Carolann – Page 271 – Carolann Steinhoff

October 2, 2014

October 2, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

October:

Birthdays: September 23 – October 22^nd, Libra

October 23 –November 21, Scorpio.

October Flower: Cornflower

October Birthstone: Opal

Green becomes gold. Orange pumpkins appear on the porches. Tasseled, colored corn hangs mysteriously on the doorframe. The world is on fire – it is becoming the sun! The maples redden. The poplars become flaming torches. Leaves drift weightlessly across the lawn and city parks. Twilight echoes with crows cawing. It is time to turn over a new leaf. Within us, summer’s gift of sun becomes a yearning to find ourselves. No longer immersed in nature’s greenness, we find ourselves detached from her. We want to think again, to find meaning in experience. Thought-life seems to strengthen. We want to understand. Perhaps the dead can help us. The month ends with Celtic Samhain, Christian All Souls and All Saints – Hallowe’en – when the veil between the worlds is thinnest and the spirits of the ancestors come with their gifts. –by Christopher Bamford.

On this day in 1950, the comic strip Peanuts, written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, was first published. It predominately ran on Sundays up until Feb. 2000, and continued in reruns years later.

Birthdays today:

Singer Sting was born on this day in 1951.

Mahatma Gandhi was born October 2, 1869.

Groucho Marx on this day in 1890.

Writer Graham Green was born on this day in 1904.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. –Mahatma Gandhi.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Rescuers walk in line after their search operation near the peak of Mount Ontake in central Japan. Saturday’s eruption of the volcano was the worst fatal eruption in postwar history in Japan. Kimi Takeuchi/Mainichi Shimbun/AP

A Philadelphia Fire Department boat makes a water display as pedestrians and cyclists move along the newly-christened 2,000-foot concrete Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk in Philadelphia. Matt Rourke/AP

Butchers from the Chatsworth Estate wait for the funeral procession of Deborah, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, central England. Deborah, the last of the Mitford sisters, who transformed Chatsworth into a popular tourist attraction, died aged 94 last week. Darren Staples/Reuters

Market Closes for October 2^nd, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

16801.05

-3.66

-0.02%

S&P 500

1946.17

+0.01

—

NASDAQ

4430.195

+8.110

+0.18%

TSX

14760.64

-44.80

-0.30%

International Markets

Market

Index

Close

Change

NIKKEI

15661.99

-420.26

-2.61%

HANG

SENG

22932.98

-296.23

-1.28%

SENSEX

26567.99

-62.52

-0.23%

FTSE 100

6446.39

-111.13

-1.69%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.093	2.079
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.624	2.671
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4339	2.3891
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1443	3.0999

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.89600	0.89560
US $	1.11608	1.11657

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41339	0.70752
US $	1.26639	0.78695

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1214.33	1214.86

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.01	90.73

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a fourth day, extending a four-month low, as energy producers dropped after Brent crude tumbled to the cheapest since 2012. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. sank the most in two months.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd. and BlackPearl Resources Inc. tumbled at least 2.9 percent to pace declines among energy stocks. Valeant sank 3.7 percent to lead health-care shares lower. Sears Canada Inc. lost 1.1 percent after parent company Sears Holdings Corp. said it will offer shares of the unit to generate as much as $380 million. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. jumped 5.4 percent to a record as the company started talks on developing surplus lands.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 44.80 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,760.64 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, retreating for a fourth straight day. The index lost 4.3 percent in September, the most since May 2012, and fell 1.2 percent in the third quarter.

Canadian shares plunged as much as 1.8 percent, following a rout in European equities on speculation new stimulus measures won’t be enough to revive growth in the euro area. The S&P/TSX pared declines in late trading as U.S. crude reversed. Six of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX retreated on trading volume 40 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Crude in New York dipped below $90 a barrel for the first time in 17 months before rebounding, while Brent crude dropped to the lowest level since June 2012 amid signs that global supplies are outstripping demand.

Bankers Petroleum fell 4.8 percent to C$5.01 and BlackPearl lost 2.9 percent as energy producers slid 0.7 percent as a group.

By Callie Bost and Jeremy Herron

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks rose, as small cap shares rebounded on speculation selling was overdone and as concern over Europe’s stimulus plan faded. Brent tumbled to the lowest since June 2012.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was little changed at 4 p.m. in New York, erasing an earlier slide of 1 percent. The Russell 2000 Index jumped 1 percent as small caps rebounded from a selloff yesterday. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 2.4 percent, the most since June 2013. The euro rose as much as 0.6 percent, advancing for the first time in three days versus the dollar. Treasuries weakened after gaining the most in more than eight months yesterday.

The European Central Bank left its main refinancing rate at 0.05 percent at its meeting today in Naples, Italy. Draghi said the central bank will buy assets for at least two years to boost inflation and economic growth in the euro area. U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped last week. Pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong said they will escalate protests if their demands aren’t addressed.

“People will come back to the market once they realize Europe is not falling a cliff and the U.S. economy is still pretty strong, but not so strong as to get the Fed to raise interest rates early,” Gary Black, global co-chief investment officer for Calamos Investments in Naperville, Illinois, said by phone. The firm oversees $25.6 billion. “We’re using this weakness to buy into names that got beaten up over the last week or so.”

The S&P 500 fell yesterday to its lowest level since Aug. 12, while the Russell 2000 Index of smaller shares sank 1.5 percent to close more than 10 percent below its record in March amid signs of economic weakness in Europe and geopolitical turmoil. The S&P 500 has fallen 3.2 percent since a Sept. 18 record.

While Europe is stepping up its stimulus efforts, the U.S. is on course to halt its monthly bond-buying program this month. Investors have been analyzing economic reports for clues on whether growth will withstand the end of quantitative easing and higher interest rates.

The U.S. jobless claims data come before the government’s labor report on Oct. 3, which may show that payrolls added 215,000 workers in September after a 142,000 increase the month prior that was the smallest this year, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The jobless rate probably held at 6.1 percent.

The ECB’s asset-buying plan is part of a range of stimulus measures it has announced since June to fight the threat of falling prices in the 18-nation currency bloc. Inflation slowed to 0.3 percent last month, the least in almost five years, and the central bank’s preferred measure of medium-term inflation expectations has extended its decline.

Today’s decline left the Stoxx 600 down 4.8 percent from an almost six-year high on Sept. 4. All 19 of the index’s main groups sank at least 1.5 percent. Oil and gas producers plunged 4 percent, the most in three years, while banks tumbled 3.2 percent.

“Draghi did not bring out the big bazooka that the market had hoped for,” Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Hellerup, Denmark, said by telephone. “Sentiment was already tilted to the downside on economic data and we are seeing an increasing likelihood of deflationary pressures. It seems that the market is interpreting Draghi’s words negatively and as not providing the salvation that was hoped for.”

The euro rose as investors curbed bets the central bank’s purchases would expand the ECB’s balance sheet enough to weaken the currency.

The euro added 0.3 percent to $1.2665 after touching $1.2571 on Sept. 30, the lowest level since September 2012. The yen appreciated 0.4 percent to 108.44 per dollar, having reached 110.09 yesterday, the weakest since Aug. 25, 2008.

“The view is that what they’re doing is simply not enough with buying bond assets for the next couple of years,” Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Fort Lee, New Jersey-based Palisade Capital Management, said by phone. The firm oversees $5 billion in assets. “I wouldn’t want to underestimate them. I believe in Draghi and that he will do whatever it takes and I believe that will include some new tools.”

The global economy needs bold policies to avoid a “new mediocre” period of sluggish growth as the world struggles with a disappointing recovery six years after the financial crisis, the head of the International Monetary Fund said.

“We see continued weakness in the global economy,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a speech today at Georgetown University in Washington. She cited “some serious clouds on the horizon,” including high unemployment and low inflation in the euro area, financial excesses building in advanced economies, and market and liquidity risks that are migrating to less-regulated parts of the financial system.

Treasuries gave back some of the biggest gain in eight months on speculation the performance of the U.S. labor market is strengthening. The benchmark 10-year yield rose five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 2.43 percent.

Developing-nation stocks fell 0.4 percent to the lowest since April. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is now down 9.8 percent since a Sept. 3 high. The measure has fallen 0.9 percent in 2014 and trades at 10.6 times projected 12-month earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Argentine bond and stock markets deepened their losses after the resignation of Central Bank President Juan Carlos Fabrega dimmed the prospect of a second peso devaluation this year.

The Merval stock index sank 7.1 percent, bringing losses to 15 percent since President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Sept. 30 publicly criticized the bank for allegedly leaking inside information.

The Micex Index tumbled 1.7 percent for a second day of losses. Russia’s central bank intervened for the first time since May to stem the world’s worst currency slide since June, ending the ruble’s five-day losing streak. The ruble gained 0.1 percent to 44.3072 against the central bank’s basket of dollars and euros.

The Jakarta Composite Index declined the most since April and the rupiah depreciated 0.2 percent after Indonesia’s parliament chose a house speaker that may challenge President- elect Joko Widodo’s plans to boost economic growth.

Equities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary lost at least 1.1 percent. Hungary central bank Deputy Governor Adam Balog is set to speak at a conference on the nation’s economic outlook and banking sector.

Markets in China and India are shut for holidays.

West Texas Intermediate oil dropped below $90 for the first time in 17 months, before erasing losses, amid signs that global supplies are outstripping demand. WTI fell as much as 2.8 percent to $88.18 a barrel in New York, before settling 0.3 percent higher at $91.01.

Brent for November settlement slipped 0.8 percent, to end the session at $93.42 a barrel in London. It’s the lowest close since June 28, 2012.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Water, you are the one that brings us life. You are the source of nourishment that gives us strength.

We rejoice at your existence.

We drink you with joy, as babies drink their mothers’ milk.

And when we swallow you, we receive love.

Water, carry away all my sins and my failures, all that has been bad in my life.

I seek you today; I shall plunge into your wetness.

Drown me in splendor.

The Vedas

As ever,

Carolann

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

-Peter Drucker, 1909-2005

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

October 1, 2014

October 1, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

October: the eight month of the ancient Roman calendar – Latin, octo = eight – when the year began in March, but now the tenth month. The Old English name was Winmonath, wine month, or the time of vintage. Another Old English name was Winterfylleth, perhaps meaning winter full moon, but possibly from fyllan, to fell, as time of tree-felling. In the French Revolutionary calendar, the equivalent month wasVendémaire, time of vintage, corresponding to the period from 23 September to 22 October.

October Club: In the reign of Queen Anne, a group of High Tory MPs who met at a tavern near the Houses of Parliament to drink October ale and to abuse the Whigs. It became politically prominent about 1710 although it had probably existed form the end of William III’s reign.

October 1, 1890, Yosemite National Park was established.

On this date in 1908, the first Model T rolled off the production line at a Ford factory in Detroit. Priced at $825 apiece, it was the first car designed to be affordable for the masses.

