Month: February 2016

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Legends of Longevity

The oldest man in Nebraska, 110-year old Mark Behrends, recently revealed that his secret to a long life is drinking a can of beer a day!  “He always joked that that ws his medicine,” his daughter told the Omaha World-Herald.  The practice sounds odd, to be sure, but Behrends isn’t he first centenarian to offer an unconventional wellness tip.  Here, a look at five others:

Drinking Lots of coffee. –Downing Kay of Baltimore who is 107.

Staying away from men. –Jessie Gallan of Aberdeen, Scotland, who lived to be 109.

Eating raw eggs. –Emma Morano-Martinuzzi of Verbania, Italy, who is 115.

Sunbathing. –Jiroemon Kimura of Kyotango, Japan, who lived to be 116.

Eating sushi,  -Misao Okawa of Osaka, Japan, who lived to be 117.

                                                                 -from Businessweek.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A cat and horse rub noses in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday. Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

French artist Claire Bardainne poses in the light installation ‘XYZT, Les paysages abstraits’ (Abstract landscapes) during the press preview for the exhibition ‘Danse avec les etoiles’ (Dance with the stars) in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, Wednesday. Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP

Handler Valerie Nunez Atkinson runs with CJ, a German Shorthaired Pointer from the Sporting Group, who won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show at Madison Square Garden in New York Tuesday night. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

A male and as yet unnamed Francois’ Langur monkey infant is held by his mother, Ena, as he makes his public debut at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Bekesbourne, England, Wednesday. Gareth Fuller/PA/AP

Market Closes for February 17^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16453.83	+257.42   +1.59%
S&P 500	1926.82	+31.24   +1.65%
NASDAQ	4534.066	+98.111   +2.21%
TSX	12867.16	+312.18
		+2.49%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15836.36	-218.07
		-1.36%
HANG SENG	18924.57	-197.51
		-1.03%
SENSEX	23381.87	+189.90
		+0.82%
FTSE 100	6030.32	+168.15
		+2.87%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.179	1.162
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.974	1.963
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8190	1.7827
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6875	2.6533

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73156	0.72129
US $	1.36694	1.38640
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.52084	0.65753
US $	1.11258	0.89881

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1210.00	1209.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	30.66	29.04

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day to its highest level in six weeks, as energy and financial stocks climbed amid higher oil prices and increasing speculation that the recent selloff was overdone.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 2.5 percent to 12,867.16 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, as nine of the 10 main industries advanced. A three-day rally has boosted the benchmark index’s performance to be the best this year among 24 developed equity markets tracked by Bloomberg. 

     Equities worldwide advanced after a report showed wholesale prices in the U.S. unexpectedly increased in January and manufacturing output climbed by the most since July. Canadian equities also followed a trend in global markets where some of this year’s most beaten-down sectors — energy, financial and consumer shares — led the rally on Wednesday.

     Consumer discretionary companies advanced for a third consecutive day. Intertain Group Ltd. gained 6.5 percent, while Linamar Corp. added 6.2 percent.

     Rona Inc. gained 0.3 percent to its highest close since July 2007, after the company reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ estimate.

     Financial stocks contributed the most to Wednesday’s rally. Manulife Financial Corp. gained 7.5 percent, while Royal Bank of Canada added 2.2 percent.

     Energy producers rallied the most out of 10 S&P/TSX groups, as oil prices surpassed $30 a barrel. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. jumped more than 6.1 percent.

     Bombardier Inc. surged 21 percent, the biggest gain since September, as the manufacturer won a crucial order for its new C Series jet from Air Canada. The company also revealed a plan to cut 7,000 jobs and said it plans a reverse stock split. Meanwhile, Air Canada retreated 12 percent.

     Raw-material producers advanced 2.4 percent, reaching its highest level since October, as commodity prices went up.

     First Quantum Minerals Ltd. jumped 26 percent as copper prices climbed. The copper miner has surged 68 percent in the past four days.

US

By Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 250 points, as the year’s most-battered shares continued to recover and energy shares climbed with oil prices.

     Chevron Corp. gained 4.1 percent to a one-month high. Priceline Group Inc. surged 11 percent to help lift an index of retailers after the online travel agent’s results beat estimates. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. rallied 12 percent after filings showed Carl Icahn boosted his stake in the copper producer. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. increased more than 2.2 percent as lenders posted their best three-day rally in more than five years.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.7 percent to 1,926.82 at 4 p.m. in New York, capping its first three-day advance this year and closing at a two-week high. The Dow climbed 257.42 points, or 1.6 percent, to 16,453.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.2 percent. About 9.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 14 percent above the three-month average.

     “If you accept the notion that you can never call an absolute bottom, but you can say you’re in a bottoming process, bearish sentiment is a key gauge for why investors are getting back in there and buying,” said David Sowerby, a portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co. The firm oversees about $230 billion. “This move, if anything, is on washed-out sentiment being yet again a usual bottoming indicator.”

     Equity gains are coming virtually as fast as the losses that sent the S&P 500 to its worst start to any year, with almost half of 2016’s decline made up in three days. The rally today occurred as oil climbed more than 5 percent, Federal Reserve officials expressed caution on the economy and data on manufacturing was better than forecast.

     This year’s most beaten-down industries have bolstered the gains since the main U.S. equity index closed at a 22-month low last Thursday, amid a sense that the selling was overdone. Banks in the benchmark are up 9.7 percent in the last three sessions, recovering from the lowest level since 2013, while retailers have surged 7.3 percent, rebounding from a 16 percent drop to begin 2016.

     Other hard-hit industry groups making comebacks include automobile & auto-parts companies, and semiconductor & chip equipment makers. Among the auto-related stocks, Delphi Automotive Plc extended its three-day climb to more than 12 percent, after dropping as much as 34 percent this year.

     In raw-materials, Freeport-McMoRan has soared more than 46 percent since Thursday, erasing a 2016 decline that reached 39 percent at its worst point in January. DuPont Co. rose 3 percent, trimming its drop this year to 9 percent after losing as much as 23 percent.

     A basket of companies with the most bearish bets climbed 3.9 percent Wednesday, doubling the gain in the S&P 500 for a second straight day. The gauge compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has rallied almost 10 percent in three days, a sign one of the things fueling the rally is purchases by short sellers.

     The S&P 500 is down 9.6 percent from its May record, and had dropped as much as 14 percent this year amid concerns that weakness in China and falling commodity prices portend a deepening global slowdown. Just in the last three sessions, the benchmark has pared its February retreat to less than 1 percent after sinking as much as 5.7 percent.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell7.5 percent Wednesday to 22.31, bringing its three-day drop to 21 percent. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is now up about 10 percent this month, after gaining as much as 39 percent by last Thursday’s close.                    

     “A large proportion of the rout we saw in the first six weeks of the year was overdone, particularly with regards to banks,” said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG in London. “Does it mean the selloff is over? No clearly not, but it’s definitely a positive signal. You get this significant divergence between the market perception and reality, which over time will close, and that’s why we are seeing the rally we are seeing and it gives you some hope.”

     Minutes released today from the Fed’s latest meeting showed policy makers expressed concern that the fall in commodity prices and the rout in financial markets increasingly posed risks to the U.S. economy. That was a sentiment Chair Janet Yellen echoed in testimony before lawmakers last week, as she signaled the central bank could delay its plans for tighter policy to assess how the economy reacts to current headwinds.

     Meanwhile, investors are scrutinizing data for signs of any damping in growth. A report today showed new-home construction unexpectedly cooled in January, while a separate gauge showed a surprise increase in wholesale prices last month as higher food costs more than made up for the plunge in energy. Another measure said manufacturing output rose in January by the most since July 2015, a sign the industry was starting to stabilize at the beginning of the year.

     “The combination of minutes from the Fed, plus weaker data clearly suggests that the Fed isn’t going to hike at the March meeting,” said Phil Orlando, who helps oversee $360 billion as chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc. in New York. “Markets are taking comfort in that. It’s a near term positive. We’ve still got China, still got longer term uncertainty about the Fed, even if we have clarity on the March issue.”

     Citigroup Inc.’s U.S. Economic Surprise Index has been on the mend lately, rising six straight days through Monday, its longest streak of gains since October. The measure has climbed 15 percent since reaching an eight-month low on Feb. 4.

     Nine of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries advanced, as energy and technology companies led with gains of more than 2.3 percent. Consumer discretionary and raw-materials added at least 1.9 percent. Utilities were little changed as the worst performers.

     Kinder Morgan Inc. increased 10 percent after a regulatory filing showed Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. added an investment in the company during the fourth quarter. Consol Energy Inc. and Southwestern Energy Inc. rose more than 11 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude futures surged, briefly topped $31 a barrel.

     Technology companies in the benchmark gained 2.3 percent, as Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc. added at least 2.6 percent. Micron Technology Inc. gained 5.7 percent to a one-month high and trimming its loss this year to 19 percent, while Intel Corp. rose 2.4 percent, the most in more than two weeks.

     Amazon.com Inc. climbed for a fifth day, its best streak since October, to pace gains among consumer discretionary companies. Walt Disney Co. and Netflix Inc. increased more than 2.7 percent. Garmin Ltd. rallied 17 percent, the most since 2009, after the company reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

     Financials, the worst-performing sector year to date, held on to a third day of gains for the first time this year. Charles Schwab Corp. and MetLife Inc. gained more than 3.2 percent. The KBW Bank Index added 0.7 percent, after earlier rising 1.9 percent.                  

     Boeing Co. and Caterpillar Inc. were near the top of the Dow, rising more than 3.1 percent to support the advance among industrial shares. Boeing is on the rebound after its shares plunged to a more than two-year low last Thursday, falling 25 percent year to date as the worst performer in the Dow. Since then, shares are up 7.3 percent.

     Among shares moving on earnings news, Cerner Corp. fell 4.8 percent, paring an earlier drop by almost half, after reporting fourth-quarter bookings that missed the health company’s forecast. Devon Energy Corp. lost 4.4 percent after its results were short of analysts’ estimates. The oil and natural gas producer also cut its dividend, capital spending and workforce to weather the slump in crude prices.

     Bloomin Brands Inc., operator of Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill restaurants, sank 11 percent, the steepest in 18 months, after quarterly results missed forecasts. The company also plans to close 14 Bonefish locations.

     With the earnings season nearing completion, about three- quarters of results from S&P 500 firms exceeded profit projections, less than half have topped sales forecasts. Analysts estimate earnings at S&P 500 companies fell 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with Jan. 15 predictions for a 7 percent slump.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

I am firmly of the opinion

that India’s salvation depends on the sacrifice and enlightenment of her women.

Mahatma Gandhi

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Change is inevitable.  Change is constant.

