Month: April 2014

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

04/11/1968 – Civil rights Act signed into law.

04/11/1957: Britain agrees to Singapore self-rule
The island of Singapore is granted self-government from Britain to come into effect next year.

Never will a man penetrate deeper into error than when he is continuing on  a road that has led him to great success. – Friedrich von Hayek, Counterrevolution of Science.

Photos of the day

Deutsche Post DHL postwoman Andrea Bunar punts to deliver post using a traditional boat in the Spreewald village of Lehede. Bunar is now Germany’s only postwoman to deliver the mail by boat from April until October. Axel Schmidt/Reuters

Tiny paper boats which collectively form a giant dove are seen inside the Panathenean stadium in Athens. The Hellenic Olympic Academy initiated the creation of the artwork to break the Guinness world record for the biggest paper peace dove. Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

German artist Ottmar Hoerl stands among his 500 plastic Charlemagne sculptures in the western German city of Aachen to commemorate the Aachen Charlemagne Year and the 1200th anniversary of Charlemagne’s death. Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Market Closes for April 11^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16026.75	-143.47 -0.89%
S&P 500	1815.69	-17.39 -0.95%
NASDAQ	3999.734	-54.372 -1.34%
TSX	14257.69	-50.31
		-0.35%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13960.06	-340.07
		-2.38%
HANG SENG	23003.64	-183.32
		-0.79%
SENSEX	22628.96	-86.37
		-0.38%
FTSE 100	6561.70	-80.27
		-1.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.399	2.441
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.941	2.971
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.6265	2.6483
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.4877	3.5211

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91066	0.91483
US $	1.09811	1.09310
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.52447	0.65597
US $	1.38826	0.72033

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1318.32	1317.64
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	103.74	103.40
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Gerrit De Vynck

April 11 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day, led by health-care and technology shares, amid a rout in U.S. equities fueled by selling of some of the bull market’s pest-performing shares.

General Motors Co. shares trading in Canada fell 4.5 percent as Ontario said it planned to sell its shares in the company next year. Raise Production Inc. rose 89 percent after the oil well services company said it was in talks to complete the first commercial sale of one of its pump systems.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Index slipped 50.31 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,257.69 at the end of trading in Toronto. The gauge fell 0.9 percent yesterday, the biggest drop since Feb. 3.

In the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.3 percent while the S&P 500 dropped 1 percent to cap a 2.6 percent weekly loss, the worst since 2012.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 fell 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.1 percent as investors sold high-flying technology stocks that had soared in 2013.

In Canada, oil and gas companies kept the benchmark equity index from falling as much as its U.S. counterparts. Energy companies rose 0.1 percent as a group.

“While the market is down, there are a couple of sectors that are doing better, certainly oil and gas,” said Irwin Michael, a fund manager with ABC Funds in Toronto, which manages about C$850 million ($774 million). “Listening to the radio, they said gasoline is going up 2 cents a liter tonight. That’ll bring it up to around C$1.37 and the feeling is that we’re going to see it hit new record highs for this cycle.”

Prism Medical Ltd., which sells mobility aids for homes, rose 32 percent to C$7.90 after it said it was selling its business in the U.K. for 30 million pounds ($50 million).

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. rose 9.9 percent to C$3.12 after the miner said it sold more copper and molybdenum in the first quarter of 2014 than in the last quarter of 2013.

Finning International Inc., which sells heavy machinery, fell 1.4 percent to C$29.05 after saying its first quarter results would be hurt by currency devaluation in Canada and Argentina.

US

By Callie Bost

April 11 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks sank, extending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s worst two-day drop since June, amid disappointing results at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and signs hedge funds were dumping the bull market’s best performers.

JPMorgan lost 3.7 percent as profit fell 19 percent on lower fixed-income trading and mortgage revenue. Teradata Corp., Broadcom Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. lost at least 3 percent as technology shares paced declines in the market after tumbling the most since 2012 yesterday. General Motors Co. dropped 4.1 percent after a U.S. congressional panel released documents related to a recall probe of the company.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 1,815.69 at 4 p.m. in New York, closing at its lowest level in two months. The gauge slipped 2.7 percent this week, the biggest loss since 2012. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.3 percent today, capping its biggest two-day retreat since 2011, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 143.47 points, or 0.9 percent, to 16,026.75. About 7.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 5.8 percent higher than the three-month average.

“You need to shake out some of the speculative money and throw water on the irrational exuberance,” Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab Corp., which manages $2.2 trillion in client assets, said in a phone interview. “It’s a good reminder that markets don’t go straight up. While the long-term is positive, we need to have these steps back along the way. We need this kind of pullback.”

The S&P 500 declined 2.1 percent yesterday and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.1 percent, its biggest decline since November 2011. Technology shares slid yesterday as investors sold the biggest winners in the five-year market rally.

The percentage of hedge-fund bets that stocks will rise has decreased to 46 percent, compared with 2014’s high of 58 percent, according to an April 9 research note from Credit Suisse Group AG. Net exposure in the U.S. declined to the lowest level since August 2012, the report said.

“So far, exposure reductions have been measured and at least for the time being, there has been no mass rush for the exits,” Credit Suisse’s Jon Kinderlerer wrote.

“Unsurprisingly, we have seen exposure being trimmed the most in information technology where the popular longs have underperformed significantly over the last few weeks.”

Companies with high levels of hedge-fund ownership have fallen about twice as much as the overall market. S&P 500 stocks that are most popular among the speculators have fallen 7.5 percent since April 2. The U.S. equity benchmark is down about 4 percent since then.

Hedge funds make up at least 30 percent of the shareholders in Allegion Plc, Dollar General Corp. and Constellation Brands Inc., the most among companies in the S&P 500. About 37 percent of Allegion shares are owned by hedge funds, the most among S&P 500 companies. The maker of security systems is almost 9 percent lower since April 2. H&R Block Inc., the tax software provider, is down 11 percent and is about 27 percent owned by hedge funds.

The selloff that began last week was sparked by growing concern that valuations may be too high as earnings season begins. The Nasdaq Composite trades at 35 times reported earnings of the companies in the index. That’s double the ratio for the S&P 500, which trades at about 17 times earnings.

Profit for members of the S&P 500 probably fell 0.9 percent in the first quarter, analysts now forecast, after anticipating a 6.6 percent rise in January. Sales increased 2.6 percent, according to projections.

Analysts have reduced earnings estimates more than they usually do over the last three months, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by David Kostin. Average profit forecasts for S&P 500 companies fell about 4 percent in the first quarter, a percentage point more than normal, they wrote.

JPMorgan dropped 3.7 percent to $55.30 today, its biggest decline since November 2012. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon warned investors in February that trading had fallen 15 percent for the first two months of 2014, a decline analysts blamed on a reduction in the Federal Reserve’s bond purchases.

Wells Fargo & Co. rose 0.8 percent to $48.08. The most profitable U.S. bank in 2013 posted a 14 percent rise in earnings as fewer customers missed loan payments.

Alcoa Inc. unofficially started the earnings season on April 8 with profit that beat forecasts. About 54 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report results next week, including Coca-Cola Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Yahoo! Inc., Google Inc. and General Electric Co.

“We can still get decent earnings, but all in all, the total level of earnings will probably not grow as much as expected,” Nicola Marinelli, who helps oversee $200 million at Sturgeon Capital Ltd. in London, said by telephone. “Earnings will have subdued growth. Equity market can remain strong but that doesn’t mean much stronger.”

Investors have added $5.4 billion to U.S. equity exchange- traded funds in the past five days and $732.3 million flowed into American bond ETFs, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Health-care stocks absorbed the most money among industry ETFs, taking in $511 million during the past week. Technology ETFs lost $1.1 billion in the past five days, the most of any sector in that period.

Traders exchanged more than 1.3 million contracts today on the PowerShares QQQ ETF, which tracks shares of the Nasdaq 100, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s almost twice the 20-day average volume for the fund. Bearish contracts expiring this month with a strike prices of $84 were the most traded at this time of day, Bloomberg data show.

The selloff that is sending shares in the Nasdaq 100 Index to the wildest swings since Europe’s debt crisis is failing to stir equal panic in option prices. During April, the Nasdaq 100 has moved 1.5 percent a day on average, the most since November 2011. At the same time, prices for options are below levels from February and October.

“They’ll have to show a lot of pessimism before this decline is over,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based RW Baird & Co., which oversees $110 billion. “It certainly looks like this correction could carry on.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX, rose 7.2 percent to 17.03. The CBOE NDX Volatility Index of Nasdaq 100 contracts climbed 10 percent to the highest since December 2012, adding to a 16 percent surge yesterday.

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

Consumer-discretionary shares retreated 1.4 percent, leading losses. Gauges of raw material and technology stocks decreased 1.2 percent.

The Nasdaq 100 slipped 1.2 percent. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell 2.8 percent. The gauge entered a bear market today, sliding 21 percent since Feb. 25.

NewLink Genetics Corp. tumbled 11 percent to $19.97. The drugmaker has plunged 60 percent since closing at a record Feb. 25. Celldex Therapeutics Inc. dropped 10 percent to $14.02 and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. sank 10 percent to $24.12.

