Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

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

This Sunday, September 15^th marks the 33^rd annual Terry Fox Run.  The run will be taking place at the intersection of Dallas Road and Douglas street, near Mile Zero.  The run from Mile Zero is a 5km run along Dallas Road to St. Charles road and back.  Registration is at 9am with opening ceremonies at 10am feating the band “The Bald Eagles” debuting their newly recorded song for Terry, “Running for our Lives”.  Even if you are not a runner, feel free to come on down and cheer on all the runners!

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Photos of the Day –September 13^th, 2013

An officer from Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office climbs a portion of an obstacle course during the Best in the West 2013 Invitational S.W.A.T. Competition in San Jose, California September 12th. The two-day, seven course competition draws S.W.A.T. teams from all over the country. Josh Edelson/Reuters

Competitors pedal their way below the Chateau Frontenac, top, during the UCI World Tour Grand Prix cycling race in Quebec City. Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press/AP

Market Closes for September 13th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15376.06	+75.42    +0.49%
S&P 500	1687.99	+4.57    +0.27%
NASDAQ	3722.184	+6.217    +0.17%
TSX	12723.40	+22.35
		+0.18%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14404.67	+17.40
		+0.12%
HANG  SENG	22915.28	-38.44
		-0.17%
SENSEX	19732.76	-49.12
		-0.25%
FTSE 100	6583.80	-5.18
		-0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.764	2.781
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.247	3.261
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.8846	2.9029
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.8349	3.8467

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96590	0.96839
US   $	1.03530	1.03265
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37685	0.72630
US  $	1.32990	0.75193

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1326.39	1322.12
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	108.21	108.60
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Aubrey Pringle

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, following the biggest retreat in two weeks yesterday, as commodity producers advanced after concern over possible cuts to U.S. central bank stimulus eased.

Niko Resources Ltd., the Canadian oil and natural gas explorer, jumped 10 percent to lead energy shares higher despite a decline in oil prices amid continuing talks over Syria.

Centerra Gold Inc. and B2Gold Corp. rallied at least 5.2 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. gained more than 0.5 percent. Silvercorp Metals Inc. fell 2 percent as the commodity’s price tumbled.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 22.35 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,723.40 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

Trading volume was 12 percent below the 30-day average. The benchmark Canadian index trimmed its loss for the week to 0.8 percent.

Stocks rose after a “long week of selling pressure on the Canadian markets” due to the lowering tensions over Syria, Paul Gardner, portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees C$300 million ($290 million). “What gets hit hard is oil and gold. But it was a bit overdone, so we are seeing a bit of a relief rally” in those industries.

Oil and gold prices led commodities lower today after the U.S. and Russia discussed a plan for Syria to surrender chemical weapons. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reported a “constructive” start to the talks. President Barack Obama has delayed a possible U.S. military intervention to take up the proposal for international oversight of Syria’s chemicals arsenal.

Equities rose as concerns eased over possible cuts to U.S. central bank stimulus. Investors, who have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is robust enough for the Federal Reserve to slow stimulus following its Sept. 17-18 meeting, will see a reduction next week as no big deal, according to a Bloomberg Global Poll of investors.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed say they don’t expect a sudden change in the markets because investors already anticipate tapering action.

U.S. data today showed retail sales rose 0.2 percent, the smallest increase in four months and below the 0.5 percent advance seen in Bloomberg survey. Consumer confidence in the U.S. declined in September to the lowest level since April.

Wholesale prices in the U.S. rose more than forecast in August, while a separate report showed inventories at companies increased more than forecast in July.

“The retail sales were somewhat disappointing, but put all of the economic data together and it seems neutral,” Richard Sichel, who oversees about $1.9 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., said by phone. “The fear of the Fed taper has gone away, as has the immediacy of the Syrian crisis.”

Energy shares rose 0.2 percent as a group, even as West Texas Intermediate crude capped its biggest weekly drop since July. Six out of 10 industries advanced in the S&P/TSX.

Calgary-based Niko Resources increased 10 percent to C$4.17. The gas and oil company’s stock had plummeted as much as 68 percent this year, reaching an almost 15-year low on Sept. 6.

AltaGas Ltd. shares rose 1.2 percent to C$35.43 after the company said late Thursday it will acquire a 25 percent stake in Petrogas Energy Corp., a privately held North American integrated midstream company.

Raw-materials stocks added 1.4 percent. Centerra Gold paced gains among mining companies, rising 7 percent to C$6.27 for its largest increase in more than three weeks. B2Gold Corp. climbed 5.2 percent to C$2.63. Gold companies plunged 5.3 percent as a group yesterday.

Gabriel Resources Ltd. rallied 12 percent to 93 Canadian cents. The gold and silver exploration company, backed by billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson, slumped 54 percent on Sept. 9, its biggest decline in 25 years. The drop came on news that Romania’s prime minister urged lawmakers to reject plans for a gold mine.

Silvercorp Metals tumbled 2 percent to C$3.41. Silver futures dropped 1.9 percent, while gold for December delivery was down 1.7 percent today. Both metals had the largest weekly decline since June.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., Canada’s largest maker of the fertilizer, rallied 2.3 percent to C$33.57 and Agrium Inc. climbed 1.4 percent to C$92.55.

Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Kogan, a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin, is the leading bidder for the world’s leading potash producer, OAO Uralkali. Kogan is seeking to buy out the company’s three main shareholders, according to people familiar with the situation.

The talks began after Belarus arrested Uralkali Chief Executive Officer Vladislav Baumgertner Aug. 26, a month after he pulled out of a trading venture with Belarus, said the people familiar with the matter. The breakup of the venture sent potash prices plummeting.

“People view this sale of stock as a precursor event to the BPC export agency getting back together again,” Mark Gulley, a New York-based analyst at BGC Partners LP, said by phone, referring to Uralkali and Belaruskali’s venture, Belarusian Potash Co. “A lot of people believe that this is one of many steps to BPC getting back together again.”

Industrial shares gained 0.4 percent as railroad companies climbed. Canadian Pacific Railway jumped 1.7 percent to C$127.75. Canadian National Railway gained 0.5 percent to C$101.28.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Lu Wang

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average capping its best week since January, as disappointing economic data fueled bets that any Federal Reserve stimulus cuts this month would be moderate.

Safeway Inc. advanced 6.1 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG raised its recommendation for the shares. Intel Corp. gained 3.6 percent after Jefferies Group LLC upgraded the stock.

GameStop Corp. surged 6.1 percent as U.S. video-game sales saw the first monthly rise 2011, a research group said. Peabody Energy Corp. dropped 3.2 percent as the Environmental Protection Agency revises proposed rules for new power plants.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to 1,687.99 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge climbed 2 percent in the past five days, its best week in two months. The Dow jumped 0.5 percent to 15,376.06. It advanced 3 percent this week, the most since Jan. 4. About 5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 16 percent below the three-month average.

“The view is that we’re recovering and continue to do it in a slow pace,” Channing Smith, who helps oversee about $1.2 billion at Capital Advisors Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said in a phone interview. “The Fed will begin to taper but will be on a magnitude of $10 billion, which shouldn’t have an impact.”

Investors, who have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is robust enough for the Fed to slow stimulus following its Sept. 17-18 meeting, will see a reduction next week as no big deal, according to a Bloomberg Global Poll of investors.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed say they don’t expect a sudden change in the markets because investors already anticipate tapering action.

A Commerce Department report today showed retail sales in the U.S. rose 0.2 percent, the smallest increase in four months and below the 0.5 percent advance seen in Bloomberg survey.

Wholesale prices in the U.S. rose more than forecast in August, adding 0.3 percent on higher costs for food and some fuels.

A separate report showed inventories at companies increased more than forecast in July, trailing a gain in sales that signals a pickup in factory orders. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary September index of consumer sentiment fell to 76.8 from 82.1 last month, which was the lowest since April.

The Fed will taper its $85 billion in monthly bond-buying by $10 billion to $75 billion after next week’s meeting, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Fed stimulus helped push the S&P 500 more than 150 higher from its March 2009 low, as better-than-estimated corporate earnings also fueled gains.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent yesterday, halting a seven-day win streak, amid concern that the U.S. has not ruled out military action against Syria. The threat of a U.S. strike roiled markets in August, dropping the S&P 500 to its worst performance since May 2012. The gauge has rallied 3.4 percent so far in September.

Secretary of State John Kerry reported a “constructive” start to talks with his Russian counterpart over bringing Syria’s chemical weapons under international oversight, while giving no sign of a breakthrough. Kerry told Syrian opposition figures yesterday that the option of a U.S. military strike remains on the table.

“Syria had a negative impact on markets in August, and now the negative impact is coming off,” Randy Warren, chief investment officer at Warren Financial Service, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $100 million.

Investors are also watching renewed political wrangling over the approaching limit on federal spending. Government funding expires Oct. 1 and the Treasury is expected to exhaust its ability to borrow funds in mid-October, when it will hit the statutory debt limit.

U.S. House members left Washington for the weekend yesterday after leaders shifted strategies in an effort to win over dissenting Republicans willing to risk a financial crisis to sidetrack President Barack Obama’s health-care law.

Republicans said they will try to use the spending-bill talks to delay the health-care law instead of defunding it.

The CBOE Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX, fell 0.9 percent to 14.16, capping an 11 percent five-day drop, its biggest weekly slide since July 5.

The equity volatility gauge has tumbled 17 percent in September after rallying 26 percent in August, the biggest monthly gain since May 2012.

All 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced today, with producers of consumer staples and utility stocks rising at least 0.8 percent. Procter & Gamble Co. added 1 percent to $79.05 and NRG Energy Inc. jumped 3 percent to $27.14.

Intel climbed 3.6 percent, the most since June, to $23.44 for the biggest gain in the Dow. Jefferies boosted its recommendation on the world’s largest chipmaker to buy from hold.

Safeway surged 6.1 percent to $28.20. Credit Suisse upgraded the second-largest U.S. supermarket chain to outperform, similar to buy, from underperform.

GameStop rose the most in the benchmark index, adding 6.1 percent to $52.45. U.S. sales of video-game products rose 1 percent last month to $521 million, the first four-week gain in almost two years, driven by new titles including Walt Disney Co.’s “Infinity,” featuring collectible characters. GameStop is the largest retailer in the market.

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. surged 17 percent to a record $117.53 after reporting second-quarter earnings of 70 cents a share, beating the 67-cent average projection by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Peabody Energy dropped 3.2 percent to $17.98. The stock has fallen three straight days after reports that the Obama administration would ban new coal plants without strict emission controls. The environmental rules are expected to be released next week. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. lost 1.6 percent to $22.07.

Apple Inc. dropped 1.7 percent to $464.90. The world’s most valuable technology company lost 6.7 percent this week as the price of its new lower-cost iPhone disappointed analysts.

Twitter Inc. disclosed it had filed to go public in one of its 140-character postings yesterday, giving no other financial figures or details on when it will actually list. Twitter’s market debut will be led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and is likely to be the most anticipated initial public offering since Facebook Inc. listed last year.

“What Twitter management and Goldman are doing is observing that valuations are at healthy levels and that it’s a good time to attempt an IPO of this scale,” Lawrence Creatura, a Rochester, New York-based fund manager at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $364 billion, said in a phone interview.

The S&P 500 trades at 16.2 times reported earnings, above the average multiple of 15.3 over the past five years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The gauge has advanced 18 percent this year.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!

 

Be magnificent!

 

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.” – Buddha

 

As ever,

 

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5808

Fax: 778-430-5838

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

A good news story appeared today:

By MIKE PFLANZ:

NAIROBI, KENYA – Scientists using technology for discovering oil have found a vast underground water reservoir in one of Kenya’s driest regions that could supply the country’s needs for nearly 70 years, potentially turning arid zones into lush farmlands.  The new reserves are located in a basin in the extreme northwest that has a surface area the size of Delaware and is estimated to hold

billions of gallons, nearly nine times Kenya’s current reserves.  Almost half of Kenya’s 41 million people  have no access to clean water, and farmers in arid areas struggle to raise crops without  adequate irrigation.  Scientists say it is possible that, along with  water runoff from surrounding hills and plains that replenish the aquifer, the newly discovered resources could fulfill the country’s water demands indefinitely.  Tapping the new reserves in the basin, located in Kenya’s northern Turkana region, may allow for vast new zones of farmland in landscapes where today even the hardiest plants struggle to survive.  “The news about these water reserves are highly needed,” said Judi Wakhungu,  cabinet secretary at the Kenyan Environment,  Water, and Natural Resources Ministry.

