Month: May 2014

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

May 29, 1453: Constantinople falls to the Turks.

May 29, 1953: On this day in 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and his sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the roof of the world, the 29,035-foot summit of the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest.

Numbers of the Day

$49.4 billion

Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ sweetened bid for Botox-maker Allergan.

1: Rank of the boy’s name Noah and the girl’s name Sophia in their popularity for infants born in the US last year.  Noah displaced Jacob, the most popular for 14 years .  Sophia has been No. 1 for three years.

May 29, 2010 – Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0

May 29^th, 1917:  John F. Kennedy, 35^th President of the United States, was born.

We need men who can dream of things that never were.  –John F. Kennedy.

Photos of the day

A woman has her picture taken inside a sculpture as others look for hidden cash around the Mulholland Memorial Fountain after an anonymous millionaire and real estate developer twitted clues to the locations of envelopes stuffed with $20 and $100 dollar bills around the fountain and at nearby statue in Los Angeles, California. The mystery man who has been hiding cash all over the San Francisco area has brought his scavenger hunt money to Los Angeles. According to Los Angeles Police two people found two envelopes one with $250 and the other one with $100. Kevork Djansezian/Reuters

Lightning illuminates the sky over downtown Monterrey, Mexico. Daniel Becerril/Reuters

Market Closes for May 29^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16698.74	+65.56
		+0.39%
S&P 500	1919.45	+9.67   +0.51%
NASDAQ	4247.945	+22.871   +0.54%
TSX	14581.35	-29.61
		-0.20%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14681.72	+10.77
		+0.07%
HANG SENG	23010.14	-69.89
		-0.30%
SENSEX	24234.15	-321.94
		-1.31%
FTSE 100	6871.29	+20.07
		+0.29%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.258	2.223
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.788	2.765
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4608	2.4431
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.3212	3.2942

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92280	0.91960
US $	1.08365	1.08743
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47431	0.67828
US $	1.36050	0.73502

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1255.66	1258.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	103.58	102.72
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Gerrit De Vynck

May 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a third day, sending the benchmark index toward its first monthly slide in 11, as Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce paced a slump among financial companies.

CIBC fell 1.5 percent after reporting a 65 percent slide in net income. B2Gold Corp. dropped 3 percent to lead materials producers lower, as the price of the precious metal slumped. PrairieSky Royalty Ltd., the former Encana Corp. unit, rose 31 percent on its first day of trading. BlackBerry Inc. gained 6.2 percent after Chief Executive Officer John Chen said the odds of turning around the smartphone maker have improved.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index dropped 49.32 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,561.64 at 1:56 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark index is down 0.7 percent in May after rising in each of the past 10 months.

“You look at how well the market has run with no correction and we’re overdue,” said David Cockfield, a fund manager at Northland Wealth Management in Toronto. “I’m not about to rush out and chase stocks in this kind of environment.” He helps manage C$270 million ($250 million) at the firm.

Financial companies fell 0.7 percent as a group as CIBC retreated even as profit beat estimates and the firm raised its dividend. The lender took a C$420 million impairment charge for its Barbados-based bank and C$123 million of loan losses for the Caribbean in the quarter. The bank declined 1.5 percent to C$97.57.

B2Gold decreased 3 percent to C$2.63 as gold reached a 16- week low.

PrairieSky gained 31 percent to C$36.82 from its initial public offering price of C$28. The IPO is the largest for Canada in 14 years. Encana rose 1.1 percent to C$25.23.

Macro Enterprises lost 23 percent to C$4.65 after saying it expects second-quarter revenue will be lower than it was last year.

BlackBerry increased 6.2 percent to C$8.41 after Chen said the chances of turning around the struggling smartphone maker have risen to 80-20. Chen, who was named as BlackBerry’s top executive in November, had previously been placing the recovery odds at 50-50.

“We have a lot of problems, but it’s not dead,” the CEO said yesterday at Re/code’s Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. “I am quite positive that we will be able to save the patient.”

US

By Lu Wang

May 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for the fifth time in six days, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record, after Tyson Foods Inc. offered to buy Hillshire Brands Co. and investors speculated the economy is improving following a contraction in the first quarter.

Hillshire Brands jumped 18 percent after Tyson made a $6.8 billion offer to buy the company, trumping a competing bid from Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. Tyson added 6.1 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Biogen Idec Inc. climbed 3.6 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its recommendation on the biotechnology company. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. jumped 5.8 percent as the clothing retailer posted a smaller-than-estimated quarterly loss.

The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to 1,920.03 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge fell 0.1 percent from a record yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 65.56 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,698.74. The Nasdaq 100 Index increased 0.6 percent to the highest level since September 2000.

“No matter what that GDP number was, the underlying backdrop is that the data is improving,” Sam Turner, a fund manager with Richmond, Virginia-based Riverfront Investment Group LLC, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $4.6 billion. “We had two months there where small caps, higher momentum names really took it on the chin. Now they’re oversold and start to see some recovery.”

Today’s gain helped the Nasdaq 100 recoup all its 7.5 percent loss since early March. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies added 0.3 percent, extending its rebound from a low on May 15 to 4 percent.

The S&P 500 has rallied 5.8 percent since a selloff in small-cap and Internet shares spread to the broader market and dragged the benchmark index to a two-month low in April. The gauge has advanced 184 percent from its bear-market low in March 2009.

About 5.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 19 percent below the three-month average.

The U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years from January through March as companies added to inventories at a slower pace and curtailed investment. Gross domestic product fell at a 1 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, a bigger decline than projected, after a previously reported 0.1 percent gain, the Commerce Department said.

A pickup in receipts at retailers, stronger manufacturing and faster job growth indicate the first-quarter setback will prove temporary as pent-up demand is unleashed. Federal Reserve policy makers said at their April meeting that the economy has strengthened after adverse weather took its toll.

“The next couple of quarters are going to be a lot stronger,” said Philip Orlando, the New York-based chief equity-market strategist at Federated Investors Inc., said by phone. He helps oversee around $400 billion. “The market ought to be able to read through this and begin to price in better economic growth.”

Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the labor market continues to strengthen. Jobless claims fell by 27,000 to 300,000 in the week ended May 24, a government report showed.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slipped 0.6 percent to 11.61 today. It is about 3 points from a record low.

Nine of the 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced, with producers of consumer staples and raw materials gaining at least 0.8 percent to pace increases.

Hillshire added 18 percent to $52.76. Tyson is offering $50 a share, representing a deal premium of 35 percent, the company said. Tyson is looking to expand further into branded, value- added packaged foods that have wider margins and more stable earnings. Tyson advanced 6.1 percent to $43.25.

Biogen Idec climbed 3.6 percent to $319.85. The biotechnology company was raised to overweight from neutral by JPMorgan analysts. Biogen has an “impressive” number of drugs in later stages of development and JPMorgan’s survey of doctors suggested the potential of increased use of the multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera, analyst Geoff Meacham wrote in a note.

Abercrombie & Fitch jumped 5.8 percent to $37.14. New styles of shorts and crop tops slowed its sales decline. Chief Executive Officer Mike Jeffries has been working to revive Abercrombie’s appeal among teenage shoppers who’ve strayed from the chain in favor of fast-fashion purveyors such as Forever 21 and Hennes & Mauritz AB.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. climbed 5.3 percent to $73.17. The company posted third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 11 cents, compared with the 10 cents analysts had estimated. It reported revenue of $150.7 million, topping the $146.2-million analyst forecast.

Twitter Inc. gained 0.7 percent to $34 as Cantor Fitzgerald LP raised the stock to a buy from hold. The operator of the social-networking site surged 11 percent yesterday, reversing a two-week slide amid a rout in technology stocks.

Tilly’s Inc. slumped 17 percent to $8.77 after giving a profit projection that missed estimates. The retailer forecast second-quarter profit of 3 cents to 7 cents a share, trailing the 13 cents analysts had projected.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

I believe in the absolute oneness of God, and therefore, humanity.

What though we have many bodies?  We have but one soul.

The rays of sun are many through refraction.

But they have the same source.

I cannot, therefore, detach myself from the wickedest soul

nor may I be denied identity with the most virtuous.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do,

and liking how you do it.

-Maya Angelou, 1928-1914

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:

Spring is my favourite season of the year, at least I always think so when I see the leaf buds on the trees bursting dramatically into green.  A similar feeling comes over me in October as the leaves take on their autumn colours.  Both of these seasons have their individual charm; in spring it is the assurance that all will be lush, green and urgent for the next few months; autumn has a passing beauty and allows time to relax.  It is impossible to decide which is best, but there is no need to; all that is necessary is to enjoy the present.  Here in Gloucestershire, I gather we are behind counties such as Somerset, Kent and Herefordshire, but this does not matter as we will catch up.  While the garden is full of bright yellows and reds, many trees in the countryside are laden with their less conspicuous flowers.  These are easy to overlook if you think they are the leaf buds opening.  From my window I can see the 5 inch long catkins festooning the branches of the silver birch, the leaf buds still brown.  One of the most striking sights is the Norway maple Goldworth Purple, with erect lime-green flowers merging, or is it contrasting, with the rich copper-coloured leaves as they unfold.  Each spring it takes my breath away with its elegance.  A chestnut has young candles, as yet only 3 inches tall but full of expectation.   The pear tree, probably 200 years old, is white with flowers and has its traditional blackbird in residence.  Out of sight, but within smelling distance, are two balsam poplars with red catkins and deliciously scented sticky buds.  I wish we had an alder, the golden-leafed variety with yellow catkins.  I have wanted one ever since I saw it as the principal feature in a small town garden.  The wild crabs and geans in the hedgerows are at their best, and so are the bullace, shoes and other wild plums. –from A Countrywoman’s Notes, by Rosemary Verey.