Also on this day, in 1924, Jimmy Carter, 39^th President of the US, was born.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
An Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen over a mountain camp north of the Arctic Circle, near the village of Mestervik. Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

A squirrel uses its tail to shield it from the weather as rain falls in south London. Official figures showed that last month was the driest September in the UK since records began over one hundred years ago. Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Market Closes for October 1^st, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

16804.51

-238.39

-1.40%

S&P 500

1949.47

-22.82

-1.16%

NASDAQ

4422.086

-71.304

-1.59%

TSX

14816.36

-144.15

-0.96%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16082.25	-91.27
		-0.56%
HANG SENG	22932.98	-296.23
		-1.28%
SENSEX	26567.99	-62.52
		-0.23%
FTSE 100	6557.52	-65.20
		-0.98%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.079	2.149
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.604	2.671
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.3891	2.4915
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.0999	3.1975

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.89560	0.89309
US $	1.11657	1.11971

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40913	0.70966
US $	1.26202	0.79238

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1214.86	1208.35

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	90.73	91.16

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, sending the benchmark index to the lowest level since June, as energy and industrial shares tumbled amid a selloff in U.S. equity markets.

Westport Innovations Inc., a maker of natural gas engines and components, plunged 25 percent after cutting its revenue guidance for the year. Penn West Petroleum Ltd. and Enerplus Corp. slumped more than 4.4 percent as Brent crude dropped to the lowest level in more than two years.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 155.07 points, or 1 percent, to 14,805.44 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, retreating for a third straight day. The index lost 4.3 percent in September, the most since May 2012, and fell 1.2 percent in the third quarter.

U.S. stocks tumbled today amid concern over economic growth in Europe and geopolitical turmoil as the Federal Reserve prepares to end its bond-buying program. The Russell 2000 Index dropped more than 10 percent from a record reached in March, meeting the common definition of a correction.

Equities fell as Italy cut its growth forecast, German manufacturing shrank and euro-area factories lowered prices in September by the most in more than a year. The weakness underlined the mounting challenge facing policy makers before the European Central Bank meets tomorrow.

Westport Innovations sank 25 percent to C$8.84, the most since 1996, as industrial stocks dropped 2.2 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Trading volume was 18 percent higher than the 30-day average today.

Energy shares slumped 1.8 percent as a group, erasing an early gain, as Brent oil tumbled 0.5 percent after Saudi Arabia cut its November official selling prices to all areas.

AGF Management Ltd. declined 4.1 percent to C$11.20 and Element Financial Corp. fell 3.9 percent to C$13.05 as the S&P/TSX Financials Index lost 0.8 percent.

By Jeremy Herron and Callie Bost

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled, with the Russell 2000 Index extending losses from a record to 10 percent, while Treasuries rallied the most in six weeks as the Federal Reserve remains on pace to end bond-buying this month amid growing signs of economic weakness in Europe.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 1.3 percent at 4 p.m. in New York to the lowest since Aug. 12. The Russell 2000 dropped 1.5 percent and is 10 percent below its March record. The Dow Jones Transportation Average sank the most since February as airlines retreated after the first reported U.S. case of the Ebola virus. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.8 percent. The rate on 10-year Treasury notes sank 10 basis points to 2.39 percent. Brent crude fell to its lowest level in more than two years.

Euro-area factories reduced prices by the most in more than a year and German manufacturing shrank, underlining the mounting challenge facing policy makers before the central bank meets tomorrow. U.S. manufacturing cooled in September following the strongest rate of growth in three years, while companies accelerated hiring for the first time in three months. A person familiar with German government policy said Russia risks an escalation of sanctions. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests swelled for a sixth day.

“The headwinds have come to the forefront and investors are starting to recognize that,” Randy Bateman, chief investment officer of Huntington Asset Advisors, which manages about $2.8 billion, said by phone. “You’ve got a whole bunch of geopolitical situations and you have concerns about economic weakness. We’ve always relied on the Fed priming the pump. This is the month the pump dries up so now people are focused on these other issues.”

The Fed is set to end later this month asset purchases that have helped nearly triple the S&P 500 during the bull market at a time when conflict between Ukraine and Russia threatens to tip Europe back into a recession and economists forecast growth from Japan to China will slow every year through 2016.

More than $200 billion in assets was erased from U.S. equity markets during the past three months, as stronger economic data fueled concern the Fed may also raise interest rates sooner than anticipated. The U.S. economy expanded in the second quarter at the fastest rate since 2011.

The S&P 500 has fallen three straight days and is down 3.2 percent since closing at a record on Sept. 18. The index added 0.6 percent last quarter, its seventh gain and longest streak since 1998. The gauge has not fallen four straight days this year, and has not slid more than 10 percent in three years.

Among stocks moving today, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. led makers of experimental Ebola treatments higher following the first reported U.S. case of the deadly disease. That also sent carriers from American Airlines Group Inc. to Delta Air Lines Inc. lower.

Shares held by Relational Investors LLC tumbled an average of 2.5 percent amid news that the firm will dissolve current funds by the end of next year, according to people familiar with the plans. Hewlett-Packard Co., the firm’s top holding in August according to a regulatory filing, slid 2.6 percent.

The Russell 2000 tumbled 7.7 percent in the third quarter, its worst performance in three years, as investors sold speculative stocks.

The Russell has seen some of the heaviest selling after the index beat the S&P 500 by more than 70 percentage points and traded at more than 60 times annual earnings after the first 5 1/2 years of the bull market. Thee small-cap gauge is down 6.7 percent this year, while the S&P 500 has advanced 5.3 percent.

“The market is showing nervousness just over the last couple weeks as we’ve been having this choppiness, especially in smaller companies,” Tim Courtney, who helps oversee about $1.3 billion as chief investment officer of Exencial Wealth Advisors, said in a phone interview from Oklahoma City. “Small caps have historically led the way down. This could be the beginning of a normal 10 percent correction.”

While the Institute for Supply Management’s index dropped to 56.6 from 59 in August, the gauge’s average over the past three months was the highest since early 2011, figures from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed today.

The Fed has been analyzing U.S. economic reports for clues on whether growth will withstand the end of quantitative easing and higher interest rates.

Concern that the central bank will be forced to move forward the timing of any rate increase bolstered the greenback last quarter. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which measures the currency against a basket of 10 peers, rallied 6.7 percent in the July-September period, the most since 2008. The index was little changed today.

The dollar rose 0.1 percent to $1.26183 per euro. It touched $1.2571 yesterday, the strongest level since September 2012. The greenback dropped 0.6 percent to 108.95 yen after rising earlier to 110.09 yen, the highest since Aug. 25, 2008.

Treasuries rallied the most in six weeks as yields higher relative to most Group of Seven nations increased demand from investors worldwide concerned global growth is stalling.

Benchmark 10-year notes yielded almost the most versus their German counterparts since 1999 after the dollar touched a two-year high versus the euro yesterday.

“We have this quest for growth and central banks are unable to produce it,” said Richard Gilhooly, an interest-rate strategist in New York at TD Securities Inc., one of 22 primary dealers that trade with the Federal Reserve. “We have a global deflationary situation developing.”

The yields have gained versus bunds for a record nine quarters as the European Central Bank unveiled a series of stimulus measures to boost credit lending and combat the threat of deflation. The ECB is forecast to announce tomorrow details of its plan to buy asset-backed securities.

The ECB is on a mission to avert deflation as the euro region’s economic landscape deteriorates. Purchasing Managers’ Indexes from Markit Economic showed manufacturing also contracted in France, Austria and Greece, with a gauge for the 18-nation region pointing to near-stagnation. A separate report showed spillover to the U.K., with factory growth there at a 17- month low.

The Stoxx 600 fell today after climbing 0.4 percent last quarter, a fifth increase and the longest stretch since 2006. J Sainsbury Plc slumped to the lowest price in more than 11 years after saying it won’t see a return to growth in same-store sales this year. Orange SA fell 7 percent as Bpifrance sold a stake in the company for 580 million euros ($730 million).

Developing-nation stocks dropped for a fifth day and currencies slid amid prospects for higher U.S. interest rates. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.9 percent to the lowest level since May.

The ruble weakened 0.2 percent versus a target basket of dollars and euros, a day after briefly crossing the level at which the central bank intervenes to halt declines.

Two officials with direct knowledge of the discussions said yesterday that Russia’s central bank is weighing temporary capital controls if outflows intensify. The central bank denied it’s considering such measures.

If separatists took the Donetsk airport or the city of Mariupol in an effort to create a land corridor in eastern Ukraine, the EU might impose additional sanctions, according to the official, who asked not to be named because he isn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Russia has denied any involvement.

Russia’s economy will expand 0.5 percent next year, the International Monetary Fund said today, cutting its previous growth forecast in half.

The Brazilian real depreciated 1.3 percent and South Korea’s won dropped to a six-month low. Pro-democracy protests continued in Hong Kong with markets in the city and China shut for holidays.

Brazil’s Ibovespa sank 2.3 percent as a voter poll showing President Dilma Rousseff’s victory in this month’s election curbed bets that a new administration would reduce intervention in the economy and act to bolster growth.

Brent crude dropped to the lowest level in more than two years after Saudi Arabia cut its November official selling prices to all areas. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped to a 17-month low.

Brent for November settlement fell 51 cents, or 0.5 percent, to end the session at $94.16 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It closed at the lowest level since June 28, 2012.

Nickel prices fell to a six-month low as inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange extended an increase to a record. Aluminum tumbled the most in 14 months.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

How can you regard yourself as subject and other beings as objects,

when you know that all are one?

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

As ever,

Carolann

Sublimity is the echo of a noble mind.

-Longinus, 213-273 AD

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

October 1, 2014

September 30, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today entitled What’s the Best time to go to Bed?

By Heidi Mitchell

Sept. 29, 2014 7:01 p.m. ET

Many people categorize themselves as morning larks or night owls, but even they can have trouble finding the optimal moment to turn in for the night. One expert, Rafael Pelayo, a clinical professor in the division of sleep medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine, explains the secret to sorting out bedtime and why 8-year-olds are the best sleepers.

The Brain Goes Tick-Tock

The suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN, is the part of the brain where the optic nerves crisscross, (near the hypothalamus), says Dr. Pelayo. It actually ticks, he says, keeping time at about 24 hours and 10 minutes a day. “It’s what forces us to get sleepy when it’s nighttime,” he says. In fact, this internal clock is so important, it gets better blood supply than any part of the brain, and is nearly impossible to destroy, even in a stroke. “There is a very basic need for us to be able to predict time,” says Dr. Pelayo. Humans are diurnal, and adults aren’t normally “random” sleepers.

Always on Alert

Humans’ alertness levels aren’t constant, however, adds Dr. Pelayo. “People think that sleep is like gasoline, that in the morning, just after a good sleep, you’re most alert because your tank is full, but that’s not the case,” he says. Because of our long evolution, humans have developed sleep patterns and alertness to match needs for survival. “People are most alert in midmorning and just before going to bed; we’re less alert in the late afternoon, when the days are hottest and the lions were less likely to attack us,” he says, adding that this explains why many people get drowsy after lunch, but not after breakfast. Later in the day, he says, all humans have a second wind, about two to three hours before their falling-asleep time.

The Cycle of Sleep

The 90-minute sleep cycle also evolved from the need to be alert at times in the night. “Humans are meant to have a brief awakening every 90 minutes for 20 to 30 seconds, look around and be sure everyone is safe, and then fall back asleep,” says Dr. Pelayo, which is why new mothers are able to nurse in the night and then sleep again. “If you’re cozied up in bed and then begin to worry about the door being locked, eventually the biological need to sleep will overpower you. But after three to four hours, you will wake up and check the door,” he says. That need for security is deep-seated, and providing a safe environment is the best way to begin the process of going to sleep.

