March 7th, 2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Bodies in motion: Dancing around the world

The dictionary defines it as “to move one’s feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, especially to the accompaniment of music.” People around the world, however, have their own definitions of dance, as exemplified by these images taken since the first of the year. And such expressions can celebrate a culture, win a competition, make a living, entertain a crowd, and play a role in propelling social change. Get those bodies and feet moving. — Lloyd Young

American Matthew Harding (center) performs with his fans and followers at a compound in Beijing on Feb. 19. Harding is an Internet celebrity known as Dancing Matt for his viral videos “Where The Hell Is Matt,” which show him dancing in front of landmarks and street scenes in various countries. (Andy Wong/Associated Press)

Dancer and choreographer Daniel Ezralow performs with dancers onstage at the Ariston Theatre in Sanremo, Italy, during the 61th Sanremo Music Festival on Feb. 16. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images) #

member of the Canadian dance troupe “The 7 fingers” rehearses in Bogota on Feb. 8. (John Vizcaino/Reuters)

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jennifer A. Johnson

March 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in four days as copper producers declined on concern that escalating unrest in Libya will boost oil prices and slow economic growth.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest base-metals producer, dropped 2.8 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. slipped 1.4 percent as energy stocks retreated from a 31-month high. Uranium producer Cameco Corp. slumped 4.5 percent, as the nuclear fuel declined. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s biggest fertilizer company, slumped 2.5 percent amid falling wheat, corn and soybean futures.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined 159.82 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,092.95 at 1:30 p.m. in Toronto, erasing all of the three-day rally through March. 4.

“There is continued uncertainty about what is going to happen in Libya,” said Todd Johnson, a money manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which oversees C$255 million ($231 million). “I doubt that Libya is the last country to go through some turmoil. Oil prices can be very volatile.”

The Canadian benchmark equity index added 6 percent from the beginning of the year through March 4 as oil soared 14 percent on concern that unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa will restrict supply. Energy shares account for about 28 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Crude climbed as much as 2.4 percent after fighting between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi intensified.

Hedge funds raised purchases of futures to a record for a second week on speculation unrest will cut output further. Citigroup Inc. increased its Brent oil price estimate, saying the threat of more disruptions supports a “fear premium.”

Teck Resources dropped 2.8 percent to C$52.60 after copper slid 4 percent on the London Metal Exchange on concern slower economic growth will curb demand for industrial metals. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. declined 4.6 percent to C$118.29.

Equinox Minerals Ltd. fell 5.6 percent to C$5.44. Lundin Mining Corp. postponed a special meeting of shareholders to allow them time to review an unsolicited C$4.8 billion takeover offer by Equinox.

Lundin Mining Corp., which had agreed to sell to Inmet Mining Corp. for C$4.2 billion, dropped 4.9 percent to C$7.51.

Inmet fell 1 percent to C$63.34.

An index of energy shares in the S&P/TSX fell 1.2 percent after closing at the highest level since August 2008 on March 4.

Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s biggest energy producer, dropped 0.5 percent to C$46.14. Canadian Natural fell 1.4 percent to C$49.00.

Uranium prices dropped $2.75 from the Feb. 28 exchange value to $66.75 a pound, according to TradeTech LLC. The spot price for uranium was beginning to rebound after falling in February when a seller unexpectedly entered the market offering more than 800,000 pounds, TradeTech said.

Uranium One Inc. dropped 4 percent to C$6.19. Cameco Corp.

declined 4.5 percent to C$37.69, after dropping 6.4 percent, the biggest intraday decline since Nov. 16.

Potash Corp. fell 2.5 percent to C$57.90 after corn futures fell 2.3 percent, soybeans dropped 1.9 percent and wheat slipped 1 percent.

US

By Michael P. Regan and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

March 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, erasing last week’s gain, as chipmakers slid after a ratings downgrade and oil advanced to a 29-month high. Treasuries climbed, while Greek default risk increased to a record after Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s credit rating.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index decreased 0.8 percent to

1,310.15 at 4 p.m. in New York and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index erased earlier gains to slip 0.4 percent. Oil advanced 1 percent to $105.44 a barrel. Gold trimmed gains after rallying to as much as $1,445.70 an ounce, an all-time high. Ten-year Treasury note yields slid five basis points to 3.51 percent.

