Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Went to a concert in Vancouver on the weekend featuring Santana and Rod Stewart – both are still amazing musicians who can really put on a show at 67 and 69 years of age respectively.  Santana is as great as ever – maybe better than ever – what a guitarist!  If you get an opportunity to catch a concert somewhere before the tour is over, do so.  We went to a restaurant in Yaletown for the first time named West Oak and I highly recommend it – the food gets 5 stars for sure; check it out if you haven’t had a chance yet –  westoakrestaurant.com.

Photos of the Day

A girl walks along the shore while she plays with a ball at Ipanema beach at sunset in Rio de Janeiro. Pilar Olivares/Reuters

A makeshift marker in a sunflower field denotes evidence at the site of the downed Malaysian airliner MH17 near the village of Rozsypne in the Donetsk region of the Ukraine. Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Market Closes for August 5^th, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16429.47	-139.81
		-0.84%
S&P 500	1920.21	-18.78    -0.97%
NASDAQ	4352.836	-31.053    -0.71%
TSX	15187.71	-27.55
		-0.18%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15320.31	-154.19
		-1.00%
HANG   SENG	24648.26	+48.18
		+0.20%
SENSEX	25908.01	+184.85
		+0.72%
FTSE 100	6682.48	+4.96
		+0.07%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.112	2.118
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.653	2.656
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.4844	2.4943
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.2831	3.2823

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91233	0.91600
US   $	1.09609	1.09170
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.46575	0.68224
US   $	1.33725	0.74780

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1288.66	1293.40
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.38	97.88

Market Commentary

Canada
By Eric Lam

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell to a three-week low amid rising tension in Ukraine and a slump in commodities after a report showed the Chinese service industries stagnated in July.

Imperial Metals Corp. plunged 39 percent after the copper and gold producer reported a breach in the waste storage facility at its Mount Polley mine in British Columbia. Lundin Mining Corp. and Copper Mountain Mining Corp. retreated more than 1.5 percent as copper capped the biggest decline in eight weeks. Silver Standard Resources Inc. retreated 4.6 percent as silver prices dropped. Bonavista Energy Corp. lost 5 percent to pace declines among oil producers as crude dropped to a six- month low.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 27.55 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,187.71 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest close since July 15. The S&P/TSX was closed yesterday for a holiday in Ontario. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge closed at a record on July 30.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to prepare a response to U.S. and European sanctions as Poland warned that a renewed buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border suggests a possible invasion.

Putin is showing no sign of backing down over Ukraine since the U.S. and the European Union tightened sanctions last week. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Russia had restored its combat readiness on the Ukraine border. He did not give any indication that an incursion was imminent.

The services Purchasing Managers’ Index for China declined to 50.0, the dividing line between expansion and contraction, from June’s 53.1, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said today. A similar official gauge released Aug. 3 dropped to a six-month low of 54.2.

Bonavista Energy fell 5 percent to C$13.68, the biggest loss in a year, and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. lost 2.3 percent to C$8.12 as energy stocks declined 0.4 percent as as group. Five of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX retreated.

Crude fell for the sixth time in seven days in New York amid forecasts that U.S. supplies will rebound from near six- year lows.

Imperial Metals sank 39 percent to C$10.19, its biggest loss ever. The storage facility at Mount Polley was breached early yesterday morning, Imperial said in a statement, releasing an undetermined amount of water and tailings, the materials left over after processing ore to extract valuable metals. The breach has been stabilized, although the cause of the incident is still unknown, the company said today.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. fell 6 percent to C$121.44, the lowest close since January, after Allergan Inc. said Valeant’s second-quarter earnings results and disclosures were “insufficient, inconsistent” and lacking supporting data.

Glass Lewis & Co. in a report meanwhile criticized Allergan’s “cumbersome” bylaws and recommended shareholders support a special meeting to help Valeant’s efforts to take over the company. Valeant, backed by activist investor Bill Ackman, is pursuing a hostile takeover of Allergan.

US
By Joseph Ciolli and Jeremy Herron

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index sinking to the lowest since May, amid concern that tension in Ukraine may escalate. The dollar rose after American services data added to evidence growth is gathering pace.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 1 percent, while the dollar strengthened to an almost nine-month high versus the euro. Treasury two-year note yields touched the lowest level in more than two weeks at 4:43 p.m. in New York. Ten-year yields trimmed earlier gains sparked by speculation interest rates may rise early next year. U.S. crude tumbled to a six-week low.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to prepare a response to U.S. and European sanctions as Poland warned that a renewed buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border raises the specter of a possible invasion. Service industries in the U.S. expanded in July at the fastest pace since December 2005, driving speculation economic growth is robust enough for the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate before the middle of 2015.

“The market had been jittery,” Lou Shaduk, managing director of equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore, said in an interview. “You have Polish Minister Sikorski talking about Russian forces poised to pressure or invade Ukraine and that’s all the buyers needed today to go into hiding.”

The S&P 500 extended losses and Treasuries reversed after Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Russia had restored its combat readiness on the Ukraine border. He did not give any indication that an incursion was imminent.

Putin is showing no sign of backing down since the U.S. and the European Union tightened sanctions last week, with Russia massing forces on its neighbor’s border in the biggest military buildup since troops were withdrawn from the area in May.

Selling accelerated after the S&P 500 slipped below last week’s closing level of 1,925.15 and yesterday’s intraday low of 1,921.2. The gauge has lost 3.4 percent since reaching a record high of 1,987.98 on July 24 and came within 70 points of erasing its gain for the year.

“I would attribute the dip in S&P to the rumor that Russia’s getting ready to invade Ukraine,” Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, a Birmingham, Alabama-based senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management, said by phone. “That created additional technical difficulties with high-frequency trading.”

Among stocks moving today, Target Corp. lost 4.4 percent after cutting its estimate for second-quarter profit on an expense stemming from a December data breach. Pioneer Natural Resources Co. sank 5.7 percent and Halliburton Co. dropped 3.4 percent to lead an index of energy stocks lower by 2.1 percent, the most among 10 S&P 500 groups.

U.S. airline stocks followed European carriers lower after business newspaper Vedomosti reported Russia may limit or ban trans-Siberian flights by European Union airlines, citing people familiar with the matter. Delta Air Lines Inc. fell 2.8 percent and United Continental Holdings Inc. slid 3.5 percent.

Treasuries retreated with equities earlier in the day as concern grew that the improving U.S. economy may force the Fed to act on rates sooner than anticipated, as the central bank remains on pace to wind down its monthly bond purchases in October. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said officials will keep its benchmark low for a “considerable time” after the bond buying ends.

The pickup among service providers, combined with the strongest rate of growth in more than three years at American factories, shows the world’s largest economy was strengthening at the start of the third quarter. Faster payroll growth is helping fuel consumer demand, raising the odds a self- reinforcing cycle of increased hiring and spending is under way.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to the highest level in five months as the greenback appreciated 0.3 percent to $1.3375 per euro. The yen reversed an earlier decline against the dollar on haven demand amid the tension over Ukraine.

“In the last couple weeks we’ve been getting reports that the economy is definitely recovering,” John Fox, director of research at Fenimore Asset Management in Cobleskill, New York, said in a phone interview. “People are now focusing on the fact that the Fed isn’t going to be this accommodative forever.”

The stimulus and better-than-forecast corporate earnings have propelled the S&P 500 higher by as much as 194 percent since a bear-market low in March 2009. Hedge-fund manager David Einhorn is struggling to find value amid the five-year rally that pushed equity valuations to near the highest since 2010.

“We had a difficult time finding new investments this quarter,” Einhorn said today on a conference call discussing results at Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., the Cayman Islands-based reinsurer where he is chairman. “As the market continues to rise in the face of conflicting economic data, global unrest, and looming overdue Fed exit from quantitative easing we remain cautiously positioned.”

The S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent yesterday, rebounding from the worst week since 2012, as Portugal’s bailout of Banco Espirito Santo SA eased concern about Europe’s most indebted lenders, while earnings from companies including Berkshire Hathaway Inc. beat estimates. The index sank 2.7 percent last week, its worst since June 2012. It has gone without a 10 percent correction since 2011.

“The market is down on fears that Russia is going to invade Ukraine,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in an interview. “There was a feeling amongst traders that yesterday’s rally didn’t have sustainability. People came in today unimpressed with yesterday’s strength so we were sitting on wobbly legs even before this chatter around Ukraine came out.”

West Texas Intermediate crude slid 0.9 percent to close at $97.38. Refineries probably operated at 92.8 percent of capacity on Aug. 1, down 0.7 percentage point from the prior week, according to a Bloomberg survey before a government report tomorrow.

Silver slid to a six-week low, while platinum and palladium retreated as the dollar’s advance reduced the appeal of commodities as investments.

Copper sank 1.2 percent to settle at $3.2045 a pound in New York, leading industrial metals lower after data from China, the world’s biggest consumer of commodities, showed growth in the country’s services industries slowed. Zinc and lead retreated in London.

China’s non-manufacturing sector stagnated in July as a private index fell to a record low, suggesting the government’s stimulus measures are failing to gain traction outside manufacturing. A gauge of Chinese shares in Hong Kong slid 0.7 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Duties to self, to the family, to the country,

and the world are not independent of one another.

One cannot do good to the country

by injuring himself or his family.

Similarly one cannot serve the country

by injuring the world at large.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Justice is the right of the weakest.

-Joseph Joubert, 1754-1824

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Happy August!

August: formerly called Sextilis in the Roman calendar, as the sixth month from March, when the year began.  The name was changed to Augustus in 8 BC in honor of Augustus [ 63 BC – 14 AD ], the first Roman emperor, whose “lucky month” it was.  It was the month in which he began his first consulship, celebrated three triumphs, received the allegiance of the legions on the Janiculum, reduced Egypt and ended the civil wars.

The Old English name for August was Weodmonath, “weed month” weod meaning grass or herbs.  In the French Revolutionary calendar the equivalent month was Thermidor – “gift of heat” – which lasted from July 20^th to August 18^th.

On this day, in 1990, the World Wide Web was established.

August 1, 1789, US customs was established.

