Month: April 2015

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Just before midnight on this day in 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic, sinking just a few hours later at about 2:20 a.m. on the morning of April 15.

April 14, 1965: Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

1928: First Webster’s Dictionary was printed.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Stars are pictured over the famous Matterhorn mountain, seen from the Riffelberg area, in Zermatt, Switzerland on Monday. Jean-Christophe Bott/AP

Principal Dianne Coplin performs yoga as she works from atop the school dressed as the Cat in the Hat, Tuesday, at Colonel Donald McMonagle Elementary in Mt. Morris Township, Mich. Students at the school read 6,693 books, exceeding their reading month goal of 5,000, resulting in Coplin dressing as the famous Dr. Suess character. Jake May/The Flint Journal/AP

Market Closes for April 14^th, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18036.70	+59.66
		+0.33%
S&P 500	2095.84	+3.41   +0.16%
NASDAQ	4977.285	-10.964   -0.22%
TSX	15389.28	+5.69
		+0.04%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19908.68	+3.22
		+0.02%
HANG SENG	27561.49	-454.85
		-1.62%
SENSEX	29044.44	+165.06
		+0.57%
FTSE 100	7075.26	+10.96
		+0.16%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.320	1.352
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.985	2.022
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8985	1.9272
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5427	2.5730

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80056	0.79389
US $	1.24913	1.25962
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.33053	0.75158
US $	1.06517	0.93882

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1194.75	1198.90
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.29	51.91

There are two kinds of people who lose money: those who know nothing and those who know everything. –Henry Kaufman, b. 1927.

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Callie Bost

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed, erasing an earlier decline, as gains among energy companies offset a slump in railroad stocks.

     Shares of energy producers increased 1.4 percent as oil gained for a fourth day. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. dropped at least 0.8 percent after Norfolk Southern Corp. reported weaker-than-forecast earnings, heralding a difficult season for railroad profits.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 5.69 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,389.28 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has rallied 3.3 percent in April, posting seven straight days of gains through last week.

     Nine of 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX slid. Health-care stocks dropped 1.1 percent for the biggest loss. Trading in the index’s stocks was 4.4 percent below the 30-day average at the close.

     Canadian Pacific Railway slipped 1.3 percent, while Canadian National Railway sank 0.8 percent. Norfolk Southern, the second-largest railroad in the eastern U.S., said profit last quarter declined, missing analyst estimates.

     Coal shipments for most U.S. railroads fell during the first quarter as lower natural gas prices spurred power plants to switch to the fuel from coal.

     Consumer-discretionary shares slid 0.8 percent. Data released this morning showed sales at U.S. retailers rose less than forecast in March after being depressed by harsh winter weather, signaling consumers are intent on not overextending themselves.

     Energy shares in the S&P/TSX surged 1.4 percent as crude prices rose 2.7 percent. Penn West Petroleum Ltd. jumped 9.3 percent, while Bonavista Energy Corp. added 8.3 percent and Surge Energy Inc. rose 6.7 percent.

     As energy companies, the worst performers in the broader S&P/TSX Composite Index last year, have rebounded 6.5 percent in April and Canadian stocks climb toward an all-time high reached in September, traders are seeking protection.

     Bearish bets for the iShares Standard & Poor’s/TSX 60 Index exchange-traded fund, Canada’s largest ETF by assets, have surged this year to as much as nine times the number of calls.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index near its average price for the past 50 days, as a rally in energy companies overshadowed weaker-than-forecast retail sales.

     Chevron Corp. climbed 2.2 percent as oil rose for a fourth day. JPMorgan Chase & Co. advanced 1.6 percent after quarterly profit beat analysts’ estimates. Norfolk Southern Corp. fell 4.2 percent on lower-than-expected revenue. Semiconductors retreated during regular trading hours, while Intel Corp. rebounded 2.3 percent after the market close.

     The S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 2,095.84 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59.66 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,036.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.2 percent. About 5.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 13 percent below the three-month average.

     “The market will go as earnings go for the next couple of weeks,” said Terry Morris, a senior equity manager who helps oversee about $2.8 billion at Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based National Penn Investors Trust Co. “The market wants to see some sales growth, but we haven’t seen it yet.”

     Sales at U.S. retailers rose less than forecast in March after being depressed by harsh winter weather, signaling consumers are intent on not overextending themselves.

     Purchases increased 0.9 percent, the first gain in four months, after a 0.5 percent drop in February, Commerce Department figures showed. The median forecast of 87 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.1 percent advance.                       

     A separate report showed wholesale prices in the U.S.climbed in March for the first time in five months, reflecting higher costs for fuels and motor vehicles.

     A pickup in wholesale costs that filters through to consumers would help reassure Federal Reserve policy makers that inflation will advance toward their goal. At the same time, a rising dollar and limited growth overseas may hamper efforts by American companies to be more aggressive in raising prices.

     Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said that while rates will probably rise this year, any decision depends on economic data. Recent economic releases have missed projections by the most in six years.

     The S&P 500 fell on Monday as General Electric Co. retreated from a six-year high, leading industrial companies lower. Last week, both the S&P 500 and the Dow closed near records.

     Analysts have slashed profit projections, predicting a slump through September amid concern that a stronger dollar and tumbling oil prices are hurting results. Earnings probably fell 5.6 percent in the first quarter, they predict.

     JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank, gained 1.6 percent after saying profit climbed 12 percent as first-quarter revenue from trading stocks and bonds increased for the first time since 2010.

     Norfolk Southern Corp., the second-largest railroad in the eastern U.S., tumbled 4.2 percent after first-quarter profit declined and missed analyst estimates amid decreased coal shipments. Union Pacific Corp. slipped 0.3 percent, after earlier losing almost 4 percent.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.9 percent to 13.67. The gauge, known as the VIX, fell 14 percent last week to its lowest level of 2015.

     Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups rose, led by energy and utility shares. Energy companies jumped 1.8 percent to the highest level in more than seven weeks. Apache Corp., Transocean Ltd. and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. added at least 3.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.7 percent.

     Consumer staples increased 0.2 percent, paced by gains in Hershey Co. and PepsiCo Inc. of at least 1 percent. Estee Lauder Cos. and Tyson Foods Inc. added more than 1.7 percent.

     Semiconductor companies led a retreat among tech shares as Intel, Broadcom Corp. and Altera Corp. fell at least 0.8 percent during regular hours. Google lost 1.6 percent as the company could face possible fines and new constraints in the European Union.

     Intel jumped 2.3 percent as of 4:42 p.m. in New York. After the market close, the world’s largest chipmaker gave a forecast for second-quarter sales that was in line with analysts’  estimates, helped by demand for chips that power servers in data centers.

     Laptop production rebounded last month, potentially helping Intel’s sales recover after a slump early in the year led it to slash its first-quarter revenue forecast.

     Wells Fargo & Co. slipped 0.7 percent as first-quarter net income fell 1.1 percent from a year earlier, and net interest margin dropped below 3 percent for the first time since the 1990s.

     “We’re starting to hit the reporting season which is going to be a major driver for the next few weeks,” said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG in London. “The market is not looking for a good set of numbers as demand has been hit by a stronger dollar, but the numbers for financials are expected to be reasonably decent for this quarter.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear comes from the selfish idea

of cutting one’s self off from the universe.

 

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

         -Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519

 

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

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:

We went to Paris last weekend for the Easter holiday.  There are so many good reasons to make it to Paris this year, not least because the Euro is so low.  The Musée Picasso has now reopened in the Marais on Rue de Thorigny, after a five year renovation.   The Bernard Arnault’s spectacular Fondation Louis Vuitton, which opened in October in the Bois de Boulogne offers visitors a viewing heaven with a stash of loans that the FT commented “‘would astonish and enthrall in any world class museum.”   Matisse’s “The Dance”  comes from the Hermitage; works by Barancusi, Kandinsky and Léger are visitors from MOMA.  In the opening room, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” faces a howling Francis Bacon pope, “Study for Portrait” from Chicago.  A Giocometti “Walking Man” is on show.  Two of Monet’s greatest “Water Lily” canvases hail from the Musée Marmottan Monet and Musée d’Orsay.  The Frank Gehry designed building is in itself, a wonder to behold.

There are many hotel and restaurant rebirths in Paris this year as well.  The Ritz and the Hotel de Crillon will reopen after major renovations.  We stayed at the brand new Peninsula, which is fabulous.  The rooftop restaurant L’Oiseau Blanc is wonderful with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower.  Guy Savoy’s new restaurant is not open yet but should be opened any day now in a 4300-square-foot space at the top of the Monnaie de Paris, the French Mint.