GM fell 4.1 percent to $31.93, the lowest level since June.  Documents released by the House Energy and Commerce committee showed an engineer the automaker has put on leave approved a work-around in small-car models recalled this year for ignition defects that can deactivate air bags.

Herbalife Ltd., the nutritional supplement company that hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has accused of being a pyramid scheme, sank 14 percent to $51.48 for its biggest decline since 2012. Herbalife is being probed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Authorities are looking into the company’s marketing practices, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is private.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

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

but in the deliberate and voluntary restriction of the wants.

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

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

it becomes a hindrance instead of a help.

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

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

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

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

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

on which all his energies should be concentrated.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

When humor goes, there goes civilization.

-Erma Bombeck, 1927-1996

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:

APRIL: Spring means the warming up of the soil.  The appearance of the first flush of annual weeds is better than any thermometer to put you wise over this, telling you that you can start to sow your seeds outside with a sure conviction that they will germinate.  On some spring days I imagine I can see the plants growing, especially when the earth smells good.  This morning as I went outside in the sunshine after rain, the familiar smell of the balsam poplars wafted my way.  The delicious resinous scent is strongest as the leaf buds are opening in April.  Another sure sign of spring, and almost merging into summer, is the arrival of swallows.  As soon as they come we must remember to leave a crack in the garage doors to allow them inside.  They always build in the rafters above the windscreen of my car.  The poets have got it right.  Chaucer chose “Aprille with his schowres swoote” as the pleasantest month for his Canterbury pilgrims to “go on pilgrimage”.  Spenser describes it as

Garnished with garlands goodly dight
Of all the fairest flowers and freshest buds
Which earth brings forth.

I particularly like John Evelyn’s spring advice to his gardener at Sayes Court in 1687:  “Never expose your Oranges, Limons, and the like tender Trees whatever seasons flatter, ‘til the Mulberry puts forth its leafe, then bring them boldly out of the Green House.”  Presumably the mulberry waits to put forth its leaf until all danger of frost is over, so the advice should hold good for one’s geraniums and other tender bedding plants.  –from A CountryWoman’s Notes, Rosemary Verey, Frances Lincoln Ltd.,1989.

There are two kinds of people who lose money: those who know nothing and those who know everything.  –Henry Kaufman, German-American economist to Robert Lenzner in Forbes, 10/19/98, who added, “With two Nobel Prize winners in the house, Long-Term Capital clearly fits the second case.”

Photos of the day

A man looks at the bronze sculpture ‘Emissary Cat’ by British artist Laura Ford at the ‘Art Cologne’ art fair in Cologne, Germany. T Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

A tourist takes pictures of tulips at the Keukenhof park, also known as the Garden of Europe, in Lisse, the Netherlands. Yves Herman/Reuters

Market Closes for April 9^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16437.18	+181.04   +1.11%
S&P 500	1872.18	+20.22   +1.09%
NASDAQ	4183.902	+70.916   +1.72%
TSX	14435.58	+63.13
		+0.44%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14229.69	-307.19
		-2.10%
HANG SENG	22843.17	+246.20
		+1.09%
SENSEX	22702.34	+358.89
		+1.61%
FTSE 100	6635.61	+44.92
		+0.68%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.467	2.459
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.988	2.962
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.6953	2.6772
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.5735	3.5396

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91898	0.91548
US $	1.08816	1.09233
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50734	0.66342
US $	1.38522	0.72191

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1311.53	1308.32
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	103.60	102.56
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

April 9 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day as minutes from a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting suggested the central bank was pulling back from comments that roiled the markets last month.

Dollarama Inc., a discount retailer, climbed 8.4 percent to its highest price since going public in 2009 after beating analyst estimates for its fourth-quarter earnings. Cascades Inc. fell 1.1 percent after the paper and cardboard maker said it would close a mill in Sweden.

The S&P/TSX added 63.13 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,435.58 at 4 p.m. in Toronto for a one-week high. Trading was in line with the 30-day average.

The Federal Reserve played down projections some of its own policy makers had made suggesting interest rates might rise more quickly than the market had predicted. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in March that a rate rise might come as soon as six months after the central bank ends its monthly bond-buying program.  Today’s minutes don’t mention that time frame.

Energy stocks rose 0.4 percent to the highest level since 2011. BlackPearl Resources Inc. rose 6.8 percent to C$2.84 and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. advanced 4.6 percent to C$5.75 to lead gains among oil and gas producers.  “The focus right now is on some of the commodity price moves especially in energy,” said Bob Decker, fund manager at Aurion Capital Management in Toronto. “The most investor appetite right now is for increasing their exposure to energy as a result of the lowered Canadian dollar and the strong energy price realizations,” he said by phone. The firm manages about C$6 billion ($5.5 billion).

The Canadian dollar has fallen 4 percent against a basket of developed country currencies this year. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.7 percent at $103.32 a barrel — the highest since March 4.

Dollarama rose 8.4 percent to C$92.97 after beating analyst estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and increasing its dividend to 16 Canadian cents from 14 cents.

Cascades fell 1.1 percent to C$7.17. The Kingsey Falls, Quebec-based company recycles paper into new packaging. It said it would close its Swedish mill, which employs 130 people and can produce 60,000 metric tons of cardboard each year.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. dropped 1.2 percent to C$23.12 after Royal Bank of Canada cut its rating on the company to the equivalent of a hold from the equivalent of a sell.

Copper Mountain Mining Corp. rose 11 percent to C$2.47 after reporting first quarter production that exceeded the previous quarter by 9 percent.

US
By Callie Bost

April 9 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, with technology shares gaining the most in two months, as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting eased concern about the timing of future interest-rate increases.

Alcoa Inc. advanced 3.8 percent after earnings topped estimates and the company forecast that global demand for aluminum will exceed production this year. Facebook Inc. climbed 7.3 percent, the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, helping to extend a rebound in technology stocks after a selloff. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. surged 6.9 percent as shares of biotechnology companies rallied the most in a year.

The S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to 1,872.18 at 4 p.m. in New York, after the gauge yesterday snapped a three-day slide. The Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 1.8 percent, the most since Feb. 7, after a 0.9 percent advance yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 181.04 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,437.18. About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 9 percent lower than the three-month average.

“These minutes are calming for the markets,” Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial LLC, which manages about $414 billion, said by phone from Boston. “It was clearly stated that the projections overstated the likely shift in rates. A slower pace of interest rates seems more likely here than from the statements.”

Several Fed policy makers said a rise in their median projection for the main interest rate exaggerated the likely speed of tightening, according to minutes of their March 18-19 meeting released today.

Treasury yields rose last month after policy makers predicted that the benchmark interest rate would rise faster than previously forecast. Janet Yellen, presiding over her first meeting as chair, later downplayed the importance of the forecasts, even as she said that rates might start to rise “around six months” after the Fed ends its bond-purchase program.

The Fed reduced the monthly pace of purchases by $10 billion, to $55 billion, and repeated it is likely to continue paring the program in “further measured steps.” Three rounds of bond purchases from the Fed have helped fuel economic growth, sending the S&P 500 surging as much as 180 percent from its 2009 low.

Data last week boosted optimism that the economy is shaking off the effects of severe winter weather and building momentum into the second quarter. The government’s jobs report on April 4 showed employers boosted payrolls last month and the unemployment rate held at 6.7 percent.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent yesterday and the Nasdaq 100 rebounded from its worst three-day drop since 2011 as technology shares rallied after a selloff. The S&P 500 fell as much as 2.4 percent from a record high reached April 2 amid concern about valuations in technology stocks.

Stocks rallied before the Fed minutes today as technology stocks continued to recover and Alcoa’s results boosted optimism at the start of earnings season.

Investors will be watching financial reports for signs of how well corporations weathered the first quarter. Profit for members of the S&P 500 probably climbed 1 percent in the first quarter, analysts now forecast, after anticipating a 6.6 percent rise in January. Their sales climbed 2.9 percent, the projections show.

Alcoa, the first company in the S&P 500 to report results for the quarter, climbed 3.8 percent to $13. The largest U.S. aluminum producer posted profit excluding restructuring costs and other items that beat analysts’ estimates.

The company also forecast global aluminum demand will exceed production this year, predicting an end to an almost decade-long surplus driven by Chinese output that has saddled the industry with lower prices.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among the S&P 500 companies that report their earnings on Friday.

“We’ve been in this pre-earnings information void and now we’re going to have a threshold and we’ll see which companies will continue to grow and which won’t,” Dan Veru, chief investment officer who helps oversee $5 billion at Palisade Capital Management LLC, said by phone. “This is the year of individual stock-picking. That’s what will drive returns.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, retreated 7.2 percent to 13.82 today. The index has fallen 11 percent since closing at a three-week high on April 7.

Eight of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced, with health-care companies climbing 2.1 percent. Technology shares added 1.6 percent, as the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index surged 2.4 percent, the most since Jan. 30. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index rallied 1.4 percent, the biggest in a month, and the Dow Jones Transportation Average increased 1.6 percent.

