Category: Events

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Notable & Quotable: Cicero on Growing Old

From a new translation by classicist Philip Freeman, “How to Grow Old” (Princeton University Press), an imagined dialogue involving the Roman philosopher Cato written by the orator and statesman Cicero (106-43 B.C):

Scipio: When Gaius Laelius and I are talking, Marcus Cato, we often admire your outstanding and perfect wisdom in general, but more particularly that growing old never seems a burden to you. This is quite different from the complaints of most older men, who claim that aging is a heavier load to bear than Mount Etna.

Cato: I think, my young friends, that you are admiring me for something that isn’t so difficult. Those who lack within themselves the means for a blessed and happy life will find any age painful. But for those who seek good things within themselves, nothing imposed on them by nature will seem troublesome. Growing older is a prime example of this. Everyone hopes to reach old age, but when it comes, most of us complain about it. People can be foolish and inconsistent.

They say that old age crept up on them much faster than they expected. But, first of all, who is to blame for such poor judgment? Does old age steal upon youth any faster than youth does on childhood? Would growing older really be less of a burden to them if they were approaching eight hundred rather than eighty? If old people are foolish, nothing can console them for time slipping away, no matter how long they live.

So if you compliment me on being wise—and I wish I were worthy of that estimate and my name—in this way alone do I deserve it: I follow nature as the best guide and obey her like a god. Since she has carefully planned the other parts of the drama of life, it’s unlikely that she would be a bad playwright and neglect the final act. And this last act must take place, as surely as the fruits of trees and the earth must someday wither and fall. But a wise person knows this and accepts it with grace. Fighting against nature is as pointless as the battles of the giants against the gods. –from WSJ.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Palestinian girl collects anemone coronaria flowers in a field at the West Bank village of Beit Dajan near Nablus, Tuesday. Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters

A bumblebee arrives at a cherry tree blossom in Erfurt, central Germany, Tuesday. Weather forecasts predict changeable weather for Germany in the next few days. Jens Meyer/AP

Market Closes for April 5^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17603.32	-133.68   -0.75%
S&P 500	2045.17	-20.96   -1.01%
NASDAQ	4843.934	-47.862   -0.98%
TSX	13304.66	-31.49
		-0.24%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	15732.82	-390.45
		-2.42%
HANG SENG	20177.00	-321.92
		-1.57%
SENSEX	24883.59	-516.06
		-2.03%
FTSE 100	6091.23	-73.49
		-1.19%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.165	1.230
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.934	1.994
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7183	1.7653
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5427	2.5958

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76112	0.76478
US $	1.31386	1.30757
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49594	0.66848
US $	1.13859	0.87830

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1231.25	1219.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	35.89	35.70

Market Commentary:

April is 3^rd Best Month for S & P, 4^th Best for NASDAQ, Since 1971.

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks slipped a fourth day, the longest losing streak in almost two months, as crude traded near a one-month low and data showed exports posted their biggest fall since the recession.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 13,304.66 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, extending the longest stretch of declines since February 11. While the Canadian benchmark equity gauge has lost 1.5 percent in that time, it’s still up 2.3 percent this year and remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world. Trading volume was 32 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Canadian exports in February fell 5.4 percent, the biggest drop since May 2009 after rising to a record in January. Canada’s trade deficit widened to twice what economists forecast. Non-energy exports fell 4.2 percent, a blow to the Bank of Canada’s narrative that those industries will drive the country’s economic recovery in coming years.

     The S&P/TSX has stumbled out of the gates in the second quarter amid a retreat in commodities, especially crude, in a reversal from the first quarter’s resource-fueled rally. The broader S&P/TSX’s valuation has slipped from last month’s high of 21.9 times reported earnings to 21.1 times. That’s still 13 percent more expensive than the 18.6 times multiple of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     Crude rose 0.5 percent in New York, erasing losses to rebound from a one-month low, after tumbling 6.9 percent in the previous two sessions. The rally in crude has lost momentum amid speculation whether major OPEC producers will be able to reach an output freeze agreement. Kuwait’s OPEC governor said producers can still come to an agreement without the participation of Iran.

     Financial services stocks and energy producers fell more than 0.5 percent to contribute the most to Tuesday’s declines. Raw-materials companies climbed 1.9 percent as a group, with gold producers advancing the most in a week. Barrick Gold Corp. and Kinross Gold Corp. added at least 4.7 percent.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. surged 10 percent, rebounding from a five-year low. The drugmaker said a special “ad hoc” board committee found no additional accounting issues that would require more restatements and the company plans to file its annual report on or before April 29.

     Valeant is facing push back from some of its lenders as it seeks to waive a default and loosen restrictions on its debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company has been seeking relief from a technical default that arose when it didn’t file its 10-K before March 15.

     Hudson’s Bay Co. dropped 2.9 percent after reporting fourth-quarter earnings short of analysts’ estimates. The retailer also boosted its sales forecast range for the year, predicting C$14.9 billion to C$15.9 billion, compared a previous C$14.2 billion to C$15.2 billion estimate.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting the steepest loss in four weeks, amid simmering concerns that weakness in global growth will deepen.

     Banks paced the retreat, sinking along with Treasury yields as bonds rallied on haven demand. Bank of America Corp. slid 2.4 percent. Health-care companies fell for the first time in three days, dragged lower by Allergan Plc’s 15 percent tumble after the government took steps to limit so-called inversion deals, threatening its merger with Pfizer Inc.

     The S&P 500 dropped 1 percent to 2,045.17 at 4 p.m. in New York, leaving it little changed for the year and ending the longest streak of calmness in 13 months. The index’s move had been capped within 1 percent in either direction in the last 15 days, something not seen since March 2015. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 133.68 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,603.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1 percent. About 7.3 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 13 percent below the 2016 average.

     “We’re stalling out,” said Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading Partners LLC in New York. “That’s part of it, and it’s being exacerbated by this continued rally in the Japanese yen and the release from the Treasury that’s causing a lot of pain in Allergan. We have Fed minutes tomorrow and the expectation is for it to be super dovish, and if it’s not then people might get confused.”

     The rally that lifted the S&P 500 as much as 13 percent from a 22-month low in February has started to lose momentum, with sentiment shifting as investors assess whether central banks can fend off weakness in the global economy. Worries that a slowdown in China would spread, intensified by tumbling crude prices had sent stocks to their worst-ever start to a year. Stabilizing oil and signals that policy makers would continue efforts to boost growth supported the late-quarter comeback.

     Comments today from International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde provided no comfort to investors who are apprehensive about global growth. The downside risks have increased and “we don’t see much by way of upside,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 9.2 percent to 15.42, the biggest back-to-back gain in almost two months. The measure of market turbulence closed Friday at a seven-month low.

     Tuesday’s selloff in Allergan came after the S&P 500 health-care group’s best two-day rally in more than six weeks. It also summoned paper losses of more than $200 million each for hedge funds run by John Paulson, Daniel Loeb and Andreas Halvorsen. For Halvorsen and Paulson, the latest loss adds to declines the two have experienced on another common holding, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., which is down more than 70 percent this year.

     U.S. stocks climbed the most in a month last week, after jobs and manufacturing data strengthened confidence in the economy and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reaffirmed any interest-rate increases will be gradual. Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said in a Bloomberg TV interview today the U.K.’s “Brexit” vote and the U.S. presidential elections are fueling uncertainty, complicating decisions for policy makers as well as businesses and investors.

     With Fed officials scrutinizing data to guide their rate decisions, a report today showed activity in services industries picked up in March, indicating the economy was improving after a sluggish start to the year. A separate measure showed the U.S. trade deficit widened in February to a six-month high as an increase in imports exceeded a more modest pickup in shipments overseas.

     The Fed will release minutes tomorrow from its latest meeting. Traders are pricing in zero possibility of a rate increase at the end of April, with December now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs.

     The recent equity rebound coincided with a weakening dollar and has made the S&P 500 this year’s third-best performer in the developed world, though recent gains in which the index erased losses for the year have come in light volume. In the past two weeks, the daily amount of shares trading hands on U.S. exchanges was more than 20 percent below the 2016 average.

     “I think it’s really more a consolidation. We came a long, long way in the first quarter, the second half,” said Gabriela Santos, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management on Bloomberg TV. “We went down a long way and we came back a long way, and I think it’s a realization that things weren’t as dire as they seemed in January and February but they’re not perfect either.”

     Traders are also awaiting the start of the corporate earnings season, with Alcoa Inc. reporting its first-quarter results on April 11. Analysts estimate profit at S&P 500 firms fell 9.5 percent during the period, compared with forecasts for flat earnings growth at the beginning of the year.

     “The market is taking a more realistic view again of what the fundamental prospects are like,” said Veronika Pechlaner, who helps oversee $10 billion at Ashburton Investments, part of FirstRand Group, in Jersey, Channel Islands. “There is definitely pressure on corporate earnings in certain sectors still, and from a fundamental point of view it’s worrying.”

     All of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries declined Tuesday, with utilities, financial and health-care shares falling at least 1.2 percent. Industrial and phone companies slipped 0.6 percent.

     Allergan fell the most since 2004 to lead the drop in health-care, after the Treasury Department released rules that would limit the ability of U.S. companies to avoid paying taxes by issuing debt to their foreign parents, putting a planned $160 billion merger with Pfizer in jeopardy. Baxalta Inc. lost 7.4 percent amid the fallout, though Shire Plc said its proposed deal with Baxalta is not an inversion. Pfizer rallied 2.1 percent to the highest since Jan. 7, extending a three-day gain to 5.8 percent.

