Posted on

March 6, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
March: Candlemas Day came in “fair and bright” and winter certainly “had another flight.”  So the old saying was proved right.  I am pleasantly surprised how many people have mentioned this to me in the past few days.  Here we had two weeks of hard frost in February, which proved to be the exact treatment needed to control the over-precocious bulbs showing an unwonted amount of growth.  However, I was anxious lest the aconites and dwarf iris, already in flower, should succumb.  On the contrary, everything has behaved magnificently.  The aconites have never looked so good for so long, from mid-January until the end of February; the iris have spanned the frosty days, and all the early crocus were held back until the sun came out and the temperature rose enough to entice the bees from their hives. – Rosemary Verey, A Countrywoman’s Notes.

No Matter How You Feel:
Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up, And Never
Give Up.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man collects lotus flowers for sale at a pond in Kandal province, Cambodia on Sunday. Samrang Pring/Reuters

The stork at right chases another stork away from its nest in Biebesheim, south of Frankfurt, Germany on Monday. About 30 storks in the area are now looking for the right partner and nest. Michael Probst/AP

An elderly nun stands and watches the view from Nagi Gomba Nunnery on the outskirt of Kathmandu, Nepal on Monday. Hundreds of nuns from different parts of Nepal study and practice Buddhism in this nunnery, which lies on top of the northern hill in Shivapuri National Park. Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Market Closes for March 6th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20954.34 -51.37

 

-0.24%
 
S&P 500 2375.31 -7.81

 

-0.33%
 
NASDAQ 5849.176 -21.577

 

-0.37%
 
TSX 15629.75 +21.25

 
+0.14%
 
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19379.14 -90.03

 
-0.46%

 
HANG

SENG

 23596.28 +43.56

 
+0.18%
 
 
SENSEX 29048.19 +215.74
 
 
+0.75%

 
FTSE 100* 7350.12 -24.14

 
-0.33%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.706 1.701
 
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.412 2.404
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4925 2.4798
 
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0997 3.0713
 
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74589 0.74761

 
US

$

 1.34069 1.33759
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.41827 0.70508

 
US

$

 1.05787 0.94530

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1230.95 1226.50
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.20 53.33

 

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
78
The number of trading sessions the S&P 500 has gone without closing at least 1.5% below its 52-week high, the longest such streak since 1964.
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, reversing earlier losses, as energy shares led a rebound amid an analyst comment that the industry may have fallen too far too fast.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 15,629.75 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after sliding as much as 0.7 percent. Energy, telecom and financial shares rose at least 0.5 percent, offsetting losses among materials and health-care companies. Before Friday, the benchmark index had fallen in six of seven sessions, retreating from a record high amid concern over the country’s trade talks with the U.S.
     David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to Washington, said the nation wants to move quickly with U.S. President Donald Trump to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, as delays and any new border taxes will discourage investment across the continent. The future of Nafta, Buy-American provisions and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal for a tax on imports have caused concern among investors, he said in a wide-ranging interview on March 3.
     Energy shares, the biggest loser among 11 industry groups this year, advanced 0.7 percent Monday. The group is closing in on oversold territory given a higher-than-normal discount to U.S. peers, TD analysts led by Menno Hulshof wrote in a note.    
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped with Treasuries, while the dollar advanced as caution rippled through markets after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen all but assured investors that interest rates will rise next week. 
     The S&P 500 Index retreated in trading that was 12 percent below the 30-day average. JPMorgan Chase & Co. warned that hawkish Fed rhetoric has increased the likelihood for a short- term pullback after stocks reached records last week. The dollar rose as a surge in corporate bond issuance pushed up Treasury yields. Deutsche Bank AG pulled down European shares after announcing plans to raise capital. Metals slumped on Chinese growth prospects and the French presidential race continued to roil the euro.
     Markets appear to be coming off recent peaks as investors price in a near-certain March U.S. interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned of larger challenges ahead during his work report to the annual National People’s Congress gathering in Beijing. In Europe, politics has become the main market driver as election campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Germany put the status quo under threat.
     “The ‘pothole’ is a political one with far-right parties gaining ground in opinion polls ahead of both a Dutch and French ballots in spring,” Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Geneva- based Pictet, said in a research note. “We are scaling back exposure to European stocks, albeit retaining our overweight stance.”
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     What’s ahead for the markets:
* Mario Draghi probably won’t flinch at Thursday’s ECB meeting even after headline inflation reached its 2 percent target in February. He’s expected to keep QE going until the end of the year with underlying price pressures muted. Other economic highlights of the week are industrial output for Germany, France and the U.K., and German factory orders.
* U.S. jobs data for February are on tap for Friday. Employers probably added around 190,000 workers to payrolls, in line with the average over the past six months and a sign of steady job growth, economists forecast.
* European automakers gather this week at the Geneva Motor Show.
* Philip Hammond’s U.K. budget arrives Wednesday. The chancellor pledged on Sunday to set aside money to cushion the economy from Brexit. 

     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent to 2,375.45 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring a loss that reached 0.6 percent at its lowest in the morning. The index is up 6.2 percent in 2017.
* Ten of 11 S&P 500 groups retreated, led by materials producers and lenders. Energy shares rose.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.5 percent, with Deutsche Bank dropping 5.5 percent.
* The Topix fell 0.2 percent as Japan moved to the highest possible alert level after North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into nearby waters. Most other Asian equity markets rose, with the Kospi erasing a loss as Samsung Electronics Co. jumped 1.2 percent.

     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added 0.2 percent, headed for its sixth advance in seven days.
* The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.0585, the worst performer among major. The yen was at 113.895 per dollar.
* Mexico’s peso strengthened past its 200-day moving average as the country’s central bank prepared to hold its first $1 billion auction of non-deliverable forward contracts on Monday.

     Bonds
* Treasury yields were higher led by the longest-maturity issues, with the 10-year yield up by about a basis point at 2.49 percent.
* German bonds rose, sending 10-year yields lower by one basis point to 0.34 percent on haven demand.
* French bonds dropped as former Prime Minister Alain Juppe said he won’t enter the race for the Presidency, reducing the chances of anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen being eliminated in the first round of voting.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.2 percent to settle at $53.20 a barrel. Clashes between armed factions in Libya curbed crude output, while U.S. drilling increased.
* Copper futures tumbled 1.6 percent after the biggest inflow of the metal in 15 years to warehouses managed by the London Metal Exchange, according to bourse data released Monday.
* Gold futures slumped 0.1 percent to settle at $1,225.50 an ounce in New York for a fifth day of losses. That’s the longest slump since November.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Your way is very good for you, but not for me.
My way is good for me, but not for you.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.
                                      -Margaret Fuller, 1810-1850


Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

March 3, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Numbers:
65: Years Queen Elizabeth II has sat upon the throne – the first time a British monarch has achieved a sapphire anniversary.  She became the country’s longest-reigning monarch in 2015.
1955: year Elvis Presley made his first TV appearance.
2040: Year when India’s economy is projected to surpass that of the United States, making it the world’s second largest.  China is projected to be No. 1.
9,032: Distance (in miles) of the world’s longest commercial flight.  Qatar Airways launched the new route in February, connecting Auckland, New Zealand, with Doha, Qatar.

INSPIRING WOMEN:
In Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for the  album of the year award at the 2016 Grammys, she encouraged young women to continue to work hard.  This year, the Recording Academy created a Grammys commercial in which young women and girls recite parts of Swift’s speech as they practice musical instruments and dance routines.  See the inspiring video at http://bit.ly/grammyswomen.