“These pops happen to be in sectors like tech and consumer-discretionary, very cyclical areas of the markets,” LPL Financial’s Kleintop said. “The idea is that if the Fed is slower to raise interest rates, it is good news for more cyclical areas of the market. These companies are very levered to how fast the economy grows.”

Facebook jumped 7.3 percent, its largest gain since Jan. 30, to $62.41. The shares have rallied 10 percent in three days.  The social-networking company slipped as much as 21 percent from a record $72.03 on March 10.

LinkedIn Corp., which trades at more than 760 times reported earnings, increased 4.2 percent to $176.18. The company jumped 5.9 percent yesterday, after falling in five of the previous six sessions. Twitter Inc. added 1.7 percent to $42.49, its first gain in six days, and Yahoo! Inc. rose 3.1 percent to $34.87.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index climbed 4.1 percent, the most in a year. The gauge fell as much as 17 percent after reaching an all-time high on Feb. 25. Regeneron surged 6.9 percent to $306.26. The drugmaker, which trades at 80 times reported earnings, slid 18 percent after the shares closed at a record on Feb. 24.

Merck & Co. soared 3.7 percent to $57.10 to lead gains in the Dow. Industrial shares jumped 1.3 percent as a group, paced by a rally in airlines. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index surged 3.1 percent as Delta Air Lines Inc. added 3.6 percent to $34.73. Boeing Co. climbed 2.2 percent to $126.88.

U.S. stocks will rally further as the doubling of the S&P 500 from its 2009 low has yet to stretch valuations, according to Holland & Co.

Valuations have not risen to levels that threaten an imminent correction, even though equities trade at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than they did five years ago, Michael Holland, who oversees more than $4 billion as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York, told Tom Keene and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Surveillance.

“This is not a bear market,” Holland said. “The bull market still has some significant legs to it before this is over. We had valuations that were screamingly attractive five years ago. Fast forward to today, they are reasonably valued.  These things normally don’t end until we get overvalued and we’re not there yet.”

The bull market has pushed the benchmark to 16 times estimated earnings from a low of 11 in October 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The index’s average multiple in the last five years was 14.3.

Investors have added $8.1 billion to U.S. equity exchange- traded funds in the past five days and added $189.9 million to American bond ETFs, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Consumer staples stocks absorbed the most money among industry ETFs, taking in $401.5 million during the past week. Technology ETFs lost $1.5 billion in the past five days, the most of any sector in that period.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Sensibility is the capacity to feel,

recognize, and distinguish the most tiny and subtle changes.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Do not take life too seriously.  You will never get out of it alive.

-Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915

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:

Buddha’s birthday, Siddhartha, the enlightened one.

On this day in 563 B.C., the queen of Sakya, a realm situated around the present-day border of Nepal and India, gave birth to a son. His father, the king, took great pains to raise him in a style that would lead to his become king himself one day. But curiosity of the wider world seized the prince. At age 29, he set off to see the world. At 35, while sitting under a pipal tree, he achieved enlightenment. His name changed, from Siddhartha to Gautama Buddha, and he began preaching the tenets of what would become one of the world’s major religions, Buddhism. –Paul Vigna, WSJ, 4/8/14.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. –Buddha.

There are ways for the individual investor to make money in the securities markets.  Buying value and holding long term while collecting dividends has been proven over and over again. –Robert M. Sharp, author, The Lore and Legends of Wall Street.

Photos of the day

Tulip farmers look for weeds in a field of tulips left to blossom for growing bulbs near the city of Noordwijkerhout, western Netherlands. Peter Dejong/AP

Giraffes gather in their pen at the Paris Zoological Park in the Bois de Vincennes in the east of Paris. Inaugurated in 1934, the Paris Zoo will reopen for the public on April 12, 2014 after being closed for four-years for renovation. Charles Platiau/Reuters

Market Closes for April 8^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16256.27	+10.40   +0.06%
S&P 500	1852.56	+7.52   +0.41%
NASDAQ	4112.988	+33.235   +0.81%
TSX	14377.81	+107.48
		+0.75%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14606.88	-201.97
		-1.36%
HANG SENG	22596.97	+219.82
		+0.98%
SENSEX	22343.45	-16.05
		-0.07%
FTSE 100	6590.69	-32.15
		-0.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.459	2.460
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.962	2.970
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.6772	2.6953
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.5396	3.5548

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91548	0.91152
US $	1.09233	1.09707
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50707	0.66354
US $	1.37969	0.72480

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1308.32	1297.37
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	102.56	100.44
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

April 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, halting a three-day retreat, with commodity producers and technology companies leading gains as gold gained and BlackBerry Ltd. rallied.

HudBay Minerals Inc. and Teck Resources Inc. rose at least 4.9 percent to pace gains in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index. BlackBerry climbed 2.6 percent while Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s largest wireless operator, fell 1.2 percent.

The equity benchmark added 58.06 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,328.39 at 12:07 p.m. in Toronto. It fell 0.9 percent yesterday, its biggest loss since Feb. 3. Mining companies in the index were up 0.9 percent as a group.

“The price of both gold equities and gold bullion have started to move up a little,” said Anish Chopra, a fund manager at TD Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. He helps manage around C$218 billion with the firm.

The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index has risen 19 percent since the beginning of the year while the price of gold has risen 9 percent this year to $1,309.29.

Pretium Resources Inc. rose 4 percent to C$7.08. The Vancouver-based company is developing a gold property in northern British Columbia.

HudBay Minerals rose 5.2 percent to C$8.94, its biggest intraday jump in three weeks.

Teck Resources Inc. rose 4.9 percent to C$25.93, its biggest intraday gain in almost six months. Yesterday, Cormark Securities Inc. said the company, which mines a range of different minerals, was a “top pick.”

Rogers Communications fell 0.9 percent to C$44.64. Rogers and BCE Inc., who both own broadcasters, are facing the potential of losing revenue as only one Canadian team is set to make the National Hockey League playoffs this year, the first time since 1973. BCE fell rose 0.2 percent to C$48.16.

Titan Medical Inc. fell 11 percent to C$2.32 after it said in a statement it would sell 10.6 million shares for C$2.10. Titan, which is developing a robot for surgeries, closed at C$2.61 yesterday.

Newalta Corp. rose 4 percent to C$20.79, its highest since June 2008, after the recycling company said it hired Royal Bank of Canada to look into options for selling one of its units.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. fell 0.7 percent to C$129.86 for its fourth straight day of losses. Valeant is Canada’s most acquisitive and indebted company with junk-rated bonds and has fallen 11 percent so far this month after rising 110 percent in 2013.

Loblaw Cos., which owns Canada’s biggest grocery chain, fell 1.2 percent to C$46.08.

Tweed Marijuana Inc. rose 14 percent in its third day of trading. The medical marijuana grower was the most-traded stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

US
By Jeremy Herron and Callie Bost

April 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose as a recovery in technology shares helped the Nasdaq 100 Index rebound from its worst three-day drop since 2011. Oil and gold climbed as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid to a five-month low.

The Nasdaq 100 Index of mostly technology stocks rose 0.9 percent after a 4.3 percent slide since April 2. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed for the first time in four days, adding 0.4 percent to 1,851.96, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 10.4 points to 16,256.27. Gold futures advanced 0.8 percent to $1,309.10 an ounce. Oil jumped more than 2 percent before a government report forecast to show supplies fell in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the West Texas Intermediate crude.

Yahoo! Inc., EBay Inc., Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. jumped more than 2 percent, after a technology selloff broadened yesterday to wipe out the year’s gains in the S&P 500. Alcoa Inc. reports first-quarter earnings today. Ukraine sent additional police forces into eastern regions after pro-Russian protesters seized government buildings.

“It’s little real news, it’s more grinding around than driven by some specific items,” William Stone, chief investment officer of PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia, which manages $128 billion, said by phone. “It doesn’t surprise me that we found a little stabilization here waiting for earnings season to start. That’s the primary kind of real data we’re going to get this week.”

The S&P 500 lost 1.1 percent yesterday, extending its three-day drop to 2.4 percent, the most since January. The Nasdaq 100 gauge fell 4.3 percent in the period, the most since 2011, while the Russell 2000 Index of small companies sank 1.5 percent to a two-month low yesterday as its three-day loss worsened to 4.8 percent. The Russell 2000 advanced 0.8 percent today.

The selloff came as valuations in technology stocks soared while the broader market has touched all-time highs. The Nasdaq 100 surged 257 percent from its low in March 2009 through a 13- year high on March 5. That beat the 177 percent increase for the S&P 500 in the period. The S&P 500 closed at a record on April 2.    “Biotech and tech companies were trading at lofty valuations and they finally succumbed to the gravitational pull,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which oversees $63 billion in assets, said by phone. “A lot of these growth stocks had been taken down 10 to 20 percent, but usually that loss finds a bottom.”

Alcoa rose 0.5 percent to $12.53. The largest U.S. aluminum producer will post first-quarter earnings after today’s market close. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among S&P 500 companies reporting earnings this week.

