Author: Chelsey

Dear Friends,

Today is Vancouver’s 125^th birthday and celebrations are kicking off.  I was returning from Vancouver this morning on the harbor-to-harbor flight and I happened to run into one of my clients who was booked on the same flight as me.  He is a Vancouver businessman and had just come from delivering a breakfast speech to some of the mayors for the occasion.  By the way, there are some great old photos of the city in today’s Vancouver Sun.  Take a look if you have the chance; there is one of the Hotel Vancouver, which you won’t believe – especially the absence of anything around it.

I went to hear Elizabeth Gilbert last night, who was speaking as part of The Unique Lives & Experiences series; she is the authoress of Eat, Pray, Love, among other works.  She is very entertaining –  has a great sense of humor.  She is living in a  little town in New Jersey now with her husband whom she refers to as Javier – the star in the movie of the same name – still writing and running a store called Two Buttons.

Speaking of birthdays, it happens to be Gary’s tonight, so I’m leaving early to go home to cook dinner – and chill champagne…

photos of the day

April 6, 2011

Mirano Suzuki talks with her mother, Yasuko, on her first day of school at the Shimizu Elementary School in Fukushima, northern Japan. More than 70 schools began their regular classes in the city of Fukushima, more than 3 weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on March 11. Suzuki’s family were evacuated from their house, located 3 miles from the Fukushima nuclear reactor. Carlos Barria/Reuters

 

Elizabeth Joliffe, age one, plays amongst some daffodils at Cliveden, Maidenhead, in southern England. It was predicted to be the warmest day of the year so far in Britain, local media reported. Eddie Keogh/Reuters

 

 

An ornithologist holds a stork before setting it free on the great Hungarian plains in Hortobagy, Hungary. Every year, employees of Budapest Zoo capture storks that are too young to make the journey south to Africa before the onset of winter in order to help them survive the cold months before setting them free in warmer weather. Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

April 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell from a 33-month high as oil producers declined on concern that environmental rules will limit oil-sands production.

Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-biggest energy company, lost 2 percent after the province of Alberta announced plans to set aside land for conservation. National Bank of Canada, the country’s sixth-largest lender by assets, slipped 2.1 percent after Bank of Nova Scotia cut its rating. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, fell 2.6 percent after Monsanto Co. reported a drop in agricultural-chemical earnings.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index decreased 67.88 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,202.65 after closing at the highest level since June 2008 yesterday.

“Every time when you have the market level bump up against a previous high, people get nervous,” said Marcus Xu, who helps manage C$1.7 billion ($1.8 billion) as director of equity investments at Genus Capital Management in Vancouver. “The psychology of investors is people remember the most-recent painful experience, so if you had a couple of stocks that went down 5 to 6 percent, you remember that.’”

The equity benchmark had gained each of the previous six days, advancing 2.7 percent during the period. S&P/TSX raw- materials companies surged 6.3 percent as gold climbed on demand for a haven from global instability and from inflation concerns, while Minmetals Resources Ltd. launched a takeover bid for Equinox Minerals Ltd.

Energy stocks retreated after Alberta proposed setting aside 20 percent of its oil-sands area for conservation. The area includes land belonging to companies including Cenovus and Suncor Energy Inc., the Globe & Mail reported.

Cenovus decreased 2 percent to C$37.64. Suncor, Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, lost 1.9 percent to C$42.76.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest owner of the Syncrude project, slipped 1.5 percent to C$32.65.

National Bank lost 2.1 percent to C$77.54 after Kevin R. Choquette, an analyst at Scotiabank, cut his rating on the shares to “sector underperform” from “sector perform.”

Shares of the Montreal-based company have declined three- straight days after closing at a record high last week.

Potash Corp. fell 2.6 percent to C$57.47 after Monsanto reaffirmed a 2011 profit forecast that trails the average analyst estimate. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer, dropped 2.4 percent to C$89.42.

Nevsun Resources Ltd., which began gold production in Africa in February, advanced for a sixth day, jumping 5 percent to C$6.34 after saying its mine now turns out 1,000 ounces a day.

Minefinders Corp., which produces gold and silver in Mexico, soared 4.5 percent to C$14.02 after reporting first- quarter sales that beat the forecast of Andrew Kaip, a Bank of Montreal analyst, by 19 percent. The closing price was the highest since May 2007.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer rallied 1.4 percent to a record C$142.01. Total output from a new copper-producing region in Zambia may reach 1 million metric tons a year by 2014. Company President Clive Newall spoke today at a conference in Santiago.

Westport Innovations Inc., which makes natural-gas engines, increased 6.1 percent to C$26.17 after Laurence Alexander, an analyst at Jefferies Group Inc., raised his rating on the stock to “buy” from “hold.” More fleets are likely to add natural- gas vehicles in 2012-13, Alexander wrote in a note to clients.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. climbed 2 percent from a five-month low to C$53.53 as North American technology stocks rose amid speculation Cisco Systems Inc. will sell or spin off its consumer business.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Canada’s largest drugmaker, declined 3.3 percent from a seven-year high to C$50.35 after Cephalon Inc. rejected its $5.7 billion takeover offer. Valeant shares had surged 20 percent since it made the offer on March 29.

Canadian Tire Corp., the country’s biggest general-goods retailer, slumped 2.8 percent to C$62.55. The company restated its 2010 financial results, reducing earnings per share by 2.5 percent, to reflect the conversion to international accounting standards.

US

By Rita Nazareth

April 6 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level since 2008, as Cisco Systems Inc. spurred a technology rally and European lenders’ plans to raise capital lifted financial shares.

Cisco Systems rallied 4.9 percent on speculation the maker of networking equipment will sell or spin off its consumer business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. added at least 1.8 percent. Broadcom Corp. added 3.9 percent as Oppenheimer & Co. raised its rating for the maker of chips for television set-top boxes.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 1,335.54 at 4 p.m. The benchmark gauge rose as high as 1,339.38, near 1,343.01, its closing high for the rally since March 2009.

The Dow average advanced 32.85 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,426.75, the highest level on a closing basis since June 2008.

“We’re beginning a period of a self-sustaining recovery,” said Michael Strauss, who helps oversee $27 billion as chief investment strategist at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut.

“There’s strength in economic data and corporate earnings.

Technology, in particular, is an area where the generation of cash flow presents an interesting valuation play. There are a number of companies looking to tweak their business models to help to get that more into focus,” he said. “If we break into new highs, we’ll certainly see new buyers into the market.”

The S&P 500 yesterday snapped a two-day gain as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting spurred speculation central bankers may begin removing record stimulus measures enacted to ensure the economy recovered from recession. The index had surged 27 percent through yesterday since Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s suggested on Aug. 27 a second round of asset purchases to stimulate the economy, a tactic known as quantitative easing.

President Barack Obama’s administration is preparing for the potential of a partial government shutdown that may come as soon as this weekend unless the White House and congressional Republicans can come to terms on a budget. Obama has called for daily negotiations to settle differences. Current spending authority for government operations is set to expire on April 8 and lawmakers remain at odds on approving a budget for the rest of the fiscal year.

“It’s economic momentum versus policy uncertainty,” said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees $45 billion.

“Investors are concerned about potential headwinds related to budget concerns, inflation fears and the impact of Fed policy going forward. That’s weighing on the market as we approach the highs for the bull-market rally.”

The S&P 500 is trading near its bull market closing high of 1,343.01 on Feb. 18. Should the index close above that level, it could climb to 1,381, the next stop on its recovery from a plunge from its 1,576.09 intraday record in October 2007 to a low of 666.79 in March 2009, according to Schaeffer’s Investment Research’s Ryan Detrick.

“The fundamental drivers will probably continue to pull this market higher,” Detrick said in an interview from Cincinnati. “After that, the next logical area would be 1,440 on the S&P 500, which is the May 2008 peak.”

Cisco had the biggest gain in the Dow average, rising 4.9 percent to $18.07. Morgan Stanley said it expects structural changes after Chief Executive Officer John Chambers yesterday announced plans to make a “number” of targeted moves.

“We believe Cisco may be better off splitting itself into two or more businesses with different targets for growth and margin,” Morgan Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum wrote in a note dated yesterday, reiterating his views from a Feb. 10 report.

Broadcom climbed 3.9 percent to $39.95. The biggest maker of chips for television set-top boxes was raised to “outperform” from “market perform” by Oppenheimer.

Monsanto declined 5.7 percent to $69.16. The company said its fourth-quarter loss will widen because of a decline in agricultural-chemical earnings. Profit excluding some items will rise to $2.72 to $2.82 per share in the 2011 fiscal year, from

$2.41 a year earlier, Monsanto said, reiterating a forecast first made in October. The average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was $2.85.

The S&P 500 may climb to a record 1,600 next year as U.S. corporate profits benefit from global economic growth, said Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer at U.S. Trust.

Profit by companies in the benchmark measure for U.S. equities will increase about 7 percent to 8 percent next year as the S&P 500’s valuation climbs to 16 times earnings, he said.

The index is trading at 13.7 times estimated 2011 earnings, Bloomberg data show.

“Global growth is going to be rising 4.5 percent-plus through this,” Hyzy, who oversees $367.7 billion in client assets at the Bank of America Corp. unit, said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness” with Margaret Brennan. As the global expansion has a larger impact than in the past on the balance sheets of U.S. companies, Hyzy said, it may also extend the bull market. “We call it a global bull marathon, not a race,” he said.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

Man is setting out to satisfy needs that mean more to him

than simply nourishment and clothing.

He is embarking on a rediscovery of himself.

The history of man is that of his voyage toward the unknown,

in the search for the realization of his immortal Self, of his soul.

-Rabindranath Tagore,1861-1901

 

As always,

Carolann

 

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.

-Herbert Henry Asquith, 1852-1928

Dear Friends,

It is Chelsey writing today for Carolann as she visits clients J

Photos for today,

April 5^th:

A male stork prepares a nest on the chimney of an old distillery at sunrise in Nauen-Ribbeck near Berlin, Germany. The male storks arrive a few days earlier than their partners to prepare the nest for raising their chicks in the marsh area that is rich in food for them.

Ferdinand Ostrop/AP

 

Panda, a rescued stray puppy, strolls on the grass during a protest in Bucharest, Romania, against euthanasia of stray dogs and new regulations to be voted by parliament regarding ways to deal with the stray dog issue. According to protesters gathered outside Romania’s parliament, if voted in, the new law would allow the local administration to put down stray dogs. According to local media, there are 50,000 stray dogs in the Romanian capital of which 60 percent are sterilized.

 

A man walks down a pier in New York Monday night across from the Empire State Building, lit in white and red as part of a coordinated attempt by several landmark buildings around the world to raise awareness of the disaster in Japan. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

 

Market Commentary

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

April 5 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a sixth day, led by gold producers, as the metal climbed to a record after Moody’s Investors Service cut Portugal’s long-term credit rating and the U.S. dollar weakened.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer by market value, advanced 5.8 percent. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s fourth-largest insurer, lost 2.2 percent after the U.S. Institute for Supply Management’s index of non- manufacturing businesses trailed forecasts. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-biggest energy company by market value, increased 1 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its rating.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 52.18 points, or 0.4 percent to 14,270.53, the highest level since June 2008.

“What drives gold is currency movements,” said Robert “Hap” Sneddon, president of money manager CastleMoore Inc. in Oakville, Ontario, and vice president of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts. “The ISM suggests we’re not as strong as we’d like to be in this recovery. That tilts it toward more stimulus, and more stimulus means a weakening U.S. dollar.”

