Month: December 2016

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Poem
Sunrise Over Bethlehem

By Ruth Padel

Tell it how you like, it comes to the same
thing: a baby, displaced parents and their midnight
visitors from opposite walks of life.
Shepherds but also kings, the not-so-wise
wise men who brought rich gifts
and triggered a massacre.
All the children of Bethlehem
and the coasts thereof.  The family became
refugees, seeking asylum.
Robin, listen closely in your sleep.
This touches you, doesn’t it?  Christmas
is children, gift-giving, persecution – and lost sheep.

This is an extract of the poem from “Tidings”, published by Chatto & Windus.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman plays with dogs in a snow-covered park in Vilnius, Lithuania on Wednesday. Mindaugas Kulbis/AP

People enjoy ice skating on the black ice of Lake Seealpsee in Schwende, Switzerland, on Wednesday, with the peak of Saentis in the background. Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone/AP
Market Closes for December 14^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19792.53	-118.68   -0.60%
S&P 500	2253.28	-18.44   -0.81%
NASDAQ	5436.672	-27.157   -0.50%
TSX	15196.48	-188.79
		-1.23%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19253.61	+3.09
		+0.02%
HANG SENG	22456.62	+9.92
		+0.04%
SENSEX	26602.84	-94.98
		-0.36%
FTSE 100	6949.19	-19.38
		-0.28%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.790		1.756
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.393		2.376
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.5707		2.4713
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1876		3.1295

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75277	0.76117
US $	1.32840	1.31378
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39711	0.71576
US $	1.05172	0.95093

commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1162.25	1158.55
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.04	52.98

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in a month as energy producers dropped with crude and banks retreated from a record after the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time this year.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 1.2 percent to 15,197.18 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, resuming its day-long slide after a brief spike higher in the minutes after the release of the Fed decision. The gauge has risen about 17 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 14 percent advance.
     Fed policy makers raised the benchmark rate a quarter percentage point following a two-day meeting in Washington. New projections show central bankers expect three quarter-point rate increases in 2017, up from the two seen in the previous forecasts in September, based on median estimates.
     “There is some optimism built into the outlook, as the dot forecast now projects one more rate hike in 2017 than was previously the case,” Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said in a note to clients. “The higher dot forecast will have markets adding a bit to expectations for rate hikes ahead.”
     Energy producers lost 1.8 percent as a group as all 11 industries in the S&P/TSX fell on trading volume 20 percent higher than the 30-day average. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Encana Corp. declined at least 2.4 percent. Crude futures in New York lost 3.7 percent, retreating from the highest closing price since July 2015. Supplies at the biggest U.S. storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma rose to a six-month high.
     Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia slipped at least 0.6 percent to lead lenders lower. North American markets sold off after the Fed’s announcement. Gold fell, erasing earlier gains and sliding to the lowest level since February as the dollar advanced against major peers.
     Raw-material stocks have risen the most among 11 industry groups in the S&P/TSX this year with a 35 percent advance, followed by a 31 percent gain in energy shares. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, is up more than five-fold on a resurgence in commodities from metallurgical coal to zinc.
     In other moves:
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. lost 3.3 percent after Wells Fargo senior analyst David Maris warned that there may be some “instability” at the drugmaker following the departure of three executives, making the sale of business units less likely; investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square also sold shares of the drugmaker for tax-loss purposes
* Merus Labs International Inc. sank 21 percent to a three-year low as fourth-quarter results missed expectations; the company said 2017 will be a transition year, with the second half expected to be “significantly stronger” than the first
* Street Capital Group Inc. surged 17 percent, to the highest close since August 2015, after its subsidiary Street Capital Financial Corp. received a Schedule I bank license from Canadian regulators.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped as all 11 groups in the S&P 500 Index turned negative after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and forecast a steeper path for borrowing cost increases next year. 
     The S&P 500 Index fell 0.8 percent to 2,253.28 at 4 p.m. in New York after setting a record Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 118.68 points to 19,792.53. The Russell 200 Index fell 1.3 percent.
* Financial shares down 0.6% after briefly jumping in the wake of the Fed news
* Tech stocks erase earlier gains as leaders from the industry head to Trump Tower to meet with the president-elect
* Energy shares down 2.1% as crude fell after a report that showed supplies at the biggest U.S. storage hub rose to a six- month high
* Futures traders had priced in higher borrowing costs as a virtual certainty at today’s meeting
* Utilities and consumer-staples stocks had been leading intraday market gains until the hike; ended down 2% and 1%, respectively
** Utilities had climbed 4% in the past week before today as phone shares and staples stocks also rallied; financial and industrial companies were down at least 0.4% in past week
* New projections show central bankers expect three quarter- point rate increases in 2017, up from the two seen in the September forecast
** More on expectations from the central bank here
* For Stephane Barbier de la Serre, strategist at Makor Capital Markets in Geneva, whatever the outcome of the Fed meeting, any signs of dovishness by the central bank would increase the risk of a drop in bond prices
* The recent rally in stocks has sent the Dow to its most “overbought” level since 1996. A pullback for the relative strength index below 70 could spur more declines, according to technical analysis
* The Nasdaq 100 also rallied on Tuesday, reaching a fresh record
* EARNINGS:
** Before market Thursday: Sanderson Farms Inc. (SAFM), Scholastic Corp (SCHL)
** After market Thursday: Oracle Corp. (ORCLE), Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL), Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE), Quanex Building Products Corp (NX), Enghouse Systems Ltd (ENGH CN)

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The only way to achieve consciousness is by concentrating on the physical, the mental, and the spiritual.
Concentration on the powers of the spirit to discover unity in diversity is called consciousness.
All that draws on unity is moral; all that draws on diversity is immoral.
Swami Vivekananda.

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

You can never leave footprints that last if you are always walking on tiptoe.
                                                                      -Leymah Gbowee, b. 1972

 

 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Full moon tonight!

HOLIDAY TODAY: Saint Lucia Day/Luciadagen
Lucia was a Sicilian girl caught up in the persecutions of Diocletian c. 304. One legend relates that a nobleman wanted to marry her for the beauty of her eyes, so she tore them out and gave them to him, saying “Now let me live to God.”  Her name derives from Latin lux, or light; she is the patron saint of sufferers of eye trouble (as well as writers, known to be susceptible to eye strain!).
In Sicily, Lucia is still honored by bonfires and torchlight parades.  In Sweden the observance of her day begins before sunrise.  The eldest daughter of the house is the Lussibruden, or Lucia Bride.  She wears a white dress with a red sash, and an evergreen wreath with lighted candles atop her head. She serves saffron buns and coffee to the household.  She is followed by her sisters, carrying candles, and by her brothers – all decorated.   All sing carols offering thanks to the Queen of Light.
Lucia’s attributes may derive from pagan traditions.  The feminine elements of midwinter and night are complemented by the starboys who follow her.  Like the moon, she brings radiance amidst the darkness.  Her evergreens are proof of life amidst winter’s bleakness.  She wears white to show the virtue becoming a bride.  But, as the eldest girl, she is ready for marriage and childbearing, hence her red sash.  Her gifts of food and drink give evidence of earth’s abundance.
However one may understand Luciadagen, the spectacle is breathtaking and the ritual is particularly joyful for children.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The ‘Kongl. Teknologkoren’ choir performs in Seglora church, at the open-air museum Skansen, on Saint Lucy’s Day in Stockholm, Sweden on Tuesday. Henrik Montgomery/News Agency/Reuters

Villagers wait to take part in the Divina Pastora procession, as part of a festival to honor the Virgin of Los Rondeles, in the southern Spanish village of Casarabonela, near Malaga, late Monday. Villagers celebrate the festival on the eve of St. Lucia’s Day and hold torches during the procession to represent light and vision. St. Lucia is the patron saint of vision. Jon Nazca/Reuters

A Nepalese Buddhist woman lights butter lamps on full moon day at the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal on Tuesday. The Boudhanath Stupa is an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists. Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Market Closes for December 13^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19911.21	+114.78   +0.58%
S&P 500	2271.72	+14.76   +0.65%
NASDAQ	5463.828	+51.289   +0.95%
TSX	15385.27	+97.57
		+0.64%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19250.52	+95.49
		+0.50%
HANG SENG	22446.70	+13.68
		+0.06%
SENSEX	26697.82	+182.58
		+0.69%
FTSE 100	6968.57	+78.15
		+1.13%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.756		1.753
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.376		2.382
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4713		2.4731
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1295		3.1554