Photos of the Day

The art installation ‘Atlantis’ by Tea Makipaa is on display in the pond of the Kunsthalle Rostock museum in Rostock, Germany. The installation is part of the Finnish contemporary art exhibition ‘Nature and More.’ Bernd Wuestneck/dpa/AP

In a multiple exposure photo, Scott Morgan of Canada performs a vault during the men’s gymnastics apparatus final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Russell Cheyne/Reuters

A child plays at an interactive playground called ‘Tangle,’ where children create art by weaving colorful elastic bands around poles at a skating rink in the Marina Bay Sands mall in Singapore. Edgar Su/Reuters

Market Closes for August 1^st, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16493.37	-69.93
		-0.42%
S&P 500	1925.15	-5.52   -0.29%
NASDAQ	4352.641	-17.132   -0.39%
TSX	15215.26	-115.48
		-0.75%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15523.11	-97.66
		-0.63%
HANG SENG	24532.43	-224.42
		-0.91%
SENSEX	25480.84	-414.13
		-1.60%
FTSE 100	6679.18	-50.93
		-0.76%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.118	2.159
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.656	2.694
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4943	2.5578
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2823	3.3167

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91600	0.91681
US $	1.09170	1.09074
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46571	0.68226
US $	1.34260	0.74482

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1293.40	1282.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.88	98.17

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, completing the worst two-day slump since January, as crude oil prices declined to offset a gain in gold after U.S. employers added fewer jobs than forecast.

Element Financial Corp. and AGF Management Ltd. lost more than 1.9 percent to pace declines among financial stocks. Vermilion Energy Inc. and Enerplus Corp. fell at least 2 percent. Eldorado Gold Corp. jumped 6.9 percent after raising its production forecast. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. rose 5.7 percent after Bloomberg News reported executives are considering buying the company to fend off a potential outside offer.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 115.48 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,215.26 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, giving it a weekly decline of 1.6 percent. The index fell 1.3 percent yesterday, the first time it moved by 1 percent or more since April. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge closed at a record high on July 30.

Vermilion Energy lost 3.6 percent and Enerplus Corp. retreated 2 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery declined 0.3 percent, falling a fifth day. Prices are down 4.1 percent this week, the biggest weekly decline in seven months. U.S. refineries cut their utilization rate last week for the first time in more than a month, according to government data.

Energy stocks in the S&P/TSX tumbled 1.4 percent as a group. Seven of 10 industries in the Canadian stock index retreated on trading volume that was 16 percent greater than the 30-day average.

Eldorado Gold jumped 6.9 percent. Gold for December delivery rose 0.9 percent to $1,294.80 an ounce in New York, after prices fell 3 percent in July as a U.S. equity rally eroded demand for the metal as a haven.

U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in July, short of the median forecast for 230,000 additions forecast by economists. Wages and hours were unchanged from June. The jobless rate climbed to 6.2 percent as more people entered the labor force.

Pacific Rubiales added 5.7 percent for a third day of gains. Executives hired Banco Itau BBA SA and Citigroup Inc. to arrange a loan and seek partners for a possible management buyout, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The plan is a defensive move after Alfa SAB, the Mexican auto parts and petrochemical company, raised its Pacific Rubiales stake more than 20 times in just over two months, the two people said asking not to be named because talks are private.

US
By Joseph Ciolli and Jacob Barach

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell for a second day, giving it the biggest weekly drop in two years, as concern over Argentina and Portugal overshadowed data that signaled the Federal Reserve may have leeway to keep rates low.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley slumped more than 2.1 percent as a committee ruled that Argentina’s default will trigger $1 billion of credit-default swaps. LinkedIn Corp. jumped 12 percent after projecting revenue that beat forecasts. Procter & Gamble Co. increased 3 percent as profit topped estimates amid cost reductions.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,925.15 at 4 p.m. in New York, bringing its weekly loss to 2.7 percent, the worst since June 2012. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 69.93 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,493.37, after erasing its gains for the year yesterday. About 7.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 27 percent above the three-month average.

“Whether it’s the Portuguese bank, Argentina or continued unrest in the Middle East, these things are seemingly mattering more to investors now,” Matt McCormick, who helps oversee $11 billion as a fund manager at Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Inc., said in a phone interview. “All of a sudden, geopolitical things that didn’t matter a few weeks ago are starting to be more relevant concerns, and they’re serving as catalysts to sell. Investors are getting more risk-averse.”

U.S. stocks joined a global selloff yesterday, sending the S&P 500 to its first monthly decline since January, after companies from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Samsung Electronics Co. reported results that disappointed investors, Argentina defaulted and Banco Espirito Santo SA was ordered to raise capital.

Banco Espirito Santo shares were suspended today by Portugal’s securities regulator after they dropped as much as 50 percent in Lisbon. Global financial markets were roiled last month after another holding company in the group missed payments on commercial paper.

Argentina’s failure to pay interest on its bonds is a credit event that will trigger settlement of $1 billion of default insurance, according to the International Swaps & Derivatives Association. Argentina is the first nation to trigger default swaps since Greece restructured its debt in 2012.

The S&P 500, which is still up 4.2 percent this year, has gone without a 10 percent correction since 2011. The benchmark index is down 3.2 percent from a record of 1,987.98 reached on July 24. It trades at 17.5 times the reported earnings of its companies, near the highest level since 2010.

Market volatility is rising after the S&P 500 ended its longest stretch of calm since 1995. The index has posted gains or losses of more than 1 percent three times in the past two weeks, compared with none during the 62 days through July 16, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, rose 0.5 percent today to 17.03. The gauge surged 27 percent yesterday to the highest level since April 11. The volatility measure fell to the lowest since 2007 on July 3.

Stocks fluctuated earlier in the day as data showed employers in the U.S. added more than 200,000 jobs for a sixth straight month in July, the longest such period since 1997. The 209,000 advance fell short of the 230,000 increase forecast by economists.

The jobless rate climbed to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent in June as more people entered the labor force. Wages and hours were unchanged from June.

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said the Federal Reserve will remain accommodative with wage growth in the U.S. unchanged.

Wages “are not raging,” Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, said during a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. “American wages on Main Street are Janet Yellen’s number one concern.”

Concern has grown that the improving economy may force the Fed to raise interest rates sooner than expected. Data earlier this week showed U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 4 percent annual pace in the second quarter, confirming the Fed’s view that a first-quarter contraction was transitory.

Manufacturing expanded in July at the fastest pace in more than three years, data today showed, signaling U.S. factories will help power the economy after a second-quarter rebound. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final sentiment index for July fell to 81.8 from 82.5 in June.

The Fed this week cut its monthly bond buying to $25 billion in its sixth consecutive $10 billion reduction. The Fed’s Open Market Committee reiterated that it’s likely to reduce bond buying in “further measured steps” and to keep interest rates low for a “considerable time” after ending purchases. The central bank said slack in the labor market persists even though the economy is picking up.

Fed Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said he believes the timing has moved up for the first main interest rate increase from close to zero because of a strengthening economy and higher inflation.

“It would seem to me and I have been arguing this that the date of so-called liftoff has been moved forward,” Fisher said today in a CNBC interview. “I believe personally we have moved that forward significantly,” possibly as soon as “sometime early next year,” he said.

Chevron Corp. and Procter & Gamble are among six S&P 500 members that reported earnings today. Some 76 percent of the 379 companies that have released results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 65 percent have exceeded sales projections.

Seven out of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries dropped as phone and financial shares slumped the most, losing more than 0.8 percent. Consumer-staples companies rallied 0.8 percent.

P&G jumped 3 percent for the biggest advance in the Dow.  Fourth-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates, helped by cost reductions and an increase in razor prices. A.G. Lafley, who returned as P&G’s chief executive officer last year, has focused on cutting costs and regaining customers in areas such as detergents and beauty.

LinkedIn rallied 12 percent. The company gave a third- quarter sales forecast that topped estimates as the largest professional-networking website rolled out new products to reignite growth.

Expedia Inc. advanced 6.4 percent for the largest increase in the S&P 500. The provider of online travel services reported second-quarter profit of $1.03 per share, more than the average estimate of 76 cents in a Bloomberg survey. Revenue of $1.49 billion also beat projections.

GoPro Inc. slumped 15 percent. The camera maker which sold about $1 billion last year in equipment to surfers, skiers and sky divers reported a net loss of $19.8 million for the second quarter, almost four times bigger than its $5.1 million loss in the year-earlier period.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

I cannot imagine anything nobler or more national than that for, say, one hour in a day,

we should all do the labor that the poor must do,

and thus identify ourselves with them and through them with all mankind.

Mahatma Gandhi,1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Formal education will make you a living; self-education

will make you a fortune.

-Jim Rohn, 1930-2009

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I will be writing the newsletter on Carolann’s behalf, as she is out of the office this afternoon.

Photos of the Day

Harry Owen of Wales performs on the rings during the Men’s All-Around gymnastics competition during the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

A woman swims in the Mediterranean Sea during a sunny summer day in Nice, southeastern France. Eric Gaillard/Reuter

Market Closes for July 30^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16880.36	-31.75
		-0.19%
S&P 500	1970.17	+0.22   +0.01%
NASDAQ	4462.902	+20.205   +0.45%
TSX	15514.34	+67.79
		+0.44%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15646.23	+28.16
		+0.18%
HANG SENG	24732.21	+91.68
		+0.37%
SENSEX	26087.42	+96.19
		+0.37%
FTSE 100	6773.44	-34.31
		-0.50%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.159	2.089
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.705	2.643
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.5542	2.4601
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.3077	3.2256

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.91728	0.92144
US $	1.09018	1.08526
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46042	0.68474
US $	1.33961	0.74648

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1296.49	1298.82
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	100.27	100.97

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

July 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a record as companies including Genworth MI Canada Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc. reported better-than-expected earnings and U.S. growth expanded faster than forecast in the second quarter.

MEG Energy increased 3.1 percent after boosting its year- end production targets. Cenovus Energy gained 2.4 percent as both oil and natural gas production came in ahead of estimates. Penn West Petroleum Ltd. plunged 14 percent as an accounting review may force a delay in the release of its financial results.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 78.27 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,524.82 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity index trades at 21.3 times earnings, the highest level since 2010.

The U.S. Federal Reserve continued to trim monthly asset purchases, tapering monthly bond buying to $25 billion to stay on pace to end the program in October. The labor market still has room for improvement, while inflation has risen closer to its goal, the central bank said in its latest decision.

The U.S. economy grew at a 4 percent annualized rate, the most since the third quarter of 2013, after shrinking 2.1 percent from January through March, Commerce Department figures showed today. Gains in consumer spending and business investment boosted growth.

MEG Energy gained 3.1 percent to C$38.98, the most since April, to pace gains among energy stocks as eight of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 23 percent higher compared with the 30-day average.

