Posted on

March 17, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  HAPPY St. PATRICK’S DAY!

You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.  -Irish Proverb.

And this is from my favorite song that my Mom (whose maiden name is Murphy) used to play the acoustic guitar and sing to us when we were children (among the many – like all the  Irish, she is so musical; she was always singing as she was doing house work, and what a treat it was when she sat down and played guitar and sang):

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer’s gone, and all the flowers are dying
‘Tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.

And I shall hear, tho’ soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you’ll not fail to tell me that you love me
I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

And what is St. Patrick’s Day without lamb.  After many years of trying several different recipes for rack of lamb, I believe I’ve finally found the best.  It’s from Danny Meyer’s old Union Square Café in NYC (and his cookbook “Second Helpings”:

ROAST RACK OF LAMB
Serves 4

The trick is that the racks rest between two short roasting, allowing you to carve them while they’re evenly cooked, rosy pink, and still piping hot.
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (the best in Victoria are from Ottavio’s Italian bakery in Oak Bay)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (that’s the recipe – I use more)
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon (that’s the recipe; I prefer minced parsley)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 lamb racks, 8 ribs each (see note)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard.

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

 

2. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, garlic, tarragon, olive oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, mixing with your fingers so that the bread crumbs absorb the oil.  Set aside.

 

3. In a cast iron skillet or ovenproof sauté pan large enough to hold both racks, heat some olive oil over high heat until smoking.  Season the racks all over with salt and pepper and sear them in  the pan, meaty sides down.  Cook until well browned, about 2 minutes.  Turn the racks over and cook  1 minute longer.   Place the skillet in the oven.  Roast 9 minutes for medium rare or 8 minutes for rare.

 

4.Remove the skillet from the oven, transfer the racks to a plate, and let them rest for 15 minutes, uncovered.  Use a pastry brush or a teaspoon to coat the meaty side of each rack with the mustard.  Use your fingers to press the bread crumb mixture onto the mustard.  Return the racks to the oven and roast for 15 more minutes to brown the crust.  Slice in between each  bone and serve the chops immediately.

 

Note: Ask your butcher to remove the chine bone, trim the racks completely down to the meat, and “French” the bones by scraping away all the fat and gristle.  After this, each rack should weigh one pund.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Britain’s Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge, laughs as she presents shamrocks to the Colonel of the Irish Guards at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade at the Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow, London, on Friday. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Spectators watch as revelers march up Fifth Avenue during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Friday in New York. New York City was awash in green and Irish pride as throngs celebrated. Andres Kudacki/AP

A boy takes part in the St Patrick’s Day parade on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, on Friday. Brian Lawless/PA/AP
Market Closes for March 17th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20916.81 -17.74

 

-0.08%
 
S&P 500 2379.72 -1.66

 

-0.07%
 
NASDAQ 5900.996 +0.236

 

—
 
TSX 15508.81 -53.60

 
-0.34%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change 
NIKKEI 19521.59 -68.55
 
-0.35%
 
HANG

SENG

 24309.93 +21.65
 
+0.09%
 
SENSEX 29648.99 +63.14
 
+0.21%
 
FTSE 100* 7424.96 +9.01
 
+0.12%
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.765 1.804
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.414 2.450
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4987 2.5348
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1112 3.1465
 
           
           

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74907 0.75121

 
US

$

 1.33499 1.33118
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.43406 0.69732

 
US

$

 1.07421 0.93092

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1229.60 1229.35
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 48.82 48.75

 

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1997, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Travelers Group and Wal-Mart are added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Bethlehem Steel, Texaco, Westinghouse Electric and Woolworth.
Canada
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed, poised for the fourth gain this week, as a rally in phone companies was offset by declining health-care stocks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added less than 0.1 percent to 15,562 at 10:35 a.m. in Toronto. On Tuesday, the index slid to its lowest since December. Seven of 11 major industries advanced as financial companies and consumer stocks declined.
* Canada Goose adds 7.3% after jumping 27% from its IPO price on Thursday
* Telecom stocks up 0.7% for biggest single-day gain in a month
* Health-care shares 0.4% lower with all five companies down, led by 1.5% decline in Knight Therapeutics
* Materials shares 0.3% higher with Bloomberg Commodity Index up for fourth day this week
* Dominion Diamond up 9.9% for biggest rally in index after saying Thursday that FY18 sales will increase 62% Y/y
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slid Friday as a drop in financial stocks offset gains in utilities as bonds advanced for a third time this week.
     The S&P 500 Index lost 0.1 percent to 2,378.18 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 20 points to 20,914.49. The S&P 500 ended the week 0.2 percent higher after the Federal Reserve raised rates without altering its forecast for further increases this year.
* Utility shares up 0.7% for biggest gain in S&P 500 as the 10- year Treasury yield dropped 4 basis points
* Financial stocks down 1.1%
* VIX reversed early decline to end higher
* Heavy volume amid quadruple witching and index rebalancing; about 9.5 billion shares traded hands, most so far this year
* Traders are pricing in a 54% chance that Fed officials will increase borrowing costs by June, Fed fund futures show
* S&P 500 up 3.7% in March, poised for its longest monthly winning streak since July
* Investors are also focusing on Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who will attend his first gathering of G-20 finance chiefs
** On Thursday, Mnuchin in Berlin repeated his view that the long-term strengthening of the dollar is in the best interest of the U.S. economy
* With the earnings season nearing its end, about three-quarters of S&P 500 firms that have reported results exceeded profit estimates and about half beat sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* S&P 500 EARNINGS: none after-market Friday or pre-market Monday
* In Europe, stocks advanced to the highest level since December 2015

Have  a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Wise people are concerned only with what lies behind all these things.
Just as bees fly from one blossom to another, looking only for the essence of each one,
wise people look only for the essence of every person they meet.
Wise people, who know and understand the soul, are indifferent to both pleasure and pain;
they have risen above sensations.  They are indifferent to the past and the future; they have risen above time.
They are indifferent to danger; they have risen above fear.
Wise people know that what is here, is also there;
that what was, will also be.
They see unity, not division.
Katha Upanishad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
–Roger Staubach, b. 1942

 

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

Posted on

March 16, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,
Tangents:
On this day in…
1926    Rocket science pioneer Robert H. Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket, in Auburn, Mass.
1935    Adolf Hitler scrapped the Treaty of Versailles.
1968    U.S. troops gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai during the Vietnam War.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center over Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral skyline in Florida on Thursday. The rocket, carrying the Echostar XXIII communications satellite, was delayed from Tuesday due to high winds. Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today/AP

Horse race-goers arrive wearing St. Patrick’s Day fancy dress during the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse in England on Thursday. Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters

A rainbow appears next to St. Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, England, on Thursday. Owen Humphreys/PA/AP
Market Closes for March 16th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20934.55 -15.55

 

-0.07%
 
S&P 500 2381.38 -3.88

 

-0.16%
 
NASDAQ 5900.762 +0.714

 

+0.01%
 
TSX 15562.41 +41.50

 
+0.27%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19590.14 +12.76
 
 
+0.07%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 24288.28 +495.43
 
 
+2.08%
 
 
SENSEX 29585.85 +187.74
 
 
+0.64%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7415.95 +47.31
 
 
+0.64%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.804 1.767
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.450 2.419
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.5348 2.4966
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1465 3.1095

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.75121 0.75191

 
US

$

 1.33118 1.32994
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.43409 0.69731

 
US

$

 1.07731 0.92824

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1229.35 1198.80
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 48.75 48.86

 