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76117	0.76168
US $	1.31378	1.31288
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39599	0.71634
US $	1.06258	0.94111

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1158.55	1156.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	52.98	52.83

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the seventh time in eight days, resuming their climb after a pause on Monday, as big banks and energy producers helped push the benchmark index to the highest close since April 2015.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 15,385.27 at 4 p.m. The gauge has risen 18 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 15 percent advance.
     Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank each added at least 0.9 percent as financial services stocks hit a fresh record. Seven of 11 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced, with utilities, consumer staples and information technology shares also climbing.
     Canadian equities joined a rally in U.S. markets amid anticipation of increasing Federal Reserve interest rates and greater economic growth under President-elect Donald Trump’s policies. Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance of a Fed rate hike Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
     Energy producers climbed 1.9 percent, to the highest since June 2015, as oil closed at a 17-month high. In the U.S., crude stockpiles probably fell last week, a Bloomberg survey showed.
     Raw-material stocks are the top industry among 11 in the S&P/TSX this year with a 38 percent advance, followed by a 33 percent gain in energy shares. The rallies have been driven by rebounding gold and crude prices in 2016. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, is up more than five-fold on a resurgence in commodities from metallurgical coal to zinc.
     In other moves:
* Canopy Growth Corp. rose 7.9 percent, the most since Nov. 23, after the government released a highly anticipated report providing a road map for legalizing and regulating marijuana, including more than 80 recommendations
* Husky Energy Inc. ended down 1.3 percent, reversing an earlier gain, after the company said it plans to conduct a partial turnaround for its Lima, Ohio refinery that will last five weeks, CFO Jonathan McKenzie said in a 2017 guidance conference call.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied to new highs as investors turned their focus to the Federal Reserve’s first policy decision and outlook since the U.S. elections due on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed for a seventh straight session and is fewer than 90 points from crossing 20,000.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.7 percent at 2,271.72 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow rose 0.6 percent to 19,911.21 while the Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.3 percent to 4,935.84, the highest ever. Small-cap shares were little changed, trailing S&P 500 for the second day in a row.
* Nine of 11 S&P 500 industry groups rose, with industrial and materials shares down no more than 0.2%
* Tech companies up 1.3%, with gains of at least 2.1% in Facebook Inc. (FB), Intel Corp. (INTC), Red Hat Inc. (RHT), CA Inc. (CA) and Seagate Technology Plc (STX)
* High-dividend groups including phone and utility companies gained at least 0.6%; consumer staples reversed earlier losses to add 0.4%
* WTI crude futures were little changed after rallying earlier.
Contracts at the U.S. equity close traded around $52.81 a barrel, as the International Energy Agency said global oil markets will swing from surplus to deficit in the first half of 2017 as OPEC and other producers follow through on an accord to cut supply
* A U.S. interest-rate increase is seen as a virtual certainty by traders, with market-implied probabilities standing at 100% for the decision Wednesday and all 77 Bloomberg-surveyed economists expecting a 25 basis-point increase
* Investors will focus on how policy makers may change their 2017 forecasts, and what Fed Chair Janet Yellen will say about the economic outlook
* EARNINGS:
** Before market Wednesday: Joy Global Inc (JOY)
** After market Wednesday: Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARWR), Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (ORIG), Civitas Solutions Inc. (CIVI), Pier 1 Imports Inc. (PIR), Apogee Enterprises Inc. (APOG), Empire Co Ltd (EMP/A CN)

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

What is the object of jnâna yoga?  Freedom.
Freedom  from what?  Freedom from our imperfections, freedom from the suffering of life.
Why are we unhappy?  We are unhappy because we are enslaved.  And what are we enslaved by?
The enslavement of nature.   Who enslaves us?
We do, ourselves.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than  a bad memory.
                                                    -Franklin P. Adams, 1881-1960

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1901 – December 12 – Communications – Italian scientist and engineer Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio message on Signal Hill, from 3,200 km away across the Atlantic Ocean from Poldhu, Cornwall; on December 16, he is officially notified by the Anglo-American Telegraph Company that it will take legal action against him unless he immediately ceases his wireless experiments and removes his equipment from Newfoundland. St. John’s, Newfoundland.

In his journal, Guglielmo Marconi describes the first transatlantic radio communication received by him in St John’s, Newfoundland from Poldhu in Cornwall, December 12^th,1901:

Shortly before midday I placed the single earphone to my ear and started listening.  The receiver on the table before me was very crude  – a few coils and condensers and a coherer – no valves, no amplifiers, not even a crystal.  But I was at last on the point of putting the correctness of all my beliefs to the test.  The answer came at 12:30 when I heard, faintly but distinctly, pip-pip-pop.  I handed the phone to Kemp: “Can you hear anything?” I asked.  “Yes, “ he said, “the letter S” – he could hear it.  I knew then that all my anticipations had been justified.  The electric waves sent out into space from Poldhu had traversed the Atlantic – the distance, enormous as it seemed then, of 1,700 miles – unimpeded by the curvature of the earth.  The result meant much more to me than the mere successful realization of an experiment….I now felt for the first time absolutely certain that the day would come when mankind would be able to send messages without wires not only across the Atlantic bit between the farthermost ends of t
he earth.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People enjoy a stroll on the ice of Lago Bianco on Monday, near Poschiavo, Switzerland. Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone/AP

People tour a Christmas attraction featuring a display of more than 800,000 light bulbs in Universal Studios Singapore on Monday. Edgar Su/Reuters
Market Closes for December 12^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19796.43	+39.58   +0.20%
S&P 500	2256.97	-2.56   -0.11%
NASDAQ	5412.539	-31.958   -0.59%
TSX	15298.31	-13.89
		-0.09%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19155.03	+158.66
		+0.84%
HANG SENG	22433.02	-327.96
		-1.44%
SENSEX	26515.24	-231.94
		-0.87%
FTSE 100	6890.42	-63.79
		-0.92%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.753		1.730
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.382		2.342
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4731		2.4675
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1554		3.1529

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76168	0.75891
US $	1.31288	1.31767
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39646	0.71610
US $	1.06366	0.94015

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1156.10	1163.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	52.83	51.50