               -Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On February 16^th, 1820, the Reverend Sydney Smith wrote to Lady Morpeth:

Nobody has suffered more from low spirits than I have done – so I feel for you.  1^st. Live as well as you dare.  2^nd.  Go into the shower-bath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold, 75°-80°.  3^rd.  Amusing books.  4^th.  Short views of human life – not further than dinner or tea.  5^th.  Be as busy as you can.  6^th.  See as much as you can of those friends who respect and like you.  7^th.  And of those acquaintances who amuse you.  8^th.  Make no secret of low spirits to your friends, but talk of them freely – they are always worse for dignified concealment.  9^th.  Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you.  10^th.  Compare your lot with that of other people.  11^th.  Don’t expect too much from human life – a sorry business at the best.  12^th.  Avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy sentimental people, and everything likely to excite feeling or emotion not ending in active benevolence.  13^th.  Do good, and endeavor to please everybody of every degree.  14^th. Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.  15^th.  Make the room where you commonly sit, gay and pleasant.  16^th.  Struggle by little and little against idleness.  17^th.  Don’t be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.  18^th.  Keep good blazing fires.  19^th.  Be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion.  20^th.  Believe me, dear Lady Georgiana, Very truly yours.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Customs officers stand next to a stuffed lion in a taxidermy hall as part of a fight against the trafficking of protected species at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, on Tuesday. French customs, who seized seven stuffed animals in 2015, deliver them to the museum for their collections. Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

A woman clad in Japanese traditional clothing pauses during a wedding photo session by a rapeseed oil field at Hamarikyu Gardens in Tokyo, Tuesday. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Market Closes for February 16^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16196.41	+222.57   +1.39%
S&P 500	1895.58	+30.80   +1.65%
NASDAQ	4435.957	+98.445   +2.27%
TSX	12554.98	+173.74
		+1.40%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16054.43	+31.85
		+0.20%
HANG SENG	19122.08	+203.94
		+1.08%
SENSEX	23191.97	-362.15
		-1.54%
FTSE 100	5862.17	+37.89
		+0.65%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.162	1.131
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.963	1.931
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7827	1.7481
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6533	2.6040

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72129	0.72325
US $	1.38640	1.38265
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54514	0.64719
US $	1.11450	0.89727

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1209.50	1239.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	29.04	29.44

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, as easing concerns about the global economy propped up financial and consumer companies.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 1.4 percent to 12,554.98 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. A two-day advance has trimmed the benchmark gauge’s decline in 2016 to 3.5 percent, making it the second best-performing developed market in the world this year, behind only New Zealand. Canadian shares joined a rally in equities worldwide Tuesday after a report tracking a credit measure in China surged to a record.

     Financial shares contributed the most to the S&P/TSX’s advance. Royal Bank of Canada added 2.1 percent, while Toronto- Dominion Bank gained 2.2 percent.

     Element Financial Corp. climbed 6.3 percent after the company announced plan to split into two public companies: Element Fleet Management and Element Commercial Asset Management. Aviation finance will be discontinued, according to a statement today.

     Consumer stocks discretionary rose 2.4 percent, the most since November 2011. Restaurant Brands International Inc. posted among the biggest gains, adding 5.9 percent after the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons reported fourth-quarter profits that topped analysts’ estimates.

     DHX Media Ltd. gained 6.1 percent, the biggest advance since December, after the company posted quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ projections and boosted its dividend.

     Bombardier Inc. added 9.9 percent after the company said it expects to get certification for its new jet from U.S. and Europe in the first half of this year. Shares crossed below C$1 in late January and are down 68 percent over the past year.

     The resource-rich S&P/TSX is closely linked to commodity prices with raw-materials and energy producers accounting for almost 30 percent of the overall gauge. Oil prices retreated today after a pledge by Russia and Saudi Arabia to freeze output failed to convince traders the move was enough to tackle the global crude surplus. Energy companies in Canada still gained 1.4 percent. Veresen Inc. climbed 7.7 percent, while Athabasca Oil Corp. sank 8 percent.

     Raw-material producers were the only sector that fell among 10 S&P/TSX groups, as gold in the spot market slumped for a third day. Yamana Gold Inc. lost 6.7 percent.

US

By Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting the best two-day gain in more than five months, despite weakness in oil prices as beaten-down banks, technology and retailer shares led an advance.

     Citigroup Inc. and U.S. Bancorp climbed more than up 2.7 percent. Retailers, one of last week’s bright spots, added to their longest rally in three months with Amazon.com Inc. and Home Depot Inc. rising at least 2.6 percent. ADT Corp. soared 48 percent after agreeing to be acquired by Apollo Global Management LLC for about $6.9 billion. Community Health Systems Inc. plunged 22 percent after reporting an unexpected quarterly loss.

     The S&P 500 increased 1.7 percent to 1,895.58 at 4 p.m. in New York, bringing the gauge’s climb since Thursday’s close to 3.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 222.57 points, or 1.4 percent, to 16,196.41. The index has risen 536 points in two sessions, after losing more than 750 in the prior five days. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 2.3 percent, the most in two weeks. About 8.6 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 6.3 percent above the three-month average.

     “What we’re seeing here are the U.S. markets trying to catch up with the rally that the rest of the world saw yesterday,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $1.9 billion as co-chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based OakBrook Investments. “Oil is still important, but I think the larger focus has now switched to financial stocks. People turned their focus on the impact of negative rates spreading around the world, and the impact that might have on banks’ profits.”

     Bank shares continued a rebound Tuesday from the lowest levels in nearly three years, marking the steepest back-to-back increase since 2009. Investors have sold off lenders this year amid concerns that persistently low interest rates will weigh on profits and the collapse in oil prices could increase credit risk. The Nasdaq Composite pulled further away from a bear market, after sliding last week to within 1 percent of a 20 percent drop from its record set in July.

     Investors lowered equity holdings, cutting banks at the fastest rate in almost 10 years, while raising cash to 5.6 percent of their portfolios, the highest level since November 2001, according to Bank of America Corp.’s February survey of global fund managers. The cash level represents an “unambiguous” buy signal, strategists led by Michael Hartnett, wrote in a note Tuesday.

     The S&P 500 on Friday capped a second consecutive weekly decline amid increased concern that central-bank efforts to support growth worldwide are losing potency. The benchmark is down 11 percent from an all-time high set in May.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 5.1 percent Tuesday to 24.11. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is up about 19 percent this month, on track for the most since August.

     There was evidence that investors were searching for bargains today as four of the five best performers among the S&P 500’s 10 main industries — consumer discretionary, technology, health-care and financial shares — are the most battered year to date, losing more than 8.7 percent.

     “The areas that are bouncing the hardest today are financials, particularly the banks, and discretionary stocks,” James Abate, who helps oversee $1 billion as chief investment officer at Centre Funds in New York, said by phone. “It’s a trade that says we’re not falling into a recession immediately, combined with the fact that we’re already down 10 percent year to date.”                       

     Consumer discretionary companies advanced 2.5 percent, the strongest one-day gain since Aug. 26. Industrials climbed 2 percent for the best two-day increase in four months.

     Among consumer discretionary companies, Wynn Resorts Ltd. gained 8 percent, extending last week’s rally after reporting revenue growth in Las Vegas. Under Armour Inc. and Staples Inc. added as much as 6.3 percent. Retailers rose the most since August, with Priceline Group Inc. rallying 5.3 percent before its earnings report tomorrow, while Target Corp. climbed 2.2 percent.

     Financial stocks, one of the hardest hit last week, rose for a second day, bouncing back from a 2 1/2-year low on Thursday. Banks in the benchmark have tumbled 16 percent so far this year. Fifth Third Bancorp and KeyCorp climbed more than 4 percent Tuesday, though both banks are still down at least 17 percent in 2016.

     Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. advanced more than 2.8 percent to pace gains in the technology group. Qorvo Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. added at least 8.2 percent.

     Energy shares rose 0.8 percent despite the drop in crude prices. Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 17 percent, bouncing after a 48 percent drop last week, its worst ever. Kinder Morgan Inc. gained 4.4 percent. Southwestern Energy Co. and Range Resources Corp. fell more than 5 percent.

     West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.4 percent, paring an earlier 2.5 percent slide. The world’s two largest crude producers — Saudi Arabia and Russia — said they would hold output at January levels. Oil struggled to rally amid speculation that the production freeze would do little to reduce the glut of crude. Today was the first time in two months that the S&P 500 rose more than 1 percent on a day when oil declined.

     Also moving on company news, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. increased 15 percent to a one-month high. The copper producer announced Monday it would sell a 13 percent stake in one of its biggest mines in an attempt to rein in debt as copper prices fall.

     Groupon Inc. surged 41 percent, the most ever, after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. bought a 5.6 percent stake in the online deals website, making it the fourth-largest shareholder. Hormel Foods Corp. rallied 7.1 percent to a record, the strongest increase in seven years, after the maker of Spam and Jennie-O turkey increased its annual forecast, helped by demand for refrigerated foods.

     Boeing Co. rebounded 3.7 percent following its worst weekly decline in more than five years. Iran Air said it’s open to buying aircraft from Boeing even after ordering 118 jetliners worth $27 billion from competing plane maker Airbus Group SE.

The aerospace company’s shares tumbled last week after Bloomberg reported that regulators were investigating its accounting on two of its jetliners.                        

     Investors are also monitoring economic reports, after a tumultuous start to the year that pushed U.S. equities as much as 14 percent below the record. Data today showed manufacturing in the New York region declined at a slower pace this month, though it was worse than forecasts by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A separate report indicated confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped to a nine-month low.

     Also due this week are January housing starts, gauges on producer and consumer prices, industrial production and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting.

     The earnings season, more than three-quarters through, hasn’t provided much relief for equities. Of the S&P 500 firms that have reported so far, about 75 percent have exceeded profit projections, while less than half have topped sales forecasts. Analysts estimate earnings at S&P 500 companies fell 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, better than Jan. 15 predictions for a 7 percent slump. Priceline, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Deere & Co. are among companies reporting this week.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity.

Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Without a struggle, there can be no progress.

                -Frederick Douglass, 1818-1895

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Taking It Home to Jerome

          -by David Kirby

In Baton Rouge, there was a DJ on the soul station who was
always urging his listeners to “take it on home to Jerome.”

No one knew who Jerome was.  And nobody cared.  So it
didn’t matter.  I was, what, ten, twelve?  I didn’t have anything

to take home to anyone.  Parents and teachers told us that all
we needed to do in this world were three things: be happy,

do good, and find work that fulfills you.  But I also wanted
to learn that trick where you grab your left ankle in your

right hand and then jump through with your other leg.
Everything else was to come, everything about love:

the sadness of it, knowing it can’t last, that all lives must end,
all hearts are broken.  Sometimes when I’m writing a poem,

I feel as though I’m operating that crusher that turns
a full-sized car into a metal cube the size of a suitcase.

