March 2016 – Carolann Steinhoff

March 31, 2016

March 31, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On March 31, 1968, President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office.

1821 – McGill University granted a Royal Charter.

1949 – Newfoundland joins Confederation at midnight as Canada’s 10th province

1958 – John Diefenbaker wins 208 ridings in the 24th federal election; largest ever majority by percentage of seats.

Tomorrow we wake up to a new month of April!

“April is the month of golden Aphrodite (Etruscan apru), modest, gentle goddess of love and beauty. She is the spirit of youth in everything. We find ourselves drawn outdoors again, into the breeze-filled air sitting warmly on our senses. We ray out into the light, the sun-illumined world. There are wider dawns and deeper twilights. As nature stirs, new life germinates within us. Outside, ‘wild puffing of emerald trees and flame-filled bushes’ (D.H. Lawrence): within, an awakening sense of self in seeing. The intensity of nature’s splendor all but overwhelms us. Light – liquid, yellow, and caressing, is poured over everything. Surrendering to its embrace with spontaneous devotion, our hearts are at peace. We, too, are reborn. We sense our freedom to do the good to know the true, and to love the beautiful. We feel one with the world.” -from D.D.’s Urban Almanac.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An RAF museum employee in authentic uniform looks towards a First World War Sopwith Snipe, on display in Horse Guards Parade in London, Thursday. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

A model looks out of a vintage General Motors Futurliner to promote the vintage car show Techno Classica in Essen, Germany, Thursday.Martin Meissner/AP

Market Closes for March 31^st, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17685.09	-31.57 -0.18%

S&P 500	2059.74	-4.21 -0.20%

NASDAQ	4869.848	+0.554 +0.01%

TSX	13494.36	-9.62
		-0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16758.67	-120.29
		-0.71%
HANG SENG	20776.70	-26.69
		-0.13%
SENSEX	25341.86	+3.28
		+0.01%
FTSE 100	6174.90	-28.27
		-0.46%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.231	1.228
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.009	2.012
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.7704	1.8623
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6127	2.6559

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76931	0.77127
US $	1.29986	1.29657

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47942	0.67594
US $	1.13814	0.87863

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1237.00	1236.25

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.34	38.32

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index posting its biggest monthly advance since October 2011. Energy stocks in the benchmark gauge rose as the U.S. dollar slumped.

The S&P/TSX dropped 9.62 points, or 0.1 percent to 13,494.36 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The measure has jumped 4.9 percent in March and has climbed 3.7 percent this year, its best quarterly performance since the second in 2014. The index now trades at about 21.4 times earnings, roughly 14 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Trading was 23 percent below the 30-day average, continuing a stretch of light volume.

A report on Thursday showed that Canada’s economy posted the strongest monthly gain in three years in January, driven by a growth in manufacturing.

Oil prices closed near $38 a barrel. Crude’s rebound from a 12-year low last month has slowed down as investors await the results of upcoming talks among OPEC producers in April on a possible output freeze. Bonterra Energy Corp.orp. added 5.7 percent to lead the rally in the sector.

Silver Wheaton Corp.tumbled 5.8 percent after the company said yesterday it will raise at least $500 million by selling new shares.

Health-care companies fell the most, trading near the lowest level since January 2011. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated for a fifth day, losing 3 percent. It was reported yesterday that the drugmaker is offering lenders a one-time fee and extra interest on its loans in exchange for waiving a default caused by a delayed earnings filing. Moody’s downgraded the drugmaker’s stocks today. Stocks of the company have plunged 23 percent in five days.

By Joseph Ciolli

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ending the first quarter virtually where it began after a whipsaw ride saw equities rally back from the worst-ever start to year.

The S&P 500 edged lower Thursday ahead of a government jobs report likely to set the tone for the next week of trading. The index coasted to the end of a dichotomous quarter, capping a blistering comeback in the last six weeks to erase losses that reached more than 10 percent in mid-February. Stocks gained 0.8 percent in the past three months, leaving the S&P 500 nearly unchanged from its level at the end of March 2015.

“We’re still stuck in a market that hasn’t done much in the past year and a half,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. LLC in New York. “What will be very important as we move into the second quarter will be whether we can get some upward follow-through as we get into earnings season. Until we break out of the current range, the market may sit on its hands for a little while longer.”

U.S. stocks joined equities around the world in a March rebound as central banks from Asia to Europe and America signaled they stand ready to bolster flagging growth. That spurred demand for risk assets after a six-week rout punished stocks amid concern China’s slowdown would spread.

Trading remained light Thursday, continuing a three-week stretch that’s seen the S&P 500 go its longest without a daily move of 1 percent in more than a year. Friday’s jobs report will focus attention on the strength of the world’s largest economy as the second quarter kicks off, with corporate earnings season starting in two weeks.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent to 2,059.74 at 4 p.m. in New York, bringing its March advance to 6.6 percent after three straight monthly declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,685.09, trimming its monthly gain to 7.1 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased less than 0.1 percent and rose 6.8 percent for the month. About 6.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 20 percent below the 2016 average.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 2.9 percent today to 13.95. The gauge of market turmoil known as the VIX still snapped the longest streak of monthly increases in four years, falling yesterday to the lowest since Aug. 17 after slowing growth in China and a renewed rout in crude heightened investor anxiety in the first six weeks of the year.

Oil and gas companies capped the best quarter since June 2014, after recovering from a drop of more than 9 percent. With oil rebounding from a rout, the group snapped the longest quarterly losing streak on record. Energy producers in the S&P 500 completed their first monthly climb since October, rising 9.2 percent in the period. Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 58 percent, the most in 15 years, to lead the group in March while Murphy Oil Corp. surged 47 percent, the most ever.

Financial companies struggled to add to a March advance while finishing the strongest month in four years. Asset managers Legg Mason Inc. and Affiliated Managers Group Inc. soared more than 17 percent since February ended. The group has also staged a sharp recovery since Feb. 11, after a nearly 18 percent selloff to start the year as investors worried loans to energy companies would turn sour amid crude’s tumble.

Banks in the benchmark managed to rebound 5.6 percent this month, though the group closed with a 13 percent quarterly slide, the worst since 2011. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. have each lost more than 19 percent since the year began.

Raw-materials producers pared their biggest monthly advance since October. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was the S&P 500’s strongest first-quarter climber amid the copper miner’s biggest gain in seven years, up 53 percent. Newmont Mining Corp. climbed 48 percent, the most since 1987 as gold rallied. After the worst monthly drop since 2011 in January, the group has rallied 15 percent as concerns on China have diminished and crude recovers from a 12-year low.

One of the biggest boosters to technology shares in March, International Business Machines Corp., added 2.1 percent Thursday to its best month since 2002. IBM rose almost 16 percent in March to lead the Dow average and posted the strongest quarterly increase in three years. Yahoo! Inc. rallied more than 15 percent this month, the most since October, as it faces a battle with an activist investor for control of its board and considers selling its Internet businesses.

In the tumultuous quarter, investors sought refuge in the relative safety of defensive stocks, with utilities rising 14 percent during the period, the steepest in nearly 13 years. It was the industry’s best month since October 2014. Phone companies slipped Thursday, trimming their biggest quarterly advance in more than five years. Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. have risen more than 13 percent since 2015 ended, marking their best quarter since at least 2012.

Investors were prowling for some quarter-end bargains today as drugmakers helped limit declines in health-care shares, the biggest losers during the period. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index advanced 2.2 percent, shaving its quarterly loss to 23 percent, the most in almost 14 years.

Stocks rallied in the prior two sessions after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled on Tuesday the central bank will be cautious in raising interest rates because of heightened economic risks overseas. Fed Bank of New York President William C. Dudley is scheduled to speak Thursday after the close of markets.

Traders are pricing in no possibility of a rate boost in April, while the chances for a June increase have fallen to 20 percent from 46 percent last week. December is now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs.

With policy makers focused on economic data to steer their rate decisions, attention is on the government’s monthly jobs report tomorrow. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate U.S. employers added 205,000 workers in March, compared with 242,000 the previous month as the unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent. A report today showed the number of applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to a two-month high, a sign of more moderate labor market progress.

“There’s a lot of anticipation around tomorrow’s jobs data, as well as some other market-moving reports,” said Tim Ghriskey, who helps oversee $1.5 billion as managing director and chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management in New York. “That’s keeping investors from either taking new positions or selling existing ones, at least so far.”

The quarter end means the earnings season looms, with Alcoa Inc. marking the unofficial start when it reports results on April 11. Analysts forecast profits at S&P 500 companies fell 9.3 percent in the period, compared with predictions for a 4.5 percent drop two months ago.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Knowledge is the annihilation of the separation between me and the other.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann

Where you live in the world should not determine

whether you live in the world.

-Bono, b. 1960

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

March 30, 2016

March 30, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

March 30^th, 1858: Pencil patented.

1853 – Vincent Van Gogh was born.

1945 – Eric Clapton was born.

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer.

Canada’s first female Supreme Court Justice – Mar 30, 1983

Bertha Wilson was sworn in as Canada’s first female Supreme Court Justice. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1975, where she captured public attention through her imaginative and humane decisions in cases involving human rights, ethnic and sexual discrimination, matrimonial property and child custody. Wilson was named to the Court by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau just 17 days before the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted.

Also on this day, in 1921, Virginia Woolf wrote in her Diary, at Zennor:

This is the last evening, and Leonard is packing, and I’m not in the mood for writing, but feel superstitiously that I should like to read something actually written in Cornwall. By looking over my left shoulder I see gorse yellow against the Atlantic blue. And we’ve been lying on the Gurnard’s head, on beds of samphire among grey rocks with buttons of yellow lichen on them. You look down onto the semi-transparent water – the waves all scrambled into white round the rocks – gulls swaying on bits of seaweed – rocks now dry now drenched with white waterfalls pouring down crevices. We took a rabbit path round the cliff, and I find myself a little shakier than I used to be. Still however maintaining without force to my conscience that this is the loveliest place in the world.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man carries loaves of baguette near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Wednesday. Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

A visitor takes a picture of a woman with blooming cherry blossoms as background at a park in Tokyo, Wednesday. Tens of thousands of people will are expected to show up at the park to enjoy the blossoms. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Market Closes for March 30^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17716.66	+83.55 +0.47%

S&P 500	2063.95	+8.94 +0.44%

NASDAQ	4869.293	+22.670 +0.47%

TSX	13503.98	+77.75
		+0.58%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16878.96	-224.57
		-1.31%
HANG SENG	20803.39	+437.09
		+2.15%
SENSEX	25338.58	+438.12
		+1.76%
FTSE 100	6203.17	+97.27
		+1.59%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.228	1.179
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.012	1.976
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.8623	1.8000
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6559	2.5989

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.77127	0.76554
US $	1.29657	1.30626

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47005	0.68025
US $	1.13380	0.88199

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1236.25	1226.00

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.32	38.28

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a third day, as energy producers and the nation’s largest lenders advanced and investors weighed better-than-expected earnings from Dollarama Inc.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 13,503.98 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, boosting gains to 1.1 percent during a three-day rally. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is on track for a second straight month of gains, something it hasn’t accomplished since February 2015. The S&P/TSX is also up 3.8 percent this year and is one of the best-performing developed markets in the world trailing only New Zealand.