The S&P/TSX gained 27 percent in the nine months ending yesterday as gold surged 19 percent. Eight of the world’s 19 largest gold companies are Canadian.

Gold rose 1.4 percent to a record $1,452.50 an ounce in New York after Moody’s reduced Portugal’s credit rating to Baa1 from A3.

The U.S. dollar fell the most since Jan. 31 against the British pound after a gauge of U.K. service-sector activity increased faster than all 26 economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast. The U.S. currency slipped further after the ISM said its service-sector index fell to 57.3 last month from 59.7 in February.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index jumped the most in 10 months, and the S&P/TSX Materials Index closed at a record high.

Goldcorp gained 5.8 percent to a 32-month high of C$50.30.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, advanced 5.2 percent to C$52.36. European Goldfields Ltd., which is developing mines in Greece and Romania, increased 9.2 percent to C$12.70.

B2Gold Corp., which mines in Nicaragua, surged 15 percent to a record C$3.42 after Chris Thompson, an analyst at Haywood Securities Inc., raised his 12-month share-price estimate to

C$3.45 from C$3.30.

Silver jumped 1.8 percent, and touched its highest price since February 1980. First Majestic Silver Corp. rallied 8.3 percent to C$24.67 after soaring 9.2 percent yesterday.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, rose 2.4 percent to C$56.38 after surging 7.5 percent yesterday.

S&P/TSX financial and industrial companies declined after the release of the ISM data.

Manulife, the owner of John Hancock Financial Services Inc., dropped 2.2 percent to C$17.01. Toronto-Dominion Bank, which has more than 1,000 U.S. branches, slipped 1 percent to C$85.29. Canadian National Railway Co., which derived 32 percent of its revenue from the U.S. last year, declined 1.4 percent from a record close to C$72.40.

Canadian Natural advanced 1 percent to C$47.95 after Katherine Lucas Minyard, an analyst at JPMorgan, raised her rating on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral.” In a note to clients, Minyard cited higher oil-price forecasts.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., which produces oil in Colombia, jumped 5.5 percent to C$28.13. The shares had tumbled

21 percent this year through yesterday, the most among S&P/TSX oil and gas companies.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Canada’s largest drugmaker, advanced 1.4 percent to C$52.09 after William Tanner, an analyst at Lazard Ltd., raised his 12-month share- price estimate on the U.S. shares to $58 from $47. The market has yet to fully price in the potential benefit to Valeant of a purchase of Cephalon Inc., Tanner said in a note to clients.

Valeant launched a $5.7 billion unsolicited takeover bid for Cephalon on March 29 and rallied 19 percent over the following four days.

 

US

By Rita Nazareth

April 5 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks erased gains, preventing a third straight advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as growing concern that the Federal Reserve will begin removing stimulus measures offset optimism about takeover deals.

Boeing Co. lost 1 percent to help lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average down from an almost three-year high amid concern inspectors will find more problems with the company’s 737 jets. Google Inc. sank 3.2 percent as people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News that the U.S. government is considering an antitrust probe. National Semiconductor Corp., which led the earlier gain in the S&P 500, surged 71 percent after Texas Instruments Inc. agreed to buy the chipmaker.

The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1 percent to 1,332.63 at 4 p.m. in New York after climbing as much as 0.4 percent earlier today. The Dow average retreated 6.13 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,393.90. The Russell 2000 Index advanced 0.5 percent, after rallying to an all-time intraday high.

“Investors are fearful that if they don’t get another round of quantitative easing, the market doesn’t get another shot in the arm,” said Kevin Caron, a market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which has about $110 billion in client assets. “I’m not convinced. We have solid economic figures and corporate earnings. The path of least resistance for the market would be higher.”

The S&P 500 has risen 6 percent in 2011 as government stimulus measures, corporate takeovers and higher-than-estimated profits boosted investors’ optimism. Alcoa Inc. starts the earnings reporting season on April 11. The aluminum producer may post net income of $321 million in the first quarter, according to the average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

Stocks began to reverse earlier gains as minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting showed central bankers differed over whether to begin removing record stimulus this year as they debated the path of monetary policy after the completion of their $600 billion bond-purchase program.

“A few participants indicated that economic conditions might warrant a move toward less-accommodative monetary policy this year; a few others noted that exceptional policy accommodation could be appropriate beyond 2011,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in minutes of its March 15 meeting, released today in Washington. “Almost all” Fed officials also saw no need to “taper” Treasury buying, jettisoning their prior strategy of reducing the pace of purchases while stretching out their duration.

U.S. House Republicans today unveiled a plan to overhaul the federal budget and slash the deficit in coming years by about three-quarters, with a $6 trillion cut in spending and 25 percent cap on tax rates. The proposal would cut the deficit next year to $995 billion from $1.4 trillion now. It would continue to narrow the shortfall to as little as $379 billion in 2018, though it wouldn’t balance the government’s books until 2040.

Boeing fell 1 percent to $73.23. The company said the metal-fatigue cracks that ripped open a hole last week on a Southwest Airlines Co. 737 jet occurred earlier than the planemaker had expected in the life of the aircraft.

Google slipped 3.2 percent to $569.09. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is considering a broad antitrust investigation of the company’s dominance in the Internet-search industry, two people familiar with the matter said.

KB Home sank 4.2 percent to $11.69. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder that targets first-time buyers reported a wider first-quarter loss than analysts estimated as revenue and new orders plunged amid slumping demand for new houses.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rallied 2.3 percent as 25 of its 30 stocks advanced. A gauge of chipmakers in the S&P 500 added 1.6 percent, the most within 24 industries.

National Semiconductor rallied 71 percent to $24.06 for its biggest gain since at least 1980. Texas Instruments, the second- largest U.S. chipmaker, agreed to buy the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker for about $6.5 billion, its biggest acquisition as it expands its leadership in analog semiconductors. Texas Instruments will pay $25 a share in the all-cash transaction, a 78 percent premium to National Semiconductor’s previous closing price of $14.07.

Texas Instruments rose 1.7 percent to $34.69.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rallied 11 percent to $65.57. The teen retailer announced plans to open stores in China and said it expects to earn $4.75 a share in 2012.

Apple Inc. fell 0.7 percent to $338.89. The company’s representation in the Nasdaq-100 will be cut to 12.33 percent of the index on May 2, from 20.49 percent, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.

said in a slide show on its website, after previous rules caused its proportion in the gauge to grow disproportionately.

“Apple rebalancing creates another buying opportunity,”

Brian J. White, analyst at Ticonderoga Securities LLC, wrote in a note today. “As these concerns subside and investors again focus on the fundamentals surrounding Apple’s business, we believe the stock will reach new, all-time highs.”

Cisco Systems Inc., the largest provider of networking equipment, gained 0.9 percent to $17.22. Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, rallied 0.9 percent to $25.78.

Both companies’ weightings will more than double.

A gauge of raw-material producers rallied 1.1 percent, the most in the S&P 500 within 10 industries. Gold futures surged to a record of $1,458.60 an ounce as concern that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen boosted demand for the metal as an alternative asset. Portuguese bonds sank and the cost of insuring the nation’s debt rose to a record as Moody’s Investors Service said a bailout is inevitable.

Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. gold producer, advanced 4.4 percent to $56.98. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, rallied 1.5 percent to $56.61.

The S&P 500 has rebounded 6 percent from its low for the year on March 16. Individual investors may have helped drive the rally while professional money managers were sellers, Bespoke Investment Group LLC said.

Individual investors enter most transactions at the start of a trading day, while institutional investors trade at the end of the day, according to Bespoke, which tracks the intraday performance of the market on an hourly basis. Since the benchmark’s 2011 low on March 16, the S&P 500 posted its biggest gain in the first half hour of trading, averaging 0.37 percent, while dropping the most during the final hour, losing 0.05 percent, data from the Harrison, New York-based firm showed.

“Nearly all of the market’s gains during the current rally have come in the first hour and a half of trading,” Justin Walters, Bespoke’s co-founder, wrote in a note to clients yesterday. “If anything, the ‘smart money’ has been taking money off the table.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone,

Warm regards,

Chelsey for Carolann

 

“Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living.

Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope.

And out of hope, progress.” ~Bruce Barton (1886-1967)

Dear Friends,  Thanks everyone for all your kind messages and e-mails.  I am deeply touched and very grateful.

Martin Luther King was assassinated on this day in 1968.  Joanna  Slater writes in today’s Globe & Mail, “The shot rang out on a spring evening in Memphis, Tenn.  Martin Luther King Jr. had stepped onto a balcony of the Lorraine Motel, heading to dinner with friends.  An hour later, the legendary civil-rights leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was dead at the age of 39, gunned down by an escaped felon named James Earl Ray.  King had survived previous attempts on his life, but in an eerie way appeared to anticipate this one. The night before, in a speech that would haunt his heartbroken supporters, he talked of glimpsing a better future he might not live to see.  ‘I may not get there with you,’ he said.  ‘but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land.’”

 

This is an adorable story:

LONG-DISTANCE MOTHERING

“On a recent Sunday in Rome, Daniela Varano and some friends lunched on eggplant parmesan whipped up by the 33-year old publicist’s mother,”  The Wall Street Journal says.  “Mon, meanwhile, was 500 miles away in Bovalino, a small town in southern Italy.  Despite the distance, she does what it takes to spoil her grown daughter with home-cooked fare….Like thousands of other mammas across the southern Italian region of Calabria, she relies on Domenico Martino, a 39-year-old truck driver who has made a career of ferrying lasagnas, raviolis and other traditional dishes over long distances….While Mr. Martino only serves Rome, a wave of other trucks depart each week from Calabria to cities across the rest of Italy.”

photos of the day

April 4, 2011

A goose wearing an ‘identification card’ around its neck walks down a hutong (small alley) next to its owner in central Beijing. The goose is a regular sight in the alley since it goes for a walk each morning with it’s owner who adopted the stray goose a few years ago. David Gray/Reuters

 

 

 

A duck swims through fallen cherry blossom petals on the Tidal Basin in Washington during the 2011 National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

 

 

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

April 4 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a fifth day after Minmetals Resources Ltd. said it will offer to buy Equinox Minerals Ltd. and precious metals, oil and agricultural futures gained.

Equinox, which mines copper in Africa, surged 32 percent after Minmetals said it will bid C$7 a share in cash for the company. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer, increased 2.5 percent as corn and wheat advanced on concerns wet weather will delay planting in the northern U.S. Silver reseller Silver Wheaton Corp. rallied 3.3 percent after Italy rejected a reported cease-fire proposal by Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 88.2 points, or 0.6 percent, to a one-month high of 14,218.35.

“When mergers and acquisitions start happening, it happens in a flurry,” said Todd Johnson, who helps oversee about C$255 million ($263 million) as a money manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “China’s still interested in those types of resources, and they’re proving it with a bid for Equinox.”

The equity benchmark is experiencing its longest streak of gains since Dec. 6 as the U.S. unemployment rate declined to a two-year low and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. launched a takeover bid for Cephalon Inc. The index ended March with its ninth-straight positive monthly return including dividends, the longest streak in 27 years.

Minmetals, a unit of state-owned metals trader China Minmetals Group, said it would offer C$6.3 billion for Equinox.

The bid would require that Equinox give up its own unsolicited attempt to take over Lundin Mining Corp., for which Equinox has offered C$4.8 million.

