Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Wow!  Barbara Walters, of ABC, announced this morning that she is retiring from journalism.  She is 83 years young!

On May 13^th, 1940, Winston Churchill gave his first speech to the House of Commons after becoming Prime Minister:  “I say to the House as I said to Ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and  sweat.  We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind.  We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.

You ask, what is our policy?  I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air….You ask, what is our aim?  I can answer in one word.  It is victory.  Victory at all costs – victory in spite of all terrors – victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.”

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.  –Henry David Thoreau.

Photos of the day – May 13^th, 2013

This blend of two images taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a solar eruption that occurred on Sunday. One image shows light in the 171-angstrom wavelength, the other in 131 angstroms. Scientists say the Mother’s Day solar flare was the strongest of the year and occurred on the side of the sun that faced away from Earth. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory/AP

Artists install an installation art piece seen under Ultra-violet lighting titled ‘Stellar Cave II’ by French artist Julien Salaud in Singapore which will host the Art Garden 2013 art festival for about 3-months at the Singapore Art Museum. Wong Maye-E/AP

Market Closes for May 13th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15091.68	-26.81    -0.18%
S&P 500	1633.77	+0.07    —
NASDAQ	3438.791	+2.207    +0.06%
TSX	12529.55	-59.54
		-0.47%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14782.21	+174.67
		+1.20%
HANG  SENG	22989.81	-331.41
		-1.42%
SENSEX	19691.67	-430.65
		-2.14%
FTSE 100	6631.76	+6.78
		+0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.910	1.883
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.529	2.511
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.9155	1.8947
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.1258	3.0926

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98936	0.98966
US   $	1.01075	1.01045
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31097	0.76279
US  $	1.29702	0.77100

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1429.92	1446.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.17	94.56
BRENT	102.28	104.03

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, following a 1.2 percent gain last week, as oil prices retreated after Chinese demand weakened and gold had its longest slump in five weeks.

Silver Wheaton Corp. dropped 3.5 percent after first- quarter profit missed estimates. Encana Corp. and Husky Energy Inc. lost at least 1 percent as crude fell. Torex Gold Resources Inc. and Alacer Gold Corp. slid more than 2.1 percent after gold slumped for a third day. Barrick Gold Corp., the largest gold miner, declined 2.9 percent after New Zealand’s biggest fund manager sold its investments in the company.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 59.54 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,529.55 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge has added 0.8 percent this year. Trading volume was 39 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“As China continues to slow here, people have to put in their minds that growth is more likely to come at 7 to 7.5 percent instead of 7.5 percent to 8 percent,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto. His firm manages about $4 billion.

“People expect China to have robust growth and it hasn’t had robust growth next to expectations for quite some time.”

Reports today showed China’s fixed-asset investment unexpectedly decelerated last month while industrial output trailed estimates, adding to concerns that the economy will fail to show much of a recovery this quarter.

China’s growth unexpectedly lost momentum in the first quarter as gains in factory output and consumption weakened.

Gross domestic product rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, data last month showed, down from 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter. China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner.

Raw-materials stocks contributed most to losses in the S&P/TSX, falling 2.1 percent as a group as five of 10 industries retreated.

Silver Wheaton lost 3.5 percent to C$23.72. The world’s largest precious metals finance firm posted adjusted first- quarter earnings of 37 cents a share. Analysts expected 39 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Alacer Gold dropped 5.4 percent to C$2.82 and Torex Gold declined 2.1 percent to C$1.43. Gold for June delivery lost 0.2 percent to settle at $1,434.30 an ounce in New York. Prices have fallen for three days, the longest slump since April 4.

Barrick Gold fell 2.9 percent to C$20.50. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which invests money on behalf of the country’s government, said it has sold its stakes in Barrick Gold and the company’s African Barrick Gold unit due to concerns related to security, environment and community problems at mines in Papua New Guinea and Tanzania.

Energy shares declined 0.7 percent as a group. Encana slid 3 percent to C$18.74 and Husky Energy, a crude oil and natural gas producer based in Calgary, fell 1 percent to C$29.94.

Oil for June delivery lost 0.9 percent to settle at $95.17 a barrel in New York, the third straight decline. China’s crude processing reached the lowest level in eight months in April, according to data published today, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boosted output last month to the highest level in five months.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Sarah Jones

May 13 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks fell, after benchmark indexes climbed to record levels last week, even as government data showed retail sales unexpectedly rose in April.

Yum! Brands Inc. fell 2.1 percent after the owner of the KFC and Pizza Hut dining chains reported a slump in April sales in China. Corning Inc. climbed 0.9 percent as analysts raised their recommendation for the shares. Theravance Inc. rose 18 percent after Elan Corp. agreed to pay $1 billion for a share in royalties on new drugs.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose less than 1 point to 1,633.77 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 26.81 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,091.68. Almost 5.3 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, or 16 percent below the three-month average, as about seven stocks declined for every five that advanced.

“It’s obvious that this market has got legs, the question is whether the economy is going to grow some legs to support stocks going forward,” Frank Braddock, senior portfolio manager with the Braddock Group of JHS Capital Advisors, said by phone from Columbia, South Carolina. JHS oversees about $3.4 billion.

The 0.1 percent increase in U.S. retail sales followed a 0.5 percent decline in March, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.3 percent drop. A separate report showed companies in the U.S. unexpectedly held inventories in check in March as sales fell by the most in nine months, an indication orders will rise as demand picks up.

Overseas, Israel’s central bank cut its benchmark rate 25 basis points to 1.5 percent, joining a wave of monetary easing spanning from the U.S. to Europe. In China, the world’s second- largest economy, fixed-asset investment unexpectedly decelerated last month while industrial output trailed estimates.

“It seems consumers have been able to absorb the tax increases better than most had thought, but we still need to see if we can come out of this second-quarter purgatory,” Ron Florance, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based managing director of investment strategy at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which has $170 billion assets under management, said in a phone interview.

“Israel surprised with their rate drop and everyone around the world is now doing easy money, so the pedal is to the metal at the global level.”

The S&P 500 rallied to a record on May 10, capping a third week of gains and extending its advance so far this year to 15 percent. U.S. stocks climbed last week as companies from Walt Disney Co. to DirecTV beat earnings estimates and central banks worldwide stepped up monetary stimulus to boost growth.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 0.3 percent to 12.55. The equity volatility gauge is down 30 percent for the year.

Seven out of 10 industries in the S&P 500 retreated as phone stocks and raw-material producers declined the most, while health-care companies had the largest gains as a group. Peabody Energy Corp. slumped 4.1 percent to $20.14 for the biggest retreat in the S&P 500, followed by losses of more than 3.4 percent in Joy Global Inc. and U.S. Steel Corp.

Yum slid 2.1 percent to $68.92 after the company reported a 29 percent drop in sales at stores open at least 12 months in China as the spread of bird flu hurt demand. Analysts projected a 27 percent drop, the average of five estimates compiled by researcher Consensus Metrix. Sales dropped 36 percent at KFC while gaining 5 percent at Pizza Hut.

AutoZone Inc. slipped 1.2 percent to $415.76. The retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank AG with a 12-month price estimate of $410 a share.

Mosaic Co. lost 3.1 percent to $61.30. The world’s largest producer of phosphate crop nutrients said it favors share buybacks over dividends to redeploy surplus cash. With an estimated $2 billion of cash by the end of the month, Mosaic is assessing its ability to buy back shares while seizing growth opportunities and maintaining a “solid” investment-grade credit rating, Chief Financial Officer Larry Stranghoener said today on a conference call.

Corning rose 0.9 percent to $15.24 after Barclays Plc raised its recommendation for the shares to overweight, the equivalent of a buy rating. Morgan Stanley also upgraded the maker of glass for flat-panel televisions to equal weight, a level similar to hold, from underweight.

Theravance jumped 18 percent to $41.20 after Elan agreed to buy a share of drug royalties that Theravance will receive from GlaxoSmithKline Plc. The Irish drugmaker will receive 21 percent of royalties earned by Theravance on four respiratory drugs, and 20 percent of that income will be paid to Elan shareholders as a dividend.

J.C. Penney Co. rose 2.9 percent to $18.24. The department- store chain that replaced its chief executive officer last month set a lender meeting for tomorrow to discuss a $1.75 billion loan, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the deal is private. CEO Myron Ullman is working to improve sales after revenue last year tumbled 25 percent to $13 billion amid Ron Johnson’s failed attempt to remake the retailer.

The S&P 500 has climbed to record highs on seven of the last eight trading days. Oppenheimer & Co.’s John Stoltzfus raised his year-end target for the index to 1,730 today from 1,585, ranking him as the second-most bullish strategist on Wall Street after Canaccord Genuity Securities LLC’s Tony Dwyer, who has a 1,760 estimate on the benchmark index.

Returns from the U.S. equity bull market that started four years ago are matching those from the last half of the 1990s even as valuations are 28 percent lower.

The S&P 500 has gained 26.2 percent annually including dividends since March 2009, the same as during the last 50 months of the technology bubble, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shares in the index now trade at 18.6 times annual profit, below the average 25.7 multiple in the 1990s rally led by Internet companies.

For bulls, the valuations show stocks will keep rising after the S&P 500 advanced 164 percent as individuals scarred by the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression return to equities. Bears say the price-earnings ratios mean investors lack confidence in the economy and corporate profit growth. They also note that the last time returns were this high, the bubble popped and more than $5 trillion was erased from the value of U.S. stocks, according to data from the World Bank.

“The size of this rally’s not what keeps me up at night,” Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management, which oversees about $170 billion, said in a May 8 phone interview. “That was a tremendous rally then, too, but I’m not getting all nervous based on the size of the rally this time, because we’re not there yet in terms of valuation.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Our consciousness is not actually yours or mine;  it is the consciousness of man,

evolved, grown, accumulated through many, many centuries….

When one realizes this our responsibility becomes extraordinarily important.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Do not fear mistakes.  You will know failure.

Continue to reach out.

-Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790

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, May 10^th, in 1908, Mother’s Day was first observed in church services in West Virginia and Philadelphia.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!

What are heavy? sea-land and sorrow:

What are brief?  today and tomorrow:

What are frail?  spring blossoms and youth:

What are deep?  the ocean and truth.

–Christina Rossetti

You can learn many things from children.  How much patience you have, for instance. –Franklin P. Jones.

Photo of the day – May 10^th, 2013

People shelter by the rain under umbrellas with several slogans written on them against austerity measures and the new Spanish Education Law, reading, ‘Stop LOMCE Law,’ in Pamplona northern Spain. The Spanish Conservative Government will be approve a new Education Law on Friday, May 10^th, 2013. Alvaro Barrientos/AP

Market Closes for May 10th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15118.49	+35.87    +0.24%
S&P 500	1633.70	+7.03    +0.43%
NASDAQ	3436.584	+27.412    +0.80%
TSX	12589.09	+45.19
		+0.36%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14607.54	+416.06
		+2.93%
HANG  SENG	23321.22	+109.74
		+0.47%
SENSEX	20082.62	+143.58
		+0.72%
FTSE 100	6624.98	+32.24
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.883	1.799
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.511	2.448
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8947	1.8118
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.0926	2.9942

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98966	0.99325
US   $	1.01045	1.00680
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31225	0.76205
US  $	1.29868	0.77001

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1446.10	1457.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.56	96.39
BRENT	104.03	104.79

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Eric Lam

May 10 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, with the benchmark equity index gaining for a third week, as a rally in energy shares offset a slump in raw-materials producers.

BlackPearl Resources Inc. and Enerplus Corp. climbed at least 5.8 percent to lead energy shares higher. Magna International Inc., North America’s largest auto-parts maker, added 3.6 percent as earnings beat projections. TMX Group Ltd., owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, fell 3.1 percent after saying first-quarter trading volume dropped and fewer companies sought financings.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index advanced 45.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,589.09 at 4 p.m. in Toronto after falling as much as 0.3 percent earlier in the day. The benchmark equity gauge rose 1.2 percent this week. Trading volume was in line with the 30-day average.

Canadian employment rose by 12,500 in April as manufacturers added the most jobs in 11 months, contributing to evidence of a modest expansion. The jobless rate was unchanged at 7.2 percent, a report from Statistics Canada said today.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a gain of 15,000 jobs and 7.2 percent unemployment.

“Given the lack of real clarity in the jobs numbers in Canada, the markets are very mixed,” said Kevin Headland, fund manager with Manulife Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage about C$250 billion ($247 billion) at the firm. “It’s the opposite of the U.S. where we’re getting much better revisions on the jobs front, better economic growth. There’s a lot of mixed messages out of Canada and uncertainty, and people are unsure where to go.”

Energy shares contributed the most to gains in the S&P/TSX, rising 0.6 percent even as oil prices fell for a second day.

Crude futures slid 0.4 percent to settle at $96.04 a barrel as the dollar climbed. Prices fell as much as 3.1 percent during the session.

BlackPearl surged 9.2 percent, the most since July, to $2.37 and Encana Corp. rose 2.8 percent to C$19.32.

Enerplus rallied 5.8 percent to C$15.19 as its first- quarter loss narrowed and the oil and gas exploration company affirmed its 2013 production forecast.