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in seven days, halting the longest streak of gains since March, as railway operators led industrial shares lower.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.2 percent to 15,287.70 at 4 p.m., pulling back from the highest level since May 2015. The benchmark gauge has risen almost 18 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 15 percent advance.
     Canadian National Railway Co. lost 2.3 percent, the most in six weeks, after Roddy Boyd’s Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation mentioned the stock cautiously, discussing Ontario auditors’ accusations in November that Canadian National and competitor Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. overcharged the province’s transit agency. The pair drove a 1.7 percent loss in industrial stocks.
     Canadian National said in an e-mailed statement that the report’s allegations are false and based on information from fired employees terminated for alleged fraud and subject to ongoing litigation.
     Energy producers added 0.4 percent, paring an earlier gain. Oil jumped to the highest price since July 2015 after Saudi Arabia signaled it’s ready to cut output more than earlier agreed and non-OPEC countries including Russia pledged to pump less next year. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Cenovus Energy Inc. each rose at least 0.7 percent.
     Raw-materials producers are the top industry among 11 in the S&P/TSX this year with a 39 percent advance, followed by a 31 percent gain in energy shares, driven by rebounding gold and crude prices in 2016. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, is up almost six-fold on a resurgence in commodities from metallurgical coal to zinc.
     In other moves:
* Open Text Corp. slipped 2 cents to the lowest level in a month after proposing an offering of shares to raise $500 million to finance a portion of the purchase price for its previously announced deal to buy Dell’s enterprise content business for $1.62 billion
* WestJet Airlines Ltd. added 1.8 percent to a two-month high after reporting a November load factor of 80 percent, up 1.4 percent from year-ago levels.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell as financial shares dropped and a rally in energy companies faded after crude oil pared some gains on expectations for a supply cut.
     The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 2,259.96 at 4 pm. in New York, the first decline in seven sessions. The S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 Index all closed at records on Friday. The Dow Jones added 0.2 percent to 19,769.43 Monday.
* Financial stocks down 0.9 percent, weighed by 3.5 percent drop in Navient (NAVI) and declines of at least 2.6 percent in Ameriprise Financial (AMP) and People’s United Financial Inc.
(PBCT)
* Phone and utilities companies extend Friday’s rally with 10- year Treasury little changed as bond proxy stocks including REITs rallied after gaining last week
* Energy stocks up 1.4 percent after climbing as much as 2.5 percent, with all but 11 companies in 36-member index advancing
* Dow lifted by gains of at least 2.2 percent in Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Exxon (XOM)
* Goldman Sachs basket of most-shorted companies lost 1.3 percent; up 15 percent since election
*       WTI futures up 2.6 percent after Saudi Arabia signaled it’s ready to cut output more than earlier agreed and non-OPEC countries including Russia pledged to pump less next year
*       The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.5 percent, the most in six months
*       The U.S. is primed for a rate hike this week, with the Federal Reserve set to announce its decision on Wednesday
* EARNINGS:
** After market: VeriFone Systems Inc (PAY), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PPHM), Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET)
** After market Tuesday: ABM Industries Inc. (ABM), HEICO Corp.
(HEI), Nordson Corp. (NDSN)
By David Goodman and Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks retreated as a rally that took crude oil to the highest price in 17 months eased, with the focus shifting to the Federal Reserve’s forthcoming policy meeting. Treasuries pared declines that pushed 10-year yields above 2.5 percent for the first time since 2014.
     While energy stocks jumped with utilities, losses in bank shares saw the S&P 500 Index slip in afternoon trading Monday. A gauge of small-cap companies retreated by more than 1 percent as benchmark indexes in the U.S. fell from record highs, even as blue-chip shares advanced. Oil climbed 2.6 percent, paring a rally that exceeded 5 percent on a deal to cut output between OPEC and other producers. Chinese shares sank the most since June amid concern the nation’s property market is in poised to decline. Gold increased.
     The oil deal lit a fire under crude prices, fueling an increase in investors’ expectations for global inflation and exacerbating a bond rout that had been supercharged by Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election. The prospect of increased price pressures is coloring the market’s outlook for central- bank policy, with traders seeing 100 percent odds of a rate hike from the Fed this week, and a two-in-three chance of additional policy tightening by June, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Fed fund futures.
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent to 2,2256.96 as of 4 p.m. in New York, after rising 3.1 percent last week.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2 percent and briefly topped 19,800, while the Nasdaq 100 Index slumped 0.6 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.5 percent in the wake of its steepest weekly rally in almost two years. Still, commodity producers and miners gained, with the Stoxx 600 Oil & Gas Index up 2.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dropped 0.5 percent for a second straight day of declines.
* Most Asian index futures signaled losses for Tuesday, with Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures down 0.8 percent in Osaka.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to $52.83 a barrel after earlier climbing above $53. Brent oil futures added $1.36 to $55.69. Both contracts settled at their highest prices since July last year.
* The deal between OPEC members and outside nations, including Russia, was agreed at a meeting in Vienna at the weekend. It should usher in the first global petroleum cuts in 15 years and covers about 60 percent of the world’s output.
* Copper futures slumped 1.5 percent, erasing a gain of as much as 1.4 percent after data showed London Metal Exchange inventories rose the most since June.
* Gold futures rebounded after sliding to a 10-month low as the Fed prepares to raise rates, damping the metal’s appeal as a store of value.

     Bonds
* Ten-year Treasury yields rose as much as six basis points before paring the advance to be up one basis point at 2.48 percent.
* Hedge funds and other large speculators raised bearish bets on 10-year Treasuries to the highest level in almost two years last week, more than doubling them to a net 228,604 contracts, according to the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
* Germany’s yield curve, as measured by the spread between two- and 30-year bonds, reached its widest point since 2014, based on closing prices, while a similar gauge for Japan expanded for a fifth day.
* Ten-year U.K. bond yields climbed four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 1.49 percent.

     Currencies
* Oil-exporting currencies lead gains against the dollar, with the Russian ruble gaining 2.4 percent and the Norwegian krone and Mexican peso advancing at least 0.8 percent
* The euro gained 0.7 percent to $1.0633, after dropping 1 percent last week.
* Japan’s yen gained 0.3 percent to 115 per dollar, halting a two-day retreat.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!                                                                                         

What we are about to undertake is an expedition together, a journey of discovery
into the most secret recesses of our consciousness.
And for such an adventure we must travel light, we cannot burden ourselves
with opinions, prejudices, conclusions that is, with all the baggage that we have collected
over the past two thousand years or more.  Forget everything you know about yourself;
forget everything that you have thought about yourself;
we are going to set off as if we know nothing.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
                                 -William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

We had our annual office Christmas party last night which began with dinner prepared by Rob Cassels, executive  Chef at Saveur restaurant.  We tried the five course tasting menu and we all raved about it last night as it unfolded and today as we remembered how wonderful it was.  Cassels is an incredible chef and if you haven’t been to Saveur yet – you must plan a visit.  Chef Cassels worked for a while in Charlie Trotter’s kitchen from where he surely derives some of his culinary talent.  Gary and I went to Trotter’s famous restaurant in Chicago after it was awarded two Michelin stars in 2010.   It was an amazing experience!  It received two Michelin stars the following year as well  in 2011.  In 2013, Trotter deservedly was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame.  Unfortunately, he died prematurely later that year at only 54 years of age.  Fortunately, he published many cook books during his life and I use them all the time.  You can probably still order them on Amazon too.

STREET VIEW
In Hanoi, Vietnam, street vendors carry goods from flowers to bananas on their bicycles.  Photographer Loes Heerink captured images of these vendors from a bird’s-eye view and presents an intriguing portrait of everyday life in Vietnam.  Find her series at http://loesheerink.com.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse emerge from the haze in a photo taken from an airplane window on Thursday, as Paris suffers a pollution spike. Milos Krivokapic/AP

Japan’s H-IIB rocket with a capsule called Kounotori, or stork, lifts off at the Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, southern Japan on Friday evening. The Japanese capsule contains nearly 5 tons of food, water and other supplies, including new lithium-ion batteries for the International Space Station’s solar power system. Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News/AP

Snow falls around the Space Needle on Thursday in Seattle. Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com/AP
Market Closes for December 9^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19756.85	+142.04   +0.72%
S&P 500	2259.53	+13.34   +0.59%
NASDAQ	5444.498	+27.141   +0.50%
TSX	15312.20	+17.00
		+0.11%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18996.37	+230.90
		+1.23%
HANG SENG	22760.98	-100.86
		-0.44%
SENSEX	26747.18	+52.90
		+0.20%
FTSE 100	6954.21	+22.66
		+0.33%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.730		1.663
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.342		2.278
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4675		2.4071
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1529		3.1053

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75891	0.75778
US $	1.31767	1.31964
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39148	0.71866
US $	1.05602	0.94696

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1163.60	1171.05
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.50	50.84