We had a terrific dinner one night at Le Restaurant, which is situated in the building (now a small hotel, named l’Hotel) in the Latin Quarter where Oscar Wilde spent his last few months and eventually died.  It actually played host to Jorge Luis Borges and Marlon Brnado for a time.  On my way out, I asked the concierge if it is possible to see Oscar Wilde’s room and he said normally yes, but the hotel was fully booked that night.  I asked him if the wall paper had been changed, remembering Oscar Wilde’s famous last words, “This wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. Either it goes or I do.”   He said yes it has, but it’s still pretty wild.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Competitors run down the Champs Elysees below the Arc de Triomphe at the start of the 39th Paris Marathon, Sunday. Benoit Tessier/Reuters

A man stands next to the Egyptian Obelisk that stands in the center of the Place de la Concorde, in Paris, Sunday. Thibault Camus/AP

Market Closes for April 13^th, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17977.04	-80.61
		-0.45%
S&P 500	2092.43	-9.63   -0.46%
NASDAQ	4988.250	-7.728   -0.15%
TSX	15383.59	-4.84
		-0.03%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19905.46	-2.17
		-0.01%
HANG SENG	28016.34	+743.95
		+2.73%
SENSEX	29044.44	+165.06
		+0.57%
FTSE 100	7064.30	-25.47
		-0.36%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.352	1.372
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.022	2.040
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9272	1.9473
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5730	2.5791

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79389	0.79574
US $	1.25962	1.25670
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.33118	0.75121
US $	1.05681	0.94624

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1198.90	1207.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.91	51.64

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Callie Bost

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks slid, breaking a seven-day streak of gains, as materials producers slumped after an unexpected drop in China’s exports fueled concern over the strength of the world’s second-largest economy.

     Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. tumbled 6.1 percent to lead a 1 percent drop in raw-materials producers. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. climbed 1.1 percent to pace gains among health-care shares. AuRico Gold Inc. surged 8.2 percent on plans to merge with Alamos Gold Inc.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 4.84 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,383.59 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The drop today ended the longest rally since June.

     Six of 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX rose. Consumer staples and health-care shares added 0.8 percent for the biggest gains. Trading in the index’s stocks was 20 percent below the 30-day average at the close.

     Materials producers led declines as the S&P/TSX Gold Index slumped 1.6 percent. Torex Gold Resources Inc. dropped 5.5 percent.

     Gold futures declined for the fourth time in five sessions after a rise in the dollar cut demand for the metal as an alternative investment and China’s economy showed signs of slowing.

     AuRico soared, while Alamos jumped 6.6 percent. The deal, which would create a mining company with a market value of about $1.5 billion and operations in Mexico and Canada, is a so-called merger of equals, the Toronto-based companies said Monday in a joint statement.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell as General Electric Co. retreated from a six-year high, leading industrial companies lower while investors awaited this week’s corporate earnings reports.

     General Electric Co. slid 3.1 percent, after its biggest rally Friday since 2009. Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp fell more than 3.8 percent as energy companies dropped. Netflix added 4.4 percent after an analyst upgrade.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.5 percent to 2,092.43 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent, erasing an earlier gain that took it above 5,000 for the first time in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 80.61 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,977.04.  About 5.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 19 percent below the three-month average.

     “There’s a lack of economic numbers today, so investors are gearing up for earnings season,” said Stephen Carl, principal and head equity trader at New York-based Williams Capital Group LP. “It remains to be seen if good economic numbers and positive earnings reports will fuel things in a positive vein over the short-term.”

     The Nasdaq Composite climbed earlier Monday to within 25 points of its record. Last month the index closed above 5,000 three times, its first forays past that level since March 2000. It stalled on March 20 within seven points of its dot-com-era record, before dropping 2.5 percent to the end of the month. It has rebounded about 2 percent in April after posting its ninth consecutive quarterly gain, its longest streak ever.                    

     The Dow traded Friday within 1.3 percent of a record hit in March, while the S&P 500 pulled within 1 percent of its all-time high. With valuations near their highest level in more than five years, investors are looking to corporate profits for further clues on the strength of the U.S. bull market that hasn’t seen a 10 percent correction since 2011.

     JPMorgan Chase & Co., Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp. are among the 36 S&P 500 members reporting financial results this week. Analysts have slashed their profit projections, predicting a slump through September amid concern that a stronger dollar and tumbling oil prices are hurting results.  Earnings probably fell 5.6 percent in the first quarter, they predict.

     “We know this earnings season is not going to look good,” said Allan von Mehren, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “The first quarter’s economic slowdown and stronger dollar has definitely put pressure on profits. The question now will be whether expectations have been lowered enough.”                         

     Investors are also trying to gauge when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, with recent economic releases missing projections by the most in six years. March reports are due this week on retail sales, industrial production and housing starts.

     Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said that while rates will probably rise this year, any decision depends on economic data. Fed members next meet on April 28-29 to discuss monetary policy.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 11 percent Monday, the most in more than two weeks, to 13.94. The gauge, known as the VIX, fell 14 percent last week to its lowest level of 2015.

     GE slipped 3.1 percent, the most in more than a year, to lead industrial companies down 1.1 percent. GE reached a more than six-year high Friday amid an 11 percent rally driven by the company’s plan to buy back as much as $50 billion in stock and sell most of its lending business. Union Pacific Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. slipped at least 1.6 percent.                         

     Energy shares retreated 0.8 percent, even as oil prices increased, and utilities lost 1 percent as nine of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups declined.

     Netflix led gains in Internet companies, up 4.4 percent after UBS AG analyst Douglas Mitchelson raised shares to buy from neutral. Facebook Inc. rose 1.2 percent, while Priceline Group Inc. advanced 0.9 percent.

     Financial shares in the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent, led by Genworth Financial Inc.’s 2.7 percent climb. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the Dow’s best performer, up 0.6 percent before its earnings report Tuesday. Huntington Bancshares Inc. paced gains in S&P 500 banks, rising 2.1 percent.

     JetBlue Airways Corp. climbed 4.2 percent after saying after the close on Friday that a measure of passenger revenue per available seat mile increased by 8 percent year-over-year for March.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When a man begins to have a vision larger than his own truth,

when he realizes that it is much larger than it at first seemed, he begins to become conscious of his moral nature.

His perspective on life necessarily changes, and his will takes the place of his desires.

So comes about the conflict between our inferior self and our superior self,

between our desires and our will, between our greed for objects that appeal to our senses

and the purpose that comes from the bottom of our heart.

 

Rabindranath Tagore.

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth.  We are all crew.

                                        –Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends, 

Tangents:

APRIL

…On some spring days I imagine I can see the plants growing, especially when the earth smells good.  This morning as I went outside in the sunshine after rain, the familiar smell of the balsam poplars wafted my way.  The delicious resinous scent is strongest as the leaf buds are opening in April.  Another sure sign of spring, and almost merging into summer, is the arrival of the swallows.  As soon as they come we must remember to leave a crack in the garage doors to allow them inside.  They always build in the rafters above the windscreen of my car.  The poets have got it right.  Chaucer chose “Aprille with his schowres swoote” as the  pleasantest month for his Canterbury pilgrims to “go on pilgrimage.”  Spenser describes it as

Garnished with garlands goodly dight

Of all the fairest flowers and freshest buds

Which the earth brings forth. 

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

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The four Yorkshire Terriers Bobby, Billy, Benni and Zorro look out of the car of their owner during bright sunshine in Ravensburg, southern Germany, Friday. Felix Kaestle/dpa/AP

A buyer chooses hand decorated Easter eggs at Green Market, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Orthodox Good Friday. Orthodox Serbs celebrate Easter on April 12, according to old Julian calendar, and the ancient tradition of hand decorated eggs is upheld in this Orthodox Easter custom. Darko Vojinovic/AP

Market Closes for April 10, 2015 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18057.65	+98.92
		+0.55%
S&P 500	2102.06	+10.88   +0.52%
NASDAQ	4995.977	+21.412   +0.48%
TSX	15388.43	+62.12
		+0.41%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19907.63	-30.09
		-0.15%
HANG SENG	27272.39	+328.00
		+1.22%
SENSEX	28879.38	-5.38
		-0.02%
FTSE 100	7089.77	+74.41
		+1.06%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.372	1.373
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.040	2.034
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9473	1.9596
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5791	2.5981

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79574	0.79466
US $	1.25670	1.25843
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.33239	0.75053
US $	1.06023	0.94319

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1207.35	1194.80
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.64	50.79

Any fool can buy.  It is the wise man who knows how to sell. –Albert W. Thomas, b. 1927.

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a seventh day, the longest stretch since June, as gold prices advanced for the first time in four days and the economy unexpectedly gained jobs in March.

     Cara Operations Ltd., operator of the Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s food chains, surged 43 percent in its trading debut. Capstone Mining Corp. and Alacer Gold Corp. advanced at least 6.3 percent to pace gains among raw-materials producers. Athabasca Oil Corp. rallied 4 percent as oil capped the longest stretch of weekly gains in a year.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 62.12 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,388.43 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest closing level since Sept. 18. The equity gauge has advanced 3.3 percent over seven days and is up 5.2 percent for the year.