Health-care, technology and consumer-discretionary shares rallied at least 1 percent as eight of 10 industries in the index advanced. BlackBerry, the smartphone maker, added 1.4 percent to C$15.71.

Magna International gained 3.6 percent to a record C$65.46.

The company raised its 2013 sales forecast and reported first- quarter earnings and sales that topped analysts’ estimates.

Raw-materials producers slid 0.3 percent as a group. Gold fell 2.2 percent, the biggest drop in more than three weeks, to settle at $1,436.60. Silver prices also retreated.

Semafo Inc. lost 2.4 percent to C$2.03, paring an earlier decline of as much as 7.7 percent. Iamgold Corp. dropped 2.6 percent to C$5.74.

TMX Group declined 3.1 percent to C$51.30. Trading on TMX’s equity markets, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, fell 22 percent to about 38.5 billion shares in the quarter from a year earlier. The company’s first-quarter profit matched analyst estimates.

Chorus Aviation Inc. plunged the most in the benchmark index, losing 21 percent to C$2.89. The regional airline cut its quarterly dividend in half, to 7.5 Canadian cents a share from 15 cents.

US

By Lu Wang

May 11 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed for a third week, pushing benchmark indexes to record levels, as companies from Walt Disney Co. to DirecTV beat earnings estimates and central banks worldwide stepped up monetary stimulus to boost growth.

Disney and DirecTV rallied at least 3.7 percent, pacing gains among consumer stocks. Whole Foods Market Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. jumped more than 10 percent on better-than- expected profit forecasts. Bank of America Corp. advanced 6.4 percent after settling a five-year legal battle with MBIA Inc. over soured mortgage debt. McDonald’s Corp. slipped 2.6 percent as sales dropped in April amid slowing demand in Asia.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.2 percent to 1,633.70 over the five days, extending its 2013 gain to 15 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 144.53 points, or 1 percent, to 15,118.49. Both indexes reached record highs on the final day of the week, after the Dow closed above 15,000 for the first time on May 7.

“Yes, we are at record highs, but if you take into consideration where earnings are, we are pretty fairly valued,” Greg Peterson, director of investment research at Ballentine Partners LLC in Waltham, Massachusetts, which manages about $4 billion in assets, said by phone. “Interest rates are incredibly low around the world. If anything that would give us a pause, how will that unwind?”

Global equities advanced for the week as central banks from Australia and South Korea lowered their benchmark interest rates, joining a wave of monetary easing spanning from the U.S. to Europe. The S&P 500 posted its only loss of the week on May 9 after Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said he favors scaling back the central bank’s pace of stimulus.

The Fed is currently buying $85 billion of debt each month and central bank officials have been debating whether to expand or curb the program. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has pledged to hold the target interest rate near zero as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation doesn’t exceed 2.5 percent.

Three rounds of monetary stimulus from the Fed and better- than-expected corporate earnings have propelled the bull market in U.S. equities to a fifth year and driven the S&P 500 up 141 percent from a 12-year low in 2009.

Equities also gained during the week as earnings topped forecasts. About 72 percent of the 452 S&P 500 companies that have released results since the start of the earnings season have exceeded profit projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Analysts forecast earnings will grow 6.8 percent this year to a record $108.80 a share.

The S&P 500 is valued at 16 times reported profits, approaching the most expensive levels in almost three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The multiple was 17.5 at the previous market peak in October 2007.

“We still see reasonable equity valuations,” Brian Peery, who helps oversee about $3.5 billion for Novato, California- based Hennessy Funds, said by phone. “There is probably a pretty good amount being left in the market. People are waiting for a potential dip to increase their equity exposure.”

Eight out of 10 S&P 500 groups gained for the week as industrial, consumer-discretionary and financial shares climbed the most, rising at least 1.9 percent. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 2 percent to 12.59, extending the equity volatility gauge’s loss for the year to 30 percent.

Disney climbed 3.7 percent to an all-time high of $67.20.

The world’s largest entertainment company said fiscal second- quarter profit rose 32 percent as guests splurged at theme parks in California and Florida.

DirecTV surged 10 percent to a record $63.80. The largest U.S. satellite-television provider reported profit that topped estimates, bolstered by Latin American subscriber growth.

Whole Foods jumped 10 percent to $100.89. The largest natural-goods grocer in the U.S. boosted its forecast for earnings this year after sales at established locations increased and second-quarter profit climbed 20 percent. Whole Foods, which plans to triple its U.S. store count to about 1,000, has lured Americans who are becoming more concerned with eating organic and healthy foods.

Electronic Arts rallied 25 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $22.48. The No. 2 U.S. video-game maker forecast annual profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates as the company is cutting jobs and reducing expenses to cushion against a potentially rocky transition to new consoles. Electronic Arts also reached a multiyear agreement with Disney to create games based on “Star Wars” characters after Disney said it would stop making them itself.

Bank of America gained 6.4 percent to $13.02 while MBIA soared 57 percent to $15.42. The companies agreed to a deal in which the lender will pay MBIA the equivalent of $1.7 billion and give Bank of America a 5 percent stake in the bond insurer.

S&P raised MBIA’s debt rating to investment grade for the first time in four years following the agreement.

McDonald’s declined 2.6 percent to $100.20 for the worst retreat in the Dow. The world’s biggest restaurant chain said sales at stores open at least 13 months fell 0.6 percent in April as growth slowed in its Asia-Pacific region. Analysts estimated a 0.5 percent drop, the average of estimates from Consensus Metrix.

Restaurant chains have been facing increasing consumer scrutiny in China following an outbreak of bird flu and also after a former poultry supplier to Yum! Brands Inc. was investigated for selling chicken with excessive levels of antibiotics.

Utility shares fell the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500, erasing 2.7 percent. AES Corp. dropped 3.7 percent to $13.31 after reporting first-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. AES sees earnings little changed or declining through 2015 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where it has about 8,200 megawatts of generation, according to an investor presentation.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

What is the soul?  The soul is consciousness.

It shines as the light within the heart.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

An invincible determination can

accomplish almost anything, and in

this lies the great distinction between

great men and little men.

-Thomas Fuller, 1823-1898

O cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est; virtus post nummos.

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 in…

1868 – Mary Cassat’s painting The Mandolin Player is selected for exhibition at the Paris Salon.

1942 – Irving Berlin registers a copyright for White Christmas.

1945 – A day after Germany surrenders, Harry S. Truman announces today is “Victory in Europe’ day.

1970 – The Beatles released their final album, Let It Be.  The band breaks up later that year.

A friend sent this to me today; it is remarkable:

This is really exciting and one more reason why medical care may someday get better.

Amazing medical technology being developed in Israel

If you have someone who is suffering from Cancer, Parkinsons, Tumors, etc. then the following will be of interest. It’s short, but very interesting.

Truly amazing! Most operating rooms as we know them might not be needed … sometime in the not too distant future.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/IfJemqkby_0?rel=0

Imagination is something you do alone. –Steve Wozniak

Photos of the day – May 8th, 2013

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, (center r.) talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center l.) as the witness a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chinese leaders welcomed Netanyahu to Beijing as China tries to bring its growing international influence to an area where it has had little impact – the Middle East peace process. Kim Kyung-Hoon/AP

Judges sit in the House of Lords as they wait for the start of the State opening of Parliament, in the Palace of Westminster in London. Toby Melville/Reuters

Market Closes for May 8th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15105.12	+48.92    +0.32%
S&P 500	1632.69	+6.73    +0.41%
NASDAQ	3413.267	+16.641    +0.49%
TSX	12585.05	+120.94
		+0.97%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14285.69	+105.45
		+0.74%
HANG  SENG	23244.35	+197.26
		+0.86%
SENSEX	19990.18	+101.23
		+0.51%
FTSE 100	6583.48	+26.18
		+0.40%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.808	1.823
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.465	2.480
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7665	1.7778
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9871	2.9950

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99707	0.99529
US   $	1.00294	1.00473
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31949	0.75787
US  $	1.31562	0.76010

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1473.92	1452.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.62	95.62
BRENT	105.16	104.94

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the fifth straight day, reaching a one-month high, as commodities rallied after reports showed China’s trade and Germany’s industrial output beat estimates.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Teck Resources Ltd. advanced more than 4.9 percent as industrial metals gained.

Kinross Gold Corp. added 6.3 percent as earnings beat forecasts.

Iamgold Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp. climbed at least 8.6 percent after the precious metal rallied. Tim Hortons Inc. slumped 2.6 percent after same-store sales fell in its restaurants in Canada and the U.S.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 120.94 points, or 1 percent, to 12,585.05 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest since April 2. The benchmark equity gauge has added 2.1 percent since May 1 and is up 1.2 percent this year. Trading volume was 5 percent above the 30-day average.

“A number of stocks are now factoring in a better economy; it may be premature but that’s what’s happening,” Irwin Michael, fund manager with ABC Funds, said on the phone from Toronto. His firm manages about C$800 million ($797 million).

“Commodities are acting better. China’s been growing about 7 percent. Europe is still pretty bleak and the only shining light is Germany.”

China reported gains in both imports and exports, which may ease concern that domestic demand is slowing after the world’s second-largest economy unexpectedly decelerated last quarter.

China is Canada’s second biggest trade partner.

German industrial production unexpectedly rose for a second month in March in a further sign that Europe’s largest economy is returning to growth.

Commodities producers contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX as six of 10 industries advanced. The S&P/TSX Materials Index climbed 4.5 percent, the most in two weeks.

First Quantum gained 5.2 percent to C$18.71 and Teck Resources advanced 4.9 percent to C$29.34 as copper futures rose to a three-week high. China accounts for more than 40 percent of global copper consumption. Prices for aluminum, tin, zinc, nickel and lead also advanced.

Kinross rose 6.3 percent to C$5.61 after reporting adjusted earnings of 15 cents a share, ahead of analysts’ average estimates of 13 cents according to a Bloomberg survey.

Production rose 10 percent from a year ago, while all-in costs fell, the company said in a statement.

Iamgold jumped 12 percent to C$6.03 after posting better- than-expected earnings. Barrick, the world’s largest gold miner, rallied 8.6 percent to C$21.50.

Gold producers rallied 6.5 percent as a group to a three- week high as the metal’s price advanced 1.7 percent to settle at $1,473.70 an ounce in New York. Gold imports to China from Hong Kong more than doubled to a high in March, Hong Kong government data showed yesterday.

Parkland Fuel Corp., Canada’s largest independent fuel distributor, climbed 7.2 percent to C$17.48, the biggest gain in 18 months. First-quarter net income rose to 42 Canadian cents a share from 26 cents a year earlier. Sales jumped 14 percent.

Trevor Johnson, an analyst with National Bank Financial, upgraded the stock to the equivalent of a buy from hold.

Tim Hortons, Canada’s largest coffee and doughnuts chain, slumped 2.6 percent to C$57.13. Sales at Canadian stores open for more than a year declined 0.3 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago. The Oakville, Ontario-based company blamed the economy and weather for the drop.

The company also announced it has hired Marc Caira, a senior Nestle SA executive, as its new president and chief executive officer effective July 2.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Sofia Horta e Costa

May 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 15,000 for the first time yesterday, as earnings forecasts from Whole Foods Market Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. beat analyst estimates.

Whole Foods Market and Electronic Arts gained more than 10 percent. J.C. Penney Co. added 7.4 percent as quarterly sales declined less than in the year-earlier period. Symantec Corp. lost 2.4 percent after it said sales and revenue will miss analyst estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,632.69 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow added 48.92 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,105.12. More than 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, about in line with the three- month average.

“We’ve recovered from the nervousness that we saw in the market in April and we’ve built a nice base here,” Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $3.5 billion as co-chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments LLC, said by phone. “We’ve gotten through the earnings season and we’re turning to the phase in the quarter where economic reports will determine if the market can hold up.”

The Dow closed above 15,000 for the first time yesterday on optimism over global central bank stimulus and better-than- estimated corporate earnings. The S&P 500 posted its fifth straight record today. The gauge has climbed 3.2 percent in that time, the largest five-day rally since Jan. 7. U.S. stocks are in the fifth year of a bull market amid three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.

About 86 percent of S&P 500 stocks traded above their average prices from the past 50 days as of yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the highest level since Feb. 13, while below the two-year high of 93 percent in January.

News Corp. and Monster Beverage Corp. were among five S&P 500 companies reporting earnings today. About 72 percent of companies that have released results since the start of the earnings season have exceeded profit projections, while 52 percent have missed sales estimates, data compiled’ by Bloomberg show.

The S&P 500 will extend its record rally as the U.S. central bank continues using economic stimulus as a way to reduce unemployment, according to Scott Black, president of Boston-based Delphi Management Inc.

“There’s room to go on the upside, especially since you’re getting nothing on the fixed-income side,” Black said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio today. “There’s every indication that Ben Bernanke is going to remain accommodative because we’re not even near the threshold where he wants to get unemployment back under 6.5 percent.”

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has kept overnight interest rates near zero since December 2008 and embarked on a bond buying program that has expanded the central bank’s balance sheet to more than $3 trillion. The Fed has pledged to maintain this policy as long as U.S. unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation doesn’t exceed 2.5 percent.