Photos of the day

Cyclists pedal during the 16th stage of the Giro d’ Italia cycling race from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello, Italy. Fabio Ferrari/AP

People take pictures of released floating lanterns dedicated to deceased loved ones during a ceremony marking remembrance and reflection, held by Shinnyo-en Buddhists honoring victims of war, famine, and natural disasters on Memorial Day, at Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu. Hugh Gentry/Reuters

Market Closes for May 27^th , 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16675.50	+69.23
		+0.42%
S&P 500	1911.91	+11.38 +0.60%
NASDAQ	4237.070	+51.262   +1.22%
TSX	14658.02	-57.67
		-0.39%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14636.52	+34.00
		+.23%
HANG SENG	22944.30	-18.88
		-0.08%
SENSEX	24549.51	-167.37
		-0.68%
FTSE 100	6844.94	+29.19
		+0.43%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.299	2.322
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.835	2.850
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5142	2.5321
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.3600	3.3933

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92082	0.92082
US $	1.08598	1.08599
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48075	0.67533
US $	1.36351	0.73340

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1265.22	1292.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.11	104.95
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

May 27 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in six days, as precious-metals miners declined with the price of gold amid U.S. economic data that boosted confidence in the nation’s biggest trading partner.

Silver Standard Resources Inc. and NovaGold Resources Inc. fell at least 6.5 percent to lead losses among raw-materials producers, as gold slid to a 15-week low. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. dropped 1.8 percent as Allergan Inc. presented its case against a proposed takeover. Bank of Nova Scotia gained 1.1 percent after an increase in consumer lending helped profit surpass analyst estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index dropped 57.67 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,658.02 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark index is around 400 points away from an all-time high.

The better-than-forecast U.S. data means there is less demand for gold as a safe investment, said Jeff Young, who oversees about C$900 million ($830 million) as chief investment officer of NexGen Financial Corp. in Toronto. “It kind of takes away the case of an economic deceleration and a reduction in interest rates,” he said.

U.S. durable goods orders rose unexpectedly in April, a sign factories will help boost the world’s largest economy. Gold fell 2 percent in New York as better prospects for the American economy reduced demand for haven assets. Crude prices slipped on speculation inventories are sufficient to meet an anticipated boost in demand.

Materials companies lost 2.3 percent as a group, the biggest drop in two months, while energy producers slid 0.6 percent. Companies in the two industries account for almost 38 percent of the benchmark index for Canadian equities.

Silver Standard decreased 7.6 percent to C$7.31 and NovaGold fell 6.5 percent to C$3.19. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest gold producer, lost 4 percent to C$17.30.

BlackPearl Resources Inc. dropped 4.6 percent to C$2.30 to pace losses among energy producers. American Petrogas Inc. fell 9.2 percent to 99 Canadian cents as the company announced it would sell C$15 million in stock at 90 Canadian cents a share.

Valeant fell 1.8 percent to C$141.13. Allergan disclosed a slide presentation that raised questions about Valeant’s business model. Valeant said this month that it plans to sweeten the bid and will hold a webcast tomorrow to explain why Allergan’s owners should agree to a sale.

Bank of Nova Scotia rose 1.1 percent to C$68.74. Canada’s third-biggest lender by assets also said it will buy back as many as 12 million shares over the next year.

Wi-Lan Inc. rose 3 percent to C$3.39 after its board approved a plan to buy back as much as 10 percent of the company’s public shares.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. gained 12 percent to C$13.82 after saying it was beginning a new trial of a cancer drug. Tekmira has risen 64 percent this year.

Alderon Iron Ore Corp. increased 9.5 percent to C$1.38 after getting approval from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to begin building its Kami mine.

USA
By Lu Wang

May 27 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extending a record, after durable goods orders unexpectedly rose and JBS SA offered to buy Hillshire Brands Co. for $6.4 billion.

Hillshire jumped 22 percent as JBS’s Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. unit made an unsolicited bid for the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs. FirstEnergy Corp., NRG Energy Inc. and Exelon Corp. added more than 3.6 percent to help lead gains in the S&P 500. Bank of America Corp. climbed 3.4 percent after resubmitting its capital plan to the Federal Reserve. Small-cap stocks and technology companies extended a recovery from a two-month selloff.

The S&P 500 rallied for a fourth day, increasing 0.6 percent to 1,911.91 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 69.23 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,675.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.2 percent and the Russell 2000 Index jumped 1.4 percent.

“Macro data like the durable number today will continue to do better in the second half of the year,” Daniel Skelly, an equity strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in New York, said in a phone interview. His firm had more than $1.9 trillion in client assets at the end of first quarter. “That’ll be positive for the market.”

U.S. equity markets were closed yesterday for the Memorial Day holiday. About 5.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 14 percent lower than the three-month average.

The value of equities worldwide climbed to a record $63.8 trillion yesterday. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled yesterday a readiness to act on low inflation, while China’s premier said he may fine-tune economic policy.

Investors are returning to smaller companies and technology stocks with the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 rising more than 3.4 percent in the past four days. Concern that valuations were too expensive sparked a selloff in early March, pushing both gauges to losses approaching 10 percent.

Facebook Inc. jumped 3.5 percent to $63.48 today, leading technology shares in the S&P 500 to a 1 percent gain, the most among 10 main industries.

“This market to me looks sturdy on its foundation,” Gene Peroni, portfolio manager at Advisors Asset Management Inc. in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees about $14.7 billion. “Investors are going to recognize, despite the negativity that’s been broadcast, the market is really behaving well.”

The S&P 500 trades at 16.2 times the average projected earnings of its members, up from 14.8 on Feb. 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Russell 2000 has a multiple of 26 and the Nasdaq Composite is valued at 21.

Orders for durable goods climbed for a third month in April, a sign U.S. factories will help the world’s biggest economy strengthen. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years rose 0.8 percent after a 3.6 percent gain in the prior month that was stronger than previously reported, Commerce Department figures showed. The median forecast of 68 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.7 percent drop.

In other economic reports, the Conference Board’s index of U.S. consumer confidence increased to 83 in May from 81.7 a month earlier. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property prices in 20 U.S. cities increased 12.4 percent from March 2013 after a  12.9 percent gain in the year ended in February.

Hillshire rallied 22 percent to $45.19. Pilgrim’s Pride offered $45 a share in cash for the company, according to a statement today. The combined entity would have sales of $12.4 billion.

Utility stocks accounted for three of the 10 best performers in the S&P 500. PJM Interconnection LLC, which runs the largest U.S. power grid, said payments to electricity producers will more than double in the year starting June 2017 to ensure adequate generating capacity.

FirstEnergy rallied 5.6 percent to $33.23. Exelon increased 3.6 percent to $35.38 and NRG Energy advanced 4.7 percent to $35.31.

Pfizer Inc. added 0.4 percent to $29.61. The largest U.S. drugmaker yesterday stopped its attempt to buy AstraZeneca for 69.4 billion pounds ($117 billion), saying the bid rejected by its London-based competitor represented full value. Under U.K. takeover rules, Pfizer had until 5 p.m. London time yesterday to make a firm offer. It must now wait at least three months before talks can restart with AstraZeneca.

Financial companies had the second-biggest group gain in S&P 500, adding nearly 1 percent. Bank of America climbed 3.4 percent to $15.22. The second-biggest U.S. bank said regulators have 75 days to review the plan. The comprehensive capital analysis and review includes the company’s requests for dividends and buybacks. It had to resubmit its proposal after finding botched accounting on structured notes issued by Merrill Lynch.

Cisco Systems Inc. rose 0.8 percent to $24.71 as Deutsche Bank AG boosted its recommendation on the maker of networking equipment to buy from hold. The brokerage cited higher demand for the company’s new switching, routing, security, wireless and cloud-computing products.

Staples Inc. a maker of office stationary and furniture, slipped 2 percent to $11.42. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its rating on the stock to sell from neutral, saying the company’s investments will offset the benefits of closing stores and cutting costs.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 1.3 percent today to 11.51. The gauge of U.S. equity volatility known as the VIX dropped 8.7 percent last week to 11.36, its lowest level since March 2013.

Traders are loading up on VIX call options as history shows there’s a good chance stock-market volatility is about to increase. Calls on the measure, which become more valuable during times of market stress, outnumbered ones betting on a decrease in market swings by 3.4-to-1 this month, the most since 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The index has closed below 15 for the past 27 days. A study from Sundial Capital Research Inc. shows the gauge usually rises after reaching such low levels.

Investors have been watching tensions between Russia and Ukraine as well as developments in Thailand after last week’s coup. Ukraine’s government said it inflicted “significant” losses on pro-Russian rebels and retook a major eastern airport a day after President-elect Petro Poroshenko vowed to wipe out the separatists. The violence highlights that Poroshenko faces a difficult task of uniting Ukraine after his May 25 presidential election victory.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

What is a family?  It is the place where we feel an atmosphere of love and unity.

And if you can feel this unity in a broader sphere, then gradually your family ties will disappear.

What is the purpose of family life?

It is where we can share emotions however we need to and as freely as possible.

The individual is the one who is cut off, separated.

When you are part of a group,

living for others, you broaden yourself.

This really is family life.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

Say little and do much.

from the Pirkei Avod

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:

Memorial Day:  Also known as Decoration Day, observed in most states of the USA as a holiday to honour those killed in war and originally held to commemorate those who fell in the Civil War, 1861-5.  In Virginia, it is observed as Confederate Memorial Day.  In Louisiana and Tennessee Confederate Memorial Day is June 3, the birthday of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States; in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi it is April 26 and tin the Carolinas it is 10 May.  –from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.

On this day in…

1805 – Napoleon was crowned king of Italy.

Also on this day in 1805, Lewis and Clark see the Rocky Mountains for the first time.

1887 – Canadian Pacific Railway 4,700 km main line opens for public traffic, 18 months after the last spike at Craigellachie, BC. Trains have been running across Canada for a year, but passengers can now ride directly to Vancouver.

1994 – Pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic.

1998 – The Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island – historic gateway for millions of immigrants – is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

2004 – Terry Nichols was found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.

2009 – President Barack Obama nominated federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character. –Albert Einstein.