Profit for members of the index probably climbed 1 percent in the first quarter, analysts now forecast, after projecting a 6.6 percent rise in January. Sales rose 2.9 percent on average, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Gold for June delivery advanced to the highest level in almost two weeks and has gained about 9 percent this year, rebounding from the biggest annual drop in more than three decades. Silver rose 0.7 percent to $20.01 an ounce.

“Gold is finding support from geopolitical tension as the Ukraine situation is heating up again,” Dan Denbow, a portfolio manager at the $1 billion USAA Precious Metals & Minerals Fund in San Antonio, said in a telephone interview. “The dollar weakness is also helping gold. We are seeing interest in overall commodities.”

West Texas Intermediate oil climbed 2.1 percent to a one- month high of $102.56 a barrel. Crude also rebounded amid speculation that gasoline supplies dropped for a seventh week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer.

Brent for May settlement advanced $1.85, or 1.7 percent, to $107.67 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.  Russia called on Ukraine to halt all military preparations in the east “immediately” or risk civil war. The U.S. has said there is evidence that some protesters may be paid provocateurs.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.6 percent for a third day of gains and reached the highest level of the year.  Developing nations face new risks and Russia’s takeover of Crimea last month injects geopolitical tension that’s “casting a pall” on the region, the International Monetary Fund said in a report today. The fund urged emerging markets to prepare for flows of capital back to advanced economies.

Stronger U.S. growth this year and next will help the world economy withstand weaker recoveries in emerging markets including Brazil and Russia, the IMF said.

Russian stocks reversed earlier losses, with the Micex Index adding 0.2 percent. Russian companies should consider delisting their shares from foreign stock exchanges and trade in Moscow to boost security amid the standoff over Ukraine, according to Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.

“Companies and their boards of directors should consider the need for further trading of shares on foreign exchanges,” Shuvalov told reporters after a government meeting near Moscow today. “This is a question of economic security.”

Price swings in currency markets have tumbled to a six-year low as central banks from the U.S. to Japan seek to boost growth with cheap cash and record-low interest rates, encouraging investors to seek higher-yielding assets.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, fell 0.6 percent to 1,008.56, the lowest level since October. The yen advanced 1.4 percent to 101.71 per dollar and the euro gained 0.4 percent to $1.3796.

The JPMorgan Global FX Volatility Index was little changed at 7 percent, after ending at 6.98 percent yesterday, the lowest since July 2007.

“There certainly has been more interest again in emerging markets, suggesting that many investors are again looking out for yield,” said Jane Foley, senior foreign-exchange strategist at Rabobank International in London. “That’s clearly a risk-on scenario that is dollar-negative.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 index pared earlier losses of 1 percent to close 0.3 percent lower after falling from a six-year high yesterday. The index trades at 14.1 times estimated 12- month earnings, compared with an average multiple of 11.4 times over the past five years.

“Ukraine worries, coupled with stock valuations which are high, are taking their toll on European markets,” Stephane Ekolo, chief European strategist at Markit Securities in London, wrote in an e-mail. “We are seeing an aggravation in the situation in Ukraine with some eastern provinces trying to declare independence and turning towards Russia.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

We cross the infinite with every step, and encounter the eternal with every second.

Rabindranath Tagore,1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is

more important than any other.

-Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865

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:

I read the full page obituary of  Holocaust survivor Chana Szpilman Wallace in the Globe & Mail from this past Saturday and was inspired by this extraordinary woman who died at the age of 106.  She radiated optimism and wisdom and was an inspiration to all she knew, despite the horrors visited upon her in her life.  Asked once about a message for future generations, Mrs. Wallace squared up and answered:  “To have a will to live.  To go a straight way.  To be gentle with people.  To be happy.  That’s all I have to say.”

Photos of the day

A musician plays a piano designed by car manufacturer Peugeot for Pleyel piano maker, displayed at the Milan Design Fair, in Milan, Italy. The Milan furniture and design week fair, showcasing the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world. Antonio Calanni/AP

A young goat jumps over marsh marigolds during warm and sunny weather at Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf in the Austrian province of Salzburg. Gut Aiderbichl is a place of mercy for rescued animals. Kerstin Joensson/AP

Market Closes for April 7^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16245.87	-166.84   -1.02%
S&P 500	1845.04	-20.05   -1.08%
NASDAQ	4079.753	-47.973   -1.16%
TSX	14270.33	-122.77
		-0.85%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14808.85	-254.92
		-1.69%
HANG SENG	22377.15	-132.93
		-0.59%
SENSEX	22343.45	-16.05
		-0.07%
FTSE 100	6622.84	-72.71
		-1.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.460	2.493
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.970	2.999
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.6953	2.7225
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.5548	3.5854

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91152	0.91067
US $	1.09707	1.09810
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50770	0.66326
US $	1.37430	0.72765

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1297.37	1303.53
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	100.44	101.24
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Gerrit De Vynck

April 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in two months as investors sold off some of the past year’s biggest gainers, including Redknee Solutions Inc., ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. and Avigilon Corp.

All three stocks fell more than 4 percent and are up at least 50 percent in the past 12 months. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. lost 4.5 percent after a joint venture with Swedish drugmaker Meda AB ended. Tweed Marijuana Inc. increased 40 percent on its second day of trading.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index slipped 122.77 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,270.33 at the close in Toronto, the biggest intraday loss since Feb. 3. The benchmark index is up 4.8 percent for the year.

“This seems like a bit of profit-taking to me,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto. The firm manages about C$4.7 billion ($4.3 billion). “Stocks that have done relatively well seem to be hit harder than those stocks that haven’t done so well.”

Oil and gas producing companies in the S&P/TSX fell 1.1 percent as a group. Brent crude fell for the first time in three days after Libyan rebels surrendered control of two oil ports to the government, enabling the OPEC country to increase exports. New York-traded oil for May delivery also snapped a two-day advance, losing 0.7 percent to $100.44 a barrel.

Industrial companies fell 1.6 percent, paced by declines in the country’s two major railroad stocks.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. fell 2.5 percent to C$162.57.  Canadian National Railway Co. fell 1.6 percent to C$60.47.  Canadian Pacific is up 30 percent in the last year while Canadian National is up 23 percent.

Hudson’s Bay, a retailer that is Canada’s oldest company, fell 4 percent to C$17.08. The shares lost 5.1 percent on Apr. 3 after the company forecast lower earnings than analysts had predicted. Avigilon fell 4.8 percent to C$28.00. The company makes digital cameras for surveillance and has risen 149 percent over the last year. Redknee Solutions Inc. fell 4.1 percent to C$5.16. The software company is up 73 percent in the last year.

ATS, which makes machines used for manufacturing, fell 4.6 percent to C$14.60. The Cambridge, Ontario-based company has risen 50 percent over the last year. Badger Daylighting fell 1.7 percent to C$41.36. The Calgary-based excavation company is up 210 percent in the last year.

Valeant fell 4.5 percent to C$130.83. Meda said in a statement the joint-venture between the two companies would end in the second quarter because Meda had established its own affiliates in countries where it had up to now partnered with Valeant.

Tweed Marijuana jumped 40 percent to C$3.62. Based in a former chocolate factory in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Tweed grows medical marijuana as part of a government plan to replace a system where individual users have permits to grow their own cannabis.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan fell 1.9 percent to C$37.11 after the fertilizer miner said Bill Doyle, who has served as chief executive officer for almost 15 years, would leave the post in July.

US

By Callie Bost

April 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, pushing the Nasdaq 100 Index to its biggest three-day retreat since 2011 and erasing the year’s gains in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as technology shares extended last week’s selloff.

Pfizer Inc. and American Express Co. tumbled more than 3 percent for the largest drops in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Yahoo! Inc. and Apple Inc. lost at least 1.6 percent to pace declines in technology shares. An index of homebuilders plunged 2.3 percent as D.R. Horton Inc. and KB Home fell more than 2.4 percent.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent to 1,845.04 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow slipped 166.84 points, or 1 percent, to 16,245.87. The Nasdaq 100 gauge of the biggest technology stocks fell 0.9 percent, bringing its three-day drop to 4.3 percent. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies sank 1.5 percent to an almost two-month low. About 7.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 9.3 percent above the three-month average.

“If you take a closer look under the hood, things have been deteriorating for a while now,” Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati, wrote in an e-mail. “Small caps and tech have been breaking down all over the place the past month, with the big blue chips holding tough. Well, now it looks like the last place bulls were hiding is finally starting to crack.”

The S&P 500 rose to a record last week before trimming its weekly gain to 0.4 percent in the last two days, as the selloff in technology shares overshadowed optimism on Federal Reserve monetary stimulus. The Dow reached an intraday record on April 4 before sinking to the day lower.

Technology shares were hit as traders dumped the biggest winners of the bull market amid concern valuations have advanced too far. The Nasdaq 100 fell the most in two years on April 4 with declines in all but four stocks. The gauge sank 0.9 percent for the week after surging 35 percent in 2013.

