March 6, 2012 Newsletter

Hello All,

My name is Ellora, I am one of Carolann’s new assistants, and since Carolann is gone to Vancouver to see clients for the day, I will be doing the newsletter!

Tangents:

On this day in 1947 one of my favorite Hollywood directors was born: Rob Reiner. Reiner is known for directing such great films as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, and my personal favorite The Princess Bride. You can see more about Rob Reiner’s career in the link bellow, it’s Inconceivable!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rob-reiner-born

A little background on me, I’m a recent graduate of Political Science at the University of Victoria. Being that today is Super Tuesday in American politics, it would be remiss of me not to mention at least something about what is happening South of the border. In an effort to avoid being partisan I thought I would post about the brief moment of unity Washington experienced at the end of February.

In celebration of Black History Month, the greats of Blues music descended on the White House for “Red, White, and Blues.” The likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, and Mick Jagger all performed and even the President got up and sang a song.  Reporter and professor of Anthropology Paul Stoller had this to say about the event:

“The music created a feeling of shared fellowship that melted away social and political differences. Given the contemporary dysfunction of government in Washington, such a much-needed convergence, however temporary, was quite special.”

Hopefully the power of Blues can hang around Washington for a while as politics become more divided during the run-up to the election.

You can watch the entire concert at: http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/

photos of the day

March 5, 2012
Flowers are thrown on Hindu devotees as they reach for a deity of Lord Krishna while celebrating Holi, the festival of color, at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, India. According to legend, Vrindavan is a famous place for Holi celebrations since it is where the Hindu god Krishna played Holi with his consort Radha.

Kevin Frayer/AP

Photographers take photos during Chanel fashion house’s presentation for Women’s Fall-Winter, ready-to-wear 2013 fashion collection during Paris Fashion week.

Thibault Camus/AP

Market Closes for March 6, 2012:

North American Markets

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most this year as the U.S. dollar gained and fuels and metals dropped on concern a second bailout of Greece won’t stop the country from defaulting or the global economy from slowing.

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU), Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, declined 4.3 percent as crude futures retreated. First Quantum Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, plunged 6.2 percent as the metal lost the most in 12 weeks. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), the country’s second-biggest lender by assets, decreased 1.6 percent as financial companies dropped.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) fell 225.32 points, or 1.8 percent, to 12,298.63 after company reports showed the investors that have committed to Greece’s debt swap represent about 20 percent of privately held Greek bonds. The country has set a 75 percent participation rate as a threshold for proceeding with the transaction, which runs through March 8.

“As the markets rallied for 10 weeks, we’ve had lots of snippets of less-than-expected numbers, and the markets have gone up in the face of it,” Jeff Burchell, a money manager at Aston Hill Financial Inc. (AHF) in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$5.5 billion ($5.5 billion). “If you look behind it, it seems like an excuse to take some profits.”

After its biggest two-month gain to start a year since 2004, the index has decreased 3.3 percent to a seven-week low over the past three days. Raw-materials and energy companies retreated after Germany reported a decline in retail sales and China reduced its annual economic-growth goal. The S&P/TSX hadn’t slipped three days in a row since Dec. 15.

The U.S. dollar increased against 15 of 16 other major currencies today. The currency extended its advance after the European Union’s statistics office said its economy contracted 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, confirming an earlier estimate.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index (STENRS) decreased the most since Nov. 23 as crude oil fell to a two-week low on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Suncor dropped 4.3 percent to C$33.32.Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE), Canada’s fifth-biggest company in the industry by revenue, lost 4.3 percent to C$35.84.

Crew Energy Inc. (CR), a western Canadian oil and gas producer, fell 8.3 percent to C$11.45 after recording a C$181.9 million writedown due mostly to the impact of lower natural gas prices on asset values.