Photos of the day

Blackbird nestlings (Turdus merula) beg for food as they sit in a nest in Lofer, Austrian province of Salzburg, Saturday.The breeding season lasts from early March to late July. Kerstin Joensson/AP

Children dance to a colorful pattern projected onto the wall of Museum of Contemporary Art on the second night of the Vivid Sydney light and music festival, Saturday in Australia. For 18 days the Vivid Sydney festival will combine outdoor lighting sculptures and installations and is one of the world’s largest creative industry forums. Jason Reed/Reuters

Market Closes for May 26^th , 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16606.27	Closed
S&P 500	1900.53	Closed
NASDAQ	4185.808	Closed
TSX	14715.69	+7.59
		+0.05%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14602.52	+140.35
		+.97%
HANG   SENG	22963.18	-2.68
		-0.01%
SENSEX	24716.88	+23.53
		+0.10%
FTSE 100	6815.75	-4.81
		-0.07%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.322	2.304
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.850	2.839
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5321	2.5499
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3933	3.4244

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92082	0.92045
US   $	1.08599	1.08643
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.48193	0.67480
US   $	1.36455	0.73284

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1292.75	1292.61
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.95	104.12
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

May 26 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a fifth day, the longest advance since February, as copper hit an 11-week high and Ukraine elected a new president.

Lundin Mining Corp. and Sherritt International Corp. advanced at least 1.8 percent. Copper rose to the highest in almost three months on speculation China’s growth is set to accelerate after the country’s premier said the government will adjust policy to help the real economy.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 7.59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,715.69 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has risen 1.4 percent in the last five days.

Base metals growth is the “wild card for the Canadian market,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto, which manages C$4.7 billion ($4.3 billion). “If we get some more positive news out of China or global growth I think the Canadian market will continue to do well.”

Lundin rose 2.1 percent to C$5.98 and Sherritt rose 1.8 percent to C$4.45. Thompson Creek Metals Co., which mines copper and molybdenum, rose 3.2 percent to C$3.23.

Inter Pipeline Ltd. and Enbridge Inc. dropped at least 0.8 percent, the most among energy companies as crude oil fell amid speculation that the new Ukrainian president may help ease tensions with Russia.

Petro Poroshenko won the Ukrainian presidential election in the first round of voting, eliminating the need for a longer campaign. He said he would work with Russia to bring a quick end to the crisis in the country’s east.

Manulife Financial Corp. rose 1.3 percent to C$20.30 after Canaccord Genuity Corp. began analyst coverage of the insurer with a buy rating and a price target of C$22.

Tweed Marijuana Inc. gained 8.5 percent to C$3.05, its biggest jump in more than a month.

Canadian Tire Corp. rose 1.7 percent to C$105.20 after announcing a “multi-million” dollar deal with sports broadcaster TSN to make branded content for the retailer. TSN is owned by BCE Inc.

US

Markets closed for Memorial Day holiday.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

There is no you or me;

all variety is merged into absolute unity,

the one infinite existence – God.

Swami Vivekananda ,1863-1902

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Life is a long lesson in humility.

-James M. Barrie, 1860-1937

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Swiftsure race this weekend – should be lots of action in the inner harbor in Victoria.

A lot happened on  this day in history:

On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death in a police ambush as they were driving a stolen Ford Deluxe along a road in Bienville Parish, La.

1915 – Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War I.
1937 – Industrialist John D. Rockefeller died at age 97.
1945 – Nazi official and SS chief Heinrich Himmler committed suicide while imprisoned in Luneburg, Germany.
1949 – The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was established.
1960 – Israel announced it had captured former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.
1969 – The Who’s rock-opera album “Tommy” was released.

Listen to many, speak to a few. –William Shakespeare.

Photos of the day

Several sailboats participate in a regatta on the Lake Constance during the ‘International week at the Lake Constance’ in Constance, southern Germany. Around 1000 participants enter various sailboat competitions. Patrick Seeger/dpa/AP

Visitors wonder around a large rabbit objective with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background during the annual Sydney Vivid Light and Music festival in Sydney Australia. Rob Griffith/AP

Market Closes for May 23^rd , 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16606.27	+63.19    +0.38%
S&P 500	1900.53	+8.04    +0.42%
NASDAQ	4185.809	+31.466    +0.76%
TSX	14708.10	+5.81
		+0.04%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14462.17	+124.38
		+.87%
HANG   SENG	22965.86	+12.10
		+0.05%
SENSEX	24693.35	+318.95
		+1.31%
FTSE 100	6815.75	-4.81
		-0.07%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.304	2.325
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.839	2.869
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5321	2.5499
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3933	3.4244

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92045	0.91801
US   $	1.08643	1.08931
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.48116	0.67515
US   $	1.36334	0.73350

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1292.61	1294.11
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.95	104.12
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

May 23 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed after three straight days of increases as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares rose, offsetting a loss among precious metals producers.

Valeant climbed to a two-week high. Bankers Petroleum Ltd. and Enerplus Corp. rose at least 1.3 percent as crude prices climbed. New Gold Inc. and Silvercorp Metals Inc. declined more than 2.9 percent as gold prices slumped. Bombardier Inc. dropped 2.1 percent for a third day of losses.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 5.81 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,708.10 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The S&P/TSX index has increased 0.4 percent in May, an 11th straight month of gains for its longest streak since 1983. The price- earnings ratio for the benchmark equity gauge has climbed to 19.6, the highest level since 2011.

“Money’s not moving,” said Philip Petursson, director of institutional equities at Manulife Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. “Market participants are actually waiting for evidence that the Q1 slower economic growth which everyone  believes is weather-related does prove out to be weather-related and follows with a nice Q2 rebound,” he said by phone. Manulife manages about C$292 billion ($269 billion).

Valeant increased 1.8 percent to C$145.01, the highest close since May 7, as health-care stocks rose 1.3 percent as a group. Seven of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 33 percent lower compared with the 30-day average.

Prices for West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose to a five-week high after violence flared in Ukraine ahead of the country’s presidential election and U.S. crude inventories tumbled. Crude for July delivery rose 0.6 percent to settle at $104.35 a barrel in New York, the highest close since April 21.

Gold declined in New York as the U.S. dollar strengthened, making the greenback an attractive alternative to gold for a safe-haven investment.

Bankers Petroleum added 2.2 percent to C$6.56 and Enerplus gained 1.3 percent to C$23.92. New Gold retreated 2.9 percent to C$5.63 and Silvercorp dropped 3.9 percent to C$1.97.

Chinook Energy Inc. increased 6.6 percent to C$2.25 after providing drill results for a new well it brought online in April in the Montney shale area.

Kelso Technologies Inc., which makes valves for the transportation industry, lost 3.4 percent to C$6.54 on its second day of trading after listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It was previously listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Bombardier sank 2.1 percent to C$3.75. Shares of the aircraft manufacturer have dropped 4.6 percent in the past three days since Bombardier’s biggest customer, Republic Airways Holdings Inc., said its order for 40 CSeries jet aircraft was no longer a top priority.

US
By Jeremy Herron and Callie Bost

May 23 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closing above 1,900 for the first time, after an increase in home purchases boosted confidence in the economy. The euro weakened to a three-month low and oil advanced, while copper led industrial metals higher.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 1,900.53 at 4 p.m. in New York, capping its first weekly advance in three. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.8 percent to erase its loss for 2014. Trading volume was near the lowest level of the year as investors headed into a three-day weekend. Treasuries rose for the first time in three days, while Europe’s shared currency depreciated 0.2 percent to $1.3631, after touching a three-month low. Copper rose 0.7 percent and aluminum climbed to a three- week high.

Purchases of new U.S. homes rose in April for the first time in three months as buyers took advantage of falling mortgage rates. Business sentiment in Germany, the euro area’s largest economy, declined more than analysts forecast, fueling speculation the European Central Bank will boost stimulus. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his government will work with the next president of Ukraine, even though the election won’t meet international standards.

“The equity market is on autopilot with an upward bias,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $120 billion, said by phone. “Housing adds to consumer confidence, net worth and consumer spending. That is positive for sentiment and should be a positive for the broader markets.”

The S&P 500 rose three straight days to cap a 1.2 percent advance this week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slid three basis points to 2.53 percent. The bond markets closed at 2 p.m. in New York and will, along with U.S. equities markets, remain shut Monday for Memorial Day.

A Commerce Department report showed home sales increased 6.4 percent last month, the most since October. Declining borrowing costs and greater employment opportunities raise the prospects for an industry that has struggled to build on gains made earlier last year.

Central bank officials have been gauging the strength of the economy to help determine the pace of cuts to stimulus efforts that have sent the S&P 500 up as much as 180 percent from a 12-year low in 2009.

The Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies added 1.1 percent today and rallied 2.1 percent this week. The index tumbled as much as 9.3 percent from a record on March 4 amid concern that prices have outrun earnings. It is down 3.2 percent this year. Small-caps and Internet shares were among the biggest victims of the market retreat as investors fled last year’s best-performing equities.

Among stocks moving today, GameStop Corp. rose 4.2 percent after reporting first-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Hewlett-Packard Co. surged 6.1 percent after the company announced plans to cut as many as 16,000 additional jobs. Aeropostale Inc. tumbled 25 percent after forecasting a bigger loss than analysts had estimated.

About 75 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported results this season beat analysts’ estimates for profit, while 53 percent exceeded sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The U.S. stock market is trading in the tightest range in eight years, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group LLC. In the last three months, the difference between the S&P 500’s intraday high and low has been less than 5 percent, the Harrison, New York-based research group said in a report yesterday.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent for a fourth day of gains. The stronger greenback sent gold lower as demand for a haven waned. The metal settled 0.3 percent lower at $1,291.90 an ounce in New York. Silver retreated 0.5 percent to $19.418 an ounce.

Copper rose to $6,918.75 a metric ton. Construction generates about 40 percent of demand for the metal, according to the Copper Development Association. Aluminum advanced as much as 1.6 percent to $1,824 a ton, the highest since April 29. It closed higher by 1 percent at $1,814.50.

West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.6 percent to $104.39, the highest in five weeks with futures headed for a third weekly gain, as violence flared in Ukraine. An attack yesterday by pro-Russian rebels left 16 servicemen dead, the highest death toll for government forces since the separatist conflict in the eastern part of the country began in March.

