Category: Events

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

This poem is from “The Traveler’s Vade Mecum,” a new anthology of poetry.  The anthology takes its title from a 19^th-century compendium of 8,466 numbered sentences designed to help travelers compose shorter telegrams; to use this system, the sender and the receiver of the telegram would each have a copy of the book and would communicate such useful messages as “I am onboard a steamer ship bound for Paris” by writing “45 Paris,” or ominous ones like “A sad accident has happened” merely with “461.”  The anthology’s editor, the poet and novelist Helen Klein Ross, chose some of these sentences and assigned them to poets to use as titles.  The result is a wide-ranging, pleasurable overview of many different approaches in American poetry today. –Matthew Zapruder, NY Times.

Poem:
There Was a Great Want of Civility
                           by Julie Suarez

All night in the trees, the whispering, a great disorder, not the way leaves talk among themselves during the day, not the rustle of squirrels and birds among them, but a tossing, shiftless shadow weight of darkness, leaf to leaf.

I dared not close my eyes for fear it would have its way with me

How could anyone sleep?
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Macaws groom each other at Le Cornelle Animal Park in Valbrembo, Italy, on Friday. Antonio Calanni/AP

Athletes compete in the women’s 4 X 6km relay biathlon at the IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, on Friday. Leonhard Foeger/Reuters
Market Closes for February 17^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20624.05	+4.28   +0.02%
S&P 500	2351.16	+3.94   +0.17%
NASDAQ	5838.578	+23.678   +0.41%
TSX	15838.63	-25.54
		-0.16%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19234.62	-112.91
		-0.58%
HANG SENG	24033.74	-73.96
		-0.31%
SENSEX	28468.75	+167.48
		+0.59%
FTSE 100*	7299.96	+22.04
		+0.30%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.709		1.745
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.409		2.438
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4182		2.4467
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0247		3.0495

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76374	0.76508
US $	1.30935	1.30705
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.38987	0.71949
US $	1.06150	0.94206

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1241.95	1240.55
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.40	53.36

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$600 million
The losses for the Catalyst Hedged Futures Strategy mutual fund in the week ended Thursday. The firm’s bearish bets in the options market were undone by the S&P 500’s latest run to fresh records.
Canada
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks are poised to end the longest streak in more than 11 months, as raw-material and energy stocks declined with health-care stocks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.2 percent to 15,833.52 at 11:26 a.m. in Toronto after rising 3 percent over an eight- day advance. The index finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market and posted its seventh straight monthly increase in January. It’s increased 3 percent so far in February.
     Seven of 11 sectors in the benchmark gauge declined, with consumer discretionary shares leading the gainers. Phone stocks added 0.2 percent and real estate companies were little changed.
     Aimia Inc. fell more than any company in the composite index, slipping from a 52-week high after projecting 2017 gross billings for its core business would be “broadly stable” at C$2.1 billion as it divests a section of its business.
By David Hodges
     (Canadian Press) — TORONTO — The five-day streak of record highs for Canada’s main stock index came to an end Friday while U.S. markets continued hitting new peaks ahead of a holiday weekend for traders on both sides of the border.
     In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index lost 25.54 points at 15,838.63 after a positive session Thursday that marked an eight consecutive day of advances.
     Real estate stocks racked up some of the biggest gains on the TSX, while materials, gold and base metals dragged down the index.
     On Wall Street, stock indices inched ahead to record highs Friday, albeit barely, after a late afternoon push erased losses earlier in the day.
     The Dow Jones industrial average added 4.28 points to 20,624.05 and the Nasdaq composite advanced 23.68 points at 5,838.58. The S&P 500 gained 3.94 points at 2351.16, capping the fourth straight week of gains for the index, its longest such streak since July.
     “Certainly ‘Trumpenomics’ is one of the dominant market themes on the minds of investors today,” said Todd Mattina, a strategist and chief economist at Mackenzie Investments.
     “It really represents a waiting game to get more clarity about the types of policies that Donald Trump will implement in the coming weeks,” he added, describing the U.S. leader’s economic package as a complex mix of helpful and hurtful policies.
     “On the positive side of the ledger you’ve got tax reform, you’ve got deregulation. But on the unhelpful side you have increased economic policy uncertainty.”
     Trump’s performance at a news conference Thursday, filled with jaw-dropping moments in which he aired feelings of personal grievance and referenced the political upside of war, “just reinforced that significant, very elevated degree of uncertainty on economic policy going forward,” Mattina added.
     While Trump remains a dominant market theme, Mattina said overseas considerations also weigh heavily.
     “Other important factors are increased political risk in Europe,” he said, pointing to France’s upcoming presidential election and concerns about the increasing odds of a win for Marine Le Pen, president of the National Front.
     Like Trump, the leader of the far-right party has made her anti-immigrant and anti-European stance clear.
     “There’s also Brexit-related concerns as the U.K. heads toward its so-called ‘cliff edge’ negotiations with the European Union at the end of March,” Mattina said.
     In commodities, the April crude oil contract added three cents at US$53.78 per barrel, while the March contract for natural gas lost two cents at US$2.834 per mmBTU.
     The April gold contract dropped $2.50 to US$1,239.10 an ounce and March copper fell 1.15 cents to US$2.707 per pound.
     The Canadian dollar fell 0.11 of a U.S. cent at 76.34 cents US.
     Stock markets in Toronto and New York will be closed Monday, with the United States marking Presidents Day and Canadians off for various provincial holidays, including Family Day in Ontario.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S stocks advanced Friday to all-time highs after a report on deal activity between T-Mobile Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. and a speech by President Donald Trump at a Boeing Co. factory in South Carolina.
     The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 2,351.16 at 4 p.m., reversing earlier losses of as much as 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 49 points in the wake of the President’s event, in which he renewed his promise to rebuild the military and suggested that a larger purchase of Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet may be in the offing. The gauge later jumped 18 points in the final minute of trading.
      T-Mobile US Inc. rose as much as 5.3 percent following a report that SoftBank Group Corp. would be willing to give up control of Sprint Corp. in a potential merger of the two mobile- phone carriers.
* SoftBank shares added 3.2%
* Boeing added 1.1% for the seventh straight session of gains
* Financial stocks little changed after dropping as much as 0.9% in early trading
* Energy stocks and materials down as Bloomberg Commodity Index drops 0.4%
* Equity funds globally saw $17.7 billion in net investment inflows in the week to Feb. 15, the most in nine weeks, according to a Bank of America-Merrill Lynch
* VIX ends 2.3% lower to 11.5
* ECONOMY:
** Conference Board leading economic index rose to 125.5 in Jan. vs 124.7 prior month
* EARNINGS:
** Monday: Community Health Systems (CYH)
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added less than 0.1% at the close.
** Erased a drop of as much as 0.6%, boosted by a 13% surge in Unilever after Kraft Heinz Co. said the consumer-goods peer rejected its merger approach.
** Miners and energy shares tracked declines in metal and oil prices

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Even at the gate of death, in the greatest danger,
in the thick of the battlefield,
at the bottom of the ocean, on the tops of the highest mountains,
in the thickest of the forest, tell yourself,
”I am He, I am He.”
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.
                                                                   -Judy Garland, 1922-1969

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Feb. 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt.