The Calgary-based oil sands developer increased its year- output forecast to 65,000 to 70,000 barrels a day from an earlier 60,000 to 65,000 barrels a day forecast with second- quarter production up 115 percent compared with a year ago.

Cenovus rallied 2.4 percent as oil sands production across its Foster Creek and Christina Lake projects averaged almost 125,000 barrels a day, up 33 percent from year-ago levels. Cash flow also jumped 37 percent on higher commodity prices.

Genworth, a private residential mortgage insurer, added 4.1 percent to C$39.25 after earnings topped estimates. The S&P/TSX Financials Index rallied 0.7 percent to a record for a seventh day of gains. The gauge has advanced 2.1 percent in that time.

Penn West sank 14 percent to C$8.57, the biggest decline since November, as the company board’s audit committee and independent advisers examine financial reports stretching back more than four years. The company said it will restate some past financial statements, which may cause it to reduce capital spending plans and cash flow assumptions for 2014.

Penn West is also starting talks with lenders because the revision may cause it to violate agreements covering its debt.

US
By Lu Wang

July 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed as data showing better-than-forecast economic growth was offset by weaker earnings and the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep trimming asset purchases.

Genworth Financial Inc. declined 14 percent, the most since November, after the insurer said it was reviewing whether enough funds had been set aside for claims. Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. led a 1.7 percent retreat among utilties after earnings trailed estimates. Twitter Inc. soared 20 percent as World Cup-related demand helped the microblogging company double revenue. Amgen Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. led a rally in biotechnology shares.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed less than 0.1 percent to 1,970.07 as of 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 31.75 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,880.36. The Nasdaq 100 Index increased 0.4 percent.

“The GDP print this morning had given the market some pause as to how hawkish the Fed might be,” Stacey Nutt, chief investment officer at ClariVest Asset Management LLC in San Diego, California, said in an interview. His firm oversees about $4 billion. “Now it seems like they were not as hawkish as feared.”

Today’s Commerce Department report showed gross domestic product expanded at a 4 percent annual pace in the second quarter, confirming the Fed’s view that a first-quarter contraction was transitory. Consumers, whose spending accounts for 70 percent of the economy, have grown more confident as the labor market improves and rising share prices boost wealth.

Policy makers tapered monthly bond buying to $25 billion in their sixth consecutive $10-billion cut, staying on pace to end the purchase program in October. Fed officials led by Chair Janet Yellen are stepping up a debate over when to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 as unemployment falls faster than expected and inflation picks up toward their 2 percent goal.

Gross domestic product rose at a 4 percent annualized rate after shrinking 2.1 percent from January through March, Commerce Department figures showed. The median forecast of 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 3 percent advance.

“You’re seeing some relief from the market that there is really no major surprise from the FOMC statement,” Brad Friedlander, managing partner and co-founder of Atlanta-based Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $4 billion. “The GDP number was important in building confidence.”

Equity markets will see a decline at some point after surging for the past several years, according to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

“The stock market has recovered so sharply for so long, you have to assume somewhere along the line we will get a significant correction,” Greenspan, 88, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop” with Betty Liu. “Where that is, I do not know.”

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said investors should say “good evening” to the prospect of future capital gains in asset markets as interest rates are set to rise while the economy grows at a slow pace.

Genworth declined 14 percent to $14.06. Second-quarter operating profit was 31 cents a share, trailing the 36-cent average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, the insurer said in a statement late yesterday.

Utilities in the S&P 500 sank 1.7 percent, the biggest drop among the 10 main industries. Public Service Enterprise, which generates and distributes electricity, lost 2.6 percent after reporting lower-than-estimated profit.

Twitter surged 20 percent to $46.30. The company said active membership in the quarter reached 271 million, with year- over-year growth at 24 percent. Sales more than doubled to $312.2 million, exceeding the $282.8 million average estimate.

U.S. Steel Corp. gained 19 percent to $33.03, the biggest gain since 2008. The country’s largest steelmaker by volume posted a surprise second-quarter profit and raised the amount of cost savings it expects to achieve in 2014.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 1 percent. Amgen added 5.4 percent to $130.01. The world’s biggest biotechnology company by sales reported higher-than-expected earnings driven by Enbrel, the company’s top drug for arthritis. The company said it will cut more than 2,400 jobs through 2015 and close plants in two states.

Regeneron climbed 5.8 percent to $322.18. The company said the Food and Drug Administration approved its Eylea injection for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. climbed 10 percent to $92.88. The biggest maker of heart valves that are inserted without cracking open the chest raised its 2014 forecast after second- quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates on device demand.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., the independent cartoon- movie studio, plunged 12 percent to $19.98. The company posted a second-quarter loss and said securities regulators are investigating a writedown.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet Tubman

As ever,

 

Karen

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J.

Marine

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. ~Greek Proverb.

The restoration of the famous Caryatid statues at the Acropolis museum has been completed after 3-1/2 years.  They were carved by ancient Greek sculptor Alkamenes.  For 2,500 years, the six sisters stood unflinching atop the Acropolis, as the fires of war blazed around them, bullets nicked their robes, and bombs scarred their curvaceous bodies. When one of them was kidnapped in the 19th century, legend had it that the other five could be heard weeping in the night.

But only recently have the famed Caryatid statues, among the great divas of ancient Greece, had a chance to reveal their full glory.  Dimitris Pantermalis, president of the Acropolis Museum, stated, “With the pollution erased, we can read more about the history of the last 2,500 years.”

Photos of the Day

Youths run along sand dunes during the peak of summer vacation on Atalaia beach in Salinopolis, Brazil. Paulo Santos/Reuters

North Korean girls stand under a shower at Songdowon International Children’s Camp in Wonsan, North Korea. The 30-year-old camp was originally intended to deepen relations with friendly countries in the Communist or non-aligned world, but officials say they are willing to accept youth from anywhere — even the US. Wong Maye-E/AP

Market Closes for July 29^th, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16912.11	-70.48
		-0.42%
S&P 500	1969.95	-8.96   -0.45%
NASDAQ	4442.699	-2.210   -0.05%
TSX	15446.55	+1.33
		+0.01%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15618.07	+88.67
		+0.57%
HANG SENG	24640.53	+211.90
		+0.87%
SENSEX	25991.23	-135.52
		-0.52%
FTSE 100	6807.75	+19.68
		+0.29%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.089	2.116
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.643	2.669
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4601	2.4835
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2256	3.2514

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92144	0.92594
US $	1.08526	1.07999
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.45534	0.68713
US $	1.34101	0.74571

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1298.82	1305.19
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	100.97	101.67

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

July 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, headed for a record, as companies from WestJet Airlines Ltd. to Norbord Inc. surged on earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

WestJet jumped 4.1 percent to a record as the air carrier flew fuller planes and revenue increased faster than costs. Norbord, which produces wood-based panel board, climbed 8 percent as second-quarter earnings and revenue topped estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 50.25 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,495.47 at 10:28 a.m. in Toronto. The index closed at a record on July 25. The equity index trades at 21.2 times earnings, the highest level since 2010.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its next policy decision on July 30 and investors will get a reading on second- quarter growth the same day. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner.

WestJet soared 4.1 percent to C$28.55 to pace gains as industrial stocks rose 0.3 percent as a group. Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 4 percent lower compared with the 30-day average at this time of the day.

WestJet’s second-quarter profit jumped as passenger numbers grew 6.2 percent in the quarter, filling 79.6 percent of seats.  The Calgary-based airline, second-largest in Canada, is expanding its short-haul Encore unit and its premium economy service to compete with market leader Air Canada.

Air Canada, the largest airline in the nation, added 2.8 percent to C$9.85. It’s scheduled to report earnings on Aug. 7.

BlackBerry Ltd. climbed 0.4 percent to C$10.79, snapping a two-day loss, after agreeing to buy Secusmart GmbH, a provider of anti-eavesdropping technology whose clients include German officials such as Chancellor Angela Merkel. Financial terms weren’t disclosed for the deal. John Chen, chief executive officer of BlackBerry, is in New York today presenting the company’s plans for its securities services with media and analysts.

US
By Jacob Barach and Lu Wang

July 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell as President Barack Obama announced new sanctions against Russia and warned its actions in Ukraine are “setting back decades of progress,” snuffing out earlier gains led by telephone stocks.

United Parcel Service Inc. slid 3.7 percent after cutting its full-year forecast. Windstream Holdings Inc. surged 12 percent on plans to spin off assets into a publicly traded real estate investment trust. Masco Corp. and Merck & Co. gained after reporting earnings that topped analysts’ projections. Twitter Inc. soared 33 percent after the market’s close as second-quarter revenue beat estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.5 percent to 1,969.95 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 70.48 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,912.11 after earlier in the day gaining as much as 74 points. About 6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, up 5.3 percent from the three- month average.

“Geopolitical risk remains a risk,” Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Fort Lee, New Jersey-based Palisade Capital Management, said by phone. The firm oversees $5 billion. “What ultimately makes stocks go higher is earning and earnings are supporting higher valuations in the market.”  The U.S. sanctioned three Russian banks and a state-owned shipbuilder that serves Russia’s navy and oil and gas industry, joining with the European Union in escalating the penalties for Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

The EU curbed Russia’s access to bank financing and advanced technology in its widest-ranging sanctions yet. EU governments agreed to bar Russian state-owned banks from selling shares or bonds in Europe and restricted the export of equipment to modernize the oil industry, a key prop for Russia’s economy, an EU official said.

“Russia is once again isolating itself from the international community, setting back decades of progress,”  Obama said at the White House. “We can’t, in the end, make President Putin see more clearly; ultimately that’s something President Putin has to do on his own.”

American Express Co. and Newmont Mining Corp. are among S&P 500 companies reporting earnings today. About 78 percent of those that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 65 percent exceeded sales projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Profits probably rose 8.2 percent in the second quarter, while sales gained 3.5 percent, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Economic reports today showed improving consumer sentiment while the housing market remains in a slowdown. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 90.9, the highest since October 2007. Residential real-estate prices advanced 9.3 percent in the 12 months ended May, the slowest pace in more than a year, as a lull in the U.S. housing market limits appreciation, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities.

The Federal Reserve will reduce its monthly purchases for the sixth time to $25 billion from $35 billion after a two-day policy meeting starting today, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Investors will also get a reading on second- quarter economic growth tomorrow.

Three rounds of monetary stimulus from the central bank have helped propel the five-year bull market, with the S&P 500 almost tripling from 2009.