Gold stocks in the S&P/TSX extended their three-day slump to 5 percent as the metal dropped to the lowest since Jan. 24. Goldcorp Inc. (G), the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, lost 1.6 percent to C$46.89. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s biggest company in the industry, decreased 1.4 percent to C$45.72. Colossus Minerals Inc. (CSI), which is developing a gold project in Brazil, tumbled 12 percent, the most since February 2009, to C$5.75.

Base-metals and coal producers retreated, extending a 2012 low (STDIVM). Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK/B), Canada’s largest company in the industry, fell 2.3 percent to C$35.48. Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN), which operates in Europe, slumped 6.6 percent to C$4.51.

First Quantum tumbled 6.2 percent to C$20.60 after dropping 5.4 percent yesterday. The company, which is facing a strike at its Kansanshi mine in Zambia, is to report quarterly financial results today.

Major Drilling Group International (MDI) Inc., which provides services to mining companies, sank 5.1 percent to C$17.26 after its quarterly earnings trailed the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey by 16 percent, excluding certain items.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, retreated 3.2 percent to C$43.28 as corn futures declined after settling at the highest since September yesterday. China won’t need large imports of corn this year as it has ample supplies, Nie Zhenbang, the head of the country’s grain administration, told reporters in Beijing today.

The six largest S&P/TSX banks and all eight insurers fell. TD dropped 1.6 percent to C$80.55.Royal Bank of Canada (RY), its bigger domestic rival, lost 1.1 percent to C$56.15. Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC), North America’s third-largest insurer, retreated 4.1 percent to C$11.81.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP), the country’s second-largest railroad, declined 3.4 percent to C$72.25. North American railroads slipped after Consol Energy Inc., the third-largest U.S. coal producer, said it will cut output at its Buchanan mine in Virginia due to lower demand from foreign steelmakers.

US

By Rita Nazareth and Stephen Kirkland

March 6 (Bloomberg) — Stocks fell a third day, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting its worst drop of the year, and commodities slid after a report showedEurope’s economy contracted and as investors watched developments in a Greece debt-swap deal. U.S. Treasuries and the yen gained.

The S&P 500 (SPX) slid 1.5 percent, the most since Dec. 8, to 1,343.36 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 203.66 points to 12,759.15. Gold, silver and copper futures lost at least 1.9 percent. The yen gained versus all 16 major peers and 10-year Treasury note yields fell six basis points to 1.95 percent.

Europe’s economy shrank 0.3 percent last quarter, the European Union’s statistics office said, and the central bank’s balance sheet surged to arecord 3.02 trillion euros ($3.96 trillion) last week amid crisis-fighting efforts. The Greek government said it will use collective action clauses to compel bondholders to accept its debt restructuring if it receives sufficient consents from investors.

“I’m watching this market suffer,” Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees about $47 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The market has more questions than answers right now. The attention is turning internationally as investors focus on economic concerns and the possibilities of success or failure of the Greek bond swap. That makes investors nervous at these relatively lofty index levels.”

Financial (S5FINL), industrial and commodity companies helped lead declines in all 10 of the main industries in the S&P 500, retreating more than 1.6 percent. Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley paced losses among financial companies, falling at least 4.6 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Alcoa Inc. (AA) retreated as the S&P GSCI gauge of commodities slid as much as 1.6 percent, with 22 of 24 materials declining.

The S&P 500 slipped for a third day after last week closing at its highest level since 2008. At the start of today’s session, the index was up 24 percent from last year’s low in October and 8.5 percent higher in 2012.

Before today, the S&P 500 hadn’t retreated at least 1 percent and the Dow hadn’t fallen 100 points or more for 45 days, the longest streaks since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“You’ve got to believe stocks are not going straight to the skies,” Philip Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $370 billion, told Bloomberg Television. “We’re not going to have a year with no pullback in the middle of the year. So it’s perfectly reasonable that we could have a moderate correction, let’s call it 5 percent.”

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity…

-Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989)

Cheers,

Ellora

Dwell in possibility.

– Emily Dickinson

Ellora Howie

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7