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tops 10000 for the first time.
Number of the Day
4%
Shortly after the Fed’s move, banks including Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, BB&T, M&T Bank and Fifth Third Bancorp increased their prime lending rates, from 3.75% to 4%.
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, continuing their rebound from a 2017 low, as gains in health-care and financial shares led the way higher one day after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected and refrained from accelerating its future tightening timeline.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.3 percent to 15,562.41 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after sliding on Tuesday to its lowest since December. Seven of 11 major industries advanced, with health-care and consumer staples companies jumping at least 0.9 percent, offsetting a loss in utility and industrial shares.
     Canada Goose Holdings Inc., the maker of $900 parkas, raised C$340 million ($256 million) in its initial public offering, pricing the shares at C$17 a piece, above the marketed range of C$14 to C$16 a share, according to a statement Wednesday. At the IPO price, the company had a market value of about C$1.82 billion. In its first day of trading, shares rose as much as 41 percent to C$23.98 in Toronto.
     In other moves:
* Bonavista Energy Corp., Nuvista Energy Ltd. and Encana Corp. fell at least 1.9 percent as crude oil slid 0.1 percent
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Detour Gold Corp. and Hudbay Minerals Inc. increased more than 2.8 percent as a Bloomberg index of commodities gained 0.4 percent
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slid as investors assessed the Federal Reserve’s path for interest rates and utility and health-care shares weighed on the market.
     The S&P 500 Index lost 0.2 percent to 2,381.38 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points to 20,934.55. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent one day after the Fed’s decision.
* Financial shares were the biggest gainers in market, up 0.3%; spread between 5-year and 30-year Treasuries had biggest single- day gain since Nov. 9 on Wednesday
* Tech companies up 0.2%
** Volume in tech accounted for 20% of S&P 500 trading, with 3.6% of all trading taking place in Oracle
** Oracle up 6.2% after saying revenue in cloud services grew 62% in the Q3
* Traders are now pricing in a probability of almost 50 percent for another Fed rate increase by June
* ECONOMY:
** Housing starts climbed to a four-month high in February, led by the strongest pace of single-family homebuilding in nearly a decade
** Weekly jobless claims fell 2k to 241k; est. 240k
** March Philly Fed dropped to 32.8, est. 30
* EARNINGS:
** Pre-market Friday: Tiffany & Co (TIF)
* In Europe, stock markets rallied after a victory for Dutch liberals in the country’s parliamentary election
** Stoxx 60 ends 0.5% higher with all but 2 of 19 industry groups advancing.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Ever tell yourself, I am He.
These are words that will burn up the dross that is in the mind, words that will bring out the tremendous energy
which is within you already, the infinite power which is sleeping in your heart.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything
at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
                                                              -Margaret Thatcher, 1925-2013

 


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

Posted on

March 15, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  THE IDES OF MARCH
On this day in 1985, Symbolics Computer Corp. of Massachusetts registers the first internet domain name, symbolics.com.
…and
1972 – “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola’s epic gangster movie based on the Mario Puzo novel and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premiered in New York.
1975 – Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, the husband of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, died at age 69.
1917- Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates his throne.
44 BC – Julius Caesar dies.

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
         –Julius Caesar, Act 2; Scene 2, William Shakespeare.

Friends, Romans countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
                                             -William Shakespeare.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

During a press preview on Wednesday, a dinosaur robot, acting as a receptionist, demonstrates how to check in to the Henn-na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay in Urayasu, Japan. This is Japan’s second robot-run Henn-na Hotel (strange hotel). Issei Kato/Reuters

A man feeds swans in St. James’s Park in London on Wednesday. Toby Melville/Reuters

Two horse race attendees wear interesting hats on ladies day at the Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in England on Wednesday. Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
Market Closes for March 15th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20950.10 +112.73

 

+0.54%
 
S&P 500 2385.26 +19.81

 

+0.84%
 
NASDAQ 5900.047 +43.231

 

+0.74%
 
TSX 15520.91 +141.30

  
+0.92%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19577.38 -32.12

 
-0.16%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23792.85 -35.10
 
 
-0.15%

 
SENSEX 29398.11 -44.52

 
-0.15%

 
FTSE 100* 7368.64 +10.79

 
+0.15%

 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.767 1.838
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.419 2.489
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4966 2.6002
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1095 3.1780
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.75191 0.74171

 
US

$

 1.32994 1.34824
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.42653 0.70100

 
US

$

 1.07262 0.93229

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1198.80 1204.60
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 48.86 47.72
 
 

Market Commentary:
7
The number of consecutive sessions U.S.-traded crude oil has declined, its longest losing streak since January 2016.
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, with the key index rebounding from its 2017 low along with oil prices, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected and refrained from accelerating its timeline for future tightening.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.9 percent to 15,520.91 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after sliding to the lowest since December. Ten of the 11 major industries advanced, with energy and raw-materials producers jumping at least 1.9 percent as oil stemmed a seven-day slide and copper climbed for a fourth day.
     Fed officials raised their benchmark lending rate a quarter point and continued to project two more increases this year as inflation approaches the central bank’s target. Some investors had anticipated a faster pace of tightening after data from employment to manufacturing pointed to a strengthening economy.
     Among movers:
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX CN) pared some its 10 percent loss Tuesday.
* Empire Co. (EMP/A CN) climbed 4.7 percent after quarterly earnings topped analyst estimates.
* Quebecor Inc. (QBR/B CN) rose 4.2 percent. The media company posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks jumped after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate a quarter point and maintained its expectation for two more increases this year. Utility and real estate shares led the late-day rally as 10-year Treasury yields fell the most in two months.
      The S&P 500 Index extended earlier gains to a 0.8 percent advance by 4 p.m., the best single-day gain in two weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 112.73 points to 20,950.10 and the Russell 2000 Index added 1.5 percent.
* Utility shares jump 1.6% with real estate stocks up 1.9%
** 10-Year Treasury yield down 10 basis points to 2.5%
* Energy shares remain biggest winner on day, up 2.1% with oil up 2.5% for the first gain in eight sessions
* 10 of 11 sectors higher with financial stocks only group lower after erasing earlier gains after Fed announcement
* Traders in Fed funds futures had fully priced in a quarter- point hike in borrowing costs today
* VIX dips to 11.6
* About 7.7 billion shares traded hands, 23% more than on Tuesday
* With the earnings season nearing its end, about three-quarters of S&P 500 firms that have reported results exceeded profit estimates and about half beat sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* Central bank updates from Japan, the U.K., Switzerland and Indonesia are also due this week — all are expected to stand pat with policy decisions
* ECONOMY:
** March New York Fed Empire Index at 16.4, Est. 15
** U.S. consumer prices show biggest annual increase since 2012
** Real avg. weekly earnings rose 0.1% M/m in Feb., according to BLS
** U.S. retail sales in February posted the smallest gain in six months, indicating a tempering of the consumer spending that’s been carrying the economy
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Wednesday: Oracle Corp (ORCL), Williams-Sonoma (WSM)
** Pre-market Thursday: Dollar General (DG), PTC Therapeutics (PTCT)
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.4% as mining companies rallied 1.7%
** Goldman Sachs says miners’ valuations will improve on lower net debt

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When the mind and intellect developed, man asked,
Who am I?  Who is it before me?
The search for reality began.
Moving one step towards finding the answer to the question,
Who am I, we brought consciousness from outside to inside.
Wisdom turned the direction of the consciousness within and
we perceived our soul.
The journey of the soul in the outer world was over and the journey within had begun.
Acharya Mahaprajna

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Courage is like a muscle.  We strengthen it by use.
                                -Ruth Gordon, 1896-1985

 