In Russia, the ruble strengthened 0.4 percent against the dollar. The Micex Index of stocks rebounded, adding 0.6 percent to close the week higher by 3.4 percent. The gauge’s fourth weekly advance is the longest run of gains since July.

The euro declined against most of its 16 major counterparts. The 18-nation currency slid beneath its 200-day moving average at $1.3638, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The euro also declined as concern grew euro-skeptic parties will gain ground in elections this weekend for the European Parliament.

The business climate index from Germany’s Ifo institute, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, fell to 110.4 in May from 111.2 the prior month. Economists predicted a drop to 110.9, according to the median of 38 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

“The Ifo survey is the trigger for more euro weakness today,” said John Hardy, the head of foreign-exchange strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “The worry now is that momentum is waning in the core and that strengthens the case for the ECB to move in June. There is some nervousness around the European election results too.”

The yield on 10-year Spanish bonds dropped seven basis points to 2.99 percent and Italy’s rate slid nine basis points to 3.16 percent.

Following a rally in euro-area bond markets that swept yields from Ireland to Italy to record lows this month, Standard & Poor’s added its endorsement, raising Spain’s rating one level to BBB. Benchmark German 10-year yields were little changed at 1.41 percent. percent.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index added 0.2 percent. The gauge has gained 0.8 percent in the past five days, capping a sixth week of gains, the most since November.

Thailand’s SET Index fell 0.6 percent while the baht was little changed against the dollar, paring earlier gains.  Thailand’s army staged its 12th coup in eight decades as the army chief said he was seizing control to restore peace.

Schools were shut, international television stations were off air and channels broadcast military logos and patriotic music, a day after the military seized control following a six- month political stalemate.

After the last coup was announced on Sept. 19, 2006, the baht dropped 1.4 percent the next day before rebounding 1 percent in the following trading session.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

In your veins, and in mine, there is only one blood,

The same life that animates us all!

Since one unique mother begat us all,

Where did we learn to divide ourselves?

Kabir, 1440-1518

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

You know you’re right when the other side starts to shout.

-I.A. O’Shaughnessy, American oilman, 1885-1973

 

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:

May 22^nd,1992 – Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the last time after nearly 30 years in the job.
May 22^nd, 1867 – London England – Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act; decrees that the Dominion of Canada should come into being on July 1.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.  When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. –Buddha.

Photos of the day

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth makes a comment about a guide dog at the first garden party of the season at Buckingham Palace, London, May 21.Leon Neal/Reuters

A Domed Land Snail (Zospeum tholussum), is shown in this undated handout photo taken in the Lukina-Trojama cave system in Croatia provided by the International Institute of Species Exploration and the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry on May 21. The Domed Land Snail is among a list of top 10 new species discovered in 2013, scientists announced. The list, assembled annually since 2008, is intended to draw attention to the fact that researchers continue to discover new species. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry/Reuters

Market Closes for May 22^nd, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16543.08	+10.02    +0.06%
S&P 500	1892.49	+4.46    +0.24%
NASDAQ	4154.344	+22.806    +0.55%
TSX	14702.29	+52.43
		+0.36%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14337.79	+295.62
		+2.11%
HANG   SENG	22953.76	+117.24
		+0.51%
SENSEX	24374.40	+76.38
		+0.31%
FTSE 100	6820.56	-0.48
		-0.01%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.325	2.300
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.869	2.844
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5499	2.5338
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.4244	3.4126

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91801	0.91626
US   $	1.08931	1.09139
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.48760	0.67222
US   $	1.36562	0.73227

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1294.11	1291.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.12	104.52
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

May 22 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day after the biggest banks reported better-than-estimated earnings.

Royal Bank of Canada jumped 1.6 percent and Toronto- Dominion Bank increased 2.6 percent as gains from consumer banking and wealth management boosted profit. Financial companies added 0.9 percent, the biggest increase among 10 industries in the S&P/TSX. Corvus Gold Inc. rose 9.7 percent after saying it had found more gold at its Yellowjacket deposit in Nevada.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 52.43 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,702.29 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has risen for 10 months straight, its longest steak since 1983, and is 0.4 percent below an almost six-year high reached on May 2.

“The earnings did surprise and certainly the market seems to like them,” said John Kinsey, a fund manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd. in Toronto. His firm oversees about C$1 billion ($920 million).

Canadian retail sales decreased 0.1 percent in March, compared with a 0.3 percent increase predicted by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The government-owned Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said housing starts will slow this year to 181,100 new units. Last year, 187,923 units were built.

Canada’s banks, ranked as the world’s soundest by the World Economic Forum for six straight years, have continued to post profit growth despite a slowdown in domestic consumer lending.

Royal Bank climbed 1.6 percent to C$75.46 after reporting its second-quarter net income gained 15 percent to C$2.2 billion, or C$1.47 a share. Toronto-Dominion gained 2.6 percent to C$53.25. Its profit increased 16 percent to C$1.99 billion, or C$1.04 a share.

Corvus Gold gained 9.7 percent to C$1.25. The Vancouver- based miner said it had extended high grade gold veins at the North Bullfrog Project in Nevada.

Bombardier Inc. lost 1.3 percent to C$3.83, extending a drop of 1.3 percent yesterday after a key customer for its new CSeries jets said it was considering whether to take the planes after a change in airline strategy.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. advanced 1.4 percent to C$14.82 after reporting fourth-quarter revenue that surpassed analyst estimates.

Sears Canada Inc. slid 4.5 percent to C$14.40 as parent company Sears Holdings Corp., the retailer controlled by billionaire hedge-fund manager Edward Lampert, posted a wider first-quarter loss amid a sales decline that’s stretched into its seventh year.

US
By Callie Bost

May 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to near a record, and small-cap shares rebounded as data showing strength in manufacturing boosted confidence in the global economy.

Best Buy Co. and Williams-Sonoma Inc. added at least 3.4 percent to pace gains among retailers. An index of homebuilders rallied as sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in April. Hewlett-Packard Co. dropped 2.3 percent as it reported second- quarter sales that fell short of estimates and announced it is cutting more jobs.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,892.49 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark index came within two points of its all-time high of 1,897.45 reached last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 10.02 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,543.08. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies rallied 0.9 percent. About 5.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 19 percent below the three-month average.

“It’s a grindingly slow, gradualistic uptrend of the U.S. economy,” David Young, founder chief executive officer of Newport Beach, California-based Anfield Capital Management LLC, which manages $100 million, said by phone. “We absolutely, positively must factor in the vast amount of liquidity looking for an interesting home. As a result, ‘sell in May and go away’ has been proven wrong, because where else are you going to go?”

The U.S. stock market is trading in the tightest range in eight years, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group LLC. In the last three months, the difference between the S&P 500’s intraday high and low has been less than 5 percent, the Harrison, New York-based research group said in a report today.

The Markit Economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing increased to 56.2 in May from 55.4 a month earlier as output accelerated, the London-based group said today. Readings above 50 for the purchasing managers’ measure indicate expansion and the May figure was the highest in three months. A preliminary purchasing managers’ index in China increased to a five-month high.

Other data showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in April for the first time in four months as the weather warmed, price increases slowed and more properties were put on the market. More Americans than projected filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, showing uneven progress in the labor market.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8 percent yesterday, erasing the previous day’s declines, as Federal Reserve policy makers said continued stimulus doesn’t risk fueling a jump in the inflation rate. Central bank policy makers said last month the economy is showing signs of picking up and the job market is improving.

The central bank pared its monthly asset buying to $45 billion in April, its fourth straight $10 billion cut, and said further reductions in measured steps are likely.

Three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed have helped send the S&P 500 up as much as 180 percent from a 12-year low in 2009.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, rose 1 percent to 12.03 today. The gauge closed yesterday at the lowest level since August.

Eight out of 10 S&P 500 industry groups rose today, with health-care and utility companies gaining at least 0.5 percent for the biggest advances. Retailers rose 0.5 percent as a group.

Best Buy rallied 3.4 percent to $26.22. The world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer posted first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly continued to trim costs.

Williams-Sonoma climbed 8.2 percent to a record $68.93. The seller of cookware and home furnishings raised its full-year earnings forecast to as much as $3.17 a share, after earlier predicting no more than $3.15. The San Francisco-based company also reported first-quarter profit of 48 cents a share, exceeding the 44-cent analyst projection.

Dollar Tree Inc. jumped 6.6 percent to $53.31 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The discount retailer reported first-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. The company said it expects as much as $2.02 billion in second- quarter revenue, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $2.01 billion for the period.

Consumer stocks are the worst-performing among 10 industries this year, down 3.6 percent as a group, after leading the S&P 500’s gain last year with a 41 percent rally.

Investors have withdrawn $3.9 billion from U.S. exchange- traded funds tracking consumer-discretionary stocks this year, more than any other industry, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The group has slumped 3.6 percent this year, the only one of the 10 main S&P 500 industries that has not advanced.

Hewlett-Packard dropped 2.3 percent to $31.78. The world’s second-biggest personal-computer maker said sales in the second quarter fell 1 percent to $27.3 billion from a year earlier, lower than the $27.4 billion analysts projected for the period. The company said it will eliminate 11,000 to 16,000 positions, on top of 34,000 already announced. Hewlett-Packard had 317,500 employees at the end of October.

Hess Corp. jumped 1.1 percent to $90.29. Marathon Petroleum Corp. agreed to acquire the company’s gasoline stations and retail business for a total of $2.87 billion, expanding its footprint to 23 states from nine.

An S&P index of homebuilders rallied 2.1 percent after the report on existing-home sales. PulteGroup Inc. soared 2.2 percent to $19.22 and D.R. Horton Inc. climbed 2.4 percent to $22.65.

Activision Blizzard Inc. dropped 1.6 percent to $20.53 after saying that Vivendi SA is selling half of its remaining stake in the video-gamer maker in an offering valued at more than $850 million.

JD.com Inc., the Chinese online retailer that handled more than $20 billion of purchases on its website last year, rose in its trading debut. The company gained 10 percent to $20.90 after raising $1.78 billion by selling the shares for $19.