     Elsewhere in the group, health insurers Aetna Inc., Humana Inc. and Anthem Inc. decreased at least 2.3 percent. The retreat follows a release of the government’s Medicare Advantage payment rates to insurers, which were below the rates proposed in February. Valeant Pharmaceuticals rose 10 percent after a board committee found no additional accounting issues that would require more restatements.

     Banks in the benchmark retreated the most since March 8 amid speculation low interest rates will continue to weigh on profits. The 10-Year Treasury yield fell to its lowest in more than a month. Wells Fargo & Co. and Regions Financial Corp. lost more than 2 percent. Within the broader financial group, insurers Chubb Ltd. and Willis Tower Watson Plc fell at least 2.1 percent.

     Fallout from the crackdown on inversion deals was also being felt among merger-advisory firms. Boutique investment banks Evercore Partners Inc., Moelis & Co., Lazard Ltd. and Greenhill & Co. each fell more than 4.2 percent.

     Power producers cooled for a second day after the group posted the strongest quarterly advance in nearly 13 years. Dominion Resources Inc. and NRG Energy Inc. sank more than 2 percent after their best monthly gains in at least five years.

     Among other stocks moving on corporate news, Walt Disney Co. lost 1.7 percent, the biggest slide in more than three weeks. Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs, who was groomed to succeed CEO Robert Iger, is stepping down in a surprise move that forces Disney to look outside the company for its next chief executive.

     Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. jumped 11 percent after winning a tentative ruling dismissing claims that it failed to adequately warn consumers about cancer-causing formaldehyde found in some of its laminate flooring.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Each morning,

we are born again.

What we do today

is what matters most.

Buddha

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Self-discipline is a form of freedom.  Freedom from laziness and lethargy,

freedom from expectations  and demands of others, freedom from weakness

and fear – and doubt.

                            -Harvey A. Dorfman, b. 1935

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

1928: Maya Angelou was born.

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn.

…and I’m off to Vancouver in a few minutes to attend an evening dinner and presentation with Peter Tertzakian, author of A Thousand Barrels a Second and, more recently The End of Energy Obesity – Breakingtoday’s energy addiction for a prosperous and secure tomorrow.  Tell you about it tomorrow.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A red flower sticks out surrounded by yellow flowers in a park in London, Monday. Frank Augstein/AP

People enjoy cherry-blossom viewing at Ueno Park in Tokyo, Sunday. Cherry blossoms, the country’s iconic flower, are in full bloom this weekend. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

Market Closes for April 4^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17737.00	-55.75   -0.31%
S&P 500	2064.59	-8.19   -0.40%
NASDAQ	4891.797	-22.745   -0.46%
TSX	13317.72	-122.72
		-0.91%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16123.27	-40.89
		-0.25%
HANG SENG	20498.92	-277.78
		-1.34%
SENSEX	25399.65	+130.01
		+0.51%
FTSE 100	6164.72	+18.67
		+0.30%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.230	1.240
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.994	2.009
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7653	1.7705
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5958	2.5951

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76478	0.76862
US $	1.30757	1.30102
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49013	0.67108
US $	1.13962	0.87748

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1219.75	1213.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	35.70	36.79

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a third day, to the lowest level in almost a month, as a rally led by raw-material producers in the first quarter has faltered in April.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.8 percent to 13,336.15 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. While the Canadian benchmark equity gauge has lost 1.2 percent in a three-day slide, it’s still up 2.5 percent this year and remains one of the best- performing developed markets in the world.

     The resource-fueled rally through February and March that propelled the S&P/TSX in the first quarter of the year has not continued, as commodities from gold to copper and crude have retreated. The broader S&P/TSX’s valuation has slipped from last month’s high of 21.9 times reported earnings to 21.2 times. That’s 13 percent more expensive than the 18.8 times multiple of the S&P 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     “Are global portfolio managers ready to underweight Canada again? The answer to this question is yes,” Javed Mirza, a technical analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said in a research note. “Given the larger weighting of energy in the TSX, deterioration in energy will be an additional headwind for the S&P/TSX Composite relative to other resource-light equity indexes.”

     Mirza says the potential that energy stocks have peaked and will now decline provides an opportunity to buy into the industry at a more attractive level in the summer. The S&P/TSX Energy Index is up 4.1 percent this year.

     Crude fell to a one-month low on Monday, dropping 3 percent in New York amid speculation whether major OPEC producers will be able to come to an output freeze agreement. Gold sank for a second day while copper is down seven days in a row, its worst run since February 2014. 

     Canadian raw-materials producers dropped 2 percent Monday, for the biggest drag on the S&P/TSX, while financials and energy producers also retreated. Trading volume was 37 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     BlackBerry Ltd. lost 2.4 percent for a second day of losses, slipping to a seven-week low. The smartphone maker reported fourth-quarter sales short of analysts’ estimates on April 1, as it works to shift its business towards software and services.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. dropped 6.1 percent, trading near a 2011 low. The drugmaker is facing push back from some of its lenders as it seeks to waive a default and loosen restrictions on its debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Valeant has been seeking relief from a technical default that arose when it didn’t file its 10-K before March 15.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped from their highest levels this year, with declines in consumer and industrial shares overshadowing gains in health-care companies, as investors looked for fresh reasons to continue a rally.

     Equities lost momentum after after capping a sixth weekly gain in seven. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. fell more than 1.8 percent to the lowest in more than a month, sliding for a second day after disappointing March sales. Miner Freeport- McMoRan Inc. lost 4.8 percent as copper capped its longest losing streak in two years. Virgin America Inc. jumped 42 percent after Alaska Air Group Inc. agreed to buy the carrier for $2.6 billion.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.3 percent to 2,066.13 at 4 p.m. in New York, the biggest slide in more than a week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 55.75 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,737. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.5 percent. About 6.4 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 25 percent below the 2016 average.

     “There’s a big divergence in opinion right now over whether this rally is a head fake or not,” said Craig Sterling, head of U.S. equity research at Pioneer Investments in Boston. “Stocks have gone up on not a lot of volume and we’re kind of at an inflection point right now. If we see a leg down in oil or bad macro data, or the rate trade doesn’t go the right way for equities, then we’re back to where we started the year.”

     The main U.S. equity benchmark retreated after extending 2016 gains on Friday, an advance that came amid reports showing the pace of job creation remained robust and manufacturing activity improved. That bolstered confidence in the economy, while central banks have signaled they will continue their efforts to support growth.

     The S&P 500 staged a rebound in the second half of the last quarter, erasing losses of as much as 11 percent, helped by a rally in crude oil and easing concerns that a global slowdown will deepen. Still, recent gains have come in light trading, with the benchmark going its longest without a daily move of 1 percent in more than a year. The index was about 3 percent from a record reached last May, and is one of three developed-market indexes that has erased losses for the year.

     Meanwhile, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 7.8 percent Monday to 14.12, the most in five weeks. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX closed Friday at the lowest since August, 26 percent below its average over the past year.

     Following Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s reassurance last week that the pace of future rate increases will be gradual, traders are pricing in zero possibility of a hike at the end of April, with December now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs. A report today showed a measure of factory orders declined in February, suggesting business investment will be a drag on growth again in the first quarter. Minutes from the Fed’s meeting last month are due for release on Wednesday.                       

     Attention will begin shift more toward corporate earnings, with Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicking off the reporting season when it releases first-quarter results on April 11. Analysts estimate profit at S&P 500 firms fell 9.5 percent during the period, compared with forecasts for flat earnings growth at the beginning of the year. The S&P 500 now trades at its highest valuation since July, based on 12-month projected earnings.

     Strategists at Jefferies Group LLC see more room for stocks to rise, citing in part the low expectations for earnings which should make it easier for companies to produce surprises. “The bottom line is that with the Fed dovish, stock market investors skeptical and earnings set to be revised up, investors should guard against the risk of an upside breakout in stocks,” wrote the team led by Sean Darby, chief global equity strategist, in a note today. “The question then will be whether last May’s top remains intact.”

     Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries fell Monday, with industrial, raw-materials and consumer discretionary companies losing at least 0.8 percent. Health-care shares gained 1 percent to the highest in almost three months, boosted by drug developers.                          

     General Electric Co. sank 2.2 percent, the most in seven weeks, after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc. downgraded the shares to the equivalent of neutral from buy, citing valuation. The stock had rallied more than 16 percent from a February low and was up 28 percent compared to a year ago. Caterpillar Inc. fell 1.4 percent to snap a six-day winning streak.

     Among consumer companies, PulteGroup Inc. lost 6.6 percent, the most since October, as the company’s chief executive officer plans to step down after pressure from the homebuilder’s founder. Richard Dugas will retire next year after more than a decade as CEO, according to a statement.

     Parts makers BorgWarner Inc. and Delphi Automotive Plc slid at least 3.8 percent. Wells Fargo Securities LLC analyst Richard Kwas wrote in a note that a report the stocks may be weighed by concerns about long-term European Union pollution targets expected next year. Nike Inc. dropped 2.6 percent to a three- week low, with the shares falling below their average prices during the past 50 and 200 days.

     Consumer staples in the benchmark retreated from an all- time high. J.M. Smucker Co. fell 3.7 percent, the most in 10 months, after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. downgraded the shares to sell. Hershey Co. and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. decreased more than 1.1 percent.                       