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

Posted on

March 14, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On March 14, 1900, Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.
Go to article »

On March 14th, 1826, Sir Walter Scott wrote in his Journal:

Also read again, and for the third time at least, Miss Austen’s very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice.  That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with.  The Big Bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me.   What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sleet falls on cherry tree blossoms on Capitol Hill in Washington early Tuesday. A late-season storm is dumping a messy mix of snow, sleet, and rain on the mid-Atlantic, complicating travel, knocking out power and closing schools and government offices in the region. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

A man walks in front of a video projection in the exhibition ‘Monet 2 Klimt’ in Dresden Germany, on Tuesday. During the exhibition, paintings of Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Klimt will be projected in a multimedia show. Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/AP

A couple walk through St. James’s Park in London on Tuesday. Toby Melville/Reuters

A horse and buggy drive through a winter snowstorm on Tuesday in Salisbury, Pa. Matt Slocum/AP
Market Closes for March 14th, 2017

MarketIndex Close Change
DowJones 20837.37 -44.11 

-0.21%
 
S&P 500 2365.45 -8.02 

-0.34%
 
NASDAQ 5856.816 -18.967 

-0.32%
 
TSX 15379.61 -165.21 
-1.06% 

International Markets

MarketIndex Close Change
NIKKEI 19609.50 -24.25 
-0.12%
 
 
HANGSENG 23827.95 -1.72
 
 
-0.01%
 
 
SENSEX 29442.63 +496.40
 
 
+1.71%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7357.85 -9.23
 
 
-0.13%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.10 Year Bond 1.838 1.872
CND.30 Year

Bond

 2.489 2.524
U.S.   10 Year Bond 2.6002 2.6258
U.S.30 Year Bond 3.1780 3.2122

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74171  0.74369
US$ 1.34824 1.34465
     
Euro Rate1 Euro=   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.43006  0.69927
US$ 1.06069 0.94278

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London GoldFix 1204.60 1204.20
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 47.72 48.40 

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1907, the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 8.3% to 76.23 as the Panic of 1907 begins to take hold.
Number of the Day
$4 billion
William Ackman’s Pershing Square sold its stake in struggling drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals, taking a roughly $4 billion loss.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell to their lowest since December as a double-digit decline at Valeant Pharmaceuticals weighed on healthcare stocks and oil prices fell for the seventh day in a row.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 1.1% to 15,379.61, its lowest close since Dec. 30, as health-care stocks fell 4.6 percent. Valeant plunged 10 percent after activist investor Bill Ackman, who once bet big on a turnaround at the drugmaker, sold his entire stake in the company. Short interest in Valeant peaked at the highest level in six years.
     Materials stocks fell 2.4 percent as several gold producers, including Iamgold, New Gold and B2Gold lost more than 6 percent. The energy index fell 1.6 percent as West Texas Intermediate fell for the seventh consecutive day to close at $47.72.
     In other moves:
* Alimentation Couche-Tard fell 4.8 percent after third-quarter profit missed estimates on lower U.S. fuel margins
* MEG Energy, Baytex Energy and NuVista Energy lost more than 6 percent
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision tomorrow as lower oil prices weighed on energy companies.
     The S&P 500 Index lost 0.3 percent to 2,365.45 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 44 points to 20,837.37. The S&P 500 closed little changed on Monday, after last week ending a streak of six consecutive weekly gains.
* 10 of 11 sectors in S&P 500 down, with consumer discretionary stocks up less than 0.1%
* Russell 2000 Index down 0.6%
* Energy shares weighed on market, down 1.1% to lowest level since Nov. 4; oil down 0.9% for seventh straight decline — longest losing streak since Jan.
* Volume: 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, about 9% below 2017 average
* VIX up 1 point to 12.3 for biggest single-day advance in a month
* Snap down for fourth straight session to $20.58
* With the earnings season largely done, about three-quarters of S&P 500 members beat profit estimates, and about half have exceeded sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* Central bank updates from Japan, the U.K., Switzerland and Indonesia are also due this week — all are expected to stand pat with policy decisions
* Major winter storm hitting U.S. East Coast early Tuesday has lost “blizzard” warning status
* ECONOMY:
** Feb. NFIB Small Business Optimism remains near highest since 2004 but falls to 105.3; Est. 105.6
** U.S. producer prices rose more than forecast in February, while costs increased from a year earlier by the most since March 2012
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Tuesday: Keane Group (FRAC)
** Pre-market Wednesday: none
* In Europe, stocks declined and the CAC 40 index of French companies dropped as French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was charged with misuse of public funds

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Perceive the souls through the soul and you will become the Supreme soul…
There are two sides of the consciousness: the soul and the Supreme Soul…
one the seed and the other, entirety.  You must have seen how small the seed of the banyan tree is.
You must also have seen how expansive the tree is.
It is difficult to even imagine that such a small seed can become so big.
The soul is the seed of a banyan tree and the Supreme Soul its development.
Acharya Mahaprajna

As ever,

 

Carolann 

 

Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
                                             -Isaac Newton, 1643-1727

 

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

Posted on

March 13, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 

Commonwealth Day today.
Planet Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
RUMI

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.  I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about it.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Following a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, Prince Harry smiles with school children as he walks through Dean’s Yard in London, Monday. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

A couple observe a rain storm over Sydney, Australia, as a supercell hits Australia’s most populous city on Monday. Jason Reed/Reuters

A woman demonstrates AquaCAVE, a system that augments swimming environment with immersive surrounded-screen virtual reality to enhance the swimming experience, during an demonstration event organized by Sony Corp.’s human augmentation research project with the University of Tokyo, in Tokyo, Japan on Monday. Issei Kato/Reuters
Market Closes for March 13th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20881.48 -21.50

 

-0.10%
 
S&P 500 2373.47 +0.87

 

+0.04%
 
NASDAQ 5875.785 +14.060

 

+0.24%
 
TSX 15544.82 +38.14

 
+0.25%
 
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19633.75 +29.14
 
 
+0.15%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23829.67 +261.00

 
+1.11%

 
SENSEX 28946.23 +17.10

 
+0.06%

 
FTSE 100* 7367.08 +24.00

 
+0.33%

 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.872 1.815
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.524 2.483
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.6258 2.5745
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.2122 3.1614
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74369 0.74253

 
US

$

 1.34465 1.34675
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.43256 0.69805

 
US

$

 1.06540 0.93862

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1204.20 1202.65
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 48.40 48.49