Energy producers and banks contributed the most to gains out of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX. Gold producers slipped 1.8 percent as the price of the metal gave back some of its gains after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech yesterday voiced caution on the pace of interest rate increases.

The broader gauge now trades at 21.5 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Crude ended the day near $38 a barrel as the dollar’s loss eased. Government data showed U.S. crude supplies rose, keeping stockpiles at the highest level since 1930. Crude’s rebound from a 12-year low last month has stalled somewhat as investors await the results of upcoming talks among OPEC producers in April on a possible output freeze. Pipeline operators Enbridge Inc. and TransCanada Corp. added at least 2 percent to lead energy stocks higher.

Dollarama jumped 7.5 percent, the most in almost two years, after the retailer posted fourth-quarter earnings ahead of analysts’ estimates. Dollarama has also appointed Neil Rossy as chief executive officer effective May 1, replacing Larry Rossy, who will remain as executive chairman.

Bombardier Inc. added 1.5 percent after Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the government is still weighing aid for the aerospace manufacturer. In an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker, Morneau said there’s no exact timeline for aid and the government is still working on its “due diligence.”

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated for a fourth day, losing 7.2 percent. The drugmaker under fire with investors, U.S. regulators and lawmakers for its business practices is offering lenders a one-time fee and extra interest on its loans in exchange for waiving a default caused by a delayed earnings filing, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

By Joseph Ciolli

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, extending to the highest levels this year, as central bankers continued to spur optimism amid assurances that they will act to stave off a global downturn.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed for a third day after yesterday posting the strongest increase in two weeks as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled officials will be cautious in raising interest rates due to heightened economic risks overseas. The dollar headed for its steepest monthly drop since 2010. Apple Inc. rallied to a three-month high, boosting technology shares, while banks rose for the first time in six days.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 2,063.95 at 4 p.m. in New York, pushing its 2016 gain to 1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 83.55 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,716.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.5 percent to close above its average price during the past 200 days for the first time this year. About 6.6 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 22 percent below the 2016 daily average.

“We’re seeing a follow-through from yesterday’s strength following Yellen’s comments,” said Terry Morris, a senior equity manager who helps oversee about $3.2 billion at Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based National Penn Investors Trust Co. “She backed off any hawkishness she had — it was a complete dovish story, which the markets wanted, and they’ve responded. Now we have some important data coming up later this week, and earnings are right around the corner.”

The S&P 500 has climbed nearly 13 percent from a 22-month low on Feb. 11, as crude prices rebounded from their lowest in 12 years and central bankers from Europe to Japan and the U.S. signaled they will continue efforts to support growth, calming concerns about a slowdown in the global economy. The gauge erased its 2016 decline and is heading for a second quarterly advance. It has risen 6.8 percent in March, set for the best month since October.

Traders are pricing in no possibility of an April rate boost following Yellen’s comments, while the chances for a June increase have fallen to about 22 percent from 46 percent a week ago. December is now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs. Despite those signals from the market, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said today the economy will probably be strong enough to justify two increases in 2016.

Policy makers have emphasized that progress in economic data will steer their rate decisions. A report today showed companies in the U.S. added 200,000 workers to their payrolls in March, slightly above the forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The government’s monthly jobs report due Friday is predicted to show a 205,000 gain with the unemployment rate holding at 4.9 percent. A measure of manufacturing activity is also set for Friday.

“Slow hikes are key for markets at the moment,” said Kully Samra, a London-based client manager at Charles Schwab Corp., which has $2.4 trillion in client assets. “Yellen has taken back a degree of control after other policy makers had warned that rates could rise in April. The policy discussion was very detailed and clear, which always reassures investors. We know exactly what the Fed is looking for.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.9 percent Wednesday to 13.56, the lowest since Aug. 17. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX has tumbled 34 percent in March, set for the biggest monthly drop since October.

Amid a recent slide in trading volume and volatility, the S&P 500 has now gone 12 sessions without a daily swing of at least 1 percent, the longest since June. The benchmark on Friday snapped a five-week surge that had added more than $2 trillion in value to U.S. stocks, and it’s 3 percent from a record set last May.

The quarter ends tomorrow, meaning the earnings season looms with Alcoa Inc. marking the unofficial start when it reports results on April 11. Analysts forecast profits at S&P 500 companies fell 9.3 percent in the period, compared with predictions for a 4.5 percent drop two months ago.

Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries advanced today, with technology, consumer discretionary and financial companies leading gains. Utilities, phone and health-care companies were little changed.

Apple rose 1.8 percent to the highest level since Dec. 16 after Cowen & Co. LLC upgraded the shares to the equivalent of buy from neutral. The U.S. said earlier this week that it gained access to the data on an iPhone used by a terrorist and no longer needed the company’s assistance, ending a legal clash. Cisco Systems Inc. added 1.6 percent to an almost five-month high.

S&P 500’s group of financial stocks climbed for a third day. The increase was aided by a rebound in banks, which added 0.9 percent, snapping a five-session losing streak. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. rose at least 1.1 percent.

MetLife Inc. surged 5.4 percent after a court ruled against a regulatory designation labeling the insurer as too big to fail. Prudential Financial Inc. and American International Group Inc. advanced at least 2 percent.

Consumer discretionary shares gained for a fourth day while the consumer staples group in the benchmark stretched to an all- time high. Carnival Corp. increased 5.5 percent, the most in a year, after its quarterly results and outlook were better than analysts forecast. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. added 5.7 percent, the biggest gain since July. Dollar Tree Inc. climbed 2.3 percent to an 11-month high.

PepsiCo Inc. and CVS Health Corp. advanced at least 1.3 percent to five-month highs, boosting staples companies to a record. Costco Wholesale Corp. increased 1.5 percent for its first three-day advance in four weeks.

Among other companies moving on corporate news, Lululemon Athletica Inc. jumped 11 percent, the most in nine months after lower costs and improvements to the company’s supply chain helped it beat analysts’ quarterly earnings estimates.

Boeing Co. lost 1.8 percent, extending a slide to a sixth session, the longest since November. The company plans to cut about 4,000 jobs from its commercial airplanes division by mid- year as part of a broader effort to reduce costs amid fierce competition from Airbus Group SE. Boeing’s losing streak comes right after its longest rally in 14 months.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

At one pole of my existence,

I am one with the stones and the tree branches.

Thus, I must submit to the yoke of the universal law.

It is this, in the end, that is the very basis of my life.

And that force comes from that which is closely bound up in the unity of the world,

which is in full communication with all things.

But at the other pole, I am district from all of the rest.

Here, I have broken the barriers of equality and I find myself alone, as an individual .

I am absolutely unique, I am me, I am incomparable.

The whole of the mass of the universe can not crush this individuality that is mine.

I maintain it, despite the formidable gravitation of all that exists.

It is small in appearance, but great in reality.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

Every action of our lives touches on some chord

that will vibrate in eternity.

–Sean O’Casey, 1880-1964

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

March 29, 2016

March 29, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The travel writer, Pico Iyer, has written a small little jewel of a book that can be read at one sitting, entitled THE ART OF STILLNESS, ADVENTURES IN GOING NOWHERE. It was inspired by his visit to see Leonard Cohen at the Zen sanctuary in the hills outside of Los Angeles, where Cohen lived a monastic life for so many years. I read it on the weekend and highly recommend it – there is much to contemplate in its message.

There is also a Ted Talk to accompany it which is now available online: go.ted.com/stillness.

“At some point, all the horizontal trips in the world stop compensating for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unexpected; movement makes most sense when grounded in stillness. In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” –Pico Iyer

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A monkey walks on main power lines on a main road in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

A Kashmiri fisherman rows his Shikara, or traditional boat, during sunset at the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday. Nestled in the Himalayan mountains and known for its beautiful lakes and saucer-shaped valleys, the Indian portion of Kashmir, is also one of the most militarized places on earth. Dar Yasin/AP

Market Closes for March 29^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17633.11	+97.72 +0.56%

S&P 500	2055.01	+17.96 +0.88%

NASDAQ	4846.625	+79.838 +1.67%

TSX	13426.23	+36.04
		+0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17103.53	-30.84
		-0.18%
HANG SENG	20366.30	+20.69
		+0.10%
SENSEX	24900.46	-65.94
		-0.26%
FTSE 100	6105.90	-0.58
		-0.01%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.179	1.258
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.976	2.041
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.8000	1.8825
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5989	2.6520

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76554	0.75848
US $	1.30626	1.31843

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47491	0.67801
US $	1.12902	0.88572

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1226.00	1221.00

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.28	39.39

Market Commentary:

MARCH 29, 1999: Dow Jones tops 10,000 for the first time.

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks wiped out losses, as gold producers jumped with the price of the metal after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sounded caution on raising interest rates amid heightened risks in the global economy.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 13,426.23 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing a decline of as much as 0.9 percent that occurred before Yellen’s speech. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is on track for a second straight month of gains, something it hasn’t accomplished since February 2015. The S&P/TSX is up 3.2 percent this year and is one of the best-performing developed markets in the world.

Yellen’s speech to the Economic Club of New York pointed to global growth, oil prices and China as risks while making a case for slow changes. Fed officials this month revised down their median estimate for the number of rate increases that will be warranted this year to two hikes, from four projected in December. Traders are now pricing in a zero percent chance of a rate increase in April. The probability doesn’t rise above 50 percent until November.

“Yellen has cloaked herself in dovish wings, which at least for April, keeps the Fed on hold, and is consistent with our view that a hike in June could be followed by another long pause,” Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said in a note to clients. “Rate hikes will be tempered by spillovers from still-tame global growth and its downside pressure on U.S. growth and inflation.”

Gold producers jumped 4.2 percent, the most in almost two weeks, as the precious metal rallied while the U.S. dollar retreated. Gold is seen as a value asset in a low-inflation environment. Raw-materials producers led gains while energy stocks pared earlier losses as six of 10 industries advanced.

The broader gauge now trades at 21.4 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Energy producers lost 0.8 percent, paring an earlier loss of as much as 2.1 percent. Oil in New York declined for a fourth day, dropping 2.8 percent to $38.28 a barrel, ahead of a government report Wednesday forecast to show increasing U.S. crude stockpiles have kept supplies at an eight-decade high. Oil tumbled to a 12-year low last month before rebounding on speculation the global surplus will ease.

Amaya Inc. jumped 13 percent, the most in two months, after Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Baazov said he was taking an indefinite paid leave of absence amid an insider trading investigation at the world’s largest online poker company. Quebec regulators last week laid 23 charges related to its probe, including five against Baazov.

By Joseph Ciolli and Dani Burger

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting a 2016 high, as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled the central bank will be cautious on further interest-rate increases in a nod to global risks.

Equities saw the strongest gains since the conclusion of the last Fed meeting, when policy makers reduced their outlook for rate increases this year, citing negative developments overseas. The dollar repeated a post-Fed selloff, helping commodity and industrial shares to reverse losses on speculation the weaker currency will buoy earnings.

The S&P 500rose 0.9 percent to 2,055.01 at 4 p.m. in New York, the highest since Dec. 30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 97.72 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,633.11, wiping out a drop of more than 100 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.7 percent as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. rallied more than 2.1 percent. The Russell 2000 Index of small caps jumped 2.7 percent, the most in two months.

“Yellen reiterated that the Fed will proceed cautiously, and the market is finding comfort in that,” said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which oversees $2 billion. “There were no surprises, and surprises are what normally sends the market going the wrong way. Investors can now start to key in on some economic numbers, and then begin to look ahead to earnings.”