Economic data from China and Germany today came in better than estimated. Chinese export growth unexpectedly accelerated in April even as shipments to the U.S. and Europe fell. German industrial production also rose more than forecast, increasing for a second month in March in a further sign that Europe’s largest economy is returning to growth.

Investors bought shares of stocks most tied to economic growth, sending 25 out of 30 members of the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index higher. The gauge has rallied 5.7 percent in the past five days. Raw-material, technology and phone shares had the biggest advances among 10 groups in the S&P 500, climbing at least 0.7 percent.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. added 3.3 percent to $62.51, Hewlett-Packard Co. increased 2.8 percent to $21.07 and Alcoa Inc. gained 2.7 percent to $8.87 for the biggest gains in the Dow. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 1.3 percent to $49.76.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 1.3 percent to 12.66. The equity volatility gauge is down 30 percent for the year.

Whole Foods gained 10 percent to $102.19. Net income rose to about $142 million, or 76 cents a share, from $118 million, or 64 cents, a year earlier, the Austin, Texas-based company said yesterday. Analysts had projected profit of 73 cents a share, the average of 24 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The company also said that profit excluding certain items will be as much as $2.89 a share in fiscal 2013, up from a previous estimate of as much as $2.87. Analysts estimate $2.87 a share, on average.

Electronic Arts increased 17 percent to $21.56, the highest since December 2011. The company, which makes the “FIFA” and “SimCity” video games, forecast adjusted earnings of $1.20 a share in the year ending in March, exceeding the $1.10 average estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

J.C. Penney added 7.4 percent to $17.61. The department- store chain that replaced its chief executive officer last month said preliminary fiscal first-quarter sales fell 16 percent, a smaller drop than a year earlier. CEO Myron Ullman is working to improve sales after revenue last year tumbled 25 percent to $13 billion amid Ron Johnson’s failed attempt to remake the retailer.

Sotheby’s rose 3.8 percent to $36.25. The auction house sold a Paul Cezanne painting for $41.6 million in its Impressionist and modern art sale yesterday.

News Corp. climbed 3.3 percent in extended trading following the close of exchanges after reporting profit that beat estimates amid higher licensing fees for television shows such as “American Idol.” Monster Beverage lost 16 percent at 5:50 p.m. as profit was cut by $8.3 million from payments to terminate distributor agreements.

Symantec declined 2.4 percent to $24.49. Revenue in the current period, which ends in June, will be $1.61 billion to $1.65 billion, the biggest maker of security software said yesterday. Profit excluding some costs will be 35 cents to 36 cents a share. Analysts on average had projected sales of $1.7 billion and profit of 44 cents.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. lost 7 percent to $57.26 for the biggest retreat in the S&P 500. The transportation logistics firm posted quarterly profit lower than analysts estimated.

Williams Cos. lost 3.7 percent to $35.60. The third-largest U.S. pipeline company posted its full-year earnings forecasts through to 2015, trailing current analyst estimates for all three years.

Manchester United Plc lost 1.8 percent to $18.44. Alex Ferguson will retire as British soccer’s most successful manager, having led the club to 38 trophies in 26 years.

The S&P 500 may trigger a longer-term buy signal for global equity markets, even as the benchmark gauge for U.S stocks nears a resistance level, according to Roelof-Jan van den Akker, a technical analyst at ING Groep NV.

The measure is nearing its short-term resistance of 1,635, signaling a possible 1.6 percent decline from yesterday’s finish to 1,600 within the next two weeks. Still, a monthly close above the longer-term resistance level of 1,600 would send a buy signal for the next year, triggering a greater increase in the S&P 500 that will lead global stock markets higher, van den Akker said.

“Prices are slowly breaking the upward rising resistance line around 1,600,” he said via phone from Amsterdam. “Even though we may see a short-term pullback that we will consider normal, the S&P 500’s uptrend is intact and likely to continue. Prices are still in a steep upward move in the next few weeks.”

In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Energy is action and movement.  All action is movement and all action is energy.

All desire is energy.  All feeling is energy.  All thought is energy.

All living is energy.  All life is energy.

If that energy is allowed to flow without any contradiction,

without any friction, without any conflict, then that energy is boundless, endless.

When there is no friction there are no frontiers to energy.

It is friction which gives energy limitations.  So, having once seen this,

why is it that the human being always brings friction into energy?

Why does he create friction in  this movement which we call life?

Is pure energy, energy without limitations just an idea to him?

Does it have no reality?

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.

I said “I don’t know.”

-Mark Twain, 1835-1910

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:

I recently finished reading  Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, (Harper Collins, 2012).  It is a very enjoyable novel, so if you’re looking for something new to read, I recommend it. The story  begins in 1962 when a beautiful American actress arrives at a tiny fishing village on the Italian coastline.  She had been filming in Rome with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra. The novel oscillates between that time and the present – what happens in the life of the beautiful actress.

[Dick] Cavett’s four great interviews with Richard Burton were done in 1980….Burton, fifty-four at the time, and already a beautiful ruin, was mesmerizing. –“Talk Story” by Louis Menard, The New Yorker, November 22, 2012.

Photos of the day – May 7th, 2013

A visitor to the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City treads over the reflection of artist Herman Schladermundt’s stained glass ‘Great Window,’ distorted by the third floor Rotunda’s marble flooring, as she makes her way to the grand staircase following a celebration marking the Capitol’s 100th groundbreaking anniversary on Monday. Kris Wilson/News-Tribune/AP

A couple walk past ‘Filament Lamp,’ an art work installation, at a commercial center near a construction site in Beijing’s Sanlitun area. Jason Lee/Reuters

Market Closes for May 7th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15056.20	+87.31    +0.58%
S&P 500	1625.96	+8.46    +0.52%
NASDAQ	3396.626	+3.657    +0.11%
TSX	12464.11	+10.19
		+0.08%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14180.24	+486.20
		+3.55%
HANG  SENG	23047.09	+132.00
		+0.58%
SENSEX	19888.95	+215.31
		+1.09%
FTSE 100	6557.30	+35.84
		+0.55%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.823	1.802
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.480	2.469
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7778	1.7623
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9950	2.9778

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99529	0.99314
US   $	1.00473	1.00690
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31391	0.76109
US  $	1.30772	0.76469

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1452.10	1470.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.62	96.16
BRENT	104.94	106.11

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, sending the benchmark index higher for a fourth day, as gains among banks and energy shares offset declines in precious-metals producers.

Royal Bank of Canada advanced 0.6 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc. gained at least 1.2 percent.

Barrick Gold Corp. and New Gold Inc. tumbled more than 3.2 percent as the metal’s price slumped 1.3 percent. Westjet Airlines Ltd. dropped 7.5 percent after reporting weaker April traffic figures.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 10.19 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,464.11 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge gained 1.2 percent over the past four days. Trading volume was in line with the 30-day average.

“The banks are performing well and people are picking away at energy names with the unrest in the Middle East,” said Arthur Salzer, chief executive officer with Northland Wealth Management in Toronto. His firm manages C$225 million ($224 million).

Bank, consumer discretionary and energy stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX. Royal Bank of Canada advanced 0.6 percent to C$61.71, its highest close in a month.

Suncor, Canada’s largest oil producer, rallied 2.1 percent to C$31.45 while Cenovus advanced 1.2 percent to C$30.55.

Israel launched air strikes against targets in Syria on May 5. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed his country’s right to self-defense and Syria threatened retaliation against Israel. Crude slid 0.6 percent to $95.62 a barrel, falling for the first time in four days.

Raw-materials producers paced losses, falling 1.3 percent as a group. Gold producers slumped 2.7 percent to a two-week low, with 26 of 30 stocks falling.

Barrick Gold declined 3.2 percent to C$19.80 and New Gold lost 5.5 percent to C$7.21 as gold futures for June delivery tumbled 1.3 percent to $1,448.80 an ounce in New York.

Gold fell after Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem discussed details for the European banking union project, adding to signs that the regions’s leaders will act to contain its fiscal crisis and eroding demand for haven assets.

Westjet, the discount airliner based in Calgary, dropped 7.5 percent to C$22.87. Westjet reported an April load factor of 82.7 percent, down 3.5 percentage points compared with a year earlier. Load factor is a measure of available seats sold.

The company also announced plans to upgrade its fleet with 10 new jetliners from Boeing Co. with a catalog value of $891 million while unloading 10 older jets. Westjet will likely incur a non-cash loss of C$60 million to C$70 million once it gets rid of the older aircraft.

Westjet reported a profit of 68 cents a share in the first quarter, ahead of consensus expectations of 64 cents according to a Bloomberg analyst survey.

US

By Inyoung Hwang

May 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first close above 15,000, on optimism over global central bank stimulus and better-than- estimated corporate earnings.

Nine out of 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose. DirecTV gained 6.9 percent to an all-time high after adding more subscribers than analysts projected. Fossil Inc. advanced 9 percent after profit beat estimates and the company lifted its forecast for the year. EOG Resources Inc. jumped 7.7 percent after seeing higher growth rates for crude oil. First Solar Inc. plunged 8.9 percent after earnings fell short of estimates.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,625.96 at 4 p.m. in New York, its fourth straight record close. The Dow added 87.31 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,056.20. The gauge briefly surpassed 15,000 for the first time in intraday trading on May 3. More than 5.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, or 6.7 percent below the three-month average.

“This is a QE-fueled market,” Steven Bulko, the New York- based chief investment officer of Lombard Odier Investment Management’s $1 billion long/short 1798 Fundamental Strategies Fund, said by telephone. “You’re just not seeing sales based on allocation into any other asset class because of the relative unattractiveness of everything other than equities. That’s putting in place a firm bid to the equities market.”

The S&P 500 advanced 0.2 percent yesterday, after the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities topped 1,600 for the first time on May 3. U.S. stocks are in the fifth year of a bull market amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has injected more than $2.3 trillion into the financial system since 2008. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion of debt each month under a policy of so-called quantitative easing. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda last month began a campaign to end falling prices in a bid to reach 2 percent inflation in two years. The European Central Bank cut its main refinancing rate last week.

Global equities rose today as the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 2.75 percent.

The Bank of England will probably leave its stimulus program on hold this week amid signs the economy has found a firmer footing. A Bloomberg News survey of economists shows policy makers will refrain from expanding quantitative easing beyond 375 billion pounds ($582 billion) on May 9.

About 84 percent of S&P 500 stocks traded above their average prices from the past 50 days as of yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the highest level since March 14, while below the two-year high of 93 percent in January.

American Express Co., Walt Disney Co. Disney and Home Depot Inc. have led the Dow’s rally since its 2009 low, climbing more than 311 percent as the world’s largest economy recovered from the worst recession in seven decades. Hewlett-Packard Co., the largest personal computer maker, is the only stock still in the measure to fall since March 9, 2009. The shares are down 20 percent as consumers favor tablets and mobile phones over PCs.

“It becomes harder and harder for central banks to be the odd man out,” Steven Soranno, a Bethesda, Maryland-based senior equities analyst for Calvert Investments Inc., which oversees about $12 billion, said by telephone. “The old adage used to be ‘Don’t fight the Fed.’ Now it’s ‘Don’t fight the Feds’, plural. Australia came in with the rate cut and that just adds to the coordinated central bank easing.”

About 72 percent of the 425 S&P 500 companies that have released results since the start of the earnings season have exceeded profit projections, while 53 percent have missed sales estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Phone, industrial and utility companies rallied the most out of 10 S&P 500 groups, gaining at least 0.9 percent.

Caterpillar Inc. added 2.5 percent to $89.79 for the biggest gain in the Dow. Investors bought shares of stocks most tied to economic growth, sending 24 out of 30 members of the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index higher. The gauge has rallied 4.7 percent in the last four days.

DirecTV jumped 6.9 percent to a record $61.95. The largest U.S. satellite-television provider added 21,000 U.S. subscribers and 583,000 Latin American customers in the first quarter, compared with the 10,000 and 505,000, respectively, predicted by analysts. The gains may help reassure investors, who have been concerned that growth is sputtering.

Fossil surged 9 percent to $107.88 for the biggest advance in the S&P 500. The maker of the namesake watch brand reported first-quarter earnings were $1.21 a share, exceeding the 97-cent profit estimated by analysts on average. The Richardson, Texas- based company also boosted its earnings forecast for 2013 to as much as $6.26 a share after earlier predicting no more than $6.15.

EOG Resources jumped 7.7 percent to $135.69. The natural- gas and crude-oil producer reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates by 52 percent and said it sees “sustained” high growth in rates for oil production through 2017. The Houston-based company also said its sees a moderate increase in North American natural gas next year.

Electronic Arts Inc. added 0.7 percent to $18.41. The second-largest video-game publisher reached a multiyear agreement with Disney to create games based on “Star Wars” characters. Disney said it will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories.

After the close of regular trading, EA posted fiscal fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates. The company forecast fiscal-year profit of $1.20 a share, ahead of the $1.10 a share analysts estimated. The shares jumped 9.2 percent to $20.10 as of 4:56 p.m. in New York.