Serenity Now

There is an old saying that “one hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after midnight,” but Dr. Pelayo says this statement is totally false. “It’s a mistake to go to bed too early,” he says. “Trying to go to sleep when your body wants to be awake is like swimming upstream.”

Instead, a good strategy, says Dr. Pelayo, is to lock in the wake-up time and restrict your time in bed to your usual amount of sleep (which may not be the oft-cited eight hours). “Restricting your opportunity to sleep may actually make you go to bed later but the biologic drive to sleep will help you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper,” he says.

By his equation, “your ideal bedtime should be about 10 to 15 minutes before you want to fall asleep,” he says. “So if you want to be up at 7:30 a.m. and want to sleep 7.5 hours, you should get into bed about 11:45 p.m.”

The best sleepers in our society, he says, are 8-year-olds, who still have rules about bedtimes and go to bed without any worries. To sleep like one of those serene children, says Dr. Pelayo, “put your mind at ease, say your day is done, don’t spend too much time in bed and always, always get up at the same time in the morning.”

Email your Burning Questions to burning@wsj.com

On this date in 1927, Yankee great Babe Ruth set a baseball record by hitting his 60th home run of the regular season

Also on this day in 1955, James Dean was killed in an automobile collision.

On September 30^th, 1452, the Gutenberg Bible was published.

1928, Elie Wiesel was born.

1924, Truman Capote was born.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Postman Fiete Nissen, poses in his trolley on the track from the coast of Dagebuell, north of Hamburg, to the tiny North Sea islands of Oland and Langeness on his last working-day. Nissen was the official postman for the islands’ 139 residents for more than 37 years. Fabian Bimmer/Reuters

Vehicles drive by as a display of Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen north of the Arctic Circle, over the village of Mestervik in northern Norway. Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Aerial view of a river in Peru’s Amazon region of Loreto. Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters

Market Closes for September 30^th, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17042.90

-28.32

-0.17%

S&P 500

1972.29

-5.51

-0.28%

NASDAQ

4493.391

-12.462

-0.28%

TSX

14960.51

-16.41

-0.11%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16173.52	-137.12
		-0.84%
HANG SENG	22932.98	-296.23
		-1.28%
SENSEX	26630.51	+33.40
		+0.13%
FTSE 100	6622.72	-23.88
		-0.36%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.149	2.124
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.671	2.647
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4915	2.4771
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1975	3.1647

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.89309	0.89582
US $	1.11971	1.11630

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41416	0.70713
US $	1.26296	0.79179

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1208.35	1215.98

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.16	94.57

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a second day, capping the biggest monthly loss in more than two years, as oil slumped the most in almost two years and data showed economic growth in the nation unexpectedly stalled in July.

Ithaca Energy Inc. and BlackPearl Resources Inc. plunged at least 6.7 percent to pace declines among energy stocks. Detour Gold Corp. and Centerra Gold Inc. slipped at least 6 percent as the price of gold retreated to an eight-month low. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. climbed 1.7 percent to pace an advance among industrial companies.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 16.41 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,960.51 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The index lost 4.3 percent in September, the most since may 2012, and fell 1.2 percent in the third quarter.

Canada’s gross domestic product was little changed in July, short of the median forecast for a 0.3 percent expansion in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Oil and gas extraction fell by 1.6 percent in July as cooler-than-normal temperatures curbed output of utilities, Statistics Canada said.

BlackPearl Resources slumped 6.7 percent to C$2.10 and Ithaca Energy lost 7.9 percent to C$2.10. Crude in New York sank 3.6 percent to $91.16 a barrel and plunged 13 percent in the quarter, the most since June 2012.

Detour Gold sank 6 percent to C$8.78 and Centerra Gold slumped 7.6 percent to C$5.02 as raw-materials stocks retreated 1 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX.

Sherritt International Corp. plunged 11 percent to C$3.10, a six-month low. Nickel, which fell into a bear market yesterday, lost 2.2 percent in London.

Industrial shares jumped 0.6 percent and financial stocks added 0.2 percent as six of 10 groups in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge rose on trading volume 25 percent higher than the 30-day average today.

By Callie Bost and Eric Lam

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, trimming a seventh straight quarterly gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as small-cap and energy shares slumped amid an unexpected decline in consumer confidence.

Energy shares in the S&P 500 tumbled 1.2 percent as oil futures plunged more than 3.5 percent. Ford Motor Co. dropped 2.1 percent after saying it will miss a profit forecast for 2014. EBay Inc. jumped 7.5 percent after the world’s biggest online marketplace said it will separate from its payments unit PayPal next year. Move Inc. rallied 37 percent after News Corp. agreed to buy the owner of real-estate websites.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,972.29 at 4 p.m. in New York, ending the quarter with a 0.6 percent gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 28.32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,042.90. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller shares dropped 1.5 percent, capping its worst quarter in three years. About 7.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 29 percent higher than the three-month average.

“It’s quarter-end, investors are parsing out the economic data and the geopolitical landscape,” said Craig Fehr, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones on the phone from St. Louis. The firm manages about $800 billion globally. “Investors are trying to digest all of this news and we’re here at the end of the month and end of the quarter so there’s some short-term repositioning in the market.”

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent yesterday as Hong Kong protests spurred political concern and a rebound in consumer spending fueled speculation the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than anticipated. The gauge lost 1.6 percent in September with the Fed on course to end its monthly bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing, in October.

Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly declined in September to a four-month low as Americans’ views of the labor market deteriorated. The Conference Board’s index decreased to 86 this month, weaker than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists, from an August reading of 93.4 that was the strongest since October 2007.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 6.7 percent from July 2013, the smallest 12-month gain since November 2012, a report from the group showed today.

Investors are analyzing reports to assess whether economic growth is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates. The S&P 500 reached a record on Sept. 18 as the Fed maintained a commitment to keep interest rates near zero for a considerable time after completing asset purchases. The central bank also said that the timing could move forward if data continue to exceed expectations.

Data on the manufacturing and services industries are due later this week, in addition to the government’s monthly labor report. Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the earnings season when it reports quarterly results on Oct. 8.

“The idea of earnings growing is going to be the more vital issue over the next year, as opposed to P/E expansion,” David Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers” with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle. “The idea of an expanding economy is what drives sales.”

Kostin reiterated his year-end forecast of 2,050 for the S&P 500. He forecasts that the benchmark gauge will increased 8.5 percent to 2,150 over the next 12 months.

Equity futures fell earlier in the day as two officials with direct knowledge of the discussions said Russia’s central bank is weighing the introduction of temporary capital controls if the flow of money out of the country intensifies. Stocks rebounded after the central bank said on its website that it isn’t considering imposing limits on cross-border capital flows.

“There’s just a lot of cross currents out there today,” James W. Gaul, a portfolio manager at Boston Advisors LLC, which oversees about $2.9 billion, said by phone. “With earnings season looming around the corner, there’s not a lot of impetus to move either way. We could just be taking a pause and waiting for the next catalyst to move us either way.”

The S&P 500 is up 0.6 percent for the quarter, its seventh straight advance and longest rally since June 1998. It has not had a four-day losing streak this year and has not fallen more than 10 percent in three years. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 5.2 percent in the three months.

Small-cap stocks haven’t had the same success. The Russell 2000 is down 7.7 percent for the quarter, and has dropped 8.9 percent from a record reached in March as investors have sold more speculative shares.

The Chicago Board Options Volatility Index, a gauge of investor trepidation derived from options, averaged 14.5 last week, 12 percent above its mean level during the third quarter. The VIX climbed 2.1 percent to 16.31 today.

Six out of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 declined. Energy shares had the biggest drop, losing 1.2 percent. The group has lost 9.2 percent for the quarter, the worst showing in the S&P 500 and its largest retreat in three years.

Ford dropped 2.1 percent to $14.79, adding to yesterday’s 7.5 percent plunge. The second-largest U.S. automaker said it will miss a profit forecast for 2014 as weakening sales in Russia, deflation in South America and recall costs in North America reduce income.

EBay jumped 7.5 percent to $56.63. The San Jose, California-based company announced it will split itself into two publicly listed entities. The announcement follows activist shareholder Carl Icahn’s campaign earlier this year for PayPal’s spinoff.

Move rallied 37 percent to $20.96. News Corp. will buy the San Jose, California-based company for $21 a share. That’s 37 percent higher than Move’s $15.29 closing price yesterday. News Corp. fell 2.7 percent to $16.35.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

I often ask myself at what point can a man and a beast that cannot talk recognize each other.

From the early paradise, at the dawn of creation, runs the path where their hearts meet.

Although their connection has long been forgotten,

traces of their continuing association has not been erased.

And , suddenly, in a wordless harmony,

a dim memory awakens and the beast looks on the face of the man with tender trust

and the man casts his eyes upon the beast with an amused tenderness.

It is as if two friends, both wearing masks, meet

and vaguely recognize each other through their disguises.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

You cannot open a book without learning something.

-Confucius, 551 BCE – 479 BCE

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

September 30, 2014

September 29, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

We checked out the new incarnation of Chambar in Vancouver on Saturday night and highly recommend it. So for all of you who live in Vancouver or travel there frequently as I do, it’s very good – nice décor as well. Still on Beatty Street, just a few door away from the old local. And what’s more, it’s walking distance to Rogers’ theatre if you are going to a show or the stadium for a game. Food and service are excellent. Russell Peters still very funny!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A calm and tranquil North Sea laps against the art installation, ‘The Couple’ by artist Sean Henery just off the coast at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, in north east England, as the warmer than usual temperatures continue across the United Kingdom. Owen Humphreys/AP

Surfer Dog Tillman rides a wave at the Surf City surf dog contest in Huntington Beach, California. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Market Closes for September 29^th, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17071.22

-41.93

-0.25%

S&P 500

1977.80

-5.05

-0.25%

NASDAQ

4505.852

-6.342

-0.14%

TSX

14976.92

-49.85

-0.33%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16310.64	+80.78
		+0.50%
HANG SENG	23229.21	-449.20
		-1.90%
SENSEX	26597.11	-29.21
		-0.11%
FTSE 100	6646.60	-2.79
		-0.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.124	2.163
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.647	2.684
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4771	2.5258
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.1647	3.2140

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.89582	0.89637
US $	1.11630	1.11561

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41649	0.70597
US $	1.26891	0.78808

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1215.98	1217.93

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.57	93.54

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, after rallying the most in five weeks, as markets around the world slumped after pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong added to geopolitical concerns.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lender, tumbled 0.9 percent to pace declines among financial stocks. Pembina Pipeline Corp. and Talisman Energy Inc. retreated more than 1.8 percent. Encana Corp. rose 2 percent after agreeing to buy Athlon Energy Inc. for $5.93 billion to gain a foothold in Texas.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 49.85 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,976.92 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge rose 0.9 percent on Sept. 26, paring a weekly loss to 1.6 percent. The index has plunged 4.2 percent so far in September, poised for its worst month in more than two years.

The MSCI All-World Index, which tracks both developed and emerging markets, slumped 0.5 percent today to a seven-week low.

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters poured back into the streets of Hong Kong after a weekend of demonstrations, demanding free and open elections and the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying. The benchmark Hang Seng stock index plunged 1.9 percent.