 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed as gains in materials stocks and financial companies offset declines in consumer shares.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 15,549.03 at 11:09 a.m. in Toronto. The measure declined 0.7 percent last week, reducing its gain in 2017 to 1.7 percent. Energy companies were little changed Monday as crude fell for a sixth straight session. Toronto-Dominion Bank climbed 2 percent as Bank of Montreal analysts said concern over reports of illegal sales practices at the bank may be an overreaction.
* Seven of 11 sectors higher in early trading with phone companies down 0.9% for biggest drop
* Materials companies 0.6% higher as Bloomberg Commodity Index up 0.2%; poised to snap five days of losses
* Energy shares little changed with crude oil down 0.1%
* DH Corp up 8.9% as Vista Equity Partners LLC says it will buy the company that values the financial services provider at C$2.73 billion
* IAMGOLD Corp and New Gold Inc. down at least 3.5% for biggest losses in index as gold falls for fifth time in six sessions.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks held steady as they kicked off a week dominated by central-bank updates including the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
     The S&P 500 added less than 0.1 percent to 2,373.47 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark ended a streak of six consecutive weekly gains last week, falling 0.4 percent and paring this year’s gain to 6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 percent to 20,881.48 on Monday.
* Materials stocks lead market higher with a 0.3% gain as Bloomberg Commodity Index gains for first time in six sessions
* Financial stocks pare losses, close less than 0.1% higher
* Utility stocks up 0.2%, real estate shares little changed as 10-year Yield adds four basis points
* 6.2 billion shares traded hands — lowest volume in more than a month
* VIX down three points to 11.35
* “Fed officials have sent clear signals about their intention to raise the federal funds rate at the March FOMC meeting,” according to Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at HSBC. “Yellen may also take this opportunity to discuss the outlook for the Fed’s balance sheet policy”
* Central bank updates from Japan, the U.K. and Switzerland are also due this week
* ECONOMY:
** Fed funds futures traders are certain the Fed will hike rates at its meeting on Wednesday
* EARNINGS:
** None after-market Monday or pre-market Tuesday
* In Europe, gains in commodity producers and auto parts makers lifted stocks; Stoxx Europe 600 Index adds 0.4% for the fourth straight advance
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — The alarm bells over potential bouts of stock volatility surrounding the Federal Reserve’s anticipated interest rate hike this week may be misplaced.
     The current tranquility in U.S. equities is unprecedented by some measures, but it’s in line with Fed tightenings since the early 1990s, where the S&P 500 Index has shown growing stability about half way into a cycle, according to a research report on March 8 from Bank of America Corp. rates strategists led by Carol Zhang and Vadim Iaralov.
     The monetary environment looks good for stocks, the strategists wrote, as the central bank is all but guaranteed to raise rates Wednesday, following an increase in December, and with more hikes likely to come this year.
     “Based on where we’re historically, the risk is falling,’’ Iaralov said by phone. “Part of it is the aligning of expectations. It’s like you get on a train and you’re half way to your destination, it’s easier to expect what’s going to happen. When you arrive or are trying to catch a train, things can be a little different.’’
     That’s how it has occurred this time. After posting three weeks of at least a 1.5 percent drop in the first seven weeks following the initial rate hike in December 2015, the S&P 500 has since posted only three declines of that size. In total, the number of weekly pullbacks was less than all others at this point in a hiking cycle.
     “Because the correlation between the stock market and bond yields is unusually positive today, even though the Fed is finally starting to increase interest rates, rather than stumble soon, the stock market may just continue to rumble,” Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Capital Management, wrote in a note Monday.
     Not everyone agrees that the equity market can remain calm following another rate hike. Last week, UBS Group AG strategist Julian Emanuel cited the Fed as one likely catalyst for a selloff that may send the S&P 500 to as low as 2,192. MKM Holdings derivatives strategist Jim Strugger urged investors to use options to hedge against potential losses in stocks.
     “It would be a mistake to pooh-pooh the impact of Fed tightening surprising markets with its pace and magnitude,” Strugger wrote in a note last week.
     Options traders are gearing up for rising volatility ahead of the meeting of Fed policy makers tomorrow and Wednesday. The Credit Suisse Fear Barometer, which measures the relative cost of S&P 500 bearish options over bullish ones three months from now, jumped 36 percent last week, the most since 1997.
     The stock market has shown little signs of budging even as the options-implied probability of a Wednesday Fed hike increased to a virtual certainty from about 50 percent at the end of February. The S&P 500 has gone without a 1 percent decline for 104 days, the longest stretch since 1995, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
     “The equity market has grown more comfortable over time,” the Bank of America strategists wrote.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The human soul travels from the law to love,
from discipline to freedom,
from the moral plane to the spiritual plane.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
                                                                             -W. Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965

 

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

Posted on

March 10, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
I was given a book over the holidays entitled The Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.  Recently the person who gave it to me was visiting my office and asked if I had a chance to read it yet.  I told him I had not, and he told me that he loved the book and that he even reads one of the chapters, The Road Trip, to some of his patients (he’s a counselor/metal health therapist).   That impressed me so I thought I must go home and read it that night, which I did.  Here is the chapter, The Road Trip.

                                                            The Road Trip
Here’s how I’ve learned to deal with my fear: I made a decision a long time ago that if I want creativity in my life – and I do – then I will have to make space for fear, too.
  Plenty of space.
  I decided that I would need to build an expansive enough interior life that my fear and my creativity could peacefully coexist, since it appeared that they would always be together.  In fact, it seems to me that my fear and my creativity are basically conjoined twins – as evidenced by the fact that creativity cannot take a single step forward without fear marching right alongside it.  Fear and creativity shared a womb, they were born at the same time, and they still share some vital organs.  This is why we have to be careful of how we handle our fear – because I’ve noticed that when people try to kill off their fear, they often end up inadvertently murdering their creativity in the process.
  So I don’t try to kill off my fear.  I don’t go to war against it.  Instead, I make all that space for it.  Heaps of space.  Every single day.  I’m making space for fear right this moment.  I allow my fear to live and breathe and stretch out its legs comfortably.  It seems to me that the less I fight my fear, the less it fights back.  If I can relax, fear relaxes, too.  In fact, I cordially invite fear to come along with me everywhere I go.  I even have a welcoming speech prepared for fear, which I deliver right before embarking upon any new project or big adventure.
  It goes something like this:
  “Dearest Fear:  Creativity and I are about to go on a road trip together.  I understand you’ll be joining us, because you always do.  I acknowledge that you believe you have an important job to do in my life, and that you take your job seriously.  Apparently your job is to induce complete panic whenever I’m about to do anything interesting – and, my I say, you are superb at your job.  So by all means, keep doing your job, if you feel you must.  But I will also be doing my job on this road trip, which is to work hard and stay focused.  And Creativity will be doing its job, which is to remain stimulating and inspiring.  There’s plenty of room in this vehicle for all of us, so make yourself at home, but understand this: Creativity and I are the only ones who will be making any decision s along the way.  I recognize and respect that you are part of this family, and so I will never exclude you from our activities, but still – your suggestion will never be followed.  You’re allowed to have a seat, and you’re allowed to have a voice, but you are not allowed to have a vote.  You’re not allowed to touch the road maps; you’re not allowed to suggest detours; you’re not allowed to fiddle with  the temperature.  Dude, you’re not even allowed to touch the radio.  But above all else, my dear old familiar friend, you are absolutely forbidden to drive.”
  Then we head off together – me and creativity and fear – side by side by side forever, advancing once more into the terrifying but marvelous terrain of unknown outcome.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A lotus flower grows in a dry cracked earth of an empty pond during the dry season outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Friday. Heng Sinith/AP

A yellow barn is surrounded by snow covered trees after an overnight snowstorm on Friday, in Zelienople, Pa. Keith Srakocic/AP

A FedEx cargo airplane flies as the moon is seen from Whittier, Calif., on Thursday. Nick Ut/AP

A Pug arrives for the second day of the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, England, on Friday. Darren Staples/Reuters
Market Closes for March 10th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20902.28 +44.79

 

+0.21%
 
S&P 500 2372.60 +7.73

 

+0.33%
 
NASDAQ 5861.727 +22.920

 

+0.39%
 
TSX 15506.68 +9.84

 
+0.06%
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19604.61 +286.03

 
+1.48%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23568.67 +67.11
 
 
+0.29%
 
 
SENSEX 28946.23 +17.10
 
 
+0.06%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7343.08 +28.12
 
 
+0.38%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.815 1.808
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.483 2.490
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.5745 2.6035
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1614 3.1913

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74253 0.74027
 
 
US

$

 1.34675 1.35087
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.43764 0.69558

 
US

$

 1.06749 0.93678

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1202.65 1206.55
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 48.49 49.28
 

Market Commentary:
March 10, 1862: Paper money issued in the US.
On this day in 2000, NASDAQ closes at a record 5048.62, up 24.1% for the year to date — after gaining 86.5% in 1999. It would take NASDAQ 15 years to surpass that level.

