18	-105.90    -0.70%
S&P 500	1626.73	-9.63    -0.59%
NASDAQ	3423.555	-21.810    -0.63%
TSX	12187.36	-89.77
		-0.73%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	12686.52	+241.14
		+1.94%
HANG  SENG	20969.14	+82.10
		+0.39%
SENSEX	19177.93	+350.77
		+1.86%
FTSE 100	6308.26	+3.63
		+0.06%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.120	2.139
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.678	2.692
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.1295	2.1489
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3046	3.3168

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98318	0.98432
US   $	1.01711	1.01593
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.35738	0.73671
US  $	1.33454	0.74935

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1390.74	1386.67
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.85	96.69
BRENT	105.95	104.73

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katie Brennan

June 14 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, capping a third straight weekly loss for the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index, as the International Monetary Fund cut its 2014 U.S. growth forecast and manufacturing data trailed estimates.

Nine out of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX retreated today, with health-care and raw-material stocks leading losses. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Canada’s largest drugmaker, dropped 1.7 percent. Niko Resources Ltd. slid 5.2 percent, pacing declines among energy stocks. Utility companies were the only industry to rise, increasing 0.6 percent.

The S&P/TSX fell 89.77 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,187.36 in Toronto. The benchmark gauge for Canadian equities lost 1.5 percent in the past five days as declines of at least 0.9 percent on June 11 and 12 overshadowed a 1.4 percent rebound on June 13.

“It’s a pause after a fairly volatile week with a big down day on Wednesday, followed by a big up day on Thursday,” Bob Decker, fund manager with Aurion Capital Management, said by telephone from Toronto. His firm manages C$6 billion ($5.9 billion). “People are scratching their heads as to what the true direction of the market is.”

Investors continue to weigh data from around the world to determine the strength of economic growth. The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for U.S. gross domestic product in 2014, while leaving unchanged its prediction for this year.

A report today showed U.S. consumer confidence in June eased from a six-year high. Separate data showed industrial production was unchanged and wholesale prices rose in May for the first time in three months.

A Canadian economic report indicated factory sales fell at the fastest pace in more than three years in April. The Bank of Canada predicts the economic expansion will rotate to exports and investment from consumer and government spending even amid what it calls the slowest export recovery since World War II.

Canada’s benchmark equities gauge rallied 1.4 percent yesterday even as government reports from China showed industrial production and exports trailed economists’ estimates in May, fueling concerns the world’s second-largest economy is slowing. The World Bank cut it growth forecast for China, the biggest consumer of commodities and a key destination for Canadian exports.

The S&P/TSX dropped in nine of the past 11 sessions, erasing 4.4 percent since May 30. The gauge is down 2 percent this year.

Health-care companies fell 1.8 percent as a group today, while raw-materials stocks declined 1.6 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals dropped 1.7 percent to C$85.69.

Niko, an oil and gas explorer, dropped 5.2 percent to C$7.89. Energy companies fell 0.4 percent, even as the price of crude oil rose 1.2 percent to a four-month high of $97.85 a barrel.

Sears Canada Inc. rallied 14 percent to C$10.76. The department-store operator raised C$191 million from the sale of two Toronto-area stores to mall landlords.

US

By Lu Wang

June 14 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, after yesterday’s rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the International Monetary Fund cut its 2014 outlook for America and urged the central bank to carefully manage its exit from stimulus plans.

DuPont Co. and American Express Co. slipped at least 2.2 percent after analysts cut their recommendations. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. slid 2.7 percent after losing a patent- infringement case against Medtronic Inc. GameStop Corp. and Groupon Inc. jumped more than 3.9 percent amid analyst upgrades.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 1,626.73 at 4 p.m. in New York, ending the week down 1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 105.90 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,070.18 today. About 5.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 13 percent below the three-month average.

“We’re hitting a period of higher volatility,” Bryan Novak, who helps oversee about $650 million at Chicago-based Astor Asset Management LLC, said in a telephone interview.

“Interest rates need to rise, but while you have an economic picture, where growth is around 2 percent, you don’t have a lot margin of error to work with in terms of interest rates. That has a meaningful impact on the futility of the economy at this point. The market is going to focus heavily on every word that the Fed says.”

The Washington-based IMF lowered its U.S. growth forecast for 2014 to 2.7 percent, from 3 percent predicted in April. It left its predication for this year unchanged at 1.9 percent. The IMF sees the Federal Reserve maintaining large monthly bond purchases until at least the end of this year and urged the central bank to carefully manage its exit plan to avoid disrupting financial markets.

The S&P 500 rallied 1.5 percent yesterday on better-than- estimated economic reports and speculation the Federal Open Market Committee will maintain record low interest rates. The Fed will hold its two-day policy meeting next week, with Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke scheduled to speak after the central bank’s decision on June 19.