Disney said fiscal second-quarter profit rose 32 percent, beating analysts’ estimates on gains at its theme parks and film division. Its shares were little changed in late trading after adding 1.6 percent to $66.07 during the regular session.

Yahoo! Inc. climbed 3.6 percent to $26.07, its highest since June 2008. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s largest e- commerce company, had revenue that rose 80 percent and profit that doubled in the three months ended in December. Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo owns a 24 percent in Alibaba.

Separately, the largest U.S. Web portal also recorded $273 million in gains resulting from steps taken to guard against swings in the Japanese yen, according to a regulatory filing.

Urban Outfitters Inc. climbed 4.8 percent to a record $43.66, after Wells Fargo & Co. lifted its rating on the retailer to outperform from market perform. Tiffany & Co. slumped 0.1 percent to $75.45. Wells Fargo lowered its rating on the world’s second-largest luxury jewelry retailer to market perform from outperform.

First Solar tumbled 8.9 percent to $43.43 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500. The largest U.S. solar manufacturer by shipments posted earnings, excluding one-time expenses related to restructuring, of 69 cents a share, or 6 cents less than the average of 17 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Technology stocks fell 0.2 percent for the only decline among S&P 500 groups. Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, sank 1.3 percent to $33.31. Cisco Systems Inc. retreated 2.1 percent to $20.38 for the biggest drop in the Dow.

Baxter International Inc. erased 2.5 percent to $68.58. The company’s Gammagard failed to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease in a late-stage study, adding to a string of failures to develop a treatment for the most common form of dementia. Baxter will halt all studies of the therapy for mild to moderate forms of the disease and reconsider its Alzheimer’s program, the Deerfield, Illinois-based company said in a statement today.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

This universe is like an ocean in perfect equilibrium.

A wave cannot rise in one place, without creating a hollow elsewhere.

The sum total of the energy of the universe remains identical from one end to the other.

If you take from one place, you must give elsewhere.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

It is better to know some of the questions

than all of the answers.

-James Thurber, 1894-1961

ab hoc et ab hac et ab illa

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:

North America’s largest “food forest” will begin bearing fruit, herbs, vegetables and nuts this summer in Beacon Hill, a gentrifying Seattle neighborhood once populated largely by factory workers.  The food will be free for the taking.  “People are, like, ‘What if homeless people come and eat it all?’” one of the project’s designers, Jenny Pell, told Seattle Magazine.  “My biggest dream is that it all gets eaten.”  -from the NY Times, 04/21/13.

Speaking of food, we attended the David Foster Foundation concert at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel last Saturday night and the dinner was prepared by their new Executive chef, Iain Rennie who has just won Island Chef of the Year.  He deserves the accolade, the food he prepared was outstanding.

Photos of the day – May 6th, 2013

A hot air balloon from a fruit juice company, called Nudie, flies over Sydney Harbour. The roly-poly character of the Nudie company is drifting over Sydney as the company celebrates its 10th birthday. Rick Rycroft/AP

A man crosses a stream under the lanterns hanging for the upcoming Buddha’s birthday on May 17, in Seoul, South Korea. Lee Jin-man/AP

Market Closes for May 6th, 2013

 

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14968.89	-5.07    -0.03%
S&P 500	1617.50	+3.08    +0.19%
NASDAQ	3392.969	+14.336    +0.42%
TSX	12453.92	+15.89
		+0.13%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13694.04	-105.31
		-0.76%
HANG  SENG	22915.09	+225.13
		+0.99%
SENSEX	19673.64	+98.00
		+0.50%
FTSE 100	6521.46	+60.75
		+0.94%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.802	1.769
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.469	2.439
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7623	1.7391
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9778	2.9545

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99314	0.99111
US   $	1.00690	1.00897
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.31657	0.75955
US  $	1.30754	0.76479

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1470.25	1470.20
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.16	95.61
BRENT	106.11	104.52

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day as financial and industrial shares gained amid a jump in building permits and energy producers rallied on concern air strikes in Syria may disrupt supply from the Middle East.

Penn West Petroleum Ltd. advanced 5.1 percent after appointing Rick George, former chief executive officer of Suncor Energy Inc., as its new chairman. Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust jumped to a record as the value of permits issued by municipalities rose for a third month in March.

Canadian National Railway Co. and Bombardier Inc. increased more than 1.1 percent as industrial shares rallied to a one-month high.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 15.89 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,453.92 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

Trading volume was 18 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“When these types of events emerge there’s a flight to so- called safe oil, and Canada should benefit from these types of disruptions,” said Patrick Blais, a fund manager with Manulife Asset Management Ltd. based in Toronto. He helps manage C$252 billion ($250 billion) at the firm. “Canada has overextended itself in housing, so a positive data point is always well- taken.”

The value of permits issued by municipalities rose 8.6 percent to C$6.45 billion, following a revised 1.5 percent increase in February, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa.

The increase outstripped all 12 responses in a Bloomberg economist survey. Government buildings in Alberta and schools in Ontario led the faster-than-forecast growth.

Financial and industrial shares contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX, as five of 10 industries advanced.

Financial stocks rose 0.2 percent, as Royal Bank gained 0.4 percent to C$61.36 and Manulife Financial Corp. added 0.8 percent to C$15.73.

The S&P/TSX Industrials index rallied 0.7 percent, its highest close since April 1. Canadian National Railway rose 1.1 percent to C$100.66 and Bombardier increased 2.7 percent to C$4.19.

Canadian REIT, which owns and operates retail, industrial and office properties, jumped 2.3 percent to C$47.86, the highest since it began trading in 1993.

Crude futures rose 0.6 percent to $96.16 in New York, the highest settlement since April 2. Syria threatened retaliation against Israel for an air strike. Oil climbed as much as 1.6 percent after Syria’s state news agency said Israeli aircraft attacked a military research center on the outskirts of Damascus yesterday.

Penn West rose 5.1 percent to C$9.99 after appointing Suncor’s George as its new chairman and Allan Markin, former chairman of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., as its vice- chairman. Allan Stepa, Desjardins analyst, said the incoming board may spur a shake-up and additional asset sales.

Petrominerales Ltd. increased 1.1 percent to C$6.47 after Alan Knowles, analyst with Haywood Securities Inc., raised his rating for the stock to hold from sell while maintaining a price target of C$7.

Athabasca Oil Corp. tumbled 5.4 percent to C$5.96 for its lowest ever close since its initial public offering in 2010. The company said President Bryan Gould resigned and Chief Executive Officer Sveinung Svarte will take over his responsibilities.

Athabasca did not give a reason for Gould’s departure.

US

By Inyoung Hwang

May 6 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks rose, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its record level, following data last week that showed American employers added more workers than forecast in April.

Financial stocks rallied the most out of 10 S&P 500 groups, as Bank of America Corp. climbed 5.2 percent. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. added 5.5 percent after being raised to outperform from market perform by FBR Capital Markets. Humana Inc. added 2.1 percent as its rating was boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Tyson Foods Inc. slumped 3.3 percent after posting second-quarter profit and sales that missed estimates.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,617.50 in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 5.07 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,968.89. About three stocks advanced for every two that fell on U.S. exchanges, as 5.3 billion shares traded hands, or 16 percent less than the three-month average.

“The market’s still feeding off the positive jobs number and the central bank easing that’s been going on,” Sean Lynch, the Omaha, Nebraska-based global investment strategist for Wells Fargo Private Bank, said by telephone. His firm oversees about $170 billion. “We still like equities. If you look at the landscape of alternatives and opportunities out there, equities are probably the more favorable asset class right now.”

The S&P 500 jumped 2 percent last week as U.S. payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey called for an increase of 140,000 positions. Global equities also rose as the European Central Bank cut its main refinancing rate. Of the 407 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported profit so far, 73 percent exceeded analysts’ earnings predictions while 53 percent missed on sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

U.S. stocks are in the fifth year of a bull market, as better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve has driven the S&P 500 up 139 percent from a 12-year low in March 2009. The benchmark equity gauge traded above 1,600 for the first time last week, while the Dow briefly surpassed 15,000 on May 3 and ended the week 1.8 percent higher.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 1.5 percent to 12.66 after falling 5.6 percent last week. The equity volatility gauge is down 30 percent for the year.

Birinyi Associates Inc., which predicted the S&P 500 would reach 1,600, purchased options betting on more gains. The firm, among the first to advise buying U.S. stocks before the bull market began in 2009, said the S&P 500 may climb 18 percent to 1,900 should it conform to bull markets that began in 1982 and 1990.

The Westport, Connecticut-based firm run by Laszlo Birinyi bought an unspecified amount of $170 calls on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, according to a report e-mailed to Bloomberg News today. They will become profitable if the S&P 500 gains more than 5 percent by December.

“In addition to the historical parallels, we still view sentiment as subdued and nowhere approaching extremes,” Birinyi, president, and Jeffrey Yale Rubin, an analyst at the firm, wrote in the May 3 report.

Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said he ignores macroeconomic forecasts such as Bill Gross’s “new normal” when investing and sympathizes with people who stuck with bonds amid low interest rates. Gross’s firm, Pacific Investment Management Co., coined the term “new normal” in 2009 to describe an era of lower returns, heightened regulation and shrinking U.S. clout in the world economy following the 2008 financial crisis.

“What we see is a slow progress in the American economy,” Buffett, 82, said at Berkshire’s May 4 shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. “We’ll move forward but I don’t think we’ll be in any surge of any sort, but I don’t think we’ll stall either.”

Berkshire Class B shares climbed 1.3 percent to an all-time high of $110, and Class A shares jumped 1.3 percent to a record $164,990. First-quarter net income jumped 51 percent to $4.89 billion, or $2,977 a share, as profit improved at the largest operating segments and investment gains added to earnings, Berkshire said May 3.

Financial stocks increased 1 percent as a group. The KBW Bank Index added 1.3 percent as 22 out of its 24 members rose.

MBIA Inc. surged 45 percent to $14.29 and Bank of America jumped 5.2 percent to $12.88. The two companies settled a five- year legal battle over soured mortgage debt in a deal that will pay MBIA the equivalent of $1.7 billion and give the bank a 5 percent stake in the bond insurer.

JPMorgan climbed 1.3 percent to $48.18.

Technology stocks also advanced, adding 0.6 percent as a group. Apple Inc. jumped 2.4 percent to $460.71. Google Inc. climbed 1.9 percent to $861.55.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average jumped 1.3 percent to a record 6,297.98. Alaska Air Group Inc. rose the most in the index of 20 railroads, trucking companies and airlines, adding 5.5 percent to $66.15. FedEx Corp. climbed 1.8 percent to $96.23.

Cliffs added 5.5 percent to $21.01. The largest U.S. iron- ore producer was raised to outperform from market perform by FBR Capital Markets analyst Mitesh Thakkar, who cited higher confidence in the Cleveland-based company’s ability to withstand weak iron ore prices after meetings with management.

Humana climbed 2.1 percent to $75.49. The second-biggest private provider of Medicare coverage was raised to overweight from neutral by JPMorgan analyst Justin Lake.

BMC Software Inc. was unchanged at $45.42. The software maker that abandoned a sale last year agreed to be taken private by a group led by Bain Capital LLC and Golden Gate Capital for $6.9 billion.

Tyson Foods tumbled 3.3 percent for the biggest decline in the S&P 500 to $24.10. The largest U.S. meat processor reported earnings in the second quarter were 36 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 9 cents. Sales were $8.42 billion, falling short of the $8.57 billion projected.

Monster Beverage Corp. sank 2.2 percent to $56.18. The maker of Monster Energy drinks was sued by the San Francisco Superior Court’s City Attorney Dennis Herrera for violating California law with its marketing of highly caffeinated energy drinks to children as young as six.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

The universe is not ruled by arbitrary, temporary martial law.

No force exists that is powerful enough to derail it, or to continue indefinitely on its own path unregulated,

like an outlaw who disrupts all harmony around him.  On the contrary, every force must return

to a state of equilibrium along a preordained curve.  Waves rise, each to its own level,

with an apparent attitude of relentless rivalry, but only up to a certain point.  We can thus understand

the vast serenity of the sea, to which all the waves are connected,

and to which they must all subside in the rhythm of marvelous beauty.

Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

 

It was a fine cry – loud and long – but it had no bottom

and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

-Toni Morrison, 1931-

Sula, 1973

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 in…

1898 – Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister, was born.

1979 – Margaret Thatcher was elected and became the first female Prime Minister of Britain.

2006 – A Pablo Picasso painting of his lover, Dora Maar was auctioned in New York for $95.2 million, the second most expensive painting ever sold in the world.

1937 – Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind.

1936 – Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

What’s in the moon?

-from Michael Kesterton, Globe & Mail, 5/3/2013

What you see on the face of the moon likely depends on where you live: Interpretations vary by region and culture, says National Geographic magazine:

• Moon Rabbit (east Asia):
• Moon gazers in Japan see a rabbit making rice cakes.  In China and Korea, they see him too – except he’s mixing an immortality elixir.
• Man in the Moon (Europe):  Many European cultures see an old man bearing a bundle of sticks.
• Handprints (India):  Astangi Mata, mother of all living things, sent her twins into the sky to be the sun and moon.  Her hands brushed Chanda’s cheek in a poignant farewell.
• Tree in the Moon (Hawaii):  A woman called Hina uses this banyan tree to make cloth for the gods.
  • Woman in the Moon (New Zealand): this is Rona, a Maori maiden who disrespected the moon and must spend eternity there as penance.