Happy birthday, bull market. Eight years ago, the S&P 500 hit its crisis-era low. It was hard to imagine at the time that one of the longest bull markets in history would start the next day. Since then, it has risen by almost 250%. 
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks nudged higher as gains in health-care and materials stocks were offset by a big drop in shares of one of the country’s biggest banks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose less than 0.1 percent to 15,506.68 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge slipped 0.7 percent for the week. The materials index was among the biggest gainers today, led by an 11 percent increase in copper miner Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. as the price of the resource climbed 0.8 percent.
     All sectors gained except financials, which fell 1.1 percent as shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank declined 5.6 percent, the most since 2009. The stock fell on reports from Canada’s state broadcaster that some workers broke the law to meet sales targets.
     In other moves:
* Element Fleet Management Corp. plunged as much as 12 percent, its biggest intraday drop since August 2015, after management cut its 2017 guidance
* Gold producers rose, snapping an eight-day streak of declines, with New Gold Inc. and Semafo Inc. each gaining more than 7.7 percent
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose after jobs data cleared the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates without forcing it to accelerate the pace for future tightening. The dollar fell versus the euro after European Central Bank policy makers were said to have considered their ability to tighten before a bond-buying program comes to an end.
     The S&P 500 Index pared its first weekly loss in seven after U.S. employers added jobs at an above-average pace for a second month, bolstering confidence in the economy. The yield on 10-year Treasuries headed lower for the first time in 10 days, while the dollar retreated versus its major peers. The euro strengthened past $1.06 as a person familiar with the ECB meeting Thursday said officials discussed if it is possible to raise rates before stopping quantitative easing. Gold was little changed near $1,200 per ounce after four days of declines. Crude fell below $49 a barrel to cap its worst week since November.
     Friday’s American jobs report is the last major piece of economic data before the Federal Reserve meets next week, with markets pricing a rate increase as a near certainty. While hiring was robust and wage gains strong, the pace might not be fast enough to force the central bank to accelerate its timeline for future rate hikes from the current forecast of three. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled Thursday its accommodative bias may have reached an end as global growth picks up.
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     Here are the main market moves:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 2,372.90 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring a weekly slide to 0.4 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent to pare its loss in the five days to 0.5 percent. The FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent Friday.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 0.6 percent to pare its weekly drop.

     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.6 percent, trimming a gain in the week.
* The euro gained 1.2 percent to $1.0699, rising a second day while the British pound was little changed at $1.2185.
* The yen strengthened 0.2 percent to 114.692 per dollar to halt a fourth day of declines..

     Bonds
* The yield on the U.S. Treasury note due in a decade slipped three basis points to 2.58 percent.
* It climbed five basis points Thursday to exceed the 2.6 percent mark that Bill Gross, the bond-market veteran at Janus Capital Management, said will signal the start of a bear market, should it hold on a weekly basis.
* European bonds tumbled after the ECB meeting discussion was reported. German 10-year bund yields rose six basis points to 0.49 percent. Similar-maturity Italian bond yields added five basis points to 2.36 percent.
* Governing Council members meeting on March 9 exchanged views on ways of communicating and sequencing an exit from unconventional stimulus, euro-area central-bank officials said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations were private.

      Commodities
* Oil fell below $49 a barrel in New York after surging U.S. supplies erased three months of gains that followed OPEC’s deal to cut output.
* WTI crude sank 1.6 percent at $48.49 per barrel. It fell 2 percent on Thursday to the lowest close since Nov. 29.
* Gold advanced 0.1 percent to $1,204 per ounce.
* Copper rebounded from 2-month low as London Metal Exchange stockpiles ended the biggest surge in decades and workers at one of the world’s biggest mines in Peru voted to strike.
 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The supreme being impregnates all, and, by consequence, is the goodness innate in every thing.
To be truly united with all in knowledge, love, and service, and thus to realize the Self in the omnipresent God,
is the essence of good.  This is the keystone of the Upanishad teaching: Life is immense.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The work of today is the history of tomorrow and we are its makers.
                                      -Juliette Gordon Low, 1860-1927

 

Even if just a passenger, I’m not leaving the ship during the storm.
                                                -Alain Juppe, b. 1945
                                                 March 10, 2017

 

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

Posted on

March 9, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On March 9th, 1932, Conrad Russell wrote to his sister Diana, “As to parents, some do and some don’t try and teach manners.  I think many are glad for an excuse not to have anything in the nature of criticism or a reprimand.  Of course it is only shirking something.  Sir John Horner used to say: ‘Shake hands, Katharine, shake hands’, to his daughter [Katharine Asquith] after she was forty if visitors came into the room.  He also never lit a cigarette in his own room without saying to me first, ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’
   Right up to 1914 it was utterly impossible for two young people to dine at a restaurant together.  When Raymond [Asquith] and Katharine were engaged they used to have breakfast together at an ABC shop.  Except both going to the same ball there was no other way of meeting – at least there would have been the risk of being seen.  That’s twenty-five years ago.  Times have changed.” –from The Book of Days.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Shelves of hollow hens’ eggs decorated by award-winning Hungarian applied folk artist Ildiko Fekete are on display during her exhibition in Budapest, Hungary on Thursday. Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI/AP

Fireworks explode off of a wheeled paper bull rigged with pyrotechnics in the middle of the packed town square in Tultepec, on the outskirts of Mexico City, during the annual pyrotechnics fair on Wednesday. Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Market Closes for March 9th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20858.19 +2.46

 

+0.01%
 
S&P 500 2364.87 +1.89

 

+0.08%
 
NASDAQ 5838.809 +1.257

 

+0.02%
 
TSX 15496.84 -0.14

 
—

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19318.58 +64.55
 
+0.34%
 
HANG

SENG

 23501.56 -280.71
 
-1.18%
 
SENSEX 28929.13 +27.19
 
+0.09%
 
FTSE 100* 7314.96 -19.65
 
-0.27%
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.808 1.741
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.490 2.430
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.6035 2.5161
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1913 3.1169

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74027 0.74113
 
 
US

$

 1.35087 1.34929
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.42917 0.69971
 
 
US

$

 1.05797 0.94870

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1206.55 1209.20
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 49.28 50.28

 

Market Commentary:
NUMBER OF THE DAY
5.38% 

The drop in U.S. crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. Oil prices suffered their biggest one-day plunge in more than a year after U.S. crude stockpiles hit record levels, raising concerns that even after recent production cuts, the world remains awash in oil. 