Toronto-Dominion sank 0.9 percent to C$54.91 as financial stocks fell 0.7 percent as a group. Six of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX retreated on trading volume 4.7 percent lower than the 30-day average today.

Pembina Pipeline dropped 2 percent to C$46.64 for a seventh day of losses, the worst streak since 2012, and Talisman Energy lost 1.8 percent to C$9.75.

Encana gained 2 percent to C$24.06 after making its largest purchase since the Calgary-based company was formed in 2002. Encana, which split its oil production into a separate company in 2009, is returning to crude amid a supply glut that’s lowered natural gas prices 2.3 percent this year.

By Callie Bost and Oliver Renick

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, after the worst week in almost two months for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as Hong Kong protests added to geopolitical concern and a rebound in consumer spending fueled speculation the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than anticipated.

Ford Motor Co. slid 7.5 percent after saying pretax profit this year will miss its goal amid weaker results in South America and Europe. An S&P index of homebuilders retreated 1 percent as U.S. contracts to buy existing houses fell in August. Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. dropped more than 2.9 percent as casino companies slid. Semiconductor stocks in the S&P 500 climbed as Micron Technology Inc. and Intel Corp. gained at least 1.8 percent.

The S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,977.80 at 4 p.m. in New York, trading near its 50-day moving average after paring an earlier drop of 1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 41.93 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,071.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.1 percent. About 5.9 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 4.2 percent above the three-month average.

“There’s this sense of foreboding in the stock markets that we’re almost deserving of at least a correction,” Drew Wilson, an investment analyst with Fenimore Asset Management in Cobleskill, New York, said in a phone interview. “Nobody wants to be in the way of that. We’ve had one tiger awaken in Russia and now we have a tiger awakening in China and that’s a little too much risk and uncertainty for U.S. stock market investors to have on their plates.”

The S&P 500 is down 1.3 percent for the month, paring a gain for the quarter to 0.9 percent. It has not had a four-day losing streak this year and has not fallen more than 10 percent in three years.

Swings in equities have widened at the end of the quarter, with the Dow alternating between gains and losses of more than 100 points the previous four days.

The S&P 500 slid 1.4 percent last week, the biggest decline in almost two months, amid an escalation in the Middle East conflict and a selloff in small-capitalized stocks and technology shares. It jumped 0.9 percent on Sept. 26 after a report showed the U.S. economy expanded in the second quarter at the fastest rate since 2011.

“We’re in a giant yo-yo the past six sessions but central banks are still accommodative, U.S. growth is decent, the grind higher is still intact,” Michael Block, chief equity strategist at New York-based Rhino Trading Partners LLC, said in a phone interview. “We’re just hitting some bumps with macro issues.”

Data today showed consumer spending in the U.S. rebounded in August as further job gains encouraged households to loosen their purse strings. Purchases increased 0.5 percent last month after little change in July. Incomes increased 0.3 percent.

A report from the National Association of Realtors showed contracts to purchase previously owned homes declined in August as tighter credit and limited wage growth weigh on potential buyers. The pending home sales index dropped 1 percent after a 3.2 percent increase in July.

KB Home dropped 2.4 percent to $15.19, while PulteGroup Inc. slid 0.8 percent to $17.74.

The Fed mustn’t “fall behind the curve” as it weighs when to start raising interest rates, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said in a Fox News interview, citing strengthening U.S. growth and building wage-price pressures.

U.S. data on employment and output from the manufacturing and services industries are due this week, and companies next month will begin to report earnings for the third quarter. Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the earnings season when it reports quarterly results on Oct. 8.

Stock markets overseas slumped today as tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters poured back into the streets of Hong Kong to press demands for free and open elections. Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong pledged to continue demonstrations unless the city’s top official steps down.

The turmoil added to the crises around the globe that have weighed on equities. Ukraine’s army endured its deadliest day since signing a cease-fire with pro-Russian militants 3 1/2 weeks ago, straining efforts to find a lasting settlement to the six-month conflict in the nation’s east. Investors are also watching the situation in Syria, where the U.S. and its allies are carrying out strikes against Islamic State positions.

Brazilian shares retreated 4.5 percent after a poll showed increased support for President Dilma Rousseff’s re-election bid. Traders are paring bets on the chances a new government will be elected next month and jump-start economic growth after the country fell into a recession in the first half of the year.

“Although we saw strong GDP numbers for the second quarter last week, there’s still a suspicion that unrest outside of our borders will impact economic growth here,” Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer at PNC Bank NA, which oversees $130 billion, said by phone from Philadelphia.

Nine of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 slumped today. Consumer-discretionary shares had the biggest loss among the group, sliding 0.6 percent.

Ford Motor tumbled 7.5 percent, the most since 2011, to $15.11. The second-largest U.S. automaker said it will earn a pretax profit of $6 billion this year, missing its goal of $7 billion to $8 billion. Ford told investors it will lose $1 billion in South America as inflation and other currency problems hurt operations there. Ford also forecast a loss of $1.2 billion in Europe this year and a loss of $250 million there in 2015.

Casino companies with operations in Macau slid amid the protests in Hong Kong. Las Vegas Sands Corp. tumbled 2.9 percent to $60.15, while Wynn Resorts Ltd. dropped 3 percent to $178.99. Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. fell 2.9 percent to $25.73 and MGM Resorts International slipped 1.9 percent to $22.16.

Civeo Corp. sank 50 percent to $12.84 after saying it won’t convert to a real estate investment trust and will re-domicile to Canada. The provider of workforce accommodation said it expects 2015 revenues and margins to be “materially lower” than in 2014.

Semiconductor stocks climbed 0.8 percent for the best performance among 24 S&P 500 groups. Micron jumped 2 percent to $34.50, while Intel rose 1.9 percent to $34.90.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. surged 26 percent to $28.18 as people familiar with the matter said SoftBank Corp. is in talks to buy the company. An acquisition hasn’t been formally discussed by senior executives at SoftBank, and the chances of reaching a final agreement are low, said another person familiar with matters at Tokyo-based SoftBank.

Computer Sciences Corp. jumped 5.3 percent to $59.62. The technology consultant for governments and companies has contacted private-equity firms including Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC to gauge their interest in a leveraged buyout, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Athlon Energy Inc. jumped 25 percent to $58.32 after Encana Corp. agreed to buy it for $5.93 billion in cash, gaining a foothold in the most-prolific U.S. oil producing region.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Between me and the smallest animal,

the difference is only in manifestation,

but as a principal he is the same as I am,

he is my brother, he has the same soul as I have.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

Carolann

Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

-Salvador Dali, 1904-1989

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

September 29, 2014

September 26, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Poet T.S. Eliot was born on this day in 1888.

We shall not cease from our exploration and at the end of all our exploring, we shall arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. –T.S. Eliot.

Going to see comedian Russell Peter’s show in Vancouver tomorrow night, his “Almost Famous World Tour” – should be a lot of laughs – still the best medicine!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Chris Vierra, renowned pumpkin carver from Villafane Studios, creates a lifelike Tyrannosaurus Rex sculpture using pumpkins and squash at Field Station: Dinosaurs, a 20-acre outdoor Jurassic learning expedition and family tourist attraction in Secaucus, N.J. Charles Sykes/Invision for Field Station: Dinosaurs/AP

The pack rides during the Men Under 23 road race over 113 miles of the Road Cycling World Championships in Ponferrada, northwestern Spain. Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP

Market Closes for September 26^th, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17113.15

+167.35

+0.99%

S&P 500

1982.85

+16.86

+0.86%

NASDAQ

4512.195

+45.448

+1.02%

TSX

15026.77

+133.20

+0.89%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16229.86	-144.28
		-0.88%
HANG SENG	23678.41	-89.72
		-0.38%
SENSEX	26626.32	+157.96
		+0.60%
FTSE 100	6649.39	+9.68
		+0.15%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.163	2.145
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.684	2.679
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5258	2.5004
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2140	3.2107

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.89637	0.89998
US $	1.11561	1.11114

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41496	0.70673
US $	1.26832	0.78844

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1217.93	1221.46

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	93.54	94.33

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced the most in five weeks, rebounding from a three-month low, as Bombardier Inc. and BlackBerry Ltd. rallied while crude producers climbed on speculation U.S. economic growth will increase demand.

Bombardier jumped the most since April after signing a firm purchase agreement with Macquarie AirFinance to sell at least 40 C-Series aircraft. BlackBerry Ltd. added 5.2 percent after reporting a narrower loss than analysts’ projected and selling out its new Passport smartphone. Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lender, gained 1 percent as banks snapped a five-day loss. Torex Gold Resources Inc. and B2Gold Corp. retreated more than 1.9 percent to pace declines among raw- materials stocks.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index added 133.20 points, or 0.9 percent to 15,026.77 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the most since Aug. 19. The benchmark equity gauge lost 1.6 percent in the past five days, its fourth straight weekly decline, the longest losing streak this year.

BlackPearl Resources Inc. jumped 4.7 percent to C$2.23 and RMP Energy Inc. climbed 3.4 percent C$6.96 as energy stocks rallied 1.3 percent as a group. Crude in New York surged 1.1 percent, capping the biggest weekly gain in a month.

The U.S. economy grew a revised 4.6 percent in the second quarter, up from a previous estimate of 4.2 percent. Busier assembly lines at the nation’s factories and job growth that’s kept Americans spending indicate companies are a bit more upbeat about the prospects for demand.

Torex Gold declined 1.9 percent to C$1.52 and B2Gold lost 3.8 percent to C$2.27 as the S&P/TSX Materials Index fell 0.1 percent.

BlackBerry rose 5.2 percent to C$11.44, snapping a three- day loss. The smartphone maker has sold 200,000 of its new square-screen Passport phone in its debut this week and reported a net loss of 2 cents a share, ahead of the 16-cent deficit forecast by analysts.

By Callie Bost

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rebounded from the worst day since July, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumping the most in five weeks, as corporate results topped estimates and data showed the fastest economic growth since 2011.

Nike Inc. jumped 12 percent after reporting first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates. Micron Technology Inc. added 6.8 percent after a surge in quarterly sales beat projections. Yahoo! Inc. jumped after Starboard Value LP said it wants the Web portal to explore a combination with AOL Inc. Janus Capital Group Inc. rallied 43 percent after hiring Bill Gross, co-founder and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent to 1,982.85 at 4 p.m. in New York. The equity benchmark slumped the most since July yesterday and lost 1.4 percent in the past five days, its worst week in eight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 165.88 points, or 1 percent, to 17,113.15, its best rally since Aug. 18. The Dow dropped 1 percent this week. About 5.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 12 percent below the three-month average.

“With some decent economic news in GDP, we’re now just seeing an oversold bounce as people get in line for the end of the quarter,” Ryan Detrick, a Cincinnati-based market strategist at the investment research firm, said in a phone interview. “We kept that beach ball down for a while and now it’s popping back up.”

Equities extended gains in afternoon trading as the S&P 500 moved above its average price for the past 50 days. The gauge dropped below the level yesterday for the first time since August. The index has advanced 7.3 percent this year, extending a bull market that has nearly tripled its level since 2009, amid continued Federal Reserve stimulus even as the economic recovery shows signs of strengthening.