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Yellen said it is appropriate for U.S. central bankers to “proceed cautiously” in raising rates because the global economy presents heightened risks. The speech made a strong case for running the economy hot to push away from the zero boundary for the Federal Open Market Committee’s target rate.

Equities climbed even as crude retreated for a fourth day, paced by gains in technology, health-care and consumer shares. Stocks pared early declines after a March gauge of consumer confidence rebounded. A separate report today showed home values in 20 U.S. cities continued to climb in January. Reports are also due this week on employment and manufacturing.

The S&P 500 had rallied for five straight weeks, wiping out all of its 2016 losses, before a three-day slide at the end of last week in thin volume halted the streak and suggested the recovery may be running out of steam. The index posted daily moves of 0.1 percent or less in four of the prior five days, and has gone 11 sessions without a swing of at least 1 percent, the longest since June.

The benchmark equity index has climbed more than 12 percent from a 22-month low on Feb. 11, as surging crude prices and actions from central bankers calmed concerns that the global economy was headed for a deepening slowdown. The gauge has erased its 2016 decline and is on track for its biggest monthly advance since October.

“Yellen is communicating that the Fed is still one of the market’s better friends, and the cost of borrowing and the cost of capital will stay low,” said David Sowerby, a portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co. “That’s what’s taken stocks anywhere from 11 to 15 percent higher from that Feb. 11 low.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 9.3 percent Tuesday to 13.82, reversing an earlier 4.3 percent climb. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is headed toward its first monthly decline since October, which would snap the longest stretch of gains since 2011. About 7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 18 percent below this year’s daily average.

Amid data, Yellen’s comments and the Fed’s recently updated economic outlook, traders now price in no chance of a rate increase in April, while odds for June slid to 26 percent from 38 percent yesterday. The probability of higher borrowing costs doesn’t rise above 50 percent until November.

The approach of first-quarter earnings season did little to dent investor sentiment Tuesday, even as analysts forecast profits at S&P 500 companies fell 9.3 percent. That compares with a 4.5 percent drop predicted two months ago. Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the reporting period on April 11.

All of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries increased, with technology shares rising 1.6 percent while health-care, utilities and phone companies added more than 1.1 percent. Financial stocks increased 0.2 percent as real-estate firms rallied to the highest in almost a year, offsetting the drop in banks.

Apple climbed 2.4 percent to the highest since Dec. 29 after the U.S. government dropped its case to gain access to a terrorist’s iPhone, saying in a court filing Monday that it has now successfully accessed the data it sought. Facebook Inc. increased 2.2 percent to a record.

Drugmakers contributed the most to the rally in health- care, with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. gaining 2.3 percent and AbbVie Inc. adding 1.7 percent. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index increased 1.7 percent after falling 1.3 percent on Monday.

A group of retailers rose for a fourth day to help lift consumer discretionary shares after the stronger confidence data. Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. climbed more than 2.4 percent. Priceline Group Inc. added 1.6 percent. The so-called FANG stocks — Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google Parent Alphabet Inc. — together rose the most in four weeks.

Commodity shares reversed declines as the dollar tumbled on Yellen’s comments, lifting energy and raw-material producers despite a 2.8 percent drop in crude oil. Southwestern Energy Co. and Williams Cos. gained more than 3.7 percent. Newmont Mining Corp. surged 4.9 percent, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. wiped out a 7.2 percent drop.

Banks in the S&P 500 sank, with the yield on the 10-Year U.S. Treasury at a four-week low, amid speculation that persistently low rates will weigh on profits. Bank of America Corp. fell 1.5 percent after losing as much as 2.6 percent. Wells Fargo & Co. declined 1.3 percent, extending a losing streak to five days, the longest since Feb. 11.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

He whom I have searched for has come to meet me,

and he who calls me Other has become me!

Kabir

As ever,

Carolann

Why limit yourself to the familiar? Make an effort to step outside your circle. Do more

than just accept diversity. Seek out diversity. I promise it will make you more interesting,

more informed, and more understanding.

– Melody Hobson, b. 1969

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

March 28, 2016

March 28, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Online museum

Art fans don’t need to walk through the doors of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to see its collection of prints and other media. The museum has made almost 1800 prints and other pieces by various artists including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges de Feure available online. Linger over works by zooming in on details, and read extensive curator notes to learn more about each print. Watch an overiew of the collections at http://bit.ly/VanGoghPrints. –from CSM.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People watch waves crash against the harbor wall in Newhaven, southern Britain, Monday. Neil Hall/Reuters

Local residents, dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes, ride during the traditional Georgi (St. George) procession on Easter Monday in Traunstein, southern Germany. Angelika Warmuth/dpa/AP

Market Closes for March 28^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17535.39	+19.66 +0.11%

S&P 500	2037.06	+1.12 +0.06%

NASDAQ	4766.789	-6.716 -0.14%

TSX	13389.99	+31.88
		+0.24%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17134.37	+131.62
		+0.77%
HANG SENG	20345.61	-269.62
		-1.31%
SENSEX	24966.40	-371.16
		-1.46%
FTSE 100	6106.48	-92.63
		-1.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.258	1.272
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.041	2.052
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.8825	1.9000
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6520	2.6730

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75848	0.75498
US $	1.31843	1.32454

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47611	0.67745
US $	1.11970	0.89310

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1221.00	1221.00

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	39.39	37.96

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, reversing a loss to halt a three-day slide, as gains among banks and insurers offset a drop in resource producers and health-care stocks in a light day of trading following the holiday weekend.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to 13,390.19 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing a drop in the final hour of trading. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is up 2.9 percent this year and remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world.

The modest gain Tuesday halts the longest stretch of losses for the S&P/TSX since Feb. 11, stalling a rebound that followed a turbulent start to the year. The gauge now trades at 21.3 times earnings, about 16 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Financial services stocks gained 0.7 percent, while raw- materials producers slipped 0.4 percent, among the most in the S&P/TSX, which saw trading volume 51 percent lower than the 30-day average. Energy stocks lost 0.1 percent as a group. North American markets have re-opened Monday following a holiday on Friday.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. tumbled 7.6 percent for a second day of losses. The embattled drugmaker’s annual 10-K filing may be delayed due to asset impairments including recent acquisitions that haven’t fared well, Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ram Selvaraju wrote in a note. Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak.

By Joseph Ciolli

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed in light trading, following their first weekly decline in six, as investors assessed economic data for clues on the course for interest rates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased for the first time in four days. The gauge on Thursday halted the longest stretch of weekly gains since November after Federal Reserve officials stressed in comments that rates will rise as soon as data warrant. This week will provide ample insight on the state of the economy, with reports due on employment, manufacturing, housing and consumer confidence.

The main U.S. benchmark rose less than 0.1 percent to 2,037.05 at 4 p.m. in New York, after weaving between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 19.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,535.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1 percent. Many markets in Europe remained shut Monday for the Easter holiday. About 5.1 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, the lowest this year and 40 percent below the 2016 average.

“It’s Easter Monday, so the vast majority of Europe is closed, as is Hong Kong — that has things relatively quiet,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York. “You have Yellen speaking tomorrow, then Dudley on Thursday and the big employment and ISM manufacturing numbers on Friday. There’s really no impetus to get people to do something definitively before that data.”

With investors scouring data, a report today showed personal spending barely increased in February and the prior month’s advance was revised down as Americans saved more of their incomes. A separate measure showed contracts to purchase previously owned homes rebounded more than forecast in February as sales picked up in most of the U.S. Data on Friday showed the U.S. economy grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter than previously estimated.

Despite the signs of stingier spending, consumer companies were the strongest performers Monday. Starbucks Corp. and Darden Restaurants Inc. increased at least 1 percent, while Netflix Inc. added 2.9 percent, rising for the first time in five days with the strongest gain in three weeks.

The S&P 500 rallied for five straight weeks, wiping out all of its 2016 losses, before a three-day slide at the end of last week amid thin volume signaled the recovery may be running out of steam. The benchmark hasn’t reached a new high in 10 months, the longest stretch outside a bull market since 1995.

Still, in every instance when the gauge experienced a longer period without fresh highs and didn’t descend into a bear market, stocks kept rising after they broke out. The index’s increase in the following 12 months averaged 24 percent, more than triple the normal rate of 7.6 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The main equity index has recovered from its worst-ever start to a year, climbing as much as 12 percent from a 22-month low on Feb. 11, as a surge in oil prices eased concerns over the solvency of some energy producers, worries over the impact of China’s slowdown ebbed and the Fed signaled a slower pace of interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 is down 0.3 percent for the quarter after losing more than 10 percent, and is heading for its biggest monthly advance since October.

Amid the data and the Fed’s recently updated economic outlook, traders are pricing in a 6 percent chance of a rate increase in April, and 36 percent probability of a boost in June. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak Tuesday to the Economic Club of New York.

“Nothing negative has occurred over the weekend to derail the continued positive tone that the market has exhibited over the last six weeks,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “Unless we get something negative from any of the economic reports this week, you’re likely to see a market that’s sideways, with possible a slight upward bias.”

Meanwhile, quarterly earnings season also looms, with Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicking off the reporting period on April 11. Profit at S&P 500 companies probably slumped 9.3 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ estimates. That’s worse than the 4.5 percent drop predicted two months ago.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 3.4 percent Monday to 15.24. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX on Thursday snapped the longest stretch of weekly declines in four years.

Six of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries increased, with consumer discretionary companies adding 0.5 percent. Raw- materials and consumer staples shares gained at least 0.4 percent as a gauge on the dollar fell for the first time in seven days, halting the currency’s longest rally in two months. Energy producers, utilities, technology and health-care shares all sank about 0.3 percent.

Consumer discretionary companies were boosted by merger activity in lodging stocks. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. climbed 2 percent after saying it received a higher takeover offer from a group led by Anbang Insurance Group Co., putting the Chinese company back into battle with Marriott International Inc. for control of the hotel operator. Marriott was the second-best performer in the benchmark gauge, adding 3.9 percent.

Media and apparel companies gained, even amid the tepid growth in consumer spending. PVH Corp. and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. advanced more than 1.3 percent. Time Warner Inc. added 3.6 percent, its best in six weeks, after “Batman v Superman,” the first of 10 superhero movies planned by Warner Bros., opened with weekend sales of $166.1 million in North American theaters.

MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. rallied at least 1.6 percent to help lift the financial group, with the insurers rising for the first time in five days. Real-estate companies also contributed to the advance, with Equity Residential climbing 1.7 percent.

CSRA Inc. surged 6.2 percent to lead the S&P 500, the information-technology company’s strongest one-day increase in six weeks. That rally wasn’t enough to lift the broader tech group, which slipped for the second time in three days after climbing for eight straight sessions. Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. fell more than 1.2 percent to weigh on the industry.

Energy companies in the S&P 500 fell as crude oil slipped for a fourth day. Noble Energy Inc. tumbled 8.2 percent after Israel’s High Court blocked a proposal to regulate the natural gas industry, a ruling that will complicate plans to develop the country’s largest fields. The country’s offshore gas fields are held by a small number of companies headed by Texas-based Noble Energy. Hess Corp. and Tesoro Corp. lost more than 2.4 percent.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average declined 0.9 percent, extending a losing streak to the longest since August as Avis Budget Group Inc. and Union Pacific Corp. slipped at least 2.6 percent. Avis fell for a third day, losing 11 percent over the period, after MKM Partners analyst Christopher Agnew lowered his first-quarter profit estimates. The broader industrial group rose, paced by General Electric Co.’s 1.2 percent climb as the conglomerate gained for the fourth time in five days.