The Nasdaq Composite Index, which slid the most in two months on April 4, dropped 1.2 percent today. It trades at 31.5 times reported earnings of the companies in the index. That’s almost twice the ratio for the S&P 500, which trades at 17 times earnings.

“It’s just a continuation of momentum,” Kevin Caron, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which manages about $160 billion, said by phone. “The market, having had a very sharp rally last year, is set to consolidate some of those gains and that’s what we’re seeing here. It’s going to be a tug of war between valuations and the data from here on out.”

The selling in the Nasdaq 100 Index has sent anxiety among options traders to the highest levels since the flash crash four years ago. More than 1 million put options on an exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq index changed hands on April 4 as investors sought protection during a 2.7 percent drop in the gauge. That’s the most trading in bearish contracts since May 7, 2010, the day after $862 billion was erased from the value of U.S. stocks in a matter of minutes.

Hedge funds that invested heavily in technology shares took a beating in the first quarter as popular holdings such as Chinese Internet company Baidu Inc. fell 14 percent and online retailer Amazon.com Inc. tumbled 15 percent.

Paul Tudor Jones, Michael Novogratz and Louis Bacon, hedge- fund managers that profited last year from bets on macroeconomic trends, posted losses in the period as some of those trades turned against them. The losses for macro managers have caused them to cut some of their bigger bets, Anthony Lawler, a money manager at he $120 billion Swiss firm GAM, wrote in a report last week.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange NDX Volatility Index, tracking contracts on the Nasdaq 100, gained 6.7 percent to 20.05 today. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, rose 12 percent to 15.57.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index tumbled 1.7 percent and the Dow Jones Transportation Index slid 1.4 percent. An S&P gauge of homebuilders slipped 2.3 percent, as D.R. Horton lost 2.4 percent to $21.77 and KB Home erased 4.4 percent to $16.81.

Consumer discretionary shares dropped 1.9 percent, the most among the 10 main S&P 500 groups, after sliding 1.7 percent on April 4. The industry has lost 5.9 percent since a record close on March 6.

Retailers in the S&P 500 have slipped 7.8 percent this year after soaring 44 percent in 2013. The S&P 500 Retailing Index trades at 24.5 times earnings, more than seven points higher than the ratio for the benchmark gauge.

Amazon.com, which trades at 562 times reported earnings, fell 1.6 percent to $317.76. Best Buy Co., the company with the third-largest gain in the S&P 500 last year at 237 percent, slipped 1.8 percent to $27.19 today, extending losses for 2014 to 32 percent.

Financial stocks declined 1.5 percent as all 24 members of the KBW Bank Index fell. MetLife Inc. tumbled 2.8 percent to $51.37 and Morgan Stanley slid 2.8 percent to $29.52.

Visa Inc. decreased 2.1 percent to $203.41. Pfizer fell 3 percent to $31.20 and American Express retreated 2.9 percent to $86.60, pacing losses in the Dow.

Technology shares fell 0.8 percent as a group in the S&P 500, while the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index lost 1.3 percent. Yahoo dropped 3.5 percent to $33.07 and Apple slid 1.6 percent to $523.47. Groupon Inc. tumbled 5 percent to $7.45.

The technology group saw the second-biggest outflows among industry exchange-traded funds in the past five days, losing $173.4 million, while investors withdrew $223 million from real- estate ETFs over the past week.

Mark Mobius, who oversees about $50 billion at Templeton Emerging Markets Group, said he’s buying technology stocks after a global rout left companies such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. trading at “reasonable” valuations.

“If you look at Tencent for example, it’s come down about 20 percent and that’s a pretty good correction,” Mobius, whose Templeton Asian Growth Fund outperformed 88 percent of peers this year, said in an interview in Bloomberg’s Hong Kong office, declining to name specific stocks he’s buying.

Some of the older names in technology had the best performances today. International Business Machines Corp., which had its initial public offering in 1915, added 1.4 percent to $194.52 for the biggest advance in the Dow. Intel Corp., which started trading in 1971, jumped 1.2 percent to $26.49 for the second-largest gain. Cisco Systems Inc. increased 0.6 percent to $22.85.

“People decided that Nasdaq stocks, the high flyers, are too richly valued,” Donald Selkin, who helps manage about $3 billion as chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York, said by phone. “What’s more bizarre to me is the retro tech stocks, the Mad Men — like we’re back in the 1960s – – are up. People are going into those old-timers, the retros, because of more reasonable valuations.”

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 0.5 percent today. The gauge has fallen six straight weeks, the longest streak since 1998, after rising 79 percent in the year through Feb. 28.

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, unofficially kicks off the U.S. quarterly earnings season when it releases financial results after the close of trading tomorrow. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are also among the S&P 500-listed companies reporting this week.

Profit for members of the gauge probably climbed 1 percent in the period, analysts now forecast, after anticipating a 6.6 percent rise in January. Sales rose 2.9 percent on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts bet industrial companies will continue to deliver the fastest profit growth amid a weather-related slowdown.

“It will be an interesting few weeks with the earnings season kicking off tomorrow,” Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, an equity market strategist at Deutsche Postbank AG, said by phone from Bonn, Germany. “Everybody expects a weaker quarter given the headwinds that corporates faced earlier this year. The U.S. market is still strong, not far from a record, but we really need more profit growth to support valuations.”

Data last week boosted optimism that the economy is shaking off its winter doldrums and building momentum into the second quarter. Growth in manufacturing accelerated in March, driven by gains in production and orders. The government’s jobs report showed employers boosted payrolls last month and the unemployment rate held at 6.7 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The important question for me is,

is the body a source for creating, for realizing yourself,

for realizing what life is all about?  You ask this question

and you go where it takes you and then you ask another question

and then again you follow.  So this understanding of the body, of the unity within the body

and the innumerable areas which it reveals to you is what I call realization.

Chandralekha, 1929-2006

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.

-Lorraine Hansberry, 1930-1965

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

This weekend at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel marks the last weekend of the Dinner Theatre – Tribute to Nashville.  It’s from 5:30-8 in the David Foster Theatre and admission is $89.00. Join them for a very unique opportunity to bring a different Nashville star to the stage every weekend. A Tribute To Nashville dinner theatre will bring audiences a little taste of what it is to live, work and play in the recording capital of the world. Buddy Greene himself has selected some of Nashville’s most renowned recording artists to join with him on our stage.  Having been to Dinner Theatres in the past, I highly recommend checking one out!

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart”

Helen Keller

Photos of the day

A contrail is seen as India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C24), carrying the second navigation satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System IRNSS-1B, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, about 100 km (62 miles) north of the southern Indian city of Chennai, India. Babu/Reuters

Skydivers form a missing man formation in Eloy, Arizona, April 3. A German skydiver, who was among 222 people trying to set a world record with a group-formation jump was killed in the Arizona desert when her main parachute malfunctioned, police and a spokeswoman for the skydiving facility said. Henry Wiggers/Reuters

Market Closes for April 4th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16412.71	-159.84   -0.96%
S&P 500	1865.09	-23.68   -1.25%
NASDAQ	4127.727	-110.013   -2.60%
TSX	14393.10	-9.11
		-0.06%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15063.77	-8.11
		-0.05%
HANG SENG	22510.08	-55.00
		-0.24%
SENSEX	22359.50	-149.57
		-0.66%
FTSE 100	6695.55	+46.41
		+0.70%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.493	2.546
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.999	3.034
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.7225	2.7972
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.5854	3.6291

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91067	0.90613
US $	1.09810	1.10359
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50466	0.66460
US $	1.37025	0.72979

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1303.53	1286.69
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	101.24	100.29
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

April 4 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day, erasing gains in the afternoon as a selloff in U.S. technology shares dragged down BlackBerry Ltd., overshadowing better-than-expected jobs data.

BlackBerry slumped 2.7 percent, closing at a three-month low. Hydrogenics Corp. dropped 11 percent after reporting first-
quarter revenue that missed estimates because of the timing of deliveries. Air Canada jumped 27 percent after raising its
first-quarter forecast.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index slipped 9.11 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,393.10 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The
benchmark index has rallied 0.9 percent this week, and is up 5.7 percent for the year.

Stocks rose earlier in the day as data showed that employment rose by 42,900, the most in seven months. The jobless
rate fell to 6.9 percent from 7.0 percent, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa.

“I don’t read this through to a stronger Canadian economy, I think it’s decent,” said Kevin Headland, a fund manager with
Manulife Asset Management Ltd, by phone. Manulife manages about C$250 billion ($227.8 million). “As long as we see positive news, things are getting better, improving slowly but surely.”

BlackBerry retreated 3.3 percent to C$8.77, the lowest close since Jan. 6, as information technology shares sank 1.1
percent as a group. Five of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX fell on trading volume 6 percent lower compared with the 30-day average.

Air Canada rose 27 percent to C$7.29. The airline increased its outlook for first-quarter earnings. The company has risen
124 percent over the last year.

Hydrogenics, which makes hydrogen fuel cells, fell 11 percent to C$26 after saying first-quarter revenue would miss estimates.