On this day in 2000, the NASDAQ Composite Index closes above 5000 for the first time, a mere 48 trading days after breaking through the 4000 barrier.  Today, the NASDAQ closed at 5838.809, (i.e., +17% in 17 years) a good indicator as to why active management beats ETF indexing.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed virtually unchanged as gains spurred by an acquisition among energy companies helped the S&P/TSX Composite Index buck a week-long slide in oil prices.
     The benchmark gauge slipped just 0.1 point to 15,496.84. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was the biggest gainer, rising almost 10 percent after it agreed to buy Alberta oil sands assets from Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Marathon Oil Corp. for C$12.7 billion. That helped drive the energy index up 0.75 percent even as West Texas Intermediate crude lost 2 percent to $49.28, its lowest level since Nov. 29.
     Stocks in Canada are often closely correlated to the price of oil but that relationship has loosened in recent months as investors obsess over the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and what they’ll mean for the economy, said Stephen Lingard, senior vice president and portfolio manager with Franklin Templeton Solutions, a unit of Franklin Templeton Investments.
     “That automatic relationship between higher oil prices and better Canadian pricing in exports is in limbo in light of Trump and his potential border-adjustment tax,” Lingard said. “The economics are a little clouded, and that may be what’s causing the correlation to break down.”
     Oil prices will probably stay stuck between $45 and $55 amid a supply glut that is unlikely to break until at least 2018, said John Stephenson, chief executive at Stephenson & Co. Capital Management in Toronto.
     “It’s time to stay out of the sector in general,”  Stephenson said. “Eventually we’re going to get into balance, but we’re not there now.”
     Shell’s decision to largely exit the Canadian oil sands with its sale to CNRL, adding to several other sales by international players in recent months, is another signal to investors to avoid the Canadian energy space, Stephenson added.
     “The strong will come out of this stronger, but in general it’s not a positive when everyone’s leaving the burning building,” he said.
     The health-care index declined 1.1 percent as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. planned to sell $3.25 billion of debt, according to a person familiar with the matter. Valeant shares lost 2.6 percent.
     Raw material stocks fell 0.4 percent on lower gold prices. Both Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc. rose about 3 percent amid reports that Belarus is ready to cooperate with Uralkali PJSC, the largest global miner of potash by volume, on production and sales.
US
By Jeremy Herron and Cecile Gutscher
     (Bloomberg) — Oil’s lowest settlement since November added to concern that commodity-fueled inflation will wane. The selloff in Treasuries continued, while U.S. stocks finished little changed as European Central Bank optimism on global growth bolstered the euro.
     The S&P 500 Index eked out a gain for the first time in four days, as health-care shares lifted the measure in late trading before Friday’s jobs report. Thursday marked the eighth anniversary of the bull market that’s seen the index more than triple since 2009. Real estate stocks tumbled, as the yield on 10-year Treasury notes approached 2.60 percent, a level Bill Gross suggested would usher in a bond bear market. The euro strengthened after ECB president Mario Draghi said risks to growth are more balanced. The crude selloff rippled through the junk-debt market with a gauge for the high-risk securities poised for the worst week since November. 
     Friday’s jobs report is the last major piece of economic data before the Fed meets next week with markets poised for a rate increase. Still, signs are mounting that the reflation trade sparked by Donald Trump’s election is fading, with the selloff in oil rekindling concern that energy inflation won’t persist. At the same time, the ECB meeting fueled speculation the central bank won’t add to stimulus as growth picks up.
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     What’s ahead for the markets:
* Official U.S. jobs data for February are due Friday. Employers probably added around 200,000 workers to payrolls, in line with the average over the past six months and a sign of steady job growth, economists forecast.

     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,364.94 at 4 p.m. in New York. The measure is down 1.3 percent since reaching a record on March 1.
* Real estate shares have retreated eight straight days, the longest rout since August 2013. The stocks are coveted for their high dividend yield, which becomes less attractive as Treasury rates rise.
* Financial shares benefit from higher rates. They added 0.3 percent Thursday.
* The Euro Stoxx 600 Index advanced 0.1 percent, for a second day of middling gains.
* Emerging-market equities sank 1.5 percent, the most since December.

     Commodities
* WTI crude dropped 2 percent to settle at $49.28 per barrel, the lowest close since Nov. 29.
* Concerns mounted that OPEC’s output cuts are failing to restrain record U.S. stockpiles, with the post-agreement oil rally evaporating.
* All London Metal Exchange metals declined as the dollar strengthened ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data Friday..
* Gold slid toward $1,200 an ounce in its longest losing run since October as positive U.S. economic figures reinforce expectations that yields on other investments will rise this year. Futures fell 0.7 percent to $1,201.10 an ounce, declining for a fourth day.

     Currencies
* The dollar was little changed as measured by the Bloomberg dollar index, holding in the middle of a narrow daily range as momentum stalled
after the greenback breached a key technical resistance level at the 55-day moving average.
* The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.0583, paring a gain that took it above $1.06.
* The yen slipped to 114.943 per dollar.
* South Korea’s won paced losses in emerging-market currencies.

    Bonds
* The yield on the U.S. Treasury note due in a decade rose four basis points to 2.598 percent.
* They’re approaching the 2.6 percent mark that Gross, the bond- market veteran at Janus Capital Management, said will signal the start of a bear market, should it hold on a weekly basis.
* The yield on the 10-year German bund jumped six basis points to 0.426 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Nature’s law dictates that, in order to survive, bees must work together.
As a result, they instinctively possess a sense of social responsibility.
They have no constitution, no law, no police, no religion or moral training but,
because of their nature, the whole colony survives.
We human beings have a constitution, laws and a police force.
We have religion, remarkable intelligence, and hearts with a great capacity to love.
We have many extraordinary qualities but, in actual practice,
I think we are behind those small insects.
In some ways, I feel that we are poorer than the bees.
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Great acts are made up of small deeds.
                         -Lao Tzu, 604 BC-531 BC

 

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

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

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

Posted on

March 8, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

In case you missed it today, Lululemon commanded a full page in the Globe & Mail  for the following message to commemorate International Women’s Day.  I think it is very special and I hope you do too:

For you,

 

If you feel strong, or fragile, or strong and fragile.  If you

 

sometimes laugh at your mistakes and sometimes cry at

 

them.  Whether you are loud, or quiet, or are sometimes

 

loud and sometimes quiet.  If you are a mother, not yet

 

a mother, a stepmother, will never be a mother, or never

 

want to be a mother.  If some days you battle the feelings

 

of being infinitely worthless, and some days you recognize

 

your infinite worth.  If you take a stand for what you

 

believe in, or don’t know what to believe in.  Whether you

 

are full of love, or fear, or sometimes love and sometimes

 

fear.  If you feel most beautiful in high heels and dark

 

lips surrounded by bright lights, or most beautiful with

 

a naked face gazing up at bright stars.  If some days you

 

refuse to give up, and other days you have nothing left

 

to give.  Whether you feel lost, are searching, or have

 

found yourself.   If you take a step forward, or a step back,

 

but no matter what, you keep stepping.

 

 

Wherever you are, in all that you are, we honour you.

 

Namaste

 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

At right, Emma Benany, part of the Egyptian National Rowing Team, rows with team members in the Nile River on International Women’s Day, in Cairo on Wednesday. Nariman El-Mofty/AP

Young girls collect sugar cane husks for cooking and heating fuel in Charsadda, Pakistan on Wednesday. Fayaz Aziz/Reuters
Market Closes for March 8th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20855.73 -69.03

 

-0.33%
 
S&P 500 2362.98 -5.41

 

-0.23%
 
NASDAQ 5837.551 +3.622

 

+0.06%
 
TSX 15496.98 -111.80

 
-0.72%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19254.03 -90.12

 
-0.47%

 
HANG

SENG

 23782.27 +101.20

 
+0.43%

 
SENSEX 28901.94 -97.62

 
-0.34%

 
FTSE 100* 7334.61 -4.38

 
-0.06%

 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.778 1.741
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.464 2.430
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.5615 2.5161
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1522 3.1169
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74113 0.74554
 
 
US

$

 1.34929 1.34131
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.42225 0.70311

 
US

$

 1.05407 0.94870

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1209.20 1216.65
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 50.28 53.14
 