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a sixth day, the longest stretch of gains since March, as big banks continued their record rally and energy producers climbed with crude.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 15,312.20, the highest level since May 2015. The benchmark gauge has risen almost 18 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 15 percent advance.
     A gauge of Canada’s largest lenders rose 0.7 percent, gaining for a fourth straight day toward a record high. The gauge has advanced 20 percent this year. Canadian Western Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia have been among the top performers, each gaining at least 34 percent. Canadian Western operates primarily in oil-rich western Canada.
     Financial services stocks overall are up 20 percent this year. Raw-materials producers are the top industry among 11 in the S&P/TSX with a 39 percent advance, followed by a 30 percent gain in energy shares, driven by rebounding gold and crude prices in 2016. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, is up six-fold on a resurgence in commodities from metallurgical coal to zinc.
In other moves:
* Energy producers rose 0.4 percent Friday, resuming their advance after a two-day slide as oil sold for more than $51 a barrel in New York; Saudi Arabia was said to have informed its customers it will stand by its commitment to cut production as OPEC meets with non-members to discuss output reductions
* Internet network company Sandvine Corp. sank 11 percent to the lowest level since July after reporting preliminary fourth- quarter sales short of estimates due to weakness in cable market
* Retailer Sears Canada Inc. lost 2.1 percent as third-quarter comparable sales tumbled 7.1 percent while revenue also retreated from year-ago levels
US
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Gains in consumer staples stocks, health- care companies and tech firms sent U.S. equities higher for a sixth day as the S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 Index all closed at records Friday.
     The S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent to 2,259.53 at 4 p.m. in New York, posting its biggest weekly gain since the presidential election in November, while the Dow added 142 points to 19,756.85. Global equities rose as crude oil gained for a second straight day ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna on Saturday where production cuts are expected to be discussed.
* VIX decreases 7.4 percent; biggest weekly decline since the U.S. presidential election outcome
* Officials at the Federal Reserve are set to announce a decision on interest rates on Dec. 14. Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance they’ll raise borrowing costs, compared with 68 percent odds at the start of November.
* The European Central Bank’s decision Thursday to expand its quantitative-easing program at a reduced monthly pace is giving global equities a boost, as it continues to depress borrowing costs for companies. The ECB expanded its stimulus program to exceed 2 trillion euros by the end of 2017, saying that it can step up or prolong purchases if necessary.
      (Bloomberg) — The S&P 500 extended its rally to the longest since June 2014 as benchmark indexes added to all-time highs, with health-care shares and consumer staples taking a turn pacing gains. Oil powered above $51 a barrel on signs producers are following through with agreed production cuts.
     The post-election rally in American equities plowed ahead even as the Federal Reserve looks certain to raise interest rates next week. Makers of household products led gains Friday after lagging behind for much of the post-election rally that’s added more than $1 trillion to the value of U.S. equities. Bank shares pushed gains in the past month to 18 percent.U.S. crude rose before OPEC meets in Vienna with non-member representatives. The dollar headed toward an 18-month high, supported by wagers on higher rates.
      Speculation that Donald Trump’s policies will boost the economy enough to withstand the effects of higher interest rates lifted consumer confidence to the most in almost two years. At the same time, the European Central Bank’s pledge to expand its limits on asset purchases to include shorter-dated securities is expected to drive down borrowing costs for banks even though the central bank has announced it will curtail monthly additions after March, and is being interpreted as a buy signal in many quarters of the financial markets.
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to 2,255.31 at 4 p.m. in New York, to cap a 3 percent rally in the week. The gauge closed at a record and is up 5.3 percent since the Nov. 8 election.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 131.61 points to a record 19,746.42, concluding a weekly gain of 3 percent. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. pushed its gain since the Nov. 8 election to 33 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1 percent, for its best week since January 2015. Drugmakers, media and real estate companies were the best performers.
* Emerging-market equities fell 0.3 percent to pare a weekly gain to 2.7 percent, the most since September.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.3 percent to settle at $51.50 a barrel, the highest close since Monday.
* Saudi Arabia was said to have informed its customers it will stand by its commitment to cut production before OPEC meets with producers from outside the group to discuss reductions.
* Gold futures closed at the lowest level since February as the Federal Reserve gears up to raise rates. The metal lost 0.9 percent to settle at $1,161.90 an ounce.
* Copper and zinc both gained.

 
     Currencies
* The dollar advanced 0.6 percent to $1.0557 per euro, having jumped 1.3 percent on Thursday.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, rose 0.5 percent to finish the week higher.* Investors see a 100 percent probability of an increase in U.S. interest rates on Dec. 14, according to pricing in federal funds futures contracts.

Bonds
* U.K. government bonds slid, with the 10-year gilt yield jumping three basis points to 1.41 percent after the Bank of England said U.K. consumers’ inflation expectations jumped to the highest in more than two years.
* Treasuries with a similar due date extended their fifth weekly drop, with the yield rising nine basis points in the period to 2.47 percent.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear comes from the selfish idea
of cutting one’s self off from the universe.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Failure will never overtake me if my determination
to succeed is strong enough.
                          -Og Mandino, 1923-1996                   

 

 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

From the New York Times last Sunday:
C.D. Wright (1949-2016) died suddenly earlier this year.  Whether she was writing about social issues, like the life of prisoners in Louisiana, or the personal, her poetry was always marked by intelligence, passion  and a genuine inquiry.  This poem sets a vivid scene then seems to take the words of an unnamed rambler – “we’ll pick up at the next chapter/my beloved” – as emblematic for the thrilling and troubling distances in a relationship.

Light Bulb Poem
By C.D. Wright 

at 4 o’clock I am at the door
with a bare hand of snow
laughing shamelessly
I undo my shirt
we’ll pick up at the next chapter
my beloved are the words
of the rambler
if not the words the substance
the snow smeared across my front
warm to the touch
though we remain separated
as if by a chair
and I unwilling to read ahead.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A rainbow shines in the sky above the city following a rainstorm, in Beit Lahiya City, Gaza Strip on Thursday. Adel Hana/AP

Aaron from San Francisco, wearing a Hillary Clinton mask, gives a thumbs up as he walks through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday. Andrew Harnik/AP
Market Closes for December 8^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19614.81	+65.19   +0.33%
S&P 500	2246.19	+4.84   +0.22%
NASDAQ	5417.355	+23.594   +0.44%
TSX	15295.20	+57.45
		+0.38%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18765.47	+268.78
		+1.45%
HANG SENG	22861.84	+60.92
		+0.27%
SENSEX	26694.28	+457.41
		+1.74%
FTSE 100	6931.55	+29.32
		+0.42%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.663		1.602
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.278		2.211
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4071		2.3473
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1053		3.0305

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75778	0.75553
US $	1.31964	1.32358
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40100	0.71377
US $	1.06166	0.94192

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1171.05	1177.65
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.84	49.77

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks headed for their longest streak of gains since October as big banks extended a rally to record-high levels after reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 15,295.20 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since May 2015. The index has risen almost 18 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 13 percent advance.
     A measure of financial stocks advanced 1 percent, leading to a record close for the third day in a row. Bank of Nova Scotia, the best-performing of Canada’s six major lenders this year, added 0.8 percent. Bond desks at the six biggest Canadian banks are the big revenue winners this year, as trading from fixed-income products including bonds, currencies and commodities soared 26 percent to C$7.34 billion this fiscal year — the most in at least six years.
     Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and National Bank of Canada reported financial results that beat analysts’ estimates for the fourth quarter, while Toronto-Dominion Bank matched expectations and Royal Bank of Canada missed. Bank of Montreal rose 2 percent to extend an advance after surging to a record as the lender boosted its dividend.
     Financial services stocks overall are up 19 percent this year. Raw-materials producers are the top industry among 11 in the S&P/TSX with a 42 percent advance, followed by energy, fueled by rebounding gold and crude prices in 2016. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, is up six-fold on a resurgence in commodities from metallurgical coal to zinc.
     In other moves:
* Financial services firm DH Corp. added 3.4 percent for a fourth day of gains, after jumping a record 14 percent yesterday after disclosing it has formed a committee to evaluate a possible sale; stock raised to a buy at Industrial Alliance, with the analyst estimating DH could be worth C$36.52 a share in a takeout
* Energy producers ended flat as crude settled above $50 a barrel in New York. Futures rose in New York, paring a 3.9 percent loss over the previous two sessions as investors shifted their focus to whether OPEC will be able to persuade other producers to commit to output cuts
* Questerre Energy Corp. soared 46 percent, the most since 2008, with the rise possibly linked to the prospect of an energy bill in Quebec coming into force, CEO Michael Binnion said in an interview with Bloomberg
US
By Jeremy Herron and Stephen Kirkland
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock benchmarks set new records, rising amid a renewed selloff in bonds after Mario Draghi signaled he will bolster stimulus in the euro area if a proposed reduction in the current level of asset purchases fails to shore up the economy.
     The European Central Bank’s pledge to cut bond buying, while extending quantitative easing until the end of 2017, initially propelled gains in the euro. The common currency reversed its climb after President Draghi kept the option open to add to asset purchases. The S&P 500 Index tracked gains in European stocks as emerging-market equities also rallied. Treasuries slipped with sovereign debt across Europe, while oil rose above $50 a barrel in New York.
     The ECB fueled gains in an equity market still trading off the boost provided by Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president. The S&P 500 is breaking records with the Dow Jones Industrial Average amid speculation Trump will boost fiscal spending, shoring up growth in the world’s largest economy. The attention now shifts to the Federal Reserve, with traders all but convinced policy makers will end the year with an interest-rate hike. The debt market, meanwhile, has been the chief casualty of Trump exuberance, with about $2 trillion rotated out of bonds and into equities since his victory.
     The ECB has “left themselves a degree of wiggle room between now and the end of March to say that if conditions are sufficient” they will maintain the current stimulus, said Jeremy Stretch, head of Group-of-10 foreign-exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London. “There was clearly a degree of surprise in terms of the reference” to the cut from April, he said.
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.2 percent to 2,246.19 as of 4 p.m. in New York, reaching a new peak and swelling its post-election rally to more than 5 percent. The Dow Average added 65 points to a record 19,614.81, its seventh gain in eight days.
* Financials shares and commodity producers led gains Thursday, with both groups rising at least 0.7 percent, while utilities slipped as the increase in Treasury yields damped demand for their payouts.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 1.2 percent for a fourth day of gains that took the measure to a one-month high. Banks and resource producers led gains.
* Emerging-market equities climbed 1.3 percent in a fourth straight advance.
* Asian index futures signaled further gains, as contracts on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed at least 0.2 percent with futures on benchmarks in Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea.