And if by chance you haven’t seen the movie Hidden Figures yet, get thee to the cinema as soon as possible to see this amazing movie – true story of a few extraordinary black women who worked at NASA on the space program in the early ‘60s.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ffion Williams presents a bunch of daffodils to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth following a visit to the Royal Welsh Regiment at Lucknow Barracks to mark St David’s Day, in Tidworth, Britain on Friday. Ben Birchall/Reuters

Personalized coffee mugs featuring Elvis Presley’s face line the wall of a gift shop during the grand opening of the new ‘Elvis Presley’s Memphis’, a $45 million, state of the art entertainment and museum complex, in Memphis, Tennessee on Thursday. Brandon Dill/Reuters
Market Closes for March 3rd, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 21005.71 +2.74

 

+0.01%
 
S&P 500 2383.12 +1.20

 

+0.05%
 
NASDAQ 5870.754 +9.532

 

+0.16%
 
TSX 15608.50 +71.85

 
+0.46%
 
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19469.17 -95.63

 
-0.49%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23552.72 -175.35
 
 
-0.74%
 
 
SENSEX 28832.45 -7.34
 
 
-0.03%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7374.26 -8.09
 
 
-0.11%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.701 1.699
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.404 2.402
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4798 2.4833

 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0713 3.0770
 
 
           
           

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74761 0.74679
 
 
US

$

 1.33759 1.33907
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.42090 0.70378

 
US

$

 1.06228 0.94137

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1226.50 1238.10
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.33 52.61
 
 

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
2356
The consensus estimate among Wall Street analysts was that the S&P 500 would rise about 5% in 2017, to 2356. The index closed on Thursday at 2381.92, and analysts are scrambling to raise their estimates to reflect the rally.
Canada
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian equities ticked up as gains in energy and industrials offset declines in seven of 11 sectors in the benchmark gauge.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.2 percent to 15,560.70 at 11:08 a.m. in Toronto. An advance on the day would mark the index’s second gain in eight sessions. The index, which closed at a record on Feb. 21, finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market — a 2.3 percent decline since its high has left it up just 1.8 percent on the year.
* Crude oil rose 1%, rising above $53
* Transalta up 6% for biggest advance in index after beating earnings estimates
* GMP Capital Inc. up 3.8% after the Canadian firm returned to profitability in a quarter fueled by a jump in investment- banking revenue
* Freehold Royalties up 5.2% after issuing positive guidance
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals down 4.4%; the stock is down 80% since last March as the drugmaker got embroiled in scandals about prices hikes and accounting that led to legal and regulatory investigations
* ECONOMY:
** Toronto home prices jumped more than 20 percent in February for the sixth straight month as listings dried up, pushing the price of a suburban house beyond C$1 million ($750,000) for the first time, according to the city’s real estate board
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced for the sixth consecutive week as economic data sailed past forecasts and shares of financial companies rose with higher bond yields.
     So strong were signals on growth in the U.S. and beyond that investors were left almost completely unfazed by the surging odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase, as the likelihood priced by Fed funds futures more than doubled. Chair Janet Yellen on Friday capped the week of rising expectations by explicitly supporting a hike if economic progress persists. The S&P 500 nevertheless rose for the fifth time in seven days.
     The benchmark gauge for American equity added 0.7 percent over the five days to end the week at 2,383.12. Helped by President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress, the index briefly crossed 2,400 for the first time ever on Wednesday, before closing that session, the best of the year, at a record 2,395.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9 percent to end the week 21,005.71 as small-cap shares finished lower for a second week.
     “Earnings on a forward-looking basis are going to be higher rather than lower and growth is quite good and maybe accelerates some,” Krishna Memani, chief investment officer at Oppenheimerfunds Inc., said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “The question is in the current context, without any policy initiative, can earnings growth be significantly higher than 7 or 8 percent? If not, one could argue all that information is all pretty much priced in.”
     Comments from Fed officials calling for a March interest- rate hike came against economic data that is beating estimates at the strongest rate in almost five years, according to a Bloomberg Index measuring the degree to which data surpasses analyst expectations. The gauge advanced for the second straight week and has been in positive territory since November.
     The majority of the S&P 500’s points were tallied Wednesday as investors embraced Trump’s cooler rhetoric in a speech that was short on details. Energy companies jumped on support from higher oil prices. Volume on U.S. exchanges was the year’s heaviest.
    Financial stocks were the biggest winners on the week, advancing 2 percent after posting the biggest single-day jump since Nov. 10 on Wednesday. Energy shares climbed 1.4 percent as phone shares and real estate companies declined amid five days of higher Treasury yields.
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed Friday as investors assessed Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s intention to hike rates at the central bank’s March meeting.
     The S&P 500 Index ended less than 0.1 percent higher at 2,383.12 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 3 points to 21,005.71.
* Five of 11 groups ended higher with financials and health care leading gains with 0.4% advances
* Real estate, utilities and staples fell at least 0.3% as the 10-year Treasury yield climbed a fifth day to 2.478%
* Fed funds futures show a 94% chance the Fed will raise rates this month, versus 40% at the end of last week
* The earnings season is drawing to a close, with about 73% of S&P 500 members beating profit estimates and a little over half exceeding sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* ECONOMY:
** Yellen capped a week of rising expectations about an imminent interest-rate increase by explicitly supporting a hike in mid- March if U.S. economic progress persists
** Markit February PMI falls to 54.1 from 55.8 in Jan.; Year ago 50
* EARNINGS:
** Next S&P 500 companies reporting Tuesday March 7: Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS), Editas Medicine (EDTS)
* In Europe, stocks closed little changed, paring earlier losses, as banks rallied and French shares climbed after polls showed anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen lagging rival Emmanuel Macron for the first time
     For related equity market news:
* Animal Spirits Driving Stock Market Surge, Says Fundstrat’s Lee
* Harvard Academics Reveal Blueprint for Avoiding Stock Crashes
* Goldman Indicator Shows Complacency as Traders Give Up Hedging

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Truth resides in the heart of every man.
And it is there that he must seek it, in order to be guided by it so that,
at the least, it will appear to him.
But we do not have the right to force others to see the Truth in our way.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all.
                                                           -Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

March 2, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Birthday: Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel, March 2, 1904

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not. –Dr. Seuss.

During Theodor (“Ted”) Seuss Geisel’s career as an illustrator and writer of children’s books, he filled the hearts and minds of generations of readers with joy, solace, and pure pleasure.  His characters like Horton and Nerkle and Humpf-Humpf-a-Dumpfer stick around in our heads forever; the memory of their stories read to us by parents or grandparents, or enjoyed in wonderful solitude, mark our childhood innocence and delight.  In 1937, Dr. Seuss’ first attempt at a child’s book – And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street – met rejection after rejection.  Finally, it was published and critics began to take notice..  but it was when Houghton Mifflin and Random House challenged Geisel to write a reading primer that wasn’t the usual boring, “See Dick run” kind of book, that he moved into our collective consciousness.   His answer to that challenge was the Cat in the Hat.