At other times, I’m just a secretary: the world has so much
to say, and I’m writing it down.  This great tenderness.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sarah Cote and Juan Uribe sit in front of a statue of sea goddess Amphitrite by a fountain in the World Trade Center Monday in Montreal, Canada. The Vermont couple came to Montreal to get engaged on Valentine’s Day. Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press/AP

Visitors gather as snow covers the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington Monday. Bitter cold was replaced by snow, sleet and rain in the mid-Atlantic states and the South, but many residents were able to hunker down at home with federal offices and many businesses closed for Washington’s Birthday. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Market Closes for February 15^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	15973.84	Closed
S&P 500	1864.78	Closed
NASDAQ	4337.512	Closed
TSX	12381.24	Closed

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16022.58	+1069.97
		+7.16%
HANG SENG	18918.14	+598.56
		+3.27%
SENSEX	23554.12	+568.00
		+2.47%
FTSE 100	5824.28	+116.68
		+2.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.131	1.132
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.931	1.930
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7481	1.7413
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6040	2.5979

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72325	0.72142
US $	1.38265	1.38616
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54357	0.64785
US $	1.11639	0.89575

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1208.20	1239.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	29.44	29.44

Market Commentary:

By KELVIN CHAN

     Hong Kong (AP) — World stocks rallied on Monday, led by a jump in Japan’s main index, amid hopes for more stimulus from central banks in Europe and Japan.

     Will Wall Street closed for Presidents’ Day, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 soared 7.2 percent to close at 16,022.58, rebounding from last week’s slump to post its second biggest one-day gain in three years.

     That led to big gains in Europe, where Britain’s FTSE 100 closed 2 percent higher at 5,824.28 and  Germany’s DAX gained 2.7 percent to 9,206.84. France’s CAC 40 rose 3 percent to close at 4,115.25.

     Stocks began rallying after government data showed Japan’s economy shrank 1.4 percent on an annualized basis last quarter because of weak consumer demand and slower exports. It’s a setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revival program, which aims to stoke inflation through massive monetary easing. However, the report also gives the government more reason to open the stimulus taps wider to restore growth, economists said.

     “Together with the recent slump in the Nikkei and the appreciation of the yen, the case for additional easing remains compelling,” said Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics. He predicted the Bank of Japan will step up bond purchases and push interest rates that are already in negative territory even lower.

     Investor sentiment was also bolstered by comments from China’s central bank chief playing down the likelihood of a one- off devaluation of the yuan.

     People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan signaled in a Caixin magazine interview published over the weekend that there was no basis for further depreciation of China’s currency, providing relief for the country’s exporting neighbors worried that a weakening yuan would hurt their competitiveness.

     Later in the day, stocks were nudged higher and the euro fell sharply after the European Central Bank reiterated that more stimulus would be considered at the next policy meeting in March.

     The euro was down 1 percent at $1.1138 after ECB chief Mario Draghi said Monday there were “a variety of instruments” the ECB could employ if it decided more stimulus is needed. It could pump more money into the economy or cuts rates further, something that would weigh on the value of the euro.

     U.S. futures, meanwhile, rose. Dow futures up 1.2 percent and those for the S&P 500 up 1.3 percent.

     Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.5 percent to 1,862.20 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 3.3 percent to 18,918.14. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.6 percent to 4,843.50. Taiwan’s benchmark was flat while markets in Southeast Asia gained.

     The Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China, though, lost 0.6 percent to finish at 2,746.20 after reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday.

     Chinese shares were also weighed down by the latest monthly trade figures. Exports fell 11 percent while imports slid by nearly a fifth, according to customs data, highlighting persistent weakness in the world’s second biggest economy.

     Economists, however, were reserving final analysis until figures for February are out because the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday distorts China’s economic data at the beginning of the year.

     In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil futures rose 29 cents to $29.73 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed $3.23 on Friday. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, gained 5 cents to $34.04 a barrel in London.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Love implies generosity, care, not to hurt another,

not to make them feel guilty, to be generous, courteous,

and behave in such a manner that your words and thoughts are born out of compassion.

Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.

                               -Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 4 BC-65 AD

 

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

TANGENTS:

 

THE MINUTE I HEARD MY FIRST LOVE STORY
     Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you,
not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They are in each other all along.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A robin finds a berry to eat in a bush beside a parking lot in downtown Marion, Ind., Friday. Jeff Morehead/The Chronicle-Tribune/AP

Competitors imitate the bellow sound of red deer during the hunting fair in Dortmund, Germany, Friday. The competition is about who can best mimic the mating call of a stag. Martin Meissner/AP

Market Closes for February 12^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	15973.84	+313.66   +2.00%
S&P 500	1864.78	+35.70   +1.95%
NASDAQ	4337.512	+70.675   +1.66%
TSX	12381.24	+293.87
		+2.43%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14925.61	-760.78
		-4.84%
HANG SENG	18319.58	-226.22
		-1.22%
SENSEX	22986.12	+34.29
		+0.15%
FTSE 100	5707.60	+170.63
		+3.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.132	1.020
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.930	1.844
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7413	1.6625
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5979	2.5082

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72142	0.71825
US $	1.38616	1.39228
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55959	0.64119
US $	1.12512	0.88880

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1239.75	1241.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	29.44	26.21

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the first time in six days, as a rally in energy and financial shares pushed the benchmark gauge to its best rally in three weeks amid surging oil prices and easing concerns about the global economy.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index gained 293.97 points, or 2.4 percent, to 12,381.24 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, as all 10 main industry groups advanced. The index had tumbled 5.4 percent in the prior five days, pushing it to its lowest level in three weeks. Friday’s rally trimmed its decline in the week to 3 percent.

     The index joined a rally in equities worldwide, as U.S. stocks advanced after a report showed the country’s retail sales increased for a third straight month in January and banks from Europe to America rallied amid speculation a selloff in financial shares had gone too far too fast.

     Canadian lenders, which have been the biggest source of pain in the market’s latest rout, jumped 3.4 percent, the most since November 2011. Royal Bank of Canada jumped 3 percent, while Toronto-Dominion Bank gained 1.8 percent.

     Great-West Lifeco Inc. added as much as 2.9 percent, the biggest gain since November. The company topped Manulife Financial Corp. as the nation’s largest life-insurance stock by market value.

     Brookfield Asset Management Inc. rallied 4.5 percent. Canada’s largest alternative asset manager said funds from operations grew 83 percent during the quarter from a year ago, while also saying net income fell 30 percent.

     West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for crude, jumped 12 percent to more than $29 a barrel after hitting a 12- year low yesterday. Producers are ready to work together and won’t make cuts unless there is complete cooperation, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on a Sky News Arabia report posted online Feb. 10.

     Canadian energy companies benefited from the recovery in oil. Penn West Petroleum Ltd. and Enerplus Corp. rose more than 6 percent as producers gained 2.8 percent as a group.

     Bombardier Inc. jumped 3.9 percent after the troubled aircraft maker won a contract with Alberta Transit valued at about C$391 million.

     Health-care stocks also surged, advancing 5 percent, the most among all sectors. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International gained 6.33 percent, while Concordia Healthcare Corp. went up 2.8 percent.

US

By Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index snapping its longest losing streak since September, as crude prices rebounded and data showed retail sales increased for a third month in January.

     Financial, raw-material and energy stocks led the the S&P 500 higher, as the benchmark gauge added 2 percent to 1,864.78 at 4 p.m. in New York. The measure retreated for the fifth straight day yesterday, closing 14 percent below its all-time high set in May and near its lowest level in two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 313.66 points, or 2 percent, to 15,973.84 today, while the Nasdaq 100 Index added 1.4 percent.

     Data on Friday also showed consumer sentiment declined in February to a four-month low as declining stock prices and weaker global conditions weighed on Americans’ views of the economy. Investors are monitoring economic reports after a tumultuous week in U.S. equities. Concerns over everything from slowing growth in China, plunging crude prices to the pace of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes have sparked a flight out of risky assets, sending global equities lower yesterday to a level that constitutes a bear market.

     “Everyone is looking for a time to buy,” said Phillip Titzer, who helps oversee about $1.4 billion as vice president of investment operations at Edgar Lomax Co. in Springfield, Virginia. “This might just be some investing of some cash with people thinking prices look good now. Oil is up and so many times we see oil go up and stocks go up.”

     Even with the rebound today, U.S. stocks still posted a second week of declines, losing 0.8 percent since Feb. 5. This is the fifth Friday in a row the S&P 500 has swung 1.8 percent or more. Such a stretch of volatility on the last day of the week has never before occurred since the Great Depression. The U.S. stock market will be shut Monday, while markets in mainland China are set to reopen after the Lunar New Year holiday.

     “We have a decent number of retail sales and it will likely set the tone for the morning,” said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at the Private Client Reserve of US Bank in New York. “If there is optimism on these releases, it will be guarded. No single data point is sufficient to offset the concerns that have been growing.”

     Banks, which have been the biggest source of pain for U.S. stocks in the market’s latest rout, led gains for their steepest rally since November 2011. JPMorgan Chase & Co. added 8.3 percent after chairman and chief executive officer Jamie Dimon spent $26.6 million on shares. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. also climbed at least 7.1 percent. 

     Energy stocks also gained as oil surged the most in seven years. Kinder Morgan Inc. and Marathon Oil Corp. climbed more than 6.9 percent.

     Wynn Resorts Ltd. surged 16 percent after reporting fourth- quarter earnings that beat analysts’ projections as revenue growth in Las Vegas partially offset a decline in the Macau business.

     American International Group Inc. climbed 4.9 percent, the most since May 2013, after announcing a $5 billion share buyback and boosting its quarterly dividend. The insurance company that is battling demands from activist investor Carl Icahn also reported a fourth-quarter operating loss of $1.10 a share, wider than estimates.

     Groupon Inc. surged 29 percent after posting quarterly profit that topped projections, while Square Inc. jumped 7.9 percent after BTIG LLC said the mobile-payments service provider may be a takeout target after Visa Inc. bought 9.99 percent stake.

     Activision Blizzard Inc. tumbled 7.9 percent after reporting fourth-quarter revenue and profit that fell short of estimates, in part due to lower-than-expected purchases of its Skylanders and Guitar Hero video games.

     The U.S. earnings season, now more two-thirds complete, hasn’t provided much relief. Although more than three-quarters of results have so far exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations, less than half have beaten sales forecasts. Analysts estimate earnings at S&P 500 companies fell 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, better than Jan. 15 predictions for a 7 percent slump.

     While the S&P 500’s valuation of 15.5 times the forecast earnings of its members is in line with the average of the past five years, the measure remains more expensive than the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, which trades at about 13.9 times estimated earnings.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Whenever there is a touch of color,

a note of a song, grace in a form,

this is a call to our love.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

 

Quality is never an accident.  It is always the result of intelligent effort.

                                                               -John Ruskin, 1819-1900

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

r Friends,

Tangents:

Diarist and theatre critic James Agate wrote this entry on February 11^th, 1944:

A new story about Mrs. Patrick Campbell, the leading actress of the 1890s and 1900s.  Terribly bored by an elderly scientist drooling away about ants – “they are wonderful little creatures; they have their own police force and their own army” –she leaned forward and said, with an expression of the utmost interest and a voice like damson-coloured velvet, “No navy, I suppose?” –from Ego.

Also on this day:

On Feb. 11, 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.

1887 – CPR opens Pacific steamship service to the Orient.