 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined the most in eight days as oil slumped more than 5 percent to its lowest level of the year, dragging down energy shares. Nine of the 11 major industries on the S&P/TSX Composite Index fell, with real estate and telecommunication stocks dropping more than 0.7 percent.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.7 percent to 15,496.98 in Toronto. The energy index dropped 2.5 percent as U.S. government data showed record oil stockpiles, indicating production cuts from OPEC haven’t reduced supplies. Baytex Energy Corp., MEG Energy Corp. Secure Energy Services Inc. and Whitecap Resources Inc. all lost more than 7 percent.
     Construction company Aecon Group Inc. was the biggest gainer of the day, up 6.3 percent, after the company reported better than expected fourth-quarter profit and revenue and boosted its dividend. The TSX health care index rose 0.7 percent, led by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. as the company negotiates with its lenders to ease its $30 billion debt load.
     In other moves:
     * West Texas Intermediate crude tumbled 5.4 percent to $50.28 a barrel, the lowest close since Dec. 7. Baytex Energy Corp. fell 8.2 percent while MEG Energy Corp., Secure Energy Services Inc. and Whitecap Resources Inc. fell more than 7 percent.
     *Materials were largely unchanged as commodity prices fell. Methanex Corp. slid 2.9 percent while Asanko Gold Inc. jumped 6.1 percent.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities reversed early gains to end lower Wednesday after ADP data showed companies added the most workers in almost three years to payrolls last month and financial stocks pared an early advance.
     The S&P 500 Index lost 0.2 percent to 2,362.98 as of 4 p.m. in New York for the third consecutive loss in as many days. That’s the longest losing streak in more than a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 percent to 20,855.73.
* Financials end unchanged after rallying as much as 1.3% in early trading
* Bond proxies such as utilities and real estate declined at least 1.4% as the 10-year Treasury yield jumped 3.5 basis points
* Volume in energy stocks 43% above average at this time as the group loses 1.7% with oil down 5.3%
* VIX up 3.6% to 11.9
* S&P 500 still within two percentage points of its record set March 1, and the gauge’s price-to-earnings ratio is wedged close to a more than seven-year high.
* “This is probably only a correction, rather than the beginning of the end,” said Michael McCarthy, chief markets strategist in Sydney at CMC Markets. “The global drivers are still there with the signs of strength in the U.S. economy and China’s economy as well”
* ECONOMY:
** February private payrolls climbed by 298,000 (forecast was 187,000), the most since April 2014, after a revised 261,000 gain in January, according to ADP
* EARNINGS:
** Pre-market Thursday: Fairmount Santrol (FMSA), Signet Jewelers (SIG)
* In Europe, stocks halted a four-day losing streak, as gains in lenders were tempered by losses in energy and mining shares.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The person who can wear the mantle of a Master
is one who is devoted to the cause of non-violence and non-possession
who is driven by the quest for truth and the right perspective,
who is capable of solving his own emotional and mental problems and
who can show others the way to overcome their emotional and mental problems.
Acharya Mahaprajna

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.
                                -Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, b.1938

 

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

Posted on

March 7, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Watch your thoughts:  They become words.
Watch your words:  They become actions.
Watch your actions:  They become habits.
Watch your Habits:   They become your character.
Watch your Character:  It becomes your destiny.
                                    -Monte Hummel
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Inkosi, a white Transvaal lion, watches over his two-month-old triplets in their outdoor enclosure of the Nyiregyhaza Zoo in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, on Tuesday. Attila Balazs/MTI/AP

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (l.) and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni (r.) visit Versailles Palace during a Franco-German-Italian-Spanish summit ahead of upcoming EU Summit, near Paris, France. Martin Bureau/Reuters
Market Closes for March 7th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20924.76 -29.58

 

-0.14%
 
S&P 500 2368.39 -6.92

 

-0.29%
 
NASDAQ 5833.930 -15.245

 

-0.26%
 
TSX 15608.78 -20.97

 
-0.13%
 
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19344.15 -34.99
 
-0.18%
 
HANG

SENG

 23681.07 +84.79
 
+0.36%
 
SENSEX 28999.56 -48.63
 
-0.17%
 
FTSE 100* 7338.99 -11.13
 
-0.15%
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.741 1.706
 
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.430 2.412
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.5161 2.4925
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.1169 3.0997

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74554 0.74589

 
US

$

 1.34131 1.34069
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.41749 0.70547

 
US

$

 1.05680 0.94625

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1216.65 1230.95
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.14 53.20

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1878, the Toronto Stock Exchange is incorporated; fewer than a dozen stocks are traded, and a seat on the exchange costs $250.
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first day in three, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. leading a drop among health-care companies, as the company is seeking a refinancing of debt and President Donald Trump promised in a tweet to lower drug prices in the U.S.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.1 percent to 15,608.78 at 4 p.m. in Toronto as eight of the 11 main industries retreated. An index of health-care companies sank 3.4 percent to the lowest since June 2010.
     Investors watched acquisitions and corporate earnings ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. SunOpta Inc. (SOY CN) lost 1.4 percent after jumping 7 percent earlier. Oaktree Capital funds bought 3 million shares of the organic food producer. Separately, William Blair analyst Jon R Andersen raised the stock’s rating to outperform from market perform.
     Slate Office REIT (SOT-U CN) slipped 3.9 percent after saying it bought three office properties in the Greater Toronto area and Fredericton for C$165m.
     Raging River Exploration Inc. (RRX CN) climbed 1.7 percent after fourth-quarter earnings beat the highest analyst estimate.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks headed for the third decline in four days, Treasuries slipped and the dollar churned in place as investors come to terms with the likelihood that interest rates will rise next week.
     The S&P 500 Index slumped to 1.2 percent below its all-time high with the Federal Reserve all but certain to raise borrowing costs March 15. Energy producers led declines, and health-care shares slid Tuesday after President Donald Trump promised in a tweet to lower drug prices in the U.S. Large-cap tech shares advanced. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose to 2.51 percent, while the dollar was little changed. Copper fell to a one-month low.
     Bets the global economy is strong enough to withstand rising borrowing costs helped stoke stock gauges to records last week, even as a U.S. interest rate hike this month seemed to become a near certainty. With valuations on the S&P 500 near the highest since 2002 and after the longest weekly rally in 16 months, investors now seem to be waiting for a fresh catalyst.
     “Financial market sentiment behaves like a boat tacking into a moderate headwind: progress is being made, albeit choppily,” Kit Juckes, a London-based global strategist at Societe Generale SA, wrote in a note. “The headwind, of course, is the Fed, and the painfully slow grind higher in rates, especially 10-year Treasury yields.”
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     What’s ahead for the markets:
* Japanese data on balance of payments and gross domestic product are due Wednesday, along with Chinese trade figures. China reports on inflation on Thursday.
* Mario Draghi probably won’t flinch at Thursday’s ECB meeting even after headline inflation reached its 2 percent target in February. He’s expected to keep QE going until the end of the year with underlying price pressures muted. 
* U.S. jobs data for February are due Friday. Employers probably added around 190,000 workers to payrolls, in line with the average over the past six months and a sign of steady job growth, economists forecast.

     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 2,368.23 at 4 p.m. in New York, capping its first two-day slide since January.
* Health-care shares fell 0.5 percent. In a tweet shortly before 9 a.m. New York time, Trump said he’s working on a “new system where there will be competition in the drug industry.”
* The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3 percent, after a 0.5 percent drop on Monday.

     Currencies
* The dollar was little changed as traders waited out the event risk stacked in the latter half of the week. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was virtually unchanged, while the euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.0570.
* The British pound dropped 0.3 percent to 1.2206 versus the dollar and touched a seven-week low.