     Goldcorp Inc. increased 2.7 percent and Barrick Gold Corp. rose 2.1 percent as raw-materials producers advanced 1.1 percent. Nine of 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge rose on trading volume 12 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Gold for June delivery increased 0.9 percent to $1,204.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York after holdings in exchange- traded products backed by bullion saw the largest increase in more than six weeks. Silver climbed 1.3 percent. Silver Wheaton Corp. added 2 percent.

     Canada’s economy added 28,700 jobs in March as the jobless rate remained at 6.8 percent, according to data from Statistics Canada. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecasted the jobless rate would rise to 6.9 percent and employment would be unchanged. The gains were powered by services from retailing to transportation and part-time work.

     Cara Operations soared 43 percent to C$32.90 in its first day of trading on the TSX. The food company completed a C$200 million initial offering that priced shares at C$23 today.

     Bombardier Inc. rose 1.5 percent to a two-month high. The company is considering options that include a sale or an initial public offering of its transportation arm as it seeks to offset challenges in its aerospace unit, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied to within 1 percent of its all-time high after General Electric Co. announced a broad restructuring plan and investors awaited further clues on the strength of corporate profits.

     GE rose the most in six years after saying it plans to exit the majority of its finance business, and it authorized a stock buyback of as much as $50 billion. Health-care companies advanced for a sixth day. Netflix Inc. climbed more than 3.4 percent, while financial stocks lagged as insurance companies slipped.

     The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 2,102.06 at 4 p.m. in New York, and posted back-to-back weekly advances for the first time in almost two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 98.92 points, or 0.6 percent, to 18,057.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.4 percent. About 5.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 17 percent below the three-month average.

     “I’m a little surprised the market is moving with this level of enthusiasm,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist in Philadelphia at Janney Capital Management LLC, which oversees about $68 billion. “The announcement of the GE share buyback is gargantuan, and with it being a very widely- held position, a share price boost is also boosting investor portfolios and stock indices.”

     The S&P 500 is now less than 1 percent from its all-time high set on March 2. The benchmark index added 1.7 percent this week, and marked three consecutive days of gains for the first time since Feb. 17. The Nasdaq Composite is 1 percent away from its March 2000 high, while the Dow is 1.3 percent from its record set last month.

     BlackRock Inc.’s global chief investment strategist Russ Koesterich predicted in a note to clients that the current six- year bull market won’t end until “sometime between 2016 and 2017.”

     JPMorgan Chase & Co., Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp. are among S&P 500 members reporting quarterly results next week. Analysts have slashed corporate profit projections, predicting a slump through September. Earnings probably fell 5.6 percent in the first quarter, they estimated.

     Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, the New York-based head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a client note Friday lowered the firm’s 2015 earnings-per-share forecast for the S&P 500 to $123 from $127.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 3.9 percent to 12.58. The gauge, known as the VIX, is down almost 15 percent in the last three days and closed at its lowest level since December.                       

    The VIX closed Thursday more than 10 percent below its 10- day, 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Before March, the gauge of U.S. equity trader anxiety hadn’t fallen that much since July 2013, data compiled by Sundial Capital Research Inc. show. Some of investors’ anxiety has been alleviated as a slew of weaker economic data has signaled the Federal Reserve may have reason to delay raising interest rates beyond this summer.

     Fed Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said he continues to favor a first rate increase in June because recent soft readings on the economy will probably prove temporary.

     “Readings on some indicators have been unexpectedly weak in recent weeks, some of which may be attributable to unseasonably adverse weather,” Lacker, who votes on monetary policy this year, said in Sarasota, Florida, on Friday. Minutes released Wednesday from the Fed’s latest meeting showed officials were split on whether they would raise interest rates in June.                         

     GE was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, surging 11 percent, after authorizing a stock buyback of as much as $50 billion. The company also said it plans to exit the bulk of its lending business, including a $26.5 billion sale of most of its real estate.

     The industrial giant’s stock price reached its highest level since Sept. 2008 as almost 352 million shares traded, the largest daily volume since March 2009. GE contributed 18.55 points, or about 19 percent, of the Dow’s Friday gain.

     A group of industrial companies in the S&P 500 jumped 1.8 percent, led by GE and also gains of more than 1.4 percent for Caterpillar Inc. and Union Pacific Corp. The sector rose 3.3 percent for the week, the biggest increase in the benchmark gauge.

     Consumer discretionary companies advanced for a third day, their longest streak in two months, led by a 4.8 percent increase in Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc. and Staples Inc. also climbed more than 1.9 percent.

     AbbVie Inc. and Intuitive Surgical Inc. increased at least 2.7 percent, bolstering health-care shares for a sixth session, the best stretch in three weeks. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. rose more than 1.8 percent.                         

     Netflix gained 3.4 percent after Citigroup Inc. upgraded the company to buy from neutral, in part citing improvement in recently released content and content line-up for the rest of this year.

     Financial companies in the S&P 500 lagged among the index’s 10 main groups. Morgan Stanley lost 1.1 percent, while Prudential Financial Inc. and MetLife Inc. slid at least 1 percent.

     Citrix Systems dropped 1.3 percent, paring an earlier decline of almost 6 percent. The company was downgraded to market perform from outperform at William Blair & Co. by equity analyst Bhavan Suri after the software maker cut its first- quarter sales and profit guidance.

  

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Everyone is a manifestation of the Impersonal, the basis of all being,

and misery consists in thinking of ourselves as different from this Infinite, Impersonal Being,

and liberation consists in knowing our unity with this wonderful Impersonality.

 

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

While there is life there is hope.

      -Jules Verne, 1828-1905

 

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

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 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Va., effectively ending the American Civil War.

A Confederate flag bearer watches the battle during a re-enactment of the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse as part of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House in Appomattox, Va., Thursday. The battle was the final battle of the army of Confederate General Robert E. Lee before his surrender to Union troops. Steve Helber/AP

Getty Images

Apple Watch on display

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000369730

Market Closes for April 9, 2015  

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17958.73	+56.22
		+0.31%
S&P 500	2091.18	+9.28   +0.45%
NASDAQ	4974.566	+23.746   +0.48%
TSX	15326.31	112.71
		+0.74%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19937.72	+147.91
		+0.75%
HANG SENG	26944.39	+707.53
		+2.70%
SENSEX	28885.21	+177.46
		+0.62%
FTSE 100	7015.36	+77.95
		+1.12%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.373	1.340
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.034	1.991
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9596	1.9047
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5981	2.5291

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79466	0.7972
US $	1.25843	1.2543
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.34209	0.74510
US $	1.06620	0.93791

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1194.80	1207.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.79	50.42

The worst crime against working people is a company that fails to make a profit.  –Samuel Gompers, 1850-1924.

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied a sixth day, for the highest closing level since September, as energy producers advanced after oil rebounded from the biggest one-day decline in two months.

     Brookfield Asset Management Inc. gained 2.1 percent after the company said it will increase its dividend and split its stock 3-for-2. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. and Pengrowth Energy Corp. increased at least 3.5 percent as oil rallied. Hudson’s Bay Co. lost 3.4 percent after two investors sold shares of the retailer.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 112.71 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,326.31 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has advanced 2.8 percent over six days and is up 4.7 percent for the year.

     Suncor Energy Inc. increased 1.4 percent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 1.3 percent as energy producers increased 1.4 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Nine of 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge rose on trading volume 3.5 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Crude futures climbed 0.7 percent in New York following a 6.6 percent slump on Wednesday. Iran said it would only agree to curb its nuclear program if all trade restrictions are removed, while U.S. and EU officials have said the restrictions should be lifted gradually.

     Concordia Healthcare Corp., the best-performing stock in the S&P/TSX this year, increased 7.1 percent for a third day of gains, extending a record.

     The company yesterday closed a C$368 million deal selling subscription receipts for shares, in part to fund its $1.2 billion proposed acquisition of assets from Covis Pharma Holdings Sarl. Chief Executive Officer Mark Thompson is seeking larger acquisitions and more assets in Europe.

     Detour Gold Corp. retreated 4.3 percent as gold for June delivery lost 0.8 percent to $1,193.60 in New York, a one-week low on speculation the Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates. Policy makers with the central bank were split on a potential rate hike in June, according to the latest minutes.

     Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. slumped 6.7 percent after Tony Robson, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, cut his rating for the stock to market perform, the equivalent of a hold, from outperform, or buy.

US

By Callie Bost and Jennifer Kaplan

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose as energy companies gained amid a rebound in crude, offsetting quarterly results from Alcoa Inc. and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. that disappointed investors.

     Halliburton Co. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. added more than 3.2 percent as oil rose after its biggest drop in two months. Health-care companies climbed for a fifth day. Alcoa dropped 3.4 percent after first-quarter sales missed projections and the company forecast a global supply glut for the metal in 2015. Bed Bath & Beyond declined 5.4 percent, leading retailers down after lower-than-estimated earnings and outlook.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.5 percent to 2,091.18 at 4 p.m. in New York, after trading around its average price for the past 50 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 56.22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,958.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.5 percent, while the Russell 2000 Index slipped 0.3 percent.