1967 – Opening of First Canada Winter Games in Quebec City.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Avon Wildlife Trust Community Manager Julie Doherty makes a final check of an art installation of life-size whales made from willows at Bennett’s Patch & White Paddock Nature Reserve near Bristol, England, Thursday. Ben Birchall/PA/AP

Visitors sit besides the installation ‘Ohne Titel VII’ (2012/2013) made of slices of toast by Polish artist Alice Musiol in the exhibition ‘Desperate Housewives? Female Artists Clean Up’ at the Kunstsammlungen Zwickau in eastern Germany Thursday. The exhibition opens Feb. 13. Jens Meyer/AP

Market Closes for February 11^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	15660.18	-254.56   -1.60%
S&P 500	1829.08	-22.78   -1.23%
NASDAQ	4266.836	-16.756   -0.39%
TSX	12087.44	-98.28
		-0.81%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15713.39	-372.05
		-2.31%
HANG SENG	18545.80	-742.37
		-3.85%
SENSEX	22951.83	-807.07
		-3.40%
FTSE 100	5536.97	-135.33
		-2.39%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.020	1.001
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.844	1.818
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6625	1.6681
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5082	2.4872

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71825	0.71802
US $	1.39228	1.39273
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.57635	0.63438
US $	1.13221	0.88323

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1241.00	1190.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	26.21	27.45

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a fifth day, joining a selloff in markets around the world amid waning confidence central banks can support the global economy, as commodities prices fall and growth stalls.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 98.28 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,087.44 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, paring losses of as much as 1.6 percent. The index has tumbled 5.4 percent in five days. Canada’s benchmark equity gauge remains the second best-performing developed market in the world in 2016 with a 7.1 percent decline behind only New Zealand, after being among the worst in the past year.

     “Our outlook call has been to be ready for anything and this is what we’re getting now,” said Sadiq Adatia, chief investment officer at Sun Life Global Investments in Toronto. His firm manages about C$12.3 billion ($8.8 billion). “We need to get to a stage where there’s some more pain, weed out the people who are very bearish and then get back to the fundamentals of the markets. We don’t see this as a buying opportunity yet in equities and we have a risk-off trade if anything.”

     A nascent rally in Canada’s equity benchmark in recent weeks has dissipated as global stocks tumbled amid diminishing returns from central bank actions and as New York crude resumed its downward slide below $30 a barrel. The S&P/TSX slid into a bear market last month as crude prices collapsed due to a global supply glut.

     The MSCI All-Country World Index of developed and developing markets entered a bear market from the most recent May 2015 high. U.S. equities retreated as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s interest rate comments Wednesday failed to inspire lasting gains. The latest central bank moves this week follow the Bank of Japan’s surprise shift to negative interest rates and the European Central Bank’s signal it will deploy new stimulus next month.

     “Everything is off today,” said Greg Taylor, fund manager at Aurion Capital Management in Toronto. His firm manages about C$7.2 billion. “You have got the fear of what’s going on in the global market. Everyone is looking at negative rates in Europe and Japan, and trying to figure out what that means to the banking system.”

     Financials and health-care stocks contributed the biggest declines to the S&P/TSX on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lenders, lost at least 1.2 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. dropped 2.8 percent.

     Manulife Financial Corp., the nation’s largest life insurer, sank 9.2 percent for the biggest decline in five years after profit slumped in the fourth quarter due to the company’s energy-related investments.

     Raw-material shares jumped 3.7 percent as gold producers surged. Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. rallied at least 3 percent and Kinross Gold Corp. jumped 14 percent. Gold prices climbed to the highest in a year as investors sought a haven investment against the selloff in stocks.

     Cenovus Energy Inc. rose 3.2 percent after the energy producer slashed its dividend by 69 percent and said it will cut more jobs and further reduce its 2016 spending in an effort to retain cash amid a slide in crude and natural gas prices.

US

By Anna-Louise Jackson and Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 250 points, amid mounting concern that central-bank efforts to support growth are losing their potency.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index pared losses in the last hour-and-a-half of trading, after earlier falling as much as 2.3 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 Index erased most of its decline. Banks led the retreat, with Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. falling more than 6.5 percent. Boeing Co. tumbled 6.8 percent after people familiar with the matter said regulators are probing its accounting. 

     The S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent to 1,829.08 at 4 p.m. in New York, extending declines to a fifth day, its longest losing streak since September. The benchmark fell to around the 1,810 level before rebounding. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 254.56 points, or 1.6 percent, to 15,660.18, as Boeing’s plunge knocked 54 points off the index.

     “Central bank policies and the uncertainty around their effectiveness is the big macro concern right now,” said Leo Grohowski, who helps manage more than $184 billion in client assets as chief investment officer of BNY Mellon Wealth Management in New York. “There’s a large disconnect right now between what the Fed might do and what they’re saying and what the market is expecting. There’s a lot of Fed uncertainty back on the table reminiscent of late last summer.”

     Signals by central banks from Europe to Japan that additional stimulus is at the ready are failing to ease worries that global growth will keep slowing. An initial rally in U.S. stocks evaporated in the final hour of trading on Wednesday as speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold off longer on raising interest rates gave way to renewed concern over the strength of the U.S. economy. Fed Chair Janet Yellen told Congress yesterday that recent market turbulence may weigh on the outlook for the economy if it persists.

     The S&P 500 is 14 percent below its all-time high set in May, near its lowest level in two years. The Nasdaq Composite Index is about 18 percent below its record set in July amid a more than 15 percent drop so far this year.

     Declines in banks have been the biggest source of pain for U.S. equities in the market’s latest rout — a gauge of financial shares on the S&P 500 has slumped almost 18 percent just this year, to its lowest level since 2013. With global stocks breaching a level that constitutes a bear market, trading volumes remain high and volatility is on the rise.

     “Energy companies have passed the ball to financials, because that’s where they get their money,” said John Manley, who helps oversee about $233 billion as chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo Funds Management in New York. “When problems spring up anywhere, they inevitably find their way back to the financial sector.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 7 percent Thursday to 28.14, closing at a five-month high. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX has jumped 55 percent this year.

     The U.S. earnings season hasn’t provided much of a relief even though more than three-quarters of companies that have reported so far have exceeded analysts’ profit estimates. Some 21 members of the S&P 500 are scheduled to release financial results today, including American International Group Inc. and CBS Corp. Analysts estimate S&P 500 earnings fell 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, and will continue to contract in the following two periods.

     While the S&P 500’s valuation of 15.2 times the forecast earnings of its members is in line with the average of the past five years, the measure has plunged 13 percent since the start of the year. The gauge remains more expensive than developed markets in Europe, where the Stoxx 600 Index trades for 13.4 times estimated earnings.

     All of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries fell Thursday, with financial, raw-material and industrial shares down at least 2 percent. Consumer discretionary companies were little changed, while tech stocks closed 0.2 percent lower.

     Banks in the benchmark fell 4.4 percent, the biggest one- day drop in more than five months. The group has lost nearly 13 percent this month.

     Losses in Boeing weighed on industrial shares in the S&P 500 as well as the Dow. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether the company properly accounted for the costs and expected sales of two of its best known jetliners, according to people with knowledge of the matter. General Electric Co. and Union Pacific Corp. each lost at least 1.8 percent.

     Cisco Systems Inc. rallied 9.6 percent, the most since May 2013, after predicting sales that may beat some analysts’ estimates. The gains helped blunt some of the pain in the Nasdaq Composite. Also helping, Tesla Motors Inc. added 4.7 percent after assurances that it’s on track with development of its long-awaited Model 3, while TripAdvisor Inc. surged 12 percent on a better-than-estimated quarterly profit. Expedia Inc. jumped 9.6 percent after forecasting earnings would grow as much as 45 percent this year.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

What is it exactly that hurts you?

Open your heart and speak.  Open your eyes and see.

At the moment that you look with your eyes wide open,

everywhere you will find differences, an infinite variety,

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.  Don’t lose faith.

                                                       -Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Poem Selected by Natasha Trethewey as featured in the NY Times 2/7/16:

In the years after my mother’s  death, I began to notice that I was losing her again, piece by piece:  the sound of her voice, the gestures she made when she spoke, how she walked.  Something about the way this poem occupies the page as a block of text suggests a reassembling – the beloved, for a moment, recollected in the frame of a dream.

Wild Common Prayer
For SLS
-by Cecilia Woloch

I dreamt you were whole again, radiant, calm:  your hair still golden but
tinged with red – a halo of rosy, burnished light – and your hands
untrembling in your lap.  I was surprised to find you home.  But I’ve been here
all along, you said.  Or might have said.  You didn’t speak.  You’d only aged
as women age whose bodies ease them toward death; grown softer, more
yourself.  And I was the one who stood amazed, there in the kitchen where
we’d spent so many quiet mornings, friend.  Wanting to touch you, wanting
to simply not forsake you now.  Outside, the pasture lay down calmly; each
blade shimmered in the wind.  This is eternity, I thought, and felt you breaking
into all your lovely fragments as I woke.

Cecilia Woloch is a poet whose most recent collection “Earth” was published last year by Two Sylvias Press.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Moe the peacock roosts on a grapevine frame following an overnight snowfall in Monroe Township, Pa., Wednesday. Mark Moran/The Citizens’ Voice/AP

A horseman rides along Bregagh Road’s Dark Hedges in Armoy, Northern Ireland, Wednesday. The iconic tunnel of trees, featured as the Kingsroad in the smash-hit television series ‘Game of Thrones,’ was painted in error with white line road markings by a contractor. Peter Morrison/AP

Market Closes for February 10^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	15914.74	-99.64   -0.62%
S&P 500	1851.86	-0.35   -0.02%
NASDAQ	4283.594	+14.831   +0.35%
TSX	12185.72	-96.93
		-0.79%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15713.39	-372.05
		-2.31%
HANG SENG	19288.17	+105.08
		+0.55%
SENSEX	23758.90	-262.08
		-1.09%
FTSE 100	5672.30	+40.11
		+0.70%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.001	1.051
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.818	1.859
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6681	1.7260
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.4872	2.5485

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71802	0.72066
US $	1.39273	1.38761
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.57184	0.63620
US $	1.12860	0.88605

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1190.00	1191.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	27.45	27.94

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks slipped for a fourth day, as financial shares declined and losses of energy shares widened amid plunging oil prices.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index tumbled 0.8 percent to 12,185.72 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after earlier climbing as much as 0.9 percent. The decline pushed the benchmark equity gauge to the lowest level in more than two weeks. Six of 10 main industry groups slipped.

     The rally that faded in Canadian equities Wednesday mirrored a similar move in U.S. stocks. Speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates gave way to renewed concerns about the strength of the American economy. The resource-heavy S&P/TSX, which entered a bear market last month, has been influenced by volatility in crude and commodity prices.

     Financial companies contributed the most to the slump in the S&P/TSX today amid deepening concern about the health of the global economy. Bank of Nova Scotia lost 2.8 percent, while Royal Bank of Canada slid 2.1 percent.

     Energy companies also retreated as oil prices dropped to $27.45 a barrel. Cenovus Energy Inc. and Encana Corp. retreated at least 8.4 percent.

     Utility shares fell, with Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. leading declines. The company announced yesterday it will buy Empire District Electric Co. for $2.4 billion.