Practice the pause.
Pause before judging.
Pause before assuming.
Pause before accusing.
Pause whenever you’re about to react harshly and you’ll avoid doing and saying things
you’ll later regret.
            -Lori Deschene

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wildfires threaten a suburb of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island on Wednesday evening. Mark Hannah/Reuters

A baby gorilla relaxes on her mother, Kibara, at the zoo in Leipzig, Germany, on Thursday. She was born on Dec. 4 and just named Kianga.Jens Meyer/AP
Market Closes for February 16^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20619.77	+7.91   +0.04%
S&P 500	2347.22	-2.03   -0.09%
NASDAQ	5814.902	-4.538   -0.08%
TSX	15864.17	+19.22
		+0.12%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19347.53	-90.45
		-0.47%
HANG SENG	24107.70	+112.83
		+0.47%
SENSEX	28301.27	+145.71
		+0.52%
FTSE 100*	7277.92	-24.49
		-0.34%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.745		1.786
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.438		2.462
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4467		2.4986
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0495		3.0826

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76508	0.76498
US $	1.30705	1.30723
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39508	0.71680
US $	1.06735	0.93690

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1240.55	1224.40
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.36	53.11

Market Commentary:
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$53.85

The strike price of options forgone by Bank of America executives. Top executives were sitting on the right to buy 400,000 shares of the bank’s stock at that price, a perk handed out by its board a decade ago, but the stock options expired worthless on Wednesday. [Bank of America shares closed at $24.50/sh on Wednesday].
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for an eighth straight day, the longest streak in more than 11 months, as raw-material and utility shares climbed, offsetting losses in health-care companies.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.1 percent to 15,864.17. in Toronto. The gauge is on pace to close at a record high for the fifth straight day. The index finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market and posted its seventh straight monthly increase in January. It’s increased 3.1 percent so far in February.
     Bombardier Inc. slipped 3.1 percent after a quarterly earnings report that saw the company’s adjusted loss of 7 cents a share exceeding the 3 cent shortfall predicted by analysts. The company also reaffirmed its forecast that revenue will increase by a low-single-digit percentage in 2017, stemming two years of declines. Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Aerospace, rail equipment. Down eight cents, or 3.10 per cent, to $2.50 on 13.9 million shares. The Quebec-based company reported 2016 year-end losses of US$981 million, down from US$5.34 billion in 2015. Full-year revenue for 2016 was US$16.34 billion down from US$18.17 billion in 2015.
     In other moves:
* Pembina Pipeline Corp., PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. and Keyera Corp. climbed more than 1.7 percent.
* Barrick Gold Corp., New Gold Inc. and Goldcorp Inc. added at least 4.2 percent even as a Bloomberg index of commodities lost 0.4 percent
     Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. (TSX:PNE). Oil and gas. Down two cents, or 2.41 per cent, to 81 cents on 6.8 million shares.
     Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B). Miner. Down $1.54, or 5.25 per cent, to $27.78 on 6.7 million shares.
     Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Oil and gas. Down 41 cents, or 2.46 per cent, to $16.29 on 6.6 million shares.
     B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Miner. Up two cents, or 0.45 per cent, to $4.43 on 6.32 million shares.
     ^Companies reporting major news@:
     Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Oil and gas. Down 49 cents, or 0.88 per cent, to $55.43 on 2.2 million shares. The company says the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved its proposed takeover of Spectra Energy Corp. in what will be the largest foreign takeover by a Canadian company. The all-stock deal, which valued Spectra at $37 billion when it was announced last September, still requires approval under the Canadian Competition Act.
     Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B). Media, telecommunications. Down 63 cents, or 1.61 per cent, to $38.41 on 504,064 shares. Pierre Karl Peladeau is returning to his job as the president and CEO. Peladeau, whose family founded the company, stepped down from the top job in 2013 and began a short-lived political career.  
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell from record levels as financial and energy companies slumped and tech stocks pared earlier gains.
     The S&P 500 Index lost less than 0.1 percent to 2,347.22 at 4 p.m. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 7.9 points to 20,619.77. The benchmark index gained 0.5 percent on Wednesday for the seventh straight advance — the longest streak of gains since September 2013.         
* Energy shares down 1.4% for second loss this week as oil heads for the narrowest trading range in 13 years
* Utility and phone stocks up at least 0.4%
* Real estate shares up 0.4% biggest gain in market as the 10- year Treasury yield falls below 2.45%
* Tech companies end 0.2% higher as Cisco climbs 2.4% following 2Q earnings beat
* VIX fell 1.8% to 11.8
* Volume second-highest of past 2 weeks with 6.9 billion shares traded hands — slowed trading during Trump’s press conference
* The S&P 500 erased 0.4% in a matter of minutes mid-morning after a $3.4 billion fund that specializes in options trading told CNBC that it had exited a short position in calls on futures
* Profits for S&P 500 companies climbed an annual 5.3% so far in the fourth-quarter reporting season, data compiled by Bloomberg show, the highest growth rate since the third quarter of 2014
** S&P 500’s price-to-forward earnings ratio is at its highest since 2002
* The six largest U.S. banks may see annual profit jump by an average of 14% if President Donald Trump delivers on his promise to cut corporate taxes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* Overall, the Trump Trade is approaching bull market dimensions in only three months, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 19% since election night lows
* ECONOMY
** Philly Fed: Current activity index soared to 43.3, the highest since January 1984, from 23.6
** Builders started work on more U.S. homes than forecast in January after an upward revision to starts in the prior month, a sign construction was on a steady path entering 2017
** Initial claims rose 5k in the first full week of February to 239k, after logging double-digit declines in each of the past two weeks
* EARNINGS
** After-market Thursday: Republic Services (RSG), Digital Realty Trust (DLR), Consolidated Edison (ED), DaVita (DVA), Flowserve (FLS), Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP)
** Pre-market Friday: Moody’s (MCO), Spectra Energy (SE), Fluor (FLR), Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), Deere & Co (DE), VF (VFC), JM Smucker (SJM), Campbell Soup (CPB)

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When you look at that unchanging Existence
from the outside, you call it God;
and when you look at it from the inside,
you call it yourself.  It is but one.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I’ve learned that only through focus can you do world-class things,
no matter how capable you are.  -William H. Gates, b. 1955

 

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

If I am right it will be a slow business for our people to reach rational views, assuming that we are allowed to work peacefully to that end.  But as I grow older I grow calm.  If I feel what are perhaps an old man’s apprehensions, that competition from new races will cut deeper than working men’s disputes and will test whether we can hang together and fight; if I fear that we are running through the world’s resources at a pace that we cannot keep; I do not lose my hopes.  I do not pin my dreams for the future to my country or even to my race.  I think it probable that civilization somehow will last as long as I care to look ahead – perhaps with smaller numbers, but perhaps also bred to greatness and splendor by science.  I think it not improbable that man, like the grub that prepares a chamber for the winged thing it never has seen but is to be – that man may have cosmic destinies that he does not understand.  And so beyond the vision of battling races and an impoverished earth I catch a dreaming glimpse of peace.
   The other day my dream was pictured to my mind.  I was walking homeward on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury, and as I looked beyond Sherman’s statue to the west the sky was aflame with scarlet and crimson from the setting sun.  But, like the note of downfall in Wagner’s opera, below the skyline there came from little globes the pallid discord of the electric lights.  And I thought to myself the Götterdämmerung will end, and from those globes clustered like evil eggs will come the new masters of the sky.  It is like the time in which we live.  But then I remembered the faith that I partly have expressed, faith in a universe not measured by our fears, a universe that has thought and more than thought inside of it, and as I gazed, after the sunset and above the electric lights, there shone the stars. –Mr. Justice Holme’s speech at the Harvard Law School dinner, New York, February 15^th, 1913.

