April 1, 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann is away from the office today; therefore I am writing the Newsletter on her behalf.

The sunshine continues here in Victoria reaching a high of 13 degrees today.  This past weekend we were also blessed with great weather and beautiful sunshine.  All around Victoria people were out shopping, taking walks along the Inner Harbor and at Willows beach, people were out tanning.  Unfortunately I wasn’t one of the people tanning in this beautiful weather, but I was lucky enough to take a few hikes around Thetis Lake.  If you have never been up to Thetis, it is a beautiful spot to hike around.  The setting of nature with the lake off to the side makes for a breathtaking view while getting in a good workout. Along with Thetis another great hike is heading up to Mount Doug.  Now that the weather is getting better, take advantage of all the beautiful spots our gorgeous city has to offer!

Thetis Lake

Today in History:

1916 – The first U.S. national women’s swimming championships were held.

1924 – Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for high treason in relation to the “Beer Hall Putsch.”

1929 – Louie Marx introduced the Yo-Yo.

1931 – Jackie Mitchell became the first female in professional baseball when she signed with the Chattanooga Baseball Club.

1935 – The first radio tube to be made of metal was announced.

1938 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, NY.

1941 – The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM radio station began on W71NY in New York City.

1946 – Weight Watchers was formed.

1949 – “Happy Pappy” premiered. It was the first all-black-cast variety show.

1952 – The Big Bang theory was proposed in “Physical Review” by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow.

1953 – The U.S. Congress created the Department of Health Education and Welfare.

1960 – The U.S. launched TIROS-1. It was the first weather satellite.

“I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door – or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Photos of the Day – April 1^st, 2013Pilgrims dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes attend the traditional Georgi horse riding procession on Easter Monday in the southern Bavarian town of Traunstein, Germany. Since the early 16th century, farmers have taken part in the pilgrimage to bless their horses. Michaela

A performer walks through the street during Lagos Carnival in Lagos, Nigeria. Performers filled the streets of Lagos’ islands Monday as part of the Lagos Carnival, a major festival in Nigeria’s largest city during Easter weekend. Jon Gambrell/AP

Market Closes for April 1^st, 2013

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Inyoung Hwang

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as industrial and commodity shares paced declines amid reports showing U.S. manufacturing slowed and China’s factory output trailed forecasts.

China Gold International Resources Corp. plunged 13 percent after a mine accident. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Silver Wheaton Corp. sank more than 1.6 percent, as commodity prices slumped. Canadian National Railway Co. slumped 1.8 percent, while Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. lost 2.7 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. climbed 1 percent after a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst raised his rating on the stock.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 54.76 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,695.14 in Toronto. The benchmark gauge for Canadian equities is up 2.1 percent this year. Trading volume was 45 percent below the 30-day average.

“This is the beginning of a choppy period that may lead into a traditional May, June correction, which is why I’m positioning myself conservatively,” Keith Richards, fund manager with ValueTrend Wealth Management, said by telephone from Barrie, Ontario. His firm manages about C$100 million ($98 million). “The market looks for a trigger, whether it’s manufacturing data or something else.”

U.S. manufacturing expanded less than forecast in March as factories slowed production and orders waned. Factory output in China, the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals, rose less than estimated. The Bank of Japan’s Tankan index showed pessimism among large manufacturers. The U.S and China are Canada’s two largest trading partners.

Eight out of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX dropped, led by a 1.6 percent decline among industrial companies. Canadian National slumped 1.8 percent to C$100.27. Canadian Pacific Railway lost 2.7 percent to C$128.99.

Material stocks lost 0.9 percent as a group. Copper futures slumped to the lowest in almost eight months on concern demand from China might ease. Silver slumped 1.3 percent to $27.94 an ounce.

China Gold International, the Vancouver-based unit of China National Gold Group, fell 13 percent to C$3.33. A landslide at a mine it owns in Tibet killed 21 people and another 62 are still missing, China National Radio said.

First Quantum, which explores for copper and gold, dropped 2.3 percent to C$18.88. Silver Wheaton sank 1.6 percent to C$31.30. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest miner of the metal, slid 1.2 percent to C$29.48.

Potash climbed 1 percent to C$40.29 after JPMorgan’s Jeffrey Zekauskas raised his recommendation on the world’s largest fertilizer producer to overweight from neutral.