     Technology companies gained the most as a group today. Open Text Corp. increased 10 percent after the company posted quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. DH Corp. and Celestica Inc. also rose, gaining more than 2.6 percent.

US

By Jeremy Herron and Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — The rally in U.S. stocks evaporated in the final hour of trading as speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates gave way to renewed concern over the strength of the American economy. The dollar fell, while Treasuries rose.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capped a second day of volatile trading virtually where it began, after the gauge erased an advance that topped 1.5 percent at its height. Fed Chair Yellen signaled financial-market volatility could delay rate increases as the central bank assesses the impact of recent turmoil on domestic growth. Ten-year Treasury yields broke below 1.70 percent after an auction drew the lowest rates since 2012. The dollar dropped to its lowest level since November versus major peers. Oil fell to a three-week low.

     Yellen’s testimony before Congress did little to quell market volatility, with the central bank chief saying the Fed still expects to raise rates gradually while making it clear that continued turmoil may alter forecasts. She highlighted uncertainty over the pace of China’s growth and the related rout in commodities, concerns that have roiled financial markets throughout the year and twice pushed global shares to the brink of a bear market.

     Markets buckled earlier this week as Deutsche Bank AG sparked concern European bank creditworthiness was weakening as oil’s rout took U.S. crude below $28 a barrel. While central banks from Japan to Europe have signaled additional stimulus is at the ready, market volatility has intensified in recent weeks. Yellen’s acknowledgment that the ructions have clouded global growth added to the anxiety.

     “She’s not oblivious to what’s happening in the global economy and financial markets, as well as the stress of financial institutions,” James Abate, who helps oversee $1 billion as chief investment officer at Centre Funds in New York, said by phone. “She essentially is trying to stick with the premise that the economy is improving but perhaps not at the rate they anticipated and only warrants gradual rate rises.”

     The S&P 500 was little changed at 1,851.86 as of 4 p.m. in New York, after rising as much as 1.5 percent during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent as Walt Disney Co. shareholders overlooked a record quarter for sales and earnings and instead focused on flagging profits at its ESPN sports network. Bank shares fell fastest in the final hour of trading as sentiment shifted.

     Yellen’s testimony took equities off their morning highs after she said that market fears of a recession are showing up in asset prices. The comments reflected a concern that has hung over equity markets all year: whether the evaporation of wealth in share prices could bleed into the economy, sour consumer confidence and restrain spending. Almost $3 trillion of equity value has been erased as declines in the S&P 500 swelled to as much as 9.4 percent this year.

     “It’s really just acknowledging that we’ve had a 10 percent drop, and it is negative at the margin for growth, and if that continues it will slow down the pace of hikes,” said Aneta Markowska, chief U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York. “The Fed looks at equities as almost an exogenous factor that will play into their policy decisions.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slid 4 percent to 25.48, snapping a four-day increase that saw the measure climb 23 percent. The gauge of price swings, which has surged 39 percent in 2016, is almost double its two-year average of 15.88.

     Twitter Inc. shares slumped more than 12 percent in after- market trading, before rebounding, as the social media company reported earnings.

     Benchmark 10-year notes rose with yields at 1.67 percent, the lowest level in a year. Two-year note yields were little changed at 0.69 percent, after the difference between two- and 10-year rates fell to the narrowest on an intraday basis since January 2008.

     “She has done a good job of not taking any of her options off the table,” said Guy Haselmann, head of capital-markets strategy at Bank of Nova Scotia in New York, one of the 22 primary dealers that trade with the Fed. “She’s in a wait-and- see mode. At the same time she has to acknowledge what the credit markets are sort of indicating, that there is some tightening of financial conditions.”

     An investor group that owns about $1.6 billion of Puerto Rico senior sales-tax bonds is proposing a plan that would allow them to be repaid in full rather than accept the discounted amount the commonwealth has offered under its restructuring proposal.

     Oil slipped back below $28 a barrel in New York amid speculation that crude inventories will resume their gains after an unexpected decline. The Energy Information Administration said supplies dropped 754,000 barrels last week. A 3.2 million barrel stockpile gain was projected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery sank 1.8 percent to $27.45 a barrel.

     Explorer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. slashed its dividend, joining a list of drillers cutting investor payments and spending as they seek to preserve cash. The CBOE Crude Oil Volatility Index, which measures expectations of price swings, rose to the highest level since 2009 on Tuesday.

     Gold futures fell 0.3 percent to $1,194.60 an ounce Wednesday, paring a 13 percent gain for the year, more than any other raw material tracked by the Bloomberg Commodity Index and the metal’s best start since a 24 percent gain in 1980 over the same period.

     The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.3 percent for a third day of declines.

     The yen climbed 1.5 percent to 113.35 per dollar, reaching the highest level since 2014. Japan’s currency has climbed against almost all of the more than 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg since the central bank embraced negative interest rates on Jan. 29. The prospect of the Bank of Japan either stepping in to sell yen or cut rates is a growing risk, HSBC Holdings Plc says.

     A gauge of global currency price swings closed at its highest since June 2012 on Tuesday, before Yellen testified to the House Financial Services Committee. Implied one-month volatility for the euro versus the dollar rose to a two-month high on Wednesday while a similar measure of swings for the yen against the greenback remained near the highest since July 2013.

     The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose for the first time in three days, adding 0.1 percent. A gauge of 20 currencies halted a three-day slide, with Russia’s ruble and Argentina’s peso climbing at least 1 percent. Stocks in Hungary and the Czech Republic led the rebound in equities.

     Venezuela bonds slumped for the third straight day amid concern the South American nation is close to defaulting after a local newspaper said a government official had proposed stopping payments on foreign debt.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The intellectual aspect is, that love sees and understands.

The emotional aspect is to feel as one with the other person.

Love is unity.  There is no “me” in love, only “you.”

The behavioral aspect is, that love inspires us to give.

There is no expectation; we do not expect to receive.

Such love is wisdom and liberation in itself.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.  Think only on those things that are in line with your principles

and can bear the light of day.  The content of your character is your choice.  Day by day, what you do

is who you become.

                          -Heraclitus, 535-475 BC

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY:

Monkeys (1920, 1932,1944,1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016): Monkeys are clever, curious, witty and smart.

People born in the year of the monkey are the erratic geniuses of the cycle.  Clever and skillful in grand-scale operations, they are adroit when making financial deals.  They are surprisingly inventive and original and are able to solve the most difficult problems with astonishing ease.  There are few fields in which a person born in this year would not be successful.  Monkey-year people have a disconcerting habit of agreeing with others.  They feel more comfortable when they agree, but this sort of agreement is merely a policy tactic.  If a monkey-year person sets out to do something and is unable to start immediately, he becomes discouraged and abandons the project even before he has actually tried it.  Monkey people have a poor opinion of other people and tend to hold them in contempt.

  Yet monkey people are prized for their skills, talents, and flexibility.  They are good at making decisions and have common-sense practicality.  They are fired with a deep desire for knowledge, and they read, see, and know a great deal.  They have good memories and can recall fine points and details with ease.  They are also passionate and strong-natured, but they tend to cool off quickly.  They become famous if they are allowed to pursue their own course.  Monkey people, for all their negative qualities, are needed for their skills.

  The second phase in the monkey person’s life is the worst, for he will be distracted and confused, and plans will go awry.  The monkey-year man’s relations with women will not be good.  Monkey-year people must also be careful about over explaining, for by talking too much they will drive people away.

  The best marriage partner for monkey people would be someone born in the dragon or the rat year.  The next best would be a person born in the year of the rabbit, sheep, or dog.  A bad marriage would be one with a snake-year or a boar-year person and the worst would be with someone born in the tiger year. –by Reiko Chiba.

February 9, 1964:The Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show – 73 million people watched the broadcast.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong Tuesday to celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Monkey. Bobby Yip/Reuters

A man burns joss sticks as he prays at the Dongyue Temple in Beijing Tuesday during the second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

 

Market Closes for February 9^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16014.38	-12.67   -0.08%
S&P 500	1852.21	-1.23   -0.07%
NASDAQ	4268.762	-14.991   -0.35%
TSX	12282.65	-252.75
		-2.02%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16085.44	-918.86
		-5.40%
HANG SENG	19288.17	+105.08
		+0.55%
SENSEX	24020.98	-266.44
		-1.10%
FTSE 100	5632.19	-57.17
		-1.00%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.051	1.130
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.859	1.948
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7260	1.8357
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5485	2.6683

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72066	0.71865
US $	1.38761	1.39149
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.56663	0.63831
US $	1.12902	0.88573

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1191.00	1150.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	27.94	30.89

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang and Anna-Louise Jackson

     (Bloomberg) — Financial and energy companies dragged Canadian stocks lower for a third day, as equities worldwide sank amid deepening concerns about the health of the global economy.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index slumped 2 percent to 12,282.65 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest level since Jan. 15. The benchmark gauge has fallen 5.6 percent this year, making it the second-best performing developed market tracked by Bloomberg, after New Zealand.

     While the U.S. market staged an afternoon rebound to finish Tuesday little changed, Canada’s resource-rich benchmark equity gauge was held back by plummeting oil prices. As crude fell more than 4 percent to settle near $28 a barrel, energy companies retreated for a third straight day and all 55 stocks in the industry declined. Ensign Energy Services Inc. plunged 10 percent to its lowest level since 2000.

     Banks contributed the most to losses, joining a selloff in global financial shares amid growing concerns that the rout in oil will weaken lenders’ balance sheets. Lenders in the gauge declined 2.2 percent and only five stocks in the group advanced. Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Bank of Montreal all fell more than 2.3 percent.

     Utility stocks fell 4.8 percent, the biggest decline since 2001 and the most among the 10 sectors. Fortis Inc. tumbled 10 percent, the most ever, after agreeing to buy ITC Holdings Corp. for $6.9 billion in cash and stock, adding its high regulated returns in what will be the largest Canadian takeover of a U.S. utility.

     Industrial companies rose 1.1 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P/TSX on Tuesday. Bombardier Inc. increased 2.6 percent, as the company entered partnership with Turkish manufacturer Bozankaya to produce high-speed trains.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index holding near its lowest since April 2014 while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged closer to a bear market amid declines in energy and technology shares.

     Equity markets are attempting to stabilize after the Nasdaq Composite’s worst three-day selloff since August, and an early drop Tuesday that brought it within 1 percent of a bear market. Whipsaw moves in technology, consumer, health-care and industrial companies sent stocks careening between gains and losses throughout the session. Raw-material companies rallied amid weakness in the dollar, while energy sank with oil prices.

     The S&P 500 declined 0.1 percent to 1,852.21 at 4 p.m. in New York, after erasing an early 1 percent loss and climbing as much as 0.8 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.4 percent after lurching between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung more than 255 points from session low to the high before closing down 12.67 points, or 0.1 percent, at 16,014.38. About 10 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 26 percent above the three-month average.