1965    Canada’s new maple leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa.

 

On Feb. 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, killing 260 crew members and escalating tensions with Spain.
Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man walks his dogs as the sun rises on a field in Eschborn, Germany, on Wednesday. Michael Probst/AP

A woman stops to check her phone as the sun strikes a wall behind her in New York on Tuesday. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Rumor, a German shepherd, poses for photos Wednesday after winning Best in Show at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. Julie Jacobson/AP
Market Closes for February 15^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20611.86	+107.45   +0.52%
S&P 500	2349.18	+11.60   +0.50%
NASDAQ	5819.441	+36.869   +0.64%
TSX	15837.06	+51.03
		+0.32%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19437.98	+199.00
		+1.03%
HANG SENG	23994.87	+291.86
		+1.23%
SENSEX	28155.56	-183.75
		-0.65%
FTSE 100*	7302.41	+33.85
		+0.47%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.786		1.767
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.462		2.433
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4986		2.4698
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0826		3.0584

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76498	0.76476
US $	1.30723	1.30760
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.38593	0.72154
US $	1.06020	0.94322

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1224.40	1230.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.11	53.20

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a seventh day, with the benchmark index reaching yet another record high amid the longest rally since March. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 15,844.95 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. Ten of 11 main industries advanced as banks, telecom and health-care shares climbed at least 0.8 percent. Economic data was mixed today, with home sales in January falling to the second-lowest level since 2015 while manufacturing sales rose more than economists forecast. 
TIO Networks Corp. rallied 5.1 percent. PayPal Holdings Inc. said it will buy the Canadian bill payment company in a cash deal worth about $233 million. 
Teck Resources Ltd. dropped 10 percent even after posting profit that beat expectations. Shares of Canada’s largest diversified miner are up 9.2 percent this year. On a conference call, the company said it favors debt reduction over dividends, but will look at the payout policy in April or June.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed for a seventh straight session as rallying financial shares added momentum to an advance that sent seven of 11 sectors higher on the day, capping the longest streak of gains since September 2013.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.5 percent to a record 2,349 at 4 p.m., as investors assessed economic data that included January inflation numbers that climbed faster than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.5 percent to 20,611.86. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.66 percent to 5,819.44.
* Financial stocks climbed 1.2% as the 10-Year Treasury yield jumped to 2.5%
* Utility and real estate stocks were the worst-performing groups, each slipping at least 0.3%
* About 7.1 billion shares traded hands, the heaviest volume since Feb. 1
* VIX added 11.5% after jumping above 11.8 as contracts expiring today gained at 9:10 a.m.
* Procter & Gamble Co. rose 3.7% after Trian Fund Management revealed a new stake
* Defensive sectors including health-care shares also gained ground, a signal that the stock market rally is broadening, said Stephane Barbier de la Serre, a strategist at Makor Capital Markets in Geneva
* According to a note from JPMorgan’s technical analyst
Jason Hunter, the rally in U.S. stocks has entered an “acceleration phase,” with broad sector participation
* ECONOMY
**  January consumer prices rose 2.5% YoY, compared with an expected 2.4%, and were ahead 0.6% MoM, compared with an estimated 0.3%
** January retail sales also increased more than forecast, suggesting consumers are positioned to buttress economic growth
** Wednesday’s data lifted the odds for a Fed rate increase in March to 40 percent from 30 percent two days ago
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Wednesday: CBS (CBS), Cimarex Energy (XEC), TripAdvisor (TRIP), Williams Cos (WMB), CF Industries Holdings (CF), Marathon Oil (MRO),Avis Budget Group (CAR), International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), Kraft Heinz (KHC), NetApp (NTAP), Stericycle (SRCL), Varex Imaging (VREX), Applied Materials (AMAT), Chemours (CC), Equinix (EQIX), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Marriott International (MAR)
** Pre-market Thursday: Waste Management (WM), Tempur Sealy International (TPX), Laboratory Corp of America Holdings (LH), MGM Resorts (MGM), SCANA (SCG), Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN), PG&E (PCG), Cabela’s (CAB), GNC Holdings (GNC), Charter Communications (CHTR),Duke Energy (DUK), Zoetis (ZTS), Ameren (AEE)
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.3% at the close; lenders led gains, with Credit Agricole SA up the most after reporting higher profit at its LCL consumer-banking division

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

In all religions of the world you will find it claimed that there is unity within us.
Being one with divinity, there cannot be any further progress in that sense.
Knowledge means finding this unity.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life
as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
                                                         -Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915

 

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Happy Valentine’s Day!

From The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time, by David H. Lowenherz, Crown Publishers, NY:
Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera:
Diego, Nothing compares to your hands, nothing like the green-gold of your eyes.  My body is filled with you for days and days.  You are the mirror or the night, the violent flash of lightening.  The dampness of the earth.  The hollow of you armpits is my shelter.  My fingertips touch your blood.  All my joy is to feel life spring from your flower-fountain that mine keeps to fill all the paths of my nerves which are yours.

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) – Twentieth-century painter.  Frida’s unique style can be best described as a cross between Mexican folk art and Surrealism.  At the age of eighteen, she was involved in a bizarre traffic accident that left her so injured that she endured thirty-five operations throughout the rest of her short life.  It was during her painful recovery that she began to teach herself to paint.  Photographer Tina Modotti reintroduced Frida to the Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957), whom she had superficially known since her school days, and the two soon became inseparable.  Married in 1929, then briefly separated ten years later, they remarried in 1941.  Frida died shortly after her forty-seventh birthday in 1954.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A couple kiss their daughter at Love park on Valentine’s Day in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday. Valentine’s Day originated as a western Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus. The day first became associated with romantic love in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Martin Mejia/AP

Finnish dinosaur heavy metal band Hevisaurus pose for photographers on Golden Jubilee Bridge at Royal Festival Hall in London on Tuesday. The group are performing as part of the ‘Imagine Children’s Festival,’ which this year features musical artists and authors from the Nordic region. Matt Dunham/AP

Aftin, a miniature poodle, wins the non-sporting group competition at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York on Monday.Stephanie Keith/Reuters
Market Closes for February 14^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20504.41	+92.25   +0.45%
S&P 500	2337.58	+9.33   +0.40%
NASDAQ	5782.574	+18.618   +0.32%
TSX	15786.03	+29.45
		+0.19%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19238.98	-220.17
		-1.13%
HANG SENG	23703.01	-7.97
		-0.03%
SENSEX	28339.31	-12.31
		-0.04%
FTSE 100*	7268.56	-10.36
		-0.14%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.767		1.695
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.433		2.368
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4698		2.4073
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0584		3.0048

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76476	0.76414
US $	1.30760	1.30866
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.38310	0.72302
US $	1.05774	0.94541

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1230.75	1228.30
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.20	53.86