     “There’s no real news today except for jobless claims,” said Paul Zemsky, the head of multi-asset strategies at Voya Investment Management LLC, which oversees $213 billion. “The Hang Seng broke out to new highs and the Euro Stoxx did the same. Do you want to go home short with another strong night tonight? If I were a trader, I wouldn’t want to go home if you’re short the U.S.”

     The biggest three-day rally since January propelled the Stoxx Europe 600 Index above a previous all-time high reached in 2000. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rallied overnight to a seven- year high.

     The S&P 500 posted a second day of gains after minutes Wednesday from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, held before last week’s worse-than-forecast jobs data, showed officials were split on whether they would raise interest rates in June. The benchmark gauge has fallen 1.2 percent from a March 2 record amid concern a stronger dollar and tumbling oil prices will hurt profits.

     JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp. are among 35 S&P 500 companies reporting results next week. Analysts have slashed corporate profit projections, predicting a slump through September. Earnings fell 5.8 percent in the first quarter, they estimated, after having forecast an increase as recently as January.

     Still, projections have a history of pessimism. Going back five years in data compiled by Bloomberg, analyst predictions for S&P 500 companies were on average 5.1 percent lower than the final quarterly results.                        

     A report Thursday showed fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks than at any time in almost 15 years, signaling underlying strength in the labor market even as hiring cooled last month. Applications over the latest week climbed by 14,000 to 281,000. The median forecast of 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 283,000.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 6.4 percent Thursday to 13.09. The gauge, known as the VIX, marked its biggest two-day decline in almost two months, down 11 percent. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 11 percent below the three-month average.

     Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups rose, led by energy shares’ 1.5 percent gain as West Texas Intermediate crude advanced after a 6.6 percent plunge Wednesday. Baker Hughes Inc., Transocean Ltd. and Marathon Oil Corp. all climbed at least 2.6 percent.

     Health-care companies advanced as Mylan NV reached an all- time high, adding 2.5 percent to a 15 percent rally Wednesday after it offered to buy Perrigo Co. for $28.9 billion.

     Express Scripts Holding Co. climbed 4.9 percent to a record after Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s chief executive said the company is looking into a buyout of a company in the drug- distribution supply chain or a joint venture with a partner. Walgreens rose 5.6 percent.

     Altera Corp. rallied 3.2 percent, leading semiconductor companies higher, as investors bet it would be forced to reconsider a $54-per-share takeover offer from Intel Corp. Altera fell as much as 7.9 percent, as people familiar with the negotiations said the company broke off talks to be acquired. Intel slipped 0.2 percent. Nvidia Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. added at least 2.3 percent.

     General Electric Co. jumped 2.9 percent, the most in the Dow. It’s near an agreement to sell a real estate portfolio worth as much as $30 billion to Blackstone Group LP and Wells Fargo & Co., according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

     Consumer discretionary and financial companies lagged for most of the session before erasing declines late in the day. Bed Bath & Beyond retreated 5.4 percent, its biggest drop in three months, while Macy’s Inc. slid 2.6 percent after reaching a record Wednesday. Home Depot Inc. lost 0.9 percent, the leading decline in the Dow.

     Costco Wholesale Corp. fell 2.1 percent, the most in two months, after releasing March sales numbers that were lower than analysts’ estimates. The company’s sales are subject to falling gas prices and foreign exchange pressure, Bloomberg Intelligence reported.

     Real-estate companies within the S&P 500’s financial group dropped the most, with Essex Property Trust Inc., Equity Residential and Kimco Realty Corp. losing at least 2.6 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

First of all, accept yourself.

When you do not accept yourself and imagine yourself to be someone different,

a conflict arises between what you believe you are and what you really are.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

No one has ever become poor by giving.

                    -Anne Frank, 1929-1945

 

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

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:

Here is something from WSJ.com that might interest you aka “the merits of investing in art and beauty for the long term”:

Southern Song dynasty-era vase sells for $14.7 million at Sotheby’s auction

By Dean Napolitano

The Wall Street Journal

April 7, 2015 6:26 a.m. ET

A Southern Song dynasty-era vase sold for 113.9 million Hong Kong dollars (US$14.7 million) at a Sotheby’s sale in Hong Kong on Tuesday, one of the highest prices ever paid at auction for a ceramic from that period.

Sotheby’s said the buyer was Shanghai-based collector Liu Yiqian, who last year paid a record price at auction for Chinese porcelain—a Ming dynasty-era bowl known as the “chicken cup.”

The roughly 8½-inch vase will go to the Long Museum in Shanghai, which is owned by Mr. Liu and his wife, Wang Wei.

In a crowded room at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday, bidding opened at HK$48 million and quickly reached HK$100 million, where it hovered briefly until the hammer finally came down on Mr. Liu’s bid, which was phoned in. The auction house charged an additional buyer’s premium of HK$13.9 million.

Mr. Liu, a taxi driver turned stock-market investor, beat out seven other bidders.

It was the third-highest price ever paid at auction for a Song ceramic, after a brush washer that sold for HK$207.9 million in 2012 and a basin that sold for HK$146.8 million in 2014.

Those two sales also took place at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.

The vase is part of the guan, or official, ware that was made for the imperial court of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) in Hangzhou. It has a grayish-blue monochromatic glaze with threadlike crackles, which developed in the kiln during the cooling-down process after the piece had been fired.

“It’s a masterpiece of understatement,” Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia deputy chairman and international head of Chinese works of art, said during a news conference that followed the sale.

In a later interview, Mr. Chow said there was a revival of neo-Confucianism in the late Northern Song and Southern Song dynasties.

“The values of humility were incredibly important, moving away from the ostentatiousness that you will find among most Tang dynasty arts,” he said.

Mr. Chow, describing the vase’s octagonal shape as “very architectural,” said the design harked back to early Chinese bronzes, adding that the Southern Song dynasty suffered from a shortage of bronze because most of it had been melted down for use in warfare.

“In the state rituals in the Southern Song dynasty, after the court fled south, it was very important to reinstate the political legitimacy of the ruler,” he said. “Given the shortage of bronze, ceramics were used to copy bronze shapes.”

The vase had been in a private collection in Japan for the past 40 years. Before that, it was in the hands of a collector in London, where the vase had likely been brought from China about a century ago.

Sotheby’s said that because of the vase’s high quality, it likely was handed down over the centuries rather than excavated. http://on.wsj.com/1DmD1nu

Also, on this day in 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715^th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 714 homers.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A cherry tree is in full blossom in front of the skyline on a sunny day in Frankfurt, central Germany, Wednesday. Michael Probst/AP

People head home as the sun sets behind Raisina Hill and the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi Tuesday. Manish Swarup/AP

Market Closes for April 8, 2015 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17902.51	+27.09
		+0.15%
S&P 500	2081.90	+5.57   +0.27%
NASDAQ	4950.821	+40.587   +0.83%
TSX	15213.60	24.76
		+0.16%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19789.81	+149.27
		+0.76%
HANG SENG	26236.86	+961.22
		+3.80%
SENSEX	28707.75	+191.16
		+0.67%
FTSE 100	6937.41	-24.36
		-0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.340	1.342
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.991	1.991
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9047	1.8874
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5291	2.5209

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7972	0.79977
US $	1.2543	1.25036
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
US $	1.0784	0.92729

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1207.25	1211.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.42	53.98

Whatever method you use to pick stocks….your ultimate success or failure will depend on your ability to ignore the worries of the world long enough to allow your investments to succeed.  It isn’t the head but the stomach that determine the fate of the stockpicker. –Peter Lynch, Fidelity Investments, Beating the Street, 1994, b. 1944.

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fifth day, extending the longest winning streak since February, as an advance in financial and health-care shares offset losses in energy producers amid oil’s worst slump in two months.

     Manulife Financial Corp. added 2 percent after nearing a deal to sell its insurance products in Asia through DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. tumbled 8 percent as crude slumped 6.6 percent in New York. McEwen Mining Inc. dropped 6 percent after armed robbers stole $8.5 million of gold from its Mexico mine. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and Concordia Healthcare Corp. jumped at least 3.8 percent for a second day of gains.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 24.76 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,213.60 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has advanced 2.1 percent over five days.

     Eight of the 10 main groups in the equities benchmark advanced, with financial shares rising 0.7 percent. The group accounts for about one-third of the index by weighting. Health- care shares rallied after Mylan NV offered to buy Perrigo Co., adding to a spate of recent deals in the sector. Trading volume was 3.1 percent below the 30-day average today.

     Manulife, Canada’s largest life insurer, climbed 2 percent for a second day of gains. The company will pay S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) to DBS Group to sell and market its products in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Indonesia.