  Handsome, kind, and mischievous, Ted Geisel died on September 24, 1991, and left us an entire universe of whimsical creatures dedicated to our happiness.  See www.seussville.com.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A young girl pushes her scooter past the front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with a Snap Inc. logo hung on the front of it shortly before the company’s IPO in New York on Thursday. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer escorts a group that claimed to be from Syria after they crossed the US-Canada border into Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada on Thursday. Dario Ayala/Reuters
Market Closes for March 2nd, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 21002.97 -112.58

 

-0.53%
 
S&P 500 2382.24 -13.72

 

-0.57%
 
NASDAQ 5861.223 -42.807

 

-0.73%
 
TSX 15537.00 -62.68

 
-0.40%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19564.80 +171.26
 
 
+0.88%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23728.07 -48.42
 
 
-0.20%
 
 
SENSEX 28839.79 -144.70
 
 
-0.50%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7382.35 -0.55
 
 
-0.01%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.699 1.686
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.402 2.392
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4833 2.4544
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0770 3.0576

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.74679 0.75028
 
 
US

$

 1.33907 1.33284
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.40687 0.71080

 
US

$

 1.05070 0.95174

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1238.10 1240.40
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 52.61 53.83
 

Market Commentary:
Daily Factoid
On this day in 1844, the New York Stock Exchange raises the initiation fee for new members to $400 (or more than $9,400 in modern money).
Number of the Day
$24 billion
The market value of Snap Inc., based on its $17 a share price for its initial public offering. That makes it the biggest technology IPO in the U.S. since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. made its debut in 2014.
Canada
     (Canadian Press) — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
     ^Toronto Stock Exchange (15,536.65 down 63.03 points):@
     Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financial Services.
Down 11 cents, or 0.45 per cent, to $24.23 on 8.6 million shares.
     B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Miner. Down 33 cents, or 7.76 per cent, to $3.92 on 8.2 million shares.
     Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K). Miner. Down 20 cents, or 4.31 per cent, to $4.44 on 8.03 million shares.
     Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN). Miner. Down 35 cents, or 7.92 per cent, to $4.07 on 6.7 million shares.
     Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Bank. Down 52 cents, or 0.75 per cent, to $68.98 on 5.6 million shares. The bank reported $2.53 billion of net income during its first quarter ended Jan. 31, up 13.9 per cent from a year ago. The earnings amounted to $1.32 per diluted share, up from $1.17 during the same quarter last year. Revenue was $9.12 billion, up from $8.61 billion a year ago.
     Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Oil and gas. Down four cents, or 0.07 per cent, to $55.23 on 5.5 million shares.
     ^Companies reporting major news@:
     BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB). Wireless communications. Up five cents, or 0.54 per cent, to $9.23 on 829,514 shares. The Waterloo, Ont.-based firm’s chief operating officer, Marty Beard, says the former smartphone leader’s shift to being a software company is complete, but branding itself as a software player remains challenging.
     Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX:CNQ). Oil and gas. Up $2.04, or 5.30 per cent, to $40.50 on 4.9 million shares. The Calgary-based oil and gas company says its net income in last year’s fourth quarter rose to $566 million, up from $131 million a year earlier. Revenue was $3.67 billion, up from $2.96 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.  
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined as raw-material shares slid with commodity prices and investors assessed the rally that has pushed equities to new highs.
     The S&P 500 Index dropped 0.6 percent to 2,381.91 at 4 p.m. in New York as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 43 points, about 0.5 percent, to 21,002. The gauge passed 21,000 for the first time Wednesday.
* Financial shares down 1.5% for biggest loss since Jan. 17
* Industrial companies lose 1%
* Raw-material stocks down 1.1%; Bloomberg Commodity Index falls 1.5%
* VIX down 6% for a second day of declines, back below 12
* Traders are betting on an 88% chance the Federal Reserve will raise rates this month, versus 40 percent at the end of last week, after several central-bank officials signaled their willingness to increase borrowing costs
* “If the Fed had wanted to keep its options open, a move back to around 60 percent would have been sufficient,” Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC Markets in London, wrote in a note. “In raising expectations to such an extent in such a short space of time, to not act now would deal a serious blow to their credibility, and also prompt quite a sharp market reaction”
* The earnings season is drawing to a close, with about 73% of S&P 500 members that have already reported beating profit estimates and a little over half exceeding sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* Monster Beverages Corp. jumped 16% after posting better-than- forecast quarterly sales, while Broadcom Ltd. climbed 2.9% after the chipmaker predicted revenue that beat analysts’ estimates
* ECONOMY:
** Initial jobless claims drop to lowest in almost 44 years
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Thursday: Autodesk (ADSK), American Outdoor Brands (AOBC),       Varex Imaging (VREX), Costco Wholesale (COST)
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell less than 0.1%

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

To go from opinion to perception,
from imagination to fact, from illusion to reality,
from something that is not there,
to something that is;
that is the way forward.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Humility is attentive patience.
       -Simone Weil, 1909-1943

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

March 1, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order creating the Peace Corps, enlisting men and women for voluntary, unpaid service in developing countries around the world.

1872: Yellowstone National Park established.

March: The month of March is so called from Mars, the Roman god of war, identified in certain aspects with the Greek ARES.  He was also the patron of husbandmen.  The planet of this name was so called because of its  reddish tinge.  Among the alchemists, Mars designated iron and in Camoens’ Lusiads (1572) typified divine fortitude.
The last three days of March are said to be borrowed from April, as is shown by the proverb in John Ray’s Collection of English Proverbs (1670): March borrows three days of April, and they are ill. –from Brewar’s.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Exile Tibetans climb high on poles to tie multicolored flags with Buddhist prayers printed on them on the third day of the Tibetan New Year called ‘Losar’ in Dharmsala, India, Wednesday. Tibetans believe that the prayer flags representing the five elements: earth, fire, sky, water and wind, spread prayers on wind. Ashwini Bhatia/AP

Two women are silhouetted while another two examine a light installation titled ‘Hybycozo’ by artists Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu of the United States and Canada on Wednesday in Singapore. The iLight Marina Bay exhibition features innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations from around the world, displayed along the Singapore river. Wong Maye-E/AP
Market Closes for March 1st, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 21115.55 +303.31

 

+1.46%
 
S&P 500 2395.96 +32.22

 

+1.37%
 
NASDAQ 5904.031 +78.594

 

+1.35%
 
TSX 15599.68 +200.43

 
+1.30%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19393.54 +274.55
 
 
+1.44%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23776.49 +35.76
 
 
+0.15%
 
 
SENSEX 28984.49 +241.17
 
 
+0.84%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7382.90 +119.46
 
 
+1.64%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.686 1.635
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.392 2.342
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4544 2.3899
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0576 2.9952
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.75028 0.75135
 
 
US

$

 1.33284 1.33093
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.40602 0.71131

 
US

$

 1.05492 0.94794 

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1240.40 1255.60
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.83 54.01