“Unless something happens dramatically in the Middle East and that’s not our expectation, our sense is that you really need to see a significant change in central bank policy before you start to see markets become a little more nervous and you have a more sustainable selloff,” Arvin Soh, a New York-based portfolio manager with GAM, said by phone. His firm manages more than $120 billion globally. “Certainly we’re expecting more volatility as the year progresses.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, rose 5.7 percent to 13.28. The gauge of options costs has jumped 29 percent from a seven-year low this month.

Nine out of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries declined, led by industrial and utility companies. Phone companies jumped 2.2 percent. Verizon Communications Inc. rose 0.8 percent to $51.97 and AT&T Inc. added 2.6 percent to $36.59, among the biggest gains in the Dow.

Windstream jumped 12 percent to $11.83. The company will spin off its fiber and copper networks, as well as other real estate, as a REIT, which will lease use of the assets to Windstream with an initial estimated rent payment of $650 million per year. If state regulators and the Securities and Exchange Commission approve the transaction, it could open the door for the other phone carriers to consider similar deals.

Frontier Communications Corp. climbed 14 percent to $6.79 and CenturyLink Inc. rallied 5.8 percent to $39.90.

Cable companies, which have their own network assets, also rose on the news. Comcast Corp. increased 0.5 percent to $54.99, and Time Warner Cable Inc. added 0.6 percent to $149.86.

Merck added 1.1 percent to $58.58. The second-biggest U.S. drugmaker reported that net income more than doubled to $2 billion as the company cut costs. Excluding one-time items, second-quarter earnings were 85 cents a share, beating by 4 cents the average analyst projection.

Masco climbed 7.1 percent to $21.71. The installer of home insulation reported second-quarter profit of 32 cents a share, above the 28-cent projection by analysts.

Twitter rallied 33 percent to $51.17 as of 4:36 p.m. in New York. After the market close, the microblogging company said active membership in the second quarter reached 271 million, with year-over-year growth at 24 percent, compared with 25 percent in the prior period. Sales more than doubled to $312.2 million, exceeding the $282.8 million analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

UPS lost 3.7 percent to $98.86 in regular trading. The world’s biggest package shipping company cut its 2014 outlook after reporting earnings of $1.21 a share for the quarter, below forecasts for $1.25 a share.

Herbalife Ltd. tumbled 14 percent to $58.35. Excluding some items, the nutrition company posted earnings of $1.55 a share, missing analysts’ estimates by 2 cents. The company also said sales this year will grow by 8.5 percent to 10.5 percent, slower than the range of 10 percent to 12 percent it predicted in April.

Corning Inc. slumped 9.3 percent to $20. Profit missed analysts’ estimates as demand for Gorilla Glass, the hard cover glass used for smartphones and tablets, was weaker than the company expected.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Nonviolence is the summit of bravery.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

One’s destination is never a place but rather

a new way of looking at things.

-Henry Miller, 1891-1980

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

We sailed over to San Juan island on the weekend and on the way home yesterday we were accompanied by a huge pod of killer whales.  What a show they gave – jumping out of the water – it was amazing!   Ah-h-h summer!

Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour de France on Sunday, becoming the first Italian in 16 years to triumph in cycling’s greatest race by chiseling a lead over his main rivals a few seconds at a time and dominating them in the mountains.  The 29-year-old Sicilian, who called himself “a flag-bearer of anti-doping” during the race, finished in a bunch behind Marcel Kittel, who won the 21st stage in a sprint

Photos of the Day

Two elderly people sit on a bench as they look at a parascending during a sunny summer day in Nice, southeastern France. Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Two Perseid meteors (c. and lower l.) streak across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower above a forest on the outskirts of Madrid, in the early hours. Andres Kudacki/AP

Market Closes for July 28^th, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16982.59	+22.02
		+0.13%
S&P 500	1978.58	+0.24    +0.01%
NASDAQ	4444.910	-4.653    -0.10%
TSX	15445.93	-9.11
		-0.06%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15529.40	+71.53
		+0.46%
HANG   SENG	24428.63	+212.62
		+0.88%
SENSEX	25991.23	-135.52
		-0.52%
FTSE 100	6788.07	-3.48
		-0.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.116	2.113
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.669	2.667
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.4835	2.4655
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.2514	3.2377

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92594	0.92465
US   $	1.07999	1.08149
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.45111	0.68913
US   $	1.34363	0.74425

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1305.19	1307.44
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	101.67	106.34

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

July 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, after closing last week at a record, as oil producers declined and investors awaited U.S. economic data that may signal slowing growth.

Athabasca Oil Corp. sank 7.4 percent as the oil sands producer said it is still working to close an asset sale with PetroChina Co. BlackBerry Ltd. lost 1.2 percent after Chief Executive Officer John Chen said he doesn’t have any acquisition offers on his desk as he works to turn around the company. Teck Resources Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added at least 0.7 percent as base metals prices advanced on industrial data showing improved demand outlook in China.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 33.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,421.46 at 10:52 a.m. in Toronto. The index closed at a record on July 25. The equity index trades at 21 times earnings, the highest level since 2010.

More than 70 companies in the S&P/TSX are scheduled to report earnings this week.

Athabasca Oil dropped 7.4 percent to C$6.37 to pace declines as oil producers retreated 0.7 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Seven of 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge fell on trading volume 24 percent lower than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

Athabasca has plunged 27 percent from a February high as the company works through a C$1.32 billion transaction with China’s state-owned PetroChina. The Calgary-based company is depending on the payment from PetroChina to fund drilling in its other projects.

NuVista Energy Ltd. lost 2.4 percent to C$10.85 and Bonavista Energy Corp. fell 1.7 percent to C$14.23 as crude in New York slipped for the fourth time in five days. Crude slid last week after government data showed gasoline stockpiles rose to a four-month high as demand declined.

BlackBerry retreated 1.2 percent to C$10.99 for a second day of losses. Chen is focused on turning the ailing business around independently and gave its chances of success as “better than 80/20” in a Bloomberg Television interview. The company’s stock has rallied 39 percent this year.

Teck Resources added 0.9 percent to C$25.60 and First Quantum Minerals increased 0.7 percent to C$26.38 as lead touched a 17-month high in London while aluminum advanced to extend a fourth weekly gain.

Profit at industrial companies in China rose 17.9 percent from a year earlier in June, more than double the previous month’s 8.9 percent increase, a sign growth is picking up in the country.

US
By Lu Wang

July 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed, after erasing an earlier loss, as merger activity and optimism over corporate earnings offset concern over crises abroad before a Federal Reserve policy decision.

Discount chain Family Dollar Stores Inc. soared 25 percent after Dollar Tree Inc. agreed to buy it for about $8.5 billion. Trulia Inc. jumped 15 percent as Zillow Inc. agreed to purchase the company in a $3.5 billion deal. Tyson Foods Inc. climbed 2.6 percent as it agreed to sell poultry businesses in Mexico and Brazil for $575 million. Cummins Inc. fell 3.2 percent to lead declines among industrial shares.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 1,978.91 at 4 p.m. in New York, erasing an earlier drop of as much as 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.02 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,982.59. More than 5.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 5.7 percent below the three month average.

“The market has been very benign,” Sam Wardwell, an investment strategist at Pioneer Investments in Boston, said in a phone interview. His firm manages about $250 billion. “You got a little bit geopolitical fear out there. We’re still on track and as long as wars in the rest of the world don’t upset the upper card, the second half of this year continues to look like it’s going to be a gradually improving year.’

Mergers and acquisitions are booming amid low interest rates and growing corporate cash hoarding. More than $1.1 trillion worth of takeovers have been announced this year, exceeding the total of 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Quarterly profit growth is poised for the fastest increase in almost three years. Companies in the S&P 500 have reported an11 percent gain in second-quarter earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Should the pace continue, the gain would exceed all periods since the third quarter of 2011.

Pfizer Inc., Reynolds American Inc. and American Express Co. are among some 150 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings this week. About 78 percent of U.S. companies that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 66 percent exceeded sales projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Stocks slumped earlier in the day as fewer Americans than forecast signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in June, a sign residential real estate is struggling to strengthen. An S&P index of homebuilder shares dropped 1.2 percent to the lowest level since April.

The S&P 500 recovered today after retreating 0.5 percent on July 25 and losing as much as 0.6 percent this morning. Not since the bull market began has buying dips been a surer way of making money.

Declines in the benchmark gauge for American equity are lasting an average of 1.5 days in 2014, the shortest since at least 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Starting last year, returns on days after the index fell have averaged 0.13 percent, the highest since they were 0.38 percent in 2009.

‘‘I wouldn’t say that we’re putting on our cowboy hats and saying this is an unstoppable bull, but you have a lot of factors going in the right direction,” Patricia Edwards, Seattle-based managing director of investments at the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said in a phone interview. “We’re seeing continued upward momentum in the economy. You’ve got the earnings that have been coming in fairly well, and you’ve got the mergers and acquisitions.”

Outside the U.S., international pressure mounted on Israel to end its three-week offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, with President Barack Obama and the United Nations Security Council demanding an immediate truce.

In Europe, President Vladimir Putin faces intensifying U.S. and European sanctions aimed at forcing him to help end the separatist war in neighboring Ukraine. The Obama administration said it had satellite photos showing Russia firing across the border at Ukraine forces.

The S&P 500 ended little changed last week as investors weighed corporate earnings. The gauge closed 0.5 percent below its all-time high of 1,987.98 reached July 24. The index has rallied 7.1 percent this year, as the economy shows signs of recovering from a 2.9 percent drop in the first quarter amid renewed pledges from the Fed to continue stimulus.

The U.S. central bank announces its next policy decision at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on July 30. Investors will get a reading on second-quarter growth that same day, while the government’s labor report on Aug. 1 may show employers added 231,000 jobs this month.

“It’s another big week of earnings, with the jobs report on Friday,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in an interview. “Sentiment in the short term is a little more cautious.”

The Fed’s Open Market Committee will scale back its monthly asset purchases to $25 billion from $35 billion on July 30, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg, keeping it on pace to end the program late this year. The policy-making committee last month repeated it’s likely to “reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps” and that it expects interest rates to stay low for a “considerable time” after the bond-buying ends.

Chair Janet Yellen and her fellow policy makers are debating how long to keep interest rates near zero as the U.S. labor market improves and inflation moves closer to the Fed’s 2 percent goal.