The S&P 500 had fallen 2.3 percent since reaching a record on Sept. 18. Apple Inc., the largest company in the gauge, led a 1.6 percent selloff yesterday and dragged the Nasdaq 100 Index to its worst performance since April.

The Nasdaq 100 rebounded 1.2 percent today while the Russell 2000 Index added 0.8 percent after a 1.6 percent selloff yesterday. Apple advanced 2.8 percent.

“I do think it’s still a buy the dips market,” James Liu, global market strategist at JP Morgan Funds in New York, said by phone. The firm oversees about $400 billion in the U.S. “There’s always short-term news that can derail the market. But in the end, the underlying strength of the U.S. market still comes back so you’ve had upward momentum despite the dips.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as the VIX, retreated 5.1 percent to 14.85 today. The index rallied 18 percent yesterday, the most since July, and added 23 percent this week.

Data today showed gross domestic product grew at a revised 4.6 percent annualized rate, up from a previous estimate of 4.2 percent, as companies stepped up investment and households boosted spending. A separate report indicated consumer confidence climbed in September to a 14-month high as Americans’ outlooks for the economy improved.

The Fed last week maintained a commitment to keep interest rates near zero for a considerable time after completing asset purchases. The Fed also said that the timing could move forward if data continues to exceed expectations. Investors are analyzing reports to assess whether growth is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates.

Economic reports on employment and output from the manufacturing and services industries are due next week.

“Clearly the economy has seen varying degrees of improvement, but the level of improvement is not at where it warrants higher interest rates,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said by phone. “At present, it’s too early to put the bear suit on. It’s a ’buy on the dips’ equity and we may grind higher until earnings.”

All of the 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced today. Producers of consumer-discretionary products added 1.1 percent, while energy shares surged 1.3 percent.

Nike Inc. rallied 12 percent to a record $89.50. The world’s largest sporting-goods maker, posted first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates after the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament boosted sales.

Technology shares jumped 1.2 percent, as Micron and Yahoo surged. The group had its worst day since April yesterday.

Yahoo added 4.4 percent to $40.66. Starboard, which acquired a stake in the company, said Yahoo should review a tie- up with AOL to “unlock value.” AOL shares gained 3.7 percent to $44.55.

Micron Technology added 6.8 percent to $33.84. The largest U.S. maker of computer-memory chips said fourth-quarter sales rose 49 percent, exceeding analysts’ estimates, as corporate demand for personal computers boosted prices.

Janus Capital surged 43 percent to $15.89, the highest since 2008. Gross is leaving Pimco amid record redemptions at his main mutual fund, the $222 billion Pimco Total Return fund. Allianz SE, the German insurer that owns Pimco, declined 6.2 percent in Frankfurt, the most since 2011.

“It’s a coup for Janus and it shows you with the stock price today how much investors weigh having Gross at Pimco,” said Kevin Headland, director of the portfolio advisory group at Manulife Asset Management in Toronto. The firm manages $281 billion. “The name of the person is the biggest name we have out there in North American money management, he’s all over the news and the news is quite shocking, so it drives people to take the money out and see where the chips lie.”

Pimco’s Global StocksPLUS & Income Fund slipped 5.7 percent, while the firm’s High Income Fund decreased 6.1 percent, after earlier falling the most in almost two years.

Closed-end funds bore the brunt of the selling because they aren’t subject to the intraday redemption and creation processes that cause exchange-traded funds to hew to the market prices of their underlying assets. For instance, as of yesterday, the Global StockPlus & Income fund traded at a 78 percent premium to its net asset value, while the High Income Fund cost 46 percent more than the value of its bonds.

“A lot of people bought into Pimco because of Bill Gross who was the face of the organization and so they’re shooting first and asking questions later,” Bill Mann, chief investment officer of Alexandria, Virginia-based Motley Fool Asset Management LLC, said by phone.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

Bees suck nectar from many different flowers, and then make honey.

One drop of honey cannot claim to come from one flower, and another drop of honey from another flower,

the honey is a single consistent whole.

In the same way, all beings are one even though they are not aware of this.

The tiger and the lion, the wolf and the boar, the worm and the moth, the gnat and the mosquito,

all come from the soul, and are part of the soul.

Chandogya Upanishad

As ever,

Carolann

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

-Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962

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

September 26, 2014

September 25, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

When I arrived home last night, the new CD that I had ordered a couple of days on Amazon was waiting. I immediately opened it, flipped it into the CD player and we sat down to listen and were mesmerized by it. Highly recommended – I am referring to Barbra Streisand’s latest, entitled Partners. She sings duets with vocalists ranging from her son, Jason Gould to Elvis Presley. Some of the highlights are a duet with Billy Joel where they perform A New York State of Mind, one with Lionel Ritchie – an amazing rendition of The Way We Were, also ones with Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Josh Groban and BabyFace, to name a few. It debuted at the top spot on this week’s Billboard 200 album chart and it is easy to understand why. We love it!

The writer William Faulkner was born on this day in 1897.

The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past. –William Faulkner.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Saint Peter’s square is silhouetted during a sunset in Rome. Tony Gentile/Reuters

A field of pumpkins are seen next to palm trees along the coastline in Encinitas, California. Mike Blake/Reuters

Market Closes for September 25^th, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

16945.80

-264.26

-1.54%

S&P 500

1965.99

-32.31

-1.62%

NASDAQ

4466.746

-88.475

-1.94%

TSX

14893.57

-226.97

-1.50%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16374.14	+206.69
		+1.28%
HANG SENG	23768.13	-153.48
		-0.64%
SENSEX	26468.36	-276.33
		-1.03%
FTSE 100	6639.71	-66.56
		-0.99%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.145	2.202
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.679	2.737
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5004	2.5637
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2107	3.2765

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.89998	0.90421
US $	1.11114	1.10594

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41665	0.70589
US $	1.27495	0.78434

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1221.46	1216.96

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.33	94.00

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a fifth day, the longest streak in more than a year, as banks slumped and raw-materials producers retreated with metals prices.

National Bank of Canada lost 1.7 percent to pace declines among financial stocks. Raging River Exploration Inc. and Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. slumped more than 4 percent as energy producers extended a five-month low. OceanaGold Corp. dropped 3.8 percent as gold fell to an eight-month low.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 1 percent to 14,966.18 at 10:27 a.m. in Toronto, the lowest level since June. The benchmark equity gauge has lost 3.2 percent during its five- day slide, the longest since June 2013.

Nine of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX dropped today on trading volume 28 percent above the 30-day average.

Advantage Oil & Gas sank 4.1 percent to C$5.59 and Raging River lost 4.7 percent to C$9.19 as the S&P/TSX Energy Index slumped 1.6 percent for a fifth day of declines, headed for the lowest close since April 7.

OceanaGold tumbled 3.8 percent to C$2.29 as raw-materials stocks plunged 0.8 percent as a group.

Gold for December delivery fell as the dollar climbed to a four-year high against 10 major currencies.

Teck Resources Ltd. slumped 2.6 percent to C$21.42 and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. lost 1.3 percent to C$21.86 as copper and aluminum paced declines among industrial metals.

BlackBerry Ltd. retreated 2.8 percent to C$11.28. The company yesterday unveiled its Passport smartphone with a unique square screen, aimed at professionals.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 2.8 percent to C$141.17, the highest since June. The drugmaker has rallied 11 percent in the past two days after announcing its third-quarter earnings results were expected to beat consensus forecasts for revenue.

By Joseph Ciolli and Oliver Renick

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks sank, with the Nasdaq 100 plunging the most since April, as Apple Inc. sank on complaints related to its new smartphone and amid signs of worsening conflict in Russia and the Middle East.

Apple plunged 3.8 percent to lead the selloff in technology shares. Biogen Idec Inc. and TripAdvisor Inc. lost at least 3.3 percent as investors sold some of the bull market’s biggest winners. Allegheny Technologies Inc. sank 4.8 percent as industrial metals slid. The Russell 2000 Index of small-cap stocks sank 1.6 percent to close at a four-month low.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell the most since July, sliding 1.6 percent to 1,965.99 at 4 p.m. in New York. All but 14 of the index’s components retreated, the broadest slump since Feb. 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 264.26 points, or 1.5 percent, to 16,945.80. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.1 percent. About 6.4 billion changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 13 percent above the three-month average.

“We could have a pull back of 5 percent anytime if you have a confluence of factors that impact investor psychology or geopolitical factors that seem to get out of control,” Marshall Front, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Front Barnett Associates LLC, said by phone. “Stocks are no longer undervalued. There are rumors the Russian parliament authorized confiscation of foreign investments, Apple is weighing on the tech sector, and the durable goods top line number was very weak.”

Equities opened lower as data on equipment orders and jobless claims bolstered speculation the economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise rates sooner than estimated. Stocks extended losses on a report that Russian lawmakers drafted legislation that would allow the government to seize foreign assets. U.S. and Arab airstrikes targeted oil refineries in the east of Syria.

Today’s decline in the S&P 500 sent the benchmark gauge below its average price for the past 50 days for the first time since August. The index is down 1.9 percent in September, headed for its worst month since January.

Investors sold some of the market’s best performers, with the companies with the 10 biggest losses in the Nasdaq 100 Index having risen an average of 64 percent last year. An index compiled by Wells Fargo of companies with the biggest hedge fund ownership declined 1.7 percent.

The small-cap Russell 2000 has plunged 8.1 percent from a high on July 3, while the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index has lost 5.1 percent since Sept. 8.

U.S. data today showed applications for unemployment benefits increased less than forecast last week, while orders for business equipment climbed more than forecast in August. Demand for all durable goods slumped a record 18.2 percent.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8 percent yesterday, its biggest gain since Aug. 18, to rebound from a 1.4 percent slide over three days after closing Sept. 18 at an all-time high.

The gauge has not had a four consecutive declines this year as it continues a bull market that nearly tripled its level since March 2009. It is down 2.2 percent this week.

“There’s a broad-based fear that things could turn negative — the market has been short-term skittish,” Tom Sudyka, president of Lawson Kroeker Investment Management in Omaha, Nebraska, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees about $500 million. “Every time we get near or at a record, there’s always a pause to see if it’s a reasonable valuation.”

The S&P 500 trades at 17.8 times the reported earnings of its companies, near the highest level since 2010. The Nasdaq 100 has a price-earnings ratio of 23.6. It topped 24 this month for the first time since 2010.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as the VIX, increased 18 percent to 15.64 today, the most since July. The index slid 11 percent yesterday after surging 24 percent over the prior three days.

Eight of the 10 main S&P 500 groups retreated at least 1 percent today, with technology shares sinking 2.3 percent to pace losses. Materials producers plunged 1.5 percent. No stock in the benchmark gauge climbed more than 0.7 percent.

Apple’s 3.8 percent slide was the biggest since Sept. 3 and left the shares at a six-week low. The company pulled a new mobile-software update after the program caused some people to lose cellular service yesterday. Scores of consumers also criticized the new 6 Plus iPhone and how it can bend. Apple said the bending is “extremely rare.”

Biogen Idec dropped 3.7 percent and Illumina Inc. slid 2.8 percent to pace declines in the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100. The two had rallied at least 90 percent in 2013.

