April 12, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63. Vice President Harry S Truman became president.

1980 – Terry Fox starts ‘Marathon of Hope’ for Cancer Society.

1967 – House of Commons chooses ‘O Canada’ as national anthem.

           SPRING

How fair the flowers unaware
That do not know what beauty is!
Fair, without knowing they are fair,
With poets and gazelles they share
  Another world than this.

The can but die, and not betray
As friends or love betray the heart.
They can but live their pretty day
And do no worse than simply play
  Their brief sufficient part.

They cannot break the heart, as friend
Or love may split our trust for ever.
We never asked them to pretend:
Death is a clean sufficient end
  For flower, friend, or lover.

            -V. Sackville-West

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Hindu devotees perform a ritual balancing fire pots on head and hands as part of on Sitala Puja, dedicated to the Hindu goddess of pox, in Kolkata, India, Tuesday. Devotees participate to various rituals during this event to make a wish for the well-being of their family. Bikas Das/AP

Tourists float in the Dead Sea, Israel, Tuesday. Oded Balilty/AP

Market Closes for April 12^th, 2016

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks posted its biggest three-day rally in a month, as crude topped $42 a barrel and Bombardier Inc. climbed on more orders for its C Series jet aircraft.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 1.2 percent to 13,581.42 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, extending a three-day winning streak to 2.4 percent. The S&P/TSX remains one of the best- performing developed markets in the world this year with a 4.4 percent gain.

     Canadian equities advanced with commodities prices on Tuesday, as crude jumped after Interfax reported Russia and Saudi Arabia reached a consensus on freezing oil output. Gold held near a three-week high, buoyed by a falling dollar that’s trading near a June 2015 low.

     The resource-dominant S&P/TSX remains tied to commodities prices, as crude and gold prices have found some footing in the second quarter after stumbling at the beginning of April. Energy producers added 3.5 percent today, the biggest gain in the S&P/TSX as eight of 10 industries advanced on trading volume 10 percent higher than the one-month average. Encana Corp. surged 9.3 percent while Cenovus Energy Inc. and Crescent Point Energy Corp. rallied more than 7.4 percent.

     Enerplus Corp. jumped 9.7 percent to the highest close this year, after the oil and gas producer sold non-core assets in Northwest Alberta Monday worth about C$95.5 million.

     Raw-material producers have been the top-performing industry in Canada this year, rallying 29 percent. Gold prices have soared 18 percent as investors scaled back projections for U.S. rate increases. The Canadian benchmark now trades at 21.6 times earnings, about 15 percent higher than the 18.8 times earnings valuation of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

     Bombardier added 5.5 percent, after three straight days of no change. The struggling aerospace manufacturer said Latvia’s flag carrier airBaltic converted its remaining seven option aircraft to a firm order. This latest order brings the Latvian carrier’s total firm orders to 20 CS300 aircraft.

     The C Series is “critical” to the survival of Bombardier’s aircraft business, George Ferguson, an industry analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a note. Ferguson estimates Bombardier needs more than 1,000 C Series orders for success.

US

By Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to a one-week high as crude pushed past $42 a barrel to overshadow a tepid start to the first-quarter earnings season.

     Energy producers surged 2.7 percent as crude climbed to a four-month high after Saudi Arabia and Russia were seen agreeing on whether to freeze oil production. Chesapeake Energy Corp. surged the most on record after pledging assets to maintain access to financing. Alcoa Inc. slid 3.4 percent after the largest U.S. aluminum producer cut its forecast for global demand. Juniper Networks Inc. plunged 7.5 percent after sales missed forecasts, dragging the semiconductor industry lower.

     The S&P 500 added 1 percent to 2,061.74 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index has alternated gains and losses for four days and is now little changed for the month of April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 165.05 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,721.46. as well as continued oil price strength and weakness in the dollar.”

     West Texas Intermediate rose 4.5 percent in New York. Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached a consensus on an output freeze, Interfax said Tuesday, citing an unidentified “informed diplomatic source” in Doha.

     The rally in crude is overshadowing the start of earnings season that is forecast to be the worst since the financial crisis, with analysts projecting first-quarter profits shrank 10 percent — including a 20 percent decline for banks — compared with earlier estimates for flat growth.

     “We don’t have strong revenue growth — that’s what we heard from Alcoa,” said Spika. “Until we have that, particularly with wage pressure, it’s hard to justify a move higher in the market. Investors are whistling past the graveyard and not focusing on the key issue. It’s a show me market, and we need earnings to push it forward from here.”

     After a tumultuous start to the year that saw the S&P 500 tumble as much as 11 percent, U.S. equities rebounded 13 percent in the following six weeks. They are now little changed in the past two weeks after falling the most since February last week.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slumped 7.9 percent to 14.97 on Tuesday, the lowest level in a week.

     All 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced Tuesday, with energy and financial shares leading the way. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are among companies that report corporate results this week.

     Among other stocks active on corporate news, Fastenal Co. lost 3.1 percent after also posting sales and earnings that missed the average analyst estimate.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Every day we see or read of appalling things happening in the world as the result of violence in man.

You may say, “I can’t do anything about it,” or “How can I influence the world?”

I think you can tremendously influence the world if you yourself are not violent,

if you lead actually every day a peaceful life – a life which is not competitive, ambitious, envious –

a life which does not create enmity.

Small fires can become ablaze.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people

say you cannot do.

                        -Walter Bagehot, 1826-1877                     

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