Three rounds of monetary stimulus from the Fed and better than-forecast corporate earnings have driven the S&P 500 up 192 percent from its March 2009 bottom. The S&P 500 is trading at 18.1 times earnings of its members, around the highest valuation for the gauge since 2010.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a report last week that equities are at risk of a temporary selloff, citing rising bond yields and high valuations for lowering its rating on stocks.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, fell 1 percent to 12.56, reversing an earlier rally of 7.5 percent.

Seven out of the 10 S&P 500 main groups advanced as utility companies gained 1.5 percent. Industrial and consumer-staples shares declined 0.5 percent.

Dollar Tree added 1.2 percent to $54.87. Family Dollar surged 25 percent to $75.74. The deal will create a sprawling discount chain with $18 billion in sales and more locations than any other retailer in the U.S. It also fulfills the ambitions of billionaire investors Carl Icahn and Nelson Peltz, who had acquired major stakes in Family Dollar and pushed for a sale.

Trulia soared 15 percent to $65.04. The all-stock deal positions a unified Zillow and Trulia to capture a larger share of digital real estate ads as more people shift house hunting onto the Web and property agents deploy more marketing dollars onto the Internet. Zillow gained 0.9 percent to $160.32.

Tyson Foods climbed 2.6 percent to $40.56. The largest U.S. meat producer will sell poultry businesses in Mexico and Brazil as it shrinks its foreign operations and focuses on the expansion of its prepared foods segment.

Cummins slipped 3.2 percent to $145.35 even after the maker of diesel engines raised its full-year revenue forecast. Expectations were “fairly high,” Jefferies Group LLC analysts including Stephen Volkmann wrote in a note.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. plummeted 41 percent to $6.39. The pharmaceutical company said Zalviso, a pain treatment for adult hospital patients, failed to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which has requested additional information on the drug.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Nonviolence is not a cloistered virtue to be practiced

by the individual for peace and final salvation,

but it is a rule of conduct for society,

if it is to live consistently with human dignity

and make progress towards the attainment of peace

for which it has been yearning for ages past.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

-Walt Disney, 1901-1966

 

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Annually, July 25^th marks the Pilgrimage of St. Anne d’Auray, Brittany, France.  Thousands of pilgrims will make their way to Sainte Anne d’Auray today to attend celebrations and worship at the basilica.

The basilica was built in the 19C, when pilgrims were too numerous to fit in the small chapel of Yves Nicolazic. Around 800,000 visitors travel here every year (it is the third place of pilgrimage in France after Lourdes and Lisieux).

You’ll be amazed by the number of hotels in this small town of 2,000 inhabitants.

Let’s go back to the place of worship. It began in 1622 when, in the hamlet of Ker Anna, a farmer, Yves Nicolazic had “visions” … Only a year later, in the night of July 25 to 26… Sainte Anne, the grandmother of Jesus will introduce herself … And later still, when the mother of Mary led the farmer with some other believers to the statue of St. Anne … hidden in the place where once stood a chapel. Anne asked them to rebuild it… 924 years later.

This is the beginning of the legend … Sainte Anne (St. Anne), mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus chose Yves Nicolazic.  The miracles continued and popular enthusiasm began: the farmer was married for many years but had no children.  Soon after, he was blessed with 4… Then the Catholic pilgrimages began…
The place was venerated already during the 5th C, at the beginning of the evangelization of Brittany. The chapel was ruined for many centuries. The building which replaced it soon became too small for pilgrims. A chapel, a cloister, a Scala Sancta and a miraculous fountain were added.

The chapel of the 17th C was replaced in 1865 with the present church. It still hosts thousands of pilgrims during the feast of Anne (25 and 26 July).

You can see the Scala Sancta in some movies where the pilgrims were climbing. Breton women in knee cap in reciting prayers roamed the stairs … Another world …

Near the basilica, a place dedicated to John Paul II, only pope to have come to Brittany. More than 150,000 people came to see him in 1996.

You can also visit the house of Yves Nicolazic, which is located near the Basilica (free admission). And every year, at Saint Anne d’Auray, and for those who have not obtained the favors of Saint Guirec, the singles can meet, during a weekend held in May and find true love!

-Taken from Bretagne-tours.com

Photos of the Day

The pack of riders cycles on its way during the 208.5km 19th stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Maubourguet and Bergerac.Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters

A seahorse swims in its basin in the zoo in Frankfurt, Germany. Michael Probst/AP

Market Closes for July 25^th, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	16960.57	-123.23
		-0.72%
S&P 500	1978.34	-9.64    -0.48%
NASDAQ	4449.563	-22.545    -0.50%
TSX	15455.04	+60.59
		+0.39%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15457.87	+173.45
		+1.13%
HANG   SENG	24216.01	+74.51
		+0.31%
SENSEX	26126.75	-145.10
		-0.55%
FTSE 100	6791.55	-29.91
		-0.44%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.113	2.156
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.667	2.709
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.4655	2.5007
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.2377	3.2913

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.92465	0.93087
US   $	1.08149	1.07427
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.45244	0.68850
US   $	1.34299	0.74460

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1307.44	1293.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.34	105.32

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

July 25 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fourth day to a record as TransForce Inc. and MDC Partners Inc. jumped on better-than-forecast earnings and metal producers advanced with gold amid mounting conflicts overseas.

TransForce, which provides staff for trucking companies, surged 10 percent as revenue climbed after a series of acquisitions. MDC Partners, an advertising firm, gained 4.9 percent as the company also raised its dividend. Semafo Inc. and Iamgold Corp. increased at least 4.1 percent as gold rallied the most in a week.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 60.59 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,455.04 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, extending a record. The S&P/TSX advanced 1.2 percent this week for a second weekly gain. The equity index trades at 21.1 times earnings, the highest level since 2010.

“The index is benefiting from its rich resource content,” said Martin Roberge, a strategist at Canaccord Genuity Corp., in a note to clients. “It is very sensitive to global economic growth prospects, and the strong flash manufacturing PMIs released this week bode well for further outperformance.”

The combined average purchasing managers’ index measure across the U.S., Europe, Japan and China so far this year is 52.7, ahead of levels in 2012 and 2013, suggesting potential further gains for the S&P/TSX, Roberge said.

Semafo surged 7.4 percent to C$4.82 and Iamgold added 4.1 percent to C$4.07 as raw-materials stocks jumped 2.1 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Seven of 10 industries in the benchmark equity gauge rose on trading volume 13 percent lower than the 30-day average.

Gold for December delivery rose 1 percent to settle at $1,305.30 an ounce in New York, the biggest gain since July 17.

Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s second-largest lender by assets, added 0.7 percent to C$79.89 and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce advanced 0.2 percent to C$100.34, the highest close since 2007. Financial stocks have rallied 1 percent in the past four days.

TransForce jumped 10 percent to C$27.82, a record, after reporting second-quarter profit and sales ahead of analysts’ estimates. Acquisitions including Vitran, Clarke Transport and Clarke Road Transport contributed C$102.3 million to sales in the quarter, the company said.

TransForce also agreed to buy Contrans Group Inc. in a cash deal for C$14.60 a share, or a total equity purchase price of about C$495 million.

MDC advanced 4.9 percent to C$23.92, a one-month high. The company raised its 2014 estimate for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, Chief Executive Officer Miles Nadal said in a release.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the Montreal-based construction and engineering firm, added 2.2 percent to C$57.74, the highest in three years, after its Candu unit signed a cooperation agreement with the China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. for construction of reactors in Romania.

Dragonwave Inc., a network communications equipment provider, plunged 14 percent to C$1.72, the biggest decline since September. The company said it will sell shares for C$1.80 a unit to raise about C$25 million.

US
By Oliver Renick

July 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, pulling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from a record, as earnings at Amazon.com Inc and Visa Inc. missed estimates and durable goods data fueled concern corporate investment remains stop-and-go.

Amazon plunged 9.7 percent after trailing analysts’ predictions for the second successive quarter. Visa sank 3.7 percent percent after lowering its full-year revenue forecast. Pandora Media Inc. slid 10 percent after the number of active listeners reported by the biggest Internet radio service missed some analysts’ estimates. Baidu Inc. rose 11 percent after earnings topped projections.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.5 percent to 1,978.34 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 123.23 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,960.57 today. About 5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 12 percent below the three-month average.

“The market is really looking at micro level numbers on a lot of these companies,” Ian Kerrigan, global investment specialist at JP Morgan Private Bank in Seattle, said in a phone interview. “There is skepticism going into the weekend. We have a lot of important numbers coming out next week with GDP, inflation and jobs, so we might see some profit-taking today.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said equities are at risk of a temporary selloff, citing rising bond yields and high valuations for lowering its rating on stocks.

The S&P 500 closed little changed for the week. The gauge was up 0.5 percent over the past four days as corporate earnings reports boosted confidence in the economy and inflation data signaled the Federal Reserve won’t be compelled to raise interest rates in the near future. The Fed announces its next policy decision at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on July 30.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week the central bank must press on with stimulus with record easing to combat persistent weakness in the job market. A report on Aug. 1 will show employers added 231,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate held at 6.1 percent, according to economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The S&P 500 has advanced 7 percent this year, as the U.S. economy shows signs of recovering from a 2.9 percent contraction in the first quarter. Investors will get a reading on second- quarter growth on July 30.

Data today showed orders for U.S. business equipment rose in June following a revised drop the prior month, indicating corporate investment could hold back growth.

“Durable goods orders continue to be anemic relative to where they should be in the capex cycle,” Lincoln Ellis, managing director at Green Square Capital Management LLC in Memphis, Tennessee, said in a phone interview. “CEOs in America are very cautious about reinvesting in capital expenditures because they understand the underlying economy continues to be lackluster.”

Investors have also been watching geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine. The U.S. today accused Russia of shelling Ukrainian military positions across its border, raising tensions after the ruling coalition in Kiev broke apart.

Russia’s central bank unexpectedly increased borrowing costs for a third time this year as the intensifying conflict and the threat of wider sanctions squeeze the economy and undercut the ruble.

Israel and Hamas are considering a U.S.-backed proposal for a temporary cease-fire as the conflict in the Gaza Strip intensified.

Goldman Sachs cut its rating on stocks to neutral, the equivalent of hold, for the next three months, according to a quarterly research report from its portfolio strategy group on July 25.

“The acceleration in economic growth is largely behind us and geopolitical risks are elevated,” a group of 11 strategists, including David Kostin, Kathy Matsui and Peter Oppenheimer, said in the report, known as the global opportunity asset locator.