 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in more than three months amid growing investor confidence that global economic growth is accelerating, with industrial and financial companies leading the move higher.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 1 percent to 15,559.49 at 11:43 a.m. in Toronto. The gauge continued its recovery from a 2.6 percent skid over the four days ending Monday. The index, which closed at a record on Feb. 21, finished 2016 as the best- performing developed stock market. The S&P/TSX climbed 0.1 percent in February, its eighth straight monthly increase.
     National Bank of Canada rose the most since December after reporting first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates, led by gains in wealth management and capital markets. The gain helped push financial companies in the S&P/TSX up 1.4 percent as Canadian Western Bank, Power Corp. of Canada and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. also rose at least 2.6 percent.
     In other moves:
* Encana Corp., Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. and Ensign Energy Services Inc. climbed more than 3.4 percent even as crude oil decreased less than 0.1 percent
* Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Hudbay Minerals Inc. increased at least 7.3 percent as a Bloomberg index of commodities added 0.4 percent
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced as investors embraced President Donald Trump’s cooler rhetoric in a speech to Congress that was short on details and after comments by Federal Reserve officials that signaled the central bank may increase borrowing costs as soon as this month.
     The S&P 500 Index jumped 1.4 percent to a record 2,395.96 at 4 p.m. in New York, the biggest single-day advance since the election. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 303 points to 21,115 and small-cap shares in the Russell 2000 Index surged 1.9 percent. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.4 percent to a record.
     About 8.2 billion shares traded hands Wednesday, the heaviest day of volume on U.S. exchanges since Dec. 16, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
* S&P 500 up 12% since Nov. 8, most in that stretch after an election since Bill Clinton’s second victory in 1996 — market added 13% over period of same length
* Financial shares up 2.8%, for the biggest gain since Nov. 10; bank stocks in the S&P 500 surging 3.2% on gains in all 17 companies
* Industrial stocks up 1.6% as energy companies rally 2.1%; materials shares up 1.8% as commodities gained for a second day
* Lowe’s up 9.5% for biggest gain in market as Americans pour money into their homes
* The odds of the Fed raising interest rates in March rose to 80% from 40% last Friday, based on Fed fund futures, pushing up the dollar and dragging Treasuries lower
* Fed Bank of New York President William Dudley said the case for tightening has become more compelling, while Fed Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said he expects a rate increase to be seriously considered at this month’s meeting
* VIX lost 2.9% to 12.5
* With the earnings season drawing to a close, about three- quarters of S&P 500 members that have reported thus far beat profit estimates and a little over half exceeded sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* ECONOMY:
** Consumer spending rose less than projected in January as rising prices pinched Americans’ wallet
** China’s official factory gauge strengthened in February as producer prices rebounded, spurring gains in metal prices. Stoxx 600 miners rose from their lowest level in three weeks
* EARNINGS:
** Pre-market Thursday: Kroger (KR), Sears Holdings (SHLD)
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 1.4% at the close, as all 19 industry groups gained

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Find the Unique and possess the Whole.
This truly is our highest, most sublime privilege.
It is in the law of this unity that is, as long as we understand it,
our immutable force.  Its living principle is the force that resides in truth –
Truth is one.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level
and then beat you with experience.
                                                        -Mark Twain, 1835-1910

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

February 28, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  TODAY IS MARDI GRAS

And so ends Carnival for Christians around the world.  Carnival derives from the Italian, carnevale, going back ultimately to Medieval Latin carnelevamen, “raising flesh” from Latin caro, carnis, “flesh”, and levare, “to raise.”  To “raise flesh” is to abstain from meat which is the regime that Lent strictly entails.  It is the great fast that begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, and extends to Easter.  The fast of 36 days was introduced in the 4th century, but it did not become fixed at 40 days until the early 7th century, thus corresponding with Christ’s fast in the wilderness. –from Brewar’s.

**On this day in 1964, just under three years after breaking the 700 mark, the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaks through 800 for the first time, closing at 800.14.**

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, spews lava as it erupts on the southern island of Sicily, Italy, on Tuesday.Antonio Parrinello/Reuters

Costumed revelers, in protective helmets, throw oranges during Carnival in the northern Italian Piedmont town of Ivrea on Tuesday. The traditional orange-throwing battle has its roots in the middle of the 19th century. Luca Bruno/AP
Market Closes for February 28th, 2017

MarketIndex Close Change
DowJones 20812.24 -25.20 

-0.12%
 
S&P 500 2363.64 -6.11 

-0.26%
 
NASDAQ 5825.438 -36.461 

-0.62%
 
TSX 15399.24 -64.26 
-0.42% 

International Markets

MarketIndex Close Change
NIKKEI 19118.99 +11.52 
+0.06% 
HANGSENG 23740.73 -184.32 
-0.77%
 
 
SENSEX 28743.32 -69.56
 
 
-0.24%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7263.44 +10.44
 
 
+0.14%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.10 Year Bond 1.635 1.647
 
CND.30 Year

Bond

 2.342 2.364
U.S.   10 Year Bond 2.3899 2.3650
 
U.S.30 Year Bond 2.9952 2.9833
 
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.75135 0.75882
 
 
US$ 1.33093 1.31783
     
Euro Rate1 Euro=   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.40729 0.71058
 
 
US$ 1.05737 0.94574

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London GoldFix 1255.60 1257.20
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 54.01 54.05
 
 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Linda Nguyen
     (Canadian Press) — TORONTO — Mixed earnings results from some of Canada’s biggest companies dominated a quiet trading day Tuesday, as the Toronto Stock Exchange pulled back for a fifth straight session in a row.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell a moderate 64.27 points at 15,399.24, as health-care stocks led decliners amid a weak earnings release by drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
The Quebec-based company warned that revenues and profits will drop more than analysts had anticipated for this year.
Shares in Valeant lost 85 per cent of its value last year after it came under scrutiny for a strategy of acquiring drug companies and imposing dramatic price increases. It also faces a series of shareholder lawsuits and criminal fraud investigations by U.S. authorities.  Valeant (TSX:VRX) shares plunged 13.9 per cent, or $3.05, to $18.89 on Tuesday.
In other corporate news, two of Canada’s largest financial institutions reported better than expected results.
The Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) reported net income of $1.49 billion, up 39 per cent from a year ago. Its shares rose 2.24 per cent, or $2.21, to $100.79.
Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) had $2.01 billion of net income during the first quarter, up 10 per cent compared to the same period last year. Its shares declined 2.79 per cent, or $2.21, to $77.04. Four out of the five major Canadian banks have reported strong results so far this quarter. TD Bank (TSX:TD) is the last of the group and is scheduled to release earnings on Thursday. On Wall Street, major New York indices were barely changed ahead of a highly-anticipated speech Tuesday night in front of Congress by U.S. President Donald Trump. Colum McKinley, a vice-president of Canadian equities at CIBC Asset Management, said investors are hoping to “get another look” at what might be coming down the road from the new commander-in-chief.  “Potentially, we’ll hear more about taxation plans, the fiscal stimulus program, whether or not there will be a repatriation of capital, cash sitting offshore and whether that is used to finance bigger infrastructure spending,” he said.
     “And potentially we’ll have more information about how the U.S. budget will unfold. For Canada, one area that we’re watching for is more news on the border taxation issue and what that could mean for Canadian companies.”  McKinley said stock markets will react according to how much is touched on in the speech, and whether there will be any concrete details announced. “There is the chance that we receive no greater clarity than we have today,” he said.  If markets react to the downside, McKinley said it could be a positive buying opportunity because economic indicators show growing strength, particularly in the U.S.
     The Canadian dollar declined 0.67 of a U.S. cent to 75.30 cents US, the currency’s lowest close since Feb. 7.  Commodities were mixed as the April crude contract retracted four cents at US$54.01 per barrel and April natural gas added eight cents at US$2.77 per mmBTU. 
     April gold gave up $4.90 at US$1,253.90 an ounce and May copper was up two cents at US$2.71 a pound.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell as investors awaited details on specific policy plans from U.S. President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress.
     The S&P 500 Index lost 0.3 percent to 2,363.64 at 4 p.m. in New York as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 25 points to 20,812, ending a 12-day streak that marked its longest rally since 1987.
* Consumer discretionary stocks down 0.7% for biggest loss in market
* Industrial and telecommunications shares down at least 0.4%
* Traders are seeking answers from Trump tonight on how he plans to bring the fundamental changes he has promised to U.S. health- care policy, the tax system, defense spending and immigration
* With the earnings season drawing to a close, about three- quarters of S&P 500 members that have reported so far beat profit estimates and a little over half exceeded sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* While the reflation trade is still intact, stocks look stretched in the short term, Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategist James Barty wrote in a note; S&P 500 closed on Monday about 6 points above its year-end average strategist consensus level of 2,364
* ECONOMY:
** The U.S. economy grew in the fourth quarter at an unrevised 1.9% pace, as slower investment by businesses and state and local agencies offset stronger household purchases
** Core PCE — which is tied to consumer spending and strips out food and energy costs — climbed at a 1.2% annualized pace, compared with a previously reported 1.3 percent
** Chicago Business Activity at 57.4 after 50.3 the prior month
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Tuesday: Envision Healthcare (EVHC), AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT), LogMeIn (LOGM), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), TESARO (TSRO), ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD), salesforce.com (CRM)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Dollar Tree (DLTR), Lowe’s Cos (LOW), Best Buy (BBY)
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2% at the close, trimming intraday declines on Monday as construction companies rallied on Trump’s comments about “big” spending on infrastructure