     Facebook Inc. slid 3 percent, the most in almost two months. The company is in an “unfavorable set up” going into earnings, according to Deutsche Bank AG analyst Ross Sandler. Quarterly revenue expectations are high and may lead to temporary weakness, though investors should view a decline in the stock as a buying opportunity, the analyst wrote.

     Apple Inc. rose for the fourth time in five sessions, climbing 1 percent, while Yahoo! Inc. advanced 1.5 percent to the highest since August. Reuters reported late Friday that Time Inc. is said to consider partnering with a private-equity firm on a bid for Yahoo’s core Internet assets.

     Edwards Lifesciences Corp. surged 17 percent to an all-time high, pacing the climb in health-care after a study offered evidence on the benefits of its newest aortic valve. Allergan Plc and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. rallied more than 3.5 percent as drug developers climbed for a third day. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 0.9 percent, after climbing as much as 2.4 percent.

     Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. increased at least 1.3 percent. Health-care companies had the smallest March increase of the S&P 500’s main groups, and are one of two — along with financials — to still hold losses for the year.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Society cannot be changed unless man changes.

Man, you and others, have created these societies

for generations upon generations.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.  Without courage,

we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.  We can’t be kind, true, merciful,

generous, or honest.

                               -Maya Angelou, 1928-2014

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1700, April Fools’ Day tradition of playing practical jokes becomes popularized in England.

FIVE THINGS ABOUT APRIL FOOL’S DAY

           -from The National Post, April 1, 2016

1 PRANK HALL OF FAME

ON April 1, 1957, the BBC aired a three-minute segment about Swiss spaghetti farmers plucking long strands of pasta from tree branches.  Hundreds of viewers wrote in asking how they could cultivate their own spaghetti tree.  It has been declared one of the greatest April Fool’s pranks of all time.

2 HILARIA’S MOCKERY

Some historians believe April Fool’s Day has its origins in ancient Rome, with a festival known as Hilaria.  Usually celebrated on March 25, Hilaria was a day for games, masquerades, and generally whiling away the day with relentless moking.

3 MERRY, BUT FOOLISH?

The two-day Hindu celebration Holi, the Persian festival Sizdah Beder and the Jewish holiday Purim also fall in early spring.  While not explicitly about tricking people, the holidays involve various forms of merriment and frivolity.  The Museum of Hoaxes (it’s a real thing) notes there is no evidence  that April Fool’s Day came from any of these celebrations.

4 FEAST OF FOOLS

The Catholic Church’s Feast of Fools was celebrated around Jan. 1 in medieval France and England.  Church officials originally encouraged the carnival-like celebration, which involved dressing in costume and bringing donkeys into church.  But by the 15^th century they decided the feast had become too raucous and banned it.

5 CALENDAR THEORY

Pope Gregory Xlll issued a decree in 1563 ordering that Christian countries adopt a standardized calendar.  The Gregorian calendar moved the new year from the end of March to Jan. 1: people who continued to celebrate on the old day were mocked as “April fools.”  One problem with this theory?  The first unambiguous reference to April Fool’s Day came in a Flemish poem published three years before the switch.

A story in The Vancouver Sun today lends credence to George Orwell’s contention that “We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine gun.”

Check out this story: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/majority+canned+foods+canada+have+high+amounts+toxic+chemical/11820501/story.html

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman looks at cherry blossoms in almost full bloom in Tokyo, Japan, Friday. Issei Kato/Reuters

Manor driver Pascal Wehrlein of Germany steers his car during the second free practice session ahead the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at the Formula One Bahrain International Circuit, in Sakhir, Bahrain, Friday. Hassan Ammar/AP

Market Closes for April 1^st, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17792.75	+107.66   +0.61%
S&P 500	2072.78	+13.04   +0.63%
NASDAQ	4914.543	+44.695   +0.92%
TSX	13440.33	-54.03
		-0.40%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16164.16	-594.51
		-3.55%
HANG SENG	20498.92	-277.78
		-1.34%
SENSEX	25269.64	-72.22
		-0.28%
FTSE 100	6146.05	-28.85
		-0.47%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.240	1.231
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.009	2.009
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7705	1.7704
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5951	2.6127

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76862	0.77127
US $	1.30102	1.29657
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48247	0.67445
US $	1.13947	0.87760

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1213.60	1237.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	36.79	38.34

Market Commentary:

Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have it and those who do not. –John Kenneth Galbraith.

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — After the biggest monthly rally since 2011, Canadian stocks stalled to start April, as crude wiped out gains for the year and gold declined after data showed the U.S. economy added more jobs than forecast.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 13,440.44 at 4 p.m. in Toronto for a second day of losses. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge rose 4.9 percent in March, the best monthly advance since October 2011. The S&P/TSX is also up 3.3 percent this year and remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world, trailing only New Zealand.

     Canadian equities had a seesaw first quarter, as losses by energy and raw-materials producers through Jan. 20 were wiped out by rebounding resource companies during February and March. The broader S&P/TSX trades at 21.3 times earnings, about 13 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     Crude slumped to cap a weekly decline of 6.8 percent in New York, dipping below $37 a barrel and erasing gains for the year after Saudi Arabia said it will only freeze its oil output if Iran and other major producers do so, the kingdom’s deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

     Gold futures for June delivery fell 1 percent to settle at $1,223.50 an ounce in New York, as demand for the metal as a store of value declined after the latest U.S. jobs report. Employers added 215,000 workers in March, more than forecast, while the unemployment rate climbed to 5 percent as more people entered the labor force. The latest signs of strength in the U.S. economy come after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen this week sounded caution over the pace of interest-rate increases amid uneven global economic growth.

     Energy producers sank 2.4 percent, the most in the S&P/TSX, and financial services stocks retreated. Raw-materials companies rebounded in afternoon trading, erasing a loss of as much as 1.6 percent to finish the day higher. Kinross Gold Corp. added 2.3 percent to its highest since July 2014. The three industries account for about two-thirds of the S&P/TSX. Trading volume was 17 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     BlackBerry Ltd. slumped 7.6 percent, the most since January, after the smartphone maker posted sales that fell short of analysts’ estimates on lackluster demand for its new handset. The company is shifting to software and services and away from devices as it struggles to compete with smartphones from Apple Inc. and Google Inc.

     Bombardier Inc. climbed 5.3 percent, touching a November high, after the struggling aerospace manufacturer secured a firm order for 20 Challenger jets valued at $534 million.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced to the highest levels this year amid optimism on the economy and expectations for only gradual increases in interest rates, overshadowing a selloff in oil.

     Signs of strengthening growth in jobs and manufacturing data, coming right after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen this week indicated global risks warranted restraint on lifting rates, presented the best of both worlds for investors Friday to help to overcome an early retreat sparked by falling crude prices.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.6 percent to 2,072.78 at 4 p.m. in New York, the highest close in 2016 while pushing this year’s gain to 1.4 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 107.66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,792.75, the highest since Dec. 4 after reversing a 117-point slide. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.9 percent to its highest this year. About 7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 17 percent below the 2016 average.

     “We now have a super dovish Fed in our corner and jobs data in line with the trend,” said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC in New York. “The market initially sold off on the conflict of a dovish message and then beats on every single line of the data, but now people are realizing you have a combination of better economic data and a Fed that’s being very gentle with the market. It seems the Fed’s more concerned with the global picture than the domestic picture.”

     Equities shook off early losses after data showed manufacturing activity expanded in March for the first time in seven months, in a sign factories are emerging from their worst slump since the last recession. That followed a report showing payrolls and average hourly earnings rose more than forecast, while the jobless rate crept up as more people entered the labor force.

     Additional tightening in the job market that sparks bigger pay gains for American workers may convince Fed policy makers that the economy is more insulated to weakness overseas.

     The S&P 500 rose after its strongest monthly climb since October. Equities staged a sizzling comeback in the first quarter’s final six weeks, as crude rebounded from a 12-year low and central bankers from Asia to Europe and America eased concerns that a global slowdown would deepen as they signaled a willingness to bolster growth. The gauge rose 0.8 percent in the past three months, marking the first time since 1933 it finished a quarter with a gain after falling at least 10 percent.

     Still, the late-quarter rally came amid light trading, with a three-week stretch that’s seen the S&P 500 go its longest without a daily move of 1 percent in more than a year. The index is now 2.7 percent from a record reached last May. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 32 percent in March, snapping its longest streak of monthly increases in four years. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX slipped 6.1 percent Friday to 13.10, its lowest since Aug. 17.

     “There’s good data across the board and it’s consistent with the view that manufacturing sector has bottomed,” said Jon Adams, portfolio manager at BMO Asset Management Corp. in Chicago, where he helps oversee $217 billion. “The weaker dollar over the last couple of months will help as well, as will stabilization in energy prices.”

     Policy makers have stressed the timing of rate increases will depend on progress in economic data, though the Fed’s Yellen boosted stocks this week after saying heightened risks to the global economy warranted a cautious approach to further rate hikes.

     Traders are pricing in no chance the central bank will raise rates in April, while the probability of a June move rose to 24 percent after the jobs report from 20 percent. Odds for June were 38 percent a week ago, before Yellen’s remarks. November is now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs, replacing December after today’s data.

     As the second quarter begins, attention will shift to the earnings season, which unofficially kicks off when Alcoa Inc. reports first-quarter results on April 11. Analysts estimate profit at S&P 500 firms fell 9.5 percent during the period, compared with forecasts for a 4.5 percent drop two months ago.