Equinox soared 32 percent to a record C$7.55. Lundin lost 4 percent from a 34-month high to C$8.

Other copper producers advanced as an index of base-metals and coal producers increased 6.1 percent, the most since May 10.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, climbed 5.8 percent to a record C$137.45. Mercator Minerals Ltd., which mines copper and molybdenum in Arizona, jumped 6.5 percent to C$3.59 after reporting record copper production for March. Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. rose 6.9 percent to C$14.35.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, increased 7.5 percent, the most in 10 months, to C$55.07 after Cliff Hale-Sanders, an analyst at Cormark Securities Inc., named it a “top pick.”

Fertilizer producers rallied as corn and wheat futures gained 3.3 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Potash Corp. climbed 2.5 percent to C$59.48. Agrium Inc., which sells nutrients, pesticides and seeds to farmers, rose 3.2 percent to C$92.22.

Gold and silver advanced as the Libyan conflict and European debt concerns encouraged investors to buy hard assets.

Yields on Portuguese debt increased for an 11th day today. On April 1, Fitch Ratings cut its view on the country’s long-term debt to “BBB-” from “A-.”

Silver Wheaton rallied 3.3 percent to C$42.71. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, climbed 0.7 percent to C$49.78.

First Majestic Silver Corp., which mines in Mexico, gained 9.2 percent to C$22.77, extending a record, after Andrew Kaip, an analyst at Bank of Montreal, raised his rating on the shares to “outperform” from “market perform.”

Richfield Ventures Corp., which explores for gold in British Columbia, surged 25 percent to a record C$9.92 after agreeing to be bought by New Gold Inc. for C$550 million in shares. New Gold, which mines in Mexico, the U.S. and Australia, fell 3.8 percent to C$10.83.

S&P/TSX energy stocks advanced for a fifth day as oil rose to a 30-month high. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil and gas producer, climbed 1 percent to C$44.03. Enbridge Inc., the country’s largest pipeline company, rose 0.9 percent to C$60.72, a record. Natural gas producer Trilogy Energy Corp. increased 5 percent to C$21.41, the highest since April 2006.

Petrominerales Ltd., which produces oil and gas in Colombia, sank 4.6 percent to C$35 after releasing first-quarter production totals that trailed the forecasts of Alex Klein, an analyst at Dundee Securities Ltd.

Westport Innovations Inc., which makes natural-gas engines, gained 7.9 percent to C$25.01 after soaring 26 percent last week. Supporters of natural-gas-fueled vehicles plan in the U.S.

Congress plan to introduce a bill on April 6 that would offer tax credits for them.

US

By Rita Nazareth

April 4 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks advanced, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a second day, as optimism about takeovers outweighed a drop in technology shares following a report showing lower chip sales.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. rose 1.3 percent after Minmetals Resources Ltd. offered to buy Perth-based Equinox Minerals Ltd. for about $6.5 billion. Molycorp Inc. jumped 12 percent as the owner of the largest rare-earth deposit outside China bought most of a European producer. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Intel Corp. retreated more than 1.1 percent after the Semiconductor Industry Association said global three-month average chip sales dropped 1.1 percent.

More than five stocks rose for every four that fell on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. in New York. The S&P 500 advanced less than 0.1 percent to 1,332.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 23.31 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,400.03 today.

“M&A activity has been reasonably strong,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage about $2.7 billion at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “People look at that as a sign of confidence. It’s an indication that stocks are undervalued.

In addition, the U.S. economy is on fairly strong footing. That all provides support for the stock market.”

The S&P 500 has risen 6 percent in 2011 as government stimulus measures, higher-than-estimated earnings and corporate takeovers boosted investors’ optimism. There have been 6,241 deals announced globally this year, totaling $642.6 billion, a 27 percent increase from the $506.5 billion in the same period in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The index had fallen as much as 6.4 percent from this year’s high on Feb. 18 as concern grew about Japan’s nuclear crisis and uprisings in the Middle East and northern Africa.

A gauge of raw-materials companies rallied 0.7 percent today, the most in the S&P 500 within 10 industries. Freeport- McMoRan, the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, gained 1.3 percent to $55.77.

Minmetals, the Hong Kong unit of China’s biggest metals trader, made an unsolicited offer of about C$6.3 billion ($6.5 billion) in cash for Equinox Minerals Ltd., to gain control of Africa’s largest copper mine. Minmetals bid C$7 a share, 23 percent more than Perth-based Equinox’s closing price in Toronto on April 1, the Hong Kong-based company said.

Molycorp jumped 12 percent to $66.41. The owner of the largest rare-earth deposit outside China acquired 90 percent of Estonia-based AS Silmet for about $89 million in cash and stock to double its processing capacity and expand into Europe.

Pfizer Inc. increased 0.8 percent to $20.54. The world’s biggest drugmaker agreed to sell its Capsugel manufacturing unit to KKR & Co. for $2.38 billion in an effort to focus on its higher-profit business developing new medicines.

Epicor Software Corp. jumped 12 percent to $12.56, the highest price since February 2008. The supplier of business programs said it agreed to be acquired by funds advised by Apax Partners for $12.50 a share in cash.

“CEOS are spending money, they’re buying back their stock, they’re investing for the future through capex and M&A,” said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at UBS AG. “We’re at all-time record cash. Companies are returning boatloads not only through M&A, buybacks are back in an enormous way. We’re probably half way through that cycle.”

Ford Motor Co. gained 2.6 percent to $15.55. The automaker rose was raised to “neutral” from “underperform” at Credit Suisse Group AG, which said first-quarter earnings could lift stock prices. Ford is estimated to release results on April 27.

A gauge of technology companies dropped 0.5 percent, the biggest decline in the S&P 500 within 10 industries. The three- month average for global chip sales was $25.5 billion in February, down 1.1 percent from the prior month, the Semiconductor Industry Association said.

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, fell 1.2 percent to $19.49. Hewlett-Packard, the biggest computer maker, slumped 1.6 percent to $40.34. Nvidia Corp., a maker of graphics chips, slumped 3.6 percent to $17.55.

Chipmakers rallied after the 4 p.m. close of U.S. exchanges as Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, agreed to buy National Semiconductor Corp. for about $6.5 billion, its biggest acquisition as it expands its leadership in analog semiconductors.

The Semiconductor HOLDRs Trust, an exchange-traded fund, gained 3 percent to $34.82 at 5:14 p.m. National Semiconductor surged 72 percent to $24.27. Texas Instruments declined 2.1 percent to $33.41.

The biggest increase in profits in more than a century is telling investors that this is no time to sell stocks, even after the S&P 500 almost doubled from its March 2009 low.

S&P 500 earnings are poised to surpass the 2007 peak of $90 a share in the third quarter after surging from $7 in March 2009, the quickest recovery since at least 1900, according to data from S&P and Yale University’s Robert Shiller compiled by Bloomberg. The gap between projected 12-month profits and average earnings over the last 10 years is set to widen the most since 1951, the data show.

“People are more comfortable with the recovery than at any time over the last couple of years,” said Doug Ramsey, the Minneapolis-based director of research at Leuthold Group, which oversees $3.9 billion and recommended buying equities four days before the bull market started. “That’s typically when retail investors regain courage,” and may spur a rise of up to 25 percent in the S&P 500 during the next 18 months, he said.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

All of our selfish impulses, all of our personal desires, obscure our true vision of the soul,

as they only point out our shabby ego.  When we are aware of our soul,

we perceive the inner life that surpasses our ego

and that has profound affinities with the Whole.

-Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

Carolann

 

Everybody needs his memories.  They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door. -Saul Bellow, 1915-2005

?

Dear Friends,

Justice has prevailed.  We won everything in the appeal!   The BC Securities Commission has completely exonerated me against Wellington West’s and IIROC’s false accusations and findings.   I want to thank every one of you from the depths of my heart and soul or your unwavering loyalty, support, kindness and words of  encouragement during this difficult time.

I just came from a funeral for a very dear client who was a marvelous man and a true gentleman.  His favourite hymn was sung at the service, Onward Christian Soldier.   As I was reading the words, I reflected on  Gary’s words to me every morning since this saga began – we soldier on; we fight the war.  I have a picture on my bulletin board beside my desk of Dr. Martin Luther King giving a speech and I have begun every day this past couple of years repeating his words from that speech:  “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”   It mattered to me that I persevere and win this unfair assault because I care about the truth, I care about you and I care that progress continue for women to succeed without intimidation and in the absence of a double standard.  So again, thank you for helping me…

I am off to the last evening lecture of Art in Bloom tonight, capping a week of looking at beautiful gardens and art.  Last night Thomas Hobbs gave a wonderful presentation of his evolving new gardens in South Langley.  He and his partner purchased a 22-acre property a few years ago and it is amazing how they are transforming it into a little piece of garden paradise.

photos of the day

April 1, 2011

The tail lights of a car traveling down a road during a spring snowstorm leave a light trail in this 30-second time exposure in Freeport, Maine.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

 

 

 

 

A B-2 Stealth Bomber flies over a giant American flag during Opening Day ceremonies, which includes the singing of the national anthem, prior to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ MLB National League baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles, California.

Alex Gallardo/Reuters

 

President Obama is being criticized by both parties for not having a clear strategy to get out of Libya. But neither does Moammar Gadhafi, so it’s OK. – Jay Leno

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, extending a third-straight weekly gain, as energy producers and banks advanced after U.S. unemployment fell to a two-year low.

Cenovus Energy Inc., the country’s fifth-largest energy company, increased 1.7 percent as oil traded near a 30-month high. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, rose 2.3 percent as corn rallied. Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-biggest gold producer by market value, lost 1.8 percent as the metal retreated the most since March 15.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 49.37 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,165.47 at 1:36 p.m. in Toronto.

For the week, the equity benchmark has risen 0.9 percent.

“Continued economic recovery in the developed nations and continuing growth in the emerging is positive for equities,” said Ken Mack, an analyst and trader at Stone Asset Management in Toronto, which oversees about C$850 million ($881 million). “Every economic report looks better than the last.”

The S&P/TSX has had nine straight positive monthly returns including dividends, the longest streak in 27 years. Banks and energy companies have gained as employers in the U.S. and Canada have boosted hiring and oil has surged on unrest in the Middle East.

U.S. employers added 216,000 workers in March, exceeding the median economist estimate of 190,000 in a Bloomberg survey.

The unemployment rate declined to 8.8 percent from 8.9 percent.

Crude futures advanced as much as 1.1 percent. Cenovus increased 1.7 percent to C$38.94 after touching an intraday record of C$38.96. Imperial Oil Ltd., Canada’s second-largest energy company, climbed 2.5 percent to C$50.76. Enbridge Inc., the country’s biggest pipeline company, rose 1.7 percent to a record C$60.45.

Fertilizer producers gained as corn futures advanced 6.1 percent in Chicago. Corn increased 4.5 percent yesterday after the U.S. reported stockpiles fell to a three-year low.

Potash Corp. climbed 2.3 percent to C$58.52. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer, rose 1.1 percent to C$90.44.

Precious metals retreated as the U.S. dollar advanced to a two-week high against a basket of world currencies.

Goldcorp dropped 1.8 percent to C$47.49. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, declined 1.5 percent to C$49.63. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., Canada’s fifth- biggest gold producer, lost 3.1 percent to C$62.44.

“Gold is down because of the safety trade,” Mack said.