     “It’s quite a tussle between the bulls and bears,” said John Carey, a Boston-based fund manager at Pioneer Investment Management Inc., which oversees about $230 billion. “Some people think this is a temporary setback and that the market maybe got a little ahead of itself — that nothing is really wrong with the economy and this is a good buying opportunity. Others think the market is indicating a slowdown in months ahead.”

     Speculation that Deutsche Bank AG is considering buying back billions of its bonds fueled an afternoon rebound in equities. Deutsche Bank’s U.S.-listed shares trimmed declines of more than 4 percent after the Financial Times report on the bond repurchase. The bank’s perceived creditworthiness and a fresh rout in crude added to doubts about the strength of the worldwide economy.

     Declines in banks and technology stocks have weighed on U.S. equities in the market’s latest rout, the worst for the Nasdaq Composite since August. The gauge briefly rebounded today after approaching a bear market before closing lower, down about 18 percent since its record last July.

     As global stocks near a bear market, volatility is on the rise. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 2.1 percent to 26.54, trimming an earlier 9 percent gain when it briefly touched a five-month high. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX jumped 20 percent in the prior three days.

     Among the S&P 500’s 10 main industries, energy was hit hardest, falling 2.5 percent. Phone companies lost 1.1 percent. Tech shares slipped 0.4 percent, after erasing a 1.3 percent drop to rise by the same amount. Raw-materials, consumer staples and health-care rose at least 0.6 percent.

     Oneok Inc. sank 11 percent, taking its two-day drop to 19 percent. Chevron Corp. tumbled 3.6 percent, while Southwestern Energy Co. and Consol Energy Inc. fell at least 10 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $27.94 a barrel, down 5.9 percent.

     “Oil is still very much in the picture, and it’s injecting concern about the financial viability of companies in the industry,” said Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates Inc. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “That’s spreading to banks given their exposure to loans within the sector. Credit sensitivity is more at the forefront than it has been.”

     International Business Machines Corp. declined 2.3 percent, and Oracle Corp. sank 1.5 percent to help drag the tech group lower. Facebook Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. finished little changed after roaming between both gains and losses of at least 2.2 percent.

     A gauge of lenders in the S&P 500 has plunged more than 25 percent since a July peak to its lowest level since October 2013 as bearish sentiment intensified this month. Nine of the 17 members of the S&P 500 Banks Index have lost at least 20 percent just this year.                    

     Raw-materials were led higher by Martin Marietta Materials Inc., which rose 9.4 percent, after forecasting that its shipments of crushed stone, sand and gravel will rise as much as 7 percent, helping alleviate investor concerns over a construction slowdown. DuPont Co. gained 1.6 percent.

     Health-care shares shook off early losses to rise for the first time in four days. Gilead Sciences Inc. gained 2.3 percent, overcoming a 1.4 percent drop at the open, while Pfizer Inc. increased 1.9 percent, erasing a 0.8 percent loss earlier. Boston Scientific Corp. rallied 5 percent, the most in three months. Its Watchman device, used to reduce the risk of stroke, will be covered by Medicare in a reversal of a U.S. proposal last year.

     Honeywell International Inc. rose 1.2 percent, after falling as much as 1.3 percent, to pace gains among industrials. Transportation companies helped bolster the group, with Union Pacific Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. up more than 1.4 percent, shaking off declines of at least 1.3 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average increased 1 percent. Masco Corp. gained 8.2 percent after the building products maker’s quarterly profit beat estimates.

     Amid growing concern over China, volatile oil prices and the trajectory of U.S. interest rates, all 24 developed-market indexes tracked by Bloomberg worldwide are down in 2016. Some strategists are losing their resolve in keeping bullish calls on the S&P 500, and have trimmed their year-end projections. The average estimate calls for the benchmark to end December at 2,168 — a 17 percent rally from yesterday’s close, but a gain of just 6.1 percent for the year.

     While the S&P 500’s valuation of 15.4 times the forecast earnings of its members is in line with the average of the past five years, the measure has plunged 13 percent since the start of the year and is at the lowest level since October 2014. The gauge remains more expensive than developed markets in Europe, where the Stoxx 600 Index trades for 13.8 times estimated earnings. That’s down from a record valuation of 17.4 times notched in June.

     Investors have been on guard for any signs of weakness spilling over from China while scrutinizing mixed signals from economic reports and corporate earnings. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to testify before Congress on monetary policy tomorrow and Thursday.

     Data today showed job openings in climbed in December to the second-highest level on record, a sign demand for labor remains strong. A separate measure showed wholesale inventories in December fell less than economists forecast.

     With the onset of the latest bout of financial market turbulence, investors have further cut the probability they see of interest-rate increases, pricing virtually no chance of the Fed raising borrowing costs in March and 4 percent odds in April, down from 17 percent on Friday.

     With the U.S. reporting season more than half way through, about 77 percent of S&P 500 members have so far topped profit estimates, while less than half have beaten sales projections. Analysts estimate earnings at companies in the gauge fell 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, and will drop another 6.3 percent in the current period.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

I am proud to tell you that I belong to a religion in whose sacred language,

the Sanskrit, the word exclusion is

untranslatable.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Strength lies in differences, not similarities.

                   -Stephen Covey, 1932-2012

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

DRIVE-THROUGH COMEDY

British funnyman James Corden’s “The Late Late Show (CBS) may come on past your bedtime, but thanks to YouTube, you can get caught up on his hilarious and wildly entertaining Carpool Karaoke skits, in which he invites the likes of Rod Stewart, boy bank One Direction, Stevie Wonder to ride with him to work and sing along with the radio.  The latest passenger is Chris Martin  – too funny. 

Check it out at www.youtube.com/user/TheLateLateShow.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Lightning flashes above flowing lava as Sakurajima, a well-known volcano, erupts Friday evening in southern Japan. Kyodo News/AP

Strollers and a cyclist enjoy the sunset on the shore of Lake Zug Friday in Zug, Switzerland. Alexandra Wey/Keystone/AP

Market Closes for February 5^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16204.97	-211.61   -1.29%
S&P 500	1880.05	-35.40   -1.85%
NASDAQ	4363.15	-146.414   -3.25%
TSX	12763.99	-10.51
		-0.08%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16819.59	-225.40
		-1.32%
HANG SENG	19288.17	+105.08
		+0.55%
SENSEX	24616.97	+278.54
		+1.14%
FTSE 100	5848.06	-50.70
		-0.86%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.130	1.151
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.948	1.965
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8357	1.8446
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6683	2.6786

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71865	0.72719
US $	1.39149	1.37516
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55262	0.64407
US $	1.11580	0.89622

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1150.35	1156.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	30.89	31.72

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed on Friday, as gold and silver producers pared earlier losses triggered by data showing the economy lost jobs last month.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 10.51 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,763.99 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, paring declines in the final hour of trading as raw-material shares advanced. The benchmark gauge capped a weekly drop of 0.5 percent, after posting wild swings of more than 140 index points for six straight days prior to Friday.

     Canada’s equity benchmark is the best-performing developed market in the world in 2016, after being among the worst in the past year. While the S&P/TSX entered a bear market last month, the gauge rallied from a two-and-a-half year low in January to trim declines for the year. It is currently down 1.9 percent for 2016.

     A report today showed Canada’s unemployment rate unexpectedly climbed to 7.2 percent from 7.1 percent in January while the number of jobs fell by 5,700. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a 6,000 increase. Alberta’s jobless rate rose to the highest since February 1996 at 7.4 percent.

     “The weaker than expected decline in employment in January was a poor start to the year and provides more evidence that the economy is struggling to cope with the collapse in oil prices,” said David Madani, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics in a note to clients. “The Bank of Canada will likely have no other choice but to cut interest rates further.”

     While the recently elected federal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to introduce fiscal stimulus to help buffer the economy, that is not likely to have an effect until the second half of the year, and the jobless rate will increase to as high as 7.8 percent a year from now, Madani said.

     Separately, data showed the U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in January, as hourly earnings improved from year-ago figures. A further tightening of labor conditions that sparks wage gains would help assure Federal Reserve policy makers inflation will reach its goal.

     Raw-materials producers jumped 2.7 percent, the most in the S&P/TSX. Goldcorp Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. rose more than 5.1 percent as all 10 of the biggest gainers today were gold and silver producers. Spot gold climbed for a sixth day on Friday, while silver prices increased for a third day.

     Industrial and technology companies contributed the biggest declines to the S&P/TSX. Bombardier Inc. dropped 8.1 percent to the lowest since 1989. The Canadian government is pushing for changes to the embattled planemaker’s dual-class share structure in exchange for financial aid, officials familiar with the plans said.

     BlackBerry Ltd. dropped 3 percent, the most in three weeks, after the smartphone maker fired about 200 employees in Florida and Ontario in an effort to trim costs. Sierra Wireless Inc. sank 24 percent to a two-year low after forecasting 2016 earnings and revenue that fell short of analysts’ estimates.

     Genworth MI Canada Inc., a mortgage insurer, jumped 4.5 percent to a month high after reporting fourth-quarter earnings ahead of analysts’ estimates. About half of the 240 companies listed in the S&P/TSX are scheduled to report earnings over the next two weeks.

US

By Joseph Ciolli and Anna-Louise Jackson

     (Bloomberg) — The willingness of U.S. stock investors to abide price-earnings ratios stretching into three and four digits came under pressure Friday as the Nasdaq Composite Index fell to its lowest since October 2014.

     The jobs-day tumble in American equities turned into a full-blown selloff in stocks with the highest valuation. The Nasdaq Internet Index sank 5.2 percent, as Facebook Inc. lost 5.8 percent. Tableau Software Inc. tumbled more than 49 percent after a miss on licensing revenue, setting off a rout in data- analytics firms including Salesforce.com Inc. LinkedIn Corp. fell 44 percent after forecasting a year of slower revenue growth.

     The Nasdaq 100 Index lost 3.4 percent to 4,024.47 at 4 p.m. in New York, to the lowest since August. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.9 percent to 1,880.02, capping the second-worst week this year, down 3.1 percent. It was the gauge’s worst performance on the day of a U.S. jobs report since June 2012, when it plunged 2.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 211.75 points, or 1.3 percent, to 16,204.83.

     Stocks declined in inverse proportion to valuation, with a group of about 100 companies with the highest price-earnings ratios in the Russell 1000 Index declining more than 4.5 percent while the lowest gained 1.9 percent.

     “Investors are selling the big tech and large-cap names to stem any further losses — that’s what’s leading us down today,” said Stephen Carl, principal and head equity trader at Williams Capital Group LP. “Economic numbers were mixed, and the market started off modestly down before starting to make new lows as it went along. You’ve seen profit-taking going into the weekend as well.”

     A report today showed job growth settled into a more sustainable pace in January and the unemployment rate dropped to an almost eight-year low, signs of a resilient labor market that’s causing wage growth to stir. While the increase in payrolls was less than forecast, it largely reflected payback for a seasonal hiring pickup in the final two months of 2015. Hourly earnings rose more than estimated after climbing in the year to December by the most since July 2009.