    Bonds
* Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.51 percent. Treasuries have fallen seven straight days.
* The three-year sector led losses after the government’s monthly auction of the maturity drew a higher-than-expected yield.
* The German 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.319 percent

    Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 16 cents to settle at $53.14 a barrel. Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said that OPEC and its partners are making good progress in delivering promised output curbs.
* Copper fell a fourth day as stockpiles in London Metal Exchange-tracked warehouses jump 33 percent in 2 days, most since 2004.
* Gold for delivery in three months fell 0.7 percent $1,217.30 an ounce after dropping 0.8 percent in the previous session.
* Rhodium’s on the best run in a decade on expectations of more demand for the material that’s used in cleaning toxic car emissions.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

A diamond is lost in the mud;
all are seeking it.
Some go to the East – or to the West,
Wishing to find it.
Is it lost in the river?
Or in the rocks?
Kabir, your servant, appreciates it
for its just value.
He will take it away,
warmly sheltered
in a corner of his heart.
Kabir

As ever,

 

Carolann

  

To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.
                                -Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915

 

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

Posted on

March 6, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
March: Candlemas Day came in “fair and bright” and winter certainly “had another flight.”  So the old saying was proved right.  I am pleasantly surprised how many people have mentioned this to me in the past few days.  Here we had two weeks of hard frost in February, which proved to be the exact treatment needed to control the over-precocious bulbs showing an unwonted amount of growth.  However, I was anxious lest the aconites and dwarf iris, already in flower, should succumb.  On the contrary, everything has behaved magnificently.  The aconites have never looked so good for so long, from mid-January until the end of February; the iris have spanned the frosty days, and all the early crocus were held back until the sun came out and the temperature rose enough to entice the bees from their hives. – Rosemary Verey, A Countrywoman’s Notes.

No Matter How You Feel:
Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up, And Never
Give Up.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man collects lotus flowers for sale at a pond in Kandal province, Cambodia on Sunday. Samrang Pring/Reuters

The stork at right chases another stork away from its nest in Biebesheim, south of Frankfurt, Germany on Monday. About 30 storks in the area are now looking for the right partner and nest. Michael Probst/AP

An elderly nun stands and watches the view from Nagi Gomba Nunnery on the outskirt of Kathmandu, Nepal on Monday. Hundreds of nuns from different parts of Nepal study and practice Buddhism in this nunnery, which lies on top of the northern hill in Shivapuri National Park. Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Market Closes for March 6th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20954.34 -51.37

 

-0.24%
 
S&P 500 2375.31 -7.81

 

-0.33%
 
NASDAQ 5849.176 -21.577

 

-0.37%
 
TSX 15629.75 +21.25

 
+0.14%
 
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19379.14 -90.03

 
-0.46%

 
HANG

SENG

 23596.28 +43.56

 
+0.18%
 
 
SENSEX 29048.19 +215.74
 
 
+0.75%

 
FTSE 100* 7350.12 -24.14

 
-0.33%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.706 1.701
 
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.412 2.404
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4925 2.4798
 
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0997 3.0713
 
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74589 0.74761

 
US

$

 1.34069 1.33759
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.41827 0.70508

 
US

$

 1.05787 0.94530

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1230.95 1226.50
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.20 53.33

 

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
78
The number of trading sessions the S&P 500 has gone without closing at least 1.5% below its 52-week high, the longest such streak since 1964.
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, reversing earlier losses, as energy shares led a rebound amid an analyst comment that the industry may have fallen too far too fast.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 15,629.75 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after sliding as much as 0.7 percent. Energy, telecom and financial shares rose at least 0.5 percent, offsetting losses among materials and health-care companies. Before Friday, the benchmark index had fallen in six of seven sessions, retreating from a record high amid concern over the country’s trade talks with the U.S.
     David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to Washington, said the nation wants to move quickly with U.S. President Donald Trump to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, as delays and any new border taxes will discourage investment across the continent. The future of Nafta, Buy-American provisions and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal for a tax on imports have caused concern among investors, he said in a wide-ranging interview on March 3.
     Energy shares, the biggest loser among 11 industry groups this year, advanced 0.7 percent Monday. The group is closing in on oversold territory given a higher-than-normal discount to U.S. peers, TD analysts led by Menno Hulshof wrote in a note.    
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped with Treasuries, while the dollar advanced as caution rippled through markets after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen all but assured investors that interest rates will rise next week. 
     The S&P 500 Index retreated in trading that was 12 percent below the 30-day average. JPMorgan Chase & Co. warned that hawkish Fed rhetoric has increased the likelihood for a short- term pullback after stocks reached records last week. The dollar rose as a surge in corporate bond issuance pushed up Treasury yields. Deutsche Bank AG pulled down European shares after announcing plans to raise capital. Metals slumped on Chinese growth prospects and the French presidential race continued to roil the euro.
     Markets appear to be coming off recent peaks as investors price in a near-certain March U.S. interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned of larger challenges ahead during his work report to the annual National People’s Congress gathering in Beijing. In Europe, politics has become the main market driver as election campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Germany put the status quo under threat.
     “The ‘pothole’ is a political one with far-right parties gaining ground in opinion polls ahead of both a Dutch and French ballots in spring,” Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Geneva- based Pictet, said in a research note. “We are scaling back exposure to European stocks, albeit retaining our overweight stance.”
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     What’s ahead for the markets:
* Mario Draghi probably won’t flinch at Thursday’s ECB meeting even after headline inflation reached its 2 percent target in February. He’s expected to keep QE going until the end of the year with underlying price pressures muted. Other economic highlights of the week are industrial output for Germany, France and the U.K., and German factory orders.
* U.S. jobs data for February are on tap for Friday. Employers probably added around 190,000 workers to payrolls, in line with the average over the past six months and a sign of steady job growth, economists forecast.
* European automakers gather this week at the Geneva Motor Show.
* Philip Hammond’s U.K. budget arrives Wednesday. The chancellor pledged on Sunday to set aside money to cushion the economy from Brexit. 

     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent to 2,375.45 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring a loss that reached 0.6 percent at its lowest in the morning. The index is up 6.2 percent in 2017.
* Ten of 11 S&P 500 groups retreated, led by materials producers and lenders. Energy shares rose.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.5 percent, with Deutsche Bank dropping 5.5 percent.
* The Topix fell 0.2 percent as Japan moved to the highest possible alert level after North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into nearby waters. Most other Asian equity markets rose, with the Kospi erasing a loss as Samsung Electronics Co. jumped 1.2 percent.

     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added 0.2 percent, headed for its sixth advance in seven days.
* The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.0585, the worst performer among major. The yen was at 113.895 per dollar.
* Mexico’s peso strengthened past its 200-day moving average as the country’s central bank prepared to hold its first $1 billion auction of non-deliverable forward contracts on Monday.

     Bonds
* Treasury yields were higher led by the longest-maturity issues, with the 10-year yield up by about a basis point at 2.49 percent.
* German bonds rose, sending 10-year yields lower by one basis point to 0.34 percent on haven demand.
* French bonds dropped as former Prime Minister Alain Juppe said he won’t enter the race for the Presidency, reducing the chances of anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen being eliminated in the first round of voting.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.2 percent to settle at $53.20 a barrel. Clashes between armed factions in Libya curbed crude output, while U.S. drilling increased.
* Copper futures tumbled 1.6 percent after the biggest inflow of the metal in 15 years to warehouses managed by the London Metal Exchange, according to bourse data released Monday.
* Gold futures slumped 0.1 percent to settle at $1,225.50 an ounce in New York for a fifth day of losses. That’s the longest slump since November.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Your way is very good for you, but not for me.
My way is good for me, but not for you.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.
                                      -Margaret Fuller, 1810-1850


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