Investors have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is strong enough to prompt the Fed to scale back stimulus measures.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan June preliminary index of consumer sentiment fell to 82.7 from a final reading of 84.5 the prior month, a report showed today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was unchanged at 84.5. Other reports showed U.S. industrial production was unchanged in May and wholesale prices climbed for the first time in three months, reflecting an increase in fuel and food prices that failed to filter through to other goods.

The S&P 500 has slid 2.5 percent since May 21 as Bernanke said the central bank may scale back bond buying if the U.S. labor market “improves in a real and sustainable way.” Three years of earnings growth and stimulus from the Fed has helped push the gauge up 140 percent from its bear-market low in 2009.

“All eyes are on the Fed in terms of what policy might be like three to six months from now,” Eric Thorne, who helps oversee about $6 billion at Bryn Mawr Trust Co. in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. “The Fed is unlikely to step in with any kind of potential damper. The fundamentals are improving, but the markets have improved so much quickly that we may need to see some consolidation, some sideways movement in the market before the next major uptrend.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, rose 4.5 percent today to 17.15. The equity volatility gauge, which moves in the opposite direction as the S&P 500 about 80 percent of the time, reached a six-year low in March and has since surged 52 percent.

Nine of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 declined today.

Financial and energy companies dropped the most, sinking at least 1 percent. Utilities had the only gain among the groups, adding 0.1 percent.

The Russell 1000 Index of large companies retreated 0.5 percent while the Russell 2000 Index, a gauge of stocks with smaller market value, slipped 0.8 percent.

Russell Investments, whose global stock indexes are used by investors with $4.1 trillion in assets, was set to announce its preliminary list of changes for indexes after the close of U.S. trading today.

DuPont dropped 2.2 percent to $52.68. Bank of America Corp. lowered its rating on the largest U.S. chemical company by market value to neutral from buy.

American Express declined 3 percent to $72.97. The biggest credit-card issuer by purchases was reduced to equal weight, an equivalent of neutral, from overweight at Barclays Plc on valuation.

Edwards Lifesciences slid 2.7 percent to $70. The biggest- maker of aortic heart valves implanted with a catheter lost a patent-infringement case against Medtronic in a German court.

Medtronic rose 0.3 percent to $52.92.

Coal stocks tumbled amid concern over Walter Energy Corp.’s finances. After the close of regular trading, the producer of steelmaking coal said it canceled a proposed loan refinancing.

The company added it has no material debt principal payments due until 2015.

Walter Energy plunged 17 percent to $12.13 before trading was halted. Peabody Energy Corp. declined 3.4 percent to $16.78 while Consol Energy Inc. fell 1.5 percent to $31.95.

Myriad Genetics Inc. tumbled 14 percent to $27.59.

Companies like Ambry Genetics and the University of Washington are moving to offer cheaper and broader genetic testing for breast cancer risk to a growing group of women, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended Myriad’s monopoly over DNA that vastly raises odds for the disease.

GameStop gained 3.9 percent to $39.01. The world’s largest video-game retailer was raised to outperform from market perform at Oppenheimer & Co. GameStop will benefit from new consoles being released by Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. before the year-end holidays, according to analyst Brian Nagel.

Groupon rallied 12 percent to $7.65. Deutsche Bank AG upgraded the daily-deal website to buy from hold, citing optimism that mobile applications would expand use of the service.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. added 5.2 percent to $9.78.

The gunmaker posted preliminary earnings of 44 cents a share in the fourth quarter, beating estimates that called for 40 cents.

Cable stocks rallied after CNBC reported Time Warner Cable Inc. has discussed with billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp. about an industry consolidation, including a potential merger between Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications Inc., in which Liberty Media bought a 27 percent stake.

Time Warner Cable has no interest in being acquired by Charter, CNBC said.

Time Warner Cable advanced 8.1 percent to $103.93. Charter climbed 5.2 percent to a record $116.61. Cablevision Systems Corp., which is selling its Optimum West unit to Charter, increased 3.6 percent to $14.68.

 

Have  a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

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

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

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

Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I never learn anything talking.  I only learn things

when I ask questions.