Photos of the day – May 3rd, 2013

A rainbow is seen at sunset behind a building after heavy rains in Bogota, May 2, 2013. Jose Miguel Gomez/Reuters

Tammy Behr, from Louisville, Ky., wears a fancy hat while attending the running of the 139th Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Charlie Riedel/AP

Market Closes for May 3rd, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14973.96	+142.38    +0.96%
S&P 500	1614.42	+16.83    +1.05%
NASDAQ	3378.633	+38.011    +1.14%
TSX	12438.03	+58.39
		+0.47%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13694.04	-105.31
		-0.76%
HANG  SENG	22689.96	+21.66
		+0.10%
SENSEX	19575.64	-160.13
		-0.81%
FTSE 100	6521.46	+60.75
		+0.94%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.769	1.671
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.439	2.350
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.7391	1.6229
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.9545	2.8181

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99111	0.98949
US   $	1.00897	1.01062
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.32327	0.75570
US  $	1.31151	0.76248

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1470.20	1467.56
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	95.61	93.99
BRENT	104.52	103.07

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 3 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a second day, sending the benchmark index to its biggest weekly gain since January, as commodities advanced after the U.S. added more jobs than anticipated in April.

Copper Mountain Mining Corp. and Teck Resources Ltd. jumped more than 3.1 percent as copper surged the most since 2011.

Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lender, and Manulife Financial Corp. rallied at least 0.5 percent. Aurizon Mines Ltd. plunged 12 percent after authorities reported a dam broke at its mine in western Quebec.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 58.39 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,438.03 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge gained 1.8 percent this week. Trading volume was 20 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“Real companies and real businesses are being supported by the strong jobs numbers out of the U.S.,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps oversee about C$220 million ($218 million).

“The economy is on a track to recovery. Copper is up, that’s a trade that’s a risk-on trade right now.”

U.S. payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month following a revised 138,000 increase in March that was larger than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 90 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 140,000 gain. The unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent from 7.6 percent.

Raw-materials stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX, rising 1 percent as a group as nine of 10 industries advanced.

Copper Mountain Mining jumped 6.7 percent to C$2.08 and Teck Resources climbed 3.1 percent to C$27.63. Copper futures for July delivery soared 6.8 percent to settle at $3.3145 a pound in New York, the biggest advance since October 2011.

Thompson Creek Metals Co. surged 5.2 percent to C$3.06 and HudBay Minerals Inc. gained 3.8 percent to C$8.22 as base metals including zinc, lead, aluminum and nickel rallied.

Suncor Energy Inc. jumped 0.9 percent to C$31.09 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. increased 0.3 percent to C$29.57 as crude for June delivery rallied to a one-month high, up 1.7 percent to settle at $95.61 a barrel in New York.

Royal Bank gained 0.5 percent to C$61.09 and Manulife Financial climbed 1.8 percent to C$15.61.

Canadian National Railway Co. added 1.1 percent to C$99.56 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. increased 0.5 percent to C$127.22 as industrials stocks rose 0.6 percent.

Aurizon Mines, a gold producer that agreed to be acquired by Hecla Mining Co. in march, plunged 12 percent to C$3.71. A dam broke at the Casa Berardi mine in Quebec yesterday, spilling thousands of liters of contaminated water into a region a few hundred kilometers south of James Bay, a spokeswoman with Quebec’s Ministry of Environment said.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Lu Wang

May 3 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly above 15,000 for the first time, as employment picked up more than forecast in April and the jobless rate unexpectedly declined to a four-year low.

Caterpillar Inc. and Alcoa Inc. rallied more than 1.9 percent to pace the Dow. Kraft Foods Group Inc. increased 5.1 percent as profit beat estimates. American International Group Inc. climbed 5.7 percent as operating earnings surpassed projections. LinkedIn Corp. tumbled 13 percent after forecasting sales that missed analysts’ predictions.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 1.1 percent to 1,614.42 at 4 p.m. in New York, topping 1,600 for the first time. The Dow gained 142.38 points, or 1 percent, to 14,973.96 after earlier climbing as high as 15,009.59. More than 6.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average.

“This is an outstanding jobs report,” Darrell Cronk, the New York-based regional chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which oversees $170 billion, said by phone. “The data is strong enough to confirm that the expansion is intact, and the bones of this recovery are where they need to be.”

Payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month following a revised 138,000 increase in March that was larger than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

The median forecast of 90 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 140,000 gain. Revisions to the prior two months’ reports added a total of 114,000 jobs to the employment count in February and March.

The jobless rate dropped to 7.5 percent, the lowest level since December 2008, from 7.6 percent in March.

Other reports today showed orders placed with U.S. factories fell more than forecast in March as a cooling economy slowed demand for metals, mining equipment and military goods.

The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index decreased to 53.1 in April from 54.4 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said.

Concern over a slowdown in the world’s largest economy had increased as a report May 1 showed manufacturing expanded in April at the slowest pace this year. Data last week indicated the U.S. economy grew less than forecast in the first quarter.

The euro-area economy will contract more than previously expected in 2013, the European Commission said in new forecasts today. Gross domestic product in the 17-nation region will fall 0.4 percent this year, compared with a February prediction of a 0.3 percent drop, the Brussels-based commission said.

Stocks rose yesterday as the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate and U.S. jobless-benefit claims unexpectedly fell. The Federal Reserve said May 1 it will keep buying bonds at a monthly pace of $85 billion while standing ready to raise or lower purchases as the economy changes.

The benchmark U.S. equities gauge has advanced 2 percent this week. The U.S. bull market has entered its fifth year as the S&P 500 surged 139 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, driven by better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is among 12 S&P 500 companies posting results today. Of the 404 that have reported profit so far, 73 percent exceeded analysts’ earnings predictions while 53 percent missed on sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Profit at S&P 500 companies rose 2 percent in the first three months of the year, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“Nobody has been happy with top line growth for a while,” James Kee, president at South Texas Money Management in San Antonio, Texas, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees about $1.9 billion. “What we’ve seen on the top line is pretty consistent with what we’ve seen in the underlying economy, that is low, but positive private sector growth.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slid 5.5 percent to 12.85 as investors cut demand for protection against losses in the S&P 500. The benchmark gauge for options has fallen 29 percent this year.

Eight of the 10 S&P 500 industry groups rose as companies whose earnings are most tied to economic swings led the gains.

Commodity and industrial shares climbed more than 1.7 percent.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index surged 2 percent and the Dow Jones Transportation Average jumped 2.1 percent. Both the Russell 2000 Index of small companies and the S&P Midcap 400 Index reached record highs, rising 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

Caterpillar, the biggest maker of mining machinery, advanced 3.2 percent to $86.98. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, added 1.9 percent to $8.62.

Kraft Foods Group, the grocery business spun off from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012, rose 5.1 percent to $53.11 after reporting first-quarter earnings of 76 cents a share, including a restructuring charge of 12 cents a share. That exceeded the average analyst projection of 64 cents. It also reiterated a full-year earnings forecast of about $2.75 a share.

AIG, the insurer that repaid a bailout last year, climbed 5.7 percent to $44.52, the highest in more than two years, as results improved at the property-casualty operation. First- quarter operating profit, which excludes some investment results, was $1.34 a share, topping the 88-cent average forecast of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Gilead Sciences Inc. rose 5.7 percent to a record $55.15 on optimism over potential sales for the company’s experimental hepatitis C medications.

The world’s biggest maker of AIDS medicines reported first- quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates on declining sales of its HIV drugs. Weakness in HIV product sales should be “temporary,” Jim Birchenough, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets wrote in a note.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. surged 7.1 percent to $266.16, extending a record. The maker of the eye medicine Eylea reported first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and increased its U.S. sales forecast for the drug. The stock has risen 24 percent since it started trading as a member of the S&P 500 on May 1.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed 5.6 percent to $3.60, extending its gain since April 26 to 36 percent, the biggest weekly increase since 2002. The company’s gaming business potential is underestimated, Mark Lipacis, an analyst with Jefferies LLC, wrote in a note yesterday.

Fourth-quarter sales could reach $2 billion should AMD chips be used in the next versions of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation devices and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox, Lipacis said. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated $1.3 billion, on average.

Moody’s Corp. added 3.6 percent to $62.75, the most since June 2007. The second-largest credit rater reported first- quarter profit that beat analysts’ forecasts on demand for company ratings. Earnings have risen for three straight years as companies take advantage of record-low interest rates to sell unprecedented amounts of debt.

CBOE Holdings Inc. jumped 3.3 percent to a record $38.75.

The biggest U.S. options market by volume beat analyst projections for first-quarter profit amid growth in its volatility and S&P 500 products.

LinkedIn tumbled 13 percent, the most since August 2011, to $175.59. The biggest online professional-networking service forecast sales that trailed analysts’ estimates, raising concern that mobile advertising will be slow to kick in.

Teradata Corp. slid 4.5 percent to $50.65 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The data-storage company said 2013 earnings excluding some items will be at the lower end of its previously projected range of $3.05 to $3.20 a share. Analysts on average had forecast $3.10.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Brahman is like the clay of substance

out of which an infinite variety of articles are fashioned.

As clay, they are all one; but form or manifestation differentiates them.  Before every one of them was made,

they all existed potentially in clay, and of course, they are identical substantially; but when formed,

and so long as the form remains, they are separate and different.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on.  Let your tears water the seeds

of your future happiness.

-Steve Maraboli, 1975-

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:

May

-John Updike

Now children may

Go out of doors,

Without their coats,

To candy stores.

 

The apple branches

And the pear

May float their blossoms

Through the air…

 

On May 2^nd, 1519, artist Leonardo da Vinci died.

On May 2^nd, 1536, Henry VIII accused Anne Boyelyn of adultery and locks her in the Tower of London.

On May 2^nd, 1568 Queen Mary of Scotland escaped from Lock Leven Castle.

 

Photos of the day – May 2nd, 2013

A duck watches over her offspring as they feed at sunset on a lake in Bucharest, Romania. Vadim Ghirda/AP

A 16.5-meter (54-foot) high giant Rubber Duck created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman is towed along Hong Kong’s Victoria Habour. Since 2007 the Rubber Duck has traveled to various cites including Osaka, Sydney, Sao Paulo, and Amsterdam. Vincent Yu/AP

Market Closes for May 2^nd, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14831.58	+130.63    +0.89%
S&P 500	1597.59	+14.89    +0.94%
NASDAQ	3340.621	+41.493    +1.26%
TSX	12379.64	+58.35
		+0.47%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13694.04	-105.31
		-0.76%
HANG  SENG	22668.30	-68.71
		-0.30%
SENSEX	19735.77	+231.59
		+1.19%
FTSE 100	6460.71	+9.42
		+0.15%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.671	1.681
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.350	2.352
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6229	1.6290
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8181	2.8278

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98949	0.99200
US   $	1.01062	1.00806
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.32049	0.75730
US  $	1.30661	0.76534

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1467.56	1457.80
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	93.99	91.03
BRENT	103.07	100.10

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, erasing an earlier loss, as commodities prices rebounded and better-than- estimated earnings from Manulife Financial Corp. boosted financial shares.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. advanced 1.7 percent as crude rose the most in almost six months. Yamana Gold Inc. added 2.7 percent as gold gained the most in a week. Manulife Financial, the country’s largest insurer, climbed 3.9 percent after earnings beat estimates. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. increased more than 1.2 percent.

Catamaran Corp., a pharmacy services provider, slumped 7.2 percent after reporting sales that missed estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 58.35 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,379.64 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge earlier fell as much as 0.4 percent.

Trading volume was 5.8 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“The TSX is going through a period of revaluing where commodities will trade,” said Kash Pashootan, a fund manager with First Avenue Advisory of Raymond James Ltd. in Ottawa. He manages about C$125 million ($124 million). “We’ve had a lot of good news overnight, we’ll see some days where the market bounces and buyers will step in and buy.”

Oil rose for the first time in three days and metals rallied as U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest since January 2008 and the European Central Bank cut interest rates to a record low today.

The Federal Reserve yesterday maintained the rate of bond buying and said it is “prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases.”

Canada posted its first trade surplus in a year in March, breaking the longest string of deficits in at least 25 years as exporters shipped more energy and mineral products abroad.

The Bank of Canada said after the close of regular trading that Stephen Poloz, the chief executive officer of the nation’s export-financing agency, will replace Mark Carney as head of the central bank on June 3.

Canadian Natural Resources rose 1.7 percent to C$29.49 as crude for June delivery gained 3.3 percent to settle at $93.99 a barrel in New York, its biggest one-day increase since Nov. 6.

Yamana Gold added 2.7 percent to $11.97, rebounding from a 6.5 percent slide yesterday. Gold futures jumped 1.5 percent to settle at $1,467.60.

Financial stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX, rising 0.7 percent as a group.