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed.
I want the cultures of all the lands to blow about my house as freely as possible.
But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Just remember the world is not a playground but a schoolroom.
Life is not a holiday but an education.
                                              -Barbara Jordan, 1936-1996

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

February 27, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Birthday: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poet

Longfellow, the second of eight children, was born in Portland, Maine, and it is the wilderness and the sea that supplies his poetry, like Song of Hiawatha, Evangeline, and The Courtship of Miles Standish, with their images and meaning.  He wrote poems as a young man during his years at Bowdoin College and then turned to academic writing and translation as a professor of modern languages at Harvard.   His store of languages included French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, and some Finnish.

In 1854, at the age of 47, a skilled lecturer known for his courtesy to his students, he left academia and pursued his literary ambitions with remarkable publishing success.

In July 1861, his wife Fanny’s dress caught fire while she was using sealing wax.  She ran to Longfellow whose efforts to beat out the flames left him critically burned; Fanny died hours later.  The scars on Longfellow’s face made shaving impossible and from then on, he was the bearded man with the mane of white.

He finished his last poem, The Bells of San Blas, on March 15, 1882.  He died nine days later on March 24, 1882.

The Bells of San Blas

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

What say the Bells of San Blas 
To the ships that southward pass 
        From the harbor of Mazatlan? 
To them it is nothing more 
Than the sound of surf on the shore,— 
        Nothing more to master or man. 

But to me, a dreamer of dreams, 
To whom what is and what seems 
        Are often one and the same,— 
The Bells of San Blas to me 
Have a strange, wild melody, 
        And are something more than a name. 

For bells are the voice of the church; 
They have tones that touch and search 
        The hearts of young and old; 
One sound to all, yet each 
Lends a meaning to their speech, 
        And the meaning is manifold. 

They are a voice of the Past, 
Of an age that is fading fast, 
        Of a power austere and grand; 
When the flag of Spain unfurled 
Its folds o’er this western world, 
        And the Priest was lord of the land. 

The chapel that once looked down 
On the little seaport town 
        Has crumbled into the dust; 
And on oaken beams below 
The bells swing to and fro, 
        And are green with mould and rust. 

“Is, then, the old faith dead,” 
They say, “and in its stead 
       Is some new faith proclaimed, 
That we are forced to remain 
Naked to sun and rain, 
        Unsheltered and ashamed? 

“Once in our tower aloof 
We rang over wall and roof 
        Our warnings and our complaints; 
And round about us there 
The white doves filled the air, 
       Like the white souls of the saints. 

“The saints! Ah, have they grown 
Forgetful of their own? 
        Are they asleep, or dead, 
That open to the sky 
Their ruined Missions lie, 
        No longer tenanted? 

“Oh, bring us back once more 
The vanished days of yore, 
        When the world with faith was filled; 
Bring back the fervid zeal, 
The hearts of fire and steel, 
        The hands that believe and build. 

“Then from our tower again 
We will send over land and main 
        Our voices of command, 
Like exiled kings who return 
To their thrones, and the people learn 
        That the Priest is lord of the land!” 

O Bells of San Blas, in vain 
Ye call back the Past again! 
        The Past is deaf to your prayer; 
Out of the shadows of night 
The world rolls into light; 
       It is daybreak everywhere.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People walk through the Dark Hedges, a tunnel-like avenue of intertwined beech trees planted in the 18th-century, in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, on Monday. Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Men parade through the village of Stein, Switzerland, during the traditional Swiss carnival ‘Bloch’ on Monday. The ‘Bloch’ is an adorned tree log that symbolizes a gift to workers. It is dragged through villages in the Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in eastern Switzerland. Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone/AP

A dog catches a ball on Whiterocks beach at sunset in Portrush, Northern Ireland, on Monday. Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
Market Closes for February 27th, 2017

MarketIndex Close Change
DowJones 20837.44 +15.68 

+0.08%
 
S&P 500 2369.75 +2.41 

+0.10%
 
NASDAQ 5861.898 +16.592 

+0.28%
 
TSX 15463.51 -69.95 
-0.45%
 
 

International Markets

MarketIndex Close Change
NIKKEI 19107.47 -176.07
 
 
-0.91%
 
 
HANGSENG 23925.05 -40.65 
-0.17% 
SENSEX 28812.88 -80.09 
-0.28% 
FTSE 100* 7253.00 +9.30 
+0.13% 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.10 Year Bond 1.647 1.607 
CND.30 Year

Bond

 2.364 2.328
U.S.   10 Year Bond 2.3650 2.3152
 
 
U.S.30 Year Bond 2.9833 2.9526
 
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.75882 0.76299 
US$ 1.31783 1.31063
     
Euro Rate1 Euro=   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.39511 0.71679 
US$ 1.05863 0.94461

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London GoldFix 1257.20 1253.65
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 54.05 53.49
 
 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, with the key benchmark gauge hitting a three-week low, as investors pared bets ahead of a major speech by U.S. President Donald Trump and the Bank of Canada’s decision on interest rates this week.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 0.5 percent to 15,463.51 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, extending declines for a fourth straight session after reaching a record high last week. Gold miners tumbled, leading a 3.6 percent slump among materials producers, while health-care and energy companies advanced.
     Trump is scheduled to address the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, when he’s expected to propose major defense-spending increases and big cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, State Department and other federal agencies, according to a person familiar with the plan. Stocks have rallied across the globe amid optimism that Trump’s pro-growth agenda will help strengthen the world’s largest economy.
     In Canada, the central bank is expected to keep its monetary policy unchanged Wednesday.
     In other movers:
     * Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. climbed 3.3 percent. The drug company said it hired about 250 sales people at its Salix gastrointestinal-disorder unit in the past three months, scaling up the staff by almost 40 percent.
     * Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. slipped 5.8 percent as the company said Chief Financial Officer Steeve Thibeault plans to retire in May.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced Monday to record highs as investors awaited a speech tomorrow by U.S. President Donald Trump that’s expected to provide more details on his policies.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.1 percent to 2,369.73 at 4 p.m. in New York while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 16 points to 20,837.44. The 30-member index has climbed for 12 straight sessions, the longest streak since 1987, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
* Energy shares higher, up 0.9% with oil up 0.4%
* “Safety” stocks from staples, utility and phone shares all down at least 0.5% in reversal from last week
* The U.S. president is expected to lay out his plans for tax and health-care reform and infrastructure spending before a joint session of Congress Tuesday
** Trump will propose boosting defense spending by $54 billion in his first budget plan and offset that by an equal amount cut from the rest of the government’s discretionary budget, according to administration officials
* This week’s economic releases include gross domestic product and personal spending tomorrow
* Strategists expect the S&P 500 to end the year at 2,364, according to the average of 19 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
* With more than 90% of S&P 500 firms having reported earnings so far, about three-quarters have beat profit estimates and about half have exceeded sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nine companies are reporting results today
* VIX up 5.4% to above 12 for the first time in more than a month
* ECONOMY:
** Orders for U.S. durable goods rebounded in January, a sign companies remained upbeat at the start of the year
** Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in January
** Dallas Fed manufacturing activity at 24.5 vs 22.1 in the prior month
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Monday: Tenet Healthcare (THC), Workday (WDAY), Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ), Exelixis (EXEL), Priceline Group (PCLN), Albemarle (ALB), EOG Resources (EOG), Frontier Communications (FTR)
** Pre-market Tuesday: Medicines (MDCO), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), Platform Specialty Products (PAH), NRG Energy (NRG), AutoZone (AZO), Target (TGT)
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1% at the close, paring an earlier drop of as much as 0.4%

