March 8, 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

As I walked to the office this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful cherry blossoms blooming.  As soon as I see the cherry blossoms, I know that Spring is just around the corner.  With the break of sunshine, the blooming of flowers, one can’t help but smile.  Spring and “springtime” refer to the season, and also to the ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, and re-growth.  With Spring time coming, this also means Daylight Savings and the clocks going forward.  Did you know Benjamin Franklin was the first American to propose Daylight Saving Time in 1784. However, it wasn’t fully implemented in the US until after the Second World War. Note in your calendars, this Sunday, March 10^th, clocks will go forward an hour!!!

Happy Daylight Savings Everyone!

March 20^th, 2013 will mark the first day of Spring this year!!!

Today in History

1887 – The telescopic fishing rod was patented by Everett Horton.

1894 – A dog license law was enacted in the state of New York. It was the first animal control law in the U.S.

1907 – The British House of Commons turned down a women’s suffrage bill.

1910 – In France, Baroness de Laroche became the first woman to obtain a pilot’s license.

1910 – The King of Spain authorized women to attend universities.

1911 – In Europe, International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time.

1917 – Russia’s “February Revolution” began with rioting and strikes in St. Petersburg. The revolution was called the “February Revolution” due to Russia’s use of the Old Style calendar.

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln

Photos of the Day – March 8^th, 2013

A female diver clad in ‘Orihime,’ or Vega, costume feeds fish to mark the Japanese traditional star festival Tanabata at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, 2010. Itsuo Inouye/AP

China’s first female astronaut Liu Yang waves as she comes out of the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in Siziwang Banner of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region June, 2012. Liu and two other crew members emerged smiling from the capsule that returned safely to earth from a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that is a prototype for a future space station. Wang Jianmin/Xinhua/AP

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Soren Kierkegaard

Market Closes for March 8^th, 2013

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

March 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to a 19-month high and its third straight weekly gain, as gold and energy shares advanced after better-than- forecast jobs data.

Semafo Inc. and Iamgold Corp. climbed more than 5.5 percent as the price of gold rose for a second day. Niko Resources Ltd. jumped 7.5 percent on news it received “significant” offers for some assets. Athabasca Oil Corp. and Encana Corp. advanced at least 1.6 percent as oil increased. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. fell 6.2 percent as Canada’s biggest engineering company forecast lower profit this year than analysts estimated.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 9.09 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,835.61 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since July 2011. The S&P/TSX added 0.5 percent this week.

Trading volume was 6.8 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“The market liked the jobs numbers but didn’t get carried away,” said John Kinsey, fund manager with Caldwell Investment Management, who helps manage about C$1 billion ($972.1 million).

“I think it confirms what we’ve been seeing out of the U.S., which is that the economy is gaining some traction.”

U.S. employment rose more than forecast and unemployment unexpectedly dropped, touching its lowest level since December 2008, Labor Department figures showed today. Canada’s jobs data also showed better-than-predicted gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its record high, and the S&P 500 index traded within 1 percent of its all-time mark.

Oil for April delivery rose 0.4 percent to settle at $91.95 a barrel in New York, after falling as much as 0.8 percent earlier. Prices advanced 1.4 percent this week, the most since the five days ended Feb. 1.

Niko Resources added 45 Canadian cents to C$6.48. The company, which explores for oil and gas in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa, said it is in talks to sell non-core assets.

Athabasca Oil advanced 3.8 percent to C$9.65 and Encana, Canada’s largest natural gas producer, gained 1.6 percent to C$19.92.

Raw-materials companies advanced 0.8 percent, contributing the most to the S&P/TSX’s gains, as gold and silver prices rose. Banro Corp. jumped 10 percent to $1.96, after falling the most in four years yesterday on news its chief executive officer was resigning.

Semafo rose 14 Canadian cents to C$2.62, and Iamgold added 35 Canadian cents to C$6.75. Gold for April delivery rose 0.1 percent to settle at $1,576.90 an ounce.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. rose 6.2 percent to C$20.42 ahead of a March 11 deadline for its C$5 billion hostile takeover bid for Inmet Mining Corp. The bid received approval from Canada’s ministers of industry and state today, even as Inmet’s board sent a letter to shareholders advising them to reject the offer.

Inmet shares added 1.2 percent to C$68.52. The company said it is in talks to sell a minority stake in its Cobre Panama copper project.

Financial stocks fell. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lost 0.6 percent to C$82.78. Royal Bank of Canada slid 0.4 percent to C$62.43.

SNC-Lavalin slumped C$2.84 to C$43.01. Net income this year will probably climb 10 percent to 15 percent as softer commodity prices and challenges in the hydrocarbon and chemicals business erode gains from other units, SNC said. Analysts had predicted earnings of C$2.84 a share this year, a 39 percent increase.

The Montreal-based firm also reported fourth-quarter profit of 63 Canadian cents a share, missing analysts’ estimates of 92 cents according to a Bloomberg survey.

MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. fell 4.2 percent to C$69.70 after the satellite maker announced yesterday it will issue 3.6 million shares to help pay down outstanding debt.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Sarah Pringle

March 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index approaching a record high, as data showed employers added more jobs than forecast last month and the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to 1,550.97 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 65.74 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,395.23.

“People are starting to hire, and in fact they have been hiring for a few quarters,” Carla Ann Harris, managing director and senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley, said in a television interview on Bloomberg’s “Market Makers.” “Some of the caution with respect to the payrolls is starting to abate. You’ll probably see a faster pace as people start to move towards growth as opposed to maintaining the status quo because of the uncertainty they feel in the market.”

Employment rose 236,000 last month after a revised 119,000 gain in January that was smaller than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 90 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected an advance of 165,000. The jobless rate dropped to 7.7 percent.

Hiring in construction jumped by the most in almost six years.

The S&P 500 rallied 2.2 percent this week, its biggest gain in two months, as jobless-benefit claims fell to a six-week low and investors speculated that central banks will continue with stimulus measures. The benchmark equity gauge is less than 1 percent below the record of 1,565.15 reached in October 2007 and the Dow is at an all-time high.

About 82 percent of stocks in the S&P 500 yesterday closed above their average price from the past 50 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Federal Reserve has embarked on three rounds of stimulus to boost the economy and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has pledged to continue to buy bonds until the U.S. labor market improves. Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s January meeting showed policy makers were divided about the strategy and some officials said an earlier end to purchases might be needed.

“They were great numbers relative to where we’ve been, but the question is whether they were too good, too fast in the eyes of the Fed,” Ryan Larson, the Chicago-based head of U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc., said by telephone. His firm oversees $250 billion. “While we continue to make all-time highs, it continues to be live by the Fed, die by the Fed.”

Global stocks rose earlier as a report showed gross domestic product in Japan expanded an annualized 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the Cabinet Office said. A preliminary estimate had shown the world’s third-biggest economy contracted 0.4 percent in the period. China’s exports increased 21.8 percent in February from a year earlier, the customs administration said. That beat the 8.1 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Equities briefly pared gains after Italy’s credit rating was cut one level by Fitch Ratings. An inconclusive election in February produced political paralysis in the nation, threatening Italy’s ability to respond to a recession and the European debt crisis.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Be magnificent!

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.” – Robert Frost

As ever,

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5808

Fax: 778-430-5838