     The S&P 500 Technology Index fell 3.4 percent, its third decline in four days. Salesforce.com dropped 13 percent, while Adobe Systems Inc. and Red Hat Inc. lost at least 7.9 percent as Tableau’s tumble dragged down other software makers.

     LinkedIn reported a loss for the year ended Dec. 31. The company said income before items was $373 million for the 12 months, meaning its market value at Thursday’s close was almost 70 times earnings by that measure. Amazon trades at a price- earnings ratio of more than 400. The most expensive company in the Nasdaq Composite is Shutterfly Inc. with a multiple of more than 1,700, Bloomberg data show.

     “The market is starting to beat up a number of companies that had held up well or that were the 2015 momentum stocks,” said David Katz, who oversees about $680 million as chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. in New York. “When you have a LinkedIn selloff of 45 percent, it just brings up people’s worst fears. Everybody’s trying to get out of a small exit.”

     Microsoft Corp. dropped for a fifth day, the longest losing streak in five months. Shares are down 9 percent since a 5.8 percent rally on Jan. 29 following the company’s better-than- expected earnings. A gauge of semiconductor stocks fell 3.3 percent, led lower by declines of more than 5.7 percent in Nvidia Corp., Skyworks Solutions Inc. and Broadcom Ltd.                       

     The Nasdaq Internet Index lost 5.2 percent, the most since 2011, to the lowest in more than a year. Facebook, Amazon and Priceline Group Inc. sank more than 5 percent, with Facebook posting its steepest retreat in 15 months.

     Apple Inc. ended the week as the world’s most valuable company, a title it relinquished on Tuesday to Google parent Alphabet Inc. Shares in Alphabet failed to sustain gains sparked by better-than-expected earnings and dropped 7.6 percent for the week, while the iPhone maker limited losses to 3.4 percent in the five days. Apple’s market capitalization of $521 billion surpassed Google’s by almost $50 billion.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index climbed 7.1 percent Friday to 23.38. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX rose 11 percent in January, its third straight monthly increase. About 9.4 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 21 percent above the three-month average.

     Following the jobs data, the dollar rebounded from a slide that had helped boost commodity prices and optimism for profits at multinational companies, sending shares of raw-material and industrial companies higher in the previous two days. Whipsawing markets and global growth worries have made further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve less likely this year, putting pressure on the U.S. currency.                      

     “The market is trying to sort out what this means for the Fed,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird, which oversees $110 billion. “The report, in a vacuum, would suggest a March increase is back on the table. It was nice to see some wage gains for the first time in a while. It becomes a quandary for the Fed board now. This adds to the confusion over when the next rate hike will come.”

     Fed officials in comments this week urged patience in assessing the economy amid tighter financial conditions. Policy makers in December indicated four quarter-point rate increases might be warranted this year. Amid financial market turbulence and tepid data, investors have cut the probability they see of the Fed acting, pricing in just a 10 percent chance of a March increase and 17 percent odds in April, up from 15 percent just before the jobs report.

     Investors have been on guard for any signs in economic data or corporate earnings that weakness emanating from China is spilling over. With the U.S. earnings season more than midway through, about 77 percent of firms that have reported have beat profit estimates, though less than half posted better-than- expected sales. Analysts estimate earnings at index members fell 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, better than Jan. 15 predictions for a 7 percent slump.

     Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries declined today, with technology and consumer discretionary companies falling at least 3.1 percent. Seven groups slid more than 1 percent. Phone and utility shares were the only groups to gain. For the companies that tumbled the most today — Hanesbrands Inc., Salesforce.com Inc. and Hess Corp. — it was the worst day for all three stocks since 2008.                     

     Consumer discretionary companies in the benchmark fell for a fourth straight day to the lowest level in a year. Hanesbrands led the way, dropping 15 percent after its 2016 sales outlook fell short of analyst expectations.

     News Corp., the Wall Street Journal and New York Post publisher controlled by billionaire Rupert Murdoch, slid 9.1 percent to a record low after its quarterly profit missed estimates as advertising sales declined. Nike Inc. decreased 5 percent, the most since March 2014, and Netflix Inc., the S&P 500’s strongest performer last year, sank 7.7 percent to the lowest since last May.

     Restaurants were hammered amid speculation their profits could suffer from higher wage costs. Starbucks Corp. dropped 6.5 percent, the biggest one-day loss since 2012. Darden Restaurants Inc., McDonald’s Corp. and Taco Bell parent Yum! Brands Inc. all declined more than 3.5 percent.

     “After all the dust settles, people are going to continue to watch oil and the financial stocks,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York. “People are definitely looking at the macro issues right now more than they’re looking at earnings.”

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Though there is repulsion enough in Nature, she lives by attraction.

Mutual love enables Nature to persist.

Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I frequently tramped eight or ten miles…to keep an appointment with a beech tree

or a  yellow birch or an old acquaintance among the pines.

                              -Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On February 4^th, 1813, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra:

Your letter was truly welcome, and I am much obliged to you all for your praise;  it came a t a right time, for I had had some fits of disgust.  Our second evening’s reading to Miss Benn [from Pride and Prejudice, just published] had not pleased me so well, but I believe something must be attributed to my mother’s too rapid way of getting on: and though she perfectly understands the characters herself, she cannot speak as they ought.  Upon the whole, however, I am quite vain enough and well satisfied enough.  The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling;  it wants shade;  it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had;  if not, of solemn specious nonsense, about something unconnected with the story;  an essay on writing, a critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Buonaparté, or anything that would form a contrast, and bring the reader with increased delight to the playfulness and epigrammatism of the general style.  I doubt your quite agreeing with me here.  I know your starched notions.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Revelers wearing sheepskin ‘busos’ costumes walk in the traditional carnival parade in Mohacs, Hungary, Thursday. The busos use various noisy wooden rattlers to drive away winter. Tamas Soki/MTI/AP

 

People perform ‘Ganghuoshaolong,’ or ‘burn dragon with iron fire,’ ahead of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Jishou, Hunan province, China. Reuters

Market Closes for February 4^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16416.58	+79.92   +0.49%
S&P 500	1915.45	+2.92   +0.15%
NASDAQ	4509.559	+5.321   +0.12%
TSX	12774.50	+181.48
		+1.44%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17044.99	-146.26
		-0.85%
HANG SENG	19183.09	+191.50
		+1.01%
SENSEX	24338.43	+115.11
		+0.48%
FTSE 100	5898.76	+61.62
		+1.06%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.151	1.154
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.965	1.972
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8446	1.8792
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6786	2.7074

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72719	0.72608
US $	1.37516	1.37725
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54221	0.64842
US $	1.12147	0.89168

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1156.35	1132.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	31.72	32.28

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied a second day, amid the most volatile stretch of trading so far this year, as metals prices extended a rebound and investors weighed earnings from some of the country’s largest companies.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 181.48 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,774.50 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has swung by more than 100 index points for six straight days, zigzagging between gains and losses, the longest streak by this measure in 2016.

     Even after a 1.8 percent slide so far in 2016, Canada’s equity benchmark is still the best-performing developed market in the world after rallying from a 2 1/2-year low in January. The S&P/TSX also entered a bear market earlier in the month, as investors fled risky assets amid mounting concerns about growth in Europe, China and the U.S. Investors are also examining corporate health, with about half of the 240 companies listed in the S&P/TSX scheduled to report earnings over the next two weeks.

     First Quantum Minerals Ltd. soared 34 percent as raw- materials companies led Canadian shares higher, joining the biggest rebound in global mining stocks since the financial crisis. Metals from copper to zinc advanced. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, jumped 13 percent.

     Gold producers advanced as the price of the precious metal extended its longest rally in five months as the U.S. dollar fell on lower rate expectations. Goldcorp Inc. jumped 5.1 percent, the highest since October.

     Energy producers and industrial stocks increased. Suncor Energy Inc. added 0.9 percent as the oil-sands producer cut spending by about 10 percent after posting a surprise quarterly loss.

     Oil retreated in New York, erasing an earlier gain, as U.S. stockpiles climbed to the highest since the 1930s. President Barack Obama will propose a $10 per barrel tax on oil in his fiscal 2017 budget to help pay for transportation improvements, the White House said.

     Railway operators Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. jumped more than 3.1 percent.

     BCE Inc., Canada’s largest telecommunications company, rose 1.4 percent after raising its dividend and reporting fourth- quarter profit that matched analysts’ estimates.

US

By Oliver Renick and Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for a second day amid a rally in raw-material and industrial shares, as dollar weakness boosted commodity prices and optimism for profits at multinational companies.

     Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and Alcoa Inc. rallied at least 10 percent, with Alcoa posting its best two-day gain in nearly seven years. Caterpillar Inc. increased 4.3 percent, while General Electric Co. added 1.8 percent. Consumer companies were the worst performers, with Ralph Lauren Corp. tumbling the most ever after cutting its annual forecast, while Kohl’s Corp. lost 19 percent as slow fourth-quarter sales weighed on earnings.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 1,915.45 at 4 p.m. in New York, after swinging between gains and losses throughout the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 79.92 points to 16,416.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.1 percent, after erasing a 0.9 percent slide. About 9.5 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 22 percent above the three-month average.

     “The lower the dollar, the better it is for commodities, so we are seeing a little bounce back,” said Andrew Brenner, head of international fixed income at National Alliance Capital Markets in New York. “As long as oil can stabilize, I think things will come back. And as long as interest rates stay low, I think equities can bounce significantly.”

     A steep drop in the dollar sparked equity gains yesterday led by energy and raw-material shares, halting the S&P 500’s two-day slide to start the month. The rout in the U.S. currency accelerated after data showed expansion in services industries was the slowest in nearly two years, rekindling worries about the strength of U.S. growth.

     Stocks had their worst January since 2009 as concerns that a slowdown in China will spread and plummeting commodity prices unnerved investors. The benchmark index is 10 percent below its all-time high set in May.

     “The fall in the dollar is a two-edge sword for the U.S.,”  said Otto Waser, chief investment officer at R&A Research & Asset Management AG in Zurich. “It’s good for earnings, which have been reasonable against low expectations, but it’s incrementally driven by a weakening economic outlook, which is not necessarily positive.”                          

     Investors are on guard for any signs China weakness is spilling over. A report today showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits rose last week, while separate data showed worker productivity slumped in the fourth quarter by the most in almost two years, leading to a pickup in U.S. labor costs that threaten corporate profits.

     Another gauge showed factory orders in December fell 2.9 percent, slightly worse than the forecast for a 2.8 percent decline, based on economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Focus will now turn to the government’s monthly nonfarm payrolls report tomorrow.

     With the U.S. earnings season more than halfway through, 78 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported beat profit estimates, while less than half posted better-than-expected sales. Analysts estimate earnings at index members fell 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter, better than Jan. 15 predictions for a 7 percent slump.

     “The question is what can we hang our hat on right now? It’s not earnings, it’s not what central banks are able to do, and it’s certainly not what we’re seeing with economic data,” said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC in New York. “Central banks continue to take their targets down on growth and inflation and part of today’s frustration came with the whippiness of crude.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 0.9 percent to 21.84. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX climbed for a third straight month in January, the longest such streak in 2 1/2 years.