Market Commentary:
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$133.29

The all-time closing high hit by Apple shares Monday, as investors bet that the 10th-anniversary iPhone expected later this year will build on renewed momentum at the world’s most valuable company after its worst stumble in years.
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, with the benchmark index extending a record high, as a rally in health-care shares helped offset losses in utilities.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to 15,786.03 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after five straight days of advances lifted the gauge to fresh highs Monday. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. led health-care shares to a 3.3 percent gain, the most among the 11 main industry groups. Utility shares fell the most as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen stressed the need for more interest-rate increases in a testimony before Congress, reducing the allure of equity income relative to fixed income.
     Yellen, in her first appearance before Congress since President Donald Trump was sworn in, said more interest-rate increases will be appropriate if the economy meets the central bank’s outlook of gradually rising inflation and tightening labor markets. At the same time, trade tension between Canada and the U.S. has eased after Trump pledged publicly to only “tweak” Canada’s side of the North American Free Trade Agreement and ease the flow of goods along the northern border.
     Valeant surged 6.4 percent. The company will cover 60 percent of any settlement with shareholders who have sued the company and investor Bill Ackman, accusing them of using nonpublic information during an attempted takeover of Allergan Plc. Valeant and Ackman will also split the first $10 million of legal costs evenly, Valeant said.
     Cameco Corp. jumped 5.2 percent. The uranium company was upgraded to outperform from market perform by BMO analyst Edward Sterck.
     Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. plunged 22 percent. The company’s pebble deposit is not commercially viable, Kerrisdale Capital said in a report, adding that Pebble would need so much upfront investment that it would “destroy value.” The market enthusiasm over benefits of the Trump administration for the project overlooks the ineradicable threat of veto from either the Alaskan government or future Democratic White House, Kerrisdale said.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks reversed early losses to extend a rally into a sixth day as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress more interest-rate hikes would be appropriate if the U.S. economy stays on course.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.4 percent to 2,338, a record high, at 4 p.m. The benchmark is up 1.8 percent over the six-day period, the longest advance since Dec. 9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 92 points to 20,504.
* Financial shares up 1.2%; bank stocks in S&P 500 29% since election
* Real estate, utility and telecommunications down at least 0.1% as the 10-year Treasury weakens for a fourth session, trading at 2.472%
* VIX drops to 10.8
* Momentum in S&P 500 stocks heating up, with 15% of companies in the index trading above a 14-day RSI level of 70, considered overbought by technical analysts
** That’s the highest level of overbought shares since Dec. 13
* Attention shifted to Yellen’s first appearance before Congress since Trump was sworn in, as investors looked for insight on whether the Fed will accelerate monetary tightening
* ECONOMY:
** U.S. wholesale prices jumped in January by 0.6%, the most since September 2012, led by higher costs of gasoline and indicating inflation is beginning to stir
** Small-business optimism continues to run hot, boosted by the new administration’s pledge to revoke two regulations for every new one issued
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Tuesday: American International Group (AIG), Express Scripts Holding (ESRX), Agilent Technologies (A), LendingClub (LC), Diamondback Energy (FANG), Devon Energy (DVN)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT), Huntsman (HUN), Targa Resources (TRGP), US Foods Holding (USFD), Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM), Entergy (ETR), PepsiCo (PEP), Wyndham Worldwide (WYN), Analog Devices (ADI), Medicines (MDCO), Smart Sand (SND)
** The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed up less than 0.1%

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

As long as there is division in any form
there must be conflict.
You are responsible, not only to your children,
but to the rest of humanity.
Unless you deeply understand this, not through words or ideas or the intellect,
but feel this in your blood, in your way of looking at life, in your actions,
you are supporting organized murder which is called war.
Krishnamurti

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good night, good night!  Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
                   -William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
                          Romeo and Juliet

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

FEBRUARY
It is not only sunny days that make for memorable and sometimes unexpected sights when the eye is taken by surprise.   “Exclusiveness in a garden is a mistake as great as it is in society,” wrote Alfred Austin, author of The Garden that I love.  How I would have enjoyed a conversation with him one morning as I walked round the garden looking for special situations due to the freezing fog which enveloped me and most of the surrounding plants.  Best of all was Miss Willmott’s Ghost (Eryngium giganteum) or rather the skeleton of her ghost (can a ghost have a skeleton?)  looking ravishing with the edges of her remains rimmed with frozen fog – how fortunate that she had not been cut down and consigned to the bonfire in the autumn.  So absorbed die I become in my thoughts of skeletons and ghosts and hoping that Alfred Austin was enjoying himself that I almost expected Miss Ellen Willmott to glide through the mist and joint our conversation.  As I walked on there were more exciting skeletons, a solitary spike of Ligularia clivorum, left there to spread its sees, and several brown stems of the herbaceous Phlomis samia which I like to keep for the tits to swing on as they feed on the seeds.  The tall remains of Crambe cordifolia were there to remind me of summer in this foggy, frosty day when every leaf was edged white with ice.  The white rims of frozen fog round the evergreen berberis looked like the white edge on the wings of a large blue butterfly.  It made me wonder what exactly white is, and I discovered that it is sometimes caused by physical effects.  It can be due to air spaces within tissues where the reflection of light makes an impression of whiteness.  The white or grey of Senecio White Diamond is the reflection from the innumerable hairs which cover the leaves, with air between each.  Snow and frost, made up of colourless ice crystals with air spaces, have the same effect – whiteness.  A solid block of ice is colourless but ice full of air bubbles becomes white. – from a Countrywoman’s Notes by Rosemary Verey.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A golden eagle grabs a flying drone during a military training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base in southwestern France on Friday. Regis Duvignau/Reuters

A couple wearing Japanese traditional kimono pose for a wedding photo by a rapeseed field in Hamarikyu Garden in Tokyo on Friday. The flowers are expected to remain in full bloom until the end of March. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Volunteers try to keep alive some of the hundreds of stranded pilot whales on Friday in Golden Bay, at the top of New Zealand’s south island, after one of the country’s largest recorded mass whale strandings. Ross Wearing/Reuters
Market Closes for February 10^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20269.37	+96.97   +0.48%
S&P 500	2316.10	+8.23   +0.36%
NASDAQ	5734.129	+18.949   +0.33%
TSX	15729.12	+111.82
		+0.72%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19378.93	+471.26
		+2.49%
HANG SENG	23574.98	+49.84
		+0.21%
SENSEX	28334.25	+4.55
		+0.02%
FTSE 100*	7258.75	+29.25
		+0.40%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.695		1.683
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.368		2.358
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4073		2.3966
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0048		3.0098

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76414	0.76103
US $	1.30866	1.31400
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39255	0.71811
US $	1.06410	0.93976

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1228.30	1236.80
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.86	53.00

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed for a fourth day to a record as energy shares rallied amid a three-day climb in the price of crude oil.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.5 percent for the fifth advance in six sessions, bringing the gauge to 15,696.72 at 10:24 a.m. in Toronto — topping the previous high set on Jan. 25. While energy stocks climbed for the third day, it’s health- care companies and raw-materials producers that have led the benchmark gauge this week.
     Shares of energy companies added 0.8 percent for the third straight advance as crude oil climbed 1.6 percent to $53.83 a barrel. All but four companies in the 50-member energy group advanced, with Enerplus Corp. and Crew Energy Inc. leading gains with additions of at least 5 percent.
     Materials stocks rose 0.8 percent and consumer discretionary shares also advanced, adding 0.7 percent. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and Alimentation Couche-Tard climbed 0.7 percent each.
     Great Canadian Gaming Corp. was the biggest decliner in early trading, down 5.6 percent after Scotiabank cut the stock to sector perform on Thursday and lowered the price target to C$26 from C$29. Alamos Gold Inc. slid 2.3 percent after RBC cut the company to sector perform.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced for the fourth time this week as indexes added to records and investors assessed President Trump’s pledge to overhaul business taxes. A rally in oil and commodity prices sent energy and materials shares higher.
     The S&P 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to a record 2,316 at 4 p.m., while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97 points to 20,269. The Russell 2000 Index jumped 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.3 percent as both set new highs.
* Energy stocks up a second day, advancing 0.8%
* Financial shares pared earlier losses, ending 0.2% higher, capping a third week of gains after dropping the first three trading sessions of the week
* Real estate shares reversed losses to close 0.6% higher as consumer staples were the only group in the red for the day
* Volume slipped from the highest level in a week on Thursday, with 6.5 billion shares trading hands Friday, below the 6.7 billion average so far this year
* VIX little changed at 10.8, the lowest in two weeks
* Traders are assessing Trump’s comments that a “phenomenal” plan to overhaul business taxes may be released in the next “two or three weeks”
* With more than half of S&P 500 companies having posted earnings this season, about three-quarters beat profit estimates and roughly half beat sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Friday: Knoll (KNL), Emera (EMA)
** Pre-market Monday: First Data (FDC), HCP (HCP), Dentsply Sirona (XRAY)