     Bonds
* Yields on Treasuries due in a decade rose by seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point, to 2.41 percent after falling almost six basis points in the prior two days.
* Italian sovereign debt securities due in a decade tumbled, sending the nation’s 10-year bond yield up by 11 basis points.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 2.2 percent to $50.84 a barrel, with investors pivoting to prospects for the OPEC-led output deal despite a surge in U.S. stockpiles.
* The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has invited 14 producers from outside the group to discuss further curbs at a meeting in Vienna on Saturday.
* “The market seems to be optimistic about this weekend’s meeting and about OPEC’s compliance with its agreement to cut output,” said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist in Seattle at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $133 billion of assets. “The market has turned positive and price declines will be followed by speculators building and rebuilding positions.”
* Copper futures retreated 0.6 percent, while gold lost 0.3 percent.

     Currencies
* The euro slumped 1.3 percent to $1.0615, after earlier gaining as much as 1.1 percent.
* Draghi’s mixed message — reducing bond buying while extending the current purchase program by three more months than economists had expected — initially sent investors scattering in different directions as they struggled to digest its implications.
* The yen dropped 0.2 percent to 114 per dollar, swinging back to losses amid a retreat from haven currencies.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, advanced 0.5 percent, rising for the second time in four days.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When a man begins to have a vision larger than his own truth,
when he realizes that it is much larger than it at first seemed, he begins to become conscious of his moral nature.
His perspective on life necessarily changes, and his will takes the place of his desires.
So comes about the conflict between our inferior self and our superior self,
between our desires and our will, between our greed for objects that appeal to our senses
and the purpose that comes from the bottom of our heart.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
                                             -Charles de Montesquieu, 1689-1755

 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

 

Dear Friends,

Sorry this is late – our email was dysfunctional last night.
Tangents:

In this week’s Barron’s:

Baby Boomers Pitch In
Senior citizens are channeling time and money to volunteer efforts. One estimate: They’ll contribute $8 trillion in two decades.
The “me generation” is finding that it’s better to give than to receive, especially in retirement.
According to a study by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, a think tank focused on aging, baby boomers will donate $8 trillion in time and money over the next two decades, as the population of those 65 and older surges. The study found that current retirees are three times more likely to say they derive more happiness from “helping people in need” than spending on themselves.
“Boomers always had a desire to change the world,” says Ken Dychtwald, founder and CEO of Age Wave.
He predicts that “you’ll see millions and millions more retirees doing very high-grade volunteer work in very interesting ways,” including contributing work skills to charitable causes, something he calls “philanthropreneurism.”
The study found that “making a difference in the lives of others” is by far the top motivation, five times more important than getting a tax deduction. The wealthiest people rank highest in both money and time donated. It would be typical of boomers, he says, to lead another revolution—in volunteerism.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

University of Southern California student Bre Flores practices her routine for her team’s upcoming ice show in front of a large Christmas tree at an outdoor skating rink Tuesday, in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong/AP

Britain’s Prince Harry, center, talks on the phone, during an ICAP Charity Trading Day in support of Sentebale – a charity supporting orphans and vulnerable children in London, Wednesday. Geoff Pugh/AP

Dusk falls over Parliament Square outside the Supreme Court after the third day of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May’s government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in central London, Britain on Wednesday. Peter Nicholls/Reuters
Market Closes for December 7^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19549.62	+297.84   +1.55%
S&P 500	2241.35	+29.12   +1.32%
NASDAQ	5393.762	+60.761   +1.14%
TSX	15237.75	+111.95
		+0.74%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18496.69	+136.15
		+0.74%
HANG SENG	22800.92	+125.77
		+0.55%
SENSEX	26236.87	-155.89
		-0.59%
FTSE 100	6902.23	+122.39
		+1.81%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.602		1.635
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.211		2.236
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3473		2.3869
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0305		3.0739

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75553	0.75311
US $	1.32358	1.32782
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42299	0.70275
US $	1.07511	0.93014

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1177.65	1172.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.77	50.93

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fourth day, extending gains to a 19-month high, as raw-material producers advanced with gold while the Bank of Canada kept its key stimulative interest-rate unchanged.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.7 percent to 15,237.75 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest closing level since May 4, 2015. The index has risen 17 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 12 percent advance.
     Canada’s central bank kept interest rates at a stimulative 0.5 percent amid uncertain prospects for a recovery in exports and business investment following the U.S. election. Policy makers warned a significant amount of slack remains in the economy, in contrast with the U.S.
     “Today’s statement continued to highlight that a hike is still a distant proposition,” said Nick Exarhos, an economist with CIBC World Markets in a note to clients. Exarhos estimates any tightening on the part of the Bank of Canada as a late-2018 proposition, given that continued slack in the economy.
     “That is contrasted explicitly with developments stateside, an apparent attempt to highlight the economic, and more importantly, the rate divergence expected between the two nations ahead of the Fed’s likely hike next week,” he said.
     In other moves:
* Gauges of financial and raw-material stocks each climbed at least 0.7 percent as nine of 11 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced
* Gold rebounded after trading near a 10-month low
* DH Corp. soared a record 14 percent after the company said it had formed a committee to evaluate acquisition inquiries from other firms; DH is a Canadian check maker trying to transition to a financial-technology firm
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. dropped 3.9 percent after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would bring down drug prices in an interview with Time Magazine
* Concordia International Corp., a smaller drug maker, fell 5.7 percent after RBC analyst Douglas Miehm slashed the stock’s rating to underperform with a price target of $1 for its U.S. shares
* Dollarama Inc. added 1.3 percent as the nation’s largest dollar-store chain posted fiscal third-quarter profit ahead of analysts’ estimates after adding new stores
US
By Lu Wang, Joseph Ciolli and Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Donald Trump is doing to U.S. equity bears what seven years of economic stimulus rarely could: shut them up.
     Two years of paralysis has for now ended in stocks, with more than $1 trillion added to shares values since Election Day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average looking bound for 20,000. Both the Dow and S&P 500 Index jumped to fresh records Wednesday, joined by transportation companies and small caps, while banks traded at eight-year highs.
     Wall Street stock forecasters, more pessimistic than any time since 2013 as recently as September, are suddenly falling over themselves to push up targets and explain a market where measures of anxiety are near five-year lows. The average call of bank prognosticators is for the S&P 500 to rally 3.4 percent next year, with strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of Montreal calling for even bigger gains.
     For investors, the question is how much credence to put in analysts whose futility in sussing out Trump’s impact on share prices was rivaled only by the inaccuracy of political polls prior to his victory. Not only has he not been the disaster many of them warned about, the rally since he defeated Hillary Clinton is now the biggest for any new president since Ronald Reagan.
     “What we didn’t expect was the speed and the magnitude of the so-called ‘Trump Trade,’” Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer at Leuthold Group LLC, wrote in a note published Wednesday. “The consensus hope, which we share, is that tax reform and regulatory roll-back will extend and maybe enliven an economic recovery that’s already long in the tooth.”
     To be sure, pinpointing Trump’s role in the rally is an inexact science, and a case could be made that his election is coinciding with the consummation of the Federal Reserve’s efforts. Among other things, annualized gross domestic product rose 3.2 percent in the third quarter, the most in two years, while unemployment hit a nine-year low in November.
     But the rally is particularly hard to reconcile with the body of pessimism that has shadowed the Barack Obama bull market since it started in 2009. Headwinds that looked certain to halt the advance just one month ago — from stalled corporate earnings to the highest valuations since the Internet bubble and the sputtering economy — are proving little match for the new president’s economic pronouncements.
     Not that those obstacles have gone away. While signs of a rebound emerged in the third quarter, profits for S&P 500 companies just underwent one of the longest stretches of declines for any non-bear market period on record. At just under 21 times earnings, stocks are trading at the highest multiple since 2001, excluding a few months after the financial crisis when earnings in some industries were close to nothing.
     The Dow rose 14 points to 19,563 at 9:49 a.m. in New York.
     The suddenly booming stock market has prompted fund managers who had been hoarding cash amid economic and political uncertainty to put money to work at the fastest rate since 2009. According to Bank of America Corp.’s latest survey in November, cash levels plunged to 5 percent from 5.8 percent in October.
     Investors are fretting they’ll miss out on a year-end rally. They added almost $50 billion to exchange-traded funds that track U.S. equities last month, the most since Bloomberg began tracking the data since 2000.
“US equity investors have focused more on hope than fear since Donald Trump’s election,” David Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. wrote in his 2017 outlook. “Hope will dominate during the first part of 2017. The prospect of lower corporate taxes, repatriation of overseas cash, reduced regulations, and fiscal stimulus has already led investors to expect positive EPS revisions.”
     Not only are stocks rising, they’re offering fertile ground for a category of mutual funds that suffered as the Obama rally devolved into a monolith of lockstep moves. Dispersion among S&P 500 stocks, trader lingo for the ability of share prices to chart an independent course, is increasing and poised to get better, according to Goldman.
     Next year will bring “opportunity for alpha generation,” due to macro and micro shifts associated with Trump administration and aging economic cycle, Kostin wrote in a note to clients this week. By one measure, dispersion the week after the election reached the biggest in almost eight years.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Everyone is but a manifestation of the Impersonal, the basis of all being,
and misery consists in thinking of ourselves as different from this Infinite, Impersonal Being,
and liberation consists in knowing our unity with this wonderful Impersonality.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.
                                                 -Richard Hooker, 1924-1997