Eleven companies on the S&P 500 reported earnings today. Of the members that have posted results so far, 79 percent have beaten estimates for profit and 66 percent have exceeded projections for sales.

“The results season has been going fine, not spectacular, but fine,” Matthew Beesley, head of global equities at Henderson Global Investors Holdings Ltd., said. “There’s a worry that growth is slowing worldwide, so people have been watching corporate data very closely. It’ll be the financial results that will be moving markets, as none of the geopolitical events going on right now have much effect.‘‘

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX, rose 6 percent to 12.55 to erase a decline for the week.

Eight of the 10 main S&P 500 groups retreated today. Consumer-discretionary shares, a sector that includes Amazon, sank 1.2 percent to pace declines and financials lost 0.6 percent as a group.

Amazon tumbled 9.7 percent, the most since April. The world’s largest online retailer reported a second-quarter loss of $126 million, compared with the average estimate by analysts for $66.7 million, as its cloud-computing business showed signs of cooling and investments in new distribution warehouses and gadgets curtailed earnings.

‘‘I’m not overly concerned with Amazon’s losses,” said Patrick Spencer, managing director and head of U.S. equity sales at Robert W. Baird & Co. “They’re focusing on building a business rather than reaping short-term earnings.”

Visa dropped 3.6 percent. The world’s largest payments network said revenue for the accounting year ending Sept. 30 may climb 9 percent to 10 percent from a year earlier. That’s lower than an April forecast of 10 percent to 11 percent.

Pandora lost 10 percent for the steepest drop in three months. The number of active listeners grew 7.5 percent to 76.4 million users in the second quarter, the company said yesterday. That missed the 76.6 million estimate of Corey Barrett, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, and a projection of 77 million by Mark Mahaney at RBC Capital Markets.

Baidu advanced 11 percent, rising for a sixth day to extend an all-time high. The operator of China’s largest Internet search service reported second-quarter net income of 3.55 billion yuan ($572.5 million), beating the analysts’ average prediction of 2.85 billion yuan.

VeriSign Inc. climbed 12 percent for the biggest advance in the S&P 500 and its steepest climb since 2009. The company reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Nonviolence and cowardice go ill together.

I can imagine a fully armed man to be at heart a coward.

Possession of arms implies an element of fear, if not cowardice.

But true nonviolence is impossible without the possession of unadulterated fearless ness.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

There are only two options regarding commitment.  You’re either in or out.  There’s

no such thing as a life in-between.

-Pat Riley, 1945-

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Zelda Fitzgerald (nee Sayre) was born on this day in 1900.  She was the beautiful daughter of a well-to-do family from Montgomery, Alabama. Zelda was a  free-spirited, rebellious girl when met author F. Scott Fitzgerald in July 1918.  He noted in his journal that on September 7^th he fell in love with Zelda and the two were married in a small ceremony at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in April 1920.  A failed ballet dancer and artist, she had a modestly successful career as a novelist, her most famous work being Save Me the Waltz (1932), which she wrote at Phipps Clinic in Baltimore, while recovering from her second mental breakdown.  From the very beginning, the two carried on an extremely codependent, unhealthy, yet enduring and intense love affair.  Diagnosed as a schizophrenic, she died in a fire at the Highland Hospital sanitarium where she had been admitted for depression.  Fitzgerald once wrote on e of Zelda’s doctors, “perhaps fifty percent of our friends and relatives would tell you in all honest conviction that my drinking drove Zelda insane – the other half would assure you that her insanity drove me to drink.  Neither judgement would mean anything.”

Zelda wrote this love letter to Scott:

I look down the tracks and see you coming – and out of every haze and mist your darling rumpled trousers are hurrying to me – Without you, dearest dearest I couldn’t see or hear or feel or think – or live – I love you so and I’m never in all our lives going to let us be apart another night.  It’s like begging for mercy of a storm or killing Beauty or growing old, without you.  I want to kiss you so…-from The Fifty Greatest Love Letters of All Time, edited by David H. Lowenhers.

Photos of the Day

A couple look at stone sculptures at the Remic Rapids in the Ottawa River during sunset at Ottawa July 23. Chris Wattie/Reuters

A man rows a boat on a river in front of new properties in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China. Reuters

Market Closes for July 24^th , 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	17083.80	-2.83
		-0.02%
S&P 500	1987.98	+0.97    +0.05%
NASDAQ	4472.109	-1.587    -0.04%
TSX	15394.45	+0.07
		—

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15284.42	-44.14
		-0.29%
HANG   SENG	24141.50	+169.63
		+0.71%
SENSEX	26271.85	+124.52
		+0.48%
FTSE 100	6821.46	+23.31
		+0.34%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.156	2.128
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.709	2.674
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5007	2.4673
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.2913	3.2636

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.93087	0.93225
US   $	1.07427	1.07267
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.44639	0.69137
US   $	1.34640	0.74273

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1293.00	1304.85
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	105.32	107.62

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

July 24 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed, after reaching a record yesterday, as Domtar Corp. sank on worse-than-forecast earnings and commodities prices retreated.

Domtar, the pulp and paper manufacturer, plunged 7.1 percent as downtime at their mills led to higher unit costs. Teck Resources added 1.3 percent after reporting coal production costs will be lower than previously forecast. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. added 0.3 percent after raising its full-year earnings forecast on higher Chinese demand for its fertilizer. Alacer Gold Corp. and OceanaGold Corp. fell at least 4.3 percent as gold declined to a five-week low.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose less than a point to 15,394.45 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity index trades at 20.8 times earnings, the highest level since 2010.

Six of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX rose on trading volume 3.1 percent lower than the 30-day average.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. slipped 0.8 percent to C$20.30. Bond investors are becoming increasingly concerned Pacific Rubiales will fail to strike a deal with Colombia’s state-owned Ecopetrol SA to continue drilling at the Rubiales field after its contract expires in 2016.

Domtar sank 7.1 percent to C$41.64, the biggest decline since April 2013, after the company said it took lack-of-order downtime totaling 51,000 tons of paper which resulted in higher unit costs.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified mining company, rose 1.3 percent for a fourth day of gains after it said its coal mining costs will be 5 percent lower than previously expected this year after job cuts. A ton of coal will cost $52 to $57 to produce, down from an earlier estimate of $55 to $60, Teck said in a statement. Teck expects to produce 6 million metric tons of coal in the third quarter.

Rogers Communications Inc., the nation’s largest wireless carrier, rose 1.1 percent to C$42.88 as the company met analysts’ estimates amid a turnaround plan to return to growth.

Talisman Energy Inc. dropped 1.8 percent to C$11.76 and Crew Energy Inc. fell 1.1 percent to C$10.35. Crude for September delivery slipped 1 percent in New York after gasoline inventories expanded a third week in the U.S.

Bombardier Inc. dropped 1.1 percent to C$3.70, falling for a third day. The aircraft manufacturer will slash about 1,800 jobs from its aerospace business and split the unit into three, in a move to cut costs and improve operations. Bombardier eliminated 1,700 jobs in January, after the company postponed the commercial debut of its CSeries jet for a fourth time.

US
By Oliver Renick

July 24 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended a record as Facebook Inc. rallied on higher revenue, and growth in global manufacturing offset a drop in home sales. Caterpillar Inc. sank on a disappointing forecast, leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average little changed.

Facebook jumped 5.2 percent to a record after saying second-quarter sales surged 61 percent. Under Armor Inc. surged 15 percent after increasing its 2014 profit target. Caterpillar sank 3.1 percent after forecasting full-year profit that fell short of estimates. D.R. Horton Inc. plunged 12 percent to lead homebuilders lower. Amazon.com Inc. sank 6.2 percent in late trading after reporting a loss wider than analysts’ projected.

The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to a record 1,987.98 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow average slipped 2.83 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,083.80. About 5.7 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, in line with the three-month average.

“Earnings are coming in better than expected and the market has taken a queue from that but the economy overall is kind of a mixed bag,” John Kvantas, director of equity research at USAA Investments, said in a phone interview. He helps oversee $63 billion in mutual fund assets. “Housing isn’t coming back and I think there was some hope for more improvement there.”

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent yesterday as Apple Inc. helped push technology companies higher, while health-care stocks rallied on earnings. The gauge has advanced 7.6 percent this year amid better-than-estimated corporate results and central- bank support. The index trades at 18.2 times the reported earnings of its members, the highest since 2010.

Global equities advanced today as data showed euro-area manufacturing and services grew in July while Chinese factory activity rose to an 18-month high. Economic reports in the U.S. were mixed, with fewer new U.S. homes sold in June than forecast while jobless claims unexpectedly fell.

U.S. equities pared gains in afternoon trading after Espirito Santo Financial Group SA, the owner of a 20.1 percent stake in Portuguese lender Banco Espirito Santo SA, sought protection from creditors. Global financial markets were roiled early this month on concern that the corporate debt troubles in Portugal could spread.

A Markit Economics Ltd. factory gauge for the U.S. unexpectedly declined to 56.3 in July from 57.3 the previous month. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

The International Monetary Fund lowered its outlook for global growth this year as expansions weaken from the U.S. to China and military conflicts raise the risk of a surge in oil prices.

Investors are also weighing the threat of new European Union sanctions targeting Russia over the Krelmin’s actions in Ukraine. The EU is preparing to sanction top Russian security officials, including the chiefs of the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB and foreign intelligence, over the conflict in Ukraine, according to a draft document obtained by Bloomberg.

The U.S. is pushing Europe to toughen its stance toward President Vladimir Putin a week after the Malaysian jet was hit by a missile American officials say was probably fired from a Russian-supplied launcher. Russia denies involvement.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigned after two parties quit the ruling coalition and President Petro Poroshenko signaled his support for early elections.

Fifty companies in the S&P 500 report earnings today. About 77 percent of those that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 64 percent exceeded sales projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Profits at S&P 500 members probably rose 6.2 percent in the second quarter, while sales gained 3.3 percent, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“I’m quite impressed with the results I’ve seen till now,” said Pierre Mouton, who helps oversee $8 billion at Notz, Stucki & Cie. in Geneva. “In most cases, we’ve had companies beating on revenues and earnings, and posting positive outlooks. I don’t think the market can go much higher in the short term because it’s overbought, but I don’t expect any meaningful correction.”

Six of the 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced today, with consumer shares advancing at least 0.3 percent to pace gains.

Facebook climbed 5.2 percent, the most since April, to $74.98. The operator of world’s biggest social network said mobile advertisements helped profit more than double as sales surged.