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Never under any circumstances ask “how.”
When you  use the word “how” you really want someone to tell you what to do,
some guide, some system, someone to lead you by the hand so that you lose your freedom,
our capacity to observe, your own activities, your own thoughts, your own way of life.
Krishnamurti

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.
                                                                                        -Vernon Law, b. 1930

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

February 24, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Birthdays: Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, b. 1955
                George Harrison, musician, b. 1943

RESILIENT WINDMILLS
Windmills located in Nashtifan, Iran, are believed to have been created between AD 500 and 900 and are still operational today.  Check out National Geographic’s video about the history of these structures at http://bit.ly/natgeowindmills.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl rides Unee BB during the FEI World Cup Dressage Freestyle event at the Gothenburg Horse Show in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Friday. Thomas Johansson/TT News Agency/Reuters

Women ride their horses on a small road between fields as the sun sets in Oberursel, Germany, on Friday. Michael Probst/AP

An Oscar statue stands outside the Dolby Theatre as preparations continue for the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Thursday. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Market Closes for February 24th, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20821.76 +11.44

 

+0.05%
 
S&P 500 2364.95 +1.14

 

+0.05%
 
NASDAQ 5845.305 +9.798

 

+0.17%
 
TSX 15540.63 -240.58

 
-1.52%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19283.54 -87.92

 
-0.45%

 
HANG

SENG

 23965.70 -149.16

 
-0.62%

 
SENSEX 28892.97 +28.26

 
+0.10%

 
FTSE 100* 7243.70 -27.67

 
-0.38%

 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.607 1.670
 
 
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.328 2.395
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.3152 2.3738

 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 2.9526 3.0127
 
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.76299 0.76321
 
 
US

$

 1.31063 1.31025
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.38386 0.72261
 
 
US

$

 1.05587 0.94708

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1253.65 1247.90
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.49 54.10
 
 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks plunged the most in five months as earnings and dividend disappointments among gold companies, along with weakening oil prices and trepidation over President Donald Trump’s border tax proposals, erased two-thirds of this year’s rally.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 1.7 percent to 15,521.39 at 2:36 p.m. in New York. All 11 major industry groups were lower, led by energy shares, whose decline extended their 2017 loss past 7 percent. Car components maker Magna International slipped 5.4 percent after saying protectionism and U.S. measures that impede free trade may have a material adverse effect on its operations.
     Gold stocks were among the weakest on the S&P TSX, with Torex Gold Resources falling almost 10 percent after being downgraded to hold at Toronto Dominion. Eldorado Gold decreased 8.7 percent following an unexpected fourth-quarter loss. Nevsun Resources, which cut its dividend by 75 percent to 1 cent, slid 8.6 percent after earlier plunging 22 percent.
     Canadian consumer prices surged in January on the back of rising gasoline prices and new carbon levies, bringing inflation to the highest in more than two years. The consumer price index advanced 2.1 percent from a year earlier, Statistics Canada reported Friday from Ottawa, up from 1.5 percent in December. Economists had estimated a gain of 1.6 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey.
     All but one company in the 22-member consumer discretionary index declined, including Linamar Corp and Hudson’s Bay Co., which lost at least 3.5 percent each.
     Health-care shares also declined as the five-share group fell across the board. Losses in ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International weighed on the group as each erased at least 2.5 percent.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities advanced amid gains in utilities and phone stocks and a last-minute surge that saw the Dow Jones adding 77 points in the final hour of trading.
     The S&P 500 index added 0.2 percent to turn positive after spending the day in the red, ending at a record 2,367.34 at 4 p.m. The Dow Industrials average gained 0.2 percent, ending higher for an 11th straight day, the longest rally since January 1992.
* Phone and utility shares up at least 0.7% as the two gain more than any other industry group this week
* Nine of 11 groups ended higher, after all started in the red
* Financial companies weighed on market with 0.8% decline
* Energy shares down 0.9% as crude oil declines
* About 6.7 billion shares traded hands, same as year-to-date average
* VIX down 2% to 11.5, lowest in a week
* U.S. equity funds saw net inflows of $3 billion in the week to Feb. 22, with inflows in three of the past four weeks, according to a note from Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists, citing data from EPFR Global
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Friday: none
** Monday: AES Corp (AES), TEGNA (TGNA), American Tower (AMT), Platform Specialty Products (PAH), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A), Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc (ZLTQ), EOG Resources (EOG), Albemarle Corp (ALB), Exelixis (EXEL), SBA Communications (SBAC), Priceline Group (PCLN), ONEOK (OKE), ONEOK Partners (OKS), Hertz Global (HTZ), Workday (WDAY)
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.8% at the close in its biggest drop in more than three weeks, as all industry groups declined

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

To grow is to go beyond what you are today.
Stand up as yourself.  Do not imitate.
Do not pretend to have achieved your goal, and do not try to cut corners.
Just try to grow.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren’t used to an environment
where excellence is expected.
                                                              -Steve Jobs, 1955- 2011

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

February 23, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Feb. 23, 1954, the first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
Go to article »
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Gale force winds blow back the waves at Church Rock on Broad Haven Beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain, Thursday. Rebecca Naden/Reuters

Students stand among plum blossom at a campus in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China on Thursday. China Daily/Reuters
Market Closes for February 23rd, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20810.32 +34.72

 

+0.17%
 
S&P 500 2362.38 -0.44

 

-0.02%
 
NASDAQ 5835.508 -25.118

 

-0.43%
 
TSX 15782.16 -48.06

 
-0.30%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19371.46 -8.41
 
 
-0.04%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 24114.86 -87.10
 
 
-0.36%

 
SENSEX 28892.97 +28.26

 
+0.10%

 
FTSE 100* 7271.37 -30.88

 
-0.42%

 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.670 1.716
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.395 2.427
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.3738 2.4129
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0127 3.0319

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.76321 0.75973

 
US

$

 1.31025 1.31626
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.38603 0.72148

 
US

$

 1.05784 0.94532

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1247.90 1236.65
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 54.10 53.29
 