The Russell 2000 has rallied 1.5 percent over two days. The index tumbled as much as 9.3 percent from a record on March 4 amid concern that prices have outrun earnings. Small-caps and Internet shares were among the biggest victims of the market retreat as investors fled last year’s best-performing equities.

The Dow Jones Internet Composite Index increased 0.8 percent today. The gauge is still down 15 percent from a 13-year high reached in March.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Variety is the first principle of life.

What makes us formed beings?

Differentiation.

Perfect balance will be destruction.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

When you feel in your gut what you are and then

dynamically pursue it – don’t back down and don’t

give up – then you’re going to mystify

a lot of folks.

-Bob Dylan, 1941-

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:

Want to be happier?  Go to the trees.  New research ties proximity to parks and other green spaces to better mental health, writes Ben Schiller at Fast Company.  People living in places with more trees are likely to be happier, with the association between the two “significant and sizable,”  according to one recent study.  The findings could be used to argue for more investment in green spaces.  “ ‘Our work indicated that “greening” could be considered a potentially low-cost, high-return investment among urban and regional planners to positively influence population mental health,’ “ Mr. Schiller quotes the study’s authors as saying.

I read with dismay last week that so many beautiful old trees in Vancouver have already disappeared and continue to be destroyed as neighborhoods are transformed by developers.  It should be outlawed in my opinion.  The trees should be saved and it should be mandated that when new owners buy a property to tear down and rebuild, the trees on the property are given priority.

Photos of the day

A crow carries twigs in its beaks at a park in Tokyo. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

A light show featuring a ballet dancer and swans from Swan Lake is projected onto spraying water by the Vivid Aquatique Water Theatre during a preview of the Vivid Sydney light and music festival. For 18 days beginning on May 23 the Vivid Sydney festival, one of the world’s largest creative industry forums, will combine outdoor lighting sculptures and installations. Jason Reed/Reuters

Market Closes for May 21^st, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16532.74	+158.43    +0.97%
S&P 500	1887.19	+14.36     +0.77%
NASDAQ	4131.539	+34.648    +0.85%
TSX	14644.12	+118.93
		+0.82%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14042.17	-33.08
		-0.24%
HANG   SENG	22836.52	+1.84
		+0.01%
SENSEX	24298.02	-78.86
		-0.32%
FTSE 100	6821.04	+19.04
		+0.28%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.300	2.280
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.844	2.822
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5338	2.5106
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.4126	3.3850

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91626	0.91683
US   $	1.09139	1.09071
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.49372	0.66947
US   $	1.36864	0.73065

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1291.45	1294.26
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.52	102.44
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

May 21 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a second day as energy producers rallied with oil following an industry report showing a drop in U.S. inventories.

Lightstream Resources Ltd. and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. added at least 3.9 percent as crude in New York climbed to a one-month high. Royal Bank of Canada increased 1 percent to pace gains among bank stocks. Rio Alto Mining Ltd. sank 7.5 percent after agreeing to buy Sulliden Gold Corp. in an all- stock deal worth about C$300 million ($274.32 million). Sulliden soared 33 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 96.43 points, or 0.7 percent, to 14,621.62 at 2:08 p.m. in Toronto.  The S&P/TSX is little changed in May. The gauge has rallied for 10 months, the longest winning streak in three decades.

“Crude is really helping the market,” said Stephen Gauthier, chief investment officer at Fin-XO Securities Inc. in Montreal. His firm manages about C$650 million. “Oil stocks have done very well since the beginning of the year so that certainly helps.”

The Canadian equity benchmark trade at a price-earnings ratio of 19.6, near the highest level since 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Crude advanced 1.7 percent to $104.11 a barrel. U.S. crude stockpiles decreased 7.23 million barrels to 391.3 million in the seven days ended May 16, according to the Energy Information Administration. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg projected no change in inventories. Crude imports fell to the lowest level since 1997 while U.S. output climbed to a 28-year high.

Pacific Rubiales gained 6.1 percent to C$19.51 and Lightstream Resources added 3.9 percent to C$7.41 as energy companies rallied 1 percent as a group. Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 16 percent lower than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

Royal Bank of Canada increased 1 percent to C$74.15 and Toronto-Dominion Bank added 0.5 percent to C$51.79. The two lenders, the largest in the nation, are scheduled to report second-quarter earnings tomorrow.

CI Financial Corp. rose 2.4 percent to C$33.87 after Geoffrey Kwan, analyst at RBC Capital, raised his rating for the stock to outperform, the equivalent of a buy. Onex Corp. rallied 1.9 percent to C$62.93 as the S&P/TSX Financials Index advanced 0.7 percent, the most in three weeks.

Encana Corp. added 1.7 percent to C$25.25 for a second day of gains after increasing the size of its initial public offering for PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. to as much as C$1.46 billion, in what would be Canada’s largest initial sale in 14 years.

Rio Alto Mining slumped 7.5 percent to C$1.97, the lowest since January, after agreeing to buy Sulliden Gold to expand its production of the precious metal. Rio Alto will pay 0.525 of its shares for each Sulliden share, along with 0.1 share of a newly incorporated company that will hold Sulliden’s stake in the East Sullivan property in Quebec.

Sulliden soared 33 perent to C$1.04, the biggest increase since January 2009.

Bombardier Inc. dropped 2.9 percent to C$3.82. Republic Airways Holdings Inc., Bombardier’s biggest customer for the CSeries jet, said its order for 40 of the aircraft is no longer a priority. Chief Executive Officer Bryan Bedford said the Indianapolis-based company hasn’t made any decisions about the order.

US
By Callie Bost

May 21 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced, erasing yesterday’s declines, as Tiffany & Co. rallied and Federal Reserve policy makers said continued stimulus doesn’t risk sparking a jump in the inflation rate.

Tiffany gained 9.2 percent to lead an advance among retailers as quarterly profit beat estimates. Netflix Inc. rose 5.1 percent after saying it will expand its online-video service in Europe. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. climbed more than 1.4 percent as the price of oil surged.

The S&P 500 added 0.8 percent to 1,888.03 at 4 p.m. in New York. The equity benchmark is 0.5 percent away from a record reached on May 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 158.75 points, or 1 percent, to 16,533.06. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies was up 0.5 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 Index rose to the highest level since April 3. About 5.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 20 percent below the three-month average.

“There were no big surprises in the Fed minutes,” Darrell Cronk, deputy chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which manages $170 billion, said by phone. “There was more of the same and that means more dovish statements. We continue to think the domestic equity markets will climb higher.  The fundamentals are good.”

Minutes of the central bank’s April 29-30 meeting released today in Washington showed Fed officials also discussed the need to improve their guidance on the likely path of interest rates. Participants agreed that “early communication” of their exit strategy “would enhance the clarity and credibility of monetary policy.”

Policy makers said last month the economy is showing signs of picking up and the job market is improving. The central bank pared its monthly asset buying to $45 billion in April, its fourth straight $10 billion cut, and said further reductions in measured steps are likely.

The Fed reiterated at the time that it will keep the key rate target near zero for a “considerable time” once it concludes the bond-purchase program.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen testified to lawmakers May 7 that the Fed will probably end bond buying in the fall if the labor market continues to improve. Still, she said “a high degree of monetary accommodation remains warranted” with inflation and employment far from the central bank’s goals.

Three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed have helped send the S&P 500 up as much as 180 percent from a 12-year low in 2009. It is trading at 16 times the projected earnings of its members, greater than a five-year average of 14.3 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

About 75 percent of S&P 500 companies that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 53 percent have exceeded sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent yesterday after retailers reported lower-than-estimated earnings and small-cap shares slumped. The benchmark index closed at an all-time high of 1,897.45 on May 13 before a selloff in small-cap stocks spread to the broader market. The Russell 2000 tumbled 1.5 percent yesterday, and is down 8.7 percent from a record set in March.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, fell 8.1 percent to 11.91 today, the lowest level since August. The measure has lost 13 percent this year.

All 10 main industries in the S&P 500 rose today, with consumer-discretionary and energy companies gaining at least 1 percent for the biggest advances.

Retailers rose 1.2 percent as a group in the S&P 500, after slumping 1 percent yesterday amid worse-than-estimated results from companies from Staples Inc. to Urban Outfitters Inc.

Tiffany increased 9.2 percent to a record $96.30 today. The world’s second-largest jewelry retailer reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates and raised its forecast for the year as price increases helped boost sales.

Netflix jumped 5.1 percent to $390.60, the highest level in two months. The shares have rebounded 24 percent from a six- month low on April 28. The world’s largest Internet subscription service will enter Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, according to a statement. The company already operates in the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

TJX Cos. rallied 4.9 percent to $56.60. The owner of the T.J. Maxx discount chain tumbled 7.6 percent yesterday, the most in more than five years, after posting first-quarter profit and sales that trailed analysts’ estimates.

The Dow Jones Internet Composite Index increased 1.2 percent, as Facebook Inc. added 3.3 percent. TripAdvisor Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. rose more than 1.9 percent.

Exxon Mobil advanced 1.4 percent to $102.03 and Chevron increased 1.4 percent to $124.16 to pace gains among energy companies. Occidental Petroleum Corp. surged 2.2 percent to $97.59. West Texas Intermediate crude rose to a one-month high after a government report showed U.S. supplies tumbled last week as imports dropped to a 17-year low.

PetSmart Inc. tumbled 8.3 percent to $57.02. The pet services retailer cut its profit forecast this year to below analysts’ forecasts as first-quarter revenue missed estimates.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When the poor come to you in great need, begging for food,

do not harden your hearts against them.

Remember that the poor may once have been rich,

and you may one day be poor.

When you see people who are think for lack of food,

beg them to accept your help;

remember that you may need their friendship in times to come.

Rig Veda

As ever,

 

Carolann

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 is interesting, fascinating how far we’ve come considering that it was on this day in 1932 that Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland; she landed in Ireland nearly 15 hours later, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

New cameras to probe planets based in chile, new cameras will search outside solar system.