DHX Media Ltd. rose 8 percent to C$5.23, the biggest increase since December, as analysts at the Royal Bank of Canada
said the company’s purchase of Epitome Pictures Inc. could add about 10 percent to DHX’s earnings in 2015.

Suncor Energy Inc. rose 0.8 percent to C$39.52. The company’s shares have underperformed this year compared with
other oil companies despite its “extremely strong” balance sheet, according to a research report from Canaccord Genuity
Corp.

Eldorado Gold Corp. rose 2.7 percent to C$6.55 after Canaccord analyst Tony Lesiak said in a note to clients the
company was “now worth the risk” after the shares recently underperformed. Lesiak raised his recommendation on the stock to
buy from hold.

US
By Joseph Ciolli, Callie Bost and Lu Wang

U.S. stocks tumbled, with the Nasdaq Composite Index falling the most in two
months, as investorscontinued a selloff of the bull market’s biggest winners. Treasuries rallied as jobs data boosted speculation the Federal
Reserve will remain accommodative on rates.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.6 percent at 4 p.m. in New York as technology shares slumped. The Standard & Poor’s 500
Index fell 1.3 percent after rallying as much as 0.5 percent to a record earlier in the day. The yield on five-year Treasury
notes dropped nine basis points, the most in two months, to 1.70 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.6 percent, advancing
for a ninth day. The dollar slid for the first time in seven days against the yen.
Gold jumped 1.5 percent.

Employers hired more workers last month and the unemployment rate held at 6.7 percent, Labor Department figures
showed today. Europe’s central bank signaled yesterday it may use quantitative easing to ward off deflation. The value of
global stocks rose to a record $63.2 trillion this week as Fed Chair Janet Yellen said accommodative policies will be needed
for “some time.”

“There’s a little bit of nervousness about some of the high multiples in the biotech area and computer and Internet-
related stocks,” John Carey, a fund manager at Pioneer Investment Management Inc., a Boston-based firm that manages about $220 billion worldwide, said in a phone interview.
“You’re having another wave of selling in that very high- momentum group.”

The S&P 500 erased gains after climbing to a record 1,897.28 earlier in the day. The gauge trimmed its advance for
the week to 0.4 percent, and is up 0.9 percent for the year. The gauge trades at 17.2 times reported earnings, the highest level
since 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average touched an intraday record of 16,631.63, briefly erasing losses for the year, before
retreating. It gained 0.6 percent this week.

Large technology stocks from Google Inc. to Yahoo Inc. plunged as investors resumed a selloff of the bull market’s
biggest winners. Google Class A shares sank 4.6 percent.
Facebook Inc. lost 4.6 percent, bringing its two-day slide to 9.5 percent. Yahoo declined 4.2 percent to the lowest since
November.

“This has been in the making for a few weeks,” Rick Fier, director of equity trading at Conifer Securities LLC in New
York, said a phone interview. “Managers were positioned very heavily last year with the winners. They killed in 2013 and
money started to pour in them. Today is kind of like the panic day that they couldn’t stand it any more and now they’re just
puking these names.”

The Nasdaq Composite has fallen 0.7 percent in the past five days after losing 2.8 percent last week. The gauge is down
1.2 percent in 2014. It rose 38 percent last year.

Isolated lurches in the Nasdaq 100 have become more common in the last two months as investors reassessed equities that
have posted annual gains of 25 percent since 2009. The gauge twice tumbled more than 1.8 percent over two-day stretches last
week and lost 2.1 percent on March 13 and 14.

All but nine of the 121 stocks in the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index dropped. The gauge plunged 7 percent last week after
rallying 79 percent in the 12 months through Feb. 28. Netflix Inc. sank 4.9 percent today for a third straight decline. The
stock nearly quadrupled in 2013.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as VIX, rose 4.4 percent
to 13.96.  Five- and seven-year notes led gains among Treasuries after the government’s March jobs report.

Payrolls rose 192,000 last month after a 197,000 gain in February that was larger than first estimated, the Labor
Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey projected a 200,000 gain. Private employment,
which excludes government jobs, surpassed the pre-recession peak for the first time.

Employment in January and February was revised higher, showing the effect on the labor market from inclement winter
weather was less severe than previously thought.

“We like this number because it is not too high,” David Roda, the Miami-based regional chief investment officer for
Wells Fargo Private Bank, said in a phone interview. His firm manages $170 billion. “If this number were too big and
unemployment was declining faster than expected, we would have anticipated faster Fed moves, partially in short-term rates.’

U.S. debt had declined this week on speculation the central bank would further cut its debt-purchase stimulus and raise
interest rates next year. The Fed has reduced its monthly bond purchases to $55 billion, citing an improving economy. Yellen
signaled during a press conference last month that a rate increase may come six month after the central bank completes its
bond buying.

The Fed uses the jobs report to help determine the timing and pace of further cuts to its monthly bond-buying program. The
central bank also looks to the unemployment rate as a factor in deciding when to raise its benchmark interest rate.

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said the pace of employment growth in the U.S. means the Federal Reserve
will continue to wind down bond purchases and then consider raising interest rates.

‘‘Two-hundred thousand jobs plus or minus is probably reflective of 2.5 percent growth in the short term,” said Gross
said in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Michael McKee. The Fed’s quantitative easing should
“end at the end of October or November. Then, as Janet Yellen has suggested, six months plus or minus, we can begin to talk
about higher policy rates.”

Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped seven basis points to 2.73 percent. The rate on seven-year notes lost 10 points to 2.29 percent.

The Stoxx 600 rallied to the highest level since 2008. Almost three shares advanced for every one that declined, with trading volumes 8.7 percent lower than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge increased 1.6 percent this week, a third straight weekly gain.

European bond yields from Ireland to Italy fell to records on speculation that inflation at a four-year low will push the European Central Bank to expand stimulus measures. President Mario Draghi said yesterday officials have discussed further
options, including asset purchases, or quantitative easing.

Italy’s 10-year yield tumbled as much as 11 basis points to 3.15 percent, dropping below the previous record of 3.196
percent set in 2005. The yield on Spain’s two-year note declined
as much as six basis points to a record-low 0.59 percent. Ireland’s 10-year yield dropped to 2.91 percent, the least on
record.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of a basket of 10 leading global currencies against
the dollar, slipped 0.3 percent, snapping a three-day rally.

The U.S. currency fell 0.7 percent to 103.24 yen, trimming a third weekly gain to 0.4 percent. The dollar rose 0.1 percent
to $1.3701 per euro after climbing to $1.3673, the strongest since Feb. 27. It advanced for a third week, the longest since
the period ended July 5. The euro weakened 0.8 percent to 141.46 yen today.

The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities climbed 0.4 percent. Gold jumped 1.5 percent, the most in three weeks, after the jobs
report triggered concern the economy may not be expanding as fast as forecast, boosting demand for bullion as a store of
value.

West Texas Intermediate oil added 0.8 percent to $101.14 a barrel, trimming a weekly decline to 0.5 percent.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.2 percent, extending its third weekly gain
to 1.7 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7 percent as benchmark moneymarket rates declined. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland
companies listed in Hong Kong added 0.2 percent.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Be magnificent!

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”

Dalai Lama

 

As ever,

 

Amanda Parnham

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Clear blue skies, comfortable temperatures (typically 50º to 60º F), and fall foliage make March and April two of the best months to walk the paths less traveled in Australia’s smallest state. Tasmania’s walking routes range from easy strolls along Cornelian Bay in the capital city of Hobart, to challenging bushwalks in remote Southwest National Park, part of the 3.46-million-acre Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. “Expect stunning scenery in every direction,” says Hobart-based writer Tania Horne. “Whether you choose to walk the countless pristine coastline tracks, across mountains of wilderness sprinkled liberally with dense rain forests, or through the breathtaking patchwork of rural countryside, you’ll be assured of a kaleidoscope of riotous color.”  National Post names Tasmania one of the 10 best spots to visit in the spring time!

“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship”

Buddha

Photos of the day

Raindrops on a car window reflect a man walking past a stock index board in Tokyo. Toru Hanai/Reuters

Two strollers and a dog walk past blooming cherry trees during nice and sunny spring weather in Cologne, Germany. Federico Gambarini/dpa/AP

Market Closes for April 3^rd, 2014

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	16572.55	-0.45    —
S&P 500	1888.77	-2.13    -0.11%
NASDAQ	4237.738	-38.717    -0.91%
TSX	14402.21	-56.90
		-0.39%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15071.88	+125.56
		+0.84%
HANG  SENG	22565.08	+41.14
		+0.18%
SENSEX	22509.07	-42.42
		-0.19%
FTSE 100	6649.14	-9.90
		-0.15%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.546	2.550
CND.  30 Year Bond	3.034	3.040
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.7972	2.8045
U.S.  30 Year Bond	3.6291	3.6473

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.90613	0.90649
US  $	1.10359	1.10315
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian  $	1.51385	0.66057
US  $	1.37174	0.72900

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold  Fix	1286.69	1290.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	100.29	99.62
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

Canadian stocks fell, snapping a four-day rally, as raw-material shares paced declines amid losses in copper and gold while Hudson’s Bay Co. said its Lord & Taylor stores’ sales didn’t rebound as expected.