 

 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

St. Nicholas Day in Europe.  One of the most popular saints in Christendom, especially in the East.  He is the patron saint of Russia, of Aberdeen, of parish clerks, of scholars (who used to be called clerks), of pawnbrokers (because of the three bags of gold, transformed to the Three Golden Balls, that he gave to the daughters of a poor man to save them from earning their dowers in a disreputable way), of young boys (because he once restored to life three little boys who had been cut up and pickled in a tub to serve for bacon), and is invoked by sailors (because he allayed a storm during a voyage to the Holy Land) and against fire.  Finally, he is the original of Santa Claus.

Little is known of his life but he is said to have been bishop of Myra (Lycia) in the early 4^th century, and one story related that he was present at the Council of Nicaea (325) and buffeted Arius on the jaw.  His day is 6^th December and he is represented in Episcopal robes with either three purses of gold, three golden balls or three little boys, in allusion to one or other of the legends.

On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified.
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. –Abraham Lincoln.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People stand next to a merry-go-round at the Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday. Michael Probst/AP

Men exercise amid trees on a cold winter morning on the outskirts of Srinagar on Tuesday. Danish Ismail/Reuters
Market Closes for December 6^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19251.78	+35.54   +0.18%
S&P 500	2211.14	+6.43   +0.29%
NASDAQ	5333.000	+24.108   +0.45%
TSX	15128.82	+33.65
		+0.22%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18360.54	+85.55
		+0.47%
HANG SENG	22675.15	+169.60
		+0.75%
SENSEX	26392.76	+43.66
		+0.17%
FTSE 100	6779.84	+33.01
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.635		1.628
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.236		2.221
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3869		2.3941
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0739		3.0640

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75311	0.75371
US $	1.32782	1.32678
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42338	0.70255
US $	1.07197	0.93286

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1172.50	1162.20
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.93	51.79

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day, closing at the highest level in 18 months, as Bank of Montreal rallied to a record after reporting quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.2 percent to 15,125.66 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since June 2015. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 10 percent advance.
     Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, climbed 2.8 percent for a fourth day of gains, trading at a record high after fourth-quarter profit exceeded analysts’ estimates on gains in capital markets and U.S. banking. The bank also increased its quarterly dividend.
     Canada’s trade deficit narrowed more than forecast in October, to C$1.13 billion, the smallest since January as imports fell for the first time in three months. Economists had forecast a C$1.7 billion deficit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Canada remains mired in a 15-year slump in exports, with a record cumulative trade deficit in the first 10 months of this year at C$28.3 billion.
     In other moves:
* Energy stocks reversed losses of as much as 0.6 percent to end the day flat. Crude fell from the highest close in 16 months; West Texas Intermediate oil had rallied 15 percent over the previous four sessions
* Neovasc Inc. surged 69 percent, the biggest one-day increase in six years, after providing an update to its mitral valve program; the device, used to treat a condition that can lead to heart failure and death, has been implanted successfully in 19 of 22 patients
* Hudson’s Bay Co. tumbled 7 percent to a record low; the retailer reported a normalized loss of 56 Canadian cents a share, compared with estimates for 22 cents. Third-quarter sales of C$3.3 billion fell short of expectations of C$3.44 billion.
US
By Lukanyo Mnyanda and Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, rising with emerging- market assets as investors speculated the European Central Bank will extend its monthly bond purchases to stoke growth in the region. Oil slipped from a 16-month high.
     The S&P 500 Index neared its Nov. 25 record, buoyed by continued gains in financial shares and an advance in Verizon Communications Inc. on its agreement to sell a data-centers business. The dollar rallied in light currency trading, with the European Central Bank expected Thursday to extend its bond- buying program beyond March. Crude oil fell for the first time since OPEC agreed to cut production, and gold also declined. Treasuries were steady.
     The stock rally sparked by speculation U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will stoke growth continued, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a fresh record as prospects European monetary policy will remain accommodative also fueled gains. Italian bond investors moved on from the prime minister’s resignation in a sign that concerns the nation will move to leave the euro have faded. Questions over how successful major oil producers will be in their attempt to bolster prices weighed on crude prices Tuesday.
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,212.23 as of 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Average gained another 0.2 percent. Verizon led a 1.5 percent advance in phone stocks, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added 1.2 percent in a second day of gains.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1 percent, building on its 0.6 percent advance from Monday. German utilities RWE AG and EON SE climbed by at least 2 percent after a court ruled the pair must be compensated for the government’s shift away from nuclear energy.
* Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 2 percent, helped by gains in UniCredit SpA and Mediobanca SpA.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index increased 1 percent.
* Asian index futures signaled gains for Wednesday, with contracts on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average up 0.4 percent in Osaka.
* West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 1.7 percent to $50.93 a barrel, while Brent oil dropped 1.8 percent to $53.93, ending a four-day
winning streak that was the longest since August.
* Aluminum fell 1.5 percent in London to $1,709 a metric ton, its biggest drop in a week.
* The metal will probably tumble next month as an “irrational” increase in prices prompts companies to restart plants, while new capacity also ramps up in the world’s largest supplier, according to China’s top metals industry group.
* Copper lost 1.1 percent.
* Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,169.66 an ounce.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, added 0.2 percent after falling 0.4 percent on Monday.
* The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.0720 after ending Monday up 0.9 percent, erasing an earlier slide of as much as 1.5 percent in the wake of the Italian vote.
* The pound touched a two-month high as the U.K.’s top court heard a second day of arguments in a court case over who has the right to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union, climbing as much as 0.3 percent to $1.2775.
* The Australian dollar fell 0.2 percent to 74.61 U.S. cents after the nation’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged and Governor Philip Lowe said “some slowing in the year-ended growth rate is likely.”
* Italy’s 10-year bond yields declined by one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.98 percent, after Monday’s increase of eight basis points.
* Yields on Portugal’s bonds with a similar due date decreased four basis points to 3.66 percent, while Germany’s rose two basis points to 0.35 percent.
* Almost all economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the ECB to announce on Thursday that its bond-buying program will be extended after March, and most foresee an extension of about six months at the current 80 billion euros ($86 billion) a month.
* Ten-year Treasury yields edged down by one basis point to 2.39 percent

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

First of all, accept yourself.
When you do not accept yourself and imagine yourself to be someone different,
a conflict arises between what you believe you are and what you really are.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
                                                                -B.F. Skinner, 1904-1990

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Walt Disney was born on  this day in 1901.