A new phase in the study of planets beyond the solar system is about to begin.  Two new cameras designed to directly image Jupiter-class planets orbiting other stars and gather data on extrasolar-planet atmospheres have been brought on line at two of the world’s major observatories located on arid mountaintops in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

On May 4, the European Southern Observatory lifted the figurative lens cap off of its camera, Sphere, for the first time at its Very Large Telescope array near Paranal, Chile.  Meanwhile, astronomers associated with the Gemini Planet Imager at the Gemini South Observatory have reported the first science results from their camera, which captured its first light last November. The studies were conducted during GPI’s commissioning phase, which is still underway.

Both cameras are slated to undertake the most ambitious direct-imaging campaigns astronomers have yet conducted, surveying up to 600 stars for signs of large, hot, young plants in wide orbits around their host stars.  Sphere’s search aims to span distances ranging from five to 10 astronomical units from their host stars – comparable to the distances between Jupiter and Saturn. GPI is designed to cast a wider net, ranging from five to 30 AU, the distance from Jupiter to Neptune.

At these orbital distances, planets spend a decade or more completing one orbit. The evidence for their presence is so faint that most common planet-hunting techniques couldn’t detect them. Even if they could, astronomers generally want to log multiple detections in order to confidently claim a discovery. Several decades is a long time to wait before shouting “Eureka!” – By PETE SPOTTS.

To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others. –Buddha.

Photos of the day

Britain’s Prince Charles watches traditional dancers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 19. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are on a four-day visit to Canada that begins in Halifax and includes stops in Pictou, Nova Scotia; the Prince Edward Island towns of Charlottetown, Bonshaw, and Cornwall; and concludes in Winnipeg. Mark Blinch/Reuters

The pack pedals during the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Modena to Salso Maggiore, Italy. Fabio Ferrari/AP

Participants in the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb wear lighted vests as they climb the bridge high above the city traffic (r.) at night, during a preview of the Vivid Sydney light and music festival. For 18 days beginning on May 23, Sydney will light up at night as part of the Vivid Sydney festival, combining outdoor lighting sculptures and installations at one of the world’s largest creative industry forums, according to the organizers. Jason Reed/Reuters

Market Closes for May 20^th, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16374.31	-137.55    -0.83%
S&P 500	1872.83	-12.25    -0.65%
NASDAQ	4096.891	-28.924    -0.70%
TSX	14525.19	+10.45
		+0.07%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14075.25	+68.81
		+0.49%
HANG   SENG	22834.68	+130.18
		+0.57%
SENSEX	24376.88	+13.83
		+0.06%
FTSE 100	6802.00	-42.55
		-0.62%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.280	2.264
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.822	2.799
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5106	2.5213
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3850	3.3443

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91683	0.92056
US   $	1.09071	1.08630
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.49410	0.66930
US   $	1.36993	0.72996

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1294.26	1292.94
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	102.44	102.02
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

May 20 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks snapped three days of losses as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. gained before a meeting with Allergan Inc. investors, offsetting losses among the banks ahead of earnings.

Valeant rose 3.7 percent after saying it will discuss an improved offer for the company at meeting in New York next week. CAE Inc., the flight simulator maker, gained 0.9 percent after analysts at Desjardins Securities raised their rating for the shares citing stronger earnings. Element Financial Corp. and Canadian Western Bank slid more than 1.2 percent to lead losses among finance stocks.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 10.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,525.19 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge swung between losses of as much as 0.2 percent and gains of 0.4 percent. It’s up 6.6 percent this year. Trading volume was about 4.1 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“It’s a wait-and-see attitude for the Canadian banks, and also for economic statistics before people get back on the bandwagon,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$4.7 billion ($4.31 billion). “People are saying the sluggishness of the first quarter was due to weather, so they’re waiting to see evidence the second or third quarter will pick up.”

Valeant increased 3.7 percent to C$142.76, the most in a month, as health-care stocks paced gains in the S&P/TSX. The company said it will present an improved bid for Allergan shareholders at the May 28 meeting, which will not be an all- cash deal.

Aaron Gal, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein & Co., said in a report that Valeant’s offer should be in the $190 a share range.

Element Financial lost 2.9 percent to C$13.21 and Canadian Western Bank retreated 1.2 percent to C$36.42 to pace declines as 34 of 46 members of the S&P/TSX Financials Index fell.

Toronto-Dominion Bank slipped 0.1 percent to C$51.56 and Royal Bank of Canada added 0.8 percent to C$73.40. The two lenders, the largest in Canada by market value, are scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on May 22.

CAE added 0.9 percent to C$14.68 after Benoit Poirier at Desjardins raised his rating for the stock to buy from hold and increased his price target to C$17 from C$16.

“There is more upside ahead,” Poirier said in the report to clients, with the company benefiting from a solid backlog and improved margins.

HudBay Minerals Inc. rose 0.5 percent to C$10.05 after the metals mining company extended its offer to buy Augusta Resource Corp. to May 27. The all-stock offer values Augusta at about C$453.8 million.

Balmoral Resources Ltd. jumped 20 percent to C$1.30, the highest level since August 2011, after the Vancouver-based exploration company said it confirmed the discovery of a high- grade nickel and copper deposit.

US
By Callie Bost

May 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, halting a two-day gain, as retailers from Staples Inc. to Urban Outfitters Inc. posted worse-than-estimated results and smaller companies slid.

Staples tumbled 13 percent after forecasting second-quarter profit that was less than analysts estimated. Urban Outfitters sank 8.8 percent as earnings missed forecasts. Caterpillar Inc. led industrial shares lower after reporting a steepening decline in retail machine sales.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.7 percent to 1,872.83 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 137.55 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,374.31. The Russell 2000 Index of small-cap stocks slid 1.5 percent. About 5.7 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 13 percent below the three-month average.

“What we’re seeing is a re-assessment of the growth prospects of earnings,” Brad McMillan, the chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, said by phone. His firm oversees $83 billion. “It’s not a question of ‘are we going to grow?’ Because we are. It’s ‘are we going to grow as fast as we thought we would?’”

Investors are favoring fixed income over equities as concern over valuations roiled stocks from small-cap companies to Internet shares. Exchange-traded funds that buy American bonds attracted $138.8 million yesterday while $2 billion was taken out of equity ETFs, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That reversed year-to-date equity ETF flows and drove withdrawals for the quarter to $711 million. Should the trend continue through June, that would be the first quarterly deficit since the three months ended March 2010, the data show.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent yesterday in one of the slowest trading days of the year as Internet and smaller companies extended a rebound from last week’s losses. The benchmark index closed at an all-time high of 1,897.45 on May 13 before a selloff in small-cap stocks spread to the broader market.

The Russell 2000 Index fell 3.3 percent over three days last week before rebounding 0.6 percent on May 16 and a further 1 percent yesterday. The gauge is 9.2 percent below its record set in March.

“Between now and June, waning earnings data and no significant U.S. economic data suggest equities have no appreciable catalyst for why they should march significantly higher,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which oversees  $65 billion in assets, said in a phone interview. “We’re going to be in this trading range for several months.”

Salesforce.com Inc. and Intuit Inc. are among S&P 500 companies reporting results today. About 75 percent of those that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 53 percent have exceeded sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last week the U.S. economy has further to go to achieve full health and predicted small businesses will play a vital role in the recovery.

The Fed will release minutes from its latest meeting tomorrow. Policy makers said last month the economy is showing signs of picking up and the job market is improving. The central bank pared its monthly asset buying and said further reductions in “measured steps” are likely.

Fed Bank of New York President William Dudley said the pace of eventual rate increases “will probably be relatively slow,” depending on the economy’s progress and how financial markets react. A “mild” response “might encourage a somewhat faster pace,” Dudley said today to the New York Association for Business Economics. “If bond yields were to move sharply higher,” on the other hand, “a more cautious approach might be warranted.”

“Investors seem to be nervous and the market seems very reactionary right now,” Walter Todd, who oversees about $980 million as chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates LLC, said by phone. “People are trying to get a handle on what exactly the Fed’s reaction function is on when they are raising rates. The problem for them there is I don’t know if they even know themselves.”

Three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed have helped send the S&P 500 up as much as 180 percent from a 12-year low in 2009. The gauge trades at 15.9 times estimated earnings, compared with a five-year average of 14.3 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, rose 4.4 percent to 12.96. The measure has lost 5.5 percent this year.

Nine out of 10 S&P 500 groups fell today, with phone and industrial shares tumbling at least 1.3 percent for the biggest declines. Retailers lost 1 percent as a group.

Staples slid 13 percent to $11.71 after posting first- quarter adjusted earnings of 18 cents a share. Analysts on average had projected 21 cents. The biggest U.S. office-supply chain also said sales will decline in the second quarter from a year earlier.

Urban Outfitters declined 8.8 percent to $32.98 after reporting first-quarter earnings of 26 cents a share, missing the 27-cent average projection of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The teen-clothing retailer also said comparable sales were little changed for the quarter, versus a 0.3 percent gain that analysts predicted.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. tumbled 18 percent, the most ever, to $43.60 after weak sales of golfing and hunting gear crimped its profit forecast. TJX Cos. fell 7.6 percent to $53.95 after cutting the top end of its full-year projection.

Home Depot Inc. rose 1.9 percent to $77.96 for the biggest gain in the Dow. While the company posted first-quarter profit that trailed some analysts’ estimates, Chief Financial Officer Carol Tome said it expects revenue lost due to the grim winter will be recouped this quarter.

Caterpillar lost 3.6 percent to $101.56. Global sales fell 13 percent in the three months through April compared with the same period a year earlier, Caterpillar said today in a filing. In the resource industries segment, sales fell 70 percent in the Asia-Pacific region and 68 percent in Latin America in the most recent period. Sales were also down 3 percent in North America and 45 percent lower in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Internet Composite Index slipped 0.7 percent. The gauge rallied 2 percent over the previous two days, and is down 8.8 percent this year.

Amazon.com Inc. increased 1.5 percent to $301.19. Netflix Inc. advanced 2 percent to $371.67 for the largest gain in the S&P 500.