Energy companies climbed 0.2 percent after fluctuating between gains and losses, as oil fell for the first time in six days on speculation that the closure of an Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline will increase U.S. inventories. Encana Corp. fell 1.1 percent to C$19.54.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., rallied 4.4 percent to C$15.39. The smartphone maker that is attempting a comeback with a new lineup was lifted to speculative buy from hold at Paradigm Capital Inc.

US

By Lindsey Rupp and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

April 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower after a record high, as data showed American manufacturing slid in March. The yen rose to a three-week high, while commodities tumbled after economic reports from Japan, China and South Korea missed estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.5 percent to 1,562.17 at 4 p.m. in New York. The yen appreciated 0.9 percent against the dollar after declining for a sixth month in March, the longest losing streak in 12 years. The S&P GSCI Index of 24 commodities fell 0.3 percent, with silver and corn both sliding into a bear market. Crude oil snapped a five-day rally while gold rose. Most European markets were closed for a holiday.

U.S. manufacturing expanded less than forecast in March as factories slowed production and orders waned. The Bank of Japan’s Tankan index showed pessimism among large manufacturers and data on South Korean exports and China factory output trailed forecasts. Shares retreated today after global stocks beat all other investments for a second quarter in the first three months of the year, the first back-to-back outperformance since 2009.

“We’ve had a whole year of returns in three months,” Tim Hartzell, who helps manage about $425 million as chief investment officer at Sequent Asset Management in Houston, said in a phone interview. “U.S. equities have gained at the expense of other markets, but we may slow down as we go into the summer season.”

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 51.3 in March from 54.2 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona- based group said today. Economists projected a reading of 54 for gauge, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Figures higher than 50 signal expansion. to need good earnings reports later this month.’’

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent on March 28 to reach its highest closing level. It remains below the all-time intraday high of 1,576.09. The gauge rallied 10 percent in the first quarter, extending a recovery that has added more than $10 trillion of value to the world’s largest stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average first passed its 2007 record on March 5.

Joy Global Inc., U.S. Steel Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. tumbled more than 2.2 percent as industrial and raw-material shares had the biggest declines among 10 S&P 500 groups. General Mills Inc. fell 1.3 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares.

Treasuries traded close to a four-week low after the manufacturing data. The 10-year yield fell one basis point to 1.84 percent.

The yen strengthened against 15 of its 16 major peers, advancing 0.7 percent versus the euro. South Korea’s won slipped 0.2 percent against the dollar. The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.2849, after depreciating 1.8 percent last month.

Unemployment in the euro area probably climbed to an all- time high of 12 percent in February, economists estimated before a report tomorrow. European Central Bank officials meet this week to set interest rates.

Japan’s Topix Index slid 3.3 percent, the most since March 2011, and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 2.1 percent. The Tankan rose to minus 8 in March from minus 12 in December, the Bank of Japan said today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey was minus 7.

“We need to see the economy showing signs of improvement and inflation numbers picking up in Japan,” Vasu Menon, head of content and research at OCBC Bank Ltd. in Singapore, said on Bloomberg Television’s On the Move with Rishaad Salamat. “China is recovering, but the recovery is going to be a modest one.”

Copper futures declined to the lowest in almost eight months after an industry report on manufacturing signaled demand may ease in China, the world’s biggest user of industrial metals. Futures for May delivery slid 0.8 percent on the Comex in New York. The London Metal Exchange is closed today. Silver fell 1.3 percent, extending a decline from Oct. 4 to 20 percent, meeting the definition used by some investors to identify a bear market. Gold rose for the second time in three sessions.

Oil slid for the first time in six days, dropping 16 cents to $97.07 a barrel, on speculation that the closure of an Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline will increase U.S. inventories.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index was 50.9 in March, Chinese government data showed today. The median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey was 51.2.

“The Chinese data came in below expectations, and the realization may be starting to set in that demand isn’t picking up as much as people thought it would,” Harry Denny, a broker at Hoboken, New Jersey-based PVM Futures Inc., said in a telephone interview. “The expectations for China are high, and they’re just not there. Stocks of copper are also very high.”

Corn entered a bear market, tumbling 7.6 percent, the biggest decline in 24 years. The price is down 23 percent since last year’s closing high. Bigger-than-forecast stockpiles and higher planting signal ample supplies in the U.S., the world’s top grower and exporter. Wheat fell to a nine-month low today, and soybeans dropped.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.3 percent, extending last quarter’s 1.9 percent decline. South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Be magnificent!

“Freedom lies in being bold.”– 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