Among other companies moving on corporate news, Pandora Media Inc. fell 12 percent, the in five months, after a management shake-up. Co-founder Tim Westergren will take over as chief executive officer more than a decade after he last ran the world’s largest online radio service, replacing Brian McAndrews as the company attempts to reverse its flagging stock price.

Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. rose 50 percent, its biggest intraday gain ever, after saying that its experimental infusion to prevent migraines met the main goals of a mid-stage trial. Avon Products Inc. climbed 8.4 percent after reaching a settlement with activist investors that will stave off a potential board fight.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

In the physical world there is an indestructible continuity of relations

between hot and cold, light and darkness, movement and repose,

as well as between the bass and treble notes of a piano.

This is because opposites do not bring confusion to the world; they bring harmony.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

What’s important to me is to share, and being inspired, and inspiring.

-Diane von Furstenberg, b. 1946

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

March 24, 2016

March 24, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: HAPPY EASTER – HAPPY LONG WEEKEND!

EASTER EGGS:

The egg as a symbol of fertility and renewal of life derives from the ancient world, as did the practice of colouring and eating eggs at the spring festival. The custom of eating eggs on Easter Sunday and of making gifts of Easter eggs to children probably derives from the Easter payment of eggs by the villain to his overlord. The idea of the egg as a symbol of new life was adopted to symbolize the Resurrection. Easter eggs are also known as “pasch eggs” or “pace eggs” from the old French pasche, ultimately from Hebrew pesakh. This name came to be used for the hard-boiled, hand-coloured eggs that were rolled down slopes as one of the Easter games, a practice surviving in the yearly egg-rolling held on the lawn of the White House in Washington. –from Brewar’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man walks beneath rows of parasols at a public park in Beijing on Thursday. Visitors have been coming to parks in China’s capital city in increasing numbers as flowers and trees are beginning to bloom in an annual rite of spring. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

A person digs out a vehicle stuck in the middle of a street in Sioux City, Iowa, early Thursday. A spring snowstorm dropped about 14 inches of snow on the city. Tim Hynds/Sioux City Journal/AP

Market Closes for March 24^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17515.73	+13.14 +0.08%

S&P 500	2034.61	-2.10 -0.10%

NASDAQ	4773.504	+4.643 +0.10%

TSX	13343.98	-35.50
		-0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16892.33	-108.65
		-0.64%
HANG SENG	20345.61	-269.62
		-1.31%
SENSEX	25337.56	+7.07
		+0.03%
FTSE 100	6106.48	-92.63
		-1.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.272	1.244
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.052	2.036
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.9000	1.8804
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6730	2.6597

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75498	0.75730
US $	1.32454	1.32049

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48027	0.67555
US $	1.11757	0.89480

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1221.00	1217.60

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	37.96	38.49

Market Commentary:

I’m very big on having clarified principles. I don’t believe in being reactive. You can’t do that in the markets effectively. –Ray Dalio, (Money manager, founder Bridgewater Associates, b. 1949).

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated for a third day, as disappointing earnings from Concordia Healthcare Corp. dragged drugmakers lower and financial shares slumped.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 13,358.11 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has lost 1 percent in the holiday-shortened week, capping the longest streak of losses since Feb. 11. The index remains one of the top performers among developed markets this year with a gain of 2.7 percent.

Trading was 35 percent below the 30-day average, continuing a stretch of light volume. Exchanges are closed tomorrow for the Easter holiday.

Sinking commodity prices from oil to gold to copper hit the resource-rich index in the week, as a rally in the U.S. dollar sent assets denominated in the greenback tumbling. Raw-materials producers pared the weekly decline Thursday, reversing earlier losses.

Health-care stocks faltered. Concordia plunged as much as 13 percent, the most since October, after the company posted earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. slipped 6.7 percent to halt a three-day rally that added 26 percent to shares in the embattled drugmaker.

Lenders contributed the most to declines in the benchmark. The group has retreated three consecutive days. Genworth MI Canada Inc. tumbled 4.2 percent, while Home Capital Group Inc. lost 3.5 percent.

Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. rose 5.2 percent to its highest close since Dec. 4, after the company was upgraded by Toronto-Dominion.

Canadian stocks have rebounded 13 percent after hitting a 2 1/2-year low in January. The index is now trading at 21.2 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

By Joseph Ciolli

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks closed little changed, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index snapping a streak of five weekly gains that had wiped out all of its 2016 losses.

The benchmark’s recovery from 22-months lows showed more signs of running out of steam as industries that helped underpin the rally — energy, raw-materials and financial shares — posted the steepest losses this week. Oil and gas producers advanced Thursday after erasing a 1.6 percent drop as crude oil trimmed losses.

The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1 percent to 2,035.94 at 4 p.m. in New York, finishing 0.7 percent lower for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.14 points, or 0.1 percent to 17,515.73, erasing a drop of more than 100 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent. About 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Thursday, 28 percent below the 2016 average. U.S. markets will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday.

“The market is seeing a little bit of a pause in momentum,” said Kevin Caron, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based market strategist and portfolio manager who helps oversee $180 billion at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. “Now we’re looking ahead at what drives us beyond what central-bank actions have been able to curry so far. We don’t really have a catalyst right now.”

The S&P 500 rallied as much as 12 percent from a Feb. 11 low, bolstered by improving economic data, rising crude prices and support from global central-bank policy. There are signals those gains are losing momentum after a three-day slide, the longest in six weeks, in the lightest trading this year and as the dollar had the strongest rally since November.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index saw the steepest two-day decline since Feb. 2, after energy and raw-material producers led the five-week surge in equities. Both groups posted their first weekly drop since Feb. 12.

The main U.S. equity benchmark has still mostly recovered from a worst-ever start to the year spurred by concern over China’s slowdown and a rout in oil. It’s down 0.4 percent for the quarter — versus 11 percent six weeks ago — and is heading for its biggest monthly advance since October. The index is among the top three best performers this year among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.

The Federal Reserve last week helped send stocks to 2016 highs after signaling a slower pace of interest-rate increases, amid risks posed by weak growth and market turbulence overseas. The dovish message was tempered this week as some Fed officials suggested a move higher could still come at any meeting, depending on progress in economic data.

Reports today were mixed, with orders for durable goods falling in February for the third time in four months, underscoring lingering softness in U.S. capital investment. Separately, filings for unemployment benefits last week rose less than forecast as the number of dismissals stayed consistent with a firm labor market.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said today the central bank could be getting close to raising rates again. In a Bloomberg interview yesterday, Bullard said policy makers should consider lifting rates at their next meeting amid a broadly unchanged economic outlook and prospects of inflation and unemployment exceeding targets.

Traders are pricing in only a 10 percent chance for an April move and 41 percent probability for a boost in borrowing costs at the central bank’s June meeting. Odds for June rose as high as 54 percent before last week’s Fed gathering amid improving data and the rebound in equities.

Quarterly earnings will also soon be back in focus when Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the reporting season on April 11. Profit at S&P 500 companies probably slumped 9.4 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ estimates.

“We’ve had a pretty substantial rebound across the board, and now there’s the feeling things were getting a bit overdone,” said Steven Santos, a broker at Banco de Investimento Global SA in Lisbon. “Markets will be vulnerable to declines from here, triggered by expectations that the stronger U.S. economy demands more hikes from the Fed. It’s all about dollar strength, lower commodities and weaker stocks all over again.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.3 percent Thursday to 14.74. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX snapped the longest stretch of weekly declines in four years.

Four of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries sank, with financial companies dropping 0.7 percent, while industrial stocks fell 0.3 percent. Phone companies gained 1 percent while utilities added 0.3 percent, while energy shares rose 0.4 percent after crude pared its drop.

A group of financial firms in the benchmark index dropped for a fourth straight day, the longest streak in six weeks. The sector has fallen 1.9 percent over the period. Prudential Financial Inc lost 2.8 percent, while Morgan Stanley declined 1.4 percent. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. retreated 0.7 percent, after losing as much as 2.6 percent, to extend its longest losing streak since the market bottomed last month. The KBW Bank Index sank 0.7 percent.

Raw-material producers were little changed after losing as much as 1.1 percent. Zinc led industrial-metal declines amid the rising dollar and as falling durable goods orders dimmed demand prospects. Fertilizer makers Mosaic Co. and CF Industries Holdings Inc. sank at least 2.7 percent.

Automobile-related stocks slid for a third day, the longest stretch in six weeks. The group was the strongest among 24 S&P 500 industries during the equity rebound, surging 20 percent in the prior five weeks. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. fell more than 1.1 percent.

Energy companies in the S&P 500 rose after crude staged a comeback. Devon Energy Corp. climbed 2.8 percent and Tesoro Corp. added 2.1 percent. Chevron Corp. gained 1.4 percent to wipe out a 1.4 percent decline. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.8 percent after dropping as much as 3.7 percent.

Amazon.com Inc. rose 2.3 percent, extending its longest rally in five weeks, while Signet Jewelers Ltd. added 2.9 percent after its full-year profit outlook exceeded some analysts’ forecasts. Gains in the two companies helped boost an index of retailers to a second straight advance.

Among shares moving on corporate news, Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. surged after a federal judge criticized the actions of regulators as they attempt to block a merger of the two office-supply chains. Staples increased 7 percent, while Office Depot jumped 9 percent.

PVH Corp., the apparel company that owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, rose 7.6 percent, the most in 18 months and the biggest gain in the S&P 500, after reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

We are fragmented. We are one person at the office and another at home,

we speak of democracy and are autocrats in our hearts;

we speak of love for our neighbors even as we kill that love with our competitive spirit;

one part of us works, watches, and acts independently of the other.

Are you conscious of the fragmentation of your existence? Is it possible for a mind

that has splintered the structure of its thoughts to perceive the broad field of consciousness?

Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy,

freedom from expectations and demands of others, freedom from

weakness and fear – and doubt.

-Harvey A. Dorfman, b. 1935.

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

March 23, 2016

March 23, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Editorial in The New York Times yesterday:

Elegant Bird Discovers Junk Food

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MARCH 22, 2016

A new study shows that the glorious annual migration of white storks from Europe to Africa is being disrupted by the birds’ growing addiction to junk food in the garbage dumps below their flight path. Thousands no longer make the crossing for the winter, preferring to build year-round nests at rubbish pits in Spain and Portugal where they conserve energy and have an easier time breeding and defending their nests.

The storks have learned to feast on readily available hamburger fragments, pizza scraps and assorted leftovers from overfed humans, rather than fly thousands of miles more for their traditional diet of frogs, beetles and grasshoppers in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We’ve shown how reliant they are on this junk food,” noted Aldina Franco, a conservation ecologist with the University of East Anglia in England, which published the study last week in the journal Movement Ecology. “I couldn’t eat while I was working there,” Dr. Franco said in describing the work at garbage dumps where storks flocked down as each truckload of garbage arrived offering rotting fish, animal offal and other tidbits.

The change in storks’ migration was pinned down by GPS devices attached to four dozen birds, showing how upward of 14,000 of them now stay all winter at Portuguese dumps where there were none 30 years ago.

Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.

The birds preferred the Iberian Peninsula route because there are stronger updrafts over land than over the Mediterranean, making the long flight to Africa safer and less laborious. The trip became a good deal less arduous for those birds that spotted fields of fast food en route.

While the study demonstrates the storks’ adaptability to humans, this talent will soon be further tested. The European Union, busy evolving, like the storks, plans new regulations for garbage disposal to take effect in the next few years. Open refuse pits will be replaced by enclosed composting factories, detouring the storks once more.

Even so, white storks, so conspicuous with their long red legs and six-foot wing spans, are in no danger of losing their special place with humans. Centuries ago, myths were created about the stork’s role in delivering babies, a tale that lets parents avoid discussing the facts of life with youngsters. Or, as Cole Porter wrote in “It’s De-Lovely”: “An absurd bird with a bundle hung on his nose — ‘Get baby clo’es.’

The new Liberal government delivered its first federal budget on March 22 in Ottawa.

Following is an overview of how some of the budget items relate to investments and taxes:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent heavily in this budget, leading to a projected $29.4-billion shortfall this year.

OAS eligibility returns to age 65 – great news for folks born April 1, 1958 or later.
The Canada Child Benefit replaces the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the Universal Child Care Benefit. The CCB is tax-free, unlike before, and government says nine out of 10 families will receive more in child benefits than under the current system.
The promised small business tax cut has been frozen at 10.5%. If you’re a business owner, let’s talk about other ways to save tax.
Special tax treatment for insurance policy transfers to corporations. If you own a business and were planning on doing such a transfer, we should revisit that strategy, as it’s no longer tax-advantaged.
The Children’s Fitness and Arts Tax Credits will be phased out by 2017.
There will no longer be education and textbook tax credits as of January 1, 2017, but the impact should be relatively minor.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Bjorn smiles as he poses with a Owl butterfly during an event to launch the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London on Wednesday. Dylan Martinez/Reuters

A student with her face smeared in colored powder, celebrates Holi at a university campus in Chandigarh, India, on Wednesday. Ajay Verma/Reuters

Market Closes for March 23^rd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17502.59	-79.98 -0.45%

S&P 500	2038.21	-11.59 -0.57%

NASDAQ	4768.863	-52.796 -1.09%

TSX	13378.06	-115.43
		-0.86%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17000.98	-47.57
		-0.28%
HANG SENG	20615.23	-51.52
		-0.25%
SENSEX	25337.56	+7.07
		+0.03%
FTSE 100	6199.11	+6.37
		+0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.244	1.330
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.036	2.099
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.8804	1.9403
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6597	2.7224

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75730	0.76653
US $	1.32049	1.30459

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47646	0.67729
US $	1.11812	0.89436

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1217.60	1252.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.49	39.95

Market Commentary:

Marx’s great achievement was to place the system of capitalism on the defensive. –Charles A. Madison,

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated for a second day as falling commodity prices dragged down shares in energy and raw-materials producers.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 114.01 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,379.48 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has gained 2.8 percent this year, erasing a decline that swelled to as much as 9 percent in January. It is the second-best performer this year, after New Zealand, among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.

Trading volume was 14 percent below the 30-day average at the close, continuing a stretch of light activity during the holiday-shortened week that has already brought two of the slowest days this year.

Sinking commodity prices from oil to gold to copper hit the resource-rich index Wednesday, as a rally in the U.S. dollar sent assets denominated in the greenback tumbling. The Bloomberg Americas Mining Index slumped 6.3 percent, the most since 2013.

Commodity producers in the Canadian benchmark lost 4.6 percent to cap the biggest one-day loss since December 14. Only four stocks in the 45-member materials sector rose Wednesday, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. plunging 16 percent, marking the worst slump in more than seven years. Teck Resources Ltd. tumbled 13 percent, the most since 2009.

Canadian stocks have rebounded 13 percent after hitting a 2 1/2-year low in January and notching one of the worst declines among developed markets last year. The index is now trading at 21 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Energy shares also faltered, as oil prices slipped below $40 a barrel in New York. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. lost 3.5 percent. MEG Energy Corp. fell 12 percent, while Kelt Exploration Ltd. lost 9.8 percent.

Health-care stocks rose 3.4 percent, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 6.5 percent, stretching its rally to a third day. Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak. The company has rebounded 26 percent in three days.

Amaya Inc., the world’s largest publicly held online poker company, slumped 21 percent. Chief Executive Officer David Baazov has been charged in an insider trading probe by Quebec securities regulators.

Boyd Group Income Fund surged 12 percent to an all-time- high, after the Winnipeg, Manitoba-based company reported quarterly sales that topped analysts’ estimates.

By Manisha Jha and Anna-Louise Jackson

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined in thin trading as commodity shares followed crude prices lower, while investors awaited further clues on the economy and direction of monetary policy.

Equities may be losing momentum after a five-week rally erased the worst start to a year ever. Before today’s slide, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index barely budged in the two prior sessions amid the lightest trading in 2016, and has gone without a 1 percent move in either direction for eight days, the longest in seven months. About 6.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Wednesday, 21 percent below the 2016 average.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 2,036.71 at 4 p.m. in New York, below its break-even level for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 79.98 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,502.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 1.1 percent, ending the lengthiest advance in 11 months. It’s a holiday- shortened week with markets closed on Good Friday.

“Markets are taking a breather, waiting for a clearer picture of how the economy will play out in the first half,” said Hugh Grieves, who runs the 145 million-pound ($206 million) U.S. Opportunities Fund at Miton Group in London. “Investors have got over immediate recession fears but remain nervous ahead of the first-quarter earnings season.”

West Texas Intermediate crude declined 4 percent, the most in six weeks, as the dollar gained and a government report showed rising oil stockpiles kept supplies at the highest level in more than eight decades.

That sent energy producers lower for a third day and raw- materials slipped amid the dollar’s longest rally in a month. Nike Inc. dropped 3.8 percent after its annual forecast missed analysts’ estimates. Amazon.com Inc. advanced 1.6 percent to buoy a group of retailers, while UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Johnson & Johnson gained at least 1 percent to help limit the Dow’s losses.

The main U.S. equity benchmark has rebounded more than 11 percent from a 22-month low last month, as oil prices firmed, economic data improved and central banks continued to signal a willingness to bolster growth. The S&P 500 dropped 11 percent in the first six weeks of the year as tumbling crude amplified concern that a slowdown in China would drag down global growth. The gauge is heading for its biggest monthly advance since October, rising 5.4 percent.

An expected tumble in first-quarter corporate profits may be one factor curbing the rebound in stocks. The earnings season looms with Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicking off the period when it reports results on April 11. Profit at S&P 500 companies probably fell 9.4 percent in the quarter, according to analysts’ estimates, worse than forecasts two months ago that saw a 2.5 percent drop.

Investor focus also remains locked on the Federal Reserve, which last week reduced its growth forecasts and indicated a slower pace of interest-rate increases. Policy makers continue to stress their rate decisions depend on progress in data, and report today showed purchases of new homes climbed in February for the fourth time in the last five months, indicating residential construction will remain a source of support for the economy.

Traders are pricing in a 38 percent probability for a boost in borrowing costs at the central bank’s June meeting, in line with the level after last week’s Fed meeting. Odds had briefly crept higher in the past two days amid some more hawkish commentary from Fed officials this week.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said in an interview with Bloomberg today a decline in joblessness below the natural rate may force policy makers to raise rates faster in the future. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said yesterday two rate increases this year are “not at all unreasonable.”

“Nobody’s really looking to make a substantial bet at this point,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer of Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts, which oversees $100 billion. “The big story over the past couple months has been an absolute loss of confidence and then all of a sudden the return of that confidence. The market’s continuing to struggle with the implications of the Fed.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 5.4 percent Wednesday to 14.94, marking back-to-back gains for the first time in two weeks. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX reached a seven-month low on Monday.

Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries sank, with energy companies dropping 2.1 percent, the most in two weeks, while raw-materials shares slipped 1.2 percent. Utilities rose 0.7 percent, lifted by regulatory approval on an industry merger, and consumer staples edged higher.

Chevron Corp. fell 2 percent to extend declines to a third day, the longest in two months. Marathon Oil Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. dropped at least 8 percent, among the biggest losers in the benchmark index. Transocean Ltd. slid 7.3 percent, taking its four-day retreat to 21 percent.

Copper prices had the biggest drop in two weeks, sinking miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. 11 percent, the steepest retreat since March 8. Still the shares are up 28 percent this month after soaring 66 percent in February. Newmont Mining Corp. sank 8.8 percent, the biggest since July as gold also succumbed to the stronger dollar. Alcoa lost 5.4 percent.

Banks declined for a second day to weigh on the S&P 500, with Citigroup Inc. down 2.3 percent and Comerica Inc. losing 2 percent. Both stocks are still up more than 21 percent since Feb. 11.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. led a slide among drugmakers, falling 7.6 percent as the group ended the strongest three-day climb in a month. Gilead Sciences Inc. fell 3.9 percent, the most in seven weeks, after losing a patent claim to Merck & Co. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index sank 3.4 percent, reversing more than half of a 6.4 percent surge in the prior three sessions.

Among shares moving on corporate news, Pepco Holdings Inc. jumped as much as 28 percent after Exelon Corp.’s proposed $6.8 billion takeover of the power company was approved by District of Columbia regulators, clearing the way for the companies to form the nation’s biggest utility.

Virgin America Inc. climbed 13 percent, the largest one-day increase in 15 months, after Bloomberg reported the airline backed by U.K. billionaire Richard Branson, is reaching out to potential buyers about a sale of part or all of the company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Yum! Brands Inc. advanced as much as 3.2 percent after a report said it’s holding talks on potentially selling a stake in its China unit.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Why is there this division between man and man, between race and race, culture against culture, one series of ideologies set one against another? Why?

Why is there this separation?

Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

This is the gift – to have the wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again,

freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and

even ecstasy.

-Abraham Maslow, 1908-1970

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

March 22, 2016

March 22, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Look at things as though you
are seeing them either for
the first or the last time.
Then your time on earth
will be filled with glory.

BETTY SMITH

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A parrot drinks the nectar of a Yoko cherry blossom at Ueno park in Tokyo Tuesday. Buds on Tokyo’s benchmark cherry trees of ‘Somei Yoshino’ at a shrine started to bloom five days earlier than usual. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

People bring flowers and candles to mourn at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city’s metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. Martin Meissner/AP

Market Closes for March 22^nd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17582.57	-41.30 -0.23%

S&P 500	2049.80	-1.80 -0.09%

NASDAQ	4821.660	+12.788 +0.27%

TSX	13493.49	-67.60
		-0.50%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17048.55	+323.74
		+1.94%
HANG SENG	20666.75	-17.40
		-0.08%
SENSEX	25330.49	+45.12
		+0.18%
FTSE 100	6192.74	+8.16
		+0.13%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.330	1.303
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.099	2.097
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.9403	1.9155
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7224	2.7192

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76653	0.76355
US $	1.30459	1.30967

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46307	0.68350
US $	1.12148	0.89168

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1252.50	1244.90

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	39.95	39.91

Market Commentary:

The symbol of all relationships among such men, the moral symbol of respect for human beings, is the trader. –Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, Atlas Shrugged.