Carnival Corp. climbed 0.9 percent to $39.18 after saying P&O Cruises Australia, one of its 10 brands, will add two ships to its fleet next year. That will bring the total to five, making it Australia’s biggest year-round fleet, the world’s largest cruise-line operator said in a statement. Morgan Stanley raised its stock rating.

Ophthotech Corp. jumped 24 percent to $39.16. The drug developer granted Novartis AG the exclusive rights to commercialize its Fovista treatment in markets outside the U.S. Ophthotech said it may get more than $1 billion from the deal, including $200 million upfront and further payments if it reaches some targets.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We must learn to love those who think exactly opposite to us.

We have humanity for the background, but each must have his own individuality and his own thought.

Push the sects forward and forward till each man and woman are sects unto themselves.

We must learn that differentiation is the life of thought.

We have one common goal,

and that is the perfection of the human soul, the god within us.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Character building begins in our infancy

and continues until death.

-Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Lord Byron to John Murray, May 18, 1819.

I write to you in haste and at past two in the morning – having besides had an accident.  In going, about an hour and a half ago, to a rendezvous with a Venetian girl (unmarried and the daughter of one of their nobles), I tumbled into the Grand Canal, and not choosing to miss my appointment by the delays of changing, I have been perched in a balcony with my wet clothes on ever since – till this minute that on my return I have slipped into my dressing-gown.  My foot slipped in getting into my gondola to set out (owing to the cursed slippery steps of their palaces) and in I flounced like a carp – and went dripping like a triton to my sea-nymph – and had to scramble up to a grated window…

Dorothy Wordsworth, Journal, May 19, 1800.

Sauntered a good deal in the garden, bound carpets, mended old clothes.  Read Timon of Athens.  Dried linen.  Molly weeded the turnips, John stuck the peas.  We had not much sunshine or wind, but no rain till about seven o’clock, when we had a slight shower just after I had set out upon my walk.  I did not return but walked up into the Black Quarter [Easedale].  I sauntered a long time among the rocks above the church…I strolled on, gathered mosses etc.  The quietness and still seclusion of the valley affected me even to producing the deepest melancholy.  I forced myself from it. –from The Book of Days.

Photos of the day

90-year-old Hiraben blesses her son and India’s next prime minister Narendra Modi at her home in Gandhinagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Saurabh Das/AP

Geisha girls parade down the streets toward Asakusa Shrine in the compound of Sensoji Temple in Tokyo prior to the annual Sanja Festival, one of the three major festivals in Tokyo, scheduled on May 16-18. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Market Closes for May 16^th, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16491.31	+44.50    +0.27%
S&P 500	1877.35	+6.50    +0.35%
NASDAQ	4090.588	+21.296    +0.52%
TSX	14509.22	-79.67
		-0.55%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14096.59	-201.62
		-1.41%
HANG   SENG	22712.91	-17.95
		-0.08%
SENSEX	24121.74	+216.14
		+0.90%
FTSE 100	6855.81	+14.92
		+0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.264	2.259
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.799	2.797
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5213	2.4964
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.3443	3.3319

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92056	0.91939
US   $	1.08630	1.08768
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.48747	0.67228
US   $	1.36930	0.73030

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1292.94	1296.63
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	102.02	101.50
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Gerrit De Vynck

May 16 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, capping the biggest three-day retreat in over a month, as shares of Smart Technologies Inc. and BlackBerry Ltd. dropped and data showed an unexpected decline in U.S. consumer confidence.

BlackBerry fell 1.9 percent after the smartphone maker said yesterday Bert Nordberg, a former chief executive officer of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, was leaving the board. Air Canada rose 2 percent after TD Securities Inc. recommended buying the shares. Smart Technologies lost 37 percent after reporting a fourth-quarter loss.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 74.15 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,514.74 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. Eight out of 10 industries in the index fell. The gauge fell 0.1 percent this week.

“What people are doing is de-risking ahead of some uncertainty on U.S. economic growth and the state of the consumer,” said Brian Huen managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management Ltd in Toronto. He helps manage about C$350 million.

Consumer confidence fell in May from a nine-month high, showing Americans are being shaken by rising grocery bills and elevated fuel costs. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary sentiment index decreased to 81.8 from 84.1 in April. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a gain to 84.5.

BlackBerry fell 1.9 percent to C$7.88. The rest of the current directors, including chairman Prem Watsa, are standing for re-election, the company said.

Air Canada gained 2 percent to C$8.07 as TD Securities raised its rating on the stock. The company reported a narrower first-quarter loss yesterday than analysts projected with the help of a cost-savings plan and as revenue climbed faster than estimated.

Smart Technologies lost 37 percent to C$2.90, the most ever. The interactive whiteboard maker reported a fourth-quarter loss of 5 cents a share yesterday and said the company has significant work left in its turnaround plan.

Just Energy Group Inc. decreased 17 percent to C$6.54. National Bank Financial and TD Securities lowered their ratings on the stock and RBC Capital Markets said the utility company may cut its dividend.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped 1.6 percent to C$96.49 after posting a C$420 million impairment charge on its Caribbean banking business. The bank, Canada’s fifth-largest, will report second-quarter earnings on May 29.

Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. fell 1.9 percent to C$9.96 after cutting its forecast for second-quarter production.

HudBay Minerals Inc. rose 1.6 percent to C$10 after Dundee Securities Inc. said the mining company probably won’t increase its offer for Augusta Resources Corp. Augusta lost 6.2 percent to C$3.01.

US
By Sofia Horta e Costa and Joseph Ciolli

May 16 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had its worst day in a month yesterday, as small-cap shares reversed declines amid a faster-than-forecast gain in the pace of home construction.

The Dow Jones Internet Composite Index jumped 0.5 percent after earlier falling 0.7 percent. Nordstrom Inc. jumped 15 percent as the luxury department-store chain reported quarterly results that exceeded estimates. Verizon Communications Inc. added 2.3 percent as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.disclosed a stake. Chesapeake Energy Corp. sank the most in the S&P 500 after saying it will cut half its workforce.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent to 1,877.86 at 4 p.m. in New York, erasing its loss for the week. The gauge extended gains today after falling to its average price over the past 50 days, a level technical analysts consider significant. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 44.50 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,491.31. The Russell 2000 Index of small stocks jumped 0.6 percent, after earlier falling 0.7 percent. About 5.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 13 percent below the three-month average.

“When you have sharp sell-offs, you have a lot of buyers on the sidelines waiting for that weakness,” James Paulsen, the Minneapolis-based chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, which oversees about $357 billion in assets, said by phone. “Certainly the housing numbers calmed a fair number of fears. People feel secure after a 1 percent sell-off and want to go long into the weekend.”

A report today indicated the pace of U.S. home construction jumped in April to its highest level since November, exceeding all analysts’ forecasts and showing builders returned to sites after freezing temperatures restrained work earlier this year. A surge in construction of multifamily dwellings helped overcome slack demand for single- family homes.

Separate data showed consumer confidence fell this month after reaching a nine-month high in April. The preliminary reading of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of sentiment dropped to 81.8 from 84.1, economists surveyed by Bloomberg said.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy has further to go to achieve full health and predicted small businesses will play a vital role in the recovery.

Job creation is “crucial to this process,” and small companies “are responsible for a large share” of new employment, Yellen said yesterday in Washington.

Fed policy makers said last month the economy is showing signs of picking up and the job market is improving. The central bank pared its monthly asset-buying and said further reductions in “measured steps” are likely. Interest rates will probably remain low until mid-2015.

Three rounds of monetary stimulus have helped fuel economic growth, sending the S&P 500 surging as much as 180 percent from its 2009 low.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, dropped 5.5 percent to 12.44. The measure has lost 3.7 percent this week.

Nine of the 10 main S&P 500 groups rose today,with phone shares surging as Verizon advanced 2.3 percent to $49.07 for the biggest gain in the Dow. Berkshire held 11 million Verizon shares as of March 31, Buffett’s company said yesterday in a regulatory filing.

The acceleration in home construction resulted in an increase of just 0.4 percent for an S&P index of homebuilders as starts on projects such as condominiums and apartment buildings accounted for almost all of the April gain.

Nordstrom jumped 15 percent to a record $70.55. The largest U.S. luxury department-store chain posted quarterly results that topped estimates, helped by sales at its lower-priced Rack outlets and online.

J.C. Penney Co. rallied 16 percent to $9.73. The department-store chain that’s posted more than $2.5 billion in losses the past three years reported its first quarterly sales gain since 2011. While the company is still losing money, the first-quarter loss was narrower than analysts expected, and the retailer bolstered its finances with a larger credit line.

Autodesk Inc. added 8.1 percent to $51.67. The maker of architectural and engineering software predicted annual sales will climb as much as 6 percent this year, up from an earlier forecast for as much as 5 percent. First-quarter revenue of $593 million beat the $568 million average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

Darden Restaurants dropped 4.3 percent to $48.49. The restaurant operator agreed to sell the Red Lobster seafood- restaurant chain to Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion, giving it an injection of cash and time to focus on reviving growth in its Olive Garden business.

Chesapeake Energy sank 4.7 percent to $27.64. The U.S. natural gas explorer that was on the verge of running out of cash two years ago plans to shrink its workforce by half to the smallest since 2006 in a rig spinoff by the end of next month.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. slumped 43 percent to $11.27 for the biggest drop since its debut in 1999. The company said its new online TV network that began operating Feb. 24 will need 1.3 million subscribers to make up for lost business. WWE predicted it will reach 1 million subscribers this year.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The golden rule of conduct therefore, is mutual toleration,

seeing that we will never think alike and we shall see the Truth

in fragments and from different angles of vision.

Conscience is not the same thing for all.

While, therefore, it is a good guide for individual conduct,

imposition of that conduct upon all will be an insufferable interference

with everybody’s freedom of conscience.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character,

give him power.