Tractor Supply Co. jumped 6.6 percent after releasing its financial results to help producers of consumer-discretionary products rally.

Under Armour surged 15 percent for the largest increase in the group. The maker of compression T-shirts and other athletic apparel raised its annual growth forecast. Nike Inc. jumped 1.6 percent for the biggest gain in the Dow.

Zillow Inc. jumped 15 percent and Trulia Inc. rallied 32 percent after a report said Zillow is seeking to acquire Trulia, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in a move to combine the two most-visited U.S. real estate websites.

Amazon.com sank 6.2 percent to $336.35. The world’s largest online retailer reported its biggest quarterly loss since 2012 as Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos builds more distribution warehouses, adds grocery deliveries and develops new smartphones and tablets. The shares closed 0.1 percent higher today.

Industrial stocks slid 0.5 percent to pace declines in the S&P 500. Precision Castparts sank 5.5 percent for the biggest loss after reporting profit and sales that missed estimates.

Caterpillar tumbled 3.1 percent, the most since May and the biggest decline in the Dow. The largest maker of mining machinery forecast full-year sales and earnings that fell short of analysts’ estimates as it said there’s no sign of an upturn in the industry in 2014.

Housing shares plunged, with an S&P index of home builders sinking 4.9 percent for its biggest drop in a year. Meritage Homes Corp. sank 3.9 percent and Toll Brothers Inc. slid 4.1 percent as all 11 members of the index retreated.

D.R. Horton dropped 12 percent for the biggest loss and its worst day since November 2009. The largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue said its fiscal-third quarter earnings declined as the company’s sales margin shrank.

Airline stocks slumped, as a third fatal airline crash in the past week left 2014 on track for the worst year in almost a decade for passenger fatalities.

United Continental Holdings Inc. slid 2.4 percent and American Airlines Group Inc. lost 2.7 percent even as the two carriers disclosed dividends earlier in the day.

The disappearance of a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft on the fringes of the Sahara desert today follows the loss of an ATR-72 turboprop in storms in Taiwan yesterday and the downing of Malaysian Air Flight MH17 over Ukraine last week.

AT&T Inc. fell 1.1 percent. The second-largest U.S. wireless carrier fell short of earnings estimates as more customers started paying for devices with installment plans, an option that’s reducing profits as it cuts monthly service bills.

Qualcomm Inc. dropped 6.7 percent. The chipmaker projected that net income in the current quarter that will fall short of the average analyst estimate. The company cited challenges to its technology-licensing business in China.

TripAdvisor Inc. slumped 5.2 percent. The online travel service posted second-quarter adjusted earnings of 55 cents a share, missing the 61-cent projection of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index slipped 1.4 percent after four days of gains. Celgene Corp. lost 3.3 percent as its 2014 profit forecast fell short of the average analyst estimate.

Puma Biotechnology Inc. slid 8.8 percent after yesterday surging 295 percent following a successful medical trial. Adage Capital Management LP, the Boston hedge fund started by two former money managers at Harvard University’s endowment, made almost $1 billion yesterday on its 19 percent stake in the company.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The sum-total of the experience of the sages of the world is available to us

and would be for all time to come.

Moreover, there are not many fundamental truths,

but there is only one fundamental truth which is Truth itself,

otherwise known as nonviolence.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.

-Andy Rooney, 1919-2011

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Summer Tip:

Wild Swimming: visit www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com for safety advice for swimming outdoors.

Photos of the Day

A bee is seen on a flower in a forest near the village of Berezhok, north of Minsk, Belarus. Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

German pianist Stefan Aaron plays an orange piano on a ‘flying carpet’ platform suspended from a helicopter, over the Munich airport. The concert is the fourth station of the ‘Orange Piano Tour’, which brings the artist to places around the world. Lukas Barth/Reuters

Market Closes for July 23^rd, 2014

Market   Index	Close	Change
Dow   Jones	17086.63	-26.91
		-0.16%
S&P 500	1987.01	+3.48    +0.18%
NASDAQ	4473.695	+17.679    +0.40%
TSX	15394.38	+79.25
		+0.52%

International Markets

Market   Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15328.56	-14.72
		-0.10%
HANG   SENG	23971.87	+189.76
		+0.80%
SENSEX	26147.33	+121.53
		+0.43%
FTSE 100	6798.15	+2.81
		+0.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.   10 Year Bond	2.128	2.122
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.674	2.664
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.4673	2.4619
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.2636	3.2507

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.93225	0.93135
US   $	1.07267	1.07371
Euro Rate   1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.44408	0.69248
US   $	1.34625	0.74280

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1304.85	1307.62
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	107.62	104.42

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Jacob Barach

July 23 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks reached a record for a second day as BCE Inc. agreed to buy the remainder of Bell Aliant Inc. and oil producers advanced amid increasing tensions between government and rebel forces in Ukraine.

Bell Aliant rose 12 percent after BCE agreed to pay C$3.95 billion ($3.68 billion) for the shares it didn’t already own. BCE already controls the Halifax-based phone, TV and Internet service provider through a 44 percent stake. Talisman Energy Inc. advanced 13 percent after saying it has been approached about “various transactions” by Repsol SA.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 79.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,394.38 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity index has rallied 13 percent this year.

The S&P/TSX Health Care Index rose 1.4 percent to lead gains as eight of 10 industries in the benchmark equity gauge advanced.

Encana Corp. and Crew Energy Inc. rose at least 2.5 percent as Brent crude oil climbed 0.7 percent to $108.03 a barrel.

Pro-Russian separatists shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets in the same eastern region where Malaysian Air Flight MH17 was destroyed, a Defense Ministry spokesman, Oleksiy Dmytrashkovsky, said by phone.

Canadian retail sales rose 0.7 percent in May, led by record automobile purchases, exceeding the 0.6 percent median forecast of in a Bloomberg economist survey with 16 responses.

US
By Oliver Renick

July 23 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose to an all-time high, as Apple Inc. boosted technology companies and health-care shares rallied amid earnings. Boeing Co.’s results dragged the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower.

Apple surged to the highest since 2012 after signaling the wait for new products is nearing an end. Biogen Idec Inc. rallied 11 percent after raising its full-year forecast, while Intuitive Surgical Inc. jumped 18 percent as results topped estimates. Boeing sank 2.3 percent as a cost for a tanker rekindled concern the planemaker would struggle with a new aircraft program. Facebook Inc. rose 0.8 percent in late trading after reporting profit that topped estimates.

The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to a record 1,987.19 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 25.63 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,087.91. Boeing is the sixth- largest component of the Dow by weighting at 4.8 percent.

“The general tone of earnings has been positive not just on the bottom line but also top-line, and we’ve seen inflation numbers that gave comfort to those who believe the market will be supported by the Fed,” Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at New York-based BlackRock Inc., said via phone.

The S&P 500 rose yesterday after inflation data signaled the Federal Reserve won’t be compelled to raise interest rates in the near future and earnings reports boosted optimism about the economy. Chair Janet Yellen has said rates will stay low for a “considerable time” after the central bank stops its monthly bond purchases. It is on track to end them in October.

The Fed may have scope to keep interest rates at zero for longer than investors anticipate as inflation stays muted and a 2014 slowdown prolongs the labor-market recovery, the International Monetary Fund said in a conference call today.

The IMF cut its U.S. growth forecast for this year to 1.7 percent from 2 percent predicted in June, citing a first-quarter contraction.

The S&P 500 has advanced 7.5 percent this year amid better- than-estimated corporate earnings and central bank stimulus, as the U.S. economy shows signs of recovering from a 2.9 percent contraction in the first quarter. The gauge trades at 18.4 times the reporting earnings of its members, the highest since 2010.

Investors are also watching developments in Ukraine, where the Defense Ministry today said rebels in the eastern part of the country downed two government fighters.

The European Union yesterday threatened to restrict Russia’s access to capital markets and sensitive energy and defense technologies unless President Vladimir Putin expedites a probe into the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane.

In the Middle East, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said the nation doesn’t plan to stop its Gaza Strip offensive as long as the Palestinian territory’s Hamas rulers continue to pose a threat. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Israel in pursuit of an elusive truce deal.

“Usually we have a lot lighter of volume in this time of year and negative geopolitical news would drive the market down more than it has, but the economy is better fundamentally than most people think it is,” Kurt Cambier, senior partner at Littleton, Colorado-based Centennial Capital Partners, said in a phone interview.

Thirty seven companies on the S&P 500 including PepsiCo Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Boeing Co. and Facebook Inc. will post earnings today. Profits at S&P 500 members probably rose 6.2 percent in the second quarter, while sales gained 3.3 percent, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Of the members of the gauge that have reported results so far, 78 percent have exceeded analysts’ estimates for profit and 65 percent have beaten revenue projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“There may be some times when the geopolitical landscape hogs the spotlight but it’s always about earnings, and they’re coming in better than expected,” Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at New York-based Voya Investment Management LLC, said by phone. Voya oversees about $220 billion. “People say we’re at all-time highs and that we have to come down, but we’re not out of the ball park with valuations yet.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX, fell 6 percent to 11.51.

Five of the 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced today, led by a0.8 percent gain among health-care stocks. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index jumped 2.2 percent.

Intuitive Surgical rallied 18 percent, the biggest gain in the index and its steepest rise in five years. The maker of robotics used in surgeries reported profit that surpassed analysts’ estimates.

Biogen Idec jumped 11 percent. The world’s biggest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs raised its 2014 profit forecast after quarterly results beat forecasts.

Puma Biotechnology Inc. surged 295 percent. The company said a clinical trial of its experimental drug blocked the return of breast cancer in women with a type of early-stage disease.

The Nasdaq 100 Index of technology stocks added 0.6 percent to the highest level since September 2000, with Biogen and Intuitive leading gains. Yahoo! Inc. jumped 3.3 percent.

Apple added 2.6 percent to $97.19, the highest since September 2012. The company stoked anticipation for new devices on a conference call, with Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook talking about an “incredible pipeline” that “we can’t wait to show you.” Apple earlier reported a drop in iPad demand and projected third-quarter revenue below analysts’ predictions.

Microsoft Corp. was little changed near a 14-year high. The company’s ’s main software business topped estimates, benefiting from improving corporate demand for computers and software delivered over the Web.

Facebook rose 0.8 percent to $71.89 in late trading. The operator of the world’s biggest social networking website reported quarterly results that surpassed estimates. Facebook closed the regular session up 2.9 percent to the highest in four months.

