August 30, 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

As Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be sending the newsletter on her behalf.

For everyone out there who wears glasses (just like me), I wanted to share a website with you that I have used many times and been very happy with.  The company is called “Clearly Contacts”.  Not only do they have a wide variety of glasses, but you are also able to shop for contact lenses and sunglasses.  If you have never ordered from Clearly Contacts, they are offering your first pair of glasses for free!!!!!  Yes, you heard me right, for FREE.  Simply visit their website: www.clearlycontacts.ca and find the pair of glasses you like.  Not all frames are part of this offer, so when you find a pair you like, click on “description” and if it says “excluded from first free pair”, then unfortunately you will have to shop for another pair.  Once you have found the pair you like, continue to the checkout. When you get to the payment area, it will have a section for you to enter a coupon code in which you will enter “FPF”.  All you will have to pay is your shipping and handling and you will have your new frames in no time!

Hope everyone enjoys their free pair of glasses!

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

Photos of the Day –August 30^th, 2013

MiG-29 jet fighters of the Strizhi (Swifts) and Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighters of the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) aerobatic teams perform during a demonstration flight at the MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow. The world’s top aircraft makers will be touting their wares at Moscow’s MAKS air show in hopes of winning a big slice of the multi-billion dollar fighter jet market. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Revellers play with fireworks in an enclosed area on the main street of the village of Paterna near Valencia, Spain, during the annual ‘Corda’ festivity. Picture is taken through a security fence. Heino Kalis/Reuters

Market Closes for August 30^th, 2013

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Alex Barinka

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed as Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. rose after reporting higher- than-estimated earnings while gold producers slumped.

Couche-Tard increased 4.7 percent after same-store sales rose. Bank shares added 0.2 percent as a group after seven firms this week posted earnings that beat analysts’ predictions.

B2Gold Corp. and Alacer Gold Corp. slipped as much as 2.7 percent as the precious metal fell on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will curb stimulus. BlackBerry Ltd. fell 1.7 percent after people familiar with the matter said Morgan Stanley is holding off on upgrading its employees to the company’s newest smartphones.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 27.7 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,677.03 at 2:54 p.m. in Toronto, erasing earlier gains. The index had gained 1.5 percent in August.

Canadian stock exchanges are closed on Sept. 2 for the Labor Day holiday.

“Canadian bank earnings were solid, if not terrific, and that should bode well going forward,” Barry Schwartz, vice president and portfolio manager with Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, said in a phone interview. He helps manage about C$535 million ($508 million). “GDP in Canada was so-so, but it was positive and there is really no indication that it is going negative. Gold is a fear-trade. Some of that fear is subsiding.”

Seven of the 10 industries in the S&P/TSX declined.

Materials producers and phone companies fell more than 0.3 percent. Consumer staples, utilities and financial stocks climbed at least 0.2 percent. Trading volume in the benchmark gauge was 34 percent below the 30-day average at this time.

Canada’s gross domestic product rose at a 1.7 percent annualized pace from April to June, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa, while economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast a 1.6 percent rate.

The central bank forecast expansion at a 1 percent annual rate in the second quarter, accelerating to 3.8 percent growth from July to September, aided by the impact of a weaker currency and growing U.S. orders.

B2Gold fell 3.4 percent to C$2.83 and Alacer Gold slumped 3.2 percent to C$3.28 amid declines in prices for the precious metal and speculation the U.S. Fed will reduce stimulus.

Niko Resources slid 6.7 percent to C$4.89 as crude prices fell after U.K. lawmakers rejected a motion for attacks against Syria. Triology Energy Corp. fell 2.1 percent to C$27.40.

BlackBerry slid 1.7 percent to C$10.62. Morgan Stanley would normally have a firm timeline for an upgrade by now, more than five months after the new phones were introduced, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the bank’s deliberations are private.

Laurentian Bank of Canada fell 1.2 percent to C$44.43 after posting quarterly earnings that missed analysts’ projections as profit fell on costs tied to acquisitions.

Canadian Western Bank paced gains among lenders, climbing 0.9 percent to C$29.76. Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.8 percent to C$90.65.

Couche-Tard surged 4.7 percent to C$60.04, leading consumer companies higher. The convenience store operator also boosted its dividend.

US

By Nick Taborek and Jonathan Morgan

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capping its worst monthly drop since May 2012, as investors weighed the prospects for American military action in Syria and disappointing data on consumer spending.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,632.60 at 4 p.m. in New York, extending its decline in August to 3.2 percent. U.S. exchanges are closed Sept. 2 for the Labor Day holiday.

“People don’t want to go into the weekend hugely exposed up or down, especially with this fear of Syria overhanging the market,” Beth Lilly, a Minneapolis-based portfolio manager with Gabelli Funds, which oversees $40 billion, said in a phone interview. “There’s a lot of concern of if we get involved in a bombing, how protracted will our involvement be. The market does not like uncertainty, and there’s a lot of uncertainty as it relates to Syria.”

President Barack Obama told reporters that he hasn’t made a final decision on his response to the country’s alleged use of chemical weapons, and that “in no event” will it involve U.S. troops on the ground in Syria.

The S&P 500 earlier fell as low as 0.6 percent as Secretary of State John Kerry spoke after the Obama administration released an assessment saying intelligence agencies have “high confidence” that Syrian forces used chemical weapons in an Aug. 21 attack.

The index pared its decline as Kerry said the U.S. is committed to “a diplomatic process” and that any response to a chemical weapons attack in Syria will be “limited and tailored.”

“It’s clear that the administration is setting the stage and laying out the justification for a limited military strike,” Jim Russell, senior equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said in an interview. His firm oversees $110 billion. “The key language in Kerry’s talk was that the strike would tend to be limited and confined to a smaller scope. The markets like the tone of a one-and-done or confined type of program.”

The S&P 500 retreated this month amid the tension in Syria and concern that the Federal Reserve will reduce its bond purchases. Minutes of the central bank’s July meeting released Aug. 21 showed policy makers supported stimulus cuts this year if the economy improves. The officials next meet Sept. 17-18.

Data today showed consumer spending in the U.S. rose less than forecast last month. The measure, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, rose 0.1 percent. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.3 percent gain.

A separate report indicated consumer confidence dropped in August from a six-year high as interest rates rose and tensions in the Middle East intensified. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment for this month fell to 82.1, a four-month low, from 85.1 in July.

The MNI Chicago Report business barometer rose to 53 in August from a reading of 52.3 the prior month, in line with estimates. The regional index is viewed as an indicator of business activity across the U.S.

Investors head into the holiday weekend watching the political wrangling over the approaching limit on federal spending. The U.S. government is expected to exhaust its ability to borrow funds in mid-October, when it will hit the statutory debt limit, according to an estimate from the Treasury Department.

“September promises to be an important month, as discussions on the U.S. debt situation resurface and as the holiday season ends,” Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, wrote in an e-mail. “As investors roll up their sleeves for the last third of the year, volumes should pick up markedly from the current low levels.”

Have  a wonderful long weekend everyone!

Be magnificent!

“The only source of knowledge is experience.” – Albert Einstein

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