April 8, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

  The “point”, Darwin taught us, is to pass on our genes.  This is as true for humans as for any other organism – chimpanzees, for example, or planaria.  The formula worked for life for the 3.5 billion years beforeHomo sapiens came along, and it isn’t likely to change now, just because people tend to find it unsatisfying,

  Most of us would, of course, prefer to believe our lives have a higher purpose than those of E. coli.  The very capacity to aspire – to truth and beauty, fame and fortune, intimacy and immortality – is one of the characteristics that sets modern humans apart from other species.  But the mistake is to project the structures of our minds onto the nature of existence, to demand that the world conform to the way we think about it.  “Endless forms most beautiful” evolved without us, and will continue to do so after we’re gone.

  Perhaps the wisest thing we could try to do is to make peace with pointlessness.  This is not so much a prescription for personal happiness as a petition on behalf of creation.  Right now, expressions of human purposefulness are transforming the planet – reshuffling the biosphere, altering the atmosphere, and changing the chemistry of the oceans.  We’ve ushered in a new geological age, the Anthropocene, which  is likely to be marked by the highest extinction rates since the asteroid impact that did in the dinosaurs.

  How might we pursue a less purposeful existence?  We could begin by trying to do less. This might seem like a negative goal, but it would actually be hugely consequential.  As it stands right now, humanity’s most lasting accomplishment will be our pruning (or hatcheting) of the tree of life: a sad legacy, and one we should do everything in our power to avoid.  The challenge to us as a species is to let other species pass on their genes – to allow them, too, to have a point. –Elizabeth Kolbert, Intelligent Life.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday. The rocket will deliver almost 7,000 pounds of science research, crew supplies, and hardware to the International Space Station. John Raoux/AP

A NASA image shows the International Space Station as it flew over Madagascar, showing three of the five spacecraft docked to the station in this photo taken by the Expedition 47 Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA on April 6, 2016 and released on Friday. Tim Peake/ESA/NASA/Reuters

Flower petals rest on the surface of the Manzanares river during an event marking the International Roma Day in Madrid, Friday. Members of the Spain’s gypsy community threw flower petals into the river during a ceremony symbolizing the departure of their ancestors from India and their exodus across the world. Francisco Seco/AP

Market Closes for April 8^th, 2016

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Anna-Louise Jackson

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in three weeks, as a rally in crude boosted energy producers and a surge in hiring stoked speculation the nation’s central bank will refrain from cutting interest rates further.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Index rose 1 percent to 13,396.73 at 4 p.m. in Toronto as seven of the 10 main industries advanced. The benchmark still fell 0.3 percent for the week, as consumer discretionary and staples companies sank. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge trades at 21.3 times earnings, about 14 percent higher than the 18.6 times earnings valuation of the S&P 500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

     A report today showed Canadian employment rose faster than forecast in March, a big step in erasing the chance the Bank of Canada will cut rates in its April 13 interest-rate decision. Canadian companies joined global stocks in advancing with commodity prices to end a week that’s seen markets whipsaw and currency volatility approach the highest since 2011.

     Canada’s largest energy producers led Friday’s rally, adding 2.3 percent to the highest level this month, as all but one of 50 members gained. Enerplus Corp. surged 6.2 percent to the highest since December, while Whitecap Resources Inc. extended a four-day rally in which it gained 14 percent.

     Raw-material producers jumped 1.9 percent, rallying for a fourth straight day, as Yamana Gold Inc. jumped 8.4 percent to the highest since May. Shares of industrial and financial companies also rose.

     Health-care companies slumped 4.7 percent, dragged lower by a decline of 6.1 percent in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares. Consumer-discretionary stocks fell for the fifth time in six days, closing 0.7 percent lower on Friday and bringing month-to-date losses to 3.2 percent.

     Analyst downgrades sent at least two stocks lower, as Interfor Corp. tumbled 5.5 percent, the most in almost two months, and Badger Daylighting Ltd. fell 3.5 percent to the lowest level since November.

US

By Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index trimming the worst weekly slide in two months, as a surge in crude that boosted energy shares offset a slump in biotechnology shares.

     The S&P 500 climbed 0.2 percent to 2,047.63 at 4 p.m. in New York, remaining in a range it’s held since the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting on March 16. The index rose as much as 0.9 percent Friday, and closed down 1.2 percent in the week, the most since Feb. 5. Equities have swung between gains and losses in the five days as investors search for clues on the strength of the American economy ahead of what is forecast to be the worst earnings season since the financial crisis.

     “You still have a lot of uncertainty surrounding earnings,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $1.9 billion as co- chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based OakBrook Investments. “There was definitely a risk off trade yesterday. People don’t want to jump in and take a big position either way in front of an earnings number that people expect to be down.” 

     The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.2 percent to 17,577.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed after erasing gains, dragged lower by biotech shares. The group fell 1.1 percent for a second day of losses following a 6 percent rally Wednesday.

     Energy shares led gains in the S&P 500 Friday with a 2 percent advance, as Chevron Corp. surged 1.6 percent. Crude rallied 6.1 percent to top $39.50 a barrel in New York. Gap Inc. shares fell 14 percent after the struggling apparel chain posted disappointing sales.

     Stocks have made little progress since snapping a five-week winning streak last month that erased losses from the worst-ever start to a year. The S&P 500 ended the week higher by 0.2 percent in the year. It has remained within 1 percent of the 2,050 level over the past three weeks, as sentiment lurched from optimism that central banks will support growth to worry that their efforts may not be enough to fend off a slowdown. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index capped its biggest weekly advance since January.

     Still, more stocks are moving with the benchmark than before. Breadth as tracked by the relative size of swings in the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index has risen to highs not seen since 2012, a departure from last year, when a few big stocks held sway over the index.

     Investors are awaiting fresh cues from corporate America, with the earnings season unofficially kicking off when Alcoa Inc. reports first-quarter results on April 11. Analysts estimate profits fell 9.5 percent in the first quarter, compared with calls for flat earnings growth at the start of the year. That would mark the worst reporting period since the financial crisis.

     After comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and minutes from the March meeting this month reaffirmed officials won’t rush to raise interest rates, traders are pricing in zero chances of a raise in April. The first month with at least even odds for a boost has been pushed to February 2017 from December last week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As long as individuality survives, that is,

as long as you continue to see others as separate from you,

a feeling of hostility towards them cannot fail to prevail.

As ever,

Carolann

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget;

the wise forgive but do not forget.

                                            -Thomas Szasz, 1920-2012

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