Notable & Quotable: Post-Election Picasso
Joshua J. Whitfield, writing in “Why I took my daughter to an art museum after the election,” Nov. 16 in the Dallas Morning News:

We walked among art, Spanish mostly, Miro’, Picasso, Dali, others.  We wondered, we imagined, we talked about what is, what might be, what could be – about the art, that is.  We shared favorites, asked questions, giggled at the nudes, wondered what on earth a few things were….
   I think it was a good thing to do, and I recommend it to you, to my fellow parents wondering what to say to your children.
   The danger is that we use our children to assuage our angst, recycling our anger through them, seeking in them the validation of our fears or the vindication of our bitterness.  We forget that our children are not us, and so we foist upon them opinions and fears for which they’re unready, ruining their purposeful innocence with our foolish seriousness – lecturing, sentimentalizing, manipulating.  Sometimes when talking to our children, we talk too much.  We try to make the world right with words when we know we can’t.
   Which is why I chose art instead.  It speaks better than me, teaches better.  And it’s why I think that instead of talking politics with your children, you should take them to experience beauty wherever you may find it – your nearest art museum, your nearest artist. –WSJ, December 3,2016.

Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly.   It is your masterpiece after all.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People cross Westminster Bridge as dusk falls behind the Houses of Parliament on a clear evening in central London, Britain on Monday.Toby Melville/Reuters
A young Native American man rides his horse through the snow near the Oceti Sakowin camp as ‘water protectors’ continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Market Closes for December 5^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19216.24	+45.82   +0.24%
S&P 500	2204.71	+12.76   +0.58%
NASDAQ	5308.891	+53.238   +1.01%
TSX	15095.17	+42.65
		+0.28%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18274.99	-151.09
		-0.82%
HANG SENG	22505.55	-59.27
		-0.26%
SENSEX	26349.10	+118.44
		+0.45%
FTSE 100	6746.83	+16.11
		+0.24%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.628		1.620
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.221		2.225
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3941		2.3885
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0640		3.0673

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75371	0.75240
US $	1.32678	1.32908
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42781	0.70037
US $	1.07615	0.92924

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1162.20	1173.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.79	51.68

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, trading near the highest level in 18 months, as energy producers climbed with crude extending gains while copper lifted industrial metals higher.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 15,095.17 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 11 percent advance.
     Energy producers added 0.4 percent as a group as seven of 11 industries advanced in the benchmark index. Crude in New York rose 11 cents to $51.79 a barrel, settling at the highest close since July 2015 as OPEC invited non-members to Vienna to secure additional output cuts after last week’s deal. Oil has climbed more than 15 percent since the group agreed last week to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day starting in January.
     In other moves:
* Marijuana producer Canopy Growth Corp. lost 5.3 percent after agreeing to sell shares to raise C$60 million for capacity expansion, working capital and general purposes. Canopy is still up 270 percent this year. Smaller competitor Aurora Cannabis Inc. tumbled 12 percent
* Bombardier Inc. advanced a second day after its transportation unit announced France’s national railway company has ordered an additional 52 Bombardier trains in a deal valued at about $370 million
* Raw-material stocks rose 1 percent, reversing an earlier loss, as base metals producers gained. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. climbed 5.8 percent as copper posted a 17-month high on speculation demand will accelerate amid improving U.S. growth 
* Kinross Gold Corp. and OceanaGold Corp. retreated at least 2 percent as the price of gold fell to near a 10-month low; concern about political turmoil in Italy appears to be contained as stock markets in Europe and the U.S. advanced after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned upon losing a key referendum
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record as a rally in financial and technology shares reversed a dip in early trading after Italian voters rejected a constitutional referendum.
     The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to 2,204.71 at 4 p.m. in New York as financial stocks extended a post-election rally to 14 percent. Eight of 11 primary groups advanced after the benchmark on Friday capped its first weekly decline since the presidential election Friday. The Dow rose 46 points to 19,216.24.
* Markit reports on services and manufacturing were in line with or better than expectations
* Federal Reserve officials announce a policy decision on Dec. 14; futures traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance they’ll boost borrowing costs, up from 68 percent at the start of November
* European Central Bank meets on Dec. 8; investors will be watching for insight on how Italy vote will factor into Mario Draghi’s quantitative easing program
* S&P 500 is heading for its first annual advance since 2014, up 7.9 percent this year
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear is one of the greatest problems in life.  A mind that is caught in fear
lives in confusion, in conflict, and therefore  must be violent, distorted and aggressive.
Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.
                                       -Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910

 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
   Thou art not so unkind
       As man’s ingratitude;
   Thy tooth is not so keen,
   Because thou art not seen,
       Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
   Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
       This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
   That does not bite so nigh
       As benefits forgot:
   Though thou the waters warp,
   Thy sting is not so sharp
       As friend remembered not.

                         –William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, As You Like It.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People look at a Nutcracker-themed holiday window display at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York on Thursday night. Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters

Members of Sotheby’s auction house staff adjust a painting by Titian entitled ‘Portrait of Two Boys’ (circa 1485-90), said to be of members of the Pesaro family, at a press preview in London on Friday. The painting will be sold at auction on Dec. 7, with an estimated value of 1-1.5 million pounds (1.2-1.9 million USD.) Alastair Grant/AP
Market Closes for December 2nd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19170.42	-21.51   -0.11%
S&P 500	2191.95	+0.87   +0.04%
NASDAQ	5255.652	+4.545   +0.09%
TSX	15052.52	+24.99
		+0.17%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18426.08	-87.04
		-0.47%
HANG SENG	22564.82	-313.41
		-1.37%
SENSEX	26230.66	-329.26
		-1.24%
FTSE 100	6730.72	-22.21
		-0.33%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.620		1.676
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.225		2.262
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3885		2.4481
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0673		3.1085

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75240	0.75106
US $	1.32908	1.33146
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41803	0.70520
US $	1.06692	0.93727

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1173.50	1161.85
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.68	51.06

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as the jobless rate fell with people leaving the workforce, while the nation’s economy added jobs in November, surprising economists who had expected a loss. U.S. hiring also picked up as the unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 15,052.52 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, paring a weekly decline. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 9.4 percent advance.
     Canada’s unemployment rate fell for the first time in five months in November, to 6.8 percent as people dropped out of the labor force and companies added part-time workers. Employment climbed by 10,700, compared with economists’ expectations for a 15,000 decline, for a fourth straight monthly jobs gain.
     The U.S. meanwhile added 178,000 jobs, just short of the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of an 180,000 advance. The jobless rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 4.6 percent.
     Energy producers slipped 0.2 percent as a group, paring a fourth straight weekly advance that’s the longest since October. Crude in New York edged higher, trading at about $51 a barrel, as prices surged 12 percent this week after OPEC signaled an agreement to curb oil output. Pipeline company Enbridge Inc. rose 0.5 percent after winning approval from the Canadian government for one of its pipeline projects this week.
     Raw-material stocks added 1.8 percent as gold futures advanced. Zinc headed for its first weekly drop since mid- October, pacing a decline in copper and other industrial metals as a frenzy in trading eased. Natural resource producers are the top-performing industries in the S&P/TSX this year. Teck Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest diversified miner, has surged six-fold to pace gains as metallurgical coal and zinc prices have rallied.
     In other moves:
* Bombardier Inc. added 0.5 percent after winning orders for Tanzania to buy two CS300 jetliners and one Q400 turboprop aircraft for about $200 million
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. retreated 0.7 percent after suspending concentrate shipments to the Chinese border from its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in southern Mongolia.
Authorities at the border introduced new requirements that are causing long wait times and safety concerns at the border, the company said.
US
By Aleksandra Gjorgievska
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed near a two- week low after November jobs data delivered a mixed picture on the strength of the labor market as investors assess the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates.
     Hiring picked up last month while the unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low on a drop in the number of people in the workforce and wages unexpectedly declined. The S&P 500 Index rose less than one point to 2,192.05 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark fell 1 percent in the week to cap its first drop since the presidential election.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.82 points to 19,171.11, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ended higher by 0.1 percent.
* Today’s jobs report is the last before Federal Reserve officials announce their policy decision on Dec. 14. Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance they’ll boost the benchmark rate, up from 68 percent at the start of November.
* Equities rallied in November, with major U.S. indexes posting new highs, as traders speculated president-elect Donald Trump will increase fiscal spending to stimulate the economy.
* Some of the largest U.S. fund managers are skeptical of the rally’s strength. Bill Gross, who runs the $1.7 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, said yesterday such a belief is misguided as the benefits of fiscal stimulus will likely be temporary.
Treasuries rose, the dollar fell and stocks were little changed after the latest jobs report delivered a mixed picture on the strength of the labor market as investors assess the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates.
     U.S. government bond yields slumped the most in three months, the S&P 500 Index hovered near a two-week low and the greenback dropped against major peers. Brent oil capped its biggest weekly gain since 2009 after OPEC approved its first supply cut in eight years, with attention now shifting to compliance with the deal and how other producers will react to a price rally. Gold futures gained for the first time in four sessions amid signs of political uncertainty ahead of an Italian referendum this weekend.
     U.S. hiring picked up in November, while the unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low on a drop in the number of people in the workforce and wages unexpectedly declined, providing a mixed picture of the labor market. The 178,000 gain followed a 142,000 rise in October that was less than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 180,000 advance. The jobless rate fell 0.3 percentage point to 4.6 percent as labor participation dropped for a second month.
     “This is a mixed number, but overall the story for December is unlikely to change,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest-rate strategist at TD Securities LLC. “Given the mixed to weaker print, I think market pricing for 2017 rate hikes could stand to decline somewhat over the near-term.”