It’s fun; baseball’s fun. –Yogi Berra

Photos of the Day –September 12th, 2013

Mascots make their way around the track in the Minnesota Twins Race at Target field after the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Minneapolis. Jim Mone/AP

Flood waters course through a small park in Boulder, Colo., in this image made with a slow shutter speed. Heavy rains and scarring from recent wildfires sent walls of water crashing down mountainsides in the area. Jud Valeski/AP

Market Closes for September 12^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15300.64	-25.96    -0.17%
S&P 500	1683.42	-5.71    -0.34%
NASDAQ	3715.968	-9.042    -0.24%
TSX	12701.05	-124.37
		-0.97%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14387.27	-37.80
		-0.26%
HANG  SENG	22953.72	+16.58
		+0.07%
SENSEX	19781.88	-215.57
		-1.08%
FTSE 100	6588.98	+0.55
		+0.01%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.781	2.780
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.261	3.261
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.9029	2.9084
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.8467	3.8467

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96839	0.96941
US   $	1.03265	1.03155
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37318	0.72824
US  $	1.32977	0.75201

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1322.12	1365.26
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	108.60	107.56
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in two weeks as precious metals plunged on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will taper stimulus when policy makers meet next week.

Goldcorp Inc. and Eldorado Gold Corp. sank at least 6.2 percent as the price of gold slumped the most in nine weeks.

Endeavour Silver Corp. retreated 9 percent. Teck Resources Ltd. lost 3.5 percent as copper touched a five-week low. Reitmans Canada Ltd. tumbled 13 percent to a nine-year low after reporting weaker-than-estimated profits yesterday.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 124.37 points, or 1 percent, to 12,701.05 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the biggest decline since Aug. 27. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has risen 2.2 percent this year.

“All across Canada you can see gold and the resource sector are down quite aggressively today,” said John Tsagarelis, a fund manager with Manulife Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. He manages C$550 million ($533 million). “If tapering happens, yields go up, the U.S. dollar strengthens and gold sells off. Somebody was being very aggressive with gold this morning. The Syrian situation is probably the story getting the most headlines.”

U.S. Federal Reserve officials, set to meet Sept. 17-18, are watching economic data to determine when to begin scaling back the central bank’s $85 billion in monthly asset purchases.

The U.S. and Russia met today to discuss a plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons, potentially averting a military strike. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said negotiating a deal must be a “two-way street” in which the Obama administration drops its military threats and stops arming Syrian rebels. Last month, gold gained 6.3 percent on escalating tensions in the Middle Eastern country.

Raw-materials stocks sank 3.5 percent as a group, leading declines as all 10 groups in the S&P/TSX retreated. Trading volume was in line with the 30-day average.

Goldcorp slumped 6.3 percent to C$26.81 and Eldorado Gold fell 7.5 percent to C$7.19 as all 24 members of the S&P/TSX Gold Index declined. The index is down 5.3 percent, the lowest close in a month.

Gold for December delivery lost 2.4 percent to settle at $1,330.60 an ounce in New York, the biggest drop since July 5.

Endeavour Silver sank 9 percent to C$4.36 and Silvercorp Metals Inc. tumbled 8.2 percent to C$3.48 as silver futures plunged 4.4 percent in New York. The metal has slumped 27 percent this year.

Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, declined 3.5 percent to C$28.43 and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. slipped 2.2 percent to C$18.59 as the price of copper slid 1.4 percent. Wholesale prices dropped the most since 2009 last month in Germany, the world’s third-biggest copper consumer, official statistics showed today.

Reitmans Canada, a women’s apparel retailer, slumped 13 percent to C$8.03, the lowest since 2004. The company posted adjusted earnings of 16 Canadian cents a share, short of the 36 cents mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Same- store sales, a measure of revenue from outlets open at least a year, sank 6.8 percent in the second quarter.

Transat A.T. Inc., the travel services company, jumped 6 percent to C$9.90, the highest since August 2011, after reporting higher-than-estimated third-quarter earnings and forecasting better results than last year for the fourth quarter.

“We are on our way to a profitable year,” Jean-Marc Eustache, chief executive officer with Transat, said in the release.

Encana Corp. gained 3.8 percent to C$18.61, the highest close since June, after signaling potential asset sales in a strategy update. The company has more inventory, particularly in dry natural gas, than can be optimally developed, and must focus its portfolio, Encana said in a statement.

“Encana appears to be back on the road to winning again,” said Greg Pardy, co-head of global energy research with RBC Capital Markets, in a note to clients today. Pardy upgraded his rating for the stock to outperform, the equivalent of a buy, from sector perform. “Encana’s efforts to re-engineer its strategic game plan appear to be nearing completion sooner than its target of year-end 2013.”

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Aubrey Pringle

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, halting a seven- day win streak for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as materials producers slid amid growing concern over Syria and investors weighed the prospects for Federal Reserve stimulus cuts.

Barrick Gold Corp. dropped 5.5 percent as the precious metal slumped the most since July. Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. gold producer, lost 4.2 percent. Lululemon Athletica Inc. tumbled 5.4 percent after cutting its earnings forecast. Walt Disney Co. rallied 2.4 percent after saying it would buy back as much as $8 billion in shares. Pandora Media Inc. jumped 12 percent to a record after naming digital- advertising veteran Brian McAndrews as its new chief executive officer.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,683.42 at 4 p.m. in New York, snapping the longest streak of gains since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 25.96 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,300.64. About 5.7 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 4 percent below the three-month average.

“It shouldn’t be too surprising to see a modest pullback after the strong moves we’ve seen so far this month,” Ryan Larson, the Chicago-based head of U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc., said in an interview. His firm oversees $290 billion. “With data light over the next several sessions, potential headlines regarding Syria and the much anticipated FOMC meeting next week will garner much of the attention.”

The S&P 500 rallied 3.4 percent in September through yesterday, rebounding from the worst monthly loss since May 2012, as reports showed China’s economy has strengthened and the U.S. looked less likely to attack Syria.

The tensions increased today as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told top Syrian opposition figures in a phone call today that the option of a U.S. military strike remains on the table, according to a State Department official. Kerry arrived in Geneva for talks with his Russian counterpart on a proposal for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad set conditions for the U.S., saying a deal must be a “two-way street” in which the Obama administration drops its military threats and stops arming Syrian rebels.

The tensions over Syria have competed for investor attention with concern about reductions in Fed stimulus.

Investors have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is robust enough for the Federal Open Market Committee to pare back its monthly bond buying following its Sept. 17-18 meeting.

A report today showed jobless claims in the U.S. declined last week to the lowest level since April 2006 as upgrades to computer systems in two states caused those employment agencies to report fewer applications.

“We’re going to ignore the report given the Labor Day holiday and this computer problem which calls into question the efficacy of the data,” said Phil Orlando, New York-based chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, which manages about $380 billion in assets.

Economists estimate the Fed this month will taper its stimulus by $10 billion a month, to $75 billion, according to the median of 34 responses in a Bloomberg News survey. The purchases have helped the S&P 500 rally as much as 153 percent since the beginning of the bull market in March 2009.

Speculation about reductions has whipsawed stocks since May, when Fed officials first indicated cuts could start this year. The S&P 500 tumbled 5.8 percent from a record on May 21 through June 24. It rebounded 8.7 percent to close at its latest all-time high of 1,709.67 on Aug. 2. The gauge then slumped as much as 4.6 percent before the seven-day rally through yesterday brought it back to within 1.2 percent of the record and above the May 21 peak.

“The Fed has a golden opportunity next week to really provide the market needed visibility on the taper program,” Jim Russell, the senior equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said in an interview from Cincinnati. His firm oversees $112 billion. “Next week is going to be crucial for the markets.”

The CBOE Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX, rose 3.4 percent to 14.29. The equity volatility gauge has tumbled 16 percent in September after rallying 26 percent in August, the biggest monthly gain since May 2012. The index moves in the opposite direction to the S&P 500 about 80 percent of the time.

Gauges of materials producers and financial companies fell the most among the 10 main industry groups in the S&P 500 today.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. slid 1.9 percent to $52.24 for the worst performance in the Dow. The bank may settle regulators’ probes into the bank’s credit-card debt collection practices and sales of identity-theft products as early as next week, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Silver dropped the most in nine weeks and gold touched a four-week low as a report showed euro-area industrial output contracted more than analysts estimated in July. Copper declined to a one-month low.

Barrick Gold, the largest miner of the metal, slipped 5.5 percent to $17.61 as gold futures for December delivery dropped 2.4 percent for the biggest drop for a most-active contract since July 5. Newmont decreased 4.2 percent to $28.23.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., the largest U.S. iron-ore producer, slumped 5.2 percent to $22.42 for the biggest drop in the benchmark index for American equities.

Lululemon retreated 5.4 percent to $65.29. The yogawear retailer searching for a new chief executive officer cut its profit forecast as new rivals enter its market and shoppers cut spending on clothing. Earnings per share will be as much as $1.97, down from a previous projection of a maximum of $2.01, the Vancouver-based company said. The average of 29 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg was $1.99.

Disney jumped 2.4 percent to $65.49, the most in the Dow.

The world’s biggest entertainment company plans to start the repurchase plan next year. The company will borrow to finance some of the buys, Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said.

Pandora Media surged 12 percent to $23.97, the highest close since the stock began trading in June 2011. The biggest online radio service hired McAndrews in a push to lift revenue while fending off competition from Apple Inc. The executive was also named chairman and president, succeeding Joe Kennedy.

Phone stocks were the only group among 10 in the S&P 500 to advance, rallying 1 percent. AT&T Inc. jumped 1.2 percent to $34.38 and Verizon Communications Inc. rose 1.8 percent to $47.35 to pace gains among Dow companies.

Verizon produced a profit for investors of about $2.09 billion for agreeing to buy the record $49 billion of bonds it sold yesterday as the price of the securities surged. The debt sale topped Apple Inc.’s $17 billion offering in April and will help pay for the company’s planned $130 billion purchase of Vodafone Group Plc’s stake in Verizon Wireless.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a developer of small-molecule pharmaceuticals, rose 2 percent to $81.40, and Ametek Inc., a manufacturer of electronic instruments, added 2.6 percent to $45.57. S&P Dow Jones Indices said the two companies will join the S&P 500, replacing Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and SAIC Inc. AMD dropped 1.8 percent to $3.75 and SAIC added 1.3 percent to $14.96.

Strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said stocks will continue to rally as the bull market in equities moves into a new phase driven by earnings growth rather than expanding valuations.

Equities will produce more moderate returns with lower volatility in the second phase of the bull market, according to Peter Oppenheimer, Goldman’s chief global equity strategist, who reiterated his bullish stance on stocks. Oppenheimer said in a March 2012 report that the prospects for returns from equities versus bonds “are as good as they have been in a generation.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

If you are in the moment, you are in the infinite.

-Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If anything is sacred the human body is sacred.

-Walt Whitman, 1819-1892

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

-from A Countrywoman’s Notes for the month of September, by Rosemary Verey:

Rosebay willow is beautiful in the wild but a menace in the garden.  Each September, its appearance reminds me of one day when I was seven.  A friend and I had been allowed to roam alone on the dunes behind Walmer Castle in Kent.  This wonderful willowherb was growing in profusion as tall as we were; we picked armfuls, some in flower and some with ripening seeds, and as we walked home through the garden, each with a cherished bouquet, we met the gardener.  At the time I could not understand his dismay as hundreds of seeds went wafting into his weedless borders.  Now when I see its deceptively pretty pink flowers appearing in my borders I remember that carefree day and pull it out, roots and all.  Autumn is the time to harvest sees of our special flowers; plants such as Nicotiana sylvestris to my mind the sweetest-scented of the tobacco family, and the nasty-smelling Salvia sclaria var. turkestanica, whose mauve bracts last for weeks and always cause comments of approval; all those which are hard to find in the seedsmen’s catalogues.  We should follow Thomas Tusser’s 16^th century advice…

Good huswifes in summer will  save their own seedes,

Against the next years, as occasion needs.

One seed for another, to make an exchange,

With fellowlie neighbourhood seemeth not strange.