     Yamana Gold Inc. slipped 1.5 percent as gold for June delivery declined 0.8 percent to $1,199.26 an ounce in New York.

     Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. dropped 2.6 percent and Crescent Point Energy Corp. lost 3.6 percent as energy producers declined 1.6 percent as a group.

     New York crude futures plunged 6.6 percent a day after reaching their high for the year. U.S. oil stockpiles climbed 10.95 million barrels in the week ended April 3 to the highest level since 1930, a government report showed on Wednesday.

US

By Oliver Renick and Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed officials were split on the timing for raising interest rates.

     The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index jumped 2.9 percent after Mylan NV offered to buy Perrigo Co. for $28.9 billion. Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. fell at least 1.7 percent as oil retreated after data showed crude inventories grew more than expected last week. Alcoa Inc. fell 3.2 percent in late trading after reporting first-quarter results.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.3 percent to 2,081.90 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27.09 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,902.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 percent as biotech shares rallied for a second day. About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 10 percent below the three-month average.

     “The market is reacting very short-term right now to all these little bits of news,” said Randy Warren, who manages more than $100 million at Exton, Pennsylvania-based Warren Financial Service & Associates Inc. “We’re bouncing around in a band of a couple of percentage points one way or the other. What’s important for investors right now is to look for good companies, not react to every twitch of the Fed.”

     Fed policy makers last month were divided over whether they would raise interest rates in June, a debate that occurred before recent disappointing payroll figures, according to minutes of the March 17-18 Federal Open Market Committee session released Wednesday.                          

     While some participants argued for higher rates in June, others said a rate increase should be delayed until later in the year. A couple said the economy probably wouldn’t be ready for tighter policy until 2016.

     “This is just confirmation that there’s uncertainty,” said Scott Wren, the senior equity strategist who helps oversee $1.4 trillion at Wells Fargo Advisors LLC in St. Louis. “We’re two months from June, there’s no way in my mind the Fed is going to make a move without telling us three to four months ahead of time.”

     The Fed in its meeting last month dropped an assurance to be “patient” on the timing of the first interest-rate increase since 2006 and described job gains as “strong.” Since the meeting, economic data have suggested the economy cooled as a result of unusually harsh winter weather, tepid overseas markets and a slowdown in energy-related capital investment.

     New York Fed President William Dudley said Wednesday that while recent data has surprised to the downside, he can imagine scenarios in which policy makers raise borrowing costs at the June meeting. Fed Governor Jerome Powell said he saw a greater risk of damaging the economy with a premature rate increase than of triggering inflation by waiting too long.

     U.S. equities rallied on March 18 after the Fed said data suggest economic growth has moderated and officials indicated rates will rise more slowly than previously estimated.

     The S&P 500 has lost about 1 percent in the three weeks since, as speculation grew that signs of a slowdown will hurt earnings. Profits for S&P 500 companies probably fell 5.8 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings are also projected to slump in the next two quarters.

     Alcoa lost 3.2 percent as of 4:35 p.m. in New York. After the market closed, the largest U.S. aluminum producer reported first-quarter sales that trailed analysts’ forecasts. Earnings beat expectations as the price of the metal rose. Alcoa gained 1.8 percent during the regular session.      

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 5.4 percent Wednesday to 13.98, the most in two weeks. The gauge, know as the VIX, slipped 2.7 percent last week.

     Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups rose. Consumer discretionary shares rebounded 0.9 percent to lead the advance after their biggest drop in more than a week. Health-care companies rallied for a second day, also up 0.9 percent.

     Perrigo soared 18 percent and Mylan added 15 percent amid Mylan’s takeover bid, which sent the benchmark’s health-care group up 0.9 percent. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals added to Tuesday’s gains, rising more than 2.6 percent. The Nasdaq Biotech index rose the most since Jan. 16, up 2.9 percent.                         

     Netflix Inc., Dollar General Corp. and Macy’s rose at least 2.7 percent to pace the advance in consumer shares. Macy’s reached an all-time high. Nike Inc. climbed 1.2 percent, the Dow’s best performer.

     Airlines led a rebound in transportation stocks as oil retreated. Delta Air Lines Inc. snapped a five-day losing streak, rising 4 percent for its best gain in more than two months. Southwest Airlines Co. added 3.7 percent, its biggest climb since Jan. 22.

     Energy companies in the S&P 500 slid 1 percent amid a 6.6 percent slump in West Texas Intermediate crude, oil’s biggest drop in two months. Murphy Oil Corp. lost 2.8 percent, while Exxon fell 2 percent, the worst among Dow components.

Have a wonderful evening everyone. J

 

Be magnificent!

Fear is one of the greatest problems in life.  A mind that is caught in fear

lives in confusion, in conflict, and therefore must be violent, distorted and aggressive.

 

Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

 

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

wintertime.  It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself

in the sunset.

                     -Crowfoot, 1830-1890

 

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

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, April 7^th, in 1964, Keith Vaughan wrote in his Journal on the New Generation exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, which launched the Pop Art movement:

After all one’s thought and search and effort to make some sort of image which would embody the life of our time, it turns out that all that was really significant were toffee wrappers, liquorice allsorts and ton-up motor bikes.   So one could have saved oneself the trouble.  I understand how the stranded dinosaurs felt when the hard terrain, which for centuries had demanded from them greater weight and effort, suddenly started to get swampy beneath their feet.  Over-armoured and slow-witted they could only subside in frightened bewilderment.  One hoped, I suppose, in the end to hand on to someone who saw further, had more talent, more youth, energy, more time before him, to complete what one had started, or relayed from the past. But not this.  Perhaps it is the iron curtain between the generations, which one had always heard of but thought to apply only to the past, across which no comparisons are valid. –from The Book of Days. 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
 Visitors take photographs of the painting ‘Liz #6 [Early Colored Liz] 1963,’ by Andy Warhol, during the ‘American Icons’ exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday. The exhibition features images by 20th-century American artists including Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Jacques Brinon/AP

President Barack Obama waves with the Easter Bunny on the Truman Balcony during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn in Washington Monday. Thousands of children gathered for the annual event which features live music, cooking stations, storytelling and Easter egg rolling. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Market Closes for April 7, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17875.42	-5.43
		-0.03%
S&P 500	2077.27	-3.35   -0.16%
NASDAQ	4910.234	-7.083   -0.14%
TSX	15188.39	87.74
		+0.58%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19640.54	+242.56
		+1.25%
HANG SENG	25275.64	+192.89
		+0.77%
SENSEX	28516.59	+12.13
		+0.04%
FTSE 100	6961.77	+128.31
		+1.88%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	April 2/15 % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.342	1.314
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.991	1.959
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8874	1.9117
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5209	2.5321

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	April 2, 2015
Canadian $	0.79977	0.79602
US $	1.25036	1.25634
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.35279	0.73921
US $	1.08190	0.92430

Commodities

Gold	Close	April 2, 2015
London Gold Fix	1211.00	1198.50
Oil	Close	April 2, 2015
WTI Crude Future	53.98	50.09

 The most important lesson in investing is humility.

                       -Sir John Templeton, 1912-2008

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fourth day, for the longest stretch of gains since February, as the nation’s largest lenders advanced and energy producers extended gains with crude reaching a seven-week high.

     Hudson’s Bay Co. surged 5.6 percent after forecasting 2015 sales that exceed estimates. Air Canada rose 1 percent as traffic increased on its routes in March. Bombardier Inc. and SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. climbed at least 1.5 percent to lead industrial shares higher. Royal Bank of Canada added 0.8 percent to pace gains among the lenders.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 88.19 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,188.84 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has advanced 1.9 percent in four days, the longest winning streak since Feb. 17.

     Seven of the 10 main groups in the equities benchmark advanced, with energy shares rising 1.2 percent as a group. Technology shares added 2.2 percent for the best gain. Trading volume was 13 percent higher than the 30-day average today.

     Hudson’s Bay rose to an all-time high. Digital sales at the retailer soared 35 percent in the fourth quarter while same- store sales advanced in both the company’s department store chains as well as its Saks Fifth Avenue unit.

     Ballard Power Systems Inc., which makes and markets hydrogen fuel cells, soared 8.2 percent after the company said its customers successfully demonstrated an electric tram powered by one of its cells at a ceremonial event in China.

     Royal Bank, the nation’s largest lender, increased to the highest since March 2, and Toronto-Dominion Bank increased 0.8 percent as the S&P/TSX Banks Index rallied. The group has surged 2.8 percent in six days, the longest such stretch since December.

US

By Callie Bost and Jennifer Kaplan

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, after two days of gains, amid declines in consumer and utility shares before the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes Wednesday.

     Equities in the final hour erased gains after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed as much as 0.4 percent amid corporate deals. FedEx Corp. advanced 2.7 percent after agreeing to buy TNT Express NV for $4.8 billion. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. rose 9.8 percent after Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to buy 20 million of its shares from affiliates of the Carlyle Group LP.