     In Friday’s trading, roles were reversed among the S&P 500’s 10 main industries, with investors selling last month’s biggest winners — energy producers — and scooping up health- care shares which lagged the most in March.

     A rally among drug developers propelled health-care higher, after the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index’s worst quarterly drop in nearly 14 years. The gauge rose 2.9 percent Friday, the biggest climb in a month. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 12 percent, the most in four years. Its drug to treat a serious skin condition met its goals in two final-stage trials. Amgen Inc. added 2.8 percent to a two-month high, while Pfizer Inc. rose 1.4 percent.

     Banks in the benchmark resumed a climb after their best month in more than a year. Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased at least 1.1 percent. In the broader financial group, Capital One Financial Corp. and Morgan Stanley added more than 2 percent. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gained 1.8 percent, rising for a fifth session in its longest rally since November.

     Food and beverage makers boosted consumer staples, which extended an all-time high. ConAgra Foods Inc. and General Mills Inc. both reached records, rising at least 2.5 percent. Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. climbed 2.9 percent, the most in three months, to a 2016 high.

     The energy group surged 9.2 percent last month amid crude’s recovery, though the oil selloff today sapped momentum as West Texas Intermediate futures slid 4 percent. Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince said the kingdom will only freeze production if Iran and others follow suit. Chevron Corp. lost 1.2 percent, while Transocean Ltd. and Marathon Oil Corp. sank more than 5.2 percent.

     Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. both fell at least 2.9 percent and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV tumbled 4.1 percent after March sales gains at all three automakers were short of analysts’ forecasts. Parts makers BorgWarner Inc. and Delphi Automotive Plc sank more than 1.7 percent. Auto-related shares in the S&P 500 are coming off their best month since October.

     Airlines dragged down a group of transportation stocks after Deutsche Bank AG analyst Michael Linenberg downgraded ratings to hold from buy on American Airlines Group Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. citing signs of potential slowing in the economy which would damp business travel. The four carriers fell more than 2.4 percent.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!
 

Two people who have lived together for a  long time have an image of each other which prevents them from really relating to each other.

Therefore, it is important to understand, not intellectually, but actually in your daily life,

how you have built these images about your wife, your husband,

your neighbor, your child, your country, your leaders, your politicians,

your gods – you have nothing but images.

These images create the space between you

and what you observe

and in that space there is conflict.

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The reading of all good books is like a conversation

with the finest men of past centuries.

                               -René Descartes, 1596-1650

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On March 31, 1968, President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office.

1821 – McGill University granted a Royal Charter.

1949 – Newfoundland joins Confederation at midnight as Canada’s 10th province

1958 – John Diefenbaker wins 208 ridings in the 24th federal election; largest ever majority by percentage of seats.

Tomorrow we wake up to a new month of April!

“April is the month of golden Aphrodite (Etruscan apru), modest, gentle goddess of love and beauty.  She is the spirit of youth in everything.  We find ourselves drawn outdoors again, into the breeze-filled air sitting warmly on our senses.  We ray out into the light, the sun-illumined world.  There are wider dawns and deeper twilights.  As nature stirs, new life germinates within us.  Outside, ‘wild puffing of emerald trees and flame-filled bushes’ (D.H. Lawrence): within, an awakening sense of self in seeing.  The intensity of nature’s splendor all but overwhelms us.  Light – liquid, yellow, and caressing, is poured over everything.  Surrendering to its embrace with spontaneous devotion, our hearts are at peace.  We, too, are reborn.  We sense our freedom to do the good to know the true, and to love the beautiful.  We feel one with the world.”  -from D.D.’s Urban Almanac.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An RAF museum employee in authentic uniform looks towards a First World War Sopwith Snipe, on display in Horse Guards Parade in London, Thursday. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

A model looks out of a vintage General Motors Futurliner to promote the vintage car show Techno Classica in Essen, Germany, Thursday.Martin Meissner/AP

Market Closes for March 31^st, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17685.09	-31.57   -0.18%
S&P 500	2059.74	-4.21   -0.20%
NASDAQ	4869.848	+0.554   +0.01%
TSX	13494.36	-9.62
		-0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16758.67	-120.29
		-0.71%
HANG SENG	20776.70	-26.69
		-0.13%
SENSEX	25341.86	+3.28
		+0.01%
FTSE 100	6174.90	-28.27
		-0.46%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.231	1.228
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.009	2.012
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7704	1.8623
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6127	2.6559

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76931	0.77127
US $	1.29986	1.29657
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47942	0.67594
US $	1.13814	0.87863

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1237.00	1236.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.34	38.32

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index posting its biggest monthly advance since October 2011. Energy stocks in the benchmark gauge rose as the U.S. dollar slumped.

     The S&P/TSX dropped 9.62 points, or 0.1 percent to 13,494.36 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The measure has jumped 4.9 percent in March and has climbed 3.7 percent this year, its best quarterly performance since the second in 2014. The index now trades at about 21.4 times earnings, roughly 14 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Trading was 23 percent below the 30-day average, continuing a stretch of light volume.

     A report on Thursday showed that Canada’s economy posted the strongest monthly gain in three years in January, driven by a growth in manufacturing.

     Oil prices closed near $38 a barrel. Crude’s rebound from a 12-year low last month has slowed down as investors await the results of upcoming talks among OPEC producers in April on a possible output freeze. Bonterra Energy Corp.orp. added 5.7 percent to lead the rally in the sector.

     Silver Wheaton Corp.tumbled 5.8 percent after the company said yesterday it will raise at least $500 million by selling new shares.

     Health-care companies fell the most, trading near the lowest level since January 2011. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated for a fifth day, losing 3 percent. It was reported yesterday that the drugmaker is offering lenders a one-time fee and extra interest on its loans in exchange for waiving a default caused by a delayed earnings filing. Moody’s downgraded the drugmaker’s stocks today. Stocks of the company have plunged 23 percent in five days.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ending the first quarter virtually where it began after a whipsaw ride saw equities rally back from the worst-ever start to year.

     The S&P 500 edged lower Thursday ahead of a government jobs report likely to set the tone for the next week of trading. The index coasted to the end of a dichotomous quarter, capping a blistering comeback in the last six weeks to erase losses that reached more than 10 percent in mid-February. Stocks gained 0.8 percent in the past three months, leaving the S&P 500 nearly unchanged from its level at the end of March 2015.

     “We’re still stuck in a market that hasn’t done much in the past year and a half,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. LLC in New York. “What will be very important as we move into the second quarter will be whether we can get some upward follow-through as we get into earnings season. Until we break out of the current range, the market may sit on its hands for a little while longer.”

     U.S. stocks joined equities around the world in a March rebound as central banks from Asia to Europe and America signaled they stand ready to bolster flagging growth. That spurred demand for risk assets after a six-week rout punished stocks amid concern China’s slowdown would spread.

     Trading remained light Thursday, continuing a three-week stretch that’s seen the S&P 500 go its longest without a daily move of 1 percent in more than a year. Friday’s jobs report will focus attention on the strength of the world’s largest economy as the second quarter kicks off, with corporate earnings season starting in two weeks.

     The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent to 2,059.74 at 4 p.m. in New York, bringing its March advance to 6.6 percent after three straight monthly declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,685.09, trimming its monthly gain to 7.1 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased less than 0.1 percent and rose 6.8 percent for the month. About 6.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 20 percent below the 2016 average.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 2.9 percent today to 13.95. The gauge of market turmoil known as the VIX still snapped the longest streak of monthly increases in four years, falling yesterday to the lowest since Aug. 17 after slowing growth in China and a renewed rout in crude heightened investor anxiety in the first six weeks of the year.

     Oil and gas companies capped the best quarter since June 2014, after recovering from a drop of more than 9 percent. With oil rebounding from a rout, the group snapped the longest quarterly losing streak on record. Energy producers in the S&P 500 completed their first monthly climb since October, rising 9.2 percent in the period. Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 58 percent, the most in 15 years, to lead the group in March while Murphy Oil Corp. surged 47 percent, the most ever.

     Financial companies struggled to add to a March advance while finishing the strongest month in four years. Asset managers Legg Mason Inc. and Affiliated Managers Group Inc. soared more than 17 percent since February ended. The group has also staged a sharp recovery since Feb. 11, after a nearly 18 percent selloff to start the year as investors worried loans to energy companies would turn sour amid crude’s tumble.

     Banks in the benchmark managed to rebound 5.6 percent this month, though the group closed with a 13 percent quarterly slide, the worst since 2011. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. have each lost more than 19 percent since the year began.                    

     Raw-materials producers pared their biggest monthly advance since October. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was the S&P 500’s strongest first-quarter climber amid the copper miner’s biggest gain in seven years, up 53 percent. Newmont Mining Corp. climbed 48 percent, the most since 1987 as gold rallied. After the worst monthly drop since 2011 in January, the group has rallied 15 percent as concerns on China have diminished and crude recovers from a 12-year low.

     One of the biggest boosters to technology shares in March, International Business Machines Corp., added 2.1 percent Thursday to its best month since 2002. IBM rose almost 16 percent in March to lead the Dow average and posted the strongest quarterly increase in three years. Yahoo! Inc. rallied more than 15 percent this month, the most since October, as it faces a battle with an activist investor for control of its board and considers selling its Internet businesses.

     In the tumultuous quarter, investors sought refuge in the relative safety of defensive stocks, with utilities rising 14 percent during the period, the steepest in nearly 13 years. It was the industry’s best month since October 2014. Phone companies slipped Thursday, trimming their biggest quarterly advance in more than five years. Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. have risen more than 13 percent since 2015 ended, marking their best quarter since at least 2012.