PepsiCo Inc. climbed 1.9 percent. The softdrink maker reported better-than-projected profit and raised its annual forecast after reducing costs.

Delta Air Lines Inc. rose 3.9 percent. The company benefited from strong domestic demand to post profit that topped estimates. Delta is the first U.S.-based carrier to report earnings for the traditionally strong second quarter.

Boeing sank 2.3 percent for the steepest decline in the Dow. The world’s biggest plane maker took the after-tax charge related to development of the KC-46A military tanker. It also raised its full-year profit forecast, as it reaps gains from faster production that is driving jetliner deliveries to record levels.

Broadcom Corp. slipped 1.6 percent. The chipmaker reported earnings that surpassed estimates.

Juniper Networks Inc. dropped 9.6 percent. The network- infrastructure company gave a forecast for third-quarter revenue and profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates amid a slowdown in sales of networking equipment to phone companies.

Xilinx Inc. tumbled 14 percent for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The maker of microprocessors use in phone networks said it expects sales to remain little changed or fall as much as 4 percent in the quarter through September.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

For me, nonviolence is not a mere philosophical principle.

It rules my life.  It is the rule and breath of my life.

It is a matter not of the intellect but of the heart.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Champions keep playing until they get it right.

-Billie Jean King, 1943-

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

July 22nd:  Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany.

The story is that the town of Hamelin in Westphalia was infested with rats in 1284, and that a mysterious piper in a parti-coloured suit appeared in the town and offered to rid it of vermin for a certain sum, which offer was accepted by the towns-people.  The Pied Piper fulfilled his contract, but payment was not forthcoming,  On the following St. John’s Day, he reappeared and again played his pipe.  This time all the children followed him and he led them to a mountain cave, where all disappeared save two: one blind, the other dumb or lame.  Another version is that they were led to Transylvania where they formed a German colony.  The story, familiar in England from Robert Browning’s poem (1842), appeared earlier in James Howell’s Familiar Letters (1645-55).  The legend has its roots in the story of the Children’s Crusade. –from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.

Photos of the Day

An unidentified Santa takes a moment to snap a photo as Santas from all over the world gather for the traditional July Santa Congress in Copenhagen. The Santas stuck to their traditional schedule, reserving half the day to dip their feet in the waters of Oresund, the sound between Copenhagen and the Swedish coast. Mogens Flindt/Polfoto/AP

A child paints a picture of cyclists as the pack with Australia’s Simon Gerrans passes, during the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race that started in in Carcassonne and will finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon, France. Christophe Ena/AP

Market Closes for July 22^nd, 2014

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17113.54	+61.81
		+0.36%
S&P 500	1983.53	+9.90   +0.50%
NASDAQ	4456.016	+31.312   +0.71%
TSX	15315.13	+65.14
		+0.43%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15343.28	+127.57
		+0.84%
HANG SENG	23782.11	+394.97
		+1.69%
SENSEX	26025.80	+310.63
		+1.21%
FTSE 100	6795.34	+66.90
		+0.99%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	2.122	2.135
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.664	2.672
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.4619	2.4674
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.2507	3.2571

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.93135	0.93131
US $	1.07371	1.07376
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.44586	0.69163
US $	1.34660	0.74261

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1307.62	1312.55
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.42	104.59

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Eric Lam

July 22 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a record after Canadian National Railway Co. reported better-than- estimated earnings and oil producers advanced.

Canadian National climbed 0.7 percent to extend an all-time high after soaring grain cargoes led to higher profit and cash- flow targets for 2014. Penn West Petroleum Ltd. and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. gained more than 4.4 percent to pace gains among energy stocks ahead of a U.S. government report tomorrow that may show crude inventories fell.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 65.14 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,315.13 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity index has rallied 12 percent this year.

Canadian National added 0.7 percent to a record C$74.36 for an eighth day of gains, the longest winning streak since September. Industrial companies rallied 1.2 percent as a group as eight of 10 industries in the benchmark equity gauge advanced.

HudBay Minerals Inc. jumped 2.8 percent to C$11.21, the highest since February 2013, after TD Securities analyst Greg Barnes raised his rating for the stock to buy from hold. The mining company has climbed 28 percent this year and has nine buys, 10 holds and one sell, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. increased 0.5 percent to C$4.46, amid a rally in fuel-cell producers. An affiliate of FuelCell Energy Inc. won 4.9 million euros in awards from the German government to support a research project. FuelCell rose 12 percent in U.S. trading.

Major Drilling Group International Inc., a contract drilling company working in the energy industry, soared 9.8 percent to C$8.76, the biggest gain since September 2012. The company yesterday agreed to buy operations of Taurus Drilling Services for C$27.7 million in cash, shares and debt.

Pretium Resources Inc. sank 7.4 percent, the biggest drop since December, to C$7.85. The gold mining company said it plans to sell shares to raise $60 million to fund environmental and engineering activities at its Brucejack project in British Columbia.

US
By Oliver Renick

July 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closing two points from a record, as data showed inflation has failed to gain a toehold and earnings from Comcast Corp. to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. topped estimates.

Herbalife Ltd. shares surged the most since trading began in 2004 as hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman struggled to convince investors the seller of weight-loss shakes is guilty of fraud. Chipotle jumped 12 percent after reporting earnings and sales that beat projections. Comcast added 1.5 percent after profit topped estimates on higher revenue from Internet customers. Travelers Cos. dropped 3.8 percent as earnings slid 26 percent.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,983.53 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index climbed as high as 1,986.24, topping its previous intraday record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 61.81 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,113.54. About 5.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 8 percent above the three-month average.

“The equity market seems destined to trend higher,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $120 billion, said by phone. “We think there is still some modest upside if you continue to see earnings rise. The inflation numbers are supportive of higher stock prices. It reflects U.S. economic growth that is neither too slow nor too fast.”

The S&P 500 has advanced 7.3 percent this year through yesterday amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings and central bank stimulus, as the U.S. economy shows signs of recovering from a 2.9 percent contraction in the first quarter.

Data today showed the consumer price index increased 0.3 percent in June, paced by a jump in gasoline that is now reversing, bolstering Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s view that recent increases were temporary.

Investors have been scrutinizing inflation data to determine when the Fed will begin raising its benchmark interest rate. Last week Yellen told lawmakers the central bank plans to press on with record easing to combat persistent weakness in the job market.

Inflation has failed to get a toehold as slowing global demand has prevented companies from exercising pricing power. If prices remain in check, Fed policy makers can keep interest rates low well into 2015.

A separate report showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes climbed in June to an eight-month high, a sign the housing market is making more headway.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent yesterday on concern that the crisis in Ukraine could lead to deeper sanctions against Russia. European Union governments labored to identify more Russian businesspeople and companies to sanction and pressed President Vladimir Putin to speed a probe into the downing of Malaysian Air flight MH17 or face isolation.

“It’s a day-by-day encounter for markets, with every speech and communication from politicians giving us the direction for the day,” Lorne Baring, who helps oversee about $500 million as managing director at B Capital SA in Geneva, said by telephone, referring to Russia.

The S&P 500 closed at a record 1,985.44 on July 3 and trades at 18.3 times reported earnings, near the highest level in four years. The index has not had a drop of more than 10 percent since 2011.

Earnings at the gauge’s members probably rose 6.2 percent in the second quarter, while sales gained 3.3 percent, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Some 36 companies listed on the S&P 500 report earnings today, including Coca-Cola Co., McDonald’s Corp., Microsoft Inc. and Apple Inc. About 76 percent of S&P 500 companies that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 67 percent exceeded sales projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Eight of the 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced today, as health-care and technology stocks rose at least 0.8 percent to lead gains. Producers of consumer staples had the only decline.

ARM Holdings Plc jumped 7 percent. The chip designer whose products power Apple’s iPhone and iPad, said royalty growth will accelerate in the second half as the smartphone market recovers.

Intel Corp., the world’s biggest maker of semiconductors, rallied 2.1 percent for the biggest gain in the Dow, while Apple added 0.8 percent.

Chipotle jumped 12 percent to an all-time high. The restaurant chain said second-quarter net income rose 25 percent and revenue jumped to $1.05 billion, buoyed by an increase in traffic at existing outlets and by sales in new stores.

Comcast rose 1.5 percent. The largest cable company in the U.S. said second-quarter revenue increased 3.5 percent to 16.8 billion, while analysts estimated almost $17 billion. The company is in the process of buying Time Warner Cable Inc.

Apache Corp. gained 4.6 percent, its biggest advance in a year, after hedge fund Jana Partners LLC disclosed a $1 billion stake in the oil and natural gas company.

DuPont Co. slipped 0.9 percent. The U.S. chemicals producer posted lower-than-estimated revenue after some farmers switched to genetically modified soybeans from corn.

Travelers declined 3.8 percent for its steepest slide in nearly three years. The only property-casualty insurer in the Dow average said second-quarter profit missed estimates on catastrophe costs.

Coca-Cola dropped 2.9 percent, the most since February. The world’s largest beverage company, reported second-quarter sales that missed analysts’ estimates amid sluggish demand for drinks such as juice and Diet Coke in North America.

McDonald’s fell 1.3 percent. The largest restaurant chain by sales posted second-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates after a U.S. slump lingered. The company’s business faces a crowded field and last year it added many new items, slowing down its kitchens.

Harley-Davidson Inc. dropped 5.4 percent, its biggest slump in two years, after lowering its forecast for new motorcycle shipments in 2014 to no more than 275,000, after previously predicting at least 279,000.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. slid 3.1 percent, the biggest decline since February, after the manufacturer of consumer hygiene products reported second-quarter earnings that missed some analysts’ estimates.

Netflix Inc. declined 4.6 percent to the lowest in a month.  The online movie and TV-streaming service forecast third-quarter profit below analysts’ estimates.

Herbalife surged 25 percent, rebounding from an 11 percent slide yesterday after Ackman compared the company to Enron Corp. in television appearances. Speaking today during what he billed as the most important presentation of his career, Ackman said he estimates that the company’s nutrition clubs lose $12,000 per year, on average.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Man has been steadily progressing towards ahimsa.

Then came a stage when man was ashamed of leading the life of a wandering hunter.

He therefore took to agriculture and depended principally on mother earth for his food.

Thus from being a nomad he settled down to civilized stable life, founded villages and towns,

and from a member of a family he became a member of a community and a nation.

All these are the signs of progressing towards ahimsa and diminishing violence.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.

-Dean Acheson, 1893-1971

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