-Lou Holtz, 1937-

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1966, the landmark Miranda rights were established, ruling that suspects must be informed of their rights before being questioned by police:  “You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.  You have the right to speak to an attorney and to have an attorney present during questioning.  If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense”

Also on this day, in 1865, one of the world’s most beloved poets, William Butler Yeats was born:

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

~William Butler Yeats

Apoem is never finished, only abandoned. –Paul Valery

Photos of the Day –June 13^th, 2013

A staff member of the Japanese toy and home appliances maker CCP Co. operates a ‘Nano-Falcon,’ the world’s smallest infrared remote-controlled helicopter, at the Tokyo Toy Show in Tokyo. The toy helicopter measures 8 centimeter (3.1 inches) in length while weighing 11 grams (0.39 ounces). It’s now on sale at 4,704 yen ($50) on the domestic market. Koji Sasahara/AP

A laborer walks in water after setting up a scaled replica of the rubber duck, by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman, on an artificial lake in Luoyang, Henan province , China. Reuters

Market Closes for June 13^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15176.08	+180.85    +1.21%
S&P 500	1636.36	+23.84    +1.48%
NASDAQ	3445.365	+44.935    +1.32%
TSX	12277.13	+167.24
		+1.38%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	12445.38	-843.94
		-6.35%
HANG  SENG	20887.04	-467.62
		-2.19%
SENSEX	18827.16	-213.97
		-1.12%
FTSE 100	6304.63	+5.18
		+0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.139	2.206
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.692	2.744
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.1489	2.2307
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3168	3.3751

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98432	0.97934
US   $	1.01593	1.02109
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.35796	0.73640
US  $	1.33666	0.74817

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1386.67	1389.82
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.69	95.88
BRENT	104.73	103.13

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

June 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in seven weeks as technology and consumer shares gained after better-than-expected U.S. data offset a World Bank forecast for slower growth in China.

Empire Co. soared 11 percent after a unit agreed to buy Safeway Inc.’s Canadian assets in a $5.7 billion deal.

BlackBerry added 5.8 percent after Societe Generale SA advised clients to buy the stock. Lundin Mining Corp. jumped 8.8 percent after agreeing to buy a nickel mine from Rio Tinto Group.

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. lost 1.9 percent as the precious metal’s price dropped.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 167.24 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,277.13 at 4 p.m, the biggest advance since April 24. The gauge snapped a two-day losing streak that had erased 2.2 percent. Trading volume was 11 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“When you look at the World Bank reducing GDP estimates, that was more related to the emerging markets and Europe,” said Anish Chopra, a fund manager with TD Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage C$204 billion ($201 billion). “The data in North America, whether in Canada or the U.S. with retail sales above forecast and jobless claims decreasing, that’s all positive. And when you put the two together that’s positive for North America, which is why you’re getting the reaction you’re seeing.”

Data today showed retail sales in the U.S. rose 0.6 percent last month, surpassing the median forecast of 0.4 percent in a Bloomberg survey. A separate report indicated fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week. U.S equities rallied, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.5 percent.

Data from Statistics Canada showed industrial companies’ use of production capacity rose in the first quarter, as oil and gas companies boosted output.

Global equities slumped after the World Bank said in a report released yesterday that the world economy will expand 2.2 percent this year, less than a January forecast for 2.4 percent growth.

The growth forecast for China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner, was cut to 7.7 percent from 8.4 percent, the bank said. China is the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals and energy.

All 10 industries in the S&P/TSX rose, with technology stocks adding 3 percent and producers of consumer staples gaining 2.3 percent.

BlackBerry, formerly Research In Motion Ltd., climbed 5.8 percent to C$14.68. Andy Perkins, an analyst with Societe Generale, raised his rating for the stock to buy from sell.

Sales of BlackBerry’s latest smartphones are doing well, with the touchscreen Z10 estimated to sell 4 million units and the Q10, which boasts a physical keyboard, to sell just under 1 million units.

Empire soared 11 percent to a record C$74.77. Its Sobeys Inc. will have 213 grocery stores in Western Canada and 199 in- store pharmacies in a bid to compete with Loblaw Cos., the largest grocery retailer in Canada. Loblaw added 3.9 percent to C$48.29.

Lundin Mining jumped 8.8 percent to C$4.33 after agreeing to buy Rio Tinto’s Eagle nickel and copper project in northern Michigan for about $325 million. Construction at the mine is just over 50 percent complete and output is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2014, Lundin said in a statement.

Alacer Gold Corp. soared 12 percent to C$2.60 after Chief Executive Officer David Quinlivan said in an interview with Bloomberg the company plans to sell its two mines in Australia within eight months due to high labor costs.

Dorel Industries Inc. slumped 8.7 percent to C$35.40, the biggest drop in 13 months. The Montreal-based maker of bicycles and car seats said bad weather and widespread discounting hurt its second-quarter expectations for earnings in its cycling unit. Full-year earnings from that business will not exceed 2012 levels, and Dorel is cutting 50 jobs as a result.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, slipped 0.8 percent to C$20.02 and Kirkland Lake Gold retreated 1.9 percent to C$5.05. Gold futures for August delivery declined 1 percent to settle at $1,377.80 an ounce in New York.

US

By Lu Wang

June 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest gain since January, on better-than-forecast economic data and speculation the Federal Reserve will signal plans to maintain record low interest rates.