“The U.S. economy got good job numbers, so there’s less of a concern for safety.”

Romarco Minerals Inc., which is developing a gold project in South Carolina, retreated for a record ninth day, tumbling 17 percent to C$1.84. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked state and federal regulators to deny the project an environmental permit, The State newspaper reported, citing a letter from the EPA.

Canada’s six largest banks each gained after the release of the U.S. jobs data.

Royal Bank, the parent of Rocky Mount, North Carolina-based RBC Bank USA, advanced 1.3 percent to C$60.78. Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender by assets, increased 1.2 percent to an eight-month high of C$63.73. National Bank of Canada, the No. 6 bank by assets, climbed 2.3 percent to a record C$80.56.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Canada’s largest drugmaker, gained 6.6 percent to a seven-year high of C$51.60. Alan Ridgeway, an analyst at Paradigm Capital Inc., boosted his 12-month share-price estimate to $58 from $47.

The company has jumped 19 percent since March 29, when it offered about $5.7 billion to buy Cephalon Inc.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-biggest publicly traded copper producer, advanced 4.3 percent to C$130.84 to extend its three-day climb to 8.4 percent. On March 30, the Vancouver-based company announced a resource and reserves increase at its Kevitsa project in Finland.

Westport Innovations Inc., which makes natural-gas engines, surged 7.4 percent to C$22.82, the highest price since June 2002. The shares have soared 21 percent since March 29, the day before U.S. President Barack Obama promoted natural-gas vehicles in an energy-policy speech.

Exfo Inc., which makes equipment for the telecommunications industry, plunged 22 percent to C$7.92 after announcing second- quarter earnings that missed the average of four analyst estimates by 17 percent, excluding certain items. The shares tumbled as much as 26 percent, the most intraday in 10 years.

US

By Cecile Vannucci and Inyoung Hwang

April 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, adding to gains from the market’s biggest first-quarter rally since 1998, as faster-than-forecast job growth bolstered optimism and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. started a bidding war for NYSE Euronext.

NYSE Euronext soared 13 percent as Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. tried to snatch the New York Stock Exchange from rival suitor Deutsche Boerse AG. General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc. advanced more than 1.5 percent after a report showed manufacturing in the U.S. expanded in March at close to the fastest pace in almost seven years. Chevron Corp. rose 0.8 percent as crude oil rallied to a 30-month high.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.5 percent to 1,332.41 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 56.99 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,376.72. Both gauges closed at their highest levels since Feb. 18.

“The jobs data is pointing in the right direction,” said Chad Morganlander, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based money manager at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which oversees $110 billion in client assets. “Any shift down in the unemployment rate would be looked at in a positive light. One has to keep a cautious eye on trends but any indication of improvement will bode well and lift equities.”

The benchmark S&P 500 advanced 5.4 percent in the three months to March, the biggest first-quarter gain since 1998, as investors speculated the global economy can withstand Japan’s worst earthquake on record and revolts in the Middle East and northern Africa.

Stocks rallied today as the government jobs report also showed the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a two-year low of 8.8 percent in March from 8.9 percent in February. Payrolls grew by 216,000 workers after a 194,000 gain the prior month, the Labor Department said. Economists projected a March gain of 190,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index was little changed at 61.2 from 61.4 in February, remaining near a seven-year high. The median forecast of economists surveyed by was 61.1. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion.

“We’ve actually had a couple of pretty good months now, which is something kind of refreshing,” said Dan Cook, chief executive officer of IG Markets Inc. in Chicago. “Looking across the sectors, everything saw pretty solid gains. It was all pretty positive. We could see one of those rare days where we see the equities flying higher.”

The S&P 500 had an average increase of 0.4 percent on the first day of April in the past 20 years, according to a March 31 note by Bespoke Investment Group, a Harrison, New York-based research company. The U.S. equity benchmark has gained on the first day of April every year since 2006, the report showed.

U.S. equities pared their advance in the final 90 minutes of trading amid speculation funds that track the S&P 500 were selling shares to raise money to purchase stock in BlackRock Inc., the investment firm which is replacing drugmaker Genzyme Corp. in the benchmark index after the close of trading today.

“That 4 point gap down in the SPX a few minutes ago — ’hearing’ that since BLK is getting added to the SPX after the close that Indexers are out there raising cash,” said Dave Lutz, head of exchange-traded fund trading and strategy at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore, in a note to clients, using the ticker symbols for the S&P 500 and BlackRock.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Be magnificent!

 

Death is extraordinarily like life,

when we know how to live.

You cannot live without dying.

You cannot live if you do not die

psychologically every minute.

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand.  -Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881

Dear Friends,

Off to Art in Bloom again tonight….the Art Gallery and gardening community has been hosting seminars/lectures this week about two of my favorite topics.  Last night we heard Dominique Browning’s lecture on the healing capacity of creating a garden.  Tonight, Thomas Hobb’s spins his magic in another presentation.…a few more before it’s over so check it out!

 

photos of the day

March 31, 2011

A bee flies to a crocus flower on a warm, sunny early spring day in Warsaw, Poland when temperature of 63 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded.

Czarek Sokolowski/AP

 

 

 

 

A woman holds a lantern at the entrance to the ‘Harry Potter: The Exhibition’ during a preview in New York. The exhibit will open to the public on April 1.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

 

Market Closes for March 31^st, 2011

North American markets

	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	12,319.70	-30.88  -0.25%	+6.41%
S&P 500	1,325.83	-2.43  -0.18%	+5.42%
NASDAQ	2,781.07	+4.28  +0.15%	+4.83%
TSX	14,116.10	+32.52  +0.32%	+4.

International markets

	Close	Change
Nikkei	9,755.10	+46.31  +0.48%
Hang Seng	23,527.50	+76.09  +0.32%
SENSEX	19,445.22	+155.04  +0.80%
FTSE 100	5,908.76	-39.54  -0.66%
CAC 40	3,989.18	-35.26  -0.88%
DAX	7,041.31	-15.84  -0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.24	101.66	3.34%
Cdn. 30-year bond	104.50	105.08	3.75%
U.S. 10-year bond	101.08	101.19	3.47%
U.S. 30-year bond	103.30	104.00	4.51%

Currency

BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.0290	1.0294
US $	0.9718	0.9714

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7256	0.7304
Euro	1.3782	1.3691

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1,432.90	1,423.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.79	104.26

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 31 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, capping a third-straight quarterly gain, as oil advanced the day before the U.S. March employment report and gold climbed after European inflation exceeded most economists’ forecasts.

Bombardier Inc., the maker of trains and airplanes, jumped 13 percent after reporting earnings that topped the average of 20 analyst estimates by 43 percent, excluding certain items.

Inter Pipeline Fund increased 5.4 percent as oil rose on concern the Libyan conflict will cut production. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rallied 1.1 percent after the U.S. reported smaller corn inventories than analysts had estimated.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 32.52 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,116.10.

“Oil’s up because people are expecting good jobs numbers,” said Paul Ma, who manages C$500 million ($514 million) as a money manager at McLean & Partners in Calgary.

“Economic growth is up, people drive more cars. Gold is up because of inflation. When there’s inflation, where do people go? Gold.”

The index has gained 5 percent this year as the Canadian and U.S. economies expanded and oil prices surged 17 percent on unrest in the Middle East. The equity benchmark slipped 0.1 percent for the month, ending a streak of eight monthly advances.

In addition to reporting its biggest quarterly profit in two years, Bombardier said today it won a A$269 million ($278 million) train contract from the government of South Australia.

Shares of the Montreal-based company rose 13 percent to a 30-month high of C$7.13.

Crude increased 2.4 percent to a 30-month high. Inter Pipeline climbed 5.4 percent to a record C$17.08. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., which produces oil in Colombia, advanced for the first time in eight days, rallying 4 percent to C$26.90.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd., which produces oil and gas in Albania, surged 7.1 percent to C$8.70 after agreeing to pay $34 million to take over 140 wells from Albpetrol Sh.A.

Precious-metals producers climbed after the European Union said consumer prices rose the most in more than two years in March. Bond yields increased in Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, gained 0.6 percent to C$50.39. Goldcorp Inc., the No. 2 producer of the metal by market value, advanced 0.5 percent to C$48.34.

Rubicon Minerals Corp., which explores for gold in Ontario, soared 16 percent to C$5.02 after releasing a resource estimate.

Osisko Mining Corp., which is developing a gold project in Quebec, dropped 3.8 percent to C$13.96 after saying 2011-12 production may be lower than it previously forecast.

Potash Corp., the world’s largest fertilizer producer, and Agrium Inc. rose after the U.S. Agriculture Department said corn stocks fell 15 percent from a year earlier.

Potash Corp. gained 1 percent to C$57.18. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer, advanced 2.9 percent to C$89.53.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, climbed 2.5 percent to C$125.42 after Raymond Goldie, an analyst at Salman Partners Inc., raised his 12-month share-price estimate to C$130.75 from C$127. In a note to clients, Goldie cited a reserves increase for the company’s Kevitsa project in Finland.

Central banks’ asset-purchasing programs, known as quantitative easing, were the stimulus for the S&P/TSX’s streak of increases, Ma said.

“Quantitative easing, whether from Japan, from Europe, from London or from the Fed, 100 percent of the time lifts the market up,” he said. When the Fed announced a second round of easing in November, “we put all our money in. We went pedal to the metal.”

US

By Cecile Vannucci

March 31 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, trimming the biggest first-quarter rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1998, as a Federal Reserve official said interest rates may need to rise and concern about Europe’s debt crisis grew.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. lost 2.1 percent as David Sokol, once a candidate to succeed Warren Buffett as the head of the investment firm, resigned. CarMax Inc. slumped 7.2 percent after the largest U.S. seller of used cars said margins shrunk. Home Depot Inc., Intel Corp. and American Express Co. fell more than 1.3 percent to lead losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 1,325.83 at 4 p.m. in New York and advanced 5.4 percent during the January-March period.

The Dow average dropped 30.88 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,319.73 today. Stocks extended losses late in the session as Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota told the Wall Street Journal that policy makers may have to lift rates to fight inflation.

“That kind of brought the market back to reality,” Michael Nasto, senior trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages $3 billion in San Antonio, Texas, said of Kocherlakota’s comments. “We had a negative tone set. It’s another example of people being a little bit timid about going to the market simply because of what they’re hearing.”

Equities fell earlier after Irish regulators instructed four banks to raise 24 billion euros ($34 billion) in additional capital following a stress test on the nation’s lenders.

Portugal reported a budget deficit of 8.6 percent of gross domestic product last year, higher than a government target of about 7 percent. In the U.S., jobless claims topped economist estimates a day before the Labor Department’s monthly labor data.

The S&P 500 usually climbs further following first-quarter gains similar to this year’s, according to Birinyi Associates Inc. The index has risen about 7.1 percent in the final three quarters of years following January-March gains of 5 percent to

7 percent, Birinyi data dating back to 1928 show.

The benchmark gauge of U.S. stocks is trading for about 13.7 times its companies’ estimated operating earnings, compared with an average multiple of 18.1 times reported profits over the last decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 388,000 in the week ended March 26, the Labor Department said. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a decline to 380,000 claims. The report comes before tomorrow’s monthly government report on non-farm payrolls, expected to show that the economy added 190,000 jobs in March.