     Among the S&P 500’s 10 main industries, raw-material and industrial companies increased at least 1.7 percent, while financial shares added 0.9 percent as banks gained. U.S. Bancorp and JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased more than 1.7 percent as the group rose for the first time in three days. Consumer staples and discretionary stocks sank more than 0.5 percent.

     Freeport-McMoRan rallied 18 percent to bring its two-day climb to 31 percent, the biggest such gain since August. The copper producer’s shares dropped 32 percent in January. Monsanto Co. added 6.5 percent, its strongest in five months, to pace the rally in raw-materials as the group rebounds from the worst monthly decline in more than four years.

     Transportation companies were among the strongest performers Thursday, with Ryder System Inc.’s 9.2 percent increase leading the gains, the company’s best since 2009. Railroads Union Pacific Corp. and Kansas City Southern added more than 4.5 percent. Similar to the raw-materials group, transports are also snapping back from the worst monthly drop since 2011.

     The railroads also helped support the gains among industrial companies, while General Electric and United Technologies Corp. rose more than 1.7 percent to pace the advance. Engine maker Cummins Inc. surged 7.6 percent, the most in more than four years, after its quarterly sales exceeded estimates.

     Technology shares erased declines in trading’s final hour to close little changed. Increases of more than 2.1 percent in International Business Machines Corp. and Oracle Corp. offset drops of more than 1.9 percent in Google parent Alphabet Inc.  and Facebook Inc. Alphabet had its biggest two-day drop since August.

     Consumer discretionary shares slid for a third day, the longest losing streak in four weeks. Home Depot Inc. and Nike Inc. fell at least 2.1 percent to weigh the most, followed by Kohl’s, with its 19 percent plunge the biggest drop on record going back to 1992.

     Mattel Inc. rose 1.7 percent and Hasbro Inc. added 1.2 percent after people familiar with the matter said the two toymakers have held talks about merging. Among other consumer shares rising, Whirlpool Corp. gained 3.5 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded the shares to buy from neutral.

     Merck & Co. fell 2.9 percent, the most since September, to weigh on health-care shares. The drugmaker closed 0.7 percent lower yesterday, after losing as much as 3.6 percent following quarterly results that showed sales of its diabetes drugs missed estimates. Pharmacy benefits manager AmerisourceBergen Corp. lost 4.1 percent to a 15-month low after trimming the top end of the range in its full-year profit forecast.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Only the intelligence of love and compassion can solve all problems of life.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

There  is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.

                                                          –Christopher Morely, 1890-1957   

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PRIME NUMBERS:

1 BILLION: People worldwide who moved from rural areas to cities between 2000 and 2014.

6.9: Percentage growth rate of China’s economy in 2015, the lowest in 25 years.  Some see it as a positive sign of a shift away from manufacturing to consumption and services.

76,156: Miles cycled in one year by US ultramarathon cyclist Kurt “Tarzan” Searvogel on January 10^th.  He broke a long-standing record of 75,065 miles set by British cyclist Tommy Godwin in 1939.

7,355: US patents earned in 2015 by IBM, the leader for the 23^rd year in a row.  Most were in the areas of artificial intelligence and cloud storage.  Samsung was second with 5072.

100: species of arthropods in the typical American home.  These include ants, beetles, millipedes, pill bugs, flies, moths and spiders.

62: Super-rich people, 53 of them men, who control the same amount of wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people.  In 2010, nearly 390 people shared that much global wealth.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Super Bowl 50 sign stands in a park overlooking San Francisco Wednesday. The Denver Broncos will play the Carolina Panthers Sunday, Feb. 7, in Santa Clara, Calif. Charlie Riedel/AP

An air force officer holds Sri Lanka’s national flag as the sun sets at Galle Face Green in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday. Sri Lankans will celebrate their 68th Independence day on Feb. 4th. Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Market Closes for February 3^rd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16336.66	+183.12   +1.13%
S&P 500	1912.53	+9.50   +0.50%
NASDAQ	4504.238	-12.708   -0.28%
TSX	12593.02	+150.76
		+1.21%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17191.25	-559.43
		-3.15%
HANG SENG	18991.59	-455.25
		-2.34%
SENSEX	24223.32	-315.68
		-1.29%
FTSE 100	5837.14	-84.87
		-1.43%

Bonds

 

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.154	1.119
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.972	1.944
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8792	1.8448
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7074	2.6560

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72608	0.71159
US $	1.37725	1.40530
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.52930	0.65389
US $	1.11010	0.90082

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1132.00	1128.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	32.28	29.88

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rebounded to halt a two-day retreat, reversing earlier losses, amid advances by materials and energy producers.

     Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Goldcorp Inc. surged as commodity companies led a recovery in Canadian equities. Rona Inc. shares doubled after a friendly takeover deal from U.S. rival Lowe’s Cos. Equities slumped earlier amid a drop in shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and financial companies.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 1.2 percent to 12,593.02 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing earlier losses of as much as 1 percent. The benchmark gauge halted a two-day loss of 3 percent that started February.

     Even with a 3.2 percent drop so far in 2016, Canada’s equity benchmark remains the second-best performing developed market in the world behind New Zealand after rallying from a 2 1/2-year low in January. The S&P/TSX also entered a bear market earlier in the month.

     Raw-material companies rallied the most as the price of gold climbed for a fourth day to a three-month high. Yamana Gold Inc. jumped 10 percent for the biggest gain since November, while Goldcorp Inc. added 8.2 percent. Energy producers rallied with the price of crude as the falling dollar countered data showing a steep gain in U.S. inventories.

     Rona shares surged a record 98 percent to an eight-year high, after the home-improvement retailer agreed to sell itself to rival Lowe’s for C$3.2 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash. Lowe’s will pay C$24 per share, more than double yesterday’s closing price of C$11.77, according to a statement.

     Indigo Books & Music Inc. surged 15 percent, the most in more than four years, after third-quarter earnings and revenue climbed.

     Valeant, briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, gained to erase an earlier decline of as much as 5.5 percent after the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released two memos late Feb. 2 detailing internal corporate documents from Valeant and Turing Pharmaceuticals on drug prices. The memos were in preparation for a hearing on skyrocketing prescription prices Thursday.

     Manulife Financial Corp. fell to a two-week low, amid concern China may place restrictions on the buying of overseas insurance. Shares of the nation’s largest life insurer have tumbled 6.7 percent in three days.

US

By Oliver Renick and Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for the first time in three days as commodity producers rallied with crude oil, overshadowing concerns that weakness in global growth is spreading.

     Equities stormed higher in afternoon trading as crude futures jumped 8 percent as the dollar touched its lowest levels since 2009. Gains in energy and raw-materials sparked a broader advance that helped banks trim sharp declines. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. advanced at least 4.1 percent, while Freeport- McMoRan Inc. gained more than 11 percent.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.5 percent to 1,912.53 at 4 p.m. in New York, after erasing an earlier drop of 1.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 183.12 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,336.66, wiping out a drop of nearly 200 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.3 percent, after losing as much as 2.1 percent. About 10 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 31 percent above the three-month average.

     “Worries about a U.S. recession have pushed the dollar lower and perhaps moved the Fed off the table,” said John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston. “Because of that, coupled with OPEC news and oil moving higher, we’re having highs of the day. For stocks, it’s all about oil today.”

     Equities lurched between gains and losses today as economic data rekindled worries about the strength of U.S. growth, while a tumble in the dollar helped send oil rocketing higher and boosted commodity producers.

     A report today showed service industries expanded in January at the slowest pace in nearly two years, raising the risk that persistent weakness in manufacturing is starting to spread to the rest of the U.S. economy. The services slowdown comes as investors are on guard for signs that weakness in China is spilling over.

     A separate reading today showed U.S. companies added a stronger-than-forecast 205,000 workers to payrolls in January. Focus will begin to shift to the government’s January employment report Friday, which is estimated to show the economy added 190,000 jobs, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

     The equity benchmark halted a two-day slide to start the month, with U.S. stocks coming off their worst January since 2009 as concerns about a slowdown in China and plummeting commodity prices unnerved investors. The S&P 500 is 10 percent below its all-time high set in May.

     Beyond oil and economic data, earnings reports also had some influence on stocks Wednesday. Oreo cookie maker Mondelez International Inc. fell 6.5 percent, the biggest drop in seven years, as its profit missed estimates. Gilead Sciences Inc. rose 4.5 percent as quarterly profit beat predictions and the company added $12 billion to its share buyback program. Yahoo! Inc. slumped 4.8 percent after its results, and signals that its core assets may be up for sale.

     With the U.S. earnings season about midway through, some 80 percent of companies in the S&P 500 that have reported beat profit estimates, but less than half posted better-than-expected sales. Analysts estimate earnings at index members fell 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter, better than Jan. 15 predictions for a 7 percent slump.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.5 percent Wednesday to 21.65. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX earlier jumped as much as 26 percent when equities fell to session lows following data showing larger- than-forecast oil stockpiles.

     “This is an emotional, sentiment-driven market, and it’s likely to remain tied to oil,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “Nerves are pretty frayed after yesterday’s decimation with the deterioration in oil prices spilling over into equity markets.”

     Among the S&P 500’s 10 main industries, energy and raw- material producers rallied at least 3.3 percent to propel Wednesday’s advance. Industrial, utilities and phone companies added more than 1.1 percent. Financials finished little changed, after earlier losing nearly 3 percent, as banks pared a selloff. Technology shares slipped 0.4 percent, trimming a drop of as much as 2 percent.

     Raw-materials producers rose as commodity prices rallied amid a weaker dollar, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index touching its lowest level in almost seven years. Newmont Mining Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. surged at least 11 percent, with Newmont capping its biggest gain since 2008.

     “I’m looking at the dollar breaking through support levels and it’s the biggest move we’ve seen in a while,” said LPL Financial’s Canally. “It’s becoming less and less of a headwind for corporations, and today it’s certainly less of a headwind for oil.”

     Murphy Oil Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. climbed at least 10 percent to lead the advance among energy companies. West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped 8 percent, after erasing a drop of as much as 1.6 percent, as the falling dollar countered any concerns about U.S. crude inventories rising to more than 500 million barrels for the first time since 1930.

     Retailers were a drag on consumer discretionary shares as Amazon.com Inc. fell 3.8 percent, down for a fourth day to the lowest since Oct. 1. Lowe’s Cos. tumbled 6.2 percent after agreeing to buy rival Rona Inc. for C$3.2 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash to create one of Canada’s biggest home-improvement retailers. Home Depot Inc. dropped 1.2 percent.

     A day after wresting away the crown of most valuable company from Apple Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc. gave it right back as its A class shares sank 4 percent, the most since August. Apple added 2 percent. Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc. fell more than 1.5 percent to weigh on the technology group. Autodesk Inc. rallied 8 percent, its biggest in three months amid a restructuring plan that includes cutting about 10 percent of its staff.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

It is in the very heart of our activity that we search for our goal.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

                                      -Lao Tzu, 601 BC-531 BC

 

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7