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, led by declines among in industrial and material shares, after deadly bombings in Brussels fueled demand for safer assets.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.5 percent to 13,493.49 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is still up 3.7 percent this year and remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world, posting returns ahead of the U.S., Germany and U.K.

Equities tumbled in the final hour of trading, after fluctuating throughout the day, as Belgium remained at the highest terror-alert level amid fears of follow-up attacks after two explosions at the airport and one at a subway station near the European Union headquarters. Canadian airliners Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. slipped more than 2.3 percent as industrial stocks retreated the most among 10 industries in the S&P/TSX.

The retreat Tuesday marked a slowdown for the S&P/TSX, which rebounded as much as 15 percent from a 2 1/2-year low in January after last year posting one of the worst declines among developed markets. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge now trades at 21.5 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Investors in Canada also waited on Tuesday for the first budget to be presented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. The budget, presented in Ottawa after markets closed in Toronto, will boost deficits to almost C$120 billion over six years, offering some stimulus to Canada’s struggling economy.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 9.6 percent to climb a second day. The drugmaker surged yesterday after shaking up its senior leadership, including the ouster of CEO Michael Pearson and billionaire investor Bill Ackman joining the board. Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak.

Veresen Inc. surged 7.2 percent, for the highest close since Dec. 10, after the energy infrastructure company has agreed to a deal with Jera Co. to sell at least 1.5 million tonnes a year of natural gas liquefaction capacity at Veresen’s Jordan Cove LNG facility in Oregon.

By Anna-Louise Jackson

(Bloomberg) — The Nasdaq Composite Index edged higher in light trading, giving the index a fifth straight gain and its longest advance in 11 months, while travel-related shares helped drag the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower after a deadly terrorist attack in Brussels.

Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 4,821.66, pushing its climb over five days to 2 percent. The rally has come amid the lightest trading volume of the year, and delivered just one day of gains for the technology-heavy index that topped 0.7 percent. Other major indexes were little changed after briefly erasing losses sparked by bombings at the Belgian capital’s airport and a subway station that killed at least 31 people.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 2,049.80 at 4 p.m. in New York, declining for the first time in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,582.57. The gauge erased a 0.5 percent drop before losing momentum in the final hour to halt the longest winning streak since October.

“The market appears to be more resilient than you’d expect after a terrorist attack,” said Michael Antonelli, an institutional equity sales trader and managing director at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. “They’re horrible to see, but it’s a weird world and you see these kind of events and they’re not as shocking anymore. It’s a quiet, slowish market where we’re digesting the news.”

Activity was light again in the holiday-shortened week after yesterday marked the lowest volume this year. About 6.2 billion share traded hands on U.S. exchanges Tuesday, 29 percent below the 2016 average. That follows two of the year’s slowest sessions last Monday and Tuesday before the Federal Reserve meeting. U.S. stock markets will be closed in observance of Good Friday.

In the face of the Brussels attacks, equities lost little ground amid a five-week rally bolstered by improving economic data, rising crude prices and optimism that central banks around the world will continue to support growth. It’s another indication of the market’s wherewithal after the S&P 500 erased the fallout from a tumultuous start to 2016, rebounding 12 percent since its February low and turning positive for the year last week.

“Usually with these types of events, the second time around the impact on volatility is much less than the first time around,” said Michael Purves, chief global strategist at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Connecticut. “These are unfortunately almost semi-expected at this point. The markets are getting to the point where they even ignore it. A terror attack is a tragedy, but it’s not a tragedy for the markets.”

Transportation companies were the hardest hit, with Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. down more than 1.4 percent. Railroad Union Pacific Corp. lost 2.3 percent. Offsetting those declines, Amgen Inc. increased 2.5 percent to a one-month high and Pfizer Inc. added 1 percent, spurred by a rebound in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Apple Inc. increased 0.8 percent to buttress the technology group.

The main U.S. equity gauge is poised for the first monthly increase since November, which would halt the longest streak of declines since 2011. Worries over China’s slowdown and routs in oil and banks had dragged the S&P 500 last month to the lowest level since 2014. It’s now among the top three best-performers this year for developed-market benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.

Despite the recent rebound, Bank of America Corp. said today that clients were net sellers of $1.4 billion of U.S. stocks in an eighth consecutive week of selling, the longest client-selling streak in five years. That suggests investors still doubt the sustainability of the rally, strategists at the firm said.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 2.8 percent Tuesday to 14.17, after closing yesterday at a seven-month low. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is on its way toward a sixth weekly retreat which would be the longest since 2008.

The S&P 500 slipped for the first time since the Fed last week signaled a slower pace for interest-rate increases. Traders are pricing in a 46 percent probability for a boost to borrowing costs at the central bank’s June meeting, down from about 54 percent before the Fed released a revised economic outlook last Wednesday. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said today policy makers rightly refrained from raising rates this month after a rocky start to the year clouded the economic outlook.

Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries fell Tuesday, with consumer staples shares slipping the most, down 0.8 percent. Health-care companies gained for a third session, rising 0.9 percent, while technology and raw-material shares also edged higher.

Health-care shares extended a three-day gain to 2.7 percent, led by drugmakers. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 2.6 percent to a two-week high, while an S&P biotech gauge added to its longest rally since November.Akorn Inc. surged 41 percent, the most in 12 years, after reporting preliminary results for 2015 and forecasts for the current fiscal year.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals added 10 percent, bringing its two- day gains to 18 percent, the most in a comparable period since December as it rebounds from a 61 percent plunge last week.

Technology stocks rose for the eighth straight day, the longest in two years, with Apple’s 0.8 percent gain contributing the most to the group’s advance. Western Digital Corp. increased 4.2 percent to a two-month high. Qorvo Inc. added 2.2 percent to the highest this year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Carnival Corp. and Priceline Group Inc. sank more than 2 percent following the Brussels bombings. Lodging companies Marriott International Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corp. fell at least 1.1 percent.

Airlines weighed on a group of industrial stocks, which decreased 0.3 percent. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index slid 1.2 percent, paring an earlier 2.2 percent drop, with Delta and American Airlines slumping the most in two weeks.

Modelez International Inc., Hershey Co. and Campbell Soup Co. each lost at least 1.5 percent to lead consumer staples lower. Thirty-three of 37 staples stocks in the S&P 500 fell as the group dropped the most in three weeks.

Banks slipped for the first time in four sessions, though the worst declines in the group were less than 0.7 percent. In the broader financial industry, Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. sank 2 percent while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lost 1.3 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Why is the lamp extinguished?

I surrounded it with my robe to shelter it from the wind; this is why the lamp is extinguished.

Why has the flower wilted?

I pressed it to my heart with anxiety and love; this is why the flower has wilted.

Why is the river dry?

I built a dike across it so that it would serve me and me alone; this is why the river is dry.

Why is the harp string broken?

I tried to play a note too high for it; this is why the harp string is broken.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

What do you hang on the walls of your mind?

-Eve Arnold, 1912-2012

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

March 21, 2016

March 21, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie;
My music shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.

–George Herbert, Virtue, 1633.

On March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

1666 – Intendant Jean Talon starts New France census, Canada’s first

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Cuba’s President Raul Castro walks with President Barack Obama as they inspect the guard in Revolution Palace Monday in Havana, Cuba. Brushing past profound differences, Presidents Obama and Castro sat down for a historic meeting, offering critical clues about whether Obama’s sharp U-turn in policy will be fully reciprocated. Ramon Espinosa/AP

Siblings Leo (from l. to r.), Max, and Zoe Zavrachy, on vacation from Ireland, ride down a snow-covered hill on Boston Common during a snowstorm on the second day of spring in Boston Monday. Brian Snyder/Reuters

Market Closes for March 21^st, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17623.87	+21.57 +0.12%

S&P 500	2051.60	+2.02 +0.10%

NASDAQ	4808.871	+13.224 +0.28%

TSX	13561.09	+64.02
		+0.47%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16724.81	-211.57
		-1.25%
HANG SENG	20684.15	+12.52
		+0.06%
SENSEX	25285.37	+332.63
		+1.33%
FTSE 100	6184.58	-5.06
		-0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.303	1.286
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.097	2.078
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.9155	1.8732
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7192	2.6753

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76355	0.76875
US $	1.30967	1.30082

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47225	0.67923
US $	1.12414	0.88957

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1244.90	1252.10

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	39.91	39.44

Market Commentary:

The most important lesson in investing is humility. –Sir John Templeton, 1912-2008

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced, rebounding from a loss on Friday, as shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped after saying Chief Executive Officer Michael Pearson will step down amid a shakeup of the embattled drugmaker’s board and management.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent to 13,561.09 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, rebounding from a loss last week. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is still up 4.2 percent this year.

Valeant added 8.5 percent, snapping a five-day slide last week that included a record 51 percent drop on March 15. Valeant said in a statement on Monday that Pearson will continue to serve as CEO until a successor is found. Meanwhile Bill Ackman, the billionaire investor whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP is one of Valeant’s biggest investors, will join the company board. The company also said it’s asked former Chief Financial Officer Howard Schiller, who replaced Pearson during a two-month medical leave, to tender his resignation due to “improper conduct” but has not yet done so.

Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak after the company announced a weaker 2016 outlook, leading analysts to slash their price targets. It also remains under investigation by U.S. lawmakers and regulators over its business practices.

The S&P/TSX has jumped about 15 percent after reaching a two-and-a-half year low in January, making it one of the best- performing developed markets in the world this year and posting returns ahead of the U.S., Germany and U.K.

The rebound has been led by an advance in resource stocks, including gold mining companies, energy and base metals producers as commodity prices stabilized amid speculation OPEC producers will freeze output and investors seeking havens flocking to gold. The S&P/TSX now trades at 21.8 times earnings, about 17 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S.

equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd. soared 54 percent, the most in more than a decade, after agreeing to sell itself to Geo-Jade Petroleum Corp. in a C$575 million deal. The all-cash offer, at C$2.20 a share, is almost double the company’s closing price of C$1.11 on Friday.

By Anna-Louise Jackson

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending its longest winning streak in five months, while investors assessed a rally that turned equities positive for the year.

Commodity producers slipped and banks were little changed after bolstering the rebound from the worst start to a year ever. Deal activity helped buoy shares as Valspar Corp. surged 23 percent after Sherwin-Williams Co. agreed to buy the company for about $9.3 billion. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. rallied 4.5 percent after accepting an improved bid from Marriott International Inc. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 7.4 percent after a board and management shakeup.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 2,051.60 at 4 p.m. in New York, the highest since Dec. 30 after erasing losses for the year on Friday. The Dow added 21.57 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,623.87, rising for a seventh consecutive session. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.3 percent, boosted by health-care companies for a second day. About 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, the lowest this year and 29 percent below the 2016 average.

“Markets have had a pretty tremendous month,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “We need to see a little bit of consolidation. Even with all that heavy lifting we’ve had, all it’s done is gotten to flat on the year. I would expect the market’s going to take a breather and it should.”

The S&P 500 staged one of the biggest turnarounds in history amid rallying crude prices and optimism that monetary policy will continue to support global growth. The gauge last week erased a loss that had reached as much as 11 percent, spurred by a slower pace of rate increases signaled by the Federal Reserve. Equities are heading for the first monthly increase in four, after worries over China’s slowdown and routs in oil and banks dragged them to their lowest levels since 2014.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slipped 1.6 percent Monday to 13.79, a seven-month low after erasing a 5 percent climb. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX dropped 15 percent last week to add to the longest stretch of weekly declines in four years.