Other reports showed U.S. factory orders unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent after a 3.3 percent gain in January, the Commerce Department said today. The Institute for Supply Management- Chicago Inc.’s business barometer fell in March. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose for the first time in five weeks to minus 46.9 in the period ended March 27 from a seven-month low of minus 48.9 the prior week.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares fell 2.1 percent to $83.63. Sokol bought about 96,000 Lubrizol Corp. shares in January before recommending the company as a takeover target, according to a statement late yesterday from Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive officer. Sokol had initiated confidential talks with Lubrizol the month before.

Berkshire agreed to buy the firm for $9 billion on March 14.

CarMax slumped 7.2 percent to $32.10, its biggest decline of the year. The largest U.S. seller of used cars said gross margin for the fourth-quarter fell to 14.2 percent from 14.5 percent in the year-ago period.

Home Depot, the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, fell 1.4 percent to $37.06. American Express, the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, slid 1.6 percent to $45.20.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, fell 1.4 percent to $20.18 after FBR Capital Markets said in a note to clients the world’s largest chipmaker faces slower-than-expected growth in the personal-computer market during the second quarter and its Sandy Bridge products are not stimulating as much demand as anticipated.

American International Group Inc. fell 2.5 percent to $35.14 after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said it has declined the insurer’s $15.7 billion offer to purchase the residential-mortgage backed securities owned by the central bank’s Maiden Lane II LLC rescue fund.

U.S. Steel Corp. declined 4.2 percent to $53.94 after the Pittsburgh-based company was added to Deutsche Bank AG’s short- term sell list.

Rowan Cos. advanced 3 percent to $44.18 after Moody’s changed the offshore driller’s outlook to “stable” from “negative.”

CF Industries Holdings Inc., the world’s second-largest maker of nitrogen fertilizer, rallied 3.2 percent to $136.79.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported corn acreage this year will be the second largest since 1944 as increasing demand for food and fuel cuts stockpiles worldwide.

XL Group Plc added 4 percent to $24.60 after Egan-Jones Ratings Co. said the insurer stands good chance of a takeover by Berkshire Hathaway or other stronger peers.

The rebound in the S&P 500 isn’t over, according to Bay Crest Partners LLC. When the S&P 500 slipped to 1,249.05 on March 16, the weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors showed the next day that the ratio of bulls to bears fell to 0.71, the lowest since Aug. 26, Bloomberg data show. Christian Bendixen, director of technical research at Bay Crest, said the increase in pessimism may reverse and help the S&P 500 climb to 1,425, or 7.3 percent above yesterday’s close.

“We have some good reasons to want to own stocks,” said Perry Piazza, director of investment strategy at Contango Capital Advisors in San Francisco, who helps oversee about $3.3 billion of assets. “We know the energy and materials sectors are doing really well, we know the dollar is weak, we know that individual investors are interested again in coming back to the stock market. I don’t think it’s time to take your chips off the table yet.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

We would rather cling to the known than face the unknown – the known being our house, our furniture, our family, our character, our work, our knowledge, our fame, our loneliness, our gods – that little thing that moves around incessantly within itself, with its own limited embittered existence.

-Krishnamurti,1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

Facing it, always facing it, that’s the way to get through.  Face it. -Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924

Dear Friends,

 

March 30, 1921, Virginia Woolf  wrote in her diary while at Zennor:

This is the last evening, and Leonard is packing, and I’m not in the mood for writing, but feel superstitiously that I should like to read something actually  written in Cornwall.  By looking  over my left shoulder I see gorse yellow against the Atlantic blue.  And we’ve been lying on the Gurnard’s Head, on  beds of samphire among grey rocks with buttons of yellow lichen on them.  You look down onto the semi-transparent water – the waves all scrambled into white round the rocks – gulls swaying on bits of seaweed – rocks now dry now drenched with white waterfalls pouring down crevices. We took a rabbit path round the cliff, and I find myself a little shakier than I used to be.  Still however maintaining without force to my conscience that this is the loveliest place in the world.

photos of the day

March 30, 2011

A model arrives for the Christie’s Green Auction: Bid To Save The Earth event in New York March 29, 2011.

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

 

 

 

 

Britain’s Prince Harry (l.) tries out an immersion suit, during training for the Walking with the Wounded expedition, on the island of Spitsbergen, situated between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole. The third in line to the British throne will train for three days before accompanying the team on the first five days of their four-week expedition.

David Cheskin/AP

 

 

Market Closes for March 30^th, 2011

North American markets

	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	12,350.60	+71.60 +0.58%
S&P 500	1,328.26	+8.82 +0.67%
NASDAQ	2,776.79	+19.90 +0.72%
TSX	14,083.60	+153.23 +1.10%

International markets

	Close	Change
Nikkei	9,708.79	+249.71 +2.64%
Hang Seng	23,451.40	+391.07 +1.70%
SENSEX	19,290.18	+169.38 +0.89%
FTSE 100	5,948.30	+16.13 +0.27%
CAC 40	4,024.44	+36.64 +0.92%
DAX	7,057.15	+122.71 +1.77%

Bonds

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.66	101.65	3.29%
Cdn. 30-year bond	105.08	104.90	3.72%
U.S. 10-year bond	101.19	101.04	3.43%
U.S. 30-year bond	104.00	103.11	4.50%

Currency

BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.0294	1.0245
US $	0.9714	0.9761

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7304	0.7271
Euro	1.3691	1.3753

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1,423.50	1,418.30

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.26	104.54

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day as gains in Canadian home prices and U.S. employment spurred bank shares and gold and natural gas producers advanced.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender by assets, advanced 1.8 percent after a report by Teranet Inc. and National Bank of Canada showed a 0.4 percent increase in home prices in January. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Canada’s largest drugmaker, surged 12 percent after making an unsolicited takeover bid for Cephalon Inc. Base metals producer Lundin Mining Corp. rose 4.9 percent after breaking off a deal to be bought by Inmet Mining Corp.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 153.23 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,083.58.

“It’s a reduction in concerns about the slowdown in the world economy,” said Robert McWhirter, who oversees C$140 million ($144 million) as a money manager at Selective Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. “Now it appears people are becoming more comfortable moving toward the risk-on strategy.”

The index fell 1.5 percent this month through yesterday, jeopardizing an eight-month streak of gains. Energy companies retreated from a peak they’d reached at the outbreak of the Libyan conflict and insurers and uranium producers dropped after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

The S&P/TSX Financials Index climbed to the highest level since May 2008. ADP Employer Services said U.S. companies hired 201,000 workers in March.

TD, which has more than 1,000 U.S. branches, advanced 1.8 percent to a record C$86.40. National Bank, the country’s sixth- largest lender by assets, rose 2 percent to a record C$78.81 after Chief Executive Officer Louis Vachon told an annual meeting that the company is considering a stock split. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s fourth-biggest insurer, gained 1.7 percent to C$17.19.

Valeant offered about $5.7 billion in cash for Cephalon, a Frazer, Pennsylvania-based maker of sleep and pain drugs, saying Cephalon had rebuffed its attempts to negotiate a friendly takeover.

The purchase of Cephalon could increase Valeant’s share price by $20, Louise Chen, an analyst at Collins Stewart LLC, said in a note to clients.

Valeant soared 12 percent to a seven-year high of C$48.58.

The shares have jumped 72 percent this year, the most among S&P/TSX stocks.

Gold futures advanced for the first time in five days on demand for alternative investments after Muammar Qaddafi’s forces retook the oil port of Ras Lanuf from rebels.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest gold producer, increased 1.4 percent to C$50.08. Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest gold producer by market value, climbed 1.6 percent to C$48.09. China Gold International Resources Corp., which mines in China, rallied 3.6 percent to C$5.47 before the release of its fourth-quarter financial results.

Energy companies rose on the Libyan fighting and a forecast of below-normal temperatures in the U.S. that led to a gain in natural gas futures.

TransCanada Corp., the owner of the country’s largest pipeline system, advanced 1 percent to C$39.18. Cenovus Energy Inc., the country’s No. 5 energy company by revenue, increased 1.9 percent to C$38.21.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd., which produces oil and gas in Albania, climbed for the first time in seven days, rising 3.7 percent to C$8.12. Jamie Somerville, an analyst at TD, boosted his rating on the shares to “action list buy” from “buy.”

Lundin rallied 4.9 percent to the highest price since 2008, C$7.96, after terminating the agreement with Inmet so it could try to fight off a rival bid from Equinox Mineral Ltd. Lundin adopted a so-called poison pill that would make it more difficult for Equinox to succeed in its hostile offer.

Equinox, which mines copper in Africa, rose for a sixth day, advancing 2.7 percent to C$5.63. Inmet, which produces base and precious metals, surged 6.7 percent to C$66.62.

Westport Innovations Inc., which makes natural-gas engines, jumped 12 percent, the most in nine months, to C$21.10. U.S.

President Barack Obama promoted natural-gas-fueled vehicles in a speech at Georgetown University in Washington today.

Neo Material Technologies Inc., which makes rare-earth and zirconium products, rallied 7.5 percent to a record C$9.30 after increasing 4.6 percent yesterday. The Metal-Pages website said yesterday that rare-earth processors in China have had to stop production due to a supply shortage.

 

US

By Cecile Vannucci

March 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, extending the biggest first-quarter rally in 13 years for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as a report showing companies added more workers in March bolstered optimism about the economy.

Cephalon Inc. surged 28 percent for the biggest jump in the S&P 500 after Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. offered to buy the maker of sleep and pain drugs. Visa Inc. climbed 2.8 percent on speculation that curbs on debit-card fees will be delayed or modified. AT&T Inc. rallied as its chief executive officer pitched the company’s acquisition of T-Mobile USA as a way to boost network capacity and improve service.

The S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 1,328.26 at 4 p.m. in New York and is up 5.6 percent for the first quarter, which ends tomorrow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 71.60 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,350.61 and has rallied 6.7 percent so far this year. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller stocks rose

1.3 percent to 840.28, the highest level since October 2007.

“Given the beginning of a strong cyclical recovery in the U.S. and a tougher environment in many of these other international markets, it seems to us like a good place for investors to be,” said Connor Browne, who oversees about $5 billion as co-manager of the Thornburg Value Fund at Thornburg Investment Management Inc. in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “We’re positively inclined toward valuations and fundamentals for the U.S. market.”

The S&P 500 is poised to complete a third straight quarterly advance and is headed for its biggest gain in the January-March period since 1998, when the index surged 14 percent. The benchmark gauge of U.S. stocks is trading for about

13.7 times its companies’ estimated operating earnings, compared with an average multiple of 18.1 times reported profits over the last decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

A report from ADP Employer Services today showed companies hired 201,000 workers in March, marking the third time in four months that the nation added more than 200,000 jobs. A Labor Department report on April 1 may show total U.S. non-farm payrolls rose 190,000 in March and the unemployment rate held at 8.9 percent, economists predicted. The jobless rate fell below 9 percent in February for the first time in 22 months.

“There’s certainly some positive expectations for the jobs numbers this Friday,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “The expectation is that the U.S. economy is going to remain strong and the equity markets are going to continue higher,” he said.

Cephalon advanced 28 percent to $75.44 after Valeant, Canada’s biggest drug maker, offered to buy the Frazer, Pennsylvania-based company for $73 a share in cash. The offer is valued at about $5.7 billion. Valeant rose 13 percent to $50.08.

Forest Laboratories Inc., another drugmaker, climbed 4.3 percent to $32.48.