Photos of the Day –September 10th, 2013

A black cat strolls over a pile of pumpkins at a farm near Potsdam, eastern Germany. Ralf Hirschberger/dpa/AP

A giant panda with rare brown-and-white fur eats a carrot at a natural conservation area in Qinling, Shaanxi province, China. China Daily/Reuters

Market Closes for September 10^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15191.06	+127.94    +0.85%
S&P 500	1683.99	+12.28    +0.73%
NASDAQ	3729.022	+22.838    +0.62%
TSX	12824.48	-30.16
		-0.23%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14423.36	+218.13
		+1.54%
HANG  SENG	22976.65	+226.00
		+0.99%
SENSEX	19997.10	+727.04
		+3.77%
FTSE 100	6583.99	+53.25
		+0.82%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.817	2.747
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.283	3.221
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.9662	2.9120
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.8960	3.8530

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96624	0.96385
US   $	1.03494	1.03751
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37309	0.72829
US  $	1.32673	0.75373

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1363.44	1386.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	107.39	109.52
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Nick Taborek

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, after touching the highest level in almost six months yesterday, as materials producers slumped amid signs of easing tensions over Syria.

Argonaut Gold Inc. sank 8 percent as the price of the precious metal plunged the most in two months in New York.

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. sank 7.3 percent to pace losses among silver producers. BlackBerry Ltd. dropped 5.5 percent after the Globe & Mail reported big pension funds have “cooled” on a joining a possible bid for the company.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 30.16 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,824.48 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge rose 0.3 percent yesterday to the highest since March 12. Trading was 8.4 percent above the 30-day average.

“The Syrian situation seems to be at the moment working its way out with possibly a negotiated settlement,” said Paul Gardner, a fund manager with Avenue Investment Management in Toronto. The firm oversees about C$300 million ($288 million).

“You have a stock market rally in the U.S. In Canada the opposite occurs because we’re so heavily weighted towards gold, resources and oil, and that of course has come off due to the crisis settling down.”

U.S. stocks advanced today after France said it will submit a Russian-backed plan to confiscate Syria’s chemical weapons to the United Nations, as Interfax reported that Bashar al-Assad’s government accepted the proposal. U.S. President Barack Obama will outline his intentions on Syria in a speech at 9 p.m. tonight in Washington.

In Canada, five of 10 main groups in the S&P/TSX declined.

Materials stocks plunged 1.9 percent, the most in two weeks. An index of gold producers slumped 5.2 percent for the biggest decline in a month as gold futures tumbled 1.6 percent to settle at $1,364. Silver also retreated.

Goldcorp Inc. fell 6.7 percent to C$28.16 and Torex Gold Resources Inc. slumped 7.6 percent to C$1.45 to pace declines among producers of the precious metal. Argonaut dropped 8 percent to C$6.20. Fortuna Silver dropped 7.3 percent to C$4.09.

BlackBerry lost 5.5 percent to C$11.30, dragging technology stocks lower by 1 percent. The shares climbed 5.9 percent yesterday after a Sunday Times report said Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is close to making a bid. A separate report today in the Globe & Mail, citing people familiar with the situation, said none of the big Canadian pension funds approached by Fairfax Financial have taken to the proposal.

BlackBerry said today it has cut its sales force and moved some staff to the U.S. to bolster sluggish sales of its new devices. The company is struggling with competition from Apple Inc.’s iOS, Google Inc.’s Android and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone, which is now outselling BlackBerry. Apple introduced two new versions of its iPhone today, including a low-cost model.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. advanced 3.4 percent to $34.02. OAO Uralkali, the Russian potash producer that exited a venture controlling almost half of global exports of the crop nutrient in July, said prices are unlikely to fall below $300 a metric ton as Asian and Brazilian demand will support sales.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed, extending the longest winning streak for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since July, as data showed China’s economy is improving amid signs of easing tensions over Syria.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Visa Inc. and Nike Inc. jumped more than 2.1 percent as the three companies will be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Bank of America Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Alcoa Inc. Apple Inc. tumbled 2.3 percent as the world’s biggest technology company unveiled new iPhone models.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent to 1,683.99 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index has gained for six straight days, the most since July 15. The Dow rose 127.94 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,191.06 today. About 6.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 11 percent above the three-month average.

“The news from Syria is positive and we had decent economic data out of China,” Gary Flam, a portfolio manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $7 billion. “Investors came into September cautiously positioned, but one by one their concerns are being removed or lessened.”

The S&P 500 has risen 3.1 percent in the first six trading days of the month, recovering from a drop of as much as 4.6 percent since a record high on Aug. 2. The benchmark index declined amid concern over a possible military strike against Syria and the prospect for the Federal Reserve scaling back its monetary stimulus.

President Barack Obama asked Democratic senators to delay a vote on authorizing military strikes to allow time for talks on eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons, lawmakers said today.

France said it will submit a Russian-backed plan to confiscate Syria’s chemical weapons to the United Nations, as Interfax reported that Bashar al-Assad’s government accepted the proposal. Obama is scheduled to outline his intentions on Syria in a speech at 9 p.m. tonight in Washington.

Stocks rose earlier after China’s industrial output rose 10.4 percent in August from a year earlier and the nation’s retail sales gained 13.4 percent. Both results exceeded economists’ estimates. Equities climbed yesterday as China’s exports topped forecasts.

The Fed is watching economic data ahead of its Sept. 17-18 meeting as it considers reducing its monthly $85 billion in asset buying. The S&P 500 has rallied as much as 153 percent since the beginning of the bull market in March 2009 as the central bank continued to provide stimulus to the economy.

Economists estimate the Fed this month will taper its monthly bond buying by $10 billion, to $75 billion, according to the median of 34 responses in a Bloomberg News survey.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, dropped 7 percent to 14.53. The equity volatility gauge is down 15 percent in September after rallying 26 percent in August, the biggest monthly gain since May 2012.

The Dow Jones Transportation Index jumped 1.9 percent to the highest level in a month. Shares in companies whose earnings are most closely tied to economic growth rose, sending the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index up 1.7 percent to the highest level since the gauge started in 1978. Industrial and financial shares rallied the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500, adding at least 1.1 percent.

Microsoft Corp. climbed 2.3 percent to $32.39 for the biggest gain in the Dow. General Electric Co. advanced 2.1 percent to $23.87, while United Technologies Corp., the maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Sikorsky helicopters, increased 1.7 percent to $106.26.

Goldman Sachs climbed 3.5 percent to $165.14. Nike jumped 2.2 percent to $66.82 and Visa increased 3.4 percent to $184.59.

Hewlett-Packard lost 0.4 percent to $22.27. Alcoa slipped 0.3 percent to $8.06. Bank of America added 0.9 percent to $14.61.

The changes to the Dow will be the biggest reshuffling since April 2004. It will boost the influence of banking and computer companies in the 30-member gauge as the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets and the largest payment network join seven other financial and technology firms, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. Bank of America exits even after rising 109 percent in 2012, the Dow’s largest gain. The changes will take effect after the close on Sept. 20.

McDonald’s Corp. climbed 0.5 percent to $96.89. The world’s largest restaurant chain said same-store sales increased 1.9 percent last month, helped by demand in Europe. Analysts projected a 0.3 percent increase, the average of 16 estimates from Consensus Metrix. McDonald’s said it benefited from demand in France and Russia as well as the introduction of blended-ice beverages in the U.K.

E*Trade Financial Corp. soared 3.6 percent to $17.10, the highest level since February 2011. The online brokerage said its daily average revenue-generating trades rose 5 percent in August compared to the previous month and the stock was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie Group Ltd.

Apple tumbled 2.3 percent to $494.64. The company unveiled a cheaper $99 version of the iPhone in bright colors and an updated high-end device, in a strategy shift by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to reach a broader range of customers around the world as competing devices running Google Inc.’s Android software gain in popularity.

“The competition has caught up and it’s now purely about how quickly it can innovate and drive its own experience forward,” said Benedict Evans, an analyst with Enders Analysis in London.

Apple also said it was adding Japan’s largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo Inc., and that it would have devices available upon introduction in China for the first time. The company is near a deal with China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest carrier, people familiar with the plans have said.

Urban Outfitters Inc. fell the most in the S&P 500, losing 10 percent to $38.35. The teen-clothing retailer said third- quarter comparable sales so far are growing at a mid-single- digit pace. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC last week estimated the company would report that the sales were running at a “high- single digit” rate.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Contemplation is seeing the here and now.

-Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

A man’s homeland is wherever he prospers.

-Aristophanes, 446 BC-386 BC

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

Désirée Goyette wrote a piece today  in one of the daily newspapers I receive which I thought was very beautiful.  Here is an excerpt:

“When I was a little girl, I loved watching my parents drop all their workaday cares to dance across the kitchen floor to the sound of Glenn Miller’s classic “A String of Pearls,” composed by Jerry Gray. There was just something “perfect” about that recording, with a title that had to do with every note being in place and shining like a pearl in a necklace…. I’ve yearned for a way to distill the wisdom I’ve been exposed to into something as flawless as that pearl. One gem of wisdom is the idea of being present “in the moment” – accepting that our future prospects so often relate to paying attention to the present.  With my busy schedule as a wife, mother, and musician, it often seems as though my mind is much too busy living in “fast forward” even to catch a glimpse of the present.  One particularly stressful morning I realized…. Moment-by-moment communion….allows us to abandon will-based responsibility and enjoy every moment to the fullest, enriched by priceless pearls of insight and contentment.

Photos of the Day –September 6th, 2013

A girl plays in front of the skyline of New York’s Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in a park along the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey, September 5th. New York will mark the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade center next week. Gary Hershorn/Reuters

A Komondor, a traditional Hungarian guard dog, shakes its long fur in Bodony, Hunagry, September 3rd. Komondors, have a fur coat that weighs 60 pounds. Photo released September 6th. Laszlo Balogh /Reuters

Market Closes for September 6^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14922.50	-14.98    -0.10%
S&P 500	1655.17	+0.09    +0.01%
NASDAQ	3660.010	+1.225    +0.03%
TSX	12820.92	-24.14
		-0.19%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13860.81	-204.01
		-1.45%
HANG  SENG	22621.22	+23.25
		+0.10%
SENSEX	19270.06	+290.30
		+1.53%
FTSE 100	6547.33	+14.89
		+0.23%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.771	2.804
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.241	3.258
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.9342	2.9937
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.8657	3.8849

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96002	0.95217
US   $	1.04165	1.05023
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37273	0.72848
US  $	1.31784	0.75882

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1391.90	1367.30
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	110.53	108.37
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, after reaching a five-month high, as technology companies dropped and investors weighed reports on domestic and U.S. jobs growth amid growing tensions between America and Russia over Syria.

BlackBerry Ltd. dropped 2.7 percent, snapping three days of gains. Bombardier Inc. lost 1 percent after rallying the most in four months yesterday. Torex Gold Resources Inc. and B2Gold Corp. added at least 4.8 percent as the price of gold climbed.

Air Canada, the nation’s largest airline, jumped 3.1 percent after announcing it will refinance its long-term debt at a lower cost. Suncor Energy Inc. rose 1.2 percent as crude rallied to a two-year high.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 24.14 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,820.92 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, paring the weekly gain to 1.3 percent. The S&P/TSX closed at its highest level since March 12 yesterday.

“We’re seeing a bit of technical selling after the TSX reached a short-term high yesterday and has had a pretty good run the past few weeks,” said Youssef Zohny, a portfolio manager with Stenner Investment Partners of Richardson GMP Ltd. in Vancouver. Richardson GMP manages about C$15 billion ($14.4 billion).

Data showed Canadian employment increased by 59,200 last month and the jobless rate fell to 7.1 percent from 7.2 percent.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 20,000 job increase and an unchanged jobless rate.

“Given the improved tone in the global economy, Canada is poised to enter a period of higher-than-potential growth resulting in more consistent gains in hiring and a gradual decline in the unemployment rate,” Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients today.

In the U.S., employers added 169,000 workers in August, following a revised 104,000 rise in July that was smaller than first reported. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had called for a 180,000 gain. Unemployment fell to 7.3 percent from 7.4 percent. The data fueled speculation that any reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus will be limited.

“People were feeling pretty good about things going in with the jobs data, but with a print like this, maybe the U.S. economy isn’t ready for tapering,” said Michael O’Brien, fund manager with TD Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. The firm manages about C$216 billion ($207 billion).

Technology stocks declined 1.1 percent as eight of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX retreated. Trading volume was 14 percent below the 30-day average.

BlackBerry dropped 2.7 percent to C$11.29. The smartphone maker had risen 9 percent in the past three days amid speculation BlackBerry may sell itself as soon as November.

Niko Resources Ltd. slumped 10 percent to C$3.68 after Darren Engels, an analyst with FirstEnergy Capital, lowered his rating to underperform from market perform and cut his price target to C$3 from C$8.50 after accounting for the company’s financing needs and potential capital spending.