Policy makers’ tempered outlook for rate increases, due in part to slower global growth, has knocked downtraders’ expectations as reflected in futures prices. Odds for a June boost are nearly 44 percent, compared with about 54 percent before last week’s Fed statement. Officials have hammered home the message that the path for rates depends on progress in the economy. A report today showed sales of previously owned homes dropped more than forecast in February after reaching the second-highest level since 2007.

Fed Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said in an interview that April or June have the potential for a move, adding that the central bank would be raising borrowing costs sooner if it weren’t for global factors. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart echoed that sentiment, saying the economy is strong enough to weather another rate increase as early as next month.

“We’ve had a fairly significant decline followed by a significant rally, but if you look at the underlying fundamentals of equity markets and you think about valuation, economic data and policy data, the reality is not a lot has changed,” said Lowell Yura, head of multi-asset solutions for BMO Global Asset Management in Chicago, which oversees $225 billion.

Six of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries increased, with phone stocks adding 0.6 percent, while health-care and technology gained more than 0.3 percent. Consumer staples and industrial shares edged higher. Energy and and raw-materials companies lost 0.5 percent.

Energy stocks fell after three straight days of gains, even as crude oil rose. Chevron Corp. dropped 1.3 percent. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Oneok Inc. declined at least 3.6 percent, while Range Resources Corp. sank 3 percent after an analyst at Macquarie Capital USA Inc. downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform.

Sherwin-Williams slid 5.3 percent, the most since July, after its deal to buy Valspar to become the world’s biggest coatings maker. Declines of at least 1.4 percent for Alcoa Inc. and LyondellBassell Industries NV also helped drag down a group of raw-materials companies. International Paper Co. rose 1.3 percent to the highest since November, while WestRock Co. extended a rally to four days, rising 8.4 percent during the period.

An S&P gauge of homebuilders fell 1 percent following weaker-than-forecast sales of existing homes last month. PulteGroup Inc. and Meritage Homes Corp. lost more than 1.8 percent. A report on February new-home sales is set for Wednesday, with economists surveyed by Bloomberg projecting a 3.2 percent increase from the prior month.

Health-care companies rose for a second day to a one-week high, led by an 8 percent gain for Mallinckrodt Plc and a 3.3 percent rally in Illumina Inc. The management shakeup at Valeant helped improve sentiment on drug developers, with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index adding 1.9 percent. Endo International Plc slumped 3.4 percent to a three-year low after the company said it is evaluating options of potential generic products.

Industrial shares got a boost as Boeing Co. added 1.4 percent to its longest winning streak in 14 months, rising for a ninth consecutive day. The shares are up 25 percent since reaching a 2 1/2 year low last month. The stock had its biggest drop in more than 14 years on Jan. 27 following a disappointing earnings outlook.

Apple Inc. closed little changed after wiping out a 1.6 percent climb. The company unveiled a new, smaller iPhone as it seeks to jump-start sales of its flagship product by enticing more users to upgrade, especially in high-growth markets such as China and India. Intel Corp. lost 1 percent after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc. downgraded the shares to the equivalent of sell from neutral.

Gains of more than 2.4 percent in PayPal Holdings Inc. and EBay Inc. offset Intel’s retreat to help lift tech companies. Micron Technology Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. increased at least 1.2 percent.

Nike Inc. climbed 2.8 percent, rising for the seventh time in eight sessions before its quarterly results. Competitor Under Armour Inc. added 1.5 percent. Nike and Starwood Hotels were the strongest performers among consumer discretionary shares. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. lost 4.6 percent, while Staples Inc. lost 3.1 percent to lead the laggards.

Among other shares moving on corporate news, IHS Inc. rallied 10 percent, the most in seven years after the data analysis provider agreed to acquire London-based Markit Ltd. to bulk up in financial services.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Love can come into being only when there is total self-abandonment.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

Music is always a commentary on society.

-Frank Zappa, 1940-1993

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

March 18, 2016

March 18, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

THE DESIDERATA

-by Max Ehrmann

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man in a Spiderman costume encourages athletes running outside the Old City during the sixth international Jerusalem Marathon Friday.Baz Ratner/Reuters

A businessman stands by a pond in the Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Garden on a warm, sunny day in Tokyo Friday. Thomas Peter/Reuters

Market Closes for March 18^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17602.30	+120.81 +0.69%

S&P 500	2049.58	+8.99 +0.44%

NASDAQ	4795.648	+20.664 +0.43%

TSX	13497.07	-124.23
		-0.91%

International Markets

Market

Index

Close

Change

NIKKEI

16724.81

-211.57

-1.25%

HANG

SENG

20671.63

+167.82

+0.82%

SENSEX

24952.74

+275.37

+1.12%

FTSE 100

6189.64

-11.48

-0.19%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.286	1.289
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.078	2.075
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.8732	1.8950
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6753	2.6870

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76875	0.77026
US $	1.30082	1.29826

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46599	0.68213
US $	1.12697	0.88733

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1252.10	1266.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	39.44	40.20

Market Commentary:

Make Money and the whole nation will conspire to call you a gentleman.

-George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950
Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, ha
lting a two-week rally, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. slid further in a week to forget, while TransCanada Corp. declined amid a deal to buy Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. for $10.2 billion.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.9 percent to 13,497.13 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, drifting to a 0.2 percent loss for the week. The prospect for lower interest rates sank the U.S. dollar, boosting the prices of resources from oil to copper, lifting Canadian equities in the previous two sessions.

Valeant fell 9.1 percent, extending a five-day slide this week, the longest since August, that included a record 51 percent drop on March 15. The stock has lost 62 percent this week. Embattled Chief Executive Michael Pearson reassured his employees, saying in a Wednesday memo to workers the company won’t go bankrupt and apologizing for the recent turmoil.

Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost 90 percent of its value from an August peak after the company announced a weaker 2016 outlook, leading analysts to slash their price targets. It also remains under investigation by U.S. lawmakers and regulators over its business practices.

The collapse in Valeant shares this week is one of the central themes that have driven the S&P/TSX this year, as a rally in raw-materials and energy stocks have propelled the benchmark equity gauge at the expense of health-care stocks, said Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets.

“We continue to maintain that 2016 is not 2015, with Canadian stocks poised for surprise outperformance,” Belski said in a note to clients. “This stance also equates to the ‘Valeant effect.’ The stock helped the index last year and is now a detriment to even better performance so far in 2016.”

The S&P/TSX has jumped 14 percent after reaching a two-and- a-half year low in January, making it one of the best-performing developed markets in the world this year and posting returns ahead of the U.S., Germany and U.K.

The rebound has been led by gold mining companies, with the price of the metal near the highest in a year after the Federal Reserve dialed back expectations for rate increases this week, driving the dollar lower. The S&P/TSX now trades at 21.6 times earnings, roughly 14 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

TransCanada Corp. slipped 0.7 percent after agreeing to purchase Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. in its biggest-ever deal, expanding its reach into the U.S. natural gas market. AutoCanada Inc. lost 6.7 percent after fourth-quarter sales and earnings fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company also appointed Steven Landry as their new chief executive, amid a series of changes to senior management.

BRP Inc., maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo watercraft, soared a record 18 percent after providing an outlook for earnings and revenue ahead of analysts’ estimates. The company’s fourth-quarter earnings also topped forecasts.

By Anna-Louise Jackson

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index turning positive for 2016 in the wake of a dovish Federal Reserve that helped the gauge post its longest weekly winning streak since November.

The equity benchmark joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average to advance for the year, staging one of the biggest turnarounds in history. The Dow surged 12 percent in 24 days through Thursday, boosted by seven separate daily advances exceeding 1 percent. It’s a stunning comeback from what was the worst-ever start to a year, with stocks pushed over the top as the Fed this week signaled a slower pace of interest-rate increases.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 2,049.58 at 4 p.m. in New York, and is now up 0.3 percent this year after falling as much as 11 percent. The Dow climbed 120.81 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,602.30, extending its 2016 increase to 1 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 percent, trimming its decline since the end of 2015 to 4.2 percent from almost 15 percent.

“It’s been a good week and a great month for equities as stocks have benefited from the winds of change,” said Terry Sandven, who helps oversee $126 billion as chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. “Many of the items that have plagued sentiment and overall equity returns, really since the beginning of the year, seem to be of less of an immediate concern.”

Trading volume in U.S. equities was boosted Friday by a quarterly event known as quadruple witching, when futures and options contracts on indexes and individual stocks expire. About 11 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 25 percent above the 2016 average.

Stocks capped a fifth weekly advance, with the S&P 500 rebounding 12 percent from a Feb. 11 low amid rising crude prices and optimism that monetary policy will continue to support global growth. Friday’s gains were braced by health-care companies, with the group ending the longest losing streak in two months. Banks halted a three-day slide after also lagging a broader rally in the past two weeks.

The Dow average Thursday wiped out a year-to-date decline that swelled to as much as 10 percent in February. It’s the fastest that a retreat of that size or more has ever been reversed this early in a year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The S&P 500 climbed 1.4 percent this week, and is 3.8 percent away from a record set last May.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 2.9 percent Friday to 14.02, a seven-month low. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX extended a streak of weekly declines to five, the longest in four years.

Energy and raw-materials have led the S&P 500 over the last five weeks with gains of more than 16 percent. Energy companies posted the longest streak of weekly advances in 10 months, while raw-materials producers capped the best such stretch since November 2014. A tumble in the dollar Thursday brought on by a more dovish Fed helped push the two groups to three-month highs yesterday.

The Fed’s tempered outlook for rate increases knocked down traders’ expectations as reflected in futures prices, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Odds for a June boost to borrowing costs are almost 39 percent, compared with about 54 percent before the Fed’s statement Wednesday.

Probabilities for rate increases had risen in the past month amid better U.S. data, higher crude prices and a rebound in equities. A report today showed consumer confidence eased in the first half of March as lower-income Americans grew more concerned about prospects for the economy and higher gasoline prices.

“A lot of investors who missed out on the rally are feeling the pressure to go back into the market, especially with the index turning positive for the year,” said Benno Galliker, a trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank AG in Lucerne, Switzerland. “The recovery was pretty stunning and it happened pretty quick. This rally could go on till the end of April.”

Among shares moving on corporate news, Adobe Systems Inc. climbed 3.9 percent to a 2016 high after reporting a profit that topped analysts’ estimates as more customers signed up for its cloud-based services.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. added 5.5 percent, closing at the highest since July, as the owner of brands such as Westin, Sheraton and W, said it plans to accept a $13.2 billion takeover bid by China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. and gave suitor Marriott International Inc. a deadline to make a counteroffer.

Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries rose Friday, with health-care shares gaining 1.3 percent, while financial and industrial stocks added more than 0.8 percent. Phone companies lost almost 1 percent.

AbbVie Inc. and Celgene Corp. gained more than 2.1 percent, leading a rebound among drugmakers as health-care shares rose for the first time in five days. UnitedHealth Group Inc. added 1.8 percent to an all-time high. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index advanced 1.8 percent after falling in seven of the previous eight sessions as struggles at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. weighed on drug developers.