Visa, the world’s biggest payments network, gained 2.8 percent to $74.23 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday the central bank wouldn’t meet an April 21 deadline to come up with a final rule on debit-card transaction fees. The cap, mandated by the Dodd-Frank law that overhauled the financial industry last year, must be in place by July 21.

MasterCard Inc., the world’s second-biggest payments network, rose 0.8 percent to $253.66. AT&T Inc. advanced 2.2 percent, the biggest increase in the Dow, to $30.71. CEO Randall Stephenson today said the acquisition of Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA would boost network capacity and improve service for devices such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The executive spoke at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Apple fell 0.7 percent to $348.63.

PPG Industries Inc. gained 5.9 percent to $95.93, its highest price since at least 1980. The world’s second-biggest paint maker forecast first-quarter profit of at least $1.30 a share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.12.

Salesforce.com rose 5.6 percent to $134.49 after the largest supplier of customer-management software agreed to buy Radian6 Technologies Inc. for about $340 million in cash and stock to add software that lets companies keep abreast of the social Web.

BlackRock surged 6.6 percent to $198.84. The company will replace Genzyme Corp. in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on April 1, S&P said in a statement. Separately, Citigroup Inc. added the shares to its “top picks” list. Genzyme, which is being removed from the index because France’s Sanofi-Aventis SA is buying the company, dropped less than 0.1 percent to $76.01.

Coca-Cola Co. climbed 0.5 percent to $66.04 as the company said its bottled-water plants in Japan are operating 24 hours a day to meet increased demand because of concern that radiation discharges from the country’s stricken nuclear power plant have contaminated tap water.

Lennar Corp. slumped 4.2 percent to $18.27 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500. Stephen East at Ticonderoga Securities LLC cut the homebuilder to “neutral” from “buy.”

Nvidia Corp. slid 3.8 percent, the second-biggest drop in the S&P 500, to $18.45. ThinkEquity LLC analyst Krishna Shankar lowered his price target for the maker of three-dimensional graphics processors to $18 from $24.

Ameron International Corp. lost 6.6 percent to $69.82 after the maker of fiberglass pipes posted a $4.3 million loss in its fiscal first quarter ended Feb. 27 as poor weather hurt sales.

The S&P 500 usually climbs further following first-quarter gains similar to this year’s, according to Birinyi Associates Inc. The index rises about 7.1 percent in the final three quarters of years following January-March gains of 5 percent to 7 percent, Birinyi data dating back to 1928 show.

The U.S. stock market is about to begin one of the most- bullish months of the year, according to a March 28 note by Bespoke Investment Group, a Harrison, New York-based research company. The Dow has averaged an April gain of 4.2 percent over the past five years, the note said. April has been the best performing month for the past 50 years, it also said.

“People remain very bullish,” said Wedbush Securities’ James. “It’s been one of the strongest first quarters we’ve had” in more than 10 years. “People want to make sure that they show enough long positions in their portfolios going into the end of the quarter tomorrow.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone. Be magnificent!

 

A mind that is burdened with the past is a sorrowful mind.

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

 

As ever,

Carolann

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.

-Sean O’Casey, 1880-1964

Dear Friends,

Noteworthy:  On this day, March 29^th, 1999, the Dow Jones topped 10,000 for the first time!

This time tomorrow what will we see
Field full of houses, endless rows of crowded streets
I don’t where I’m going, I don’t want to see
I feel the world below me looking up at me
Leave the sun behind me, and watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by…
-The Kinks, This Time Tomorrow

 

photo of the day

March 29, 2011

A sparrow pecks a cherry blossom at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.        Lee Jin-man/AP

Market Closes for March 29^th, 2011

 

North American markets

	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	12,297.00	+81.13  +0.67%	+6.06%
S&P 500	1,319.44	+9.25  +0.71%	+4.91%
NASDAQ	2,756.89	+26.21  +0.96%	+3.92%
TSX	13,930.30	+37.62  +0.27%	+3.34%

International markets

	Close	Change
Nikkei	9,459.08	-19.45  -0.21%
Hang Seng	23,060.40	-7.83  -0.03%
SENSEX	19,120.80	+177.66  +0.94%
FTSE 100	5,932.17	+27.68  +0.47%
CAC 40	3,987.80	+10.85  +0.27%
DAX	6,934.44	-4.19  -0.06%

Bonds

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.65	101.80	3.29%
Cdn. 30-year bond	104.90	105.25	3.73%
U.S. 10-year bond	101.04	101.20	3.49%
U.S. 30-year bond	103.11	104.08	4.54%

Currency

BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.0245	1.0248
US $	0.9761	0.9758

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7271	0.7266
Euro	1.3753	1.3763

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1,418.30	1,421.40

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	104.54	103.80

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, led by banks and energy shares, as investors took advantage of lower prices after the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell near its average level over the past 50 days.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, the country’s second-largest bank, gained 1 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada’s second-biggest energy company by market value, advanced 1.6 percent as crude futures climbed after three days of losses.

Diamond producer Harry Winston Diamond Corp. rallied 4.5 percent after Bank of Montreal raised its rating on the shares.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index increased 37.62 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,930.35. The index had fallen as much as 0.4 percent to 13,843.39, approaching the 50-day moving average of 13,811.74.

“There’s a lot of stranded capital that missed most of the rally from the beginning of September that was looking to get in on any pullback,” said Bob Decker, who helps oversee C$5.5 billion ($5.6 billion) as a money manager at Aurion Capital Management in Toronto. “There’s a good technical underpinning given the demand for equities.”

The index had fallen 1.7 percent this month through yesterday after eight-straight months of gains. Uranium producers and insurers dropped after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and energy producers declined from a 30-month high reached at the outbreak of the war in Libya.

An index in a healthy stock market should bounce off moving averages, according to technical analysts, who study charts of trading patterns and prices to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index.

The S&P/TSX Banks Index rose for the first time in four days. TD gained 1 percent to C$84.84. Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender by assets, advanced 0.6 percent to C$62.43. National Bank of Canada, the No. 6 bank in the country, increased 1.4 percent to C$77.30.

Oil producers climbed as crude rose 0.8 percent in New York, extending its 12-month rally to 28 percent. Canadian Natural gained 1.6 percent to C$47.58. Imperial Oil Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by revenue, advanced 2.3 percent to C$50.18. Enbridge Inc., Canada’s biggest pipeline company, increased 0.8 percent to C$59.26.

Harry Winston climbed 4.5 percent to a nine-month high of C$14.79 after Edward Sterck, an analyst at BMO, raised his rating on the shares to “outperform” from “market perform.”

In a note to clients, Sterck cited “a robust outlook for rough diamonds and the luxury goods sectors.”

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., which calls itself the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, rallied 4.9 percent to a 16-month high of C$26.76 after Ben Cherniavsky, an analyst at Raymond James Financial Inc., boosted his rating on the stock to “outperform” from “market perform.”

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. gained 1.9 percent to C$55.65 in Toronto Stock Exchange trading after sinking 13 percent in the previous two days.

Production of Apple Inc.’s iPhones may suffer from parts shortages related to the Japanese earthquake, Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities Inc., said in a research note. Office Depot Inc. said it will begin selling RIM’s Playbook tablet on April 19.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, advanced 0.8 percent to C$55.70 as wheat futures climbed on speculation dry weather in the central U.S. will limit crop yields.

Producers of rare earth elements rallied after the Metal- Pages website reported rare-earth processors in China have had to stop production due to a supply shortage.

Rare Element Resources Ltd., which is developing a rare- earth-elements project in Wyoming, soared 11 percent to C$13.08.

Avalon Rare Metals Inc., which explores for rare earths in Canada, surged 11 percent to C$7.86. Neo Material Technologies Inc., which makes rare-earth and zirconium products, increased 5.1 percent in Toronto Stock Exchange trading to C$8.69.

Yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. increased 3.3 percent to C$86.87, adding to a record share price, after announcing a two-for-one stock split.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Cecile Vannucci

March 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a three-week high, as Home Depot Inc. drove consumer companies higher and energy shares rose amid speculation production will increase in the Middle East.

Home Depot rose 2.9 percent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer sold $2 billion in bonds to help finance buybacks.

Rowan Cos. and Schlumberger Ltd. rallied more than 4.4 percent as oil gained 0.8 percent. AK Steel Holding Corp. gained 5.2 percent as SAC Capital Advisors LP reported a stake. Apollo Group Inc., owner of the biggest U.S. for-profit college, fell 4.3 percent following lower enrollment.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 1,319.44 at 4 p.m. in New York. It rebounded after falling to 1,305.26, compared with yesterday’s 50-day average of 1,306.11, a bullish sign to some traders. The Dow gained 81.13 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,279.01, three days before a U.S. government report forecast to show non-farm payrolls increased by 190,000 in March.

“It’s hard not to want to be a part of this market when there’s clear economic momentum being driven by the jobs market,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, which oversees about $340 billion. “Any other week, these downgrades of Greece and Portugal would knock the market down.”

The S&P 500 fell below 1,306.11 — its 50-day average as of yesterday’s close — at least four times today, and rebounded within three minutes each time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark measure of U.S. shares closed at a 32- month high of 1,343.01 on Feb. 18.

“There are a lot of technical factors also playing out,” Paulsen said. “You’re bowling through the 50-day moving average and zeroing in on a run at whether we’ll get to that 1,345 level” on the S&P 500, he said.

The S&P 500 fell as much as 0.4 percent earlier after S&P reduced Portugal and Greece’s debt ratings, bolstering speculation Europe’s debt crisis will hamper the global economy.

Portugal’s sovereign credit ratings were cut to the lowest investment grade of BBB- and Greece was shifted to BB- at S&P, which said more reductions are possible.

“The market is not surprised by the Portugal and Greece cuts,” said Liam Dalton, president of Axiom Capital Management Inc. in New York, which oversees $1.2 billion. “It’s really more a factor of the market having a sharp move upward and consolidating those gains rather than reacting in a harsh way to the news of Portugal and Spain.”

Home Depot rose 2.9 percent to $37.70 after it sold $2 billion of 10- and 30-year bonds. The Atlanta-based company will use proceeds to replace $1 billion of 5.2 percent notes issued in 2006 that matured March 1 and to buy its own stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Energy companies in the S&P advanced 1 percent for the second-biggest gain as a group. Baker Hughes Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chad Deaton said Saudi Arabia will deploy more drilling rigs, boosting its count by 28 percent to 118.

Rowan, the U.S. oil and natural-gas driller that also builds rigs, gained 5.2 percent, the biggest increase in the S&P 500, to $43.46. Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield contractor, rallied 4.4 percent to $94.36. Baker Hughes, the world’s third-largest oilfield services provider, rose 0.5 percent to $74.16.

Crude for May delivery gained 81 cents to settle at $104.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has risen 28 percent in the past year.

AK Steel rallied 5.2 percent to $16.42, the second-biggest gain in the S&P 500. SAC Capital, the hedge fund run by Steven A. Cohen, reported a 4.8 percent stake in the third-largest U.S. steelmaker by sales.

Apollo Group plunged 4.3 percent to $40.55 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. New student enrollment at the University of Phoenix fell 45 percent, compared with the average analyst estimate that called for a 42 percent drop. An index of 13 for- profit education companies in the U.S. tumbled 1.5 percent.

Amazon climbed 3.1 percent to $174.62. It joined the ranks of music-streaming services today by unveiling Cloud Player, allowing users to buy tracks, store them on the company’s servers and play them on computers and Android smartphones.