Allegheny Technologies sank 4.8 percent for the biggest drop in the equities benchmark. The metals miner led losses among material producers as commodities declined after the dollar touched a four-year high.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Autumn

The autumn comes, a maiden fair

In slenderness and grace,

With nodding rice-stems in her hair

And lilies in her face.

In flowers of grasses she is clad;

And as she moves along, birds greet her with their cooing glad

Like bracelets’ tinkling song.

Kalidasa

As ever,

Carolann

The surest test of discipline is its absence.

-Clara Barton, 1821-1912

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

September 25, 2014

September 24, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah, begins at sundown this evening. Rabbi Harry Brechner of Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El wrote a cogent piece in today’s local paper. Some thoughts merit reflection: “When the Jewish new Year begins at sundown tonight, it’s the culmination of a month when we ask ourselves questions that everyone – Jews and non-Jews – should ask in their quest to become better people.

‘Where am I in terms of my relationships?’ ‘Where am I in my self-growth?’ ‘What do I hope to achieve next year and in my life?’ ‘What’s the most meaningful thing in my life?’

….In Genesis, it teaches that we as humans are created in God’s image….At the same time, our actual selves that walk around on our planet are capable of feeling envy, lying, hurting ourselves and others. Our actual selves are what we see in truth in the mirror, with all of our scars, our warts, our bad habit. The path from our actual selves to our potential selves is our authentic self. The authentic self is our person on the pathway of teshuvah/repentance…. When we cause pain or hurt, we need to do our utmost to repair that which we have damaged and to seek forgiveness through contrition. We also need to promise the person we have wronged that we have changed and will not repeat those same behaviours.

Underlying the concept of forgiving the other is a sense that when I hurt someone, I also hurt God and in turn, hurt myself. If we see others as God’s children, the parallel is simple: As a human parent, we know that when our children are hurt and in pain, we as parents feel pain as well…”

On this day in 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers played their final game at Ebbets Field. The franchise moved to Los Angeles the following season.

Also on this day in 1896, F. Scott Fitzgerald was born.

At 18 our convictions are hills from which we look. At 45 they are caves in which we hide. –F. Scott Fitzgerald.

And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

-from The Great Gatsby

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Artist Nathan Sawaya poses for photographs with his Sculpture ‘Yellow’ at the Old Truman Brewery, East London. His exhibition which uses LEGO bricks as his medium will run from September 26 until January 4, 2015. Paul Hackett/Reuters

A devotee lights candles at a Chinese shrine during the annual vegetarian festival in Bangkok. The festival celebrates the local Chinese community’s belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

Market Closes for September 24^th, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17210.06

+154.19

+0.90%

S&P 500

1998.30

+15.53

+0.78%

NASDAQ

4555.23

+46.535

+1.03%

TSX

15120.54

-5.13

-0.03%

International Markets

Market

Index

Close

Change

NIKKEI

16167.45

-38.45

-0.24%

HANG

SENG

23921.61

+84.54

+0.35%

SENSEX

26744.69

-31.00

-0.12%

FTSE 100

6706.27

+30.19

+0.45%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.202	2.172
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.737	2.718
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5637	2.5256
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2765	3.2430

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.90421	0.90271
US $	1.10594	1.10777

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41340	0.70751
US $	1.27802	0.78246

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1216.96	1224.05

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.00	92.56

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little-changed at a six-week low, paring an earlier loss as financial shares retreated while Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. rallied the most in five months.

Talisman Energy Inc. and TransGlobe Energy Corp. lost at least 2.1 percent as energy stocks slumped to a five-month low. Bank of Nova Scotia sank 1.1 percent to pace losses among lenders. Valeant jumped 7 percent after the company said it expects to report third-quarter results that top estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 15,120.54 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest since Aug. 7, recovering from an earlier loss of as much as 0.8 percent. The index touched a record Sept. 3.

Five of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX dropped today on trading volume 35 percent above the 30-day average.

Talisman Energy fell 2.9 percent to C$9.97 and TransGlobe Energy lost 2.1 percent to C$6.52. The S&P/TSX Energy Index has fallen for four days, to the lowest since April.

Financial stocks, which account for about one-third of the weighting in the S&P/TSX, slid 0.5 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia lost 1.1 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank slipped 0.8 percent.

Valeant jumped 7 percent to C$137.29, the biggest gain since April. The drugmaker reports third-quarter earnings Oct. 20.

Sherritt International Corp. jumped 9.7 percent to C$3.62, the biggest rally since December. Base metal prices rallied in London as copper futures rose from a 14-week low.

BlackBerry Ltd. lost 0.8 percent to C$11.61, erasing an earlier gain. Chief Executive Officer John Chen unveiled a square-screened smartphone at an event in Toronto. The Passport is BlackBerry’s first major new device introduced globally since Chen was named CEO in November.

By Joseph Ciolli and Cordell Eddings

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rebounded as new-home sales surged and health-care shares erased yesterday’s losses. European equities rose on central bank stimulus bets, while Treasuries fell and the dollar strengthened.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.8 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, halting a three-day drop. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.7 percent. Both gauges closed yesterday at the lowest levels of the month. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 4 basis points to 2.57 percent after a notes sale drew lower- than-average demand. The euro fell below $1.28 for the first time in 14 months. Oil jumped 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed to the highest since March 2013.

New-home sales in the U.S. surged in August to the highest level in more than six years, a sign that the housing recovery is making progress. German business confidence fell more than forecast in September, after the European Central Bank said earlier this week it’ll be more active in its efforts to bolster the economy. Pfizer Inc. paced a rally in health-care stocks amid signs that efforts to curtail tax-friendly overseas deals might fall short.

“We had three down days in a row, but the size of the home sales increase was a surprise,” Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which oversees $2 billion, said in a phone interview. “Improved confidence and stocks being cheaper than they were a few days ago prompted some buying. Stock performance this year has been good because dips haven’t lasted very long.”

The S&P 500 dropped 1.4 percent during a three-day losing streak after closing Sept. 18 at a record. The gauge has not fallen four straight days since December.

The benchmark index rallied last week as the Fed reaffirmed that its benchmark interest rate will stay low for a “considerable time” after the central bank ends a bond- purchase program intended to spur growth.

Data today showed sales of new U.S. houses jumped 18 percent to a 504,000 annualized pace, the most since May 2008. The median forecast of 74 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for the pace to accelerate to 430,000. The one-month increase was the biggest since January 1992.

Treasuries fell for the first time in five days as the U.S. received the lowest demand at a five-year auction this year, with investors speculating the Fed is moving closer to raising interest rates. The $35 billion sale’s bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 2.56, versus an average of 2.75 for the past 10 sales.

The benchmark 10-year yield rose four basis points to 2.57 percent after dropping nine basis points the previous four days, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. Treasuries are headed for the steepest monthly loss this year after Fed officials raised their median forecast for borrowing costs earlier this month.

“The weak auction is reflecting a market that realizes that we are at a crossroads — the Fed seems on course to raise rates,” said Carl Lantz, head of interest-rate strategy in New York at Credit Suisse Group AG, which as a primary dealer is obligated to bid at U.S. auctions. “The market is finally starting to trade with that in mind, and it’s clear that time isn’t on your side anymore.”

Volatility across stocks, bonds and currencies worldwide is close to record or multi-year lows, even after Fed Chair Janet Yellen cautioned last week that the central bank could pull forward the timing of a rate increase if U.S. economic performance continues to exceed expectations.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as the VIX, decreased 11 percent to 13.27 today for the largest decline since Aug. 4. The index had surged 24 percent over the prior three days.

Small-cap and Internet stocks have led recent declines in U.S. equities. Drugmakers with pending cross-border mergers tumbled yesterday after the U.S. disclosed plans to limit tax- driven deals.

Health-care stocks had the biggest gains among 10 groups in the S&P 500 today, jumping 1.7 percent, amid signs that cross- border deals may continue despite the government’s efforts to curtail inversions. Pfizer climbed 0.9 percent after people with knowledge of the matter said the company has approached Actavis Plc about a deal that could allow it to move its address overseas and reduce taxes.

Among other movers, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. rallied 7.4 percent after posting quarterly profit and sales that topped analysts’ estimates. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. jumped 2 percent after reaching a deal with prepaid-card firm Green Dot Corp. to offer checking accounts to the retailer’s customers. Citizens Financial Group Inc. gained 7.4 percent in its trading debut after raising $3 billion in an initial public offering.

The Stoxx 600 rose after sliding 1.4 percent yesterday, the most since July 8. The volume of shares changing hands was 15 percent above the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Ifo institute’s business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, dropped to 104.7 from 106.3 in August. Economists predicted a decline to 105.8, according to the median of 36 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The index is now at its lowest since April 2013.

Since June, ECB President Mario Draghi has cut interest rates to record lows, offered cheap long-term cash to banks, and pledged to buy asset-backed securities and covered bonds in a bid to revive the euro-area economy. He has said policy makers will go further if needed, leaving open the option of quantitative easing, or large-scale buying of sovereign debt.

“At least for the ECB, today’s Ifo index is good news,” said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING-DiBa in Frankfurt. “It should hush German protests against the latest asset- purchasing program and even against future possible quantitative easing.”

The euro dropped 0.5 percent to $1.2780 on bets the ECB will add further monetary stimulus. The shared currency declined against most of its 31 major counterparts after Draghi said the exchange rate is in line with the divergence of monetary policy in Europe from other countries.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent, strengthening for a fourth day and extending a four-year high. The U.S. currency climbed 0.2 percent to 109.05 yen.

Gold futures fell 0.2 percent to $1,219.50 as the dollar rallied, damping demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment.

Oil jumped 1.4 percent after the Energy Information Administration said inventories dropped to an eight-month low. U.S. crude supplies decreased 4.27 million barrels last week as imports declined, according to the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected an increase.

The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.4 percent, after three days of declines. The gauge closed at its lowest level since Aug. 12 yesterday. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.2 percent, after four straight sessions of losses. The gauge is down 4.7 percent for September. The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index was little changed after closing at its lowest level since June 5.

Russia’s Micex added 0.9 percent and the ruble strengthened 1.2 percent against the dollar as the government held its first local debt auction in 10 weeks.

NATO said Russia has embarked on a “significant” withdrawal of forces from Ukraine, adding to signs that a truce is taking hold between the Kiev government and separatist groups.

Markets in the Middle East mostly declined. Dubai’s DFM General Index and Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock gauge dropped1.2 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

The bombing of Islamic State militants in Syria is being carried out by the broadest Arab-U.S. military coalition since the 1991 Gulf War. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar all joined the first wave of U.S.-led airstrikes against the group yesterday.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.5 percent as a jump in new trading accounts lifted brokerages. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong rallied 1.4 percent, rebounding from a two-month low.

Cotton fell 2 percent and touched 61.02 cents a pound, the lowest price since 2009. China, the biggest buyer of the fiber, will restrict imports next year to encourage use of domestic cotton, the government said on Sept. 22.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

I make no distinction between one religion and another.

People may worship me in any form they wish.

The form of worship does not matter to me;

my only concern is the quality of love which is expressed in worship.

I accept every kind of worship, because I am supreme.

The Bhagavad Gita

As ever,

Carolann

Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.

-Fulton J. Sheen, 1895-1979

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

September 23, 2014

September 23, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this date in 1846, it is believed that German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune.

