August 29, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

A Recipe for Happiness?  My favorite chef in the world, Michelin-starred Joël Robuchon (his gastronomic temple is in Tokyo, but there are outposts around the globe, including Las Vegas) has teamed up with acupuncturist and neuropharmacologist Dr. Nadia Volf have produced a new cookbook, Food & Life, which transforms kitchen cupboards into medicine cabinets, highlighting the wellness that resides in everything from foie gras to the humble pea.  Combining his artistry with her scientific knowledge, the pair claims that meals can improve your health, energy and mood, and maybe even help you find love.  “It’s about what to eat at different times, when you feel one way or another.  When you are obsessed by a thought that torments you, eat endives and your obsession will go away,” Volf said.  “I see so many girls who comfort themselves after a heartbreak by eating Nutella and big portions of ice cream, but it doesn’t work.  They gain weight, and they don’t feel better.  The most beautiful thing to eat when you have heartbreak is turkey because turkey has the amino acid tryptophan, which is the basis of our hormone serotonin.  But the girls just don’t know that.”  Robuchon and Dr. Volk offer cures for many different ailments, including forgetfulness:  caviar, served with a poached egg, smoked salmon, crème fraiche and chives.

Photos of the Day

People Baroque-period costumes walk in the Friedenstein Castle during the opening of the Baroque Festival in Gotha, central Germany. Jens Meyer/AP

A boy wears a traditional costume as farmers drive their cows and goats during the annual Alpabzug near the eastern Swiss town of Gonten. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuter

Market Closes for August 29^th, 2014    

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a record, snapping a two-day loss as oil producers advanced with data showing the nation’s economic growth rebounded to the fastest in almost three years on rising exports.

     Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp. increased 2.5 percent after agreeing to an acquisition. Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. rallied more than 1.9 percent as crude posted the first weekly gain in more than a month. Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lender by assets, fell 0.4 percent to extend losses a second day after reporting earnings.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 67.56 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,625.73 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge last closed at a high Aug. 26. The market will be closed on Sept. 1 for the Labor Day holiday.

     The Canadian index has advanced 1.9 percent this month, for a third straight gain. The S&P/TSX has surged 15 percent this year, making it the second-best performer among developed equity markets behind Denmark.

     Trading volume in the S&P/TSX was in line with the 30-day average today as eight of 10 industries advanced.

     The Canadian economy rose at a 3.1 percent annualized pace from April to June, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa, faster than the 2.7 percent economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Exports surged 17.8 percent on gains in automobiles, farm and forest products.

     Canadian Energy Services & Technology added 2.5 percent to C$10.82 after agreeing to buy the production and specialty chemical business assets of Southwest Treating Products LLC. Terms were not disclosed.

     Bellatrix Exploration added 2.3 percent to C$8.42 and Bankers Petroleum rose 1.9 percent to C$6.60 as West Texas Intermediate crude capped its first weekly gain in more than a month.

     Cameco Corp. rallied 1.2 percent to C$21.26, snapping a three-day loss as raw-materials stocks rose 0.9 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. The uranium producer prepared to shut down its McArthur River mine, the world’s largest source of the nuclear fuel due to a dispute with workers.

US

By Oliver Renick

     Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, finishing the biggest monthly gain since February, amid improving economic data and speculation central banks will continue to spur growth.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.3 percent to a record 2,003.37 as of 4 p.m. in New York today. The index jumped 3.8 percent this month, the best August performance since 2000.

     Economic reports showed consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in August, while consumer spending dropped in July for the first time in six months. Euro-area inflation slowed this month to the weakest rate since 2009, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to add stimulus. American equity markets will be closed on Sept. 1 for the Labor Day holiday.

     With the U.S. headed into the Labor Day holiday weekend, the stock market has been experiencing the slowest trading in at least six years. Volume has been below 5 billion shares in each of the past eight days, the longest stretch in data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 2008.

     “Investors’ lack of exposure to equities is still what drives the market higher, along with valuations which aren’t stretched,” Paul Atkinson, head of North American equities at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in Philadelphia, said in a phone interview. The firm oversees $551.4 billion.

     The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 18.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,098.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5 percent to 4,580.27.                         

     U.S. household purchases decreased 0.1 percent after increasing 0.4 percent in June, Commerce Department figures showed. None of the 79 economists in a Bloomberg survey projected a decrease. Incomes climbed 0.2 percent, the smallest monthly advance this year.

     Consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in August, showing a brightening in Americans’ moods as the labor market  gains traction. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final sentiment index rose to 82.5 from 81.8 in July. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 80.

     “You look through the data we’ve gotten this week, it’s strong, I think what the stock market’s getting is that this lfit is starting to help the consumer,” John Canally, chief economic strategist at Boston-based LPL Financial LLC, said via phone.

     In Europe, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.4 percent increase in July, the statistics office in Luxembourg said. Unemployment remained at 11.5 percent in July, Eurostat said in a separate report. ECB President Mario Draghi said in a speech at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that inflation expectations have deteriorated in the euro area and signaled policy makers are ready to add fresh stimulus.

     “The ECB meeting is next week and Draghi kind of precommitted at Jackson Hole when he started talking about inflation being below their desired range,” Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of multi-asset strategies at Voya Investment Management LLC, which oversees $213 billion, said by phone. “If they don’t do something different, global markets will be disappointed.”

     Avago Technologies Ltd., a semiconductor-device supplier, climbed 7.5 percent to $82.09 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after it reported earnings that topped estimates.

     Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., a clothing retailer, slid 9.6 percent to $2.08 after projecting losses in the third quarter that were deeper than analysts’ estimated.

     Veeva Systems Inc., the provider of cloud-based business services, jumped 20 percent to $29.97. It boosted its year-end earnings prediction and reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates.

     Nabors Industries Ltd., the oil, gas and geothermal land drilling operator, gained 3.6 percent to $27.21, the most in two months. A Bloomberg Industries report yesterday showed it stand to benefit from exposure to Argentina shale development.

Have a fantastic Labour Day weekend everyone!
 

Be magnificent!

Unity is an intellectual concept.

On an emotional level unity is serenity, equality, and equilibrium.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann

Measure not the work until the day’s out and the labor done.

                              –Elizabeth Barrett Browing, 1806-1861

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St., 

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7