     Investors were prowling for some quarter-end bargains today as drugmakers helped limit declines in health-care shares, the biggest losers during the period. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index advanced 2.2 percent, shaving its quarterly loss to 23 percent, the most in almost 14 years.

     Stocks rallied in the prior two sessions after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled on Tuesday the central bank will be cautious in raising interest rates because of heightened economic risks overseas. Fed Bank  of New York President William C. Dudley is scheduled to speak Thursday after the close of markets.

     Traders are pricing in no possibility of a rate boost in April, while the chances for a June increase have fallen to 20 percent from 46 percent last week. December is now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs.

     With policy makers focused on economic data to steer their rate decisions, attention is on the government’s monthly jobs report tomorrow. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate U.S. employers added 205,000 workers in March, compared with 242,000 the previous month as the unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent. A report today showed the number of applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to a two-month high, a sign of more moderate labor market progress.

     “There’s a lot of anticipation around tomorrow’s jobs data, as well as some other market-moving reports,” said Tim Ghriskey, who helps oversee $1.5 billion as managing director and chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management in New York. “That’s keeping investors from either taking new positions or selling existing ones, at least so far.”

     The quarter end means the earnings season looms, with Alcoa Inc. marking the unofficial start when it reports results on April 11. Analysts forecast profits at S&P 500 companies fell 9.3 percent in the period, compared with predictions for a 4.5 percent drop two months ago.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Knowledge is the annihilation of the separation between me and the other.

Swami Prajnanpad

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

 

Where you live in the world should not determine

whether you live in the world.

                                             -Bono, b. 1960 

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

March 30^th, 1858: Pencil patented.

1853 – Vincent Van Gogh was born.

1945 – Eric Clapton was born.

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer.

Canada’s first female Supreme Court Justice – Mar 30, 1983

Bertha Wilson was sworn in as Canada’s first female Supreme Court Justice. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1975, where she captured public attention through her imaginative and humane decisions in cases involving human rights, ethnic and sexual discrimination, matrimonial property and child custody. Wilson was named to the Court by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau just 17 days before the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted.

Also on this day, in 1921, Virginia Woolf wrote in her Diary, at Zennor:

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

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man carries loaves of baguette near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Wednesday. Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

A visitor takes a picture of a woman with blooming cherry blossoms as background at a park in Tokyo, Wednesday. Tens of thousands of people will are expected to show up at the park to enjoy the blossoms. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Market Closes for March 30^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17716.66	+83.55   +0.47%
S&P 500	2063.95	+8.94   +0.44%
NASDAQ	4869.293	+22.670   +0.47%
TSX	13503.98	+77.75
		+0.58%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16878.96	-224.57
		-1.31%
HANG SENG	20803.39	+437.09
		+2.15%
SENSEX	25338.58	+438.12
		+1.76%
FTSE 100	6203.17	+97.27
		+1.59%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.228	1.179
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.012	1.976
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8623	1.8000
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6559	2.5989

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.77127	0.76554
US $	1.29657	1.30626
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47005	0.68025
US $	1.13380	0.88199

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1236.25	1226.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.32	38.28

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a third day, as energy producers and the nation’s largest lenders advanced and investors weighed better-than-expected earnings from Dollarama Inc.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 13,503.98 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, boosting gains to 1.1 percent during a three-day rally. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is on track for a second straight month of gains, something it hasn’t accomplished since February 2015. The S&P/TSX is also up 3.8 percent this year and is one of the best-performing developed markets in the world trailing only New Zealand. 

     Energy producers and banks contributed the most to gains out of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX. Gold producers slipped 1.8 percent as the price of the metal gave back some of its gains after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech yesterday voiced caution on the pace of interest rate increases.

     The broader gauge now trades at 21.5 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     Crude ended the day near $38 a barrel as the dollar’s loss eased. Government data showed U.S. crude supplies rose, keeping stockpiles at the highest level since 1930. Crude’s rebound from a 12-year low last month has stalled somewhat as investors await the results of upcoming talks among OPEC producers in April on a possible output freeze. Pipeline operators Enbridge Inc. and TransCanada Corp. added at least 2 percent to lead energy stocks higher.

     Dollarama jumped 7.5 percent, the most in almost two years, after the retailer posted fourth-quarter earnings ahead of analysts’ estimates. Dollarama has also appointed Neil Rossy as chief executive officer effective May 1, replacing Larry Rossy, who will remain as executive chairman.

     Bombardier Inc. added 1.5 percent after Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the government is still weighing aid for the aerospace manufacturer. In an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker, Morneau said there’s no exact timeline for aid and the government is still working on its “due diligence.”

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated for a fourth day, losing 7.2 percent. The drugmaker under fire with investors, U.S. regulators and lawmakers for its business practices is offering lenders a one-time fee and extra interest on its loans in exchange for waiving a default caused by a delayed earnings filing, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, extending to the highest levels this year, as central bankers continued to spur optimism amid assurances that they will act to stave off a global downturn.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed for a third day after yesterday posting the strongest increase in two weeks as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled officials will be cautious in raising interest rates due to heightened economic risks overseas. The dollar headed for its steepest monthly drop since 2010. Apple Inc. rallied to a three-month high, boosting technology shares, while banks rose for the first time in six days.

     The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 2,063.95 at 4 p.m. in New York, pushing its 2016 gain to 1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 83.55 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,716.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.5 percent to close above its average price during the past 200 days for the first time this year. About 6.6 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 22 percent below the 2016 daily average.

     “We’re seeing a follow-through from yesterday’s strength following Yellen’s comments,” said Terry Morris, a senior equity manager who helps oversee about $3.2 billion at Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based National Penn Investors Trust Co. “She backed off any hawkishness she had — it was a complete dovish story, which the markets wanted, and they’ve responded. Now we have some important data coming up later this week, and earnings are right around the corner.”

     The S&P 500 has climbed nearly 13 percent from a 22-month low on Feb. 11, as crude prices rebounded from their lowest in 12 years and central bankers from Europe to Japan and the U.S. signaled they will continue efforts to support growth, calming concerns about a slowdown in the global economy. The gauge erased its 2016 decline and is heading for a second quarterly advance. It has risen 6.8 percent in March, set for the best month since October.

     Traders are pricing in no possibility of an April rate boost following Yellen’s comments, while the chances for a June increase have fallen to about 22 percent from 46 percent a week ago. December is now the first month with at least even odds of higher borrowing costs. Despite those signals from the market, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said today the economy will probably be strong enough to justify two increases in 2016.

     Policy makers have emphasized that progress in economic data will steer their rate decisions. A report today showed companies in the U.S. added 200,000 workers to their payrolls in March, slightly above the forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The government’s monthly jobs report due Friday is predicted to show a 205,000 gain with the unemployment rate holding at 4.9 percent. A measure of manufacturing activity is also set for Friday.                          

     “Slow hikes are key for markets at the moment,” said Kully Samra, a London-based client manager at Charles Schwab Corp., which has $2.4 trillion in client assets. “Yellen has taken back a degree of control after other policy makers had warned that rates could rise in April. The policy discussion was very detailed and clear, which always reassures investors. We know exactly what the Fed is looking for.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.9 percent Wednesday to 13.56, the lowest since Aug. 17. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX has tumbled 34 percent in March, set for the biggest monthly drop since October.

     Amid a recent slide in trading volume and volatility, the S&P 500 has now gone 12 sessions without a daily swing of at least 1 percent, the longest since June. The benchmark on Friday snapped a five-week surge that had added more than $2 trillion in value to U.S. stocks, and it’s 3 percent from a record set last May.

     The quarter ends tomorrow, meaning the earnings season looms with Alcoa Inc. marking the unofficial start when it reports results on April 11. Analysts forecast profits at S&P 500 companies fell 9.3 percent in the period, compared with predictions for a 4.5 percent drop two months ago.

     Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries advanced today, with technology, consumer discretionary and financial companies leading gains. Utilities, phone and health-care companies were little changed.                       

     Apple rose 1.8 percent to the highest level since Dec. 16 after Cowen & Co. LLC upgraded the shares to the equivalent of buy from neutral. The U.S. said earlier this week that it gained access to the data on an iPhone used by a terrorist and no longer needed the company’s assistance, ending a legal clash. Cisco Systems Inc. added 1.6 percent to an almost five-month high.

     S&P 500’s group of financial stocks climbed for a third day. The increase was aided by a rebound in banks, which added 0.9 percent, snapping a five-session losing streak. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. rose at least 1.1 percent.

     MetLife Inc. surged 5.4 percent after a court ruled against a regulatory designation labeling the insurer as too big to fail. Prudential Financial Inc. and American International Group Inc. advanced at least 2 percent.

     Consumer discretionary shares gained for a fourth day while the consumer staples group in the benchmark stretched to an all- time high. Carnival Corp. increased 5.5 percent, the most in a year, after its quarterly results and outlook were better than analysts forecast. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. added 5.7 percent, the biggest gain since July. Dollar Tree Inc. climbed 2.3 percent to an 11-month high.                         

     PepsiCo Inc. and CVS Health Corp. advanced at least 1.3 percent to five-month highs, boosting staples companies to a record. Costco Wholesale Corp. increased 1.5 percent for its first three-day advance in four weeks.

     Among other companies moving on corporate news, Lululemon Athletica Inc. jumped 11 percent, the most in nine months after lower costs and improvements to the company’s supply chain helped it beat analysts’ quarterly earnings estimates.

