November 15th, 2011 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
Tangents:
Birthday: Georgia O’Keefe, painter, b. 1882
An interesting article that I read this week:
Underneath Mexico City’s bustle lie Aztec wonders
Excavations in the middle of downtown Mexico City have unearthed sacred Aztec sculptures, giving archaeologists a glimpse into ancient rituals.
- Barrera heads urban archaeology program.
- Courtesy of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History
In the middle of Mexico City’s historical downtown, where the modern bustle leaves most visitors in a daze, archaeologists have unearthed something altogether more serene: a potential clue in their quest to find the long sought-after tombs of Aztec emperors.
This fall, amid ongoing excavation at the Templo Mayor site, where one of the main temples of the ancient capital, Tenochtitlan, once stood, they discovered a 500-year-old platform 45 feet in diameter and decorated with 19 sculptures of serpent heads. Tenochtitlan, built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, was the heart of Aztec civilization, whose influence spread across Mesoamerica until the 16th century.
The finding is part of a five-year effort to locate the tombs in the ancient site, which, now in the heart of Mexico’s capital, was paved over by the Spanish invaders in 1521.
Archaeology work began at the Templo Mayor in earnest after 1978, when workers from the electric company accidentally dug up a pre-Hispanic monolith 10.6 feet in diameter, which was later excavated and identified as Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess, and dates back to the end of the 15th century.
Today, some 7,000 pieces have been uncovered. But an emperor’s tomb would be a critical find, and the ceremonial platform is an important step toward understanding the rituals of the Aztecs, says Alfonso de Maria y Campos, director general of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. The finding is currently off limits to the public. –Sara Miller Llana.
Photos of the day
November 15, 2011
A girl feeds a swan near the medieval Charles Bridge in smoggy central Prague, Czech Republic. Petr Josek/Reuters.
Market Commentary:
Canada
By Matt Walcoff
Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose less than 0.1 percent as base-metals producers gained after copper advanced for a third day, offsetting the effect of Europe’s debt crisis on financial stocks.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, advanced 2.4 percent as copper advanced for a third day. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, dropped 1.1 percent as bond yields increased in Italy, Spain and France. Research In Motion Ltd., the BlackBerry maker, climbed 5 percent after an analyst at Northern Securities Inc. boosted his rating on the shares.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 5.08 points to 12,229.27 at 4 p.m. Toronto time after slipping as much as 0.6 percent earlier.
“Right now we’re in a state of suspense,” Timothy Lazaris, chief executive officer of Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees C$55 million ($54 million). “We need better visibility about what’s about to happen in Europe.”
The index has declined 2.3 percent since Oct. 28 as financial and energy stocks retreated on concern that the European debt crisis will weaken the global economy and Manulife Financial Corp. and Sun Life Financial Inc. reported quarterly losses. The S&P/TSX is heading for its first yearly decrease since 2008 and second in the past nine years.
Base-metals producers advanced as copper gained after the U.S. reported a bigger gain in October retail sales than most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s regional manufacturing index increased, contrary to most economists’ estimates.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest company in the industry, climbed 2.4 percent to C$38.90 after Anthony Young, an analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co., began coverage of the company with a “buy” rating. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Rio Tinto Group’s partner in Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi project, rose 4.8 percent to C$22.53. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, rallied 2.7 percent to C$19.05.
Gold producers gained as precious metals advanced on demand for havens from the European debt crisis. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, advanced 0.6 percent to C$53.42. Eldorado Gold Corp., Canada’s fifth-biggest gold producer by market value, increased 1.1 percent to C$19.55. Centerra Gold Inc., which mines in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, climbed 6.4 percent to C$21.31.
Avion Gold Corp., which mines in Africa, sank 13 percent, the most since August 2010, to C$1.90 after cutting its 2011 production forecast.
The cost to insure Italian, Spanish and French bonds against default rose to records today as Mario Monti, Italy’s prime minister-designate, faced resistance in his attempts to include politicians in his so-called technical Cabinet. The euro fell for a second day against the U.S. dollar.
Royal Bank dropped 1.1 percent to C$45.40. Manulife, North America’s fourth-biggest insurer, lost 1.9 percent to C$11.77. Sun Life, Canada’s third-largest insurance company, declined 1.5 percent to C$21.03 after closing at the lowest since March 2009 yesterday.
RIM advanced 5 percent to C$19.54 after Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Northern Securities, raised his rating on the shares to “speculative buy” from “sell.” In a note to clients, Kanade cited potential negative news such as a decline in subscribers has already been factored into the share price.
Options traders boosted bullish bets on Research In Motion’s U.S. stock to the highest since 2007, convinced the shares will rebound from a 69 percent plunge this year through yesterday that left them trading below book value. Traders are probably betting the Waterloo, Ontario-based company will receive a buyout offer, said Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel’s Matt McCormick.
Auto-parts maker Martinrea International Inc. surged 8.1 percent to C$7.57 after forecasting higher profit for the year than analysts in a Bloomberg survey had estimated. The company also said it will buy back as many as 4.16 million shares.
Westport Innovations Inc., a developer of technology for natural-gas engines, jumped 8.7 percent to C$31.76 after three U.S. senators introduced a bill to provide tax credits for vehicles that run on the fuel.
Imris Inc., which develops medical-imaging technology, tumbled 17 percent, the since February 2009, to C$2.70 after saying it had a loss of 19 Canadian cents a share in the third quarter. Analysts had estimated a loss of 5 Canadian cents a share, excluding certain items, according to the average forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
US
By Rita Nazareth
Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, rebounding from earlier losses, on speculation Italian Prime Minister designate Mario Monti will succeed in forming a new government to battle the debt crisis and after growth in retail sales beat estimates.