Apple gained 0.2 percent to $350.96 and Google rose 1.1 percent to $581.73.

Molycorp Inc., the owner of the world’s largest rare-earth deposit outside China, jumped 7.5 percent to $59.65. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its share-price estimate to $74 a share from $66, saying a recent increase in domestic rare-earth prices in China point to a healthier market than previously thought.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the owner of the St. Regis and W hotel brands, gained 3.9 percent to $57.51 after sliding 5.7 percent yesterday. Chief Executive Officer Frits van Paasschen today said at a JPMorgan Chase & Co. conference in Las Vegas the company is seeing strong travel demand, a day after competitor Marriott International Inc. warned of weakness in North America.

Sprint Nextel Corp. fell 3.4 percent to $4.62 for the third-biggest drop in the S&P. AT&T Inc.’s planned $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA “still looks doable,” Stifel Nicolaus & Co. said in a note to clients.  Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless provider, said this week that the transaction will damage industry competition and called on the government to block it. AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, rose 2.4 percent to $30.05.

Lennar Corp., the third-biggest U.S. homebuilder, tumbled 3.4 percent, the second-biggest drop in the S&P 500, to $19.07 after the Miami-based company posted a 13 percent decline in consolidated orders during the first quarter. That missed the average 2 percent increase expected by analysts, according to Deutsche Bank AG, which estimated a 9 percent drop.

“The market is resilient because investors are realizing that stocks are the more compelling game in town after we’ve moved into a more consistent growth phase in the economy,” said Michael Gibbs, the Memphis, Tennessee-based chief equity strategist at Morgan Keegan Inc., which manages $80 billion.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone. Be magnificent!

 

Life is like a garden.  Quite naturally, leaves wither and flowers fade.

Only if we clear the decay of the past

then and there can we really enjoy the beauty of the new leaves and flowers.

Likewise, we must clear the murkiness of past bad experiences from our minds.

Life is remembrance in forgetfulness.

Forgive what ought to be forgiven; forget what ought to be forgotten.

Let us embrace life with renewed vigor…

We should be able to face every moment of life with renewed expectation, like a freshly blossomed flower.

-Mata Amritanandamayi, 1953-

As ever,

Carolann

 

I always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things

I don’t. -W. Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965

Dear Friends,

I love the feedback I receive from all of you….after quoting in my  Newsletter an e-mail I received from one my clients on  Friday’s – who was remembering parachuting down on March 24, 1944 into fire across the Rhine, eventually successfully overwhelming the 2^nd Parachute Corps of the 1^st German Parachute Army, I received this e-mail from another client on Friday night:

Hi Carolann,

Please pass on to your client who jumped on 25 March 1944 the thanks of my brother, myself, and our parents, both of whom were liberated by the Canadians in the Netherlands, my father in fall 1944 in Tiel, and my mother at long last in Amsterdam in early May 1945.

The populations were all on the brink of starvation north of the Dutch rivers due to the Allied blockade of supplies to the occupying German force.

We’ve been there for the liberation parades (typically held on May 5th) and remembrance day (May 4th), and we attend Remembrance Day every year here in the fall.  We always bring our kids, who are now 12 and 9.  They really, really get it.

 

Sage advice in today’s Globe & Mail:  Don’t cut back on sleep

As the demands of life keep rising, one of the first steps we take is to cut back on sleep.  Perhaps it’s just for a few days or a week, when overly pressured.  But often it’s a recurring practice, one that Tony Schwartz, an expert on personal energy, frowns upon.

“We continue to live by a remarkably durable myth:  Sleeping one hour less will give us one more hour of productivity.  In reality, the research suggests that even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a significant toll on our health, our mood, our cognitive capacity and our productivity,” he writes on the Energy Project blog.

So how much sleep do we need?  He notes that research finds that when people are in environments without windows and clocks and told to sleep when they are tired, 95 % sleep between seven and eight hours of every 24 hours….He stresses that great performers sleep even more than the average.  In a famous study of violinists by Anders Ericcson, the top performers slept an average of 8.5 hours out of every 24, including a 20- to 30- minute nap in mid-afternoon.

So sleep more, perchance to improve your productivity.

We went to the Jackson Browne concert on Friday night – and it was amazing.  It was the beginning of his cross Canada tour, so if you are able to get tickets as he treads across the country, do get them, you will not be disappointed.  He plays solo – no band.

photos of the day

March 28, 2011

The Three Mile Island nuclear power generating station in Middletown, Pa. continues to generate electric power with the Unit 1 reactor. TMI was the scene of the March 28^th, 1979 meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor the worst nuclear power plant disaster in the United states. Bradley C Bower/AP

 

 

 

 

An religious offering of food and alcoholic drinks placed on a mat with chopsticks and glasses sits on the bank of the partially frozen Songhua River in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province. David Gray/Reuters

 

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in 12 days, led by producers of energy and precious metals, as oil and gold dropped after Libyan rebels recaptured territory from Muammar Qaddafi’s forces.

Kinross Gold Corp., Canada’s third-largest gold producer, declined 3.5 percent as the metal retreated for a third day.

Vector Aerospace Corp., which repairs helicopters and engines, surged 13 percent after agreeing to be bought by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil and gas producer, slipped 1.8 percent as crude futures fell the most in nine days.

“The Libyan situation is becoming more clear with the coalition forces assisting the rebel side,” said Irwin Michael, who helps manage C$1 billion ($1 billion) as a money manager at ABC Group of Funds in Toronto. “There’s less concern of there being a bottleneck with oil supply.”

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 146.66 points, or 1 percent, to 13,892.73.

The index decreased 0.7 percent this month through March 25, led by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and uranium producer Cameco Corp., as RIM missed analysts’ earnings estimates and the Japanese nuclear crisis led to a plunge in uranium prices. The S&P/TSX has advanced eight straight months.

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodities fell for the first time in nine days today. A U.S. Commerce Department report that consumer spending increased more in February than most economists had forecast weighed on precious- metal prices.

Kinross declined 3.5 percent to C$15.21. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, lost 1.5 percent to C$49.74. Eldorado Gold Corp., which mines in China and Turkey, dropped 3.1 percent to C$15.49.

Energy companies retreated as oil futures fell for a third day. Suncor lost 1.8 percent to C$43.33. Nexen Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on five continents, slipped 3.1 percent to C$23.61. Crescent Point Energy Corp., which produces oil in western Canada, dropped 3.1 percent, the most since June, to C$46.46.

Oil producer TransGlobe Energy Corp. rallied 5 percent to C$14.30 after buying a concession in Egypt for $60 million.

Uranium producers declined as radiation reached fatal levels outside of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

Cameco decreased 4.2 percent to C$29.29. Uranium One Inc., a mining company controlled by Moscow-based ARMZ Uranium Holding, slumped 10 percent to C$3.90. Denison Mines Corp., which produces uranium in the U.S., retreated 6 percent to C$2.51.

Producers of metals used in industry fell as copper dropped on concern Japanese carmakers may have to suspend production in China.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest base-metals and coal producer, declined 2.2 percent to C$51.50. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, lost 4.2 percent to C$120.60. European Goldfields Ltd., which mines base and precious metals in Greece, tumbled 6.1 percent to C$12.65.

Vector Aerospace soared 13 percent to C$12.83 after accepting EADS’s bid of C$13 a share in cash. Vector Aerospace had jumped 16 percent last week to a record high on speculation of an agreement.

Lumber producers rallied after the U.S. National Association of Realtors said pending sales of existing homes rose 2.1 percent in February.

West Fraser Timber Co., Canada’s largest lumber producer, surged 5.7 percent to C$57.55, the highest in at least 24 years.

Canfor Corp. gained 3.1 percent to a six-year high of C$14.43.

Yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. soared 7.8 percent to a record C$83.32 in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.

James Cramer praised the company on his “Mad Money” show on CNBC March 25.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. decreased 2 percent to a five-month low of C$54.64 after losing a round in a legal dispute with Eastman Kodak Co. over patents. The U.S.

International Trade Commission said March 25 it will review a judge’s findings that the BlackBerry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone don’t violate a Kodak imaging-software patent.

 

US

By Cecile Vannucci

March 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, erasing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s gain in the final 20 minutes of trading, as Marriott International Inc. led consumer shares lower and concern grew that Japan is failing to contain hazardous materials at its damaged nuclear plant.

Marriott lost 6.3 percent after the largest U.S. hotel chain said revenue growth is being held back by weak North American demand. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. slumped 5.7 percent. EBay Inc. slipped 4.3 percent after announcing a $2.4 billion takeover of GSI Commerce Inc. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. fell 5.7 percent as it sold preferred stock.

RadioShack Corp. rallied 5 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after saying it will sell Apple Inc.’s iPad 2 starting tomorrow.

The S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,310.19 at 4 p.m. in New York after climbing as much as 0.5 percent earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 22.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,197.88. Trading volume on U.S. exchanges totaled 5.96 billion shares, the lowest since Dec. 31.

“I’d expect the market would struggle more, particularly with unknowns, not only in Japan, but all across the Mideast and north Africa,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees $85 billion. “There’s a lot of uncertainty out there.”

Equities rallied earlier, sending the Dow average 52.33 points higher, after consumer spending and sales of existing homes topped projections. Stock indexes dropped as radiation levels that can prove fatal were detected outside reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.

Consumer spending increased 0.7 percent, the most since October, to beat the 0.5 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists, Commerce Department figures showed.

Incomes rose 0.3 percent, less than projected. The index of pending home resales increased 2.1 percent after a 2.8 percent drop the prior month, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Policy makers should review whether to complete a second round of asset purchases scheduled to end in June because of strong U.S. economic data, Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said to reporters in Marseille, France, on March 26.

Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker have also urged a review of the stimulus measures in light of a strengthening economy and concern over future inflation.

U.S. equities fell on concern that Japan is failing to contain hazardous materials at the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. The discovery of plutonium particles outside the plant north of Tokyo means there has been degradation of the nuclear fuel in at least one of the reactors, International Atomic Energy Agency Deputy Director General of Safety Denis Flory said today at a press briefing in Vienna.

Nine out of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell, led by an index of companies dependent on discretionary spending by consumers, which slid 1.1 percent.

Marriott tumbled 6.3 percent to $35.30 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The company expects first-quarter revenue per available room to rise about 7 percent, at the low end of the company’s forecast of 7 percent to 9 percent, as North American demand has been below expectations, the hotel chain said.

Starwood, the owner of the St. Regis and W hotel brands, slid 5.7 percent to $55.37.

EBay fell 4.3 percent to $30.34 after the owner of the largest e-commerce market agreed to buy GSI for about $2.4 billion to add services that help retailers market and distribute wares. GSI investors will get $29.25 a share in cash, San Jose, California-based EBay said today in a statement.

Goodyear Tire lost 5.7 percent to $14.57 after the largest U.S. tiremaker said it started a public offering of $435 million of mandatory convertible preferred stock.

RadioShack surged 5 percent to $15.01. The electronics retailer will start selling Apple Inc.’s iPad2 tablet computer tomorrow at 500 locations. Stifel Nicolaus raised the Fort Worth, Texas-company to a “buy” from a “hold” with a forecast price of $21.

Some energy companies surged, as Bank of America Corp. said oilfield activity will accelerate in Saudi Arabia.

“A rapid increase in Middle East activity is imminent,” according to a Bank of America note today, which “could cause pricing power to shift to oil service companies.”

Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield contractor, climbed 4.1 percent to $90.43 for the second-biggest gain in the S&P 500. The Houston-based company was awarded $100 million in contracts in Iraq. The impact from disruptions from Middle East as well as weather will be 8 cents a share to 10 cents a share, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould said at Howard Weil Inc.’s energy conference in New Orleans.

Halliburton Co., the world’s second-largest oilfield- services provider, jumped 4 percent to $47.90 for the third- largest increase in the S&P 500. Baker Hughes Inc. climbed 3.8 percent to $73.76.

Eastman Kodak Co. jumped 5.3 percent to $3.58 after the U.S. International Trade Commission said it will review a judge’s findings from January that Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry don’t violate Kodak’s patent on a way to preview digital images using less processing power and storage space. The victory may add more than $1 billion in revenue from royalty payments, Kodak Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez said in an interview.

AT&T Inc. rose 1.8 percent to $29.36 to help lead telephone companies in the S&P 500 to a 1.4 percent advance, the only gain among 10 groups. Robert Baird raised the shares to “outperform” from “neutral.” AT&T may rally as much as 15 percent in the next year if the acquisition of T-Mobile USA is approved, Barron’s reported. The company plans to expand 4G wireless to cover 95 percent of the U.S., up from 80 percent, after the proposed $39 billion takeover, Barron’s reported.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

You are never alone because you are full of all the memories, all the conditioning,

all the mutterings of yesterday; your mind is never clear of all the rubbish it has accumulated.

To be alone, you must die to the past.

When you are alone, totally alone, not belonging to any family, any nation, any culture,

any particular continent, there is that sense of being an outsider.

The man who is completely alone in this way is innocent and it is this innocence that frees the mind from sorrow.

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

 

One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. -Will Durant, 1885-1981

 

Dear Friends,

It’s official – the Harper government has fallen.  The minority government of Stephen Harper has been defeated in a non-confidence vote. MPs voted 156-145 in favour of a Liberal motion today citing Stephen Harper’s minority Tories for contempt of Parliament and expressing non-confidence in the government.  The markets took it in stride – they actually gained and the dollar hardly noticed.

I had an e-mail from a client today describing another type of fall that took place on this day in 1944 – falling from a parachute.  He wrote:

I’m half drunk Carolann, as I am celebrating day two of, March 25/44 when we parachuted into withering fire across the Rhine at 10:00 hrs .and our plane was hit and on fire and I survived  being the second last of 20 to leave “Red Dog” (the Plane’s name). The Jump Master that followed me did not survive.

Even though my jump smock was penetrated by small arms fire I landed safely!.  And we succeeded in overwhelming the 2nd Parachute Corps of the 1st German Parachute Army.

Sorry …. Carolann, but today is a big thing for me, and you seemed so understanding in the past!.

It’s CORUBA rum BTW ha ha

Despite me, have a wonderful day

XOXO

This man is one of my heroes – he is one of the most interesting and interested (in everything in the world) persons I’ve ever met.  He and his wife have been my clients for well over twenty years and he often sends me the most wonderful photos of this beautiful universe and references to interesting and informative web-sites he has found.

I’m humbled when I think of the courage and  sacrifices that are made by such valiant men and women so the world will be a better place, and just maybe one day we will have a world at peace.

A lighter look at the current news:

Jon Stewart:

We’re at war? Again? Don’t we already have two? Wars aren’t like kids, where you don’t have to worry about the youngest one because the other two will take care of it.

Conan:

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, I think he’s becoming unhinged…(He) gave a rambling speech that lasted nearly three hours….So at least we now know where all of Charlie Sheen’s coke went.

David Letterman:

How about that Al Qaeda?  They’re publishing a new magazine for women.  Isn’t that crazy?  They already have one for men.  It’s called Car Bomb and Driver.

There are reports that Gadhafi’s son plagiarized his doctoral thesis…Boy, you think you know somebody, then…it’s just like a shot to the solar plexus.

Jay Leno:

They said on the news today 10,000 to 15,000 people each day are coming across the border from Libya into Egypt.  Or, as we call it in California, a “trickle.”

Here’s some good news.  Life expectancy in the U.S. has risen to a new record of 78.2 years.  The bad news?  The average age a person has to work to until they retire is 78.3 years.

photos of the day March 25, 2011

A young girl passes the time with her teddy bear at a center for evacuees fleeing leaked radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facilities in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Experts are worried that anxiety caused by the fear of radiation may cause serious health problems for residents in the months and years ahead.

Wally Santana/AP

The Cambridge University rowing crew practice on the River Thames in Hammersmith, west London. The rowing crews from Oxford and Cambridge will compete in the 152nd Boat Race between the two universities.

Toby Melville/Reuters

 

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

March 25 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a second straight weekly gain as agriculture companies advanced and energy shares rallied along with natural gas prices.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, increased 3 percent after the U.S. Agriculture Department said exporters sold 1.25 million metric tons of corn to unknown buyers. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. plunged 11 percent after forecasting a smaller profit than most analysts had estimated. Encana Corp., Canada’s largest natural gas producer, climbed 1.8 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 10.02 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,039.39. The index gained 1.8 percent this week, the most since Feb. 18.

“People are comfortable taking long positions again,” said Stephen Gauthier, who helps oversee C$600 million ($611 million) as a money manager at Fin-XO Securities in Montreal.

“Ten days ago, the situation in Libya seemed out of control and the situation in Japan seemed out of control.”

The S&P/TSX had slipped 0.8 percent this month through yesterday, reflecting the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the escalation of the Libyan civil war. The equity benchmark hasn’t had a monthly decline since June.

Fertilizer producers rallied. Wheat may rise as dry weather in the U.S. threatens crops, said Mark Schultz, chief analyst at Northstar Commodity Investment Co. in Minneapolis.

Potash Corp. increased 3 percent to C$56.12. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer, gained 0.9 percent to C$87.77. Viterra Inc., Canada’s biggest grain handler, rallied 3.4 percent to C$11.75.

S&P/TSX energy companies advanced for the first time in four days as natural gas climbed to a seven-week high on forecasts for unseasonably cold weather in the eastern U.S.

Encana increased 1.8 percent to an eight-month high of C$34.04. Talisman Energy Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations in North America, the North Sea and Indonesia, rose 2.6 percent to C$23.80. Enbridge Inc., the country’s largest pipeline company, climbed 1.5 percent to a record C$59.70.

RIM sank 11 percent in Toronto Stock Exchange trading, the most in nine months, to C$55.78. The company forecast first- quarter earnings of $1.47 a share to $1.55 a share, excluding certain items. Analysts had estimated the company would earn $1.66 a share.

“Time is not on RIM’s side,” Brian Modoff, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in a note to clients. “We think this quarter was just a taste of what lies in store for the company.”

Directory publisher Yellow Media Inc. increased 4 percent to C$5.50 after agreeing to sell its Trader Corp. unit to Apax Partners for C$745 million. Trader Corp. publishes about 160 publications and 22 websites.

Imax Corp., the maker of giant-screen movie-projection systems, climbed 6.6 percent to C$31.15 after Aravinda Galappatthige, an analyst at Canaccord Financial Inc., raised his rating on the shares to “buy” from “hold.” Imax soared 12 percent to a 10-year high yesterday after announcing plans to open 75 new theaters in China.

 

US

By Rita Nazareth and Lu Wang

March 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest weekly rally since February, after Oracle Corp.’s profit forecast beat analyst estimates and the rate of economic growth was revised higher.

Oracle, the world’s top supplier of database software, climbed 1.6 percent. U.S. shares of Accenture Plc, the world’s second-largest technology-consulting firm, rallied 4.5 percent after its sales forecast beat analyst’s projections. Bristol- Myers Squibb Co. advanced 3.3 percent after the pharmaceutical company won U.S. approval a melanoma drug.

The S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 1,313.80 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge climbed 2.7 percent this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 50.03 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,220.59 today. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500, fell 0.5 percent to 17.91, extending its retreat since March 16 to 39 percent.

“Corporations are making money amid this pace of economic growth,” said Kevin Caron, a market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which has about $90 billion in client assets. “We saw a solid GDP number. The fact that Oracle reported a decent forecast would be consistent with that trend. As long as the data is supporting the recovery, the S&P 500 can get to $100 a share of earnings over the next year and a half. That means the index rising to 1,500.”

U.S. stocks rose yesterday, recouping losses that followed Japan’s March 11 earthquake, as corporate profits beat estimates and a government report showed a decline in jobless claims. The S&P 500 has advanced 4.5 percent in 2011, extending last year’s 13 percent rally, amid government stimulus measures and an eighth straight quarter of higher-than-estimated earnings.

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, led by a jump in consumer spending that will be hard to match early in the year as energy prices surge. The revised increase in gross domestic product compares with a 2.8 percent estimate issued last month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington.

Stocks rose even as the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment decreased to 67.5 from 77.5 in February. The preliminary estimate issued earlier this month was 68.2. The median forecast of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a reading of 68.

European Union leaders at a two-day meeting in Brussels agreed to cut the startup capital for the future euro emergency aid mechanism, while Portugal continued to rule out a rescue after the parliament’s rejection of budget cuts led Prime Minister Jose Socrates to offer to quit.

A bailout may total as much as 70 billion euros ($99 billion), two European officials with direct knowledge of the matter said, as credit-rating cuts threatened to deepen Portugal’s debt woes.

“The market has digested a lot of uncertainties in the past couple of weeks, with the tragedy in Japan and the unrest in Libya,” said Charles Stamey, who helps manage $42 billion at Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida. “I certainly think the market is looking for some good news and this is a bit of it,” he said of Oracle’s forecast.

Oracle climbed 1.6 percent to $32.64 after the company late yesterday forecast profit excluding acquisition costs and some other expenses of 69 cents to 73 cents this quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of 66 cents. Earnings on that basis were 54 cents a share in the period that ended Feb. 28, also exceeding analysts’ projections.

Accenture added 4.5 percent to $54.29. Third-quarter net revenue, or sales before reimbursements, will grow to a range of $6.3 billion to $6.5 billion, the Dublin-based company said. The average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey was $6.08 billion. The company also increased forecasts for full-year net revenue growth to a range of 11 percent to 14 percent, from 8 percent to 11 percent, and for earnings per share to $3.22 to $3.30, from $3.08 to $3.16.

“Very robust results from enterprise bellwethers Oracle and Accenture will reassure people that the enterprise capex cycle remains a powerful tailwind,” London-based analysts Jonathan Tseng and Andrew Griffin at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research wrote in a report to clients.

Bristol-Myers Squibb rose 3.3 percent to $27.29. The pharmaceutical company won U.S. approval for ipilimumab, the first drug in a new family of medicines to treat advanced melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

Smithfield Foods Inc. gained 2 percent to $24.44. The world’s biggest pork processor said it sees no “backup” in Japanese orders and that the nation is shifting to fresh pork, according to a Barclays Plc presentation.

Research In Motion Ltd. slumped 11 percent to $56.89 after the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone forecast first-quarter revenue and profit that trailed estimates. Earnings will be $1.47 to $1.55 a share as the company spends more on research and steps up marketing for its PlayBook tablet and new smartphones, RIM said late yesterday. Analysts had predicted profit of $1.66 on average, excluding some costs.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.  Be magnificent!

If you are in the moment, you are in the infinite. -Swami Prajnanpad,1891-1974

As ever,

Carolann

The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. -Harper Lee, 1926-