     Boeing Co. lost 1.8 percent, extending a slide to a sixth session, the longest since November. The company plans to cut about 4,000 jobs from its commercial airplanes division by mid- year as part of a broader effort to reduce costs amid fierce competition from Airbus Group SE. Boeing’s losing streak comes right after its longest rally in 14 months.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

At one pole of my existence,

I am one with the stones and the tree branches.

Thus, I must submit to the yoke of the universal law.

It is this, in the end, that is the very basis of my life.

And that force comes from that which is closely bound up in the unity of the world,

which is in full communication with all things.

But at the other pole, I am district from all of the rest.

Here, I have broken the barriers of equality and I find myself alone, as an individual .

I am absolutely unique, I am me, I am incomparable.

The whole of the mass of the universe can not crush this individuality that is mine.

I maintain it, despite the formidable gravitation of all that exists.

It is small in appearance, but great in reality.

Rabindranath Tagore

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Every action of our lives touches on some chord

that will vibrate in eternity.

                           –Sean O’Casey, 1880-1964

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The travel writer, Pico Iyer,  has written a small little jewel of a book that can be read at one sitting, entitled THE ART OF STILLNESS, ADVENTURES IN GOING NOWHERE.   It was inspired by his visit to see Leonard Cohen at the Zen sanctuary in the hills outside of Los Angeles, where Cohen lived a monastic life for so many years.  I read it on the weekend and highly recommend it – there is much to contemplate in its message.

There is also a Ted Talk to accompany it which is now available online:  go.ted.com/stillness.

“At some point, all the horizontal trips in the world stop compensating for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unexpected; movement makes most sense when grounded in stillness.  In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.  In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention.  And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” –Pico Iyer

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A monkey walks on main power lines on a main road in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

A Kashmiri fisherman rows his Shikara, or traditional boat, during sunset at the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday. Nestled in the Himalayan mountains and known for its beautiful lakes and saucer-shaped valleys, the Indian portion of Kashmir, is also one of the most militarized places on earth. Dar Yasin/AP

Market Closes for March 29^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17633.11	+97.72   +0.56%
S&P 500	2055.01	+17.96   +0.88%
NASDAQ	4846.625	+79.838   +1.67%
TSX	13426.23	+36.04
		+0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17103.53	-30.84
		-0.18%
HANG SENG	20366.30	+20.69
		+0.10%
SENSEX	24900.46	-65.94
		-0.26%
FTSE 100	6105.90	-0.58
		-0.01%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.179	1.258
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.976	2.041
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8000	1.8825
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5989	2.6520

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76554	0.75848
US $	1.30626	1.31843
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47491	0.67801
US $	1.12902	0.88572

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1226.00	1221.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.28	39.39

Market Commentary:

MARCH 29, 1999: Dow Jones tops 10,000 for the first time.

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks wiped out losses, as gold producers jumped with the price of the metal after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sounded caution on raising interest rates amid heightened risks in the global economy.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 13,426.23 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing a decline of as much as 0.9 percent that occurred before Yellen’s speech. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is on track for a second straight month of gains, something it hasn’t accomplished since February 2015. The S&P/TSX is up 3.2 percent this year and is one of the best-performing developed markets in the world. 

     Yellen’s speech to the Economic Club of New York pointed to global growth, oil prices and China as risks while making a case for slow changes. Fed officials this month revised down their median estimate for the number of rate increases that will be warranted this year to two hikes, from four projected in December. Traders are now pricing in a zero percent chance of a rate increase in April. The probability doesn’t rise above 50 percent until November.

     “Yellen has cloaked herself in dovish wings, which at least for April, keeps the Fed on hold, and is consistent with our view that a hike in June could be followed by another long pause,” Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said in a note to clients. “Rate hikes will be tempered by spillovers from still-tame global growth and its downside pressure on U.S. growth and inflation.”

     Gold producers jumped 4.2 percent, the most in almost two weeks, as the precious metal rallied while the U.S. dollar retreated. Gold is seen as a value asset in a low-inflation environment. Raw-materials producers led gains while energy stocks pared earlier losses as six of 10 industries advanced.

     The broader gauge now trades at 21.4 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     Energy producers lost 0.8 percent, paring an earlier loss of as much as 2.1 percent. Oil in New York declined for a fourth day, dropping 2.8 percent to $38.28 a barrel, ahead of a government report Wednesday forecast to show increasing U.S. crude stockpiles have kept supplies at an eight-decade high. Oil tumbled to a 12-year low last month before rebounding on speculation the global surplus will ease.

     Amaya Inc. jumped 13 percent, the most in two months, after Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Baazov said he was taking an indefinite paid leave of absence amid an insider trading investigation at the world’s largest online poker company. Quebec regulators last week laid 23 charges related to its probe, including five against Baazov.

US

By Joseph Ciolli and Dani Burger

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting a 2016 high, as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled the central bank will be cautious on further interest-rate increases in a nod to global risks.

     Equities saw the strongest gains since the conclusion of the last Fed meeting, when policy makers reduced their outlook for rate increases this year, citing negative developments overseas. The dollar repeated a post-Fed selloff, helping commodity and industrial shares to reverse losses on speculation the weaker currency will buoy earnings.

     The S&P 500rose 0.9 percent to 2,055.01 at 4 p.m. in New York, the highest since Dec. 30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 97.72 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,633.11, wiping out a drop of more than 100 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.7 percent as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. rallied more than 2.1 percent. The Russell 2000 Index of small caps jumped 2.7 percent, the most in two months.

     “Yellen reiterated that the Fed will proceed cautiously, and the market is finding comfort in that,” said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which oversees $2 billion. “There were no surprises, and surprises are what normally sends the market going the wrong way. Investors can now start to key in on some economic numbers, and then begin to look ahead to earnings.”

     In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Yellen said it is appropriate for U.S. central bankers to “proceed cautiously” in raising rates because the global economy presents heightened risks. The speech made a strong case for running the economy hot to push away from the zero boundary for the Federal Open Market Committee’s target rate.

     Equities climbed even as crude retreated for a fourth day, paced by gains in technology, health-care and consumer shares. Stocks pared early declines after a March gauge of consumer confidence rebounded. A separate report today showed home values in 20 U.S. cities continued to climb in January. Reports are also due this week on employment and manufacturing.

     The S&P 500 had rallied for five straight weeks, wiping out all of its 2016 losses, before a three-day slide at the end of last week in thin volume halted the streak and suggested the recovery may be running out of steam. The index posted daily moves of 0.1 percent or less in four of the prior five days, and has gone 11 sessions without a swing of at least 1 percent, the longest since June.

     The benchmark equity index has climbed more than 12 percent from a 22-month low on Feb. 11, as surging crude prices and actions from central bankers calmed concerns that the global economy was headed for a deepening slowdown. The gauge has erased its 2016 decline and is on track for its biggest monthly advance since October.

     “Yellen is communicating that the Fed is still one of the market’s better friends, and the cost of borrowing and the cost of capital will stay low,” said David Sowerby, a portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co. “That’s what’s taken stocks anywhere from 11 to 15 percent higher from that Feb. 11 low.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 9.3 percent Tuesday to 13.82, reversing an earlier 4.3 percent climb. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is headed toward its first monthly decline since October, which would snap the longest stretch of gains since 2011. About 7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 18 percent below this year’s daily average.

     Amid data, Yellen’s comments and the Fed’s recently updated economic outlook, traders now price in no chance of a rate increase in April, while odds for June slid to 26 percent from 38 percent yesterday. The probability of higher borrowing costs doesn’t rise above 50 percent until November.

     The approach of first-quarter earnings season did little to dent investor sentiment Tuesday, even as analysts forecast profits at S&P 500 companies fell 9.3 percent. That compares with a 4.5 percent drop predicted two months ago. Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the reporting period on April 11.

     All of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries increased, with technology shares rising 1.6 percent while health-care, utilities and phone companies added more than 1.1 percent. Financial stocks increased 0.2 percent as real-estate firms rallied to the highest in almost a year, offsetting the drop in banks.

     Apple climbed 2.4 percent to the highest since Dec. 29 after the U.S. government dropped its case to gain access to a terrorist’s iPhone, saying in a court filing Monday that it has now successfully accessed the data it sought. Facebook Inc. increased 2.2 percent to a record.

     Drugmakers contributed the most to the rally in health- care, with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. gaining 2.3 percent and AbbVie Inc. adding 1.7 percent. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index increased 1.7 percent after falling 1.3 percent on Monday.

     A group of retailers rose for a fourth day to help lift consumer discretionary shares after the stronger confidence data. Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. climbed more than 2.4 percent. Priceline Group Inc. added 1.6 percent. The so-called FANG stocks — Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google Parent Alphabet Inc. — together rose the most in four weeks.

     Commodity shares reversed declines as the dollar tumbled on Yellen’s comments, lifting energy and raw-material producers despite a 2.8 percent drop in crude oil. Southwestern Energy Co. and Williams Cos. gained more than 3.7 percent. Newmont Mining Corp. surged 4.9 percent, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. wiped out a 7.2 percent drop.

     Banks in the S&P 500 sank, with the yield on the 10-Year U.S. Treasury at a four-week low, amid speculation that persistently low rates will weigh on profits. Bank of America Corp. fell 1.5 percent after losing as much as 2.6 percent. Wells Fargo & Co. declined 1.3 percent, extending a losing streak to five days, the longest since Feb. 11.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

He whom I have searched for has come to meet me,

and he who calls me Other has become me!