Suncor gained 1.2 percent to C$36.68 and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. advanced 3 percent to C$3.80 as crude gained 2 percent to $110.53 a barrel in New York, the highest since May 2011.

Bombardier lost 1.4 percent to C$4.91. The stock rallied 5.5 percent yesterday, the most since May 9, after announcing the sale of one of its units along with a jet order worth a minimum of $1.8 billion.

B2Gold added 4.8 percent to C$2.85 and Torex Gold jumped 8.1 percent to C$1.61. Gold rebounded from a two-week low, rising 1 percent to $1,386.50 an ounce in New York.

Air Canada increased 3.1 percent to C$3.03. The airliner plans to refinance about C$1.1 billion of its outstanding senior notes to extend the maturity of Air Canada’s long-term debt and lower costs of financing.

US

By Lu Wang and Nick Taborek

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s Index erased almost all its gains as an escalation in tension over Syria overshadowed slower-than-forecast jobs growth that eased concern about reductions in Federal Reserve stimulus.

Airlines slipped 0.9 percent as a group as crude oil rose to a two-year high. Mattress Firm Holding Corp. dropped 15 percent after cutting its forecast. American Tower Corp. climbed 4.6 percent after agreeing to acquire the parent company of rival Global Tower Partners for about $3.3 Billion. Lennar Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc. jumped at least 1.9 percent to pace gains among homebuilders as bond yields plunged.

The S&P 500 rose less than 1 point to 1,655.17 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge swung 1.5 percentage points during the session, the widest since June 24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 14.98 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,922.50, snapping a three-day winning streak. About 5.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average.

“It’s a very skittish stock market,” John Augustine, who helps manage $27 billion as chief market strategist at Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp, said in a phone interview.

“We’re in a period where markets will react quickly to external news from a variety of sources, whether it’s the bond market, the Middle East, or one single economic report.”

The S&P 500 erased gains of as much as 0.6 percent in the final hour of trading after a report from Al-Arabiya, citing unidentified activists, said forces for the regime of Bashar al- Assad shelled Damascus with gas.

The report stoked concern that the U.S. could take military action in Syria even as President Barack Obama acknowledged domestic and international resistance to his call for a strike.

One of the biggest hurdles to Obama’s efforts has been put up by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Equities started the day higher before falling as much as 0.9 percent to the lowest level of the day after Putin said at the Group of 20 summit that his country will assist Syria if strikes are launched. Putin is Assad’s most powerful ally.

The S&P 500 recovered the losses by 11 a.m., turning higher as investors turned back to a Labor Department jobs report that eased concern about the size of potential Fed stimulus cuts.

Employers added 169,000 workers last month, missing the median forecast of 180,000 in a Bloomberg survey of 96 economists. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 7.3 percent as more people left the labor force.

Central-bank stimulus has helped drive a global equity rally, with the S&P 500 rising as much as 153 percent from its bear-market low in 2009. The U.S. gauge fell as much as 4.6 percent from an Aug. 2 record as speculation grew that the Fed would begin winding down its monetary support after its next meeting on Sept. 17-18.

Today’s report on weaker jobs growth hasn’t derailed economists’ expectations that the Fed this month will taper its monthly bond buying by $10 billion, to $75 billion, according to the median of 34 responses today in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. That was unchanged from an Aug. 9-13 poll, as was a projection that the program will end in June.

“What the jobs report told us is that it’s a slow recovery, but it’s a recovery, so that while the Fed is likely to taper in September, it won’t be surprising to see a tiny taper as the Fed tries to wean the market off quantitative easing,” Kristina Hooper, a U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors in New York, said in a phone interview.

Her firm oversees $409 billion. “It could be an almost Goldilocks scenario where you have just enough tapering to satisfy the hawkish sentiment but too little to impact stock.”

Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans, a voter on policy this year, said today the central bank shouldn’t taper until inflation and economic growth pick up. Esther George, the Fed Bank of Kansas City president who has consistently dissented against additional stimulus, called for tapering at this month’s meeting while cautioning that such reductions may prompt market volatility.

The S&P 500 capped a 1.4 percent advance over the holiday- shortened week for the biggest weekly increase since July 12.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, gained 0.5 percent to 15.85, snapping a three-day advance.

The equity volatility gauge is down 12 percent this year.

Half of 10 main S&P 500 groups fell as consumer- discretionary and raw-materials companies each slipped 0.2 percent. Utility shares rose 0.6 percent for the best performance.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index dropped 0.9 percent amid concern rising oil prices will boost fuel costs. Delta Air Lines Inc. lost 1.8 percent to $19.89 while US Airways Group Inc. declined 1.1 percent to $16.80.

Mattress Firm tumbled 15 percent to $35.59. The mattress retailer cut its profit forecast as same-store sales fell in the second quarter.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. fell 10 percent to $10.31. The handgun manufacturer forecast earnings to be no more than 22 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter. That trailed the average analyst estimate of 29 cents in a Bloomberg survey.

Real-estate shares jumped 2.1 percent for the best performance among 24 industries in the S&P 500. American Tower rallied 4.6 percent to $71.91. The biggest operator of cellular towers in the U.S. agreed to acquire MIP Tower Holdings LLC, giving it thousands of additional wireless sites as appetite for next-generation services grows.

An S&P index of homebuilders rebounded from a 12-month low, rising 2 percent, as a drop in bond yields eased concern that surging borrowing costs will hurt a housing recovery. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes fell the most in 10 months.

Lennar advanced 2.3 percent to $32.25. D.R. Horton climbed 1.9 percent to $18.10.

Facebook Inc. climbed 3 percent to a record $43.95. The owner of the world’s largest social-networking service had its share-price estimate boosted to $55 from $40 at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. E*Trade Financial Corp. climbed 4.6 percent to $16.26.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its recommendation on the online brokerage to buy from neutral.

Timken Co. rose 2.1 percent to an all-time high of $61.52.

The maker of ball bearings agreed to spin off its steel unit, dropping opposition to a plan pushed by Ralph Whitworth’s Relational Investors LLC after a shareholder vote and a Goldman Sachs Group Inc.-led review favored the split.

VeriFone Systems Inc. jumped 10 percent to $22.81, the highest since June 4. The maker of credit-card terminals forecast fourth-quarter sales of at least $418 million, topping the average analyst estimate of $412.9 million.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

It is only when we give complete attention to a problem,

and solve it immediately – never carrying it over to the next day,

the next minute – that there is solitude.

To have inward solitude and space is very important

because it implies freedom to be, to go, to function, to fly.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.  It is not the urge

to surpass others at all cost, but the urge to serve others at

whatever cost.

-Arthur Ashe, 1943-1993

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

On this day, September 5^th, 1882, the first Labour Day Parade took place in Manhattan.

And also on this day in…

1957,Jack Kerouac published On the Road, the defining work of the 1950’s Beat Generation.

1958, Russian writer Boris Pasternak’s epic Doctor Zhivago, is published in the US.

1997, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Theresa died.

2007, Apple, under the leadership of Steve Jobs, launched the iTouch, a device combining features from the iPhone and iPod.

Photos of the Day –September 5rd, 2013

A visitor takes a picture in front of the installation ‘Collosseo’ by Russian artist Victor Sachivko on the first day of the 10th International Museum Biennale “The Love of Space” at the Museum Center in the Russian Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, September 4th. Modern artists from around the world participated in this biennale – one of largest and oldest modern arts project in Russia. lya Naymushin/Reuters

A giant 3D-presentation is seen through 3D glasses at the LG Electronics booth at IFA, one of the world’s largest trade fairs for consumer electronics and electrical home appliances, in Berlin, Germany. Gero Breloer/AP

A British common white butterfly rests on a flower in St James Park in London. Temperatures in the capital rose unusually high for the time of year to 28 Celcius (82 Fahrenheit) Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Market Closes for September 5^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14937.48	+6.61    +0.04%
S&P 500	1655.08	+2.00    +0.12%
NASDAQ	3658.785	+9.743    +0.27%
TSX	12845.06	+87.25
		+0.68%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14064.82	+10.95
		+0.08%
HANG  SENG	22597.97	+271.75
		+1.22%
SENSEX	18979.76	+412.21
		+2.22%
FTSE 100	6532.44	+57.70
		+0.89%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.804	2.720
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.258	3.182
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.9937	2.8966
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.8849	3.7970

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95217	0.95266
US   $	1.05023	1.04969
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37773	0.72583
US  $	1.31184	0.76229

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1367.30	1393.17
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	108.37	107.23
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Nick Taborek and Eric Lam

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to the highest level since March, as forestry and technology shares soared amid optimism over acquisitions while oil companies climbed as a U.S. panel approved military strikes on Syria.

Ainsworth Lumber surged 33 percent after agreeing to sell itself to Louisiana-Pacific Corp. BlackBerry Ltd. gained 2.8 percent on a report the mobile phone maker aims to find a buyer by November. Celestica Inc. rose 1.6 percent after its solar lab unit received approval to provide product testing.  Talisman Energy Inc. gained 4.4 percent as oil futures rose. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank rallied at least 1.5 percent as financial stocks reached a five-year high.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 87.25 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,845.06 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since March 12. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge is up 3.3 percent this year.

“After yesterday’s vote the odds of a military attack rose, therefore that’s why you’re seeing energy prices supported,” said Andrew Pyle, fund manager with ScotiaMcLeod Inc. in Peterborough, Ontario. He manages about C$210 million ($200 million). “The latest U.S. data is also giving the market a lift in economic confidence, which had been waning after the last couple of weeks in the summer.”

Talisman Energy climbed 4.4 percent to C$11.71 and Crew Energy Inc. added 3.6 percent to C$6.11. Oil prices climbed from the lowest price in more than a week after a U.S. Senate panel yesterday voted to authorize President Barack Obama to conduct a limited U.S. military operation against Syria.

Data today indicated fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index increased to 58.6, the fastest pace since at least January 2008, from 56 the prior month.

Technology stocks advanced 1.8 percent as a group, as eight of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX gained. Trading volume was 2.9 percent above the 30-day average at this time of the day.

BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario, added 2.8 percent to C$11.60 for a third day of gains. The smartphone maker held talks with potential bidders and whittled down its target list, Dow Jones said in a report yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Celestica rose 1.6 percent to C$11.66, its highest close since March 2011, after announcing test provider TÜV Rheinland Ptl has audited and approved Celestica’s solar lab in Toronto to provide testing for certification of solar modules.

Toronto-Dominion Bank surged 1.5 percent to C$91.65, a record high, and Royal Bank added 1.7 percent to C$66.56 as the S&P/TSX Financials Index reached the highest close since December 2007.

Ainsworth Lumber, which produces oriented strand board used in housing construction, jumped 33 percent to C$3.92 after agreeing to a C$906 million ($863 million) sale to Louisiana- Pacific.

Norbord Inc., a competing wood producer, rose 10 percent to C$29.98 and Western Forest Products Inc. advanced 7.2 percent to C$1.49.

Bombardier Inc. jumped 5.5 percent to C$4.98, the biggest gain since May, after the company agreed to sell its Flexjet aircraft flight-share unit to a new company funded by a group led by Directional Aviation Capital. The group will order 85 business jets worth a minimum of $1.8 billion from Bombardier, with options for 160 more jets that would push the total value to $5.2 billion, Bombardier said.

Global:

By Richard Frost and Stephen Kirkland

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Treasuries fell, with 10-year yields reaching a two-year high, while stocks rose as data on service industries and jobs added to signs the economy is gaining momentum. The euro slid as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said rates will remain low.

U.S. 10-year note yields jumped nine basis points to 2.99 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, reaching the highest since July 2011. German 10-year yields rose to the highest in 17 months, climbing above 2 percent, and rates on U.K. gilts of similar maturity topped 3 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.1 percent and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.7 percent. The euro weakened 0.7 percent to $1.3119. Oil advanced after a Senate committee approved military strikes on Syria and U.S. inventories dropped in Cushing, Oklahoma.

A private report said U.S. service industries expanded at the fastest pace in eight years, while Labor Department data showed the number of workers claiming jobless benefits slid more than economists predicted. The reports come before the monthly payrolls data tomorrow and the Fed’s next meeting from Sept.

17-18. Draghi said the ECB’s monetary policy will remain accommodative for “as long as necessary” and the economy was too weak to exclude rate-cut discussions after the ECB, Bank of England and Sweden’s Riksbank kept key rates unchanged today.