 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day, with the key benchmark gauge hovering near an all-time high as fertilizer and metal producers slumped. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce rose after beating analysts’ earnings estimates.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 0.3 percent to 15,781.20 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after reaching a record high Tuesday. Industrial and materials companies fell more than 1 percent, offsetting gains in real estate consumer staple shares.
     Fertilizer shares fell after urea prices dropped. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. declined 3.2 percent while Agrium Inc. lost 2.6 percent.
     Copper producers retreated along with the metal’s prices as First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Teck Resources Ltd. sank more than 3.5 percent.
     CIBC, the first Canadian bank to report quarterly results, advanced 1 percent. The lender beat analysts’ estimates after posting higher first-quarter profit led by gains in capital markets and raised its quarterly dividend 2.4 percent to C$1.27 a share.
     The country’s eight largest lenders are expected to increase per-share operating profit by an average of 7 percent from a year earlier, according to Scotia Capital analyst Sumit Malhotra. Royal Bank of Canada is scheduled to post results Friday, with the remaining lenders reporting next week.
     In other movers:
     * Maple Leaf Foods Inc., one of Canada’s largest meat processors, jumped 5.2 percent as optimism over its purchase of a U.S. producer of vegetarian foods offset disappointing earnings.
     * Halogen Software Inc. rallied 22 percent after agreeing to be bought by Saba for about C$293 million.
     * HudBay Minerals Inc. slumped 6.4 percent after reporting an unexpected quarterly loss.
US
By Joe Deaux
     (Bloomberg) — Doting words from President Donald Trump about Caterpillar Inc.’s bulldozers and U.S. Steel Corp.’s pipeline prospects couldn’t save the two companies from a slump in material stocks Thursday.
     Shares of the Peoria, Illinois-based machinery maker posted the biggest decline in five months while the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker lost as much as 10 percent and ended down 7.9 percent. A report emerged Thursday that a jammed congressional to-do list could push a massive U.S. infrastructure bill back to 2018, delaying new demand for raw materials and construction equipment.
     Trump has touted a $1 trillion infrastructure spending package over 10 years that would invest in roads, bridges and airports, as well as Buy America policies that would boost domestic companies that sell metals and machinery. Copper has risen more than 10 percent since Trump was elected on bets of improving demand helped by the president’s spending pledge.
     At a White House meeting with industry executives on Thursday, Trump said, “I love Caterpillar,” and indicated he might go out and drive one of the company’s machines soon. He then told U.S. Steel Chief Executive Officer Mario Longhi that he will be putting domestic producers of the metal “heavy” into the pipeline business and that projects like Keystone XL and Dakota Access would need to use American-made steel.
     While Trump’s public comments and Twitter postings over the past month have moved the share prices of aircraft manufacturers to drug makers, they failed to abate Thursday’s selloff. Caterpillar is still up 45 percent in the past year and 13 percent since the election, while U.S. Steel more than quadrupled in the past year and is also up 78 percent since the election, helped by an increase in demand and a slew of successful trade cases against foreign steel products.
     Repealing and replacing Obamacare, tax reform, the budget and the Supreme Court vacancy could push Trump’s infrastructure bill to 2018, Axios reported, citing Republicans it didn’t name.
     Metals from aluminum to zinc and iron ore also fell.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The phrase “to meditate” does not only mean to examine, observe, reflect, question, weigh;
it also has, in the Sanskrit, a more profound meaning, which is “to become.”
Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
                                                                                   -Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, 1893-1986

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

February 22, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Birthday: Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet b. February 22, 1892.

FIRST FIG
   -by Edna St. Vincent Mallay
My candle burns at both ends;
   It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends –
   It gives a lovely light.

SECOND FIG
Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand:
Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A cat stands on the beach as a man walks by the sea in the southern coastal city of Larnaca on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Wednesday. Petros Karadjias/AP

A worker poses with Pablo Picasso’s ‘Plant de tomates’ ahead of an upcoming sale at Sotheby’s auction house in London, Britain on Wednesday. Peter Nicholls/Reuters.

Visitors wear headsets as they experience a virtual reality tour depicting Jerusalem as it was two millennia ago, at a visitors center near some of the world’s most sacred sites holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, in Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Market Closes for February 22nd, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20775.60 +32.60

 

+0.16%
 
S&P 500 2362.82 -2.56

 

-0.11%
 
NASDAQ 5860.625 -5.324

 

-0.09%
 
TSX 15830.22 -92.15

 
-0.58%

 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19379.87 -1.57
 
 
-0.01%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 24201.96 +238.33

 
+0.99%

 
SENSEX 28864.71 +103.12

 
+0.36%

 
FTSE 100* 7302.25 +27.42

 
+0.38%

 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.716 1.722
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.427 2.426
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4129 2.4290
 
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0319 3.0407
 
 

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.75973 0.76100

 
US

$

 1.31626 1.31405
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.38905 0.71992

 
US

$

 1.05531 0.94759

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1236.65 1233.20
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 53.29 54.06

 

Market Commentary:
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$350 million

The drop in Verizon’s purchase-price for Yahoo from the previous offering of $4.83 billion in a new deal announced Tuesday. Verizon chose to push ahead with the deal in a bet that the chance to expand into digital advertising trumps the risk of further fallout from massive data breaches at Yahoo.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
     (Bloomberg) — Canada S&P/TSX Composite falls 0.4% to 15,864.75 at 1:35pm. Materials, energy, real estate falls, while industrials, health-care sector advance.

Advancers:

  * Radient Technologies (RTI CN) +11%; 3-day gain >20%; estimated to report earnings on Feb. 28
  * Cornerstone Capital (CGP CN) +9.4%; Reverses Feb. 21 loss of 8.6%
  * WesternZagros (WZR CN) +8.3%; 1.4x 3-month avg volume; Feb. 21, Rosneft Trading signs deal to buy crude from Kurdistan
  * Select Sands (SNS CN) +7.9%; Rises after 6-day loss
  * Spin Master (TOY CN) +7.3%; Feb. 21, got U.S. and Chinese patents covering Hatchimals technology

Decliners:

  * Katanga Mining (KAT CN) -18%; Confirms no corporate developments
* Fortune Minerals (FT CN) -13%; Falls after 2-day gain; filed amended and restated financial statements
  * Paladin Energy (PDN CN) -12%; Touched 100-DMA of C$0.12
  * Belo Sun (BSX CN) -10%; Gets temporary 180-day injunction for Volta Grande

US

Daily Factoid

On this day in 1973, the New York Stock Exchange launches its first-ever nationwide TV advertising campaign to encourage Americans to buy stocks. U.S. stocks go on to decline 14.7% in 1973 and another 26.5% in 1974.

By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks closed mixed Wednesday as investors assessed minutes from the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting for insight on the outlook for interest rates and as the price of oil declined.
     The S&P 500 Index dropped 0.1 percent to 2,362.82 at 4 p.m., as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 32.6 points to 20,775.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost less than 0.1 percent.
* Six of 11 groups higher
* Energy stocks weighed on market, falling 1.6%, as oil lost 0.9% for first decline in four sessions
* Utility stocks were the biggest winner on the day, up 0.4%, as the 10-Year Treasury yield fell to 2.41% from 2.43%
* VIX up for second day, inching toward 12
* So far in the U.S. earnings season, quarterly profit for S&P 500 companies are up 5.4%, the strongest growth since the third quarter of 2014, according to Bloomberg data
* BofAML clients were net sellers of U.S. equities last week for the first time since the week prior to the U.S. election in early November, bank strategists including Jill Carey Hall wrote in a note
** Buybacks by corporate clients slowed to a six-week low, and year-to-date are tracking the lowest of any comparable period since 2013, they wrote
* EARNINGS
** After-market Wednesday: Realty Income (O), SM Energy (SM), Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), Rice Energy (RICE), Tesla (TSLA), ARRIS International (ARRS), US Silica Holdings (SLCA), HP (HPQ), Public Storage (PSA), Fitbit (FIT), Energy Transfer Equity (ETE), L Brands (LB), Clovis Oncology (CLVS), Range Resources (RRC), Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI), Square (SQ)
** Pre-market Thursday: Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM), LKQ (LKQ), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Hormel Foods (HRL), Iron Mountain (IRM), Patterson Cos (PDCO), Sage Therapeutics (SAGE), Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT), Kohl’s (KSS), Apache (APA)