Kabir

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Why limit yourself to the familiar?  Make an effort to step outside your circle.  Do more

than just accept diversity.  Seek out diversity.  I promise it will make you more interesting,

more informed, and more understanding.

–   Melody Hobson, b. 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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Online museum

Art fans don’t need to walk through the doors of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to see its collection of prints and other media.  The museum has made almost 1800 prints and other pieces by various artists including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges de Feure available online.  Linger over works by zooming in on details, and read extensive curator notes to learn more about each print.  Watch an overiew of the collections at http://bit.ly/VanGoghPrints.  –from CSM.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People watch waves crash against the harbor wall in Newhaven, southern Britain, Monday. Neil Hall/Reuters

Local residents, dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes, ride during the traditional Georgi (St. George) procession on Easter Monday in Traunstein, southern Germany. Angelika Warmuth/dpa/AP

Market Closes for March 28^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17535.39	+19.66   +0.11%
S&P 500	2037.06	+1.12   +0.06%
NASDAQ	4766.789	-6.716   -0.14%
TSX	13389.99	+31.88
		+0.24%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17134.37	+131.62
		+0.77%
HANG SENG	20345.61	-269.62
		-1.31%
SENSEX	24966.40	-371.16
		-1.46%
FTSE 100	6106.48	-92.63
		-1.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.258	1.272
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.041	2.052
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8825	1.9000
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6520	2.6730

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75848	0.75498
US $	1.31843	1.32454
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47611	0.67745
US $	1.11970	0.89310

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1221.00	1221.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	39.39	37.96

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, reversing a loss to halt a three-day slide, as gains among banks and insurers offset a drop in resource producers and health-care stocks in a light day of trading following the holiday weekend.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to 13,390.19 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing a drop in the final hour of trading. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is up 2.9 percent this year and remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world. 

     The modest gain Tuesday halts the longest stretch of losses for the S&P/TSX since Feb. 11, stalling a rebound that followed a turbulent start to the year. The gauge now trades at 21.3 times earnings, about 16 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     Financial services stocks gained 0.7 percent, while raw- materials producers slipped 0.4 percent, among the most in the S&P/TSX, which saw trading volume 51 percent lower than the 30-day average. Energy stocks lost 0.1 percent as a group. North American markets have re-opened Monday following a holiday on Friday.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. tumbled 7.6 percent for a second day of losses. The embattled drugmaker’s annual 10-K filing may be delayed due to asset impairments including recent acquisitions that haven’t fared well, Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ram Selvaraju wrote in a note. Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed in light trading, following their first weekly decline in six, as investors assessed economic data for clues on the course for interest rates.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased for the first time in four days. The gauge on Thursday halted the longest stretch of weekly gains since November after Federal Reserve officials stressed in comments that rates will rise as soon as data warrant. This week will provide ample insight on the state of the economy, with reports due on employment, manufacturing, housing and consumer confidence.

     The main U.S. benchmark rose less than 0.1 percent to 2,037.05 at 4 p.m. in New York, after weaving between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 19.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,535.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1 percent. Many markets in Europe remained shut Monday for the Easter holiday. About 5.1 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, the lowest this year and 40 percent below the 2016 average.

     “It’s Easter Monday, so the vast majority of Europe is closed, as is Hong Kong — that has things relatively quiet,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York. “You have Yellen speaking tomorrow, then Dudley on Thursday and the big employment and ISM manufacturing numbers on Friday. There’s really no impetus to get people to do something definitively before that data.”

     With investors scouring data, a report today showed personal spending barely increased in February and the prior month’s advance was revised down as Americans saved more of their incomes. A separate measure showed contracts to purchase previously owned homes rebounded more than forecast in February as sales picked up in most of the U.S. Data on Friday showed the U.S. economy grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter than previously estimated.

     Despite the signs of stingier spending, consumer companies were the strongest performers Monday. Starbucks Corp. and Darden Restaurants Inc. increased at least 1 percent, while Netflix Inc. added 2.9 percent, rising for the first time in five days with the strongest gain in three weeks.

     The S&P 500 rallied for five straight weeks, wiping out all of its 2016 losses, before a three-day slide at the end of last week amid thin volume signaled the recovery may be running out of steam. The benchmark hasn’t reached a new high in 10 months, the longest stretch outside a bull market since 1995.

     Still, in every instance when the gauge experienced a longer period without fresh highs and didn’t descend into a bear market, stocks kept rising after they broke out. The index’s increase in the following 12 months averaged 24 percent, more than triple the normal rate of 7.6 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     The main equity index has recovered from its worst-ever start to a year, climbing as much as 12 percent from a 22-month low on Feb. 11, as a surge in oil prices eased concerns over the solvency of some energy producers, worries over the impact of China’s slowdown ebbed and the Fed signaled a slower pace of interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 is down 0.3 percent for the quarter after losing more than 10 percent, and is heading for its biggest monthly advance since October.

     Amid the data and the Fed’s recently updated economic outlook, traders are pricing in a 6 percent chance of a rate increase in April, and 36 percent probability of a boost in June. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak Tuesday to the Economic Club of New York.

     “Nothing negative has occurred over the weekend to derail the continued positive tone that the market has exhibited over the last six weeks,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “Unless we get something negative from any of the economic reports this week, you’re likely to see a market that’s sideways, with possible a slight upward bias.”

     Meanwhile, quarterly earnings season also looms, with Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicking off the reporting period on April 11. Profit at S&P 500 companies probably slumped 9.3 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ estimates. That’s worse than the 4.5 percent drop predicted two months ago.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 3.4 percent Monday to 15.24. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX on Thursday snapped the longest stretch of weekly declines in four years.

     Six of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries increased, with consumer discretionary companies adding 0.5 percent. Raw- materials and consumer staples shares gained at least 0.4 percent as a gauge on the dollar fell for the first time in seven days, halting the currency’s longest rally in two months. Energy producers, utilities, technology and health-care shares all sank about 0.3 percent.

     Consumer discretionary companies were boosted by merger activity in lodging stocks. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. climbed 2 percent after saying it received a higher takeover offer from a group led by Anbang Insurance Group Co., putting the Chinese company back into battle with Marriott International Inc. for control of the hotel operator. Marriott was the second-best performer in the benchmark gauge, adding 3.9 percent.

     Media and apparel companies gained, even amid the tepid growth in consumer spending. PVH Corp. and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. advanced more than 1.3 percent. Time Warner Inc. added 3.6 percent, its best in six weeks, after “Batman v Superman,” the first of 10 superhero movies planned by Warner Bros., opened with weekend sales of $166.1 million in North American theaters.

     MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. rallied at least 1.6 percent to help lift the financial group, with the insurers rising for the first time in five days. Real-estate companies also contributed to the advance, with Equity Residential climbing 1.7 percent.

     CSRA Inc. surged 6.2 percent to lead the S&P 500, the information-technology company’s strongest one-day increase in six weeks. That rally wasn’t enough to lift the broader tech group, which slipped for the second time in three days after climbing for eight straight sessions. Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. fell more than 1.2 percent to weigh on the industry.

     Energy companies in the S&P 500 fell as crude oil slipped for a fourth day. Noble Energy Inc. tumbled 8.2 percent after Israel’s High Court blocked a proposal to regulate the natural gas industry, a ruling that will complicate plans to develop the country’s largest fields. The country’s offshore gas fields are held by a small number of companies headed by Texas-based Noble Energy. Hess Corp. and Tesoro Corp. lost more than 2.4 percent.

     The Dow Jones Transportation Average declined 0.9 percent, extending a losing streak to the longest since August as Avis Budget Group Inc. and Union Pacific Corp. slipped at least 2.6 percent. Avis fell for a third day, losing 11 percent over the period, after MKM Partners analyst Christopher Agnew lowered his first-quarter profit estimates. The broader industrial group rose, paced by General Electric Co.’s 1.2 percent climb as the conglomerate gained for the fourth time in five days.

     Among other companies moving on corporate news, Pandora Media Inc. fell 12 percent, the in five months, after a management shake-up. Co-founder Tim Westergren will take over as chief executive officer more than a decade after he last ran the world’s largest online radio service, replacing Brian McAndrews as the company attempts to reverse its flagging stock price.

     Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. rose 50 percent, its biggest intraday gain ever, after saying that its experimental infusion to prevent migraines met the main goals of a mid-stage trial. Avon Products Inc. climbed 8.4 percent after reaching a settlement with activist investors that will stave off a potential board fight.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

In the physical world there is an indestructible continuity of relations

between hot and cold, light and darkness, movement and repose,

as well as between the bass and treble notes of a piano.

This is because opposites do not bring confusion to the world; they bring harmony.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

What’s important to me is to share, and being inspired, and inspiring.

                                             -Diane von Furstenberg, b. 1946

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: HAPPY EASTER – HAPPY LONG WEEKEND!