Manulife Financial gained 3.9 percent to C$15.33. The company reported earnings of 28 cents a share, ahead of expectations for 27 cents a share. Sun Life Financial Inc. rose 2.3 percent to $28.97.

Industrial shares rallied 0.8 percent. Canadian National Railway rose 1.2 percent to $98.46 and Canadian Pacific Railway jumped 2.8 percent to $126.64.

Health care stocks slumped 3.7 percent, dragged lower by Catamaran. The company, based in Lisle, Illinois, dropped 7.2 percent to C$53.37, the biggest loss since October 2011. Sales of $3.22 billion fell short of the $3.53 billion analysts estimated.

Catamaran maintained its previous 2013 forecast for adjusted earnings of $1.81 to $1.88 per share and sales of $14.2 billion to $14.6 billion.

Goldcorp Inc., the biggest gold producer by market value, lost 0.6 percent to C$28.91 as earnings and output missed estimates. The company reported adjusted first quarter profit of 31 cents a share, trailing the 38-cent average of 21 analyst estimates according to a Bloomberg survey. Sales fell to $1.02 billion from $1.21 billion.

The company produced 614,600 ounces of gold in the quarter, short of the average of five estimates at 624,600 ounces.

US

By Lu Wang and Inyoung Hwang

May 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record high, as the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate and American jobless claims unexpectedly fell.

Chevron Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. rallied more than 1.4 percent to pace gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Facebook Inc. added 5.6 percent as the operator of the world’s largest social network reported sales that topped projections.

General Motors Co. rose 3.3 percent as it narrowed its loss in Europe. MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. climbed more than 4.1 percent after the insurers’ earnings beat forecasts.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent to 1,597.59 in New York, erasing yesterday’s drop. The Dow gained 130.63 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,831.58. About 6 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, 4.7 percent below the three-month average.

“The ECB did the minimum it needed to do,” Michael Strauss, who helps oversee about $25 billion of assets as chief investment strategist at Commonfund Group in Wilton, Connecticut, said by telephone. “Are they way behind the curve? Yes, but it at least showed that they’re recognizing the economic deterioration in the euro zone. The announcement was widely expected but on the margin it provided some help and the jobless claims data provided some help.”

ECB policy makers meeting in Bratislava lowered the main refinancing rate to 0.5 percent from 0.75 percent, a move predicted by 45 of 70 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

“Our monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as needed” and officials “will monitor very closely all incoming information” in the months ahead, ECB President Mario Draghi said at a press conference. He said the ECB will continue to lend banks as much money as they need at least until mid-2014.

Stock futures pared gains early in the day after Draghi said policy makers had an open mind on a negative deposit rate.

The S&P 500 lost 0.9 percent yesterday, the biggest drop in two weeks, as U.S. payrolls and manufacturing grew less than forecast. The bull market has entered its fifth year as the S&P 500 surged 136 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, driven by better-than-expected corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed said yesterday it will keep buying bonds at a monthly pace of $85 billion while standing ready to raise or lower purchases as the economy changes.

The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly dropped to the lowest level in more than five years, according to Labor Department figures. Other data today showed the productivity of U.S. workers rose in the first quarter as companies focused on containing labor expenses.

A report tomorrow is projected to show U.S. unemployment stayed at 7.6 percent in April, while payrolls rose 145,000, compared with an increase of 88,000 the prior month, according to the median estimates of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

“The key thing that you need to make people feel OK is to simply add jobs and ideally lower the unemployment rate,” Ethan Anderson, senior portfolio manager for Rehmann Financial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said by phone. His firm manages about $2 billion. “It’s looking like the goldilocks type of scenario where the economy grows, but not too fast for the Fed to stop helping, but not too slow to impede earnings growth.”

Of the 384 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results so far, 73 percent exceeded analysts’ earnings predictions while 53 percent missed on sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Profit at S&P 500 companies rose 1.1 percent in the first three months of the year, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Nine out of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 advanced today as technology, energy and industrial companies rose the most, climbing at least 1.2 percent.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index added 0.9 percent and the Dow Jones Transportation Average increased 1 percent. An S&P gauge of homebuilders jumped 3.5 percent.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. energy company, gained 1.5 percent to $122.04. Caterpillar, the biggest maker of mining machinery, climbed 1.4 percent to $84.26.

Facebook advanced 5.6 percent to $28.97. First-quarter sales surged 38 percent to $1.46 billion, a sign that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is making headway in a drive to make more money from mobile advertising. Profit excluding certain items was 12 cents a share, compared with an average analyst prediction of 13 cents.

General Motors gained 3.3 percent to $31.16. The automaker, after losing more than $18 billion in Europe since 1999, narrowed its first-quarter loss in the region, outpacing Ford Motor Co. and helping it beat analysts’ earnings estimates.

MetLife added 4.1 percent to $39.97. The largest U.S. life insurer reported a first-quarter profit compared with a year- earlier loss as Chief Executive Officer Steven Kandarian expands outside the U.S. Kandarian is searching for customers in faster- growing economies and reducing expenses as slow expansion in the company’s main markets weighs on results.

Prudential rose 7 percent to $63.41. The No. 2 U.S. life insurer also posted results that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

Visa Inc. climbed 5.7 percent to a record $175.40. The biggest payments network posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates as spending on credit and debit cards rose.

Gilead Sciences Inc. rose 4.1 percent to $52.18. The company is moving its experimental drug combination against hepatitis C into a late-stage trial after it cured 95 percent of patients who used the medicine for eight weeks.

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. climbed 4.8 percent to $37.03. The manager of cargo ships posted a second consecutive quarterly increase in airfreight tonnage during the first three months of the year and said the company had “a strong finish” in March.

“After having swum in deep waters for so long, it’s somewhat invigorating to feel that your feet might actually be touching ground,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter J. Rose said in a statement.

Seagate Technology Plc gained 7.3 percent to a record $39.63. The maker of computer disk drives reported fiscal third- quarter profit and sales that exceeded analysts’ forecasts.

International Paper Co. slipped 3.5 percent to $44.27. The world’s largest maker of office paper reported operating profit of 65 cents a share in the first quarter. That trailed the average analyst estimate of 74 cents in a Bloomberg survey.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slid 6.2 percent to 13.59 as investors cut demand for protection against losses in the S&P 500. Historical relationships between U.S. equity and options prices have come under increasing strain in the past week, with the rally in the S&P 500 awakening demand among both speculators and hedgers.

The VIX moved in the same direction as the S&P 500 for four straight days through April 29, including three advances and one drop. That’s the longest stretch of lockstep moves since February 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The indexes swing in the opposite direction about 80 percent of the time.

Options prices usually fall when equities gain because the optimism driving share prices reduces the demand for protection against losses. That relationship is wavering as traders become less certain about the direction of stocks after a four-year, 134 percent advance, according to Andrew Greeley, a senior managing director at Stamford, Connecticut-based Acorn Derivatives Management Corp. Dealers are charging bears more for insurance and bulls more to speculate on gains.

“Normally we would expect to see the VIX continue to slide lower as the S&P 500 grinds up,” Greeley, who helps manage more than $450 million in volatility assets, said yesterday in an interview. “But as we get more extended in the recent trend and approach significant economic reports and central bank meetings, the VIX is capturing greater interest in out-of-the-money options, both calls and puts, as people bet on more stock gains as well as buy hedges.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

All humanity shares the sunlight;  that sunlight is neither yours nor mine.

It is the life-giving energy, which we all share.

The beauty of a sunset, if you are watching it sensitively, is shared by all human beings.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Only through imitation do we develop

toward originality.

-John Steinbeck, 1902-1968

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

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents: May Day today.  Polydore Virgil says that the Roman youths used to go into the fields and spend the calends of May in dancing and singing in honour of Flora, goddess of fruits and flowers.  The English celebrated May Day with games and sports, particularly archery and Morris dances and the setting up of the Maypole.  In due time, Robin Hood and Maid Marian came to preside as Lord and Lady of the May, and by the 16^th century May Day was Robin Hood’s day and Robin Hood plays an integral part of the festivities.  May Day was also formerly the day of the London chimney-sweepers’ festival.

The Anglo-Saxons called this month thrimilce, because then cows can be milked three times a day.  The present name is the Latin Maius, probably from Maia, the goddess of growth and increase, connected with major.  It was the fifth month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.  The old Dutch name was Bloumaand – blossoming month.  The corresponding month in the French Revolutionary calendar was Floréal – floral – with a period from modern April 21^st to May 20^th. –from Brewar’s Phrase & Fable.

Photos of the day – May 1st, 2013

Mt. Fuji is seen from Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan. The Agency for Cultural Affairs issued a notice saying it had received notification that Mt. Fuji was recommended for World Heritage status by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a body affiliated with UNESCO. Kyodo News/AP

People cover a wooden statue of Saint Domenico with snakes during a procession in Cocullo, central Italy. Every year in May, snakes are placed onto the statue of St. Domenico and the statue is then carried in a procession around the town. Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

Market Closes for May 1^st, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14700.95	-138.85    -0.94%
S&P 500	1582.70	-14.87    -0.93%
NASDAQ	3299.128	-29.661    -0.89%
TSX	12321.29	-135.21
		-1.09%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13799.35	-61.51
		-0.44%
HANG  SENG	22737.01	+156.24
		+0.69%
SENSEX	19504.18	+116.68
		+0.60%
FTSE 100	6451.29	+21.17
		+0.33%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.681	1.697
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.352	2.371
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6290	1.6683
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8278	2.8716

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99200	0.99299
US   $	1.00806	1.00706
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.32915	0.75236
US  $	1.31852	0.75843

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1457.80	1477.93
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.03	93.46
BRENT	100.10	102.05

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, snapping a two- day rally, as commodity prices slid after data showed China’s manufacturing grew at a weaker pace last month and U.S. companies added fewer workers than forecast.

Cott Corp. plunged 14 percent after reporting disappointing earnings. Yamana Gold Inc. dropped 6.5 percent after first- quarter profit missed estimates. Premier Gold Mines Ltd. and New Gold Inc. slumped more than 4.1 percent as gold fell the most in two weeks. Loblaw Cos. climbed 4.7 percent after raising its dividend and saying earnings topped estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 135.21 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,321.29 in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge rose 1.9 percent the first two days of the week to pare its loss in April.

“The commodities board is reacting negatively to the weak data from China, putting the correction in prices back on course,” Bob Decker, fund manager with Aurion Capital Management, said on the phone from Toronto. His firm manages C$6 billion ($5.9 billion).

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities fell 2.1 percent. Oil slipped 2.6 percent and gold dropped 1.8 percent.

China’s manufacturing expanded at a weaker pace in April in a sign that the slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy is extending into the second quarter. China is Canada’s second- biggest trading partner.

In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index showed manufacturing growth slowed to 50.7 in April from the prior month’s 51.3 The world’s largest economy added 119,000 workers in April, the smallest since September, following a revised 131,000 gain in March, figures from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today.

Canadian equities maintained losses after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it will keep its bond buying at a pace of $85 billion a month and is prepared to raise or lower the level of purchases as economic conditions evolve. None of the 47 economists in an April 25-29 Bloomberg survey forecast the central bank to alter the pace of purchases.

Cott, the Mississauga, Ontario-based drinks maker, sank 14 percent to C$9.49. Cott posted first-quarter earnings of zero cents a share, short of the average estimates of 9 cents according to a survey of eight analysts by Bloomberg.

Yamana Gold slumped 6.5 percent to C$11.66. Canada’s fourth-largest producer of the metal said first-quarter earnings missed estimates as costs jumped 31 percent from a year earlier.

Raw-materials stocks fell 2.2 percent, as eight of 10 S&P/TSX groups retreated today. Energy stocks lost 1.8 percent.

Premier Gold Mines plunged 5.7 percent to C$1.99 and New Gold lost 4.1 percent to C$7.75.

Copper miners fell after the metal slid the most in a year.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, lost 0.7 percent to C$26.61 while First Quantum Minerals Ltd. declined 2.5 percent to C$17.15.

Loblaw jumped 4.7 percent to C$44.75, the highest since October 2007. The grocery store chain and operator of the Joe Fresh fashion label raised its dividend to 24 cents a share from 22 cents after reporting revenue and adjusted earnings that topped analysts’ estimates.

Loblaw also said it expects to file a preliminary prospectus to create a real estate investment trust in late May, and complete an initial public offering of the REIT in July.

Loblaw first disclosed plans to create the real-estate unit in December.

US

By Lu Wang and Whitney Kisling

May 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, dragging the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index from a record high, on slower growth in American payrolls and manufacturing as the Federal Reserve said it will maintain its bond buying to support the economy.

Commodity companies dropped the most among 10 S&P 500 industries as oil and copper tumbled. Merck & Co. slid 2.8 percent after cutting its full-year forecast. Allergan Inc. slumped 13 percent after delaying further study of an experimental drug for age-related macular degeneration. Comcast Corp. and Viacom Inc. gained more than 1.3 percent after the media companies reported quarterly profits.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 1,582.70 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 138.85 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,700.95. More than 6.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 4.4 percent above the three-month average.