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When you believe that the truth is living, moving, that it does not have one home or rest in any temple,
mosque, or church, in any religion, master or philosopher – in short, that nothing can lead you to it –
you will see also that you are this living thing in every respect;
it is your anger, your brutality, your violence, your despair.
It is the agony and the pain that you live through.  The truth is in the comprehension of all of this;
you cannot comprehend it unless you are determined to see it in your life.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I hadn’t been aware that there were doors closed to me until I started knocking on them.
                                                                              -Gertrude B. Elion, 1918-1999

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 

Birthday, Carol King, songwriter, b. 1942

Sometimes you win sometimes you lose
And sometimes the blues just get a hold of you
Just when you though you had made it
All around the block people will talk
But I want to give it all that I’ve got
I just don’t want, I don’t want to waste it

Talkin’ ’bout sweet seasons on my mind
Sure does appeal to me
You know you we can get there easily
Just like a sailboat a-sailin’ on the sea

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose
And most times you choose between the two
Wonderin’, wonderin’ if you have made it

But I’ll have some kids and make my plans
And I’ll watch the seasons runnin’ away
And I’ll build me a life in the open
A life in the country

I’m Talkin’ ’bout a sweet seasons on my mind
Sure does appeal to me
You know you we can get there easily
Just like a sailboat a-sailin’ on the sea…

                       -Carole King, The Living Room Tour, 2005

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Beat Feuz of Switzerland takes a training run in the men’s downhill at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Thursday. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Pupils on their way to school are silhouetted as the sun rises in Frankfurt, Germany, on a cold Thursday. Michael Probst/AP

A woman crosses the street in Chartres, France. Stephane Mahe/Reuters
Market Closes for February 9^th, 2017 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20172.40	+118.06     +0.59%
S&P 500	2307.87	+13.20   +0.58%
NASDAQ	5715.180	+32.726   +0.58%
TSX	15617.30	+63.26
		+0.41%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18907.67	-99.93
		-0.53%
HANG SENG	23525.14	+40.01
		+0.17%
SENSEX	28329.70	+39.78
		+0.14%
FTSE 100*	7229.50	+40.68
		+0.57%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.683		1.622
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.358		2.293
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3966		2.3400
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0098		2.9509

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76103	0.76438
US $	1.31400	1.30824
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40037	0.71410
US $	1.06573	0.93833

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1236.80	1242.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.00	52.34

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed for a third session as energy companies led an advance that saw seven of 11 groups move higher on the day.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.4 percent for the fourth advance in five sessions, bringing the gauge to 15,617.30 at 4 p.m. in Toronto 0.2 percent away from a record set on Jan. 25.
Shares of energy companies added 1.5 percent for the second day in a row as crude oil climbed 1.4 percent to $53.08 a barrel. All but seven companies in the 50-member energy group advanced, with Birchcliff Energy Ltd. and Ecana Corp. gaining at least 6.5 percent.
Health-care stocks also rallied, gaining 0.7 percent for the fifth advance in six sessions as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International jumped 1.7 percent and Prometic Life Sciences Inc.added 0.5 percent.
Mullen Group Ltd. was one of the biggest decliners on the day, losing 5.3 percent after being cut to hold by a Canaccord Genuity equity analyst after the company posted fourth quarter earnings that missed the lowest estimates.

US

By Oliver Renick
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied to new highs after weekly applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined and investors assessed earnings from Coca-Cola Co. and Kellogg Co. to Twitter Inc.
S&P 500 Index rose 0.6% to 2,307.87 at 4 p.m., while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 118 points to 20,172.
Russell 2000 Index jumped 1.5% to the highest since Jan. 25.
Energy shares up 0.9% for first advance in four sessions as oil climbs 1.4% for second day of gains.
Financial stocks higher for first gain this week, adding 1.4% with all 17 companies in S&P 500 Banks index rallying.
Regions Financial and Citizens Financial leading pack, up at least 2.5%.
Utility and raw-materials shares only groups down as the 10-year Treasury yield adds 6 bp to 2.382%.
 VIX down 4.8% to 10.9.
Jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 234,000 in the week endedFeb. 4, a report from the Labor Department showed Thursday; median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 249,000. Tech volume 9% higher than the 30-day average in early  trading as a rally in Micron offsets losses in Facebook and Microchip Technology 
With more than half of S&P 500 companies having posted earnings this season, about three-quarters beat profit estimates and roughly half beat sales forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
Equity markets advanced across the board in Europe as positive momentum from earnings filtered through stocks after Societe Generale SA beat estimates and French and Italian debt strengthened amid ebbing political risk

EARNINGS:
After-market Thursday: Cerner (CERN), Western Union (WU), Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Yelp (YELP), Expedia (EXPE), News Corp (NWSA), Pandora Media (P), Mohawk Industries (MHK), Zayo Group Holdings (ZAYO), VeriSign (VRSN), NVIDIA (NVDA)
Pre-market Friday: CBRE Group (CBG), DENTSPLY SIRONA (XRAY), Interpublic (IPG), Ventas (VTR).

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

We should never try to follow another’s path for that is his way, not yours.

When that path is found, you have nothing to do but fold your arms

and the tide will carry you to freedom.

Therefore when you find it, never swerve from it.

Your way is the best for you,

but that is no sign it is the best for another.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

Carolann

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment

that something else is more important than fear.

                                        -Ambrose Redmoon, 1933-1996 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On this day in 1971, Nasdaq, the world’s first electronic stock market, begins trading.

POINTS OF PROGRESS:
FRANCE:
Workers can relax a little more fully as they begin the new year with a new right: the ability to ignore their bosses’ weekend emails.  As o January1, France has enacted a law that gives its workers a legal right to ignore digital correspondence from co-workers and bosses when out of the office.  Dubbed “the right to disconnect,” the new law mandates that companies must negotiate with their employees to agree on terms of communication, a move that officials hope will redefine the blurring line between work and leisure.

SAN DIEGO:
Smartphones could assist criminal investigations – in an unexpected way.  A new tool developed by University of California, San Diego scientists analyzes trace chemicals left behind by the user on a device’s screen, providing insights into factors such as diet, hygiene products, and locations visited.  Senior author Pieter Dorrestein envisaged a scenario in which such an object was found at a crime scene but revealed no useful fingerprint or DNA.  His team’s new method would allow investigators to build a lifestyle picture of the person in question.

INDIA:
The world’s biggest solar power plant in a single location was recently unveiled.  The facility, based in the country’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, covers an area of almost four square miles and has a capacity of 648 megawatts, compared with the previous title holder, Topaz Solar Farm in California, which boasts a capacity of 550 MW.  The Indian plant will be able to produce enough electricity to power about 150,000 homes.

UNITED STATES:
Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were the lowest since 1991 in the first half of 2016, and the US Energy Information Administration expects the year as a whole to exhibit the lowest figures since 1992, once all data are available.  The agency attributes the numbers to various factors, including the mildest weather since at least 1949, a drop in coal consumption of 18 percent compared with the same period in 2015, and an increase of 9 percent in the use of renewable energy sources.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People walk next to the art installation ‘Monument,’ made from three passenger busses, by Syrian artist Manaf Halbouni in Dresden, Germany, on Wednesday. Matthias Schumann/Reuters
Vintage and classic cars are displayed by Bonhams auction house at the Grand Palais exhibition hall during Retromobile week in Paris on Wednesday. Benoit Tessier/Reuters
A devotee sits in the woods of Changu Narayan during the Swasthani Bratakatha festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on Wednesday. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters
Market Closes for February 8^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20054.34	-35.95   -0.18%
S&P 500	2294.59	+1.51   +0.07%
NASDAQ	5682.453	+8.236   +0.15%
TSX	15547.89	+49.09
		+0.32%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19007.60	+96.82
		+0.51%
HANG SENG	23485.13	+153.56
		+0.66%
SENSEX	28289.92	-45.24
		-0.16%
FTSE 100*	7188.82	+2.60
		+0.04%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.622		1.693
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.293		2.358
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3400		2.3931
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9509		3.0179