Gannett Co., the publisher of USA Today, jumped 34 percent after agreeing to buy Belo Corp. for about $1.5 billion. Belo surged 28 percent. Safeway Inc. soared 7.4 percent as the second-largest U.S. grocery chain agreed to sell its Canadian stores. DuPont Co. slid 0.7 percent after cutting its forecast.

The S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent to 1,636.36 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index had tumbled 1.9 percent over the previous three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 180.85 points, or 1.2 percent, to 15,176.08. About 6.3 billion shares traded hands today, in line with the three-month average.

“It’s undeniable that the series of data are getting better,” Chris Bertelsen, chief investment officer at Global Financial Private Capital, a Sarasota-based private wealth firm with about $2 billion in assets under management, said in a phone interview. “The only issue for the market is we’re in a vacuum month. In other words, there are no earnings, there is nothing to latch onto other than an occasional number here and there and people are worried about the Fed tapering.”

Retail sales in the U.S. rose 0.6 percent last month, the biggest increase in three months, Commerce Department figures showed today. The median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.4 percent advance. Data from a separate report indicated fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week.

Investors have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is strong enough to prompt the Federal Reserve to scale back stimulus measures. The S&P 500 has slipped 2 percent since May 21 as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may scale back bond buying if the U.S. labor market “improves in a real and sustainable way.” Three years of earnings growth and stimulus from the Fed has helped push the gauge up 142 percent from its bear-market low in 2009.

U.S. equities extended gains today after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Fed may “push back” on market expectations of higher interest rates. Bernanke has repeatedly said a reduction in the Fed’s $85 billion in monthly bond purchases wouldn’t mean an end to record easing.

Equities fell earlier as the World Bank said in a report the global economy will expand 2.2 percent this year, less than a January forecast for 2.4 percent growth and slower than last year’s 2.3 percent. It lowered its projection for developing economies and said the euro area’s gross domestic product will fall 0.6 percent.

Stocks in Asia plunged, erasing the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 2013 advance and dragging Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average into a bear market. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland firms slid 2.7 percent, and the Nikkei 225 tumbled 6.4 percent.

“The economy around the globe is slowing down so U.S. investors are certainly watching the data and hopefully see signs that the U.S. is not joining their friends in Europe and emerging markets,” Wayne Wilbanks, chief investment officer at Wilbanks, Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC in Norfolk, Virginia, which oversees $2.5 billion, said by phone. “As markets get higher and higher, they can’t decide, ‘is the game over?’ Everybody wants to take their profits in this market, but they don’t want to miss the last 100 points.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slipped 12 percent today to 16.41. The equity volatility gauge, which moves in the opposite direction as the S&P 500 about 80 percent of the time, reached a six-year low in March and has since surged 45 percent.

Stock gains accelerated after the S&P 500 recovered from a brief dip below its average price in the past 50 days, a measure that’s watched by some analysts to gauge the market’s trend. The S&P 500 has closed above the threshold on all trading days so far this year, except for April 18.

All 10 industries in the S&P 500 gained. Financial and consumer-discretionary companies climbed the most, rising at least 1.8 percent. Investors bought shares of companies most tied to economic growth, sending the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index up 3.1 percent, its biggest one-day gain since September.

An S&P gauge of homebuilders also rose, surging 4.9 percent.

Gannett rallied 34 percent to $26.60 and Belo soared 28 percent to $13.77. Both stocks hit five-year highs. Gannett will pay $13.75 per Belo share in cash, plus the assumption of $715 million in debt, according to a statement. The acquisition will make Gannett the fourth largest owner of major network affiliates, the company said. It will almost double Gannett’s broadcast portfolio to 43 stations from 23.

Safeway jumped 7.4 percent to $25.82 after agreeing to sell its Canadian stores to Empire Co.’s Sobeys Inc. unit for about C$5.8 billion ($5.7 billion) in cash. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down $2 billion in debt and buy back stock, Safeway said.

PVH Corp. climbed 10 percent to $122.60. The owner of the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein brands said that excluding some items it earned $1.91 a share in the first quarter. That beat the average analyst estimate of $1.37 in a Bloomberg survey.

DuPont slipped 0.7 percent to $53.88. The largest U.S. chemical company by market value cut its first-half earnings forecast after cool, wet weather in North America and Europe affected revenue and costs at its agriculture and nutrition and health units.

Williams Cos. fell 1 percent to $33.70, after an explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana. At least one person died and scores were injured, Governor Bobby Jindal said.

The cause of the explosion isn’t known, Williams said.

Coty Inc. declined 0.8 percent to $17.36 on the first day of trading. The maker of perfumes endorsed by Beyonce and Heidi Klum raised about $1 billion on behalf of existing holders in an initial public offering yesterday.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Order is the very essence of the universe –

the order of birth and death and so on.  It is only man that seems to live in disorder, confusion.

He has lived that way since the world began.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give

ourselves the gift of living well.

-Voltaire, 1694-1778

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