“It’s more of the same,” Kevin Holt, who oversees the $9.7 billion Invesco Comstock Fund in Houston, said in a phone interview. “The existing policy guideline kind of continues. We didn’t expect anything different out of the Fed at this point of time. We had a good run. For the market to go higher, we need to see stronger economic growth, we need to see more sustainable employment growth.”

The Fed will maintain its bond buying at a pace of $85 billion a month, the Federal Open Market Committee said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington. It left unchanged its statement that it plans to hold its target interest rate near zero as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation doesn’t exceed 2.5 percent.

Stocks dropped earlier as a report showed companies added fewer workers than forecast in April. The 119,000 increase in payrolls, the smallest since September, followed a revised 131,000 gain in March that was less than initially estimated, according to data from ADP Research Institute. The median forecast of 37 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 150,000 advance.

“The ADP report is somewhat disappointing because it’s just further evidence of slowdown,” Tom Wirth, who helps manage $1.6 billion as senior investment officer for Chemung Canal Trust Co., in Elmira, New York, said in a telephone interview.

The Labor Department publishes its jobs and unemployment report on May 3. Combined payrolls for companies and government agencies increased by 148,000 workers in April after rising 88,000 in March, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 climbed to a record yesterday as consumer confidence jumped and investors bet central banks around the world will continue their efforts to stimulate the economy. The bull market in U.S. equities has entered its fifth year, surging 134 percent from a 12-year low in 2009 on better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed.

Among other economic reports today, the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 50.7 in April from the prior month’s 51.3. Chinese and Australian reports also signaled a slowdown in manufacturing. Construction spending in the U.S. decreased 1.7 percent to an $856.7 billion annual rate, the least since August, the Commerce Department reported.

Investors also watched corporate earnings today. Of the 342 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported so far, 73 percent exceeded analysts’ predictions while 55 percent missed on sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Profit at S&P 500 companies rose 1.1 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ projections compiled by Bloomberg.

“During earnings season, you’re going to get some resets of expectations and the reality of what the underlying fundamentals look like,” Edward Painvin, chief investment officer of the Chase Investment Counsel Corp., which oversees $600 million, said by phone from Charlottesville, Virginia.

“Expectations were a little bit ahead of themselves. This is a reset of expectations.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, climbed 7.2 percent to 14.49 today as investors stepped up hedging against losses in the S&P 500. The gauge for options hit a six-year low in March and is down 20 percent this year.

Companies whose earnings are most tied to economic growth led the retreat. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index declined 1.4 percent and the Dow Jones Transportation Average tumbled 2.3 percent. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies sank 2.5 percent.

All 10 S&P 500 groups fell, with energy and raw-materials stocks sinking at least 1.6 percent.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., the largest U.S. iron-ore producer, dropped 4.7 percent to $20.33 as the S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities fell 2.1 percent. Marathon Petroleum Corp. erased 6.2 percent to $73.47.

QEP Resources Inc. lost 6.1 percent to $26.95 after earnings trailed analysts’ estimates.

Merck fell 2.8 percent to $45.69. The company cut its full- year projections, citing estimates for lower sales, and said it plans to buy back $15 billion in shares. Merck has been eliminating thousands of jobs and trying to boost demand of existing products to overcome the revenue drop from its once- leading drug Singulair, an asthma medication that began facing competition from cheaper copies in August.

MasterCard Inc. fell 2.4 percent to $539.82. The second- biggest U.S. payments network reported first-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates.

Allergan, the maker of the Botox wrinkle treatment, plunged 13 percent to $98.67 for the biggest drop since 1999. Chief Executive Officer David Pyott said on a conference call that current data don’t support taking the DARPin medicine into the final stages of trials needed for regulatory approval.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which makes potential rival eye medicine Eylea, surged 10 percent to a record $237.29.

Regeneron replaced MetroPCS Communications Inc. in the S&P 500 after the close of trading yesterday.

T-Mobile US Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. wireless company, jumped 6 percent to $16.52 in its first day trading on the New York Stock Exchange after a merger with MetroPCS Communications, a smaller rival.

Comcast gained 1.4 percent to $41.86. The largest U.S. cable company and the owner of NBC Universal said first-quarter profit rose 17 percent as U.S. residential video subscriber revenue increased at the highest rate in four years.

Viacom added 3 percent to $65.90. The owner of cable networks Nickelodeon and MTV as well as the Paramount film studio reported fiscal second-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates on improved advertising sales.

Humana Inc. climbed 4.7 percent to $77.56 after the second- biggest private provider of Medicare coverage boosted its full- year earnings forecast to a range of $8.40 to $8.60 a share.

That topped the average analyst estimate of $7.95 in a Bloomberg survey.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. rose 7.3 percent to $20.69.

The studio run by Jeffrey Katzenberg posted a surprise profit, helped by its box-office hit “The Croods” and television revenue from “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

In nature, action and reaction are continuous.  Everything is connected to everything else.

No one part, nothing, is isolated.  Everything is linked, and interdependent.

Everywhere everything is connected to everything else.  Each question receives the correct answer.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Manners require time, and nothing is

more vulgar than haste.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

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:

It is Walpurgisnacht tonight – Witch’s night in Europe.

This being the last day of April, it is also the last day of poetry month.  I recently happened upon a  beautiful book that has just been published entitled Poems to Learn by Heart by Caroline Kennedy, Hyperion, New York, 2013.  It is also beautifully illustrated with watercolor paintings by Jon J. Muth.  “There’s a poem to celebrate every moment in life – whether it’s hitting a home run, watching a sunset, or laughing with your best friend.  A poem is a gift of the heart that can inspire, reassure, or challenge us.  Memorize it – share it – it’s yours forever.”

This is one of the poems from that book:

The Dream Keeper

Langston Hughes

Bring me all of your dreams

You dreamers,

Bring me all of your

Heart melodies

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud-cloth

Away from the too-rough fingers

Of the world

Photos of the day – April  30th, 2013

Two woman wearing inflatable caps walk along the street in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Around a million people are expected to descend on the Dutch capital for a huge street party to celebrate the first new Dutch monarch in 33 years. Emilio Morenatti/AP

Re-enactors of the American Revolutionary War perform to commemorate the swearing-in of former President George Washington at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York. George Washington’s inauguration as the first US president was on April 30, 1789. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

The Gods cannot help those who don’t seize opportunities. -Confucius

Market Closes for April 30th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14839.80	+21.05    +0.14%
S&P 500	1597.57	+3.96    +0.25%
NASDAQ	3328.790	+21.770    +0.66%
TSX	12456.50	+143.83
		+1.17%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13860.86	-23.27
		-0.17%
HANG  SENG	22737.01	+156.24
		+0.69%
SENSEX	19504.18	+116.68
		+0.60%
FTSE 100	6430.12	-27.90
		-0.43%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.697	1.699
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.371	2.365
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6683	1.6650
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8716	2.8732

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.99299	0.98848
US   $	1.00706	1.01165
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.32598	0.75416
US  $	1.31670	0.7594

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1477.93	1475.07
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	93.46	94.50
BRENT	102.05	104.31

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

April 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, erasing a loss for the year, as energy and technology shares gained after data showed the economy is on track for its fastest quarterly growth since 2011.

Suncor Energy Inc., the nation’s largest energy producer, climbed 6 percent after raising its dividend and announcing a share buyback program. BlackBerry jumped 4.6 percent after its chief executive officer said he sees sales of its new Q10 device to be in the “tens of millions.” CGI Group Inc. surged to a 13-year high after reporting earnings ahead of estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 143.83 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,456.50 at 4 p.m. in Toronto after declining as much as 0.6 percent earlier. The benchmark gauge has advanced 0.2 percent this year, erasing a previous loss.

Trading volume was 17 percent higher than the 30-day average.

“The oils are doing well today,” said David Cockfield, fund manager with Northland Wealth Management in Toronto. He helps manage C$225 million ($223 million). “Suncor helped. The fact they’re willing to raise their dividend, it’s a show of confidence: ’Hey, we can pay dividends and we’re not worried about future earnings.’ The environment is so negative any bright moment is appreciated.”

Canada’s gross domestic product grew for a second month in February, led by gains at potash miners and factories. Output rose 0.3 percent, matching the revised January gain, to an annualized C$1.57 trillion, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 23 economists was for a 0.2 percent expansion.

Energy, financial and raw-material stocks contributed most to gains, as all 10 industries rose.

Suncor climbed 6 percent to C$31.41 for its biggest advance since October 2011. The Calgary-based oil producer boosted its quarterly dividend 54 percent to 20 cents a share and said it will buy back as much as C$2 billion of stock after scrapping plans for the Voyageur oil-sands project.

Suncor also reported adjusted first-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ estimates.

The S&P/TSX Information Technology Index surged 7.7 percent, the most since December 2009.

CGI Group, the Montreal-based technology services provider, surged 18 percent to C$31.90, the highest level since January 2000. CGI reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of 56 Canadian cents a share, ahead of the average estimate of 49 cents according to a Bloomberg survey of 15 analysts.

Kris Thompson, analyst with National Bank Financial, raised his price target for CGI to C$40 from C$30 in a report to clients after the earnings release.

BlackBerry, formerly Research In Motion Ltd., added 4.6 percent to C$16.45, the highest level in more than a month. The stock has increased 40 percent this year on optimism that the new BlackBerry 10 lineup can help fuel a comeback.

The company expects to sell several tens of millions of the company’s Q10 smartphone that features a keyboard, CEO Thorsten Heins said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. fell 1.6 percent to C$3.77 and Semafo Inc. declined 2.1 percent to C$1.91. The price of gold fell 7.7 percent in April for its biggest monthly drop since December 2011.

US

By Lu Wang

April 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index trading to another record, as consumer confidence gained and investors bet central banks worldwide will continue their efforts to stimulate the economy.

Apple Inc. climbed 2.9 percent as the iPhone maker is said to be selling $17 billion of bonds in the biggest U.S. corporate offering on record. Avon Products Inc. gained 4.1 percent after earnings topped analysts’ forecasts. Pfizer Inc. dropped 4.5 percent as the world’s biggest drugmaker reported earnings that fell short of analysts’ projections. Newmont Mining Corp. lost 4.6 percent as the biggest U.S. gold producer reported profit that missed estimates.

The S&P 500 added 0.3 percent to 1,597.57 as of 4 p.m. in New York, finishing April with a 1.8 percent gain. That’s the sixth monthly advance, the longest streak since September 2009.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 21.05 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,839.80 today and is up 1.8 percent for the month.

More than 6.7 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 5 percent higher than the three-month average.

“The market is at a high here and a lot of that seems to be driven by the faith in central bankers,” Gary Flam, who helps oversee $7 billion for Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC in Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview. “Later this week, you have central banker meetings, the Fed as well as the ECB.”

Confidence among U.S. consumers climbed more than forecast in April to a five-month high as Americans’ outlook for the economy and their incomes improved, according to a gauge from the Conference Board. Separate reports showed property values in 20 cities increased in February by the most since May 2006, while business activity in the U.S. unexpectedly shrank in April for the first time in more than three years.

The Bloomberg Economic Surprise Index, which measures the degree to which economic data exceeded or missed projections, slipped today to minus 0.083, the lowest level since October.

The measure peaked at 0.45 in February.

The Federal Reserve may consider maintaining its bond- buying program at a two-day meeting starting today, after a report last week showed the world’s largest economy grew less than forecast in the first quarter.

The central bank will probably continue its “aggressive” easing program this year, Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh said yesterday in a Bloomberg Television interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

The European Central Bank will cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent on May 2, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The bull market in U.S. equities entered its fifth year last month and the gauge has surged 136 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, driven by better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed.

Leon Black, chief executive officer of buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC, said prices for traditional buyouts have risen so much that it’s a good time to sell.

“We think it’s a fabulous environment to be selling,” Black said today during a panel discussion at the Milken Institute conference, adding that Apollo has sold about $13 billion in assets in the last 15 months. “We’re selling everything that’s not nailed down, and if we’re not selling, we’re refinancing.”

Invesco Ltd., Franklin Resources Inc. and 36 other S&P 500 companies report quarterly earnings today. Of the 308 that have reported so far, 73 percent exceeded analysts’ predictions, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Profit at S&P 500 companies rose 1.1 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ projections compiled by Bloomberg.

“Earnings season has been OK, but it’s not like it’s growing strongly,” Brad Thompson, director of research at Frost Investment Advisors LLC in San Antonio, Texas, said in a phone interview. His firm manages $9 billion. “We have a strong market with defensive sectors doing well. The key element here is when does it transition. I’ll get more confident when it broadens out and we get more cyclicals doing better. That’s going to be contingent on economic fundamentals.”

Companies whose earnings are least tied to economic swings led this year’s rally as gauges of health-care, utility and consumer-staples providers in the S&P 500 jumped at least 17 percent. Commodity and technology shares performed worst, rising no more than 8.6 percent.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slid 1.4 percent to 13.52 today. The gauge for options hit a six-year low in March and is down 25 percent this year amid reduced demand for protection against losses in the S&P 500.

Technology stocks rose the most among 10 industries, rallying 1.2 percent. The group has gained every day since April 19, jumping 5.9 percent over seven trading days, the most since December 2011.