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76438	0.75854
US $	1.30824	1.31832
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39935	0.71462
US $	1.06964	0.93489

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1242.10	1231.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	52.34	52.17

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, reversing earlier losses, as energy producers turned higher with oil prices. New Gold Inc. and Genworth MI Canada Inc. paced gains among raw- materials and real estate companies.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 15,554.04 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after sliding as much as 0.5 percent. Energy shares reversed a decline exceeding 1 percent as oil rebounded following a report showing U.S. gasoline inventories fell for first time since December. Materials and real estate shares climbed at least 0.9 percent.
     New Gold jumped 6.7 percent, the most in the benchmark index, as the company sold the El Morro gold stream to Goldcorp Inc. for $65 million in cash. The agreement strengthens New Gold’s balance sheet and the company now needs less than $100 million to fund the completion and ramp-up of Rainy River, Desjardins analyst Michael Parkin wrote in a note.
     Genworth MI rallied 6.7 percent to the highest level in three years after the residential mortgage insurance company reported earnings that beat analyst estimates.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — Treasuries rose for a fourth day and gold reached a three-month high as demand for haven assets persisted with investors assessing political risks in Europe and the U.S. American equities erased losses after crude rebounded above $52 a barrel
     The S&P 500 Index was little changed as energy producers turned higher after an unexpected slide in U.S. gasoline supplies boosted the price of crude. Bank shares slipped as yields on 10-year Treasury notes fell to 2.33 percent. Bond auctions in Europe lifted debt in Germany and Portugal. Gold topped $1,240 an ounce. Bloomberg’s dollar index fell for the first time in three days.
     Trades sparked by Donald Trump’s election continued to falter as long-awaited details on pro-growth policies remain undelivered. Even one of the best corporate earnings season since the financial crisis hasn’t been able to jolt equities higher, as macroeconomic uncertainty has driven demand for safety. The calendar for data is light in the week.
     “There is less macro and more micro driving the market because we are in the earnings season,” Lucy MacDonald, chief investment officer for global equities at Allianz Global Investors, said on Bloomberg Television. “But we haven’t had an election for a while and we know we have plenty coming up. The negative outcomes aren’t really priced in.”
     What’s coming up in the markets:
* A U.S. court of appeals is reviewing arguments on whether to reinstate the Trump administration’s temporary ban on immigration, with the outcome likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court. A decision is not due on Wednesday.
* A strike looms at BHP’s Escondida mine. Workers at the world’s largest copper operation vowed to down tools indefinitely after wage negotiations with the company failed. The walkout will halt all production at the site.
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 2,294.65 at 4 p.m. in New York, 0.2 percent below an all-time high.
* Financial shares lost 0.8 percent as the rally in bonds threatened interest income.
* High-dividend yielding industries surged, with utilities and real-estate stocks jumping at least 0.6 percent.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent as banks and industrial shares slipped.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.3 percent.
* Emerging market stocks added 0.3 percent.
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent, paring losses that reached 0.3 percent.
* The reversal came after a 10-year Treasury auction was poorly received, with traders still apprehensive about the Trump administration’s currency and trade policies.
* The euro was little changed at $1.0683 and the British pound strengthened to $1.25188.
     Commodities
* Oil erased a loss of 1 percent to climb 0.5 percent to $52.42 a barrel in New York, looking to end a two-day slide.
* Oil has fluctuated above $50 a barrel since a deal to trim output between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations took effect on Jan. 1.
* Copper three-month forwards jumped 1.8 percent after workers at the biggest mine in Chile vowed to strike. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecast what would be the first deficit of the metal since 2011.
* Gold climbed to the highest in almost three months as investors purchased metal through the biggest exchange-traded fund for a fifth day, the longest buying spree since June. Futures rose 0.5 percent to settle at $1,239.24 an ounce.
     Bonds
* Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped four basis points to the lowest in three weeks, as bonds extending the longest rally since June.
* Wednesday’s $23 billion 10-year U.S. note sale drew a yield of 2.33 percent, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.29, compared with an average of 2.5 in the previous 10 auctions.
* Strong demand for government bond sales by Germany, Portugal and Finland drove gains for European debt ahead of Treasury’s 10-year note auction this afternoon.
* Portugal’s 10-year debt yield fell 13 basis points while German benchmark yields dropped five basis points to 0.30 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Truth has no path, and that is the beauty of truth, it is living.
Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
                                   -William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Feb. 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived in the United States for the first time, giving rise to Beatlemania.

Go to article »
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman plays with her daughter in a field of anemones near Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel on Tuesday. Amir Cohen/Reuters

Actor and model Jason Duaval Hunter poses for a photo with the art installation ‘We Were Strangers Once Too’ on Tuesday in New York’s Times Square. The 10-foot-high, red and pink heart incorporates 2015 census data. Thirty-three metal poles are inscribed to represent the national origins and shifting populations of foreign-born New York City residents. The installation will be on view until March 5. Mary Altaffer/AP
Market Closes for February 7^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20090.29	+37.87   +0.19%
S&P 500	2293.08	+0.52   +0.02%
NASDAQ	5674.219	+10.667   +0.19%
TSX	15498.80	+41.86
		+0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18910.78	-65.93
		-0.35%
HANG SENG	23331.57	-16.67
		-0.07%
SENSEX	28335.16	-104.12
		-0.37%
FTSE 100*	7186.22	+14.07
		+0.20%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.693		1.703
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.358		2.377
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3931		2.4077
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0179		3.0473

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75854	0.7512
US $	1.31832	1.30809
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40791	0.71027
US $	1.06796	0.93636

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1231.00	1226.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	52.17	53.01