“We’ve had a strong move to the upside” in yields, said Karsten Linowsky, a fixed-income strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich. “Everyone is waiting for these events, like the payrolls and the Fed meeting and that’s why we’ve seen pressure to the upside in yields.”

Five-year Treasury yields increased 10 basis points to 1.84 percent, the highest since May 2011, and 30-year rates added eight basis points to 3.88 percent.

Germany’s 10-year bund yield rose 10 basis points to 2.04 percent, the highest level since March 2012. The rate on French 10-year bonds increased 10 basis points to 2.63 percent as France’s borrowing at an auction today rose to the most since President Francois Hollande was elected. The government sold 4.24 billion euros ($5.59 billion) of 2023 debt at an average yield of 2.57 percent.

The 10-year U.K. gilt yield rose 13 basis points to 3.01 percent, the highest since July 2011, after Britain kept rates on hold and refrained from adding to its stimulus program.

Sweden’s 10-year bond yield jumped 15 basis points to a two-year high of 2.74 percent and the krona dropped versus all 16 of its major peers after Sweden’s central bank stuck to a plan to start raising borrowing costs late next year.

Austrian, Finnish, and Dutch 10-year yields also reached the highest in more than a year.

U.S. benchmark stock indexes rose for a third day, the longest rally since July. Louisiana-Pacific Corp. surged 11 percent after agreeing to buy Ainsworth Lumber Co. Costco Wholesale Corp. gained 2.8 percent as August sales beat analysts’ estimates. Groupon Inc. climbed 3.6 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock. Homebuilders and companies paying the highest dividends fell as Treasury yields surged.

Jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 323,000 in the week ended Aug. 31, less than the lowest estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Another report showed companies boosted employment by 176,000 workers in August, according to the ADP Research Institute.

Nonfarm payrolls data on Sept. 6 will probably indicate an increase of 180,000 in August, compared with a gain of 162,000 for July, according to a separate Bloomberg survey. The U.S. economy maintained a “modest to moderate” pace of growth from July to August, the Fed said yesterday in its Beige Book survey.

“U.S. payrolls is the key event,” Chris Green, a strategist at First NZ Capital Ltd., a brokerage and wealth- management firm, said from Auckland. “We’re looking at something around 190,000 and if we get that sort of number it reinforces the idea of Fed tapering occurring at the upcoming meeting.”

The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index rose to 58.6 in August from 56 the prior month, topping the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey for a drop to 55. A reading greater than 50 indicates expansion in the industries that make up almost 90 percent of the economy.

Another report showed orders placed with U.S. factories fell less than forecast in July as rising fuel prices propelled the biggest gain in non-durable goods in a year.

A gauge of carmakers posted the biggest gain of 19 industry groups in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index as PSA Peugeot Citroen advanced 5.4 percent. Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin forecast that the company’s market share will increase in the third quarter, according to an interview in Le Parisien newspaper.

Telecom Italia SpA jumped 8.4 percent after La Repubblica reported that Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris may buy a stake in the phone company. The newspaper did not cite anyone.

TeliaSonera AB slid 1.9 percent after Solidium Oy, Finland’s state-owned asset manager, started an accelerated book build to sell a stake in the Swedish telecommunications operator.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 1 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong climbed 1 percent and benchmark gauges in Russia, South Korea, Taiwan and the Czech Republic gained at least 1 percent.

India’s Sensex index climbed for a second day, jumping 2.2 percent. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan announced plans to make it easier for banks to open branches and lend to non-state sectors.

“This should give incentive for banks to offer U.S. dollar deposits to offshore investors,” Albert Leung, a strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, wrote today in a report. It “should bring in close to $10 billion of foreign exchange and stabilize the Indian rupee at around current levels,” he said.

Poland’s WIG20 Index fell 4.6 percent, the most since June.

Poland said yesterday it will take over and cancel government bonds held by its privately managed pension funds. Morgan Stanley said today the changes are negative for stocks and will likely reduce inflows into equity markets. The five-year yield climbed to an 11-month high of 4.24 percent today and the zloty fell 1.4 percent versus the dollar.

Turkey’s lira fell as much as 1.6 percent to a record 2.0841 per dollar. Turkey’s central bank indicated that it will drop its defense of the lira to focus on keeping interest rates unchanged, according to economists who attended a private meeting with policy makers in Ankara yesterday.

Shares in the Middle East fell, with the main indexes for Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar sliding at least 1.6 percent. Dubai’s stocks posted the biggest swings in the world in the past month as concern the U.S. is moving closer to a military strike against Syria led investors to exit this year’s best-performing index.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 10-7 in the first test of Congress’s willingness to back American military action against the Syrian regime. President Barack Obama is meeting world leaders at the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg today. The office of Russian President Vladimir Putin said there’ll no separate session on Syria at the summit.

West Texas Intermediate oil advanced 1.1 percent to $108.37 a barrel after a government report showed that inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the contract, dropped to the lowest level in a year and a half. The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities climbed 0.2 percent as energy and industrial metals gained.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

There is no weapon more powerful in achieving the truth than acceptance of oneself.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

Accomplishments will prove to be a journey,

not a destination.

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969

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

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown tonight and ends at sundown on Friday, September 6^th.  Tradition is to eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year.

On this day, September 4^th, 1888, George Eastman registered his trademark Kodak and received a patent for his roll-film camera.

If you like old photos, you can find a wonderful photo album of time gone by at the Shorpy blog site (named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a 20^th-century teenage coal miner).  Check out www.shorpy.com

September tries its best to have us forget summer. –Bern Williams

Photos of the Day –September 4th, 2013

A woman stops to photograph the skyline of New York across from the Empire State Building as she walks in a park along the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey, yesterday evening. Gary Hershorn/Reuters

The sun rises behind the sheer rock faces at the mouth of Eldorado Canyon State Park, a place for technical rock climbers and also a popular retreat for local tourists, just outside Boulder, Colo. Brennan Linsley/AP

Market Closes for September 4^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14930.87	+96.91    +0.65%
S&P 500	1653.08	+13.31    +0.81%
NASDAQ	3649.042	+36.430    +1.01%
TSX	12757.81	+17.31
		+0.14%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14053.87	+75.43
		+0.54%
HANG  SENG	22326.22	-68.36
		-0.31%
SENSEX	18567.55	+332.89
		+1.83%
FTSE 100	6474.74	+6.33
		+0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.720	2.680
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.182	3.150
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.8966	2.8576
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.7970	3.7943

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95266	0.94912
US   $	1.04969	1.05361
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.38569	0.72166
US  $	1.32009	0.75753

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1393.17	1404.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	107.23	108.54
BRENT	109.360	109.359

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced as BlackBerry Ltd. rallied along with utilities and industrial companies, offsetting losses in commodity producers amid concern about a U.S. military strike on Syria.

BlackBerry jumped 4.9 percent after a report the mobile phone maker aims to find a buyer by November. Air Canada, the nation’s largest airline, climbed 2.5 percent for a fourth day of gains. Niko Resources Ltd. lost 9.5 percent as crude slipped for the third time in four days. Torex Gold Resources Inc. slid 5.6 percent and Silvercorp Metals Inc. sank 4.2 percent as the prices of both metals fell.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 17.31 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,757.81 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has risen 2.6 percent this year.

Trading volume was 2.1 percent lower than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

“The oil price and gold price are reflecting geopolitical risk,” said Jeffrey Burchell, a fund manager with Aston Hill Financial Inc., in a telephone interview from Toronto. His firm manages about C$8 billion ($7.6 billion). “People are getting settled in and trying to figure out what to do next.”

Gold and silver futures fell the most in eight weeks. Torex Gold sank 5.6 percent to C$1.53. Silvercorp Metals fell 4.2 percent to C$3.85.

The S&P/TSX Materials Index lost 0.1 percent as 35 of 55 members retreated. The group has plunged 24 percent this year, the worst performer among 10 industries in the S&P/TSX.

The international community’s credibility is on the line after Syria used chemical weapons against civilians, U.S. President Barack Obama said at a news conference today in Stockholm, repeating a claim the Syrian government has denied.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to authorize a limited U.S. military operation in Syria, the first step toward congressional endorsement of the effort.

Torex Gold Resources Inc. slid 6.1 percent Silvercorp Metals Inc. sank 4.2 percent as the prices of both metals fell.

Canada’s trade deficit widened to C$931 million in July from C$460 million in June, Statistics Canada said. The gap exceeded the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Exports fell 0.6 percent to C$39.2 billion on a 7.3 percent drop in shipments of metal and non-mineral products.

“The hearty gain in energy exports that the street was expecting didn’t quite materialize,” Emanuella Enenajor, an economist with CIBC World Markets Inc., said in a note to clients today. “Overall a disappointing figure.”

The Bank of Canada today kept its main interest rate unchanged at 1 percent for the 24th meeting. Policy makers reiterated that current monetary policy remains appropriate as an expected rotation of demand to exports and investment is being delayed.

BlackBerry advanced 4.9 percent to C$11.28. The mobile device maker has held talks with bidders and plans to begin an auction process soon, Dow Jones said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Niko Resources declined 9.5 percent to C$4.29 and Bankers Petroleum Ltd. slipped 0.3 percent to C$3.60. Crude for October delivery lost 1.2 percent to $107.23 a barrel in New York.

Air Canada, the nation’s largest airline, rose 2.5 percent to C$2.89. The stock has jumped 8.7 percent in the past four sessions, the longest winning streak since June.

US

By Lu Wang and Alex Barinka

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, led by automakers and technology companies, as a Senate panel voted to authorize military action in Syria and the Federal Reserve said the economy maintained a “modest to moderate” pace of growth.

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. rallied at least 3.5 percent after sales beat forecasts. Micron Technology Inc. and SanDisk Corp jumped more than 3.3 percent after a fire forced rival SK Hynix Inc. to suspend operations at a factory in China.

Apple Inc. gained 2.1 percent as Cantor Fitzgerald LP initiated coverage of the shares with a buy rating and amid speculation that the company may team up with China Mobile Ltd.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.8 percent to 1,653.08 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 96.91 points, or 0.7 percent, to 14,930.87. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average.

“Managers actually are fairly bullish on the environment,” Arvin Soh, a New York-based portfolio manager with GAM, said by phone. His firm has more than $120 billion under management. “The view has been, ‘yes we have some serious issues with Syria, but at the end of the day, growth is improving.’”

The S&P 500 briefly pared its gain after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to authorize President Barack Obama to conduct a limited U.S. military operation in Syria, the first step toward congressional endorsement of the effort. Republican House Speaker John Boehner yesterday said he supports Obama’s call for military action. The full Senate is expected to consider the resolution on Sept. 9.

The Fed said today the economy continued to grow from early July through late August, even as borrowing costs increased. The central bank’s Beige Book survey of economic conditions in 12 Fed districts showed consumers spent more on travel and tourism, while manufacturing expanded “modestly.”

Fed officials have been scrutinizing data to determine the timing and pace of any reduction in its $85 billion in monthly bond buying. The central bank, which has said it may pare stimulus if the U.S. economy improves in line with its forecasts, will hold its next policy meeting on Sept. 17-18.

Figures from the Labor Department on Sept. 6 may show payrolls increased in August and the jobless rate held at 7.4 percent. A report from Automatic Data Processing Inc. tomorrow is expected to indicate that companies hired fewer workers than in July. A manufacturing gauge published yesterday reached a two-year high.

“The employment number is going to help drive the Fed,” Jim Landreth, a portfolio manager with 300 North Capital LLC in Pasadena, California, said by phone. His firm oversees $640 million. “The Fed is going to be careful. They don’t want rates to spike up again because housing has been one of the fundamental underpinnings of this recovery.”

The S&P 500 has lost 3.3 percent from a record on Aug. 2 amid speculation the Fed will scale back its bond buying.  The stimulus has helped push the benchmark equity gauge up 144 percent from its March 2009 low. There have been signs that the housing recovery has begun to slow, including a drop in sales of previously owned homes in July, as yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose to a two-year high last month.

Citigroup Inc. downgraded U.S. equities to underweight today, saying valuations are “not as attractive as other parts of the world.” The firm upgraded the U.K. and emerging markets.

These areas “appear the cheapest major regions across the world,” strategists including Robert Buckland and Tobias Levkovich wrote in a note.

Emerging markets have a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 11.8 and the U.K. has a multiple of 13.3, the firm said. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities trades at 15.9 times profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slipped 4.4 percent to 15.88 today. The equity volatility gauge is down 12 percent this year.

All but two of 24 S&P 500 industry groups advanced.