Chipmakers in the S&P 500 slumped 2.5 percent collectively, the biggest decline among 24 industries, after Wells Fargo & Co. cut the group to “market weight” from “overweight.” Fighting increased between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, reducing crude-oil output by as much as 1 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency.

“It’s going to be hard for the market to push through this headwind from oil in the short-term,” said Daniel Genter, president of RNC Genter Capital Management in Los Angeles, which oversees about $3.7 billion. “The oil theme has taken over from the inflation theme because of the effect higher energy prices will have on inflation and economic growth. The market wants to go higher because all the other demographics look solid, but we’re entangled in this net of geopolitical uncertainty.”

Teradyne Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Applied Materials Inc. lost at least 4.6 percent to lead declines in all 19 semiconductor companies in the S&P 500 after the Wells Fargo analysts cited the rally that more than doubled the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index over the past two years.

“Our sector downgrade is more an indication of a more moderate though still optimistic view of the sector rather than any active concern about the chip stocks as a group,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Takeovers helped lift U.S. and European shares earlier.

Western Digital Corp., the largest maker of computer hard-disk drives, rallied 16 percent after agreeing to buy a unit from Hitachi Ltd., while jewelry maker Bulgari SpA surged after receiving a takeover offer.

As crude approaches $110 a barrel, higher energy costs may begin to cause pain for companies that were able to weather $100 oil thanks to a strengthening economy. Corporate assumptions would have to start changing when oil reaches $110 a barrel, according to economists such as Chris Low of FTN Financial in New York. Crude at that price would offset the benefit from the tax cut approved by Congress in December, and begin to slow economic growth, Low said.

Commerzbank forecast today that West Texas Intermediate oil will average $107 in the second quarter. Technical analysts from Citi FX say oil is poised to test prices above $120 for the first time since September 2008 after breaching a target near $103. Oil faces resistance above $120 a barrel, the 76.4 percent retracement level on a linear-chart Fibonacci study of oil’s

2008 collapse, said Tom Fitzpatrick, chief technical analyst at Citi FX, part of Citigroup Capital Markets in New York.

Treasury five-year notes advanced, pushing the yield down 10 basis points to 2.19 percent, as the Federal Reserve purchased $6.6 billion in debt maturing from September 2013 to February 2015 to support the U.S. recovery.

Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said the central bank shouldn’t rule out asset purchases beyond the $600 billion planned by June because the U.S. economy could slow again. Fed of Dallas President Richard W. Fisher said he might vote to cut short the asset-purchase program if he believed it to be “counterproductive.”

Most European stocks declined, with three shares retreating for every two that rose in the Stoxx 600. Inmarsat Plc dropped

13 percent as sales missed estimates. Bulgari soared 59 percent after LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA agreed to buy the world’s third-largest jeweler for about 3.7 billion euros ($5.2 billion).

Credit-default swaps on Greek bonds rose 50 basis points to a record 1,036 basis points, according to CMA. Moody’s signaled Greece may face further cuts as European leaders prepared to meet this week to discuss ways to contain the region’s debt crisis. The Greek Finance Ministry said the Moody’s decision was “incomprehensible.” Moody’s didn’t heed the progress Greece made in cutting the deficit by 6 percentage points of gross domestic product last year, according to a ministry statement.

The extra yield, or spread, investors demand to hold Greek 10-year bonds instead of benchmark German bunds rose 8 basis points to 906 basis points. The spread for Portuguese 10-year securities climbed eight basis points to 428 basis points.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9 percent. Kajima Corp., a Japanese construction company, slid 2.3 percent following a report that its highway project in Algeria may incur losses of more than 80 billion yen ($971 million).

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.6 percent to snap a six-day streak of gains, the longest in eight weeks. Air China Ltd. and Korean Air Lines Co. lost more than 3 percent on speculation higher fuel costs will crimp earnings. India’s Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index retreated 1.4 percent as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party said March 5 it would end support for Singh’s Indian National Congress-led government.

The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Persian gulf stocks advanced

1.4 percent, with Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rising

3.3 percent. S&P said the country may escape the popular unrest that is sweeping the Middle East and that the outlook for nation’s debt is stable.

Tunisia’s Tunindex gained 4.2 percent as trading resumed after a week-long stoppage triggered by violent protests that forced the prime minister to resign.

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

~Swami Vivekananda

With kind regards,
Chelsey for Carolann

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined.”

~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)