Banks led a climb in financial stocks, as the KBW Bank Index rose 1.8 percent to close at a two-month high. Bank of America Corp. climbed 2.9 percent after its board approved the repurchase of as much as $800 million in shares, a day after JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it can expand its buyback program. JPMorgan also added 2.9 percent.

Industrial companies extended a three-day gain to 3.5 percent, paced by rising airline shares. American Airlines Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. added more than 2.9 percent. Boeing Co. rose 2.5 percent, extending a rally to eight days, the longest in more than 14 months.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. jumped 5.9 percent to a seven-month high, while Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. sank 3.4 percent, bringing its four-day losses to almost 12 percent after earlier this week projecting its first quarterly loss since the company went public.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

How does seeing the difference permit unity?

Quite simply, because physically speaking there cannot be unity, since the physical plane consists of shapes,

and all shapes are different.

Unity only exists in the heart. It is a feeling: love.

And in love the notion of self disappears; only the other remains.

Swami Pajnanpad

As always,

Carolann

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.

-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

March 17, 2016

March 17, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

In the fourth century, Ireland’s patron saint was sold into slavery. After six years as a cowherd he escaped to France, where he dreamed that the people of his country were summoning him back. On his return to Ireland he traveled widely, founding hundreds of churches and schools and convincing people to become Christians. He used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy trinity – the idea that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. On this day Irish people the world over celebrate by wearing a shamrock and, often, having a parade. –from The Book of Holidays Around the World.

March 17, 1824: Montreal hosts its first St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Montreal was almost a quarter Irish in 1824 when its St. Patrick’s Day parade – one of the oldest in the world – was founded….Today, the parade is one of the biggest parties of the year in Montreal (almost 40 per cent of francophone Quebeckers have some Irish roots), but it has fallen on hard times. Amid rising costs and waning sponsorship, organizers are asking for donations. The parade survived 192 years, through the Rebellions of 1837, Fenian raids, the assassination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee and two world wars. It seems likely to survive this, too. –Les Perreaux, Globe & Mail.

On March 17^th, 1912, Captain Robert Falcon Scott wrote in his Diary from Antarctic:

Tragedy all along the line. At lunch, the day before yesterday, poor Titus Oates said he couldn’t go on; he proposed we should leave him in his sleeping-bag. That we could not do, but induced him too come on, on the afternoon march. In spite of its awful nature for him he struggled on and we made a few miles. At night he was worse and we knew the end had come.

Should this be found I want these facts recorded. Oates’s last thoughts were of his mother, but immediately before he took pride in thinking that his regiment would be pleased with the bold way in which he met his death. We can testify to his bravery. He has borne intense suffering for weeks without complaint, and to the very last was able and willing to discuss outside subjects. He did not – would not – give up hope to the very end. He was a brave soul. This was the end. He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning – yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, “I am just going outside and may be some time.” He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since…

We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far.

I can only write at lunch and then only occasionally. The cold is intense, minus 40° at midday. My companions are unendingly cheerful, but wer are all on the verge of serious frostbites, and though we constantly talk of fetching through I don’t think any one of us believes it in his heart.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sew On Target, ridden by Brendan Powell, Niceonefrankie, ridden by Charlie Deutsch, and Kings Palace, ridden by Tom Scudamore, race during the 4.10 Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate during the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse in England Thursday. Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

Sailboats form a line in Cagnes Sur Mer, France, Thursday. Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Caoimhe Cooburn-Gray poses for a picture on St. Patrick’s day in Dublin, Ireland, Thursday. Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Market Closes for March 17^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17481.49	+155.73 +0.90%

S&P 500	2040.59	+13.37 +0.66%

NASDAQ	4774.984	+11.014 +0.23%

TSX	13621.30	+143.17
		+1.06%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16936.38	-38.07
		-0.22%
HANG SENG	20503.81	+246.11
		+1.21%
SENSEX	24677.37	-5.11
		-0.02%
FTSE 100	6201.12	+25.63
		+0.42%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.289	1.300
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.075	2.070
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.8958	1.9081
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6870	2.7105

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.77026	0.76242
US $	1.29826	1.31161

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46899	0.68074
US $	1.13151	0.88377

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1266.50	1228.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	40.20	38.46

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to the highest level since December as commodity shares jumped after the weakening U.S. dollar boosted prices of resources from crude to copper.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 143.17 points, or 1.1 percent to 13,621.30 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, as eight of the 10 main industries rose. The benchmark gauge has gained 4.7 percent this year, rebounding from a 2 1/2 year low in January to lead gains among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.

Canada’s resource-rich index is benefiting from a surge in prices for commodities, allowing it to post returns ahead of the U.S, Germany and U.K. Raw-materials producers have surged 36 percent after reaching a 10-a-half-year low on Jan. 19. Energy companies advanced 28 percent from a January nadir that was the lowest since 2004.

The Canadian benchmark index is now trading at 21.7 times earnings, roughly 17 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Canadian equities got a boost from a U.S. dollar, which has fallen to the lowest level since June. That makes commodities denominated in the currency more attractive, boosting their prices. The greenback slumped after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled that it would slow down the projected path of interest- rate increases.

Financial stocks contributed the most to the rally as Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. surged 16 percent for its one-day gain since December 2008.

Energy companies rose 1.6 percent to the highest level since November as crude prices topped $40 a barrel in New York. TransCanada Corp. advanced 2.6 percent after the company said it will buy Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. for $10.2 billion to expand its reach in the U.S. natural gas market.

Industrial companies advanced the most among 10 main industries. Bombardier Inc. rose the most in a week after a government official said the Canadian government will ultimately help the struggling jetmaker. Air Canada also gained 5.7 percent.

Health-care stocks tumbled the lowest level since November 2011, dragged lower by a decrease in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Valeant, briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, has lost more than three-quarters of its value from an August peak as regulators and investors have scrutinized its business practices after the Quebec-based drugmaker cut its 2016 forecast earlier this week. The company’s stock has plunged 58 percent in four days.

By Dani Burger

(Bloomberg) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased its 2016 losses, as a weaker dollar spurred a rally in commodity producers and industrial shares that spread to the broader U.S. stock market.

Equities pushed to the highest levels since the end of last year as a gamut of companies that benefit from a lower U.S. currency, from General Electric Co. to Coca-Cola Co., surged. A scaled-back pace of interest-rate increases from the Federal Reserve sent the dollar spiraling lower, helping the Dow extend a rebound of more than 11 percent from a two-year low reached last month.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.7 percent to 2,040.59 at 4 p.m. in New York, near its break-even level for the year. The Dow added 155.73 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,481.49, wiping out a 2016 loss that reached as much as 10 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, with an increase capped by the slide in biotechnology companies. About 8.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 6 percent below the 2016 average.

“Being back to positive does help to a degree,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $1.9 billion as co-chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based OakBrook Investments. “Some of the selling that we had through January and February was definitely overdone, but the fact that the Fed remains reasonably confident in the U.S. economy and is keeping an eye on overseas conditions, that’s given some reassurance to investors.”

A five-week rally has eradicated declines in the Dow and nearly in the S&P 500 that were fed by concerns a slowdown in China would spread, worries that were intensified by a deepening rout in oil and other commodity prices. Energy, raw-material shares and banks have led the rebound as crude recovered, lifting sentiment on lenders amid reduced anxiety about the solvency of some energy producers.

Caterpillar Inc. gained 2.1 Thursday with commodity shares, even after cutting its first-quarter outlook amid speculation the worst is behind the company. FedEx Corp. jumped nearly 12 percent after raising the bottom of its full-year earnings forecast range. Boeing Co. gained 2.5 percent to a two-month high. Health-care shares sank for a fourth session, the longest since January.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell to its lowest since June after the Fed yesterday signaled that borrowing costs won’t rise as fast as officials previously forecast, citing the potential impact from weaker global growth and financial-market turmoil on the U.S. economy. Caterpillar, the biggest maker of construction and mining machinery, bears out that concern with its lower profit outlook as oil drillers cut billions in costs to weather a rout in commodities amid tepid global demand.

Still, the lower dollar makes U.S. multinational companies more competitive overseas, a potential boost to lagging profits while the currency’s weakness also bolsters investor demand for commodities priced in dollars. The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose to a three-month high. The raw-material and industrial groups were the two strongest performers in the S&P 500 Thursday, with the latter group reaching an eight-month high.

The Fed meeting was the third major central-bank event in a week, as policy makers continue to signal their willingness to buttress global growth. The European Central Bank unleashed an unprecedented stimulus package last week, while the Bank of Japan on Tuesday held off from adding more to its record stimulus to assess the impact of negative interest rates. The Bank of England today kept its key interest rate at a record low.

Traders’ expectations for Fed rate increases this year retreated after rising during the past month amid better U.S. data, higher oil prices and a rebound in equities. Odds for a June boost to borrowing costs are at 37 percent, compared with about 54 percent before the Fed’s statement and outlook.

The S&P 500 has risen nearly 12 percent since its February low, while briefly erasing its 2016 drop. The benchmark is now about 4 percent below a record set last May.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 3.7 percent Thursday to 14.44, a four-month low. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is on track for its longest streak of weekly declines in four years.

While central banks are focused on addressing slower growth abroad, U.S. data has shown a resilience against the overseas weakness. A report today showed fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, illustrating the Fed’s view of a stronger labor market. Also, gauge on manufacturing in the Philadelphia area rose more than economists forecast.

Nine of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries increased today, with raw-materials and industrial shares rising at least 2 percent. The health-care group lost 1.1 percent as drugmakers continued to slide and consumer discretionary shares were little changed.

“It’s more broad-based than a commodity thing,” said Brian Frank, portfolio manager and co-founder at Frank Capital Partners LLC. “What I’m seeing is that it’s more corporate- buyback driven, with the quiet period from earnings season over. It’s not fundamental-based, but more corporate flows are coming into the market here, and that’s why it’s so broad.”

Owens-Illinois Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. increased more than 6.6 percent as the strongest performers in raw- materials, with the group reaching the highest level since Dec. 4. Chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries NV added 2.6 percent, reversing its losses this year. The group has added 21 percent since reaching a 21-month low in January.

Industrial companies in the benchmark reached the highest since Nov. 23, propelled by FedEx’s biggest gain since 1993. General Electric Co. climbed 2.6 percent to erase its 2016 loss, and Emerson Electric Co. added 6.4 percent for its strongest one-day increase since 2011.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average extended Wednesday’s rally, advancing 3 percent to its highest since Dec. 2, boosted by FedEx’s jump. Union Pacific Corp. and Ryder System Inc. added more than 3.4 percent to three-month highs. The index erased its losses for the year earlier this month, and sits 20 percent above its January low.

As oil surged above $40 a barrel in New York for the first time since December, energy-related companies rose 1.4 percent. The group has rallied nearly 22 percent from a five-year low in January. Chesapeake Energy Corp. added 9.1 percent. Devon Energy Corp. and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. both advanced more than 4.5 percent.

“The oil market recovering will continue to feed a risk-on trade,” said Tony Bedikian, Boston-based managing director of global markets at Citizens Bank. “It’s historically a sign of some potential for global recovery.”

Mylan NV and Mallinckrodt Plc tumbled more than 4 percent as health-care shares extended their longest selloff in two months. The group is down 3.3 percent this week, the only loser among the S&P 500’s 10 main industries during the period.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Knowledge is the annihilation of the separation between me and the other.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann

Strong convictions precede great actions.

-James Freeman Clarke, 1810-1888

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