Automakers surged 3 percent for the best performance, as U.S. car and light-truck sales rose 17 percent to 1.5 million units, the most since May 2007, according to researcher Autodata Corp.

That exceeded the average 14 percent gain estimated by 10 analysts in a survey by Bloomberg News.

Ford climbed 3.5 percent to $16.91 after posting a 12 percent increase. GM gained 5 percent to $35.85 as sales grew 15 percent.

Micron jumped 5.3 percent to $14.75 while SanDisk advanced 3.3 percent to $57.14. SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest maker of computer-memory chips, is ascertaining if there are any casualties and investigating the cause of the fire, which occurred at a plant in Wuxi, China.

Apple advanced 2.1 percent to $498.69. Cantor’s 12-month share-price estimate was $777, 59 percent higher than yesterday’s close of $488.58. The world’s biggest technology company announced a Sept. 10 event at which it will unveil new models of the iPhone. The next day, it will host an event in Beijing, spurring speculation that Apple may announce an agreement with China Mobile, according to Reuters.

Apple may sell more than 5 million iPhones to China Mobile in the December quarter, with the potential subscriber base at the Chinese wireless carrier reaching 38.7 million next year, Brian Marshall, an analyst with International Strategy & Investment Group, estimated in a note yesterday.

Networking-equipment makers rallied after Ciena Corp. posted profit and sales that beat analysts’ estimates. Ciena, which provides fiber-optic networking gear for carriers such as AT&T Inc., jumped 14 percent to $23.54. Phone stocks rallied 1.3 percent as a group, the most among 10 main S&P 500 industries.

Juniper Networks Inc. climbed 6.5 percent to $20.72 while JDS Uniphase Corp. increased 5.9 percent to $13.70.

J.C. Penney & Co. gained 6.1 percent to $13.50 after Glenview Capital Management LLC raised its stake in the department-store chain to 9.1 percent. Glenview joined J. Kyle Bass in boosting its Penney holdings, becoming the biggest shareholder in a bet the retailer will recover after Bill Ackman ended a revamp effort last month. Bass’s Hayman Capital Management LP holds 11.4 million shares.

Dollar General Corp. added 4.7 percent to a record $56.39.

The discount retailer reported second-quarter adjusted profit of 77 cents per share, beating the 74 cents estimated by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Competitor Dollar Tree Inc. rose 3.1 percent to $54.17.

E*Trade Financial Corp. rallied 8.1 percent to $15.71, the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The online brokerage said a subsidiary will pay a $100 million dividend to the parent company and plans to make similar payments every quarter.

Microsoft Corp. lost 2.2 percent, the most in the Dow, to $31.20. Morgan Stanley downgraded the world’s biggest software maker to equal weight, a rating comparable to neutral, from overweight, which is similar to buy. The company’s 5.44 billion- euro ($7.2-billion) deal to with Nokia Oyj’s devices unit brings execution risks and increased expenditure, the brokerage wrote in a note.

LinkedIn Corp. fell 2.9 percent to $238.93. The owner of the world’s biggest professional-networking website said in a filing it plans to sell 4.17 million shares of its Class A stock. LinkedIn estimated it will raise $1 billion from the sale, based on a closing price of $240.04 on Aug. 30.

SAIC Inc. tumbled 4.9 percent to $14.41. The company, which provides scientific services for government agencies related to national security, posted second-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates and cut its annual sales forecast.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Not only must we be aware of the nature and structure of the problem

and see it completely,

but meet it as it arises and resolve it immediately,

so that it does not take root in the mind.

If one allows a problem to endure for a month or a day,

or even for a few minutes, it distorts the mind.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The attempt and not the deed confound us.

-William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

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

From the tribute by Erica Wagner to Irish wordsmith Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) in the weekend Financial Post:

“…Heaney, who has died in Dublin aged 74, was that rarest of creatures:  a great poet who was also a popular poet.  He was, too, a passionate advocate for his art, along with friend and mentor, Ted Hughes.  It was Hughes’s work that offered proof modern poetry could be made from the matter of rural life.  He recalled reading Hughes’s ‘View of a Pig’.  ‘The poem begins, ‘The pig lay on a barrow dead./  It weighed, they said, as much as three men.’  And I thought, ‘How does he know about all this?’

Heaney and Hughes together would bring their natural worlds to poetic life and go on to influence generations not just of poets but of readers, most notably through the two anthologies they edited, The Rattle Bag (1982) and The School Bag (1987)….His 1995 Nobel Prize for literature was one of many honours.  He was professor of poetry at Oxford and Ralph Waldo Emerson poet in residence at Harvard…..With the poet’s death, once for all has come;  but th work, like the human chain itself, endures.”

The cold smell of potato

mould, the squelch and slap

Of soggy peat, the curt

cuts of an edge

Through living roots awaken in my head.

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them,

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.

-Seamus Heaney, from Digging, in The Death of a Naturalist (1966).

So now, as a thank–

offering for one

Whose long wait on the

shaded bank has ended,

I arrive with my bunch of

stalks and silvered heads

Like tapers that won’t dim

As her earthlight breaks

and we gather round

Talking baby talk.

–Seamus Haney, from Route 110, in The Human Chain (2010).

Photos of the Day –September 3rd, 2013

Elementary school children share an electronic tablet on the first day of class in the new school year in Nice, France. Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Sunlight glints from the Walkie Talkie tower in central London. The London skyscraper reflects sunlight at such intense levels that it warped panels and melted mirrors on a parked car. Its developers will not need to break the bank to fix the problem, a project source told Reuters. Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

The eastern span of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge is seen from inside a vehicle in Oakland, Calif. The largest self-anchored suspension bridge in the world opened before the morning’s rush hour across San Francisco Bay, six years behind schedule and five times over budget.Stephen Lam/Reuters

Market Closes for September 3^rd, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14833.96	+23.65    +0.16%
S&P 500	1639.77	+6.80    +0.42%
NASDAQ	3612.612	+22.744    +0.63%
TSX	12740.50	+86.60
		+0.68%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13978.44	+405.52
		+2.99%
HANG  SENG	22394.58	+219.24
		+0.99%
SENSEX	18234.66	-651.47
		-3.45%
FTSE 100	6468.41	-37.78
		-0.58%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.680	2.612
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.150	3.067
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.8576	2.7766
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.7943	3.7074

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.94912	0.94942
US   $	1.05361	1.05357
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.38768	0.72062
US  $	1.31706	0.75926

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1404.45	1395.13
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	108.54	107.73
BRENT	109.359	109.359

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, for the highest close in a week, as the nation’s largest wireless carriers rallied after U.S.-based Verizon Communications Inc. said it would not enter the market.

Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. advanced at least 5.5 percent as telephone stocks surged the most in more than four years. Teck Resources Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added more than 1.7 percent as the price of copper climbed on signs of improving growth in China and the U.S. BlackBerry Ltd., which is weighing a sale, increased 1 percent after Microsoft Corp. agreed to acquire Nokia Oyj’s handset business.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 86.60 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,740.50 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the best close since Aug. 26. The gauge earlier climbed as much as 1.4 percent to the highest since March 20. Markets were closed yesterday for a holiday in Canada.

“The 800-pound gorilla is not coming to Canada,” said Irwin Michael, portfolio manager with ABC Funds in Toronto. His firm manages C$800 million ($760 million). “Clearly the fears of Verizon coming to Canada was there overhanging the market. Right now it’s a knee-jerk reaction to the surprise.”

Telephone stocks jumped 5.1 percent, the steepest rise since November 2008, to lead seven of 10 industries in the benchmark index higher. Trading volume was 18 percent lower than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

Verizon said yesterday it was not going to make an acquisition in Canada. Shares of the country’s existing wireless providers had slumped after the U.S. company said in June it was weighing a bid to buy Wind Mobile, the largest of three new Ontario-based carriers.

Rogers, Canada’s largest wireless carrier, soared 7.2 percent to C$44.59, the biggest gain since November 2008. Telus gained 5.5 percent to C$34.50, the most since August 2009. BCE Inc. added 3.9 percent to C$44.86, its best day in two years.

BlackBerry advanced 1 percent to C$10.75. Microsoft agreed to buy BlackBerry rival Nokia’s handset business and license its patents, casting together the lot of two technology companies trying to stay relevant against more fleet-footed rivals.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based smartphone maker said in August it has formed a special committee to explore various options for the company including a possible sale. Both Nokia and BlackBerry have lost market share to Apple Inc. and devices running Google Inc.’s Android software.

Teck Resources rose 3.2 percent to C$27.38 and First Quantum Minerals added 1.7 percent to C$17.85. Copper futures jumped 2.2 percent, the most in more than three weeks, as signs of improving economic growth buoyed demand prospects in China and the U.S., the world’s biggest consumers of the metal.

Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in August to the fastest pace since June 2011. Data yesterday showed China’s manufacturing index increased to a 16-month high in August, while other gauges showed euro-area factory output expanded at a faster pace than initially estimated in August.

Eldorado Gold Corp. increased 2.6 percent to C$9.20 and Goldcorp Inc. gained 1 percent to C$31.42. Gold rose for the first time in a week, as tension in the Middle East spurred demand for assets considered safe havens.

Trinidad Drilling Ltd. gained 4.4 percent to C$9.48, the biggest rise in eight months, after entering into a joint venture with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton Co. to provide drilling rigs in Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

Gabriel Resources Ltd. plunged 18 percent to C$1.39 as a potential referendum on a mine it is developing in Romania could delay what would be Europe’s largest gold mine.

The Romanian government proposed a referendum next year on allowing the project to proceed, following a protest by thousands of people over the company’s plan to use cyanide at the Rosia Montana mine. Gabriel had said it could “hopefully” receive approval by November.

US

By Lu Wang

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, following the worst month since May 2012 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as better-than-forecast economic data overshadowed concern over possible military action against Syria.

CBS Corp. jumped 4.7 percent after the broadcaster’s programs returned to Time Warner Cable Inc. Microsoft Corp. slipped 4.6 percent after agreeing to buy Nokia Oyj’s mobile- phone business and license its patents for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion). Verizon Communications Inc. dropped 2.9 percent after agreeing to buy Vodafone Group Plc’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent to 1,639.77 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring an earlier advance of as much as 1.1 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 23.65 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,833.96. About 6.6 billion shares changed hands, the highest level since Aug. 1. U.S. exchanges were closed yesterday for the Labor Day holiday.

“The economy, things are coming in pretty good,” Karyn Cavanaugh, a vice president and market strategist at ING U.S. Investment Management in New York, said in a phone interview.

Her firm oversees about $190 billion. “We know there are a lot tensions in the Middle East. If you wait for the dust to settle in order to get in the market, you’re going to be waiting forever. Look at the fundamentals and if the fundamentals are increasing, that’s your directional signal.”

Global stocks rose yesterday as data showed China’s manufacturing index increased to a 16-month high in August, while other gauges showed euro-area factory output expanded at a faster pace than initially estimated in August.

Among today’s reports in the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index increased to 55.7 in August, the strongest since June 2011, from 55.4 a month earlier.

Readings above 50 indicate growth. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 54. Another report showed construction spending in the U.S. increased in July to the highest level in four years, propelled by gains in residential real estate.

Equities pared gains after President Barack Obama won endorsement from the two top Republicans in the U.S. House for taking action against Syria. Backing from Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor will help the president as he makes his case to lawmakers who’ve questioned the evidence presented by the administration that the Syrian government was behind a sarin gas attack last month or whether the U.S. has a vital interest in the region.

Obama urged Congress to take a “prompt” vote authorizing military action. He announced on Aug. 31 that he’d seek support from Congress, after previously saying he had authority to order a military mission.

The benchmark index fell 3.1 percent in August amid concern the Federal Reserve would reduce its monthly bond purchases and the U.S. would take military action against Syria.

Investors in August pulled money from exchange-traded funds at the fastest rate since January 2010, with withdrawals reaching $17.7 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from about 1,500 funds. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the largest ETF for American equities, experienced $14 billion in outflows, the data show.

Better-than-estimated corporate earnings and monetary stimulus from the Fed helped the index rally as much as 153 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, with the gauge reaching a record 1,709.67 on Aug. 2.

The Fed holds a policy meeting on Sept. 17-18 to decide whether to slow the pace of its bond-buying program. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has said that the central bank may reduce its monthly purchases if the employment outlook substantially improves and the economy grows in line with forecasts.

The S&P 500 failed to stay above its average in the past 100 days after briefly surpassing the threshold that’s watched by some analysts to gauge the market’s trends. The index closed below the trend measure for a fifth session, the longest stretch since Nov. 21, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The average was at 1,640 recently.