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second time in three days as industrial and financial shares climbed, offsetting losses in energy companies.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 15,486.63 at 10:23 a.m. in Toronto. The gauge sits 0.9 percent from a more than two-year high reached on Jan. 25. The index finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market and posted its seventh straight monthly increase in January.
     Parex Resources Inc. surged as much as 8.5 percent, the biggest intraday increase since Nov. 30, following a year-end 2016 reserve report. Haywood Securities analyst Darrell Bishop wrote in a note that the report was “excellent,” and said that company’s cash flow-funded growth under current oil prices is “unmatched.”
     In other moves:
* Ensign Energy Services Inc., Surge Energy Inc. and Bonavista Energy Corp. decreased more than 2.2 percent as crude oil fell 1.6 percent
* Asanko Gold Inc., Pretium Resources Inc. and Endeavour Mining Corp. lost at least 1.8 percent as a Bloomberg index of commodities slipped as much as 0.4 percent before paring loss.
     (Canadian Press) — TORONTO — The loonie fell for a third consecutive day while the price of oil continued its slide, as uncertainty around U.S. President Donald Trump kept North American stock markets relatively flat Tuesday.
     The Canadian dollar shed 0.46 of a U.S. cent to 75.95 cents US. It has lost 0.85 of a U.S. cent over the past three trading days.
     Most strategists on the currency side have been surprised with the loonie’s strength, said Scott Vali, vice president of equities and a portfolio manager at CIBC Global Asset Management.
     Last week, the Canadian dollar was trading at its highest levels in nearly five months.
     The commodity-sensitive loonie had been boosted by the price of oil, he said, rather than weakening on the strength of the greenback as some analysts have expected.
     But the recent drop in oil prices has sent the loonie falling as well, said Vali.
     The March crude contract was down 84 cents at US$52.17 per barrel, for a week’s loss of US$1.66 so far.
     It’s “a bit of a seasonal pause,” says Vali, as oil prices typically experience a weaker period from February through to March.
     During that time, demand for refined product is weaker and refiners typically shut down for annual maintenance, he said.
     But as demand picks up between April and June, Vali expects prices will as well.
     Though, he adds, that does somewhat depend on whether or not the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are abiding by the oil production quotas they’ve put in place — a development the market is watching closely.
     With lower oil prices, the energy sector on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s main index underperformed with stocks in the sector losing nearly one per cent of their worth on average.
     Still, the S&P/TSX composite index gained 41.86 points to 15,498.80.    
     Bay Street and Wall Street are taking a bit of a breather from their rally following the election of Trump.
     The markets are questioning whether some of his recent moves, like an executive order imposing a 90-day travel ban into America on travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, will challenge the growth they’ve been anticipating during his tenure at the White House, Vali said.
     Elsewhere in commodities, the April gold contract rose $4.00 to US$1,236.10 an ounce, March natural gas gained eight cents to US$3.13 per mmBTU, and March copper contracts fell around two cents to about US$2.63 a pound.   
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks pared an earlier advance Tuesday as crude oil extended losses and investors continued to sift through earnings reports for clues on the economy’s health.
     The S&P 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 2,293.08 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 38 points to 20,083 after earlier reaching an intraday record.
* Industries mixed with energy shares underperforming as consumer staples shares lead advance, up 0.8%
* Tech up 0.4% as phone and utility stocks gain; 10-year Treasury yields down 1.6%
* Energy down 1.7% after weighing on market Monday as oil slides for third session
* VIX reversed earlier gain to end 0.7% lower at 11.3
* The U.S. Commerce Department said the December trade deficit was little changed at $44 billion, compared with an estimate of $45 billion; the shortfall was marked by weaker overseas sales of U.S.-produced goods and stronger domestic demand for imported products as the dollar rallied in the second half of 2016
* Almost 30 members of the S&P 500 reported quarterly results today, including Walt Disney Co. and General Motors Co. With more than half the S&P 500 stocks having released earnings this season, about three-quarters beat profit estimates and about half beat sales estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Tuesday: Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), Mondelez International (MDLZ), Walt Disney (DIS), Plains All American Pipeline (PAA), Assurant (AIZ), New Relic (NEWR), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Genworth Financial (GNW), CSRA (CSRA), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Microchip Technology (MCHP), Fortive (FTV), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO), Twilio (TWLO), Yum China Holdings (YUMC), O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Allergan (AGN), Exelon (EXC), Time Warner (TWX), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), Arch Coal (ARCH), GrubHub (GRUB), Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT), Humana (HUM), Alaska Air Group (ALK)

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Does distress and despair, melancholy, and madness come from God?
Does pleasure and prosperity, joy, and reason come from God?
Was the human form, in all its beauty, designed by God?
Does God give each person a distinct character and appearance?
Does God give men and women the ability to think?
Does God give human beings the urge to worship?
Does God plant the notions of truth and untruth in the human mind?
Does God decide when human beings should die?
Does God offer the hope of immortality?
Atharva Veda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

When your passion and drive are bigger than your fears, you just drive.
                                                                     -Viola Davis, b. 1965

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

My apologies for the e-mail problems we have been experiencing.  Our switch to the cloud has created complications this past two weeks, that we’ve been gradually recognizing and resolving.  Some of my communications have not been sent and some of yours have not been received.  Think we’ve got everything solved now. 🙂

On Feb. 6, 1952, Britain’s King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.
Go to article »

On this day in 1808, the Milan Stock Exchange is established.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Horsemen prepare to leave after the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery Royal 41-gun salute to mark the start of Queen Elizabeth’s Blue Sapphire Jubilee year at Green Park in central London on Monday. Hannah McKay/Reuters

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (l.) and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady pose with the MVP trophy during a news conference after Super Bowl 51 on Monday in Houston. Brady was named most valuable player. David J. Phillip/AP
Market Closes for February 6, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20052.42	-19.04   -0.13%
S&P 500	2292.56	-4.86   -0.21%
NASDAQ	5663.551	-3.215   -0.06%
TSX	15456.94	-19.45
		-0.13%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18976.71	+58.51
		+0.31%
HANG SENG	23348.24	+219.03
		+0.95%
SENSEX	28439.28	+198.76
		+0.70%
FTSE 100*	7172.15	-16.15
		-0.22%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.703		1.765
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.377		2.426
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4077		2.4685
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0473		3.0927

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7512	0.76755
US $	1.30809	1.30284
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40582	0.71133
US $	1.07468	0.93051

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1226.75	1215.20
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.01	53.83

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Linda Nguyen
     (Canadian Press) — TORONTO — A pullback in the price of crude pushed the Canadian dollar lower Monday, prompting worries the currency may continue to face downward pressure if oil prices stay range bound this year.
     The loonie, which was trading at its highest levels in nearly five months last week, started the week on the soft side, tumbling 0.35 of a U.S. cent to settle at 76.41 cents US.
     A major contributor to the weakness was falling oil prices, as the March crude contract fell 82 cents at US$53.01 per barrel — with global supply and demand continuing to be in flux as effects of a cut imposed by OPEC and non-OPEC members take hold.
     Craig Fehr, a Canadian markets strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, says he anticipates oil prices to stay range bound this year, which will likely pull the Canadian currency lower.
     Another factor that will negatively influence the loonie will be the growing gap between interest rates in Canada and the U.S., he said, with assumptions being that growth will accelerate faster south of the border.
     But a lower Canadian dollar isn’t necessarily bad news for everyone.
     “To the extent that the loonie can stay low, stay where it is at the moment or move a bit lower, that provides a pretty powerful boost to the export output particularly when it’s combined with faster growth and higher demand out of the U.S.,” Fehr noted.
     In other commodities, March natural gas was down a penny at US$3.05 per mmBTU, the April gold contract gained $11.30 at US$1,232.10 an ounce, and March copper was up four cents at US$2.65 a pound.
     Meanwhile, stock markets on both sides of the border were quiet in the absence of any major economic releases or corporate earnings results.
     In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 19.45 points at 15,456.94, with the losses in energy partially offset by gains in gold and materials stocks.
     On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 19.04 points at 20,052.42, the S&P 500 slipped 4.86 points at 2,292.56, and the Nasdaq composite declined 3.22 points at 5,663.55.
     “In the short term, day-to-day, it’s going to be more of what we’ve seen in the last week or two — up days followed by down days as we try to make sense of very solid fundamentals combined with what is an increasing amount of (U.S.) policy uncertainty in this environment,” said Fehr.
     On Monday, nearly 100 tech companies announced they were pushing back in court against U.S. President Trump’s temporary travel ban, calling it unconstitutional, un-American and bad for the economy.
     The companies filed briefs Sunday to back lawsuits from Washington state and Minnesota fighting Trump’s travel temporary ban. The ban keeps refugees and travellers from seven Muslim- majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days since being enacted Jan. 27.
     The 97 companies are mostly in the technology industry and include social media companies Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. Non-tech companies participating include yogurt maker Chobani and jeans-seller Levi Strauss & Co.    
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell in tandem with world equity markets Monday as nine of 11 industry groups in the S&P 500 Index declined, coming off a mixed week that ended with the best day for financial stocks since November.
     The benchmark gauge for American equity fell 0.2 percent to 2,292.56 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 19 points lower at 20,052. Stocks drifted lower in Europe on Monday as investors turned cautious on the region’s assets including bonds and the euro as their focus shifted to potential political risks.
* Energy shares weighed on stocks with biggest sector decline, down 0.9% as oil drops 1.5%
* Industrial and financial shares pared or reversed earlier gains, with industrial stocks little changed and financials down 0.4%
* S&P 500 hasn’t seen a move of 1% in either direction since Jan. 7, longest stretch since September
* VIX up 3.7% to 11.4
* With 6 billion shares trading hands, smallest day of volume in more than a week
* “Fed officials will see good labor-hours growth as confirming their view that the economy is approaching full employment and that rate hikes are in order,” David Sloan, a senior economist at 4CAST-RGE, said in a note; “The fly in the ointment is that average hourly earnings growth weakened in January, a problem for the reflationary outlook”
* Investors are keeping a close eye on the rhetoric coming from President Donald Trump’s administration; some who were bullish in the immediate aftermath of his election have since warned his pledges could ignite a trade war
* Nine S&P 500 members are reporting quarterly results Monday, including 21st Century Fox Inc. With more than half of the gauge’s members having released earnings this season, about three-quarters beat profit estimates and about half beat sales estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* EARNINGS:
**       After-market Monday: Tesoro (TSO), FMC (FMC), Twenty-
First Century Fox (FOXA), Macerich (MAC)
**       Pre-market Tuesday: AMETEK (AME), Fidelity National
Information Services (FIS), Cardinal Health (CAH), Centene (CNC), Vulcan Materials (VMC), Cynosure (CYNO), TransDigm Group Inc (TDG), Church & Dwight (CHD), Sabre (SABR), Aramark (ARMK), Omnicom Group (OMC), Mallinckrodt (MNK), Emerson Electric (EMR), National Oilwell Varco (NOV), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Mosaic (MOS), S&P Global (SPGI), General Motors (GM), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)