Technology and industrial shares had the biggest gains among 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, rising at least 0.5 percent. Intel Corp. spurred a rally in semiconductor companies, climbing 2.9 percent, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it invested in the world’s largest chipmaker. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. slumped 2.4 percent as profit at the world’s biggest retailer trailed analysts’ forecasts.
The S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 1,257.81 at 4 p.m. New York time, rebounding from a loss of 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 17.18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,096.16. About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 24 percent below the three-month average.
“It was good to hear about retail sales,” Randy Bateman, chief investment officer of Huntington Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $14.5 billion. “People are getting tired of hearing about Europe. They are trying to resolve their issues. With Mario, Italy has an economist. Europe will muddle through.”
Equities recovered as Monti, an economist and former adviser to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said he’s “convinced” that the country can overcome the current crisis as he prepares to meet with President Giorgio Napolitano tomorrow to present his new government. Stocks had fallen earlier after Spainn’s borrowing costs rose at an auction. Italian 10-year yields topped 7 percent and rates on French, Belgian, Spanish and Austrian debt rose to euro-era records above German bunds.
Benchmark gauges also rose after the U.S. Commerce Department reported a 0.5 percent increase in retail sales, compared with the median economist forecast that called for 0.3 percent growth. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index showed growth for the first time since May. Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said the economy will rebound “faster than people think.”
“When the market isn’t focused on Europe, it will focus on stronger U.S. data,” Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management, said in an e- mail. His firm oversees $550 billion. “Retail sales are starting the quarter stronger than anyone would have estimated back in August at the depth of the recession fears.”
The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index added 0.4 percent, after slumping 1.1 percent earlier, on speculation about an economic rebound. The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 0.8 percent.
Technology shares in the S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent. Intel gained 2.9 percent to $25.34. Apple Inc., the world’s biggest technology company by market value, added 2.5 percent to $388.83. Dell Inc. advanced 2 percent to $15.63 before reporting quarterly results after U.S. exchanges closed. The shares slumped 1.8 percent to $15.35 after the close of regular trading at 4:27 p.m. as revenue missed estimates.
Computer and software makers may extend gains after a gauge of the industry surged to the highest ratio versus the S&P 500 in more than nine years, according to Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
The level of the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, an exchange-traded fund that tracks companies including Apple and International Business Machines Corp., divided by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was 0.2128 on Oct. 17, the highest since January 2002, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The figure fell to 0.2069 as of yesterday.
The advance by the technology fund suggests the industry may have enough momentum to rise further, said Ari Wald, a New York-based technical strategist at Brown Brothers. Technology shares posted the second-best performance after utilities among the S&P 500’s 10 groups, losing 0.8 percent, over the past six months. The broader benchmark index fell 6.4 percent.
“We broke out to the upside recently, showing relatively strong demand,” Wald said in a telephone interview yesterday. “That’s a pretty good sign, especially that it’s able to post relative gains during this period of market volatility.”
The KBW Bank Index of 24 stocks rose 0.5 percent after falling as much as 1.2 percent earlier today.
Bank of America Corp. climbed 1.3 percent to $6.13. The second-largest U.S. bank by assets is ahead of schedule on plans to bolster its balance sheet and meet new international standards, Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan said today at a conference. Separately, the lender said net credit card write-offs and delinquencies declined in October from September.
Wal-Mart lost 2.4 percent to $57.46. It didn’t pass higher prices charged by suppliers along to customers struggling with persistent unemployment, Bill Simon, Wal-Mart’s U.S. chief, said. That hurt gross profit margin, or the percentage of net sales left after subtracting the cost of goods sold, which shrank to 24.6 percent, narrower than the 24.8 percent estimate of Colin McGranahan at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
“The miss on weak gross margins was not expected, and that is new news,” McGranahan said in an e-mail. “The stock is down on the incremental news as more negative than expected.” He rates the shares “market perform.”
Energy shares had the only decline in the S&P 500 among 10 industries, falling 0.2 percent. Chevron Corp. slumped 2.7 percent, the most in the Dow, to $103.27. The company said it appears to have halted a leak at the Frade project offshore Brazil after plugging a well. It said it has seen a significant decrease in the amount of oil seeping from the development.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. tumbled 10 percent to $1.92, the lowest price since March 2003, after trying to end a five-year stalemate with a contract proposal that offers pilots smaller pay increases than they had sought. The Allied Pilots Association said today it was reviewing the plan as its board began a three-day meeting, and declined to comment further. AMR urged the union to permit members to vote on the offer.
LinkedIn Corp. slumped 4.6 percent to $74.86 after saying shareholder Bain Capital Ventures will sell all of its 3.71 million shares of the professional-networking website in a secondary stock offering.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.
Be magnificent!
Bees suck nectar from many different flowers, and then make honey.
One drop of honey cannot claim to come from one flower, and another drop of honey from another flower; the honey is a single consistent whole.
In the same way, all beings are one even though they are not aware of this.
The tiger and the lion, the wolf and the boar, the worm and the moth, the gnat and the mosquito, all come from the soul, and are part of the soul.
Chandogya Upanishad
As ever,
Carolann
Get out of your way. You can spend your life
tripping on yourself; you can also spend your
life tripping yourself up. Get out of your own
way.
-Suzan-Lori Parks, 1963-