Financial, consumer-discretionary  and health-care shares climbed more than 0.6 percent for the biggest gains among 10 S&P 500 industries. Utilities and phone companies had the biggest declines, dropping at least 1.1 percent.

CBS rose 4.7 percent to $53.50. The broadcaster’s programs returned to Time Warner Cable in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas after the companies ended a one-month blackout, in time for the start of National Football League regular-season games.

Time Warner Cable agreed to pay a significant increase for the right to transmit CBS signals, according to people with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. Shares of Time Warner Cable added 1.8 percent to $109.25.

Citigroup Inc. climbed 2.2 percent to $49.37. The third- biggest U.S. bank by assets has sold more than $6 billion in private-equity and hedge-fund assets in the past month, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the transactions.

Bank of America Corp. added 0.9 percent to $14.25. The lender confirmed plans to sell its remaining stake in China Construction Bank Corp. for a gain of about $750 million before taxes. The second-biggest U.S. lender first invested in Construction Bank in 2005.

Apple Inc. rose 0.3 percent to $488.58, trimming an early rally of as much as 2.8 percent. The world’s largest technology company said it will hold a Sept. 10 event, when it’s projected to announce new iPhones.

J.C. Penney Co. advanced 1.9 percent to $12.72. Hayman Capital Management LP reported a 5.2 percent passive stake in the department store chain that is seeking to rebound from its worst sales year in more than two decades.

Stocks gained as the U.S. market is poised for the busiest month of takeovers since October 2012. More than $130 billion of mergers and acquisitions have been announced since the end of August, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Jarden Corp. jumped 10 percent to $47.43. The company agreed to buy Yankee Candle for $1.75 billion, making its biggest acquisition to add the 43-year-old scented candle maker to its collection of more than 120 consumer brands.

More acquisitions are “indicative of increased confidence in the corporate space in that they view opportunities to take advantage of and feel comfortable using some of their capital to do so.” Ethan Anderson, senior portfolio manager at Rehmann Financial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees about $1.5 billion.

Microsoft slid 4.6 percent to $31.88. The maker of the Windows operating system will pay 3.79 billion euros for Nokia’s devices and 1.65 billion euros for its patents, according to a statement from the companies. Microsoft is deepening a push into hardware as dwindling computer sales sap demand for the programs that made it the world’s largest software maker. Nokia’s U.S.-traded shares surged 31 percent to $5.12.

Verizon lost 2.9 percent to $46.01. Verizon will get full control of the most profitable U.S. mobile-phone carrier in the biggest acquisition in more than a decade. The deal, sought by Verizon since at least 2004, implies a total value for Verizon Wireless of almost $290 billion — larger than the market capitalization of Google Inc.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 2.4 percent to 16.61 today, after a 26 percent rally in August. Options strategists from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Weeden & Co. are predicting that U.S. equity volatility will extend its increase in September after posting its biggest monthly advance in more than a year.

JPMorgan said in an Aug. 29 note that volatility is likely to increase in September and October, and recommended buying puts on global stocks gauges including the S&P 500. Weeden told investors to implement a bearish strategy using October contracts on a security tracking the Russell 2000 Index. The VIX has fallen every September in years when volatility was below its historical average at the start of the month, data since 1996 compiled by Bloomberg show.

“There are a number of catalysts that could drive volatility higher in September such as an escalation in the Syrian crisis, further deterioration in emerging markets, or larger-than-expected tapering by the Fed,” Mandy Xu, a New York-based equity-derivatives strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG, said in an Aug. 29 interview.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

All the responsibility of good and evil is on you.  This is the great hope.

What I have done, that I can undo.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily.

That is what tragedy means.

-Tom Stoppard, 1937-

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

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

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

Hope everyone enjoys their free pair of glasses!

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

Photos of the Day –August 30^th, 2013

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

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

Market Closes for August 30^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14807.69	-33.26    -0.22%
S&P 500	1630.35	-7.82    -0.48%
NASDAQ	3589.868	-30.435    -0.84%
TSX	12699.19	-5.54
		-0.04%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13388.86	-70.85
		-0.53%
HANG  SENG	21731.37	+26.59
		+0.12%
SENSEX	18619.72	+218.68
		+1.19%
FTSE 100	6412.93	-70.12
		-1.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.612	2.606
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.067	3.067
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.7766	2.7617
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.7074	3.7144

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.94942	0.94915
US   $	1.05327	1.05357
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.39210	0.71834
US  $	1.32169	0.75661

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1395.13	1407.84
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	107.73	108.80
BRENT	109.359	109.359

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Alex Barinka

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

US

By Nick Taborek and Jonathan Morgan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Have  a wonderful long weekend everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

 

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

 

As ever,

 

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5808

Fax: 778-430-5838

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Interesting article this week by Peter Geoghegan:

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – August in Edinburgh is synonymous

with the arts. This August more

than 25,000 performers have descended on

the Scottish capital, offering everything from

stand-up comedy and one-act plays to jazz,

opera, and poetry readings as part of several

separate festivals that are collectively known

as the Edinburgh Festival.

But while the cobbled streets of Edinburgh’s

Old Town will be littered with fliers and street

performers until the end of this month, the

program for next year’s festival is already

causing a stir. The 2014 Edinburgh Festival

– which bills itself as the largest arts festival

in the world – is scheduled to end just weeks

before Scotland goes to the polls in a historic

referendum on independence.

But the Scots’ historic constitutional

choice won’t be on the

agenda at the oldest of the festivals,

the Edinburgh International

Festival (EIF), according to its

director, Jonathan Mills.

Mr. Mills told a Scottish newspaper

earlier this month that he

was “not anticipating anything

in the [program] at all” next year

about the independence debate.

The program will concentrate on

the Commonwealth Games – due

to take place in Glasgow next

summer – and the centenary of

the start of World War I.

“We would not wish our festival

to be anything other than it

has always been, which is a politically neutral

space for artists. It is important that it remains

that,” Mills said in an interview with The

Scotsman.

Founded in 1947, the EIF has a budget of

£10 million ($15 million), about half of which

comes from public funds.

The reaction to the director’s comments

about next year’s program was quick, with

many in Scotland’s arts community questioning

the idea that the arts are politically neutral.

“I don’t think the EIF is going to be able to keep

this issue out. We’ve got a year to make use of

this opportunity to start a proper discussion,”

novelist Denise Mina told the Sunday Herald,

a popular Scottish newspaper. “The discussion

has become really narrow, and people are stating

their positions. Nobody is really listening

to each other and the festival would have been

a great opportunity to listen.”

“The arts are one of the places where we

can discuss the more abstract notions. It’s a

real missed opportunity by Jonathan Mills,”

Ms. Mina added.

By far the largest slice of the Edinburgh

Festival pie belongs to the Fringe. It was inaugurated

in 1947 when eight theater companies

that were not invited to the EIF decided to perform

regardless, and has grown into one of the

most recognizable arts festivals in the world,

with a reputation for being more spontaneous

and edgy than its more formal sibling. Despite

this, Scottish independence remained a rather

marginal theme in this year’s Fringe, says Ben

Judge, editor of Fest magazine.

Even so, playwright and novelist Alan

Bissett believes that the arts have a particularly

important role to play in the lead-up to

next September’s vote.

“Because [independence] is so complex, the

arts is the ideal place to have that discussion,”

he says. “Artists aren’t beholden to ‘the truth.’

We are much more about exploring the emotional

complexities. People who experience a

play, or a poem, or a novel about nationalism

recognize more of it because it’s not black and

white.”

Photos of the Day –August 29^th, 2013

Members of Britain’s Royal Air Force perform a parachute jump into The Ageas Bowl cricket ground before England play Australia in Southampton, England. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

People carry lanterns around Pleasure Bay during an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in Boston, Massachusetts August 28th. Brian Snyder/Reuters

Market Closes for August 29^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14840.95	+16.44    +0.11%
S&P 500	1638.17	+3.21    +0.20%
NASDAQ	3620.303	+26.953    +0.75%
TSX	12704.73	+97.51
		+0.77%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13459.71	+121.25
		+0.91%
HANG  SENG	21704.78	+180.13
		+0.84%
SENSEX	18401.04	+404.89
		+2.25%
FTSE 100	6483.05	+52.99
		+0.82%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.606	2.623
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.067	3.083
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.7617	2.7653
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.7144	3.7356

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.94915	0.95333
US   $	1.05357	1.04895
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.39503	0.71683
US  $	1.32409	0.75523

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1407.84	1416.77
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	108.80	110.10
BRENT	109.359	109.359

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Alex Barinka

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, as bank shares advanced on better-than-estimated earnings and phone companies rallied on dimmed prospects of competition from U.S.-based Verizon Communications Inc.

Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank gained at least 1.2 percent after raising their dividends and posting third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. Rogers Communications Inc. surged 3 percent to lead phone stocks higher. Dundee Precious Metals Inc. jumped 10 percent after suggesting it may expand a gold and silver mine in Armenia.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 97.51 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,704.73 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge added 0.1 percent yesterday and has gained 1.8 percent this month.

“Given that so many people own Canadian banks, it’s good news and that will set the tone on the macro for Canadian equity markets,” Irwin Michael, portfolio manager with ABC Funds in Toronto, said in a phone interview. His firm manages C$800 million ($774 million). “With the higher U.S. GDP, it gives us more comfort that the economy is slowly but surely improving.”

Investors are weighing data that showed the U.S. economy grew by more than expected in the second quarter and that claims for unemployment benefits declined last week. The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner.

Eight of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX rose, with phone, bank and health-care stocks rising at least 1.2 percent. Trading volume in the benchmark gauge was 4.6 percent below the 30-day average.

The S&P/TSX Commercial Bank Index jumped 1.6 percent to a record high, as all eight members increased. Royal Bank, TD Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank each reported today third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

Royal Bank, Canada’s largest lender by assets, gained 1.2 percent to C$65.24, the highest in a month. Toronto-Dominion, the second-biggest bank, climbed 2.7 percent to a record C$89.93. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce rose 2.8 percent to C$82.66.

The three Toronto-based banks posted record profit in Canadian personal and commercial banking and wealth management even as near record-low interest rates and tight net interest margins proved challenging for lenders.

Phone stocks rallied 2.4 percent on speculation that a Verizon bid for Vodafone Group Plc’s stake in Verizon Wireless will reduce the U.S. carrier’s appetite for Canadian expansion.

Vodafone confirmed it’s in talks to sell its stake, in a deal that may be worth $130 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

“If negotiations between Verizon and Vodafone are really heating up, we believe that the prospects of a Verizon entry into Canadian wireless could decline significantly,” Dvai Ghose, head of research at Canaccord Genuity said in a note to clients dated yesterday.

Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest wireless carrier, climbed 3 percent to C$42.01. Telus Corp. rose 2.5 percent to C$33.10.

Health-care companies jumped 1.6 percent, led by a surge in Catamaran Corp. of 1.7 percent to C$58.19.

Shares in producers of raw materials erased earlier losses of as much as 1.3 percent even as metals prices slumped. The S&P/TSX Materials Index advanced 0.5 percent, halting two days of declines.

Dundee Precious Metals surged 10 percent to C$6.80 after saying an internal study of its Kapan mine in Armenia most likely will result in expanding operations there.

Energy stocks were little changed as a group. Shares in commodities producers have been roiled in recent days, amid growing speculation the U.S. and its allies will take military action against Syria.

The prospect of imminent strikes receded today as U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, the U.S.’s top ally, struggled to win parliamentary backing for military action.

US

By Nick Taborek and Corinne Gretler

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a second day, as data showed the economy expanded at a faster pace in the second quarter and concerns over Syria eased.

Verizon Communications Inc. added 2.7 percent as Vodafone Group Plc said the companies are in talks over their Verizon Wireless venture. Guess? Inc. rallied 13 percent after the apparel maker reported second-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates. Exxon Mobil Corp. lost 1.8 percent as oil futures fell from a two-year high.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,638.17 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring an earlier advance of as much as 0.7 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 16.44 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,840.95.

“That’s just one confirmation that the data is continuing to move in the right direction,” Anastasia Amoroso, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, which oversees about $400 billion, said in a phone interview. “That gives more evidence why the Fed should ultimately taper. But over the last couple of months the markets have been a lot more comfortable with that notion.”

Gross domestic product rose at a 2.5 percent annualized rate, up from an initial estimate of 1.7 percent, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 2.2 percent gain.