Neptune is the Roman god of the sea corresponding to the Geek Poseidon, hence, allusively, the sea itself. Neptune is represented as an elderly mand of stately mien, bearded, carrying a trident and sometimes astride a dolphin or horse.

Today Bruce Springsteen turns 65 years old.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Fifty-year-old ginsengs are on sale at a market in Baishan, Jilin province, China. Each is worth approximately 150,000 yuan ($24,430), according to the seller. Reuters

A zookeeper holds an owl while attending a funeral service for zoo animals at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The zoo holds an annual service in remembrance of zoo animals that have passed away over the last year. Toru Hanai/Reuters

Market Closes for September 23^rd, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17055.87

-116.81

-0.68%

S&P 500

1982.77

-11.52

-0.58%

NASDAQ

4508.688

-19.001

-0.42%

TSX

15125.67

-3.33

-0.02%

International Markets

Market

Index

Close

Change

NIKKEI

16205.90

-115.27

-0.71%

HANG

SENG

23837.07

-118.42

-0.49%

SENSEX

26775.69

-431.05

-1.58%

FTSE 100

6676.08

-97.55

-1.44%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.172	2.228
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.718	2.755
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5256	2.5636
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2430	3.2891

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.90271	0.90566
US $	1.10777	1.10416

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42320	0.70264
US $	1.28474	0.77837

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1224.05	1214.89

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	92.56	91.52

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed at a six-week low after an advance in metal producers offset data showing retail sales unexpectedly fell for the first time in seven months.

OceanaGold Corp. and Eldorado Gold Corp. increased at least 4.3 percent as gold stocks snapped a four-day loss. Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. gained 2.9 percent as the drugmaker joined a consortium conducting Ebola treatment trials.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 15,125.67 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. Canadian equities have advanced 11 percent this year, the second-best performer among the world’s developed countries behind Denmark. The index touched a record Sept. 3.

Canadian retail sales fell 0.1 percent to C$42.5 billion ($38.7 billion) in July amid lower receipts at general- merchandise stores. Retail spending remains near last month’s record high after rising from a low of C$33.3 billion in December 2008. Future consumption may be crimped by near-record debt loads and sluggish job growth over the last year.

OceanaGold climbed 4.3 percent to C$2.41 and Eldorado Gold increased 4.8 percent to C$7.84 as raw-materials stocks rallied 1.3 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Four of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 8.3 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Gold prices added 0.3 percent to settle at $1,222 an ounce in New York. The U.S. and its Arab allies launched a barrage of airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria, while Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals rose 2.9 percent to C$26.77 for a six-month high. A U.S. doctor who contracted Ebola in Western Africa was treated with the company’s experimental therapy for a week while hospitalized in Nebraska, his doctors said. The stock has rallied 18 percent in the past two days.

BlackBerry Ltd. fell 2.9 percent to C$11.70, snapping a two-day advance, after Cormark Securities Inc. analyst Richard Tse lowered his rating for the stock to market perform, the equivalent of a hold, after the stock advanced 53 percent this year through yesterday.

BlackBerry has four buys, 24 holds and 10 sells, with an average 12-month price target of C$9.68, implying a 17 percent decline from current levels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Merus Labs International Inc. plunged 20 percent to C$1.60, the biggest drop since January 2009, after Chief Executive Officer Elie Farah resigned to pursue other opportunities.

By Joseph Ciolli

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s Index sinking a third day, as health-care shares slid amid a government crackdown on tax-saving mergers and as the Middle East conflict escalated.

Medtronic Inc. slid 2.9 percent after the Treasury Department disclosed plans to limit inversion deals. CarMax Inc. sank 9.5 percent after earnings missed estimates. Alibaba Group Holding Inc. fell 3 percent for a second day of losses. Nabors Industries Ltd. led energy shares higher, as crude oil prices advanced after the U.S. launched a series of airstrikes against the Islamic State.

The S&P 500 lost 0.6 percent to 1,982.77 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 116.81 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,055.87. The Russell 2000 Index dropped 0.9 percent for a third straight decline. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 8.4 percent above the three-month average.

“We’re going to continue to consolidate until we get better visibility as to whether the slowdown this month is for real,” Sam Turner, a fund manager with Richmond, Virginia-based Riverfront Investment Group LLC, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $4.6 billion. “The tax inversion issue is also hanging over the market in the short-term.”

The S&P 500 lost 0.8 percent yesterday and has now declined 1.4 percent since closing at a record on Sept. 18. The Russell 2000 has lost 3.5 percent during its three-day slide, the most since April. The small-cap gauge has fallen 5.2 percent from a high on Sept. 2.

The equity benchmark rallied last week as the Federal Reserve maintained a commitment to keep interest rates near zero for a considerable time after completing asset purchases in October. The gauge has not had a four-day losing streak this year and has not fallen more than 10 percent in three years.

Data today showed the Markit Economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing held at a more than four-year high of 57.9 in September. A reading above 50 for the purchasing managers’ measure indicates expansion.

“We’re really at a crossroads in terms of what direction we’ll take,” Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. “What’s going to be the impetus to get us going higher, or to see a correction? The market has gotten a little bit soft here and it needs to get something going. Right now it just doesn’t have that.”

The Treasury’s new rules on inversions apply to deals that close starting yesterday. The changes will have the biggest effect on the eight U.S. companies with pending inversions, including Medtronic and AbbVie, which plan the two largest such deals in U.S. history.

The rules include a prohibition on “hopscotch” loans that let companies access foreign cash without paying U.S. taxes. They also curb actions that companies can use to make such transactions qualify for favorable tax treatment.

“People are concerned that some of the froth in the market will decrease with lower prospect for larger deals,” John Carey, a Boston-based fund manager at Pioneer Investment Management Inc., which oversees about $230 billion, said in a phone interview. “That’s affecting some specific stocks, particularly health care. And the geopolitical situation is very uncertain and fraught with risk. A major event could have serious effects on the economy.”

In the Middle East, The U.S. and Arab allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain launched a series of airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria along the Iraqi border.

The airstrikes against the militant Khorasan Group in Syria were prompted by plans for an “imminent” terror attack on U.S. soil, the Pentagon said. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it shot down a Syrian fighter jet after it penetrated Israeli air space over the Golan Heights.

“There are a lot of geopolitical worries going around,” said William Hobbs, head of equity strategy at Barclays Plc’s wealth-management unit in London. “The Middle Eastern situation feels like it’s not going to go away very quickly. The Islamic State is a significant and very organized military threat.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as the VIX, increased 8.8 percent to 14.90, the highest since Aug. 8. The index has surged 24 percent in the past three days.

All of the 10 main S&P 500 groups retreated, with producers of consumer staples sliding 0.9 percent for the biggest decline.

CarMax Inc. sank 9.5 percent to $47.80 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. slid 1.3 percent to lead losses in 29 of the 30 components in the Dow.

AbbVie fell 2 percent to $57.56. The company agreed in July to buy Dublin-based Shire Plc in a 32 billion pound ($52.4 billion) deal where it planned to move its legal address abroad to lower its taxes.

Medtronic declined 2.9 percent to $64.08. Covidien Plc, the Irish medical supplies company that the U.S. company is trying to buy, lost 2.5 percent to $88.11.

Abbott Laboratories declined 2.1 percent to $42.50. Mylan Inc. said in July it agreed to buy Abbott’s generic drug business in developed markets and would form a new company incorporated in the Netherlands to cut taxes. Mylan added 0.2 percent to $46.61.

Burger King Worldwide Inc. slid 2.7 percent to $30.23. The company, which agreed at the end of August to buy Canada-based Tim Hortons Inc., will proceed with the deal even amid the crackdown on inversions. The deal is driven by long-term growth and not tax benefits, according to Tim Hortons spokesman Scott Bonikowsky.

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. jumped 5.8 percent to $169.17. Allergan Inc. is in talks to acquire the company to help it fend off a hostile takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said.

Alibaba fell 3 percent to $87.17. The company soared 38 percent on its trading debut on Sept. 19 and fell 4.3 percent yesterday.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The spirit of democracy

is not a mechanical thing

to be adjusted by abolition of forms.

It requires change of heart.

Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

Our greatest foes and whom we must chiefly combat, are within.

-Miguel de Cervantes, 1547-1616

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

September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this date in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. He called for the freedom of more than 3 million slaves in the U.S. by the new year, recasting the Civil War as a fight against slavery.

The third season of the year begins today in the northern hemisphere. It is figuratively a season of maturity or decay as in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Alastor (1816):

And now his limbs were lean; his scattered hair,
Sered by the autumn of strange suffering,
Sung dirges in the wind.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is welcomed to the stage by her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. The session is called ‘Reimagining Impact.’ Mark Lennihan/AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (r.) leads Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls to the podium during a welcoming ceremony with military honors at the chancellery in Berlin. Axel Schmidt/AP

Market Closes for September 22^nd, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17172.68

-107.06

-0.62%

S&P 500

1994.29

-16.11

-0.80%

NASDAQ

4527.688

-52.101

-1.14%

TSX

15129.00

-136.35

-0.89%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16205.90	-115.27
		-0.71%
HANG SENG	23955.49	-350.67
		-1.44%
SENSEX	27206.74	+116.32
		+0.43%
FTSE 100	6773.63	-64.29
		-0.94%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.228	2.248
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.755	2.754
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5636	2.5763
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2891	3.2849

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.90566	0.91229
US $	1.10416	1.09615

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41843	0.70500
US $	1.28463	0.77844

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1214.89	1216.15

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.52	92.41

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell to a six-week low as commodities tumbled to a five-year low amid speculation China will accept slowing growth.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Teck Resources Ltd. retreated at least 1.1 percent as nickel led declines in industrial metals in London. Lightstream Resources Ltd. and Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd. declined more than 7.1 percent as oil stocks retreated to a four-month low. Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lender by assets, rose 0.4 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.9 percent to 15,129 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest since Aug. 7. The gauge sank 1.7 percent last week, the most in 15 months.

Eight of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX retreated on trading volume 54 percent higher than the 30-day average.

China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said growth in Asia’s largest economy faces downward pressure and reiterated that there won’t be major changes in policy in response to individual economic indicators. China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the U.S.

First Quantum Minerals tumbled 1.7 percent to C$21.25 for a sixth straight loss, the longest losing streak in two years. Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, dropped 1.1 percent to C$21.71, for a 14-month low.

Copper tumbled 1.7 percent to $3.0385 a pound in New York. Raw-materials stocks slumped 1.6 percent as a group for a fourth day of losses, the worst streak since May. The Bloomberg Commodity Index dropped 0.7 percent to the lowest level since July 2009.

Semafo Inc. fell 4.7 percent to C$3.88 and B2Gold Corp. sank 5.5 percent to C$2.25 as the S&P/TSX Gold Index dropped 1.7 percent for a fourth day of declines. Gold was little-changed in New York after earlier touching the lowest level since Jan. 2.

BlackBerry Ltd. rose 1.3 percent to C$12.05. The company said its Passport smartphone will be sold in the U.S. for $599 without a mobile phone plan, $50 cheaper than the base iPhone 6 model from Apple Inc.

By Joseph Ciolli and Callie Bost

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — The biggest tumble for smaller companies in seven weeks underscored weakening breadth in the American bull market two weeks after its 5 1/2-year birthday.

