April 24, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I met Valerie Harper and her husband Tony last Wednesday night at a small cocktail reception given in her honor.  I was invited by one of my clients who is a Vice President of the Canadian Cancer Society which was hosting the cocktail reception.   April is daffodil month for the CSS to raise awareness and raise funds for cancer research and which culminates for Vancouverites later this month with the daffodil ball.  Ms. Harper gave a talk later in the evening at the Orpheum Theatre about living with the reality of her cancer diagnosis, having survived lung cancer only to have a reappearance of an untreatable form of the disease in the lining of her brain.  She remains upbeat and committed to living with a positive attitude. She stresses the importance of focusing on living every day with optimism and resolve and most of all gratitude.  She spoke of the importance of letting go of grudges and letting go of the past, of forgiveness and forgetting.  Most importantly of seizing every day and doing, doing, doing.  Carpe Diem.  It is good to be reminded of these things that we already innately know.

On the float plane over, I pulled out a copy of this month’s B.C. Business magazine.  The April issue features B.C.’s latest “Top 30 under 30”.  The interviews with the recipients included queries about their sources of inspiration, mentors etc.  Truly inspiring to read about this cohort of entrepreneurs.  I was struck by a remark made by one of them, Alexander Chuang, who, when asked what the best advice he’s ever received is,  replied, “It’s from my dad, who explained to me the difference between zero and one.  One is your health and zero is everything else (family, career, lifestyle).”

And…

On this day in 1953, British leader Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Mr. Churchill guided Great Britain and the Allies through World War II then went on to serve as Leader of the Opposition Party after the war.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man takes pictures of the art installaion ‘Overcoming Boundaries’ by German conceptual artist Ottmar Hoerl in Berlin, Germany on Friday. The project, consisting of some 1000 sculptures of the Einheitsmaennchen (Unity Man) is to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the German reunification. Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie, winks as she arrives to speak during a United Nations Security Council meeting regarding the refugee crisis in Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Friday. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Market Closes for April 24^th, 2015

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, posting a weekly advance, as base metals mining companies increased with iron ore and health-care shares climbed.

     Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. added 7.5 percent as iron ore entered a bull market after BHP Billiton Ltd. curbed expansion plans and supplies from higher-cost mines dropped. Concordia Healthcare Group gained 0.8 percent. Bankers Petroleum Ltd. slipped 3.8 percent as oil fell from a 2015 high in New York, paring the longest run of weekly gains in more than a year.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 15.98 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,408.33 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge is up 0.3 percent for the week.

     Manulife Financial Corp. added 0.9 percent, to a December high, as financial shares increased 0.3 percent. The group accounts for one-third of the index. Seven of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 22 percent below the 30-day average.

     West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. climbed 6.7 percent after reporting first-quarter sales and earnings ahead of analysts’ estimates.

     Capstone Mining Corp. surged 9.1 percent and Labrador Iron Ore jumped 7.5 percent. Since bottoming out at $47.08 on April 2 after dropping for five straight quarters, iron ore prices have rallied 23 percent. A bull market is typically defined as a rise of at least 20 percent from a closing low.

US

By Stephen Kirkland and Jeremy Herron

     (Bloomberg) — The Nasdaq Composite Index extended gains after closing at a record as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.rallied on results. Treasuries rose after capital goods orders unexpectedly fell, while oil retreated in New York.

     The Nasdaq jumped 0.7 percent at 4 p.m. in New York after topping its March 2000 record Thursday. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3 percent, while Brazil’s Ibovespa extended gains from a January low to 21 percent. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.3 percent and 10-year Treasury yields fell five basis points to 1.91 percent. The rate on 10-year Greek bonds rose 36 basis points to 12.66 percent as frustration mounted in talks over funding for the country. Iron ore entered a bull market.

     The Nasdaq Composite has almost quadrupled since global equity markets bottomed in March 2009. Microsoft Corp. surged Friday after results topped estimates, while Google’s revenue grew amid an increase in advertising. The unexpected drop in orders for business equipment added to evidence that growth in the first quarter slowed, bolstering the case against raising interest rates.

     “It’s very positive that this time you actually have good tech earnings to support the Nasdaq record,” said Manish Singh, who helps oversee $2 billion as head of investments at Crossbridge Capital in London. “The U.S. earnings season overall is turning out to not be so bad.”

     U.S. stocks capped a weekly increase, with the Nasdaq rising all five days to add 3.3 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rising 1.8 percent to close at an all-time high.

     Of the companies in the index that have reported results this season, 76 percent beat profit projections and 51 percent exceeded sales estimates. Results from Apple Inc. and Pfizer Inc. are due next week.

     Amazon.com jumped 14 percent as its quarterly sales beat projections. Starbucks Corp. and Juniper Networks Inc. rallied more than 5 percent as they posted better-than-forecast quarterly revenue. Xerox Corp. lost 8.7 percent after cutting its full-year profit forecast.

     Treasuries rose after orders for business equipment unexpectedly fell in March for a seventh consecutive month. Federal Reserve officials have held their benchmark near zero since 2008 to support the economy. Policy makers meet next week in Washington.

     The euro strengthened 0.4 percent to $1.0868 as the dollar weakened versus all of its 16 major counterparts.

     Euro-area finance ministers met with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in Riga, Latvia. Varoufakis said the two sides have come “much closer together” and Greece is aiming for a deal as soon as possible.

     Europe’s Stoxx 600 capped a 1.2 percent weekly gain, and banks climbed the most among 19 industry groups on Friday. HSBC Holdings Plc rose 2.9 percent, the most in more than a year, after Europe’s largest bank started a review of where its headquarters should be. Renault SA jumped 3.7 percent after saying quarterly sales rose 14 percent.

     The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.8 percent, extending a fourth weekly advance to 1.8 percent in the longest run in more than three months.

     The Ibovespa rose 1.8 percent, extending the rally from a Jan. 30 bear-market low to 21 percent. Petroleo Brasileiro SA led gains in the span, jumping 68 percent after announcing a divestment plan and releasing delayed 2014 results.

     The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.5 percent, trimming its seventh week of gains to 2.8 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was little changed and is down 1 percent in the five-day period.

     China’s stocks fell on Friday after the securities regulator increased the pace of initial public offerings, spurring concern new equity sales will divert funds from existing shares.

     West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1 percent to settle at $57.15 a barrel in New York, trimming its sixth weekly gain, the longest winning streak since February 2014. Brent crude rose to $65.28, capping a 2.9 percent gain in the week.

     Iron ore gained as BHP Billiton Ltd. curbed expansion plans and supply from high-cost mines fell. Ore with 62 percent content at Qingdao advanced 5.5 percent to $57.81 a dry metric ton on Friday, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd.

     Gold futures tumbled the most in seven weeks, slipping 1.6 percent to settle at $1,175 an ounce as investors await next week’s Fed meeting amid signs of uneven growth in the U.S. Copper rose 1.4 percent and was down 0.6 percent on the week amid concern that a slowdown in China’s economy is lowering demand in the largest consumer of metals.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

Knowledge relieves all suffering.  Knowledge liberates.

Which knowledge?  Chemistry?  Physics?  Astronomy?  Geology?

They help a little, but only a little.  The true knowledge is the knowledge of our own nature.

Know yourself.  You must know who you are, understand your inner nature.

You must become conscious of this infinite nature in yourself.  Then you will break free of your shackles.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

After all, tomorrow is another day.

    -Margaret Mitchell, 1900-1949

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7