* MSCI’s global gauge rose less than 0.1 percent at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The S&P 500 added less than 0.1 percent to 2,191.95.
* Real-estate shares and utilities rose, while financial companies fell.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated for a second day.
* Emerging-market shares dropped.

* Oil closed at the highest in more than a year in London and New York.
* Gold pared its weekly loss.
* Palladium slipped, while platinum rallied on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* Silver gained on the Comex in New York.

* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, slipped 0.3 percent.
* The pound rallied after the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats gained a U.K. parliamentary seat in a by-election, a result that may complicate Prime Minister Theresa May’s efforts to begin the process of leaving the European Union early next year.
* The Turkish lira sank to a record low.

* Treasury 10-year yields dropped five basis points to 2.40 percent after increasing on Thursday to the highest since June 2015.
* The Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Total Return Index of bonds fell 4 percent in November, its biggest decline since the index was started in 1990.
* Italy’s 10-year yield was down 15 basis points at 1.90 percent, before the referendum Sunday that has the potential to topple Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear is man’s greatest enemy,
and it manifests itself in forms as diverse as shame, jealousy, anger, insolence, arrogance…
What causes fear?  Lack of confidence in oneself.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me 
an invincible summer.
                                                -Albert Camus, 1913-1960

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
December: Latin, 10^th month.  December was the tenth month in the Roman calendar when the year began in March with the vernal equinox.

Silence slips peacefully over the black-and-white world.  The wind moans.  The Earth is hard as iron.  Mist and cold penetrate to the bone.  The days grow shorter, the snowfalls heavier.  Bare trees and hunched figures in overcoats and heavy jackets dot the streets.  But inside it is warm.…People gather in expectation of the rebirth of the light.  There is almost the sense that the Sun will break forth again from the interior of the Earth – or from within our own souls.  Christmas and Hanukka, among other celebrations, hold forth the promise that, by our dedication and self-sacrifice a new green world of meaning, love, and compassion can be born.  At the solstice, the heavens show us the rebirth of the light, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti – the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People sit on a bench on a warm autumn evening in a park near Lake Leman in Lutry, Switzerland, on Thursday. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Staff members pose for photographs during the unveiling of a Christmas tree, by Iranian-born artist Shirazeh Houshiary, in the Rotunda of the Tate Britain gallery in London on Thursday. The tree is part of the gallery’s annual festive commissions. Matt Dunham/AP

Visitors walk through the annual year-end illumination ‘Canyon d’Azur’ in Tokyo’s Shiodome district on Thursday. Shuji Kajiyama/AP

The 84th annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is on display after the lighting ceremony in Manhattan, New York, on Wednesday. Alex Wroblewski/Reuters
Market Closes for December 1^st, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19191.93	+68.35   +0.36%
S&P 500	2191.08	-7.73   -0.35%
NASDAQ	5251.105	-72.575   -1.36%
TSX	15027.53	-55.32
		-0.37%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18513.12	+204.64
		+1.12%
HANG SENG	22878.23	+88.46
		+0.39%
SENSEX	26559.92	-92.89
		-0.35%
FTSE 100	6752.93	-30.86
		-0.45%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.676		1.584
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.262		2.161
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4481		2.3773
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1085		3.0337

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75106	0.74436
US $	1.33146	1.34343
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41935	0.70455
US $	1.06602	0.93807

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1161.85	1178.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.06	49.44

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated from an 18-month high as raw-materials producers tumbled with metals prices, while pipeline companies were a drag on energy shares. Earnings from the nation’s largest lenders bolstered bank stocks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 15,027.53 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after Wednesday capping a fifth straight monthly gain that’s the longest winning streak in two years. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 32 percent higher than the 30-day average. The index is up 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 10 percent advance.
     Energy producers fell 0.1 percent as a group, reversing an earlier gain after posting a 5 percent surge Wednesday as OPEC signaled an agreement to curb oil output and crude rose above $50 a barrel in New York. Pipeline companies TransCanada Corp. and Enbridge Inc. fell at least 2.3 percent, offsetting gains among producers. Crescent Point Energy Corp. and Tourmaline Oil Corp. gained at least 1.6 percent.
     Natural resource producers are the top-performing industries in the S&P/TSX this year. Teck Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest diversified miner, has surged six-fold to pace gains as metallurgical coal and zinc prices have rallied.
     In other moves:
* Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce jumped 2.2 percent, trading at a record after posting fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, raising its quarterly dividend 2.5 percent.
* Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 0.8 percent as earnings stalled in its domestic retail business, offsetting gains in capital markets and U.S. consumer lending. Adjusted earnings were in line with analysts’ forecasts.
* Canopy Growth Corp., the largest marijuana producer by market capitalization in Canada, fell 4.3 percent, reversing an earlier gain after agreeing to buy competitor Mettrum Health Corp. for about C$430 million in an all-share deal. Mettrum soared 29 percent to a record.
US
By Joseph Ciolli and Julie Edde
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell from near all-time highs, after equities capped their first monthly advance in four, as technology shares plunged to overshadow rallies in bank and energy shares.
     The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4 percent to 2,191.08 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark index climbed 3.4 percent in November for its best gain in eight months amid speculation the incoming president will push through policies that boost growth in the world’s largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 68.35 points to 19,191.93 Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index slid 1.6 percent to a two-week low.
     Technology shares have lagged behind during a post-election rally that’s boosted banks to the highest since February 2008 amid speculation Donald Trump’s cabinet picks signal a slackening of regulations for the financial sector. Oil shares added to gains sparked by OPEC’s intention to curb crude output. Trump’s trade policies may have the potential to harm large-cap technology providers.
     The group slumped Thursday after a report that Apple Inc. has started reducing orders from iPhone 7 suppliers. Semiconductor shares plunged 4.6 percent. IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. lost at least 1.5 percent.
     “You have the potential for higher interest rates resulting from bigger deficits, and that’s causing some of the rate- sensitive areas to once again come under pressure,” said Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer of McQueen, Ball & Associates Inc. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “On the flipside, you have another day of strength in the oil patch, and the beneficiaries from higher infrastructure spending are moving up.”
     Attention will turn to tomorrow’s government payrolls data for clues on the strength of the economy and the timing for higher interest rates. A private report yesterday showed better- than-forecast figures. Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance policy makers will increase rates this month, up from 68 percent at the start of November.
     Among stocks moving Thursday:
* Automakers rose, with General Motors Co. adding 5.5 percent and Ford Motor Co. gaining 3.9 percent after reporting sales that exceeded analyst estimates.
* Energy shares increased for a second day as ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil Corp. and Whiting Petroleum Corp. climbed more than 2.4 percent after OPEC agreed to cut production for the first time since 2008.
* Dollar General Corp. slipped 5 percent after the dollar-store chain’s earnings and sales for the fiscal third quarter trailed analyst estimates.
* Guess? Inc. plunged 10 percent after the apparel maker cut its fiscal-year earnings forecast by about 30 percent after reporting third-quarter profit that trailed analyst forecasts.
* B/E Aerospace Inc. slid after a proposed $6.4 billion purchase of the aircraft-parts maker by Rockwell Collins ran into opposition from the activist investor Starboard Value.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

How is this dream to be broken,
how shall we wake up form this dream
that we are little men and women,
and all such things?
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.
                                              -Arthur Ashe, 1943-1993

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
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