-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:

On this day in 1905, A.C. Benson wrote in his Diary:

I had one of the most curiously beautiful [bicycle] rides of my life.  I got to Milton: saw the church, in its green shade, with its elaborately written monuments, its glorious little window of Jacob, with hands like parsnips: then crossed the line, among the green pastures, so full of great thorn thickets: and then along the towpath, riding slowly down the Cam.  Such a sweet clear, fresh day.  I wound slowly along past Baitsbite and the Waterbeach bridge, into the heart of the fen.  The space below the towpath full of masses of cow-parsley: the river sapphire blue between the green banks – the huge fields running for miles to the right, with the long lines of dyke and lode; far away the blue tower of Ely, the brown roofs of Reach, and the low wolds of Newmarket.  It was simply enchanting!….So flat country, golden with buttercups, and the blue tree-clumps far away backed by hills, and over all the vast sky-perspective, is the most beautiful thing of all. –from The Book of Days.

Photos of the day

Overall leader Michael Matthews salutes fans prior to the start of the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Sassano to Montecassino, Italy. Gian Mattia D’Alberto/AP

Assistant trainer Alan Sherman (l.) stands alongside Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, with exercise rider Willie Delgado aboard, before a workout as a layer of thick fog sits over Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled to take place May 17.Patrick Semansky/AP

Market Closes for May 15^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16446.81	-167.16   -1.01%
S&P 500	1870.85	-17.68   -0.94%
NASDAQ	4069.292	-31.334   -0.76%
TSX	14588.89	-84.84
		-0.58%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14298.21	-107.55
		-0.75%
HANG SENG	22730.86	+148.09
		+0.66%
SENSEX	23905.60	+90.48
		+0.38%
FTSE 100	6840.89	-37.60
		-0.55%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.259	2.287
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.797	2.832
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4964	2.5445
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.3319	3.3750

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91939	0.91883
US $	1.08768	1.08834
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49130	0.67056
US $	1.37107	0.72936

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1296.63	1305.79
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	101.50	102.37
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

May 15 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in a week as commodity prices declined and CI Financial Corp. plunged after Bank of Nova Scotia said it will scale back its stake in the money manager.

CI Financial sank 3.2 percent, the most in two years, on concern Scotiabank may sell its $3.5 billion investment. Sherritt International Corp. tumbled 3.5 percent as nickel prices fell the most since 2011. Just Energy Group Inc. lost 9.8 percent after reporting lower earnings for the fourth quarter. Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. and Crew Energy Inc. paced losses in energy shares as natural gas prices slumped.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 84.84 points, or 0.6 percent, to 14,588.89 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has risen 7.1 percent this year.

“Of the big three sectors in Canada, it’s energy leading the downside with significant weakness,” said Tim Caulfield, a fund manager at Franklin Bissett Investment Management, on the phone from Calgary. He helps manage C$20 billion ($18.4 billion) with the firm. “One of the issues there is certainly the weaker natural gas quotes in May.”

Peyto Exploration retreated 3.8 percent to C$37.93 and Crew Energy lost 2 percent to C$10, the lowest level in a month, as energy shares tumbled 0.6 percent as a group. Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX fell on trading volume 34 percent higher compared with the 30-day average.

Natural gas prices have plunged 28 percent since February, as Canada and the U.S. emerged from a severe winter. Crude in New York sank 0.9 percent today, retreating from a three-week high, after U.S. supplies rose to near record levels last week while output rose, the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday. Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. slumped 2.4 percent to C$10.15 and BlackPearl Resources Inc. sank 5.2 percent to C$2.37.

Just Energy, which sells natural gas and electricity to residential and commercial customers in Canada and the U.S., slumped 9.8 percent, the most since February 2013, to C$7.85. The company reported fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations of C$152.3 million, compared with C$199.8 million a year ago.

CI Financial tumbled 3.2 percent to C$34.98, the biggest decline since May 2012, after Scotiabank said yesterday it will reduce its holdings of the Toronto-based money manager. It first acquired a stake in CI Financial in 2008 and currently holds 37 percent of the company’s shares, according to the statement.

“This is very negative for CI,” Stephen Boland, analyst at GMP Securities LP, said in a note today. “This announcement will also create an overhang on the stock since no timing was given on the potential transaction.”

Sherritt International declined 3.5 percent to C$4.47 for a third day of losses and Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, lost 1.5 percent to C$24.91. Nickel slumped as much as 9.7 percent in London, the most since 2011, extending a 4.6 percent decline yesterday amid speculation that a rally that lifted prices as much as 56 percent this year was exaggerated. Copper slipped 0.5 percent in New York.

The S&P/TSX Materials Index sank 1.6 percent, the biggest decline since March, as 48 of 52 members of the industry retreated.

Bombardier Inc. dropped 7.1 percent to C$3.90, the biggest loss since February, after Air Canada said it decided to keep its older jets instead of replacing them with the manufacturer’s CSeries models.

Air Canada dropped 3.8 percent to C$7.91, the lowest close in a week.

US
By Joseph Ciolli

May 15 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell a second day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sinking the most in a month, as investors continued to sell small-cap shares and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. forecast profit that missed estimates.

Wal-Mart fell 2.4 percent after the disappointing results. Lincoln National Corp. sank 5.2 percent, leading insurers lower as 10-year Treasury yields tumbled. General Motors Co. dropped 1.7 percent after recalling another 2.7 million vehicles. Cisco Systems Inc. advanced 6 percent after a revenue forecast that beat analysts’ projections.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.9 percent, the most in a month, to 1,870.85 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow average declined 167.16 points, or 1 percent, to 16,446.81, its biggest drop since April 10. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies sank 0.7 percent, trimming an earlier slide of 1.9 percent. About 6.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 2.3 percent above the three-month average.

“The primary sentiment right now is cautious and nervous,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a phone interview. “It’s more a matter of capital preservation than it is trying to generate returns. This is a time of caution. More people are looking to make sales and raise cash than they are to put cash to work on the weakness.”

The S&P 500 has dropped 1.4 percent since closing at an all-time high of 1,897.45 on May 13. The gauge advanced as much as 4.5 percent from a low on April 11 amid optimism about the economy and Federal Reserve stimulus.

The Russell 2000 has lost 3.3 percent in the past three days following a 2.4 percent rally on May 12. The gauge briefly fell 10 percent below a March high today. A close with the index down that much would meet the common definition of a correction.

The Dow Jones Internet Index lost 0.6 percent for a third day of declines. The gauge has plunged 18 percent from a 13-year high in March.

Economic data today showed industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in April, held back by a plunge in utilities as temperatures warmed and a broad-based decrease in manufacturing. Manufacturing, which makes up 75 percent of total production, decreased 0.4 percent.

That contrasted with a higher-than-forecast reading on the Fed Bank of New York’s gauge of regional manufacturing, which climbed to 19.01 this month, from 1.29 in April.

Labor Department data showed the fewest Americans in seven years filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, while a separate report indicated the cost of living in the U.S. rose in April by the most in almost a year.

“There’s not really any great news here,” Randy Bateman, who oversees $3.5 billion as chief investment officer of Huntington Asset Advisors in Columbus, Ohio, said by phone. “It’s just a slower growing period. Unless we see something that will really drive investor enthusiasm, it’ll be a trading- range market.”

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that the world’s biggest economy still requires a strong dose of stimulus. While data show “solid growth” in the second quarter, “many Americans who want a job are still unemployed” and inflation remains low, she said. Yellen will address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce after the market closes today.

Three rounds of monetary stimulus have helped fuel economic growth, sending the S&P 500 surging as much as 180 percent from its 2009 low.

David Tepper, founder of $20 billion hedge-fund firm Appaloosa Management LP, said he’s nervous about markets as the U.S. economy isn’t growing fast enough amid complacency by the Federal Reserve.

“The market is kind of dangerous in a way,” Tepper said yesterday at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas. “I think it’s nervous time,” he said, adding that markets may “grind higher” in the near term.

Tepper, 56, who started his Short Hills, New Jersey-based firm in 1993, said he’s more worried about deflation than inflation and that this is the time to preserve money.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge for U.S. stock volatility known as the VIX, jumped 8.2 percent to 13.17, its biggest rally in a month. The gauge had fallen 43 percent through yesterday since reaching a two-year high on Feb. 3.

Nine of the 10 main S&P 500 groups retreated today, with commodity shares dropping 1.3 percent to pace declines. Phone stocks, which have the highest dividend yield in the index, added 0.2 percent.

Wal-Mart sank 2.4 percent to $76.83. The world’s largest retailer forecast second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as the company copes with slow sales in the U.S., especially at its Sam’s Club warehouse stores. First-quarter profit fell to $1.10 a share, with poor weather shaving off 3 cents a share. That trailed the $1.15-a-share estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Retailers in the S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent, with Kohl’s Corp. decreasing 3.4 percent to $52.21. The department-store operator reported sales and profit estimates that fell short of analysts’s forecasts. The stock fell the most since January.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. plummeted 6.1 percent to $48.93 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500. The drugmaker was downgraded to market perform from outperform by BMO Capital Markets after the company disclosed late yesterday preliminary results of clinical testing on one of its cancer treatments.

Lincoln National dropped 5.2 percent to $47.41 for its biggest slide since 2012, pacing losses among insurers, which sank 1.4 percent as a group.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes slid five basis points to 2.50 percent. Life insurers invest in bonds to back future obligations and generate profits. MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, sank 2.7 percent to $49.56.

General Motors dropped 1.7 percent to $34.36. The automaker announced that it is recalling an additional 2.7 million vehicles, including models with faulty brake lights that have led to hundreds of complaints, pushing the total number to 11.1 million.

Cisco rallied 6 percent to $24.18. The world’s largest network-equipment maker said revenue in the quarter ending July will be $12 billion to $12.3 billion. Analysts on average had predicted $11.8 billion. Cisco forecast profit excluding stock- based compensation, amortization and other items of as much as 53 cents a share. That exceeded the 51-cent average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Differentiation, infinitely contradictory, must remain,

But it is not necessary that we should hate each other;

it is not necessary therefore that we should fight each other.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I had all the disadvantages required for success.

-Larry Ellison, 1944-

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