     The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent to 2,076.33 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index hasn’t posted three consecutive days of gains since Feb. 17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 5.43 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,875.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1 percent. About 5.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 16 percent below the three- month average.

     “The market’s kind of treading water here it seems like waiting for earnings season,” said Joe Bell, a Cincinnati-based senior equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc. “You have an FOMC minutes on Wednesday so probably just a continued monitoring of a lot of the economic reports to get any sort of clue or indication how soon they might increase rates.”

     Earnings season unofficially kicks off when Alcoa Inc. reports quarterly results after markets close on Wednesday. Profits for S&P 500 companies probably fell 5.8 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. They also project a slump in the next two quarters.

     Last week’s news of the weakest hiring since December 2013 rounded off a quarter in which retail sales and capital goods orders all pointed to a first quarter flop. That leaves JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimating growth was just 0.6 percent.

     The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent on Monday after Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said the pace of rate increases may be “shallow” once tightening begins. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said late yesterday he favors putting off a rate rise for the next two meetings.                          

     Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota said Tuesday that policy makers “should be extraordinarily patient about reducing the level of monetary accommodation,” and raising the fed funds rate would be a “mistake” this year.

     Minutes from the Fed’s March meeting, after which it said that economic growth has moderated, are due on Wednesday. Chair Janet Yellen has said she expects to raise rates this year, and that subsequent increases will be gradual.

     “We may find ourselves once again in the strange situation that bad economic news may be interpreted as good because it delays a rate increase,” said Philippe Gijsels, chief strategy officer at BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels. “Each word by the Fed will be looked at from all sides. The minutes will also be closely looked at, and the same goes for the economic data, as the Fed has indicated that a hike is very data dependent.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 0.3 percent to 14.78. The gauge, know as the VIX, slipped 2.7 percent last week.

     Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups fell Tuesday, led by utility, phone and consumer companies. An S&P gauge of homebuilder stocks dropped 2.2 percent, the most in a month, as Toll Brothers Inc. and Lennar Corp. lost more than 2.5 percent.

    General Motors Co. fell 2.5 percent after the Canadian government said it’s selling its remaining shares in the carmaker, a stake worth about $2.7 billion.

     Entergy Corp. and Consolidated Edison Inc. slumped at least 1.5 percent to pace a 1.1 percent drop in the benchmark’s utilities shares.

     Energy and health-care companies were the only two groups to maintain gains for the session. Diamond Offshore Drilling rallied 2.8 percent after rising 5.6 percent Monday for the best two-day advance in more than three months. Oil and gas explorer Range Resources Corp. added 2.9 percent, to its highest since December, leading S&P 500 energy companies’ climb.

     Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. gained at least 1.9 percent, leading health-care’s advance. Biogen Inc. rose 1.1 percent while Johnson & Johnson climbed 1 percent.

     FedEx’s climb led transportation stocks higher after four days of declines. Railroad Union Pacific Corp. increased 1.4 percent after a nearly 10 percent drop since March 18.

     American Express Co. lost 1.6 percent after Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. cut its rating to underperform, citing structural headwinds pressuring profitability of the underlying business.                       

     Ventas Inc. retreated 2.5 percent, the most in a month, after rallying 5 percent Monday in its biggest gain in more than three years. The $25 billion health-care real estate investment trust said yesterday it will spin off most of its skilled- nursing facilities and buy Ardent Medical Services Inc. Real- estate companies fell 1.5 percent Tuesday, the most of 24 industry groups in the S&P 500.

     Informatica Corp. rallied 4.3 percent after it agreed to be bought by private-equity firm Permira and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for about $5.3 billion.

     Clovis Oncology Inc. jumped 8 percent after saying U.S. regulators designated its rucaparib drug as a breakthrough therapy to treat advanced ovarian cancer.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear is man’s greatest enemy,

and it manifests itself in forms as diverse as shame, jealousy, anger, insolence, arrogance…

What causes fear?  Lack of confidence in oneself.

 

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

One man with courage is a majority.

    -Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826

 

 

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

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 10 years ago, history’s most well-traveled pope, John Paul II, died at his home in the Vatican. Born in Poland, Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian to hold the position since the 16^th century.

Happy Easter!

Happy Passover!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A sparrow drinks the nectar of a cherry blossom in full bloom at Ueno park in Tokyo Thursday. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

Penitents of the ‘Virgen de la Esperanza’ brotherhood take part in a Holy Week procession in Zamora, Spain, Thursday. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week. Andres Kudacki/AP

Market Closes for April 2^nd, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17763.24	+65.06
		+0.37%
S&P 500	2066.96	+7.27   +0.35%
NASDAQ	4886.938	+6.710   +0.14%
TSX	15026.62	84.07
		+0.56%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19312.79	+277.95
		+1.46%
HANG SENG	25275.64	+192.89
		+0.77%
SENSEX	28260.14	+302.65
		+1.08%
FTSE 100	6833.46	+23.96
		+0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.314	1. 315
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.959	1.948
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9117	1.8564
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5321	2.4614

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79602	0.79249
US $	1.25634	1.26184
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.36654	0.73176
US $	1.08775	0.91933

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1198.50	1197.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.14	50.09

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a second day, as energy producers rallied with consumer shares to cap the benchmark gauge’s best weekly advance in two months.

     Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. climbed 5.8 percent to pace gains among oil producers. Cogeco Cable Inc. added 1.9 percent after analysts at Macquarie Bank Ltd. increased their rating for the stock to the equivalent of a buy. Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lender, added 0.7 percent.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 84.07 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,026.62 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity added 1.5 percent in the four days, the best week since Feb. 6. Canadian markets will be closed for Friday for a holiday.

     Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd. gained 3.2 percent and Suncor Energy Inc. rallied 3.8 percent as energy producers jumped 1.5 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Eight of 10 industries in the broader gauge advanced on trading volume 19 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Suncor expects C$600 million to C$800 million in operating budget cuts to be “substantially” realized in 2015, ahead of previous two-year projections. Suncor and other energy producers have been forced to slash costs in reaction to the more than 50 percent slump in the U.S. benchmark crude price from last year’s peak.

     Consumer products producers and retailers rallied at least1.2 percent, for the next biggest gains in the S&P/TSX.

US

By Joseph Ciolli and Jennifer Kaplan

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after equities’ two-day decline, as a trend of mixed economic data continued before Friday’s government report on hiring.

     CarMax Inc. rallied to an all-time high after a stronger- than-estimated fourth-quarter profit. Lorillard Inc. and Reynolds American Inc. climbed as antitrust officials weigh the cigarette companies’ merger. Qualcomm Inc. and Google Inc. slipped more than 1.3 percent.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 percent to 2,066.96 at 4 p.m. in New York, and finished the week higher by

0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 65.06 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,763.24, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.1 percent. About 5.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 15 percent below the three-month average.

     “We probably got a bit too sold off as people read into the recent more negative data, and traders are getting back in,” said Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “Investors are thinking maybe they shouldn’t leave such a short position out there over the weekend in case the jobs data ends up being better than expected.”

     Stocks extended gains after Iran and world powers said they reached an outline accord that keeps them on track to end a decade-long nuclear dispute.

     The S&P 500 fluctuated in the holiday-shortened week around a 15-point range framed by the index’s 50-day and 100-day moving averages. Data Thursday showed jobless claims fell more than forecast while factory output topped estimates, continuing a trend of mixed economic reports as the Federal Reserve considers raising interest rates.

     Focus is on tomorrow’s monthly payrolls data, in which economists predict nonfarm payrolls rose 245,000 in March, down from February’s 295,000 with no change to the 5.5 percent unemployment rate, the lowest since 2008. Wage growth is also forecast to be little changed.

     While markets will be closed, traders will still have 45 minutes to react: The Labor Department will release the report at 8:30 a.m. New York time and index futures will trade until 9:15 a.m.

     After the S&P 500’s weakest quarterly performance since the last three months of 2012, investors are now taking steps to protect gains from a six-year bull market as a run of disappointing data and projections for falling profits have reinforced concern that economic growth may be slowing. Bearish options on the S&P 500 outnumber bullish ones by the most since 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the earnings season when it releases results on April 8. Analysts estimate first-quarter profits for S&P 500 companies will decline for the first time since 2009. They had predicted earnings growth for the period as recently as January.

     Nine of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups gained Thursday, led by consumer and phone companies. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index declined 2.9 percent to 14.67. The gauge, know as the VIX, fell 20 percent in the first quarter, the most in a year.

     CarMax jumped 9.3 percent to a record after reporting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. Expedia Inc. rose 4.1 percent to a record after Cowen & Co LLC analyst Kevin Kopelman raised his price target to $115 from $90 a share.

     Macy’s Inc. advanced 3.7 percent to an all-time high amid a Reuters report that department-store chain Belk Inc. is exploring a sale and may solicit Macy’s interest in a deal.