Shares tracked by the Russell 2000 Index slid 1.5 percent, the largest retreat since July 31. While the Russell 3000 Index touched an intraday record at the end of last week, fewer than 55 percent of its components traded above their 200-day moving average, a combination that hasn’t happened since the peak of the dot-com bubble, according to MKM Partners LLC. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumped 13 percent for its biggest rally in seven weeks.

“Small caps are really under-performing again and I think that’s the main issue here,” JC O’Hara, the New York-based chief market technician at FBN Securities Inc, said by phone. “We’re seeing the spread between the Russell and the S&P 500 widening out again and that is worrying some people. Traders want to see small caps participate and every time they don’t they think, ‘it’s still not working.’”

While losses today were biggest in speculative shares, equities declined throughout the U.S. market and around the world after sales of existing homes unexpectedly dropped and China’s finance minister damped stimulus hopes.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.8 percent, the most since Aug. 5, to 1,994.29 at 4 p.m. in New York, after closing at a record Sept. 18. The benchmark gauge hasn’t had a four-day slide this year and hasn’t fallen 10 percent in three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 107.06 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,172.68, after ending last week at an all-time high. About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 11 percent above the three-month average.

Among other stocks moving, Yahoo! Inc. dropped 5.6 percent to lead the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index to a one-month low. Homebuilders in the S&P 500 plunged. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. lost 4.3 percent after surging in its trading debut Sept. 19. Sigma-Aldrich Corp. rallied 33 percent after Merck KGaA said it will acquire the company.

There’s a good chance U.S. equities will decline over the next few weeks, based on the market’s deteriorating breadth, according to a research report from Jonathan Krinsky, a technical strategist at MKM Partners.

The last time so few companies in the Russell 3000 helped push the gauge to an intraday high was March 24, 2000, his report said. The index dropped 1 percent today.

“There are enough warning signs to suggest at least a modest pullback,” Krinsky said in the note. “We think some seasonal weakness into early October makes sense.”

The VIX surged 13 percent to 13.69 today, a one-week high. The gauge lost 29 percent last month, the biggest drop in almost three years.

“The market is weaker because of small caps,” Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in Newton, Massachusetts, said in a phone interview. “When you combine this move in the Russell 2000 with the pickup in volatility in other markets, that’s a big concern.”

The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent last week, reaching a record on Sept. 18, as economic data improved and the Federal Reserve maintained a commitment to keep interest rates near zero for a “considerable time” after asset purchases are completed in October. Central bank officials raised their median estimate for the federal funds rate at the end of 2015 to 1.375 percent, compared with 1.125 percent in June.

Fed Bank of New York President William Dudley said today the central bank’s rate guidance is not an iron-clad commitment and that it will be driven by economic data. Dudley spoke to Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, at Bloomberg Markets Most Influential Summit in New York.

A report today showed purchases of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in August for the first time in five months as investors retreated from the market. Separate data showed U.S. economic activity fell in August, according to the Fed Bank of Chicago.

“People are looking for an excuse to knock the market back down a little bit,” Donald Selkin, chief market strategist for New York-based National Securities Corp., which oversees about $3 billion, said in a phone interview. “The internals for the market are horrible today. Maybe the feeling is that we might finally be ready for a more serious down move.”

The Fed is on the lookout for signs of asset-price bubbles, and financial stability is a necessary condition for effective monetary policy, Dudley said.

“I think we do need to try to identify asset bubbles in real time,” Dudley said. “You can’t have an effective monetary policy if you have financial instability.”

In addition, Group of 20 officials said low interest rates could lead to a potential increase in financial-market risk, as major economies rely on monetary stimulus to bolster uneven growth.

Julian Robertson, the billionaire founder of Tiger Management LLC, said there’s a bubble in bonds that will end “in a very bad way.”

“Bonds are at ridiculous levels,” Robertson said today at the Bloomberg Markets Most Influential Summit. “It’s a worldwide phenomenon that governments are buying bonds to keep their countries moving along economically.”

China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said his government won’t make any major policy adjustments in response to changes in individual economic indicators, even as he said growth faces downward pressure. His comments quelled speculation that weaker economic data will spur further stimulus in the world’s second- biggest economy.

All of the 10 groups in the S&P 500 dropped today, with energy companies and consumer-discretionary shares losing at least 1.4 percent.

An S&P index of homebuilders slid 2.6 percent, as all 11 members retreated on the sales data. Lennar Corp. slid 2.8 percent and D.R. Horton Inc. dropped 2.6 percent.

Alibaba fell 4.3 percent to $89.89. The Chinese e-commerce company surged 38 percent on Sept. 19 after raising a record- breaking $21.8 billion in an initial public offering.

“With Alibaba, people are looking at that as a top in the market,” Patrick Spencer, head of U.S. equity sales at Robert W. Baird & Co. in London, said. “I still feel we are in a ‘Goldilocks’ environment with an accommodative Fed, huge buybacks, and another strong earnings-announcement season shortly.”

Yahoo declined 5.6 percent to $38.65. Sanford Bernstein lowered its rating on the Sunnyvale, California-based company to market perform from outperform.

Sigma-Aldrich surged 33 percent to $136.40. Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck said it will acquire the company for $140 a share in cash, 37 percent more than Sigma-Aldrich’s closing price on Sept. 19.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The spirit of democracy

is not a mechanical thing

to be adjusted by abolition of forms.

It requires change of heart.

Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

No particular race is the enemy. Ignorance is

the enemy.

-George Lopez, 1961-

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

September 22, 2014

September 19, 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Ali Baba was a poor woodcutter who is the hero of a story in the Arabian Nights Entertainments. He sees a band of robbers enter a cave by means of the magic password OPENSESAME! When they have gone away he enters the cave, load hi donkey with treasure and returns home. The 40 thieves discover that Ali Baba has learned their secret and resolve to kill him, but they are finally outwitted by the slave-girl Morgiana. Ali Baba gives his son to her in marriage and keeps the secret of the treasure. –from Brewer’s The Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 16^th ed.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A lone ‘Yes’ campaign supporter walks through Edinburgh after the Scottish independence referendum was voted down. Scottish voters have decided that Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom. Stefan Rousseau/PA/AP

A man wearing a mask depicting Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs holds up a cardboard cut-out of Apple’s new iPhone 6 as he walks into the Apple Store at Tokyo’s Omotesando shopping district. Yuya Shino/Reuters

Market Closes for September 19^th, 2014

Market

Index

Close

Change

Dow

Jones

17279.74

+13.75

+0.08%

S&P 500

2010.40

-0.96

-0.05%

NASDAQ

4579.789

-13.636

-0.30%

TSX

15265.35

-200.19

-1.29%

International Markets

Market

Index

Close

Change

NIKKEI

16321.17

+253.60

+1.58%

HANG

SENG

24306.16

+137.44

+0.57%

SENSEX

27090.42

-21.79

-0.08%

FTSE 100

6837.92

+18.63

+0.27%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.248	2.287
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.754	2.795
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5763	2.6235
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2849	3.3561

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91229	0.91422
US $	1.09615	1.09383

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40625	0.71111
US $	1.28290	0.77949

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1216.15	1225.00

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	92.41	93.07

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Callie Bost

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most since February, sending the benchmark gauge to a third weekly decline, after metals miners sank as gold dropped to an eight-month low.

Primero Mining Corp. slid 10 percent as an index of gold producers sank 2.9 percent. Magna International Inc. slipped 4.8 percent on reports a Brazilian antitrust watchdog visited one of its subsidiary offices. TransCanada Corp. climbed 0.9 percent to extend a weekly gain.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index tumbled 200.19 points, or 1.3 percent, to 15,265.35 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the biggest decrease since Feb. 3. The gauge sank 1.7 percent this week, the most in 15 months.

Canada’s 12-month core inflation rate, excluding eight volatile items, accelerated to 2.1 percent in August from July’s 1.7 percent, faster than all 21 economist estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The total consumer price index rose at a 2.1 percent rate for a second month, matching economist forecasts.

All but one of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX retreated. Raw-material producers plunged 2.4 percent, capping a 4.9 percent loss this week, the worst since November. Trading in S&P/TSX stocks was 114 percent above the 30-day average.

Gold for December delivery fell to the lowest since January, extending a weekly slide after the Federal Reserve raised its estimate for interest rates at the end of 2015.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index slipped 2.9 percent, bringing total declines for the group to 7.1 percent this week. Primero Mining tumbled 10 percent to C$5.90, while OceanaGold Corp. dropped 16 percent to C$2.13, its biggest loss since April 2013.

Magna International slipped 4.8 percent, the most since June 2012, to C$113.33. The automotive supplier said it intends to cooperate with a continuing antitrust investigation after the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica, Brazil’s competition authority, visited subsidiary offices in the country.

TransCanada climbed 0.9 percent to C$61.38. The second- largest Canadian pipeline operator said its current corporate structure will generate “significant, sustainable growth” amid reports that an activist shareholder has taken a stake in the pipeline company

By Lu Wang and Callie Bost

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed after a three-day rally as shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. began trading and corporate takeovers boosted investor optimism.

Alibaba climbed 38 percent in its U.S. trading debut, after the company raised a record-breaking $21.8 billion. Dresser-Rand Group Inc. rallied 9.4 percent as Siemens AG prepared to offer more than $6.5 billion for the company, according to people familiar with the plan. Oracle Corp. slid 4.2 percent after Larry Ellison stepped down as chief executive officer.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.96 point to 2,010.40 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge is up 1.3 percent this week, the biggest advance in a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 13.75 points to 17,279.74 today. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies sank 1.1 percent.

“It’s quadruple witching hour,” Joe “JJ” Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., said in a phone interview. “Although the headlines are all about BABA, the below-the-surface trading will be centered around expiration for on a lot of products. You may see some added volatility.”

Trading volume jumped today because of quarterly event known as quadruple witching, when futures and options contracts on indexes and individual stocks expire. About 9.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, the most since March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Alibaba rose 38 percent to $93.89. The e-commerce company, which started in 1999 with $60,000 cobbled together by founder Jack Ma, is now valued at $231 billion. That makes it larger than Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc. combined, and more valuable than all but 9 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Yahoo! Inc., which owns a stake in Alibaba, slipped 2.7 percent to $40.93, a third day of losses.

Oracle slid 4.2 percent to $39.80. Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, currently co-presidents of Oracle, were both named CEO to succeed him, the company said yesterday.

Technology stocks had the biggest losses today, with the industry falling 0.4 percent in the S&P 500, led by losses in Red Hat Inc., Oracle, and Akamai Technologies Inc. Small-cap shares fared worse as a measure of computer stocks in the Russell 2000 Index slid 1.5 percent.

European shares rose, sending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up 0.2 percent. Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond resigned after the anti-independence “No” camp garnered 55 percent of the votes.

Dresser-Rand advanced 9.4 percent to $79.91. Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering company, is looking to buy Dresser- Rand in a deal that would scupper a competing plan by Sulzer AG, according to people familiar with the plan.

Concur Technologies Inc. jumped 18 percent to $126.82 as SAP SE agreed to buy the company for $7.4 billion to boost its cloud-computing business.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

The end to be sought is human happiness combined with full mental and moral growth .

This end can be achieved under decentralization.

Centralization as a system is inconsistent with a non-violent structure of society.

Mahatama Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.

-Golda Meir, 1898-1978

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