Apple climbed 2.9 percent to $442.78 The company is issuing $3 billion of floating-rate notes and $14 billion of fixed-rate securities in six parts with maturities from three to 30 years, according to a person familiar with the offering.

Proceeds may help the company avoid so-called repatriation taxes on its $102.3 billion of funds held overseas as it returns an additional $55 billion to shareholders through 2015 to compensate for a stock that’s been hammered by signs of slowing growth. Apple has fallen 37 percent from its record $702.10 closing price in September.

International Business Machines Corp. added 1.7 percent to $202.54. The biggest computer-services company boosted its dividend 12 percent and approved $5 billion in stock buybacks, rewarding investors after a disappointing earnings report.

Avon climbed 4.1 percent to $23.16. The door-to-door cosmetics seller reported first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as Chief Executive Officer Sheri McCoy’s cost-reduction plan starts to produce results.

Best Buy Co. jumped 7.4 percent to $25.99, the highest level since March 2012. The world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer said it will exit Europe by selling its 50 percent stake in a mobile-phone venture to partner Carphone Warehouse Group Plc for 500 million pounds ($775 million).

Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly, who took charge in September, is evaluating the retailer’s foreign units to free up cash and resources in his effort to revive U.S. stores hurt by competition from Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Invesco advanced 6.8 percent to $31.74. The owner of the Invesco, Van Kampen and PowerShares funds said first-quarter profit rose 15 percent as record client deposits lifted assets.

Pfizer retreated 4.5 percent to $29.07 as it posted first- quarter earnings excluding some items of 54 cents a share, missing the 55-cent average projection of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Full-year earnings excluding one-time items may be $2.14 to $2.24 a share, Pfizer said. The company gave a previous 2013 forecast of $2.20 to $2.30 in January.

Newmont Mining declined 4.6 percent to $32.40 after saying late yesterday that first-quarter net income fell as gold prices declined and costs were higher than expected. Earnings excluding one-time items were 71 cents a share, trailing the 76 cent- average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Pitney Bowes Inc. tumbled 16 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $13.67. The maker of postal meters slashed dividends by half as first-quarter earnings trailed analyst forecasts.

Cummins Inc. dropped 6.1 percent to $106.39. The maker of diesel engines reported first-quarter earnings excluding some items of $1.44 a share, trailing the average analyst estimate of $1.86.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

He is fire and the sun; he is the moon and the stars, he is the air and the sea.

He is this boy, and that girl.  He appears in countless different forms.

He has no beginning, and he has no end.  He is the source of all things.

Each type of living being is distinct and different.  But when we pierce the veil of difference,

we see the unity of all beings.

Svetasvatara Upanishad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The world is so full of a number of things,

I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.

-Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894

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: Arbor Day today.

Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing,

there is a field.  I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”

doesn’t make any sense.

-Jalaluddin Rumi

Jerry Seinfeld turns 58 years old today.

Also on this day, in,

1967, Aretha Franklin debuts her single Respect which goes to number one on the pop and R & B charts and earns her 2 Grammys.

1958, Broadway musical My Fair Lady with Julie Andrews opened in London and the first month’s performances were sold out before opening night.

1429, 17-year old Joan of Arc relieves the French forces at Orleans in their battle against the British.

2012, Prince William married Kate Middleton.

Photos of the day – April  29th, 2013

A bee is covered with pollen as it sits on a blade of grass on a lawn in Klosterneuburg. The European Commission said it would go ahead and impose a temporary ban on three of the world’s most widely used pesticides because of fears they harm bees, despite EU governments failing to agree on the issue. Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters

A man wearing shades displays a t-shirt depicting Dutch Queen Beatrix in a souvenirs shop in Amsterdam. The Netherlands is preparing for Queen’s Day on April 30, which will also mark the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the investiture of her eldest son Willem-Alexander. Cris Toala Olivares/Reuters

Market Closes for April 29th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14818.75	+106.20    +0.72%
S&P 500	1593.61	+11.37    +0.72%
NASDAQ	3307.020	+27.757    +0.85%
TSX	12312.67	+92.47
		+0.76%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13884.13	-41.95
		-0.30%
HANG  SENG	22580.77	+33.06
		+0.15%
SENSEX	19387.50	+100.78
		+0.52%
FTSE 100	6458.02	+31.60
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.699	1.705
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.365	2.375
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6650	1.6633
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8732	2.8611

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98848	0.98280
US   $	1.01165	1.01750
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.32537	0.75450
US  $	1.31011	0.76329

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1475.07	1462.09
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.50	93.00
BRENT	104.31	103.05

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

April 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as commodities from oil to gold rallied amid optimism over central-bank stimulus and data showed U.S. consumer spending climbed more than forecast in March.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. gained 3.3 percent as the drugmaker is said to have been in talks to merge with Actavis Inc. Suncor Energy Inc. increased 1.2 percent as crude touched a two-week high. Semafo Inc. and Detour Gold Corp. surged at least 7.7 percent as gold rallied. Endeavour Silver Corp. advanced 1.8 percent after announcing plans to cut costs due to lower metal prices.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 92.47 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,312.67 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge has fallen 3.4 percent in April, heading for the biggest monthly drop since May 2012. Trading volume was 37 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“The commodities were all oversold, the TSX is riding the bounce,” said Keith Richards, a fund manager with ValueTrend Wealth Management in Barrie, Ontario. He helps manage about C$100 million ($99 million). “There’s very little in the way of gold reaching $1,550.”

Crude and gold prices advanced on optimism that central banks will decide to maintain economic stimulus in their meetings this week to bolster growth. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg said European Central Bank policy makers may cut interest rates, while the U.S. Federal Reserve will consider renewing its commitment to bond-buying at a two-day meeting starting tomorrow.

Consumer spending in the U.S., the biggest oil-consuming nation, rose more than projected in March, a Commerce Department report showed today.

Energy, financial and raw-materials stocks contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX as all 10 industries advanced. The S&P/TSX Energy Index rallied 0.9 percent.

Suncor, Canada’s largest oil producer, rose 1.2 percent to C$29.63 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 1.3 percent to C$29.96 as oil for June delivery advanced 1.6 percent to settle at $94.50 a barrel in New York, highest since April 10.

Athabasca Oil Corp. rallied 3.8 percent to C$7.42, rebounding from an April 23 record low after a Canadian aboriginal group that has opposed a planned sale of the company’s Dover oil-sands project to Beijing-based PetroChina Co. said the impasse can be overcome.

The Fort McKay First Nation opposes the Dover development in Alberta due to environmental concerns and forced a regulatory hearing to consider the project. Athabasca needs regulatory approval before it can sell its stake to PetroChina for C$1.32 billion in cash.

Endeavour Silver gained 1.8 percent to C$5.19 after announcing a plan to fire workers and defer planned spending to deal with falling precious metals prices.

“It pays to be prudent at times like this,” Bradford Cooke, chief executive officer with Endeavour, said in a statement.

Detour Gold soared 7.8 percent to C$12.22 and Semafo jumped 7.7 percent to C$1.95 as the price of gold gained 0.9 percent to settle at $1,467.40. The metal rallied 4.2 percent last week after gold plunged into a bear market this month.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals, based in Montreal, climbed 3.3 percent to C$76.85. Merger talks with Actavis, the largest generic-drug maker in the U.S., have stalled due to a disagreement over price, according to people familiar with the matter.

The generic-drug makers had sought to announce a deal as soon as today before Actavis balked at the premium offered by Valeant, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. While the talks have halted for now, they may become active again, another person said.

US

By Lu Wang and Whitney Kisling

April 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advancing to a record high, as pending sales of homes climbed amid optimism central banks will maintain stimulus plans.

Apple Inc. jumped 3.1 percent to pace a rally in technology shares. Tenet Healthcare Corp. surged 6.5 percent as hospitals will get a pay raise from the U.S. government for treating Medicare patients. Actavis Inc. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. rose more than 3.8 percent as the companies are said to have been in merger talks. Moody’s Corp. gained the most in the S&P 500 after being part of a settlement with investors claiming inflated ratings.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 1,593.61 at 4 p.m. in New York, topping a record close of 1,593.37 reached on April 11.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 106.20 points, or 0.7 percent, to 14,818.75 today. More than 5.1 billion shares traded hands today on U.S. exchanges, or 19 percent below the three- month average.

“There’s just a positive tone to the market in part because recent lackluster economic trends have reinforced investors belief that the Federal Reserve will continue to press on the gas pedal,” Chad Morganlander, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based fund manager at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $130 billion, said by telephone.

The S&P 500 has climbed 1.6 percent in April, poised for its sixth straight month of gains, the longest streak of advances since September 2009. The bull market in U.S. equities has entered its fifth year as the S&P 500 surged 136 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, driven by better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

The European Central Bank will cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent on May 2, according to the majority of economists in a Bloomberg survey, while the Fed may consider renewing its commitment to bond-buying at a two-day meeting starting tomorrow.

Equities rose today as figures from the National Association of Realtors showed the index of pending home sales increased 1.5 percent after a revised 1 percent decline the prior month that was larger than initially reported. Economists forecast a 1 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Separate data showed consumer spending rose more than projected in March. Incomes increased less than forecast and inflation cooled to the lowest level in more than three years.

Nine S&P 500 companies report earnings today, including Express Scripts Holding Co. and Loews Corp. Of the 273 companies that have reported earnings so far this month, 74 percent exceeded analysts’ profit predictions, while 55 percent missed sales estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“We feel visibility on earnings is pretty darn good,” Paul Mangus, head of equity research and strategy at Wells Fargo Private Bank in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $170 billion. “We are seeing some indications that earnings momentum is likely to pick up in future quarters.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, rose 0.7 percent to 13.71. The gauge for options that are used to protect against losses in the S&P 500 reached a six-year low in March and is down 24 percent this year.

All 10 S&P 500 industry groups advanced as technology and commodity companies climbed the most, rising at least 0.9 percent. Apple jumped 3.1 percent, the most since Feb. 5, to $430.12. Microsoft Corp. surged 2.6 percent to $32.61 and Google Inc. increased 2.2 percent to $819.06. Hewlett-Packard Co. added 2.7 percent, the most in the Dow, to $20.50 and International Business Machines Corp. gained 2.5 percent to $199.15.

Tenet, the third-largest U.S. hospital company, jumped 6.5 percent to $43.84. HCA Holdings Inc., the largest publicly traded chain, climbed 5.5 percent to $40.37.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to raise payments 0.8 percent beginning Oct. 1 for services that elderly and disabled patients receive after being admitted to hospitals, according to a regulatory proposal.

Moody’s climbed 8.3 percent to $59.69, the highest in almost six years. McGraw-Hill Cos., owner of Standard & Poor’s, advanced 2.8 percent to $53.45. Investors led by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and King County, Washington, agreed to drop their lawsuits claiming that the companies gave inflated grades on two structured investment vehicles.

Morgan Stanley rose 3.8 percent to $22.21 after settling claims brought by the investor group that it had acted negligent in conveying ratings that it should have known were inaccurate.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index rallied 1.1 percent.

United Continental Holdings Inc. increased 2.8 percent to $32 while Delta Air Lines Inc. rose 0.8 percent to $16.95.

The U.S. House passed legislation to end air-traffic controller furloughs, joining the Senate in letting the Federal Aviation Administration work around across-the-board budget cuts to end days of flight delays.

Actavis rose 4.6 percent to $105.58 and Valeant added 3.8 percent to $75.94. The generic-drug makers had sought to announce a merger as soon as today before Actavis balked at the premium offered by Valeant, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. The Financial Times reported April 27 that the talks had stalled.

Biogen Idec Inc. climbed 4.7 percent to a record $223.61.

The introduction of the company’s multiple sclerosis pill, Tecfidera, outstripped the initial sales of competing drugs from Novartis AG and Sanofi, suggesting the treatment may beat estimates for the year. Total prescriptions more than doubled during the third week of the launch to 730 from 332 the previous week, according to a Wells Fargo & Co. report.

Walt Disney Co. climbed 1.8 percent to $63, a record high.

The world’s largest entertainment company was boosted to buy from neutral by UBS AG.

Conceptus Inc. surged 20 percent to a record $30.96. The maker of a permanent contraception device agreed to be bought by Bayer AG for about $1.1 billion in cash, or $31 a share.

Roper Industries Inc. fell 3.8 percent to $118.68. The maker of products from medical imaging to refrigeration valves forecast second-quarter earnings of no more than $1.30 a share.

That trailed the average analyst estimate of $1.38 in a Bloomberg survey.

Eastman Chemical Co. slipped 1 percent to $68.27 after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut the stock’s rating to neutral from overweight.

Expedia Inc. declined 4.3 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $56.06. The stock has slumped 14 percent since lowering its 2013 earnings forecast on April 25, leaving it poised for the biggest two-day drop since 2011.

 

Have  a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

From Him woman was born; and from Her man was born.

From His mind the moon was born; from His eye the sun was born; from His breath the wind was born.

From His navel the atmosphere was born; from His head the sky was born;

and from His ear the four quarters of the sky were born.

Thus the universe was in order.

Rig Veda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

One can never consent to creep when one feels

an impulse to soar.

–Helen Keller, 1880-1968

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