 

Have a wonderful day!

 

Be magnificent!

 

It is not a question of belief.
Stop believing in that which is;
this is what is taught in jnana yoga.
Believe in no other,
stop believing in that which is;
this is the first stage.  Dare to be rational.
Dare to follow reason where it may take you.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

 

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.
–Beverly Sills, 1929-2007

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 

February 3, 1874, Gertrude Stein was born.

Silent gratitude isn’t very much use to anyone. –Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946

Also on this day,

1959 – Rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
1971 – Apollo 14 astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Edgar D. Mitchell landed on the lunar sufrace during the third successful manned mission to the moon.

2002 – the New England Patriots win their first Super Bowl, upsetting the St. Louis Rams 20-17.

Year of the Rooster: The ancient Chinese calendar has 12 months based on the moon, six of them with 29 days and six with 30 days.  An intercalary month is added every few years, so 7 out of 19 years have 13 months. 

NUMBER OF THE DAY

55%

The jump in Amazon’s fourth-quarter profit, to $749 million, beating company guidance—though revenue, up 22% to $43.7 billion, was just at the midpoint of Amazon’s target, and below analysts’ expectations.

 PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The Eiffel Tower is lit in the colors of the Olympic flag during the launch of the international campaign for the Paris bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, France on Friday. Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Huge waves crash on the seafront in San Esteban de Pravia, in the northern region of Asturias, Spain on Friday. Eloy Alonso/Reuters

Market Closes for February 3, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20071.46	+186.55     +0.94%
S&P 500	2297.28	+16.43   +0.72%
NASDAQ	5666.766	+30.568   +0.54%
TSX	15469.05	+69.94
		+0.45%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18918.20	+3.62
		+0.02%
HANG SENG	23129.21	-55.31
		-0.24%
SENSEX	28240.52	+13.91
		+0.05%
FTSE 100*	7188.30	+47.55
		+0.67%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.765		1.766
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.426		2.411
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4685		2.4737
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0927		3.0877

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76755	0.76771
US $	1.30284	1.30258
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40461	0.71194
US $	1.07814	0.92753

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1215.20	1221.95
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.83	53.54

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced as gains in financial and technology companies offset losses in raw-material and telecom stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 15,461.42 at 10:10 a.m. in Toronto. The gauge traded in a tight range over the prior three days, moving less than 0.15 percent in either direction on a closing basis. The index finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market and posted its seventh straight monthly increase in January.
Brookfield Property Partners LP rose 0.9 percent after reporting funds from operations that exceeded analyst estimates. The company also boosted its quarterly distribution to 29.5 cents from 28.
In other moves:
Precision Drilling Corp., Inter Pipeline Ltd. and Veresen Inc. rose more than 1.8 percent as crude oil gained 0.5 percent 
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd., First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Teck Resources Ltd. slipped at least 2 percent as a Bloomberg index of commodities lost 0.5 percent
(Canadian Press) — Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
^Toronto Stock Exchange (15,476.39, up 77.28 points)@:
Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSX:ESI). Oil and gas. Up 21 cents, or 2.31 per cent, to $9.32 on 7.5 million shares.
B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Miner. Up two cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $4.05 on 5 million shares.
 Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Aerospace, rail equipment. Up two cents, or 0.78 per cent, to $2.59 on 4.9 million shares.
Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Oil and gas. Down 24 cents, or 1.45 per cent, to $16.33 on 4.5 million shares.
Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K). Miner. Down two cents, or 0.39 per cent, to $5.10 on 4.5 million shares.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN). Miner. Unchanged at $4.00 on 3.9 million shares.
^Companies reporting major news@:
Hudson’s Bay Company (TSX:HBC). Retailer. Up 39 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $10.39 on 2.6 million shares. The company appears to be continuing its aggressive international growth with reports it’s eyeing another American retailer, Macy’s Inc. HBC declined to comment after a report by the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, said the two retail giants were in preliminary talks for a takeover. 
US
By Oliver Renick
(Bloomberg) — A one-day rally in financial stocks on Friday helped push U.S. equities into positive territory for the week after the S&P 500 Index spent most of the period fluctuating between gains and losses against the backdrop of a slew of executive orders by President Donald Trump.
The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 2,297.42 on the week as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 percent to 20,071.46. Both gauges trailed the Russell 2000 Index as small-cap shares added 0.5 percent for the fourth gain in five weeks.
While health-care stocks had the biggest five-day gain with a 2.4 percent advance, it was a 2 percent rally in financial companies that pushed the S&P 500 into positive territory late Friday after Trump signed directives aimed at reducing regulation on banks and examining the Dodd-Frank rule.
Equities also got a lift Friday after U.S. Labor Department data showed employers added the most workers in four months, stoking enthusiasm in the economy that was tempered by hourly earnings numbers, which showed growth of 2.5 percent year-over- year, the weakest since August.
The Federal Reserve will probably “interpret the labor market condition as having moderately more slack near term,” Tim Hopper, chief economist at TIAA Investments, said in a research note Friday. “This gives them room to forestall a rate hike in March.”
Investors continue to watch corporate earnings. With more than half of S&P 500 companies having reported, profits are beating expectations by an average 3.3 percent, even as revenue figures fall in line with analyst projections. Earnings are up 5.5 percent on average, with eight of 11 industry groups posting gains. 
Shares of phone companies had the worst week in three months, dropping 1.9 percent as a group. Frontier Communications Corp. lost 3.4 percent and Verizon Communications Inc. declined 2.1 percent. Despite the fourth week of gains in oil this year, energy stocks lost 1.2 percent as declines in Range Resources Corp. and Transocean Ltd weighed on the group.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Do not believe a thing simply because it has been said.

Do not put your faith in traditions only because they have been honored by many generations.

Do not believe a thing because the general opinion believes it to be true or because it has been said repeatedly.

Do not believe a thing because of the single witness of one of the sages of antiquity.

Do not believe a thing because the probabilities are in its favor,

or because you are in the habit of believing it to be true.

Do not believe in that which comes to your imagination,

thinking that it must be the revelation of a superior Being.

Believe nothing that binds you to the sole authority of your masters or priests.

That which you have tried yourself, which you have experienced, which you have recognized as true,

and which will be beneficial to you and to others;

believe that, and shape our conduct to it.

Buddha

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself.

                             -Plato, c. 428 – 348 BCE

 

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