February 14, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Happy Valentine’s Day!

From The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time, by David H. Lowenherz, Crown Publishers, NY:
Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera:
Diego, Nothing compares to your hands, nothing like the green-gold of your eyes.  My body is filled with you for days and days.  You are the mirror or the night, the violent flash of lightening.  The dampness of the earth.  The hollow of you armpits is my shelter.  My fingertips touch your blood.  All my joy is to feel life spring from your flower-fountain that mine keeps to fill all the paths of my nerves which are yours.

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) – Twentieth-century painter.  Frida’s unique style can be best described as a cross between Mexican folk art and Surrealism.  At the age of eighteen, she was involved in a bizarre traffic accident that left her so injured that she endured thirty-five operations throughout the rest of her short life.  It was during her painful recovery that she began to teach herself to paint.  Photographer Tina Modotti reintroduced Frida to the Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957), whom she had superficially known since her school days, and the two soon became inseparable.  Married in 1929, then briefly separated ten years later, they remarried in 1941.  Frida died shortly after her forty-seventh birthday in 1954.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A couple kiss their daughter at Love park on Valentine’s Day in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday. Valentine’s Day originated as a western Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus. The day first became associated with romantic love in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Martin Mejia/AP

Finnish dinosaur heavy metal band Hevisaurus pose for photographers on Golden Jubilee Bridge at Royal Festival Hall in London on Tuesday. The group are performing as part of the ‘Imagine Children’s Festival,’ which this year features musical artists and authors from the Nordic region. Matt Dunham/AP

Aftin, a miniature poodle, wins the non-sporting group competition at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York on Monday.Stephanie Keith/Reuters
Market Closes for February 14^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$133.29

The all-time closing high hit by Apple shares Monday, as investors bet that the 10th-anniversary iPhone expected later this year will build on renewed momentum at the world’s most valuable company after its worst stumble in years.
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, with the benchmark index extending a record high, as a rally in health-care shares helped offset losses in utilities.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to 15,786.03 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after five straight days of advances lifted the gauge to fresh highs Monday. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. led health-care shares to a 3.3 percent gain, the most among the 11 main industry groups. Utility shares fell the most as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen stressed the need for more interest-rate increases in a testimony before Congress, reducing the allure of equity income relative to fixed income.
     Yellen, in her first appearance before Congress since President Donald Trump was sworn in, said more interest-rate increases will be appropriate if the economy meets the central bank’s outlook of gradually rising inflation and tightening labor markets. At the same time, trade tension between Canada and the U.S. has eased after Trump pledged publicly to only “tweak” Canada’s side of the North American Free Trade Agreement and ease the flow of goods along the northern border.
     Valeant surged 6.4 percent. The company will cover 60 percent of any settlement with shareholders who have sued the company and investor Bill Ackman, accusing them of using nonpublic information during an attempted takeover of Allergan Plc. Valeant and Ackman will also split the first $10 million of legal costs evenly, Valeant said.
     Cameco Corp. jumped 5.2 percent. The uranium company was upgraded to outperform from market perform by BMO analyst Edward Sterck.
     Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. plunged 22 percent. The company’s pebble deposit is not commercially viable, Kerrisdale Capital said in a report, adding that Pebble would need so much upfront investment that it would “destroy value.” The market enthusiasm over benefits of the Trump administration for the project overlooks the ineradicable threat of veto from either the Alaskan government or future Democratic White House, Kerrisdale said.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks reversed early losses to extend a rally into a sixth day as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress more interest-rate hikes would be appropriate if the U.S. economy stays on course.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.4 percent to 2,338, a record high, at 4 p.m. The benchmark is up 1.8 percent over the six-day period, the longest advance since Dec. 9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 92 points to 20,504.
* Financial shares up 1.2%; bank stocks in S&P 500 29% since election
* Real estate, utility and telecommunications down at least 0.1% as the 10-year Treasury weakens for a fourth session, trading at 2.472%
* VIX drops to 10.8
* Momentum in S&P 500 stocks heating up, with 15% of companies in the index trading above a 14-day RSI level of 70, considered overbought by technical analysts
** That’s the highest level of overbought shares since Dec. 13
* Attention shifted to Yellen’s first appearance before Congress since Trump was sworn in, as investors looked for insight on whether the Fed will accelerate monetary tightening
* ECONOMY:
** U.S. wholesale prices jumped in January by 0.6%, the most since September 2012, led by higher costs of gasoline and indicating inflation is beginning to stir
** Small-business optimism continues to run hot, boosted by the new administration’s pledge to revoke two regulations for every new one issued
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Tuesday: American International Group (AIG), Express Scripts Holding (ESRX), Agilent Technologies (A), LendingClub (LC), Diamondback Energy (FANG), Devon Energy (DVN)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT), Huntsman (HUN), Targa Resources (TRGP), US Foods Holding (USFD), Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM), Entergy (ETR), PepsiCo (PEP), Wyndham Worldwide (WYN), Analog Devices (ADI), Medicines (MDCO), Smart Sand (SND)
** The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed up less than 0.1%

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As long as there is division in any form
there must be conflict.
You are responsible, not only to your children,
but to the rest of humanity.
Unless you deeply understand this, not through words or ideas or the intellect,
but feel this in your blood, in your way of looking at life, in your actions,
you are supporting organized murder which is called war.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good night, good night!  Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
                   -William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
                          Romeo and Juliet

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com