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

In the song of the rushing torrent,
hold onto the joyful assurance:
I will become the sea.
And this is not a vain supposition;
it is absolute humility, because it is the truth.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

One loses so many laughs by not laughing at oneself.
–Sara Jeanette Duncan, 1861-1922

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Posted on

February 21, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1916- Battle of Verdun: Over 1 million men killed, France.
1925- New Yorker magazine debuts.
On Feb. 21, 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address a rally in New York City; he was 39.
Points of Progress:
WORLDWIDE:
The fight against extreme poverty reached a new level in December, as the World Bank’s International Development Association committed a record $75 billion in loans, accessible by low-income countries between July 2017 and June 2020.  Describing it as “a pivotal step in the movement to end extreme poverty,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said it could “transform the development trajectory of the world’s poorest countries.”  The funds will come from a mix of government and private-sector donation, alongside $25 billion worth of debt issued by the World Bank. –The World Bank, Bloomberg.
Saw the movie Lion on the weekend – great film.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sunlight streams between skyscrapers as the sunrise paints the sky behind downtown on Tuesday in Houston. Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle/AP

A woman pushes a pram as she walks over a frozen lake during sun down at the Pajulahti sports center near Lahti, Finland. Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Michael Paul adjusts his telescope connected to a laptop computer on Scout Key, Florida on Monday. Paul is among 600 amateur and professional astronomers participating in the 33rd annual Winter Star Party where the region’s southern location, paired with minimal nighttime artificial lighting, create optimum conditions for viewing of the Southern Cross and other southern constellations. Rob O’Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau/Reuters
Market Closes for February 21st, 2017

Market

Index

 Close Change
Dow

Jones

 20743.00 +118.95

 

+0.58%
 
S&P 500 2365.38 +14.22

 

+0.60%
 
NASDAQ 5865.949 +27.371

 

+0.47%
 
TSX 15922.37 +83.74

 
+0.53%
 
 

International Markets

Market

Index

 Close Change
NIKKEI 19381.44 +130.36
 
 
+0.68%
 
 
HANG

SENG

 23963.63 -182.45
 
 
-0.76%
 
 
SENSEX 28761.59 +100.01
 
 
+0.35%
 
 
FTSE 100* 7274.83 -25.03
 
 
-0.34%
 
 

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous  % Yield
CND.

10 Year Bond

 1.722 1.709
CND.

30 Year

Bond

 2.426 2.409
U.S.   

10 Year Bond

 2.4290 2.4182
U.S.

30 Year Bond

 3.0407 3.0247
           
           

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.76100 0.76374
 
 
US

$

 1.31405 1.30935
     
Euro Rate

1 Euro=

   Inverse
Canadian $ 1.38536 0.72183
 
 
US

$

 1.05427 0.94852 

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold

Fix

 1233.20 1241.95
     
Oil Close Previous
WTI Crude Future 54.06 53.40
 
 

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the ninth time in 10 days, led by gains in consumer discretionary and health-care shares as Restaurant Brands International Inc. agreed to purchase Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent to 15,913.14 at 11:08 a.m. in Toronto. The gauge is on pace to close at a record high for the sixth time in the past seven sessions. The index finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market and posted its seventh straight monthly increase in January. It’s increased 3.4 percent this month.
     Tim Hortons owner Restaurant Brands surged 7.1 percent, headed for its biggest single-day increase since February 2015. The company agreed to buy Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. for about $1.8 billion, adding a fried-chicken chain to its lineup of burgers and doughnuts. The cash offer of $79 a share represents a 19 percent premium to Popeyes’ closing price on Friday.
     In other moves:
* MEG Energy Corp., Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp. and Baytex Energy Corp. climbed more than 3.6 percent as crude oil rose 2 percent, the most in almost three weeks
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd., First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Teck Resources Ltd. added at least 3.7 percent as a Bloomberg index of commodities rose 0.1 percent
     (Canadian Press) — Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
     ^Toronto Stock Exchange (up 83.74 points to 15,922.37)@:
     Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX:NDM). Miner. Down 80 cents, or 26.94 per cent, to $2.17 on 11.3 million shares.
     ECN Capital Corp. (TSX:ECN). Financial Services. Up 45 cents, or 14.11 per cent, to $3.64 on 9.7 million shares.
     Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financial Services. Up 12 cents, or 0.48 per cent, to $24.95 on 7 million shares.
     Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI). Miner. Down 13 cents, or 3.22 per cent, to $3.91 on 6.7 million shares.
     Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN). Miner. Up 17 cents, or 3.5 per cent, to $5.03 on 6.5 million shares. Katanga Mining Limited. (TSX:KAT). Miner. Up 11 cents, or 22.92 per cent, to 59 cents on 6.4 million shares.
     ^Companies reporting major news@:
     Restaurant Brands International Inc. (TSX:QSR). Fast-food restaurants. Up $4.98, or 7.05 per cent, to $75.65 on 736,696 shares. The parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King is making a move to add fried chicken with an offer to buy Popeyes in a friendly deal. Restaurant Brands International said Tuesday it will pay US$1.8 billion for the Louisiana-style fried chicken chain. That translates to US$79 per share in Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc., which trades on the Nasdaq composite
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced following a three-day weekend as climbing oil prices boosted energy companies.
     The S&P 500 added 0.6 percent to a record 2,365.38 at 4:13 p.m. The benchmark index gained 0.2 percent on Friday, helped in part by merger and acquisition activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 119 points to 20,743 Tuesday, and the Russell 2000 Index advanced 0.8 percent.
* Every sector higher as real estate companies and utilities pare losses to become the biggest winners in the market after 10-year yields fell to 2.43% from as high as 2.46% earlier in the day
* Energy companies up 0.7% as crude oil climbs to $54 a barrel amid a higher price outlook from Citigroup
* Consumer staples shares up 1% on gains of at least 4% in JM Smucker and Mondelez after Kraft withdrew offer for Unilever
* The U.S. dollar surged after Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker indicated he would support a rate increase next month
* VIX inches higher to 11.6
* So far in U.S. earnings season, quarterly profit for S&P 500 companies are up 5.7 percent year-over-year, according to Bloomberg data
* ECONOMY:
** Flash manufacturing PMI index falls to 54.3 from 55 in Jan.; year ago 51.3
* EARNINGS:
**  After-market Tuesday: Extra Space Storage (EXR), Newfield Exploration (NFX), Newmont Mining (NEM), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Concho Resources (CXO), XPO Logistics (XPO), Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC), Verisk Analytics (VRSK), American Water Works (AWK), FirstEnergy (FE), First Solar (FSLR), Eversource Energy (ES), Edison International (EIX)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Welltower (HCN), NiSource (NI), Host Hotels & Resorts (HST), Sanchez Energy (SN), DISH Network (DISH), Conduent (CNDT), Southern Co (SO), TJX Cos (TJX)
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The universal power that manifests itself in the universal law
is at one with our true power.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Keep your face always toward the sunshine  – and shadows will fall behind you.
                                                                  -Walt Whitman,  1819-1892

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com