Hudson’s Bay retreated 5.1 percent after reporting that Lord & Taylor’s same-store sales declined 1.3 percent in the latest quarter. UrtheCast Corp. added 4.9 percent after the space imaging company released its first picture from a new camera on the International Space Station.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 56.90 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,402.21 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The drop ended a four-day rally that moved the index up 2 percent, including a 0.6 percent advance yesterday.

“We had a very strong day yesterday in the markets, particularly in Canada where you saw the resource sector rally,” said Brian Huen, managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage about C$225 million ($204 million). “People are not seeing the follow-through from yesterday so they’re taking some money off the table.”

Materials companies fell 0.9 percent as eight of 10 industries in the benchmark index retreated. Phone companies lost 1.3 percent as a group after CIBC World Markets cut its rating on the Canadian cable and telecommunications industry to the equivalent of a sell from the equivalent of a hold, saying government hearings may bring new regulation to the industry.

Richmont Mines Inc. tumbled 6.8 percent to C$1.51 after the gold miner said it would issue 7 million new shares for C$1.45 each, a 10 percent discount to yesterday’s closing price of C$1.62.

Hudson’s Bay declined 5.1 percent, the most since Dec. 11, to C$17.86 after reporting its fourth-quarter results and saying the Lord & Taylor stores didn’t rebound as the company expected. The retailer also forecast lower earnings than analyst had predicted.

UrtheCast rose 4.9 percent to C$2.15 after posting its first image from a camera mounted on the International Space Station to its website. The company also said that it was not affected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s decision to cut ties with the Russian space agency.

Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s largest wireless company, fell 0.9 percent to C$45 after the industry downgrade from CIBC. Telus Corp. fell 2.7 percent to C$38.10 while Shaw Communications Inc. fell 2.9 percent to C$25.94. Phone companies have gained 12 percent as a group since the beginning of August 2013.

Goldcorp Inc. fell 1.7 percent to C$27.14 after the company said it was pushing back the expiry date of its hostile offer to buy Osisko Mining Corp. to April 15. Yesterday, Yamana Gold Inc. offered to buy half of Osisko for C$1.47 billion, out-pricing Goldcorp’s bid.

West Fraser Timber Co. rose 1.3 percent to C$52.04 as Statistics Canada said the country’s trade balance swung to a surplus in February. Three-quarters of Canada’s 2013 exports went to the U.S.

US
By Joseph Ciolli and Sofia Horta e Costa

U.S. stocks fell, after benchmark indexes climbed to records, while Treasuries rose before the government releases its monthly jobs report. The euro weakened as the region’s central bank said it’s prepared to take action to head off deflation.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 1,888.77 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, closing within five points of its record after reaching an intraday high. Treasury 10-year yields slid for the first time in three days. The euro weakened against 10 of its 16 major peers. Italy’s 10-year yield fell to an eight- year low and Spain’s rate dropped 4 basis points. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.1 percent. An index of developing- nation shares dropped 0.6 percent, ending the longest run of gains since January 2013.

Initial jobless claims rose more than forecast last week, according to the Labor Department, before the monthly payrolls data due tomorrow. A separate report today showed service industries in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace in March. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the ECB would use unconventional policy if required, after leaving the main refinancing rate at an all-time low of 0.25 percent today.

“The market still wants to be positive and has this feeling of goodwill, but at times it runs into a little bit of resistance,” Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners LLC, which manages $4.5 billion, said in a phone interview. “People are a little bit more cautious. As we get closer to the payroll report, we’ll be in wait-and-see mode.”

The S&P 500 index rose 0.3 percent yesterday to close at a record. The gauge has climbed 2.2 percent this year, with utilities gaining the most among 10 industry groups. The index now trades at 17.4 times reported earnings. That’s the highest level since 2010 and 11 percent above its five-year average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. non- manufacturing index increased to 53.1 in March from 51.6 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 77 economists called for a gain to 53.5.

Jobless claims increased 16,000 in the period ended March 29 to a five-week high of 326,000, the Labor Department said. A revised 310,000 applications were filed in the previous week, the fewest since Sept. 7. The median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 319,000 claims.

The government’s monthly jobs report due tomorrow will show that hiring increased in March, according to forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that “considerable slack” in the labor market is evidence that the central bank’s unprecedented accommodation will be needed for “some time” to put Americans back to work.

Reports from hiring to factory output had shown weakness this year as freezing temperatures and mountains of snow kept shoppers indoors, grounded flights and made it harder for shippers to fill product orders.

Investors have added $1.7 billion to U.S. equity exchange- traded funds in the past five days and put $984 million in bond ETFs, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Health-care stocks saw the most money added among industry ETFs, increasing $571 million during the past week. Industrial ETFs took in $459 million in the period.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, rose 2.1 percent to 13.37 today. The gauge closed yesterday at its lowest since January after five straight declines.

Google Inc. Class C shares rose 0.5 percent to $569.74 while the Class A shares added 0.6 percent to $571.50. The company issued 330 million nonvoting C class shares as part of a move that cements control for founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The A shares carry one vote, while non-trading B shares, mostly owned by the founders, have 10 votes.

Treasuries rose, pushing 10-year yields down from almost the highest levels since January, before tomorrow’s jobs report. The U.S. 10-year yield fell one basis point to 2.79 percent.

Italy’s 10-year yield dropped five basis points to 3.25 percent. It touched 3.249 percent, the lowest since September 2005. The yield on 10-year German bunds fell one basis point to 1.60 percent and the Spanish 10-year yield declined four basis points to 3.22 percent.

Draghi said policy makers debated large-scale asset purchases among a range of measures to head off the threat of deflation in the euro region. ECB officials are discussing a new departure as inflation slows to a level that’s just a quarter of their 2 percent goal. With a rising euro and stubbornly high unemployment also threatening the region’s recovery, other options include further rate cuts, which would take the deposit rate into negative territory.

“Draghi tends to speak vaguely and just reiterate earlier speeches but he was more specific and aggressive this time round,” Steven Santos, a broker at X-Trade Brokers DM SA, said by phone from Lisbon. “It looks like the ECB is increasingly pondering cutting the main interest rate and that the central bank might even come up with new measures soon. Markets clearly want more intervention from Draghi.”

The euro weakened for a second day against the dollar, and dropped for the first time in five days versus the yen. The 18- nation currency slipped 0.4 percent to $1.3719 and lost 0.3 percent to 142.57 yen. The dollar was little changed at 103.92 yen.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced for an eighth day, extending its longest winning streak since October. The equity benchmark has gained 4 percent since March 24.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which rallied 6.8 percent in the previous nine days, lost 0.5 percent amid concern that the crisis in Ukraine will escalate after NATO leaders warned Russia has troops on a high state of readiness on its neighbor’s border.

The ruble lost 0.4 percent against the dollar, and the Micex Index of Russian stocks slid 0.5 percent. Russia ratcheted up pressure on Ukraine with a 26 percent increase in the price of natural gas after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said NATO shouldn’t expand its presence in eastern Europe.

NATO leaders warned yesterday that they haven’t seen signs of a significant reduction in Russian military forces along Ukraine’s border and any incursion would be a “historic mistake.”

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong gained 0.7 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.7 percent. China outlined a package of measures including tax relief to support the economy and create jobs after a slowdown endangered Premier Li Keqiang’s target of 7.5 percent growth this year.

“We are starting to see more positive talk from officials in terms of the potential for stimulus” in China, said Angus Gluskie, managing director at White Funds Management in Sydney, who helps oversee about $550 million.

U.S. natural gas jumped 2.4 percent as an unusually cold start to spring sent stockpiles to an 11-year low. The Energy Information Administration said stockpiles fell 74 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 28 to 822 billion, the least since 2003. Analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg showed an expected withdrawal of 75 billion.

Gold fell for the sixth time in seven session as signs of quickening U.S. economic growth bolster forecasts for the Fed to increase interest rates, crimping demand for the metal as a store of value. Futures declined 0.5 percent to $1,284.60.

Brent crude rose the most in a month amid concern that talks between the Libyan government and rebels won’t restore oil exports. Brent gained 1.3 percent to $106.15 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.7 percent to $100.29 a barrel.