     An S&P index of homebuilders reached its highest level since June 2007. DR Horton Inc., Toll Brothers Inc. and Lennar Corp. rose more than 1.9 percent.                           

     Media companies gained 1.4 percent, the most of 24 industry groups in the S&P 500. Time Warner Inc. climbed 2.7 percent, rebounding from its worst two-day slide in 10 weeks. Discovery Communications Inc. and CBS Corp. added more than 2.5 percent.

     Energy shares pared gains as oil prices fell after negotiators reached an accord in nuclear talks with Iran. Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Corp. and Marathon Petroleum Corp. slid more than 4.6 percent. Oil lost 1.9 percent after Wednesday posting its biggest gain in two months.

     Technology companies lagged as Qualcomm retreated 2.1 percent following its best three-day gain in seven weeks, and Microsoft slipped 1.1 percent. Google Inc. fell 1.3 percent, extending declines to a third day and six out of seven. Shares have slumped 6.1 percent during that period.

     Motorola Solutions Inc. tumbled 6.2 percent after people with knowledge of the matter said the company has failed to find a buyer.

     United Continental Holdings Inc., American Airlines Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. lost more than 2.3 percent, pacing declines among a Bloomberg index of U.S. carriers. The group is down 6.9 percent since Monday. The Dow Jones Transportation Average decreased 0.8 percent Thursday to close at its lowest level since October.

 

Have a fabulous long weekend everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

How is this dream to be broken

How shall we wake up from this dream

that we are little men and women,

and all such things? 

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

Carolann
 

Nothing in life is to be feared.  It is only to be understood.

                            -Marie Sklodowska-Curie, 1867-1934

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

April Fool:  A person fooled or tricked on All Fool’s Day, April 1^st, called in France un poisson d’avril, and in Scotland a gowk (cuckoo).  In India similar tricks are played at the Holi Festival on March 31^st, so that it cannot refer to the uncertainty of the weather nor yet to a mockery of the trail of Christ, as two popular explanations claim.  A better solution is that, as March 25^th used to be New Year’s Day April 1^st was its octave, when the festivities climaxed and concluded.

  Another account refers to the Roman Cerealia, held at the beginning of April.  The story is that Proserpina was sporting in the Elysian meadows and had just filled her lap with daffodils, when Pluto carried her off to the lower world.  Her mother, Ceres, heard the echo of her screams, and went in search of the echo.  Her search, however, was a fool’s errand. –from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An image taken Tuesday shows Typhoon Maysak taken by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from the International Space Station. The Pacific Daily News newspaper in Guam reports that the storm was upgraded to a super typhoon with winds of 150 mph and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph. Officials say super Typhoon Maysak is expected to significantly weaken before reaching the Philippines. Samantha Cristoforetti/NASA/AP

A member of the jury poses with the winner of a beauty contest held for pigs at a farm in Hajmas, south-west Hungary, Tuesday. The contest was organized to mark April Fools’ Day. Laszlo Balogh/Reuters

Market Closes for April 1^st, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17698.18	-77.94
		-0.44%
S&P 500	12059.69	-8.20   -0.40%
NASDAQ	4880.227	-20.658   -0.42%
TSX	14942.55	40.11
		+0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19034.84	-172.15
		-0.90%
HANG SENG	25082.75	+181.86
		+0.73%
SENSEX	28260.14	+302.65
		+1.08%
FTSE 100	6809.50	+36.46
		+0.54%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.315	1.357
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.948	1.984
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8564	1.357
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.4614	1.984

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79249	0.78854
US $	1.26184	1.26817
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.36177	0.73434
US $	1.07379	0.93128

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1197.00	1187.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.09	47.60

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, after capping the first quarterly increase in three yesterday, as commodities advanced with oil and gold prices rallying the most in two months.

     Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. climbed 9.6 percent after the company said it is holding investor meetings. Bankers Petroleum Ltd. and Meg Energy Corp. added more than 3.7 percent as crude oil reversed an earlier loss. Barrick Gold Corp. and New Gold Inc. surged at least 9.2 percent as gold advanced. Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. tumbled 1.3 percent as iron ore slumped on prospects of a widening global glut.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 40.11 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,942.55 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge rose 1.9 percent in the first quarter.

     Raw-materials producers gained 2.7 percent and energy shares increased 0.4 percent, as four industries among 10 in the S&P/TSX advanced. Trading volume was 3.8 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Eldorado Gold Corp. jumped 7.6 percent and Iamgold Corp. increased 8.5 percent as gold climbed the most in two months to top $1,200 an ounce after a private report showed companies in the U.S. added fewer workers than forecast in March. Government jobs data will be released on Friday.

     Crescent Point Energy Corp. increased 3 percent and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. gained 3.6 percent. Crude oil in New York climbed 5.2 percent to $50.09 a barrel, the most in two months. U.S. crude output dropped from the highest level in more than three decades.

US

By Oliver Renick and Jennifer Kaplan

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, after a ninth straight quarterly gain, as weaker-than-estimated data on hiring and manufacturing reinforced concern that economic growth may be slowing.

     Health-care and industrial companies led declines for a second day. American Airlines Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. slumped more than 3.7 percent after Deutsche Bank cut its ratings on the shares amid concerns about their international business. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Johnson & Johnson slipped at least 1.4 percent. Phone and energy companies rallied.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent to 2,059.69 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge fluctuated Wednesday near its average price for the past 100 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 77.94 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,698.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.4 percent. About 7 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 8 percent above the three-month average.

     “We’re still coming out with this idea that the economy’s slowed a bit,” said Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer at PNC Bank NA in Philadelphia, which oversees $135 billion. “We’re in no-man’s-land as we start earnings.”

     Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the earnings season when it reports results on April 8. Analysts estimate first-quarter profits for S&P 500 companies will decline for the first time since 2009. They had projected earnings growth for the period as recently as January.                         

     Companies added 189,000 workers to payrolls in March, figures from ADP Research Institute showed, fewer than the 225,000 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast. The data comes before the Labor Department’s report Friday in which economists predict nonfarm payrolls rose 245,000 last month with no change to February’s 5.5 percent unemployment rate.

     A separate report showed factories expanded in March at the slowest pace since May 2013, a sign struggling overseas economies and cutbacks among oil producers are hindering U.S. manufacturing. The Institute for Supply Management’s index declined to 51.5 from 52.9 a month earlier.

     The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent on Tuesday in New York, trimming a ninth quarterly advance in a market that has tripled since 2009. The index’s 0.4 percent three-month gain trailed most developed markets, with Europe’s benchmark gauge surging 16 percent and Japan’s Topix index climbing 9.6 percent.

     Nasdaq Composite Index posted its longest quarterly winning streak ever, boosted by biotech stocks. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rallied 13 percent and also posted a nine-quarter winning streak, its longest since 2000.

     Five of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups fell Wednesday, led for a second day by health-care and industrial companies. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index declined 1.2 percent to 15.11. The gauge, know as the VIX, marked its biggest quarterly decline in two years, down 20 percent.

     A Bloomberg index of U.S. airlines dropped 3.6 percent, the most since Jan. 30, after Delta Air, United Continental Holdings Co. and American Airlines were cut to hold by Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg. A strong dollar, capacity increases by non-U.S. airlines and slowing global growth contributed to the downgrade decision.

     The Nasdaq Biotech index dropped 1 percent, as Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. retreated more than 2.1 percent. The measure has surged 149 percent since the start of 2013. It’s lost 7.2 percent since reaching a record on March 20.

     Universal Health Services Inc. slid 4 percent, leading S&P 500 health-care companies lower, after Sterne Agee cut its rating amid concerns about impending regulatory risks. Express Scripts Holding Co. and AbbVie Inc. fell at least 2.4 percent.

     General Motors Co. declined 2 percent to its lowest level in seven weeks after March sales fell below analysts’ estimates. Sales dropped 2.4 percent as a 14 percent gain in trucks and SUVs couldn’t overcome a 21 percent decline in cars.

     Wal-Mart slumped 1.9 percent, leading the Dow lower after executives said in a presentation that they expect to be in heavy investment mode for the next 18 to 24 months as the company improves the way it handles inventory and outfits more locations with in-store pickup for online orders.

     Energy companies in the S&P 500 added 0.2 percent. The group has climbed 4 percent since a two-month low on March 13. Oil advanced 5.2 percent, the most in two months, after a government report showed U.S. crude production declined from the highest level in more than three decades. Newfield Exploration Co. added 2.9 percent, and Devon Energy Corp. advanced 2.1 percent.

       Phone companies in the benchmark index rose 0.8 percent as Windstream Holdings Inc. and Frontier Communications Corp. rallied more than 3.4 percent.

     GoDaddy Inc. gained in its trading debut, after the company raised $460 million in a larger-than-expected initial public offering. Shares of the 18-year-old company, which provides Internet domain-name registration and hosting services, rose 31 percent.