Jobless claims in the week ended Aug. 24 dropped 6,000 to 331,000 from a revised 337,000 the week before that was higher than initially reported, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a drop to 332,000.

The equity benchmark has fallen 2.8 percent in August amid speculation the Fed will pare stimulus measures and concern the U.S. will take military action against Syria.

Minutes of the Fed’s July meeting released on Aug. 21 showed policy makers supported cuts to the central bank’s bond- buying program this year if the economy improves in line with its forecasts. Fed stimulus helped push the S&P 500 up as much as 153 percent from its March 2009 low, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The prospect of imminent military strikes on Syria receded as the U.K. and France said they favor waiting for the results of a United Nations investigation into alleged use of chemical weapons. The U.S., which says it has evidence that Syria’s government was responsible, won’t act without allies, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.

“We’re back to focusing on economic data, specifically out of the U.S. and Europe, and the Fed tapering, as the market is coming around to believe the Syrian conflict poses only a short- term risk,” said Manish Singh, who helps oversee $2 billion as head of investment at Crossbridge Capital in London. “I am of the opinion that tapering will happen in September, regardless of data.”

About 4.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges.

Trading is poised for the second-slowest month in at least five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. An average of about 5.5 billion shares changed hands each day this month.

That’s about 50 million shares more than last August.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, increased 1.9 percent to 16.81. The equity volatility gauge has surged 42 percent since a five-month low on Aug. 5.

Eight out of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 rose, with phone companies advancing 1.2 percent to lead gains.

Verizon Communications rose 2.7 percent to $47.82. The company is in advanced talks to acquire Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless venture for about $130 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

In a statement, Newbury, England-based Vodafone said there’s “no certainty that an agreement will be reached” as it holds discussions with New York-based Verizon. Bob Varettoni, a spokesman for Verizon, declined to comment.

Microsoft Corp. rose 1.6 percent to $33.55. Microsoft is in talks with Foursquare Labs Inc. about a potential investment in the social-media company, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

An S&P index of homebuilders climbed 2.5 percent, after dropping 3.7 percent over the previous two days. PulteGroup Inc. rose 3.1 percent to $15.86 and Lennar Corp. advanced 3.2 percent to $32.62.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index rose 2 percent as US Airways Group Inc. advanced 4 percent to $15.96. Delta Air Lines Inc. jumped 2.7 percent to $19.64.

Guess soared 13 percent to $30.82. Second-quarter adjusted earnings per share amounted to 52 cents, exceeding the average estimate of 35 cents in a survey of analysts. The company raised its full-year earnings guidance to $1.78 to $1.92 a share, from a previous prediction of $1.70 to $1.90. Analysts had forecast $1.79.

Exxon Mobil declined 1.8 percent to $87.27, while Chevron Corp. lost 1.2 percent to $120.37. Oil futures retreated 1.2 percent after climbing to the highest level since May 2011 yesterday.

Campbell Soup Co. fell 3.1 percent to $43.33 after the company reported fourth-quarter sales lower than analysts’ estimates.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

The idea of a duty to understand violence engenders for me

a great vitality and passion for knowledge.

But to transcend this violence, I need not repress it, nor deny it, nor say to myself:

It has become a part of me, I can do nothing about it; or, I wish to reject it.

I must observe it, study it, enter into it intimately,

and for that purpose I need neither condemn it nor justify it.

And yet, it is this that we do.

I would ask you then, to suspend for an instant your judgments on the subject.

-Krishnamuti, 1895-1986

Carolann

 

If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three.

-Lawrence J. Peter, 1919-1990

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, 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 watched a terrific concert  from the White House on PBS last night, A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.   It featured some great artists including Smokey Robinson, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, among others.  To take a trip down memory lane with these tunes, you can watch it at the following link:

http://video.pbs.org/video/1410865290/

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.  – Martin Luther King Jr.

Photos of the Day –August 28th, 2013

Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledges the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. AP/File

ROTC Lt. Col. Tangela Spencer rings the bell 50 times as elementary students recite verses from the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech given 50 years ago by Rev. Martin Luther King. About 500 students and others gathered for the event in Montgomery, Ala., on the campus of Alabama State University to honor the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Dave Martin/AP

Market Closes for August 28^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14824.51	+48.38    +0.33%
S&P 500	1634.96	+4.48    +0.27%
NASDAQ	3593.350	+14.826    +0.41%
TSX	12607.22	+16.01
		+0.13%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13338.46	-203.91
		-1.51%
HANG  SENG	21524.65	-350.12
		-1.60%
SENSEX	17996.15	+28.07
		+0.16%
FTSE 100	6430.06	-10.91
		-0.17%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.623	2.563
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.083	3.040
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.7653	2.7087
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.7356	3.6916

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95333	0.95434
US   $	1.04895	1.04784
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.39948	0.71455
US  $	1.33417	0.74953

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1416.77	1417.39
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	110.10	109.01
BRENT	109.359	109.359

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Alex Barinka

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, rebounding from the benchmark index’s biggest drop since June, as energy producers rallied on a surge in oil prices amid growing speculation of a U.S. military strike against Syria.

Niko Resources Ltd., an oil exploration company, gained 6.8 percent to lead advances among oil companies as crude touched a two-year high. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. rose 2.3 percent, reversing a 4.1 percent slide yesterday. BlackBerry Ltd. advanced 2.7 percent to propel technology stocks higher.

New Gold Inc. tumbled 7.5 percent to lead producers of raw materials lower as gold fell from a three-month high.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Index rose 16.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,607.22 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, trimming an earlier gain of as much as 0.7 percent. Trading volume was 7.4 percent below the 30-day average.

“It’s all about Syria — that’s the risk,” John Stephenson, senior vice president and portfolio manager who helps oversee about C$2.8 billion ($2.7 billion) at First Asset Investment Management Inc. in Toronto, said by phone.

“Commodities are moving higher. It’s a scarcity argument that we are going to have another conflict in the Middle East. The market is up but very little and on very light volumes.”

The S&P/TSX dropped 1.3 percent yesterday, its steepest slide since June 24, amid concern the U.S. will take action against Syria. The U.S. and the U.K. today said they are prepared to make a military strike without authorization from the United Nations Security Council.

After Russia objected to a UN resolution offered by the U.K. authorizing steps to protect civilians, a State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. will take “appropriate” action without the international body’s approval. The U.S. and its NATO allies began presenting their justification for military action against Syria as they advanced plans for launching strikes and prepared evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people.

Crude surged as high as $112.24, the most since May 2011, as the tension over Syria escalated, increasing concern oil supplies will be disrupted. The rally helped commodities surge to the highest level since February. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index rose as much as 1.9 percent before retreating to a gain of 0.9 percent.

Half of the 10 main industries in the benchmark Canadian equity index advanced, led by a 1.7 percent rally among health- care companies. Valeant Pharmaceuticals rose 2.3 percent to C$102.60.

Energy stocks contributed the most to the equity gauge’s climb, adding 1.2 percent on the spike in oil prices. Niko Resources jumped 6.8 percent to C$5.48 to lead the surge.

Athabasca Oil Corp. climbed 3.8 percent to C$7.66.

Technology stocks advanced 1.1 percent as BlackBerry, the struggling smartphone maker, rose 2.7 percent to C$10.82.

The S&P/TSX Materials Index plunged 1.6 percent, the biggest loss as a group in the benchmark index. The drop erased an earlier advance of as much as 1.7 percent as gold, silver and copper prices retreated.

New Gold slumped 7.5 percent to C$7.15. Torex Gold Resources Inc. fell 6.4 percent to C$1.77.

Financial stocks retreated 0.2 percent for a third day of declines. Sun Life Financial Inc. led the drop, falling 1.3 percent to C$31.82.

National Bank of Canada gained 2.4 percent to C$81.14, as profit from trading and wealth management boosted earnings at the country’s sixth-largest lender.

US

By Nick Taborek and Namitha Jagadeesh

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounding from an eight-week low, as energy shares rallied and investors watched developments on Syria.

Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. jumped more than 2.3 percent. TiVo Inc. climbed 5.6 percent after the maker of digital-video recorders posted a profit. Joy Global Inc. lost 4.7 percent as the mining equipment maker said orders for new equipment are declining. PulteGroup Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. declined at least 1.2 percent as pending sales of existing homes unexpectedly fell in July.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 1,634.96 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index closed just short of its average level for the past 100 days of 1,638.27, after slipping below it yesterday for the first time since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 48.38 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,824.51.

“We’re simply just seeing a little bit of bounce back from what was very bad action yesterday,” Walter Todd, who oversees about $950 million as chief investment officer of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC in Greenwood, South Carolina, said by phone. “There are probably starting to be opportunities that are being created in certain segments of the market as a result of this sell-off, and investors are wisely looking to see if they can take advantage of some of those.”

The S&P 500 slid 1.6 percent yesterday to the lowest level since July 3 amid concern the U.S. will take action against Syria. The U.S. and the U.K. today said they are prepared to take military action against Syria without authorization from the United Nations Security Council.

After Russia objected to a UN resolution offered by the U.K. authorizing action to protect civilians, a State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. will take “appropriate” steps without the international body’s approval. The U.S. and its NATO allies began presenting their justification for military action as they advanced plans for launching strikes and prepared evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people.

“This is an environment where people are really focused on one variable which is going to dominate all others, and that, today, is Syria,” Lawrence Creatura, a Rochester, New York- based fund manager at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $380 billion, said in a phone interview. “The reflex is to sell during times of sudden unexpected conflict. Weakness derived from temporary events can often times be a great buying opportunity.”

The S&P 500 has lost 4.4 percent from a record high on Aug. 2 amid growing speculation the Federal Reserve will reduce its monthly bond buying. Minutes of the central bank’s July meeting released Aug. 21 showed policy makers supported stimulus cuts this year if the economy improves. Fed stimulus helped push the S&P 500 up as much as 153 percent from its March 2009 low, as better-than-estimated corporate earnings also fueled gains.

Data today showed fewer Americans signed contracts in July to buy previously owned homes. The index of pending home sales dropped 1.3 percent, the most this year, after a 0.4 percent decrease in June, according to figures from the National Association of Realtors. Economists forecast no change in the gauge from the month before, according to a median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

About 5.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges.

Trading volume is heading for the second-slowest month in at least five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. An average of about 5.5 billion shares changed hands each day this month. That’s about 80 million shares more than last August.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 1.7 percent to 16.49. The equity volatility gauge has surged 39 percent since a five-month low on Aug. 5.

Seven out of 10 main industry groups in the S&P 500 rose, with energy companies jumping 1.8 percent to pace advances.

Chevron advanced 2.5 percent to $121.81. Exxon Mobil rallied 2.3 percent to $88.84. Marathon Oil Corp. increased 3.7 percent to $34.60. Oil futures climbed 1 percent to the highest in two years.

TiVo advanced 5.6 percent to $11.58 after reporting second- quarter net income of $268.9 million, including legal settlements, compared with a $27 million loss a year earlier.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Rogers said in an interview the company will be profitable for the remainder of the fiscal year ending January and through the following year.

Avago Technologies Ltd. surged 4.7 percent to $38.28. The supplier of components for wireless communications reported third-quarter revenue of $664 million, exceeding the $617.25 million average forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Zale Corp. rose 30 percent to $11.63, the highest level since 2008. The jewelery retailer reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat analyst estimates as same-store sales jumped 5.6 percent.

Express Inc. gained 6.6 percent to $21.10. The specialty retailer said same-store sales rose 6 percent in the second quarter, beating analysts’ estimates, and raised its profit forecast.

Tiffany & Co. retreated 4.4 percent to $77.25, extending its loss for the week so far to 5.8 percent. The world’s second- largest luxury jewelry retailer yesterday reported second- quarter sales that were short of analyst estimates.

Joy Global lost 4.7 percent to $48.89. The mining equipment producer’s CEO, Mike Sutherlin, said the market “has become even more challenging,” as customers’ declining cash flows are resulting in “significantly” reduced capital expenditures.

Caterpillar Inc. slid 0.3 percent to $82.45.

An S&P index of homebuilders fell 1.2 percent. PulteGroup lost 1.4 percent to $15.38 while D.R. Horton declined 1.2 percent to $17.77.

Taser International Inc. fell 5.9 percent to $11.15, after rising 38 percent in the past 11 trading days. The maker of stun guns declined after JPMorgan analysts downgraded the shares to neutral from overweight.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Live your own life.

That is to say, where you are, as you are, with what you are, and with who you are…

Accept the situation in which you find yourself and try, at the same time, to adapt to it.

You cannot escape from it.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden

to bear.

-Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7