The rebels’ Executive Office for Barqa, representing the region of Cyrenaica, denied a report that the group will cede one of the four ports that have been under its control since July to the government in a few days. Libya’s oil output dropped to 250,000 barrels a day in March from 1.4 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”

Winston Churchill

As ever,

 

Amanda Parnham

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

A friend sent this to me today 🙂

Subject: Important Study Results

Johns Hopkins Weight Study

The National  Institutes of Health has just released the results of a $200 million research study completed under a grant to Johns Hopkins.
The new study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

Photos of the day

‘Trash People,’ an art exhibit of life-size figures made from 20 tons of recycled iron, glass, computer parts, cans and industrial waste, stands on Hiriya landfill near Tel Aviv, Israel. The exhibit, by German artist HA Schult, has been traveling for 18 years around the world, with stops in Paris La Defense, Moscow’s Red Square, the Great Wall of China, Egypt’s Giza Pyramids, Rome’s Piazza del Popolo and Antarctica. Ariel Schalit/AP

A pelican playfully pecks a smaller pelican in St. James’s Park in London. Six pelicans live in the park, three of whom were a gift from the City of Prague in 2013. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Market Closes for April 2^nd, 2014

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	16573.00	+40.39    +0.24%
S&P 500	1890.90	+5.38    +0.29%
NASDAQ	4276.457	+8.417    +0.20%
TSX	14459.11	+78.56
		+0.55%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14946.32	+154.33
		+1.04%
HANG  SENG	22523.94	+75.40
		+0.34%
SENSEX	22551.49	+105.05
		+0.47%
FTSE 100	6659.04	+6.43
		+0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.550	2.496
CND.  30 Year Bond	3.040	3.009
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.8045	2.7516
U.S.  30 Year Bond	3.6473	3.6051

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.90649	0.90683
US  $	1.10315	1.10275
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian  $	1.51867	0.65847
US  $	1.37666	0.72640

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold  Fix	1290.60	1279.33
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	99.62	99.74
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

April 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to the highest level since 2008, as materials shares rallied after Osisko Mining Corp. agreed to sell a stake to Yamana Gold Inc. in a bid to block a separate hostile offer.

Osisko Mining climbed 7.3 percent after Yamana agreed to acquire mining and exploration assets in a cash and stock deal for C$929.6 million ($842.6 million). Goldcorp Inc., which had made a hostile offer for Osisko, advanced 2 percent. Agrium Inc. retreated 1.4 percent after its first-quarter earnings forecast missed analyst estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Index rose 78.56 points, or 0.6 percent, to 14,459.11 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest level since June 2008. The gauge has rallied 2 percent in the past four days.

“The economy is growing slowly but surely,” said Irwin Michael, a fund manager with ABC Funds in Toronto, which manages about C$850 million. U.S. employment numbers released today by the ADP Research Institute didn’t meet economist estimates, but are still encouraging, Michael said by phone. “It’s close enough for us.”

Companies added 191,000 new jobs in March, the biggest increase in three months, said ADP, which is based in Roseland, New Jersey. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for an advance of 195,000. Canada and the U.S. separately will release monthly employment data on April 4.

Raw-materials shares rallied 1.4 percent for the second- biggest gain among the 10 industries in the S&P/TSX. Technology stocks, which make up a smaller slice of the index, rose 1.7 percent.

Osisko Mining gained 7.3 percent to C$7.38. The deal with Yamana values Osisko at C$7.60 a share. Goldcorp’s hostile bid, announced in January, is worth about C$6.34 a share. Goldcorp increased 2 percent to C$27.61 while Yamana lost 2.2 percent to C$9.50.

Agrium retreated 1.4 percent to C$106.09 after saying first-quarter earnings will be just above break-even. Analysts had estimated earnings of 54 cents a share. The potash miner said its operations were hit by a squeeze on railway availability and a shutdown for repairs at one of its plants.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. slipped 1.4 percent to C$38.40 after Alta Corp. downgraded the stock to underperform, the equivalent of a sell, from sector perform, the equivalent of a hold.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. advanced 7.9 percent to C$5.36 after the company said four buses powered by its fuel cells had been delivered. The stock has risen 233 percent this year on signs the technology is a viable source of power.

US
By Joseph Ciolli and Callie Bost

April 2 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its all-time high and Treasuries fell as a report showed U.S. companies added to payrolls last month. The dollar strengthened with copper and gold.

The S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 1,890.90 at 4 p.m. in New York, after reaching a record yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent, briefly erasing its loss for the year. The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased five basis points to 2.80 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.2 percent. The dollar climbed to a two-month high against the yen. Copper advanced 0.2 percent following an earthquake in Chile and gold jumped for the first time in six days. Crude futures pared earlier losses.

Companies in the U.S. added 191,000 jobs in March, less than the 195,000 median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, figures from the ADP Research Institute showed before the government’s employment report on Friday. The value of equities worldwide climbed to an all-time high of $63.09 trillion yesterday as reports showed a pickup in American manufacturing and vehicle sales. Mining companies reported no damage after the 8.2- magnitude earthquake in Chile that killed six people.

“The positive tone from yesterday is most likely to continue into the jobs report, absent some big macro piece of data that comes out between now and then,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a phone interview. “Longer-term investors are still of the opinion that the U.S. equity market remains one of the best places to be invested for this year.”

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent yesterday as consumer and technology stocks pushed the gauge to a record and an index of manufacturing boosted optimism the economy withstood the severe winter weather.

Federal Reserve stimulus has helped propel the S&P 500 higher by as much as 180 percent from its bear-market low in March 2009. The equity gauge climbed 1.3 percent in the first three months of 2014, its fifth consecutive quarterly advance.

The equities benchmark trades at 17.5 times reported earnings, the highest level since 2010 and 11 percent above its five-year average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Treasuries fell amid speculation the U.S. economy is improving enough for the Fed to raise interest rates next year.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last month the central bank may end the bond-buying program it uses to support the economy this fall and increase borrowing costs six months after that. She said this week that “considerable slack” in labor markets showed that the central bank’s accommodative policies will be needed for “some time.”

The central bank has kept its target for federal funds, the rate banks charge each other on overnight loans, in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since 2008.

Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in a Bloomberg Radio interview today that a further slowing of inflation could prompt policy makers to suspend tapering of bond purchases, though he doesn’t expect that to happen.

Central bank policy should remain accommodative “for quite some time” given “considerable amount” of economic slack that remains, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in a speech in Miami.

Reports from hiring to factory output had shown weakness this year as freezing temperatures and mountains of snow kept shoppers indoors, grounded flights and made it harder for shippers to fill product orders.

A release from the Commerce Department today showed factory orders rose 1.6 percent in February, topping economists’ estimates for a 1.2 percent advance.

Investors have removed $3.7 billion from U.S. equity exchange-traded funds in the past five days and added $1.3 billion to bond ETFs, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Financial stocks saw the most money removed among industry ETFs, losing $489.2 million during the past week.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, dropped 0.1 percent to 13.09, falling for a fifth straight day.

The Stoxx 600 climbed for a seventh straight day, the longest streak since October. Deutsche Post AG added 4.6 percent after Europe’s largest mail service predicted operating profit will rise. Deutsche Boerse AG lost 2.2 percent after saying U.S. regulators are probing its Clearstream Banking unit.

German 10-year bonds led most euro-area sovereign debt lower as investors bet the European Central Bank will refrain from adding new stimulus to tackle slowing inflation. The yield climbed 4 basis points to 1.62 percent after ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio said yesterday the euro area will probably avoid outright deflation. Germany sold 2.4 billion euros ($3.3billion) of five-year notes today.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index increased 0.3 percent, gaining for a ninth straight day. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.6 percent to the highest level in a week as developers rallied on speculation the government will relax housing curbs. Brazil’s Ibovespa rallied 2.8 percent, erasing this year’s drop.

Copper advanced for a second day, climbing to a three-week high. Chile is the biggest producer of the metal. Santiago-based Codelco, the largest miner of copper, KGHM Polska Miedz SA and Pan Pacific Copper Co. said their projects and mines escaped damage from the earthquake.

Aluminum climbed 1.9 percent to the highest since Dec. 30 after trading above the 200-day moving average for the first time since October. Brazilian aluminum companies, producing at the lowest level in 12 years amid high power costs and metal- price declines, expect authorities to ration supply as a drought curbs hydroelectric generation in the country.

Brent crude dropped below $105 a barrel for the first time since November after rebels in eastern Libya said they were close to a deal to reopen ports.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1 percent to $99.62 a barrel, paring an earlier drop of 0.9 percent. A government report showed that U.S. crude inventories decreased 2.38 million barrels to 380.1 million last week. Stockpiles were projected to climb 2.5 million barrels, according to the median of analyst responses in a Bloomberg survey.

U.S. natural gas jumped 2.1 percent, erasing an earlier loss and snapping a three-day decline, on speculation that an unusually cold start to spring will reduce supplies already at an 11-year low.

Gold rose 0.8 percent to $1,290.90 an ounce, ending the longest slump since November, on speculation that demand for bars and jewelry will increase in China after futures touched a seven-week low. Gold slipped 2.9 percent in March, partly on the outlook for reduced stimulus in the U.S.

The dollar rose against most of its 16 major peers. The U.S. currency strengthened 0.2 percent to 103.86 yen after touching 103.94, the highest since Jan. 23. It jumped 1 percent to 85.54 cents per New Zealand dollar. The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.3765.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Self is not something as opposed to something else,

it is sunya: we are also all things;

the self represented in all forms, good or bad,

not exclusively or exhaustively in any.

Ramchandra Gandhi, 1937-2007

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Life is a succession of moments.  To live each one

is to succeed.

-Corita Kent, 1918-1986

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7