     Monsanto Co. climbed 3.9 percent, the most since June, after the world’s largest seed company reported that plantings of its newest genetically modified soybeans jumped fivefold in 2015 and will double next year. That outweighed concerns on the impact of a stronger dollar on foreign sales and a smaller corn crop this year.

     Futures on the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq 100 Index bounced back from a rapid plunge earlier. At about 9:55 a.m. in Tokyo, S&P 500 E-mini contracts tumbled by as much as 1.3 percent over a two-minute period before rebounding.

     The sudden drop in futures may have been triggered after the contract failed to close above a key support level, according to Andy Dodd, a technical analyst and sales trader with Louis Capital Markets. Support refers to an area on a chart where orders may be clustered. The contract tumbled to 2,060.75 on Tuesday, below its 50-day moving average of 2,061.

     “Someone may have tried to sell a position or was stopped out and there was simply not enough liquidity due to the time of day,” Dodd said. “The long-term uptrend is around that 2,030.75 support level so no surprise it rallied off there.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

You must learn how to be lucid in all your actions;

that is, you must not only be aware of the time, the place, and the circumstances,

in which the action takes place, but also of yourself, the player, of your body

and what is happening at any moment.

It is not only a question of seeing things as they are, but of seeing yourself at the same time,

and the reactions that take place within you.

In other words, you absorb the whole thing within you and you become complete. 

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann

 

Expect nothing.  Live frugally on surprise.

                      -Alice Walker, 1944-

 

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

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 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened in Paris.

APRIL: popularly from Latin aperire, “to open”, but probably of Etruscan origin.  The month when trees unfold and the earth opens with new life.  Its Old English name was Eastermonath, Easter month.  In the French Revolutionary Calendar, it largely coincided with Germinal, the time of germinating or budding – March 22^nd to April 20^th.   –from Brewar’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The sun is reflected in raindrops on a window after a shower in London Tuesday. Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Solar panels producing renewable energy run across the hills at the photovoltaic park in Les Mees, in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, southern France, Tuesday. The solar farm of the Colle des Mees, the biggest in France, consists of 112,780 solar modules covering an area of 200 hectares of land and representing 100 MW of power. Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters

Market Closes for March 31^st, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17776.12	-200.19
		-1.11%
S&P 500	2067.89	-18.35   -0.88%
NASDAQ	4900.887	-46.554   -0.94%
TSX	14902.44	-5.95
		-0.04%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19206.99	-204.41
		-1.05%
HANG SENG	24900.89	+45.77
		+0.18%
SENSEX	27957.49	-18.37
		-0.07%
FTSE 100	6773.04	-118.39
		-1.72%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.357	1.371
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.984	1.991
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.357	1.9475
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.984	2.5479

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78854	0.78849
US $	1.26817	1.26825
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.36177	0.73434
US $	1.07379	0.93128

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1187.00	1185.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	47.60	48.68

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed as gains in financial and industrial shares offset a plunge in Teck Resources Ltd., capping the best quarter for the benchmark equities index since June.

     Teck dropped 11 percent after denying it was in merger discussions with Antofagasta Plc. Lundin Mining Corp. and HudBay Minerals Inc. retreated more than 2.5 percent as base metals prices dropped. DH Corp., a technology provider for banks, lost 2.3 percent after selling shares to fund an acquisition. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. fell 3.2 percent as oil capped the longest run of quarterly losses since 2003.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 5.95 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,902.44 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge is down 2.2 percent in March, paring its gain for the quarter to 1.9 percent.

     Teck slumped 11 percent, the biggest drop since 2009. The shares soared 11 percent yesterday after people with knowledge of the matter said the Vancouver-based diversified miner was in talks to create one of the world’s largest copper producers in a union with Antofagasta. In separate statements after markets closed, Teck and Antofagasta denied they were currently in negotiations.

     Capstone Mining Corp. declined 3.2 percent and Lundin Mining retreated 4.4 percent as raw-materials producers lost 1.6 percent as a group. Trading volume was 4.4 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Iron ore sank to a 10-year low to complete the biggest quarterly loss since at least 2009 and nickel fell to the lowest in almost six years on concern that shrinking stainless steel output in China will hurt demand. Copper, tin and lead all dropped.

     Corus Entertainment Inc. retreated 3.1 percent. Barclays Investment Bank analyst Phillip Huang cut his rating for the stock to underweight, the equivalent of sell. The media company will come under pressure against increasing competition from online streaming services as well as coming regulatory changes in Canada that will unbundle cable television channels.

     “The structural pressures from the broader changes in video consumption habits and rising content costs are becoming increasingly evident,” he said in a report.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined amid a retreat among health-care and industrial companies, trimming a ninth straight quarterly advance for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

     The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index slipped 2.2 percent, paring its best quarterly gain since 2013. Caterpillar Inc. and Boeing Co. fell at least 1.6 percent. Charter Communications Inc. climbed 5.3 percent after agreeing to buy a majority stake in Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion.

     The S&P 500 lost 0.9 percent to 2,067.89 at 4 p.m. in New York, while marking its longest quarterly winning streak since 1998. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 200.19 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,776.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index, down 0.9 percent Tuesday, posted its longest quarterly winning streak ever.

     “It’s been a very mixed quarter as we’ve had a directionless market,” David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management in Boston, where he helps oversee about $900 billion, said by phone. “The market seems to be stuck in a bunch of unknowns. Earnings growth forecasts have really been marked down because of the dollar and oil and the market is struggling to reach new highs.”

     The S&P 500 clung to a 0.4 percent gain to maintain its quarterly winning streak. The gauge is still down 2.3 percent from a record on March 2 and among the worst performers in 24 developed markets this year.

     Three rounds of Federal Reserve stimulus have helped the S&P 500 more than triple from a low in March 2009. The index is trading near its highest valuation in more than five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

     The U.S. equities benchmark stumbled out of the gates in 2015, sinking 3.1 percent in January for its worst month in a year, as concern mounted that slowing growth overseas will hurt the economy at the same time plunging crude and a stronger dollar showed signs of eroding corporate profits.

     The gauge rebounded in February amid a rally in global equities, as the ECB unveiled plans for additional stimulus and Fed Chair Janet Yellen said inflation and wage growth remain too low for higher borrowing costs any time soon.                        

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 5.4 percent to 15.29. The gauge, know as the VIX, posted its biggest quarterly decline in two years, down 20 percent. The S&P 500 swung an average of 1.1 percent between its low of the day and its high in the first quarter, the widest daily moves since the second quarter of 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

     Financial stocks are down 2.5 percent this year and posted their worst quarterly drop since 2012’s second quarter. American Express Co. tumbled 16 percent, while Discover Financial Services and Bank of America Corp. fell almost 14 percent this quarter.

     Energy companies dropped for three consecutive quarters, the longest stretch since the first quarter of 2009, paced by declines of more than 20 percent in Transocean Ltd., Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. West Texas Intermediate crude is down 11 percent since December.

     Utilities, the best-performing S&P 500 industry in 2014, is off to the worst start this year. The group is down 6 percent after rising 24 percent last year, marking its biggest quarterly drop in six years.

     The Nasdaq Composite rose 3.5 percent this quarter for its ninth straight quarterly gain, boosted by biotech stocks. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rallied 13 percent and also posted a nine-quarter winning streak, its longest since 2000, as Biogen Inc. rose 24 percent and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. added 10 percent.

     Investors are analyzing more economic data this week for clues on the timing of an interest-rate increase. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has said interest rates will probably rise this year, with subsequent increases taking place gradually.

     Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said Tuesday the main interest rate should be raised in June amid a stronger job market, consumer-spending growth and inflation heading back toward the Fed’s target.

     Data Tuesday showed consumer confidence increased in March to the second-highest level since August 2007. A separate report said home prices in 20 U.S. cities appreciated at a faster pace in the year ended in January, indicating the residential real- estate market continues to firm. A manufacturing report revealed activity in the Chicago area shrank in March for a second month.

     Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the earnings season when it reports results on April 8. Analysts estimate first-quarter profits for S&P 500 companies will decline for the first time since 2009. They were projecting a growth in earnings for the period as recently as January.

     “Earnings expectations are taking stage now and are going to move to the front page,” Tom Wright, the New York-based director of equities at JMP Securities LLC, said by phone. “On top of oil, the dollar and rate concerns, you have legitimate earnings expectations concerns.”

     All ten of the S&P 500’s main groups retreated Tuesday, led by industrial and health-care companies. About 6.3 billion shares traded hands, about 8 percent lower than the three-month average.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

This craving for position, for prestige, for power, to be recognized by society

as being outstanding in some way, is a wish to dominate others, and this wish to dominate

is a form of aggression.  And what is the reason for this aggressiveness?  It is fear isn’t it?

 

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.

                          -Alexander Pope, 1688-1744

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7