EASTER EGGS:

The egg as a symbol of fertility and renewal of life derives from the ancient world, as did the practice of colouring and eating eggs at the spring festival.  The custom of eating eggs on Easter Sunday and of making gifts of Easter eggs to children probably derives from the Easter payment of eggs by the villain to his overlord.  The idea of the egg as a symbol of new life was adopted to symbolize the Resurrection.  Easter eggs are also known as “pasch eggs” or “pace eggs” from the old French pasche, ultimately from Hebrew pesakh.  This name came to be used for the hard-boiled, hand-coloured eggs that were rolled down slopes as one of the Easter games, a practice surviving in the yearly egg-rolling held on the lawn of the White House in Washington.  –from Brewar’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man walks beneath rows of parasols at a public park in Beijing on Thursday. Visitors have been coming to parks in China’s capital city in increasing numbers as flowers and trees are beginning to bloom in an annual rite of spring. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

A person digs out a vehicle stuck in the middle of a street in Sioux City, Iowa, early Thursday. A spring snowstorm dropped about 14 inches of snow on the city. Tim Hynds/Sioux City Journal/AP

Market Closes for March 24^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17515.73	+13.14   +0.08%
S&P 500	2034.61	-2.10   -0.10%
NASDAQ	4773.504	+4.643   +0.10%
TSX	13343.98	-35.50
		-0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16892.33	-108.65
		-0.64%
HANG SENG	20345.61	-269.62
		-1.31%
SENSEX	25337.56	+7.07
		+0.03%
FTSE 100	6106.48	-92.63
		-1.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.272	1.244
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.052	2.036
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9000	1.8804
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6730	2.6597

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75498	0.75730
US $	1.32454	1.32049
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48027	0.67555
US $	1.11757	0.89480

Commodities

	Gold	Close	Previous
	London Gold Fix	1221.00	1217.60
	Oil	Close	Previous
	WTI Crude Future	37.96	38.49

Market Commentary:

I’m very big on having clarified principles.  I don’t believe in being reactive.  You can’t do that in the markets effectively. –Ray Dalio, (Money manager, founder Bridgewater Associates, b. 1949).

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated for a third day, as disappointing earnings from Concordia Healthcare Corp. dragged drugmakers lower and financial shares slumped.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 13,358.11 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has lost 1 percent in the holiday-shortened week, capping the longest streak of losses since Feb. 11. The index remains one of the top performers among developed markets this year with a gain of 2.7 percent.

     Trading was 35 percent below the 30-day average, continuing a stretch of light volume. Exchanges are closed tomorrow for the Easter holiday.

     Sinking commodity prices from oil to gold to copper hit the resource-rich index in the week, as a rally in the U.S. dollar sent assets denominated in the greenback tumbling. Raw-materials producers pared the weekly decline Thursday, reversing earlier losses.

     Health-care stocks faltered. Concordia plunged as much as 13 percent, the most since October, after the company posted earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. slipped 6.7 percent to halt a three-day rally that added 26 percent to shares in the embattled drugmaker.

     Lenders contributed the most to declines in the benchmark. The group has retreated three consecutive days. Genworth MI Canada Inc. tumbled 4.2 percent, while Home Capital Group Inc. lost 3.5 percent.

     Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. rose 5.2 percent to its highest close since Dec. 4, after the company was upgraded by Toronto-Dominion.

     Canadian stocks have rebounded 13 percent after hitting a 2 1/2-year low in January. The index is now trading at 21.2 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks closed little changed, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index snapping a streak of five weekly gains that had wiped out all of its 2016 losses.

     The benchmark’s recovery from 22-months lows showed more signs of running out of steam as industries that helped underpin the rally — energy, raw-materials and financial shares — posted the steepest losses this week. Oil and gas producers advanced Thursday after erasing a 1.6 percent drop as crude oil trimmed losses.

     The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1 percent to 2,035.94 at 4 p.m. in New York, finishing 0.7 percent lower for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.14 points, or 0.1 percent to 17,515.73, erasing a drop of more than 100 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent. About 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Thursday, 28 percent below the 2016 average. U.S. markets will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday.

     “The market is seeing a little bit of a pause in momentum,” said Kevin Caron, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based market strategist and portfolio manager who helps oversee $180 billion at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. “Now we’re looking ahead at what drives us beyond what central-bank actions have been able to curry so far. We don’t really have a catalyst right now.”

     The S&P 500 rallied as much as 12 percent from a Feb. 11 low, bolstered by improving economic data, rising crude prices and support from global central-bank policy. There are signals those gains are losing momentum after a three-day slide, the longest in six weeks, in the lightest trading this year and as the dollar had the strongest rally since November.

     The Bloomberg Commodity Index saw the steepest two-day decline since Feb. 2, after energy and raw-material producers led the five-week surge in equities. Both groups posted their first weekly drop since Feb. 12.

     The main U.S. equity benchmark has still mostly recovered from a worst-ever start to the year spurred by concern over China’s slowdown and a rout in oil. It’s down 0.4 percent for the quarter — versus 11 percent six weeks ago — and is heading for its biggest monthly advance since October. The index is among the top three best performers this year among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.

     The Federal Reserve last week helped send stocks to 2016 highs after signaling a slower pace of interest-rate increases, amid risks posed by weak growth and market turbulence overseas. The dovish message was tempered this week as some Fed officials suggested a move higher could still come at any meeting, depending on progress in economic data.

     Reports today were mixed, with orders for durable goods falling in February for the third time in four months, underscoring lingering softness in U.S. capital investment. Separately, filings for unemployment benefits last week rose less than forecast as the number of dismissals stayed consistent with a firm labor market.

     St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said today the central bank could be getting close to raising rates again. In a Bloomberg interview yesterday, Bullard said policy makers should consider lifting rates at their next meeting amid a broadly unchanged economic outlook and prospects of inflation and unemployment exceeding targets.

     Traders are pricing in only a 10 percent chance for an April move and 41 percent probability for a boost in borrowing costs at the central bank’s June meeting. Odds for June rose as high as 54 percent before last week’s Fed gathering amid improving data and the rebound in equities.

     Quarterly earnings will also soon be back in focus when Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off the reporting season on April 11. Profit at S&P 500 companies probably slumped 9.4 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts’ estimates.

     “We’ve had a pretty substantial rebound across the board, and now there’s the feeling things were getting a bit overdone,” said Steven Santos, a broker at Banco de Investimento Global SA in Lisbon. “Markets will be vulnerable to declines from here, triggered by expectations that the stronger U.S. economy demands more hikes from the Fed. It’s all about dollar strength, lower commodities and weaker stocks all over again.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.3 percent Thursday to 14.74. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX snapped the longest stretch of weekly declines in four years.

     Four of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries sank, with financial companies dropping 0.7 percent, while industrial stocks fell 0.3 percent. Phone companies gained 1 percent while utilities added 0.3 percent, while energy shares rose 0.4 percent after crude pared its drop.                       

     A group of financial firms in the benchmark index dropped for a fourth straight day, the longest streak in six weeks. The sector has fallen 1.9 percent over the period. Prudential Financial Inc lost 2.8 percent, while Morgan Stanley declined 1.4 percent. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. retreated 0.7 percent, after losing as much as 2.6 percent, to extend its longest losing streak since the market bottomed last month. The KBW Bank Index sank 0.7 percent.

     Raw-material producers were little changed after losing as much as 1.1 percent. Zinc led industrial-metal declines amid the rising dollar and as falling durable goods orders dimmed demand prospects. Fertilizer makers Mosaic Co. and CF Industries Holdings Inc. sank at least 2.7 percent.

     Automobile-related stocks slid for a third day, the longest stretch in six weeks. The group was the strongest among 24 S&P 500 industries during the equity rebound, surging 20 percent in the prior five weeks. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. fell more than 1.1 percent.

     Energy companies in the S&P 500 rose after crude staged a comeback. Devon Energy Corp. climbed 2.8 percent and Tesoro Corp. added 2.1 percent. Chevron Corp. gained 1.4 percent to wipe out a 1.4 percent decline. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.8 percent after dropping as much as 3.7 percent.

     Amazon.com Inc. rose 2.3 percent, extending its longest rally in five weeks, while Signet Jewelers Ltd. added 2.9 percent after its full-year profit outlook exceeded some analysts’ forecasts. Gains in the two companies helped boost an index of retailers to a second straight advance.

     Among shares moving on corporate news, Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. surged after a federal judge criticized the actions of regulators as they attempt to block a merger of the two office-supply chains. Staples increased 7 percent, while Office Depot jumped 9 percent.

     PVH Corp., the apparel company that owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, rose 7.6 percent, the most in 18 months and the biggest gain in the S&P 500, after reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We are fragmented.  We are one person at the office and another at home,

we speak of democracy and are autocrats in our hearts;

we speak of love for our neighbors even as we kill that love with our competitive spirit;

one part of us works, watches, and acts independently of the other.

Are you conscious of the fragmentation of your existence?  Is it possible for a mind

that has splintered the structure of its thoughts to perceive the broad field of consciousness?

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Self-discipline is a form of freedom.  Freedom from laziness and lethargy,

freedom from expectations and demands of others, freedom from

weakness and fear – and doubt.

                             -Harvey A.  Dorfman, b. 1935.

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Editorial in The New York Times yesterday:

Elegant Bird Discovers Junk Food

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MARCH 22, 2016

 

A new study shows that the glorious annual migration of white storks from Europe to Africa is being disrupted by the birds’ growing addiction to junk food in the garbage dumps below their flight path. Thousands no longer make the crossing for the winter, preferring to build year-round nests at rubbish pits in Spain and Portugal where they conserve energy and have an easier time breeding and defending their nests.

The storks have learned to feast on readily available hamburger fragments, pizza scraps and assorted leftovers from overfed humans, rather than fly thousands of miles more for their traditional diet of frogs, beetles and grasshoppers in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We’ve shown how reliant they are on this junk food,” noted Aldina Franco, a conservation ecologist with the University of East Anglia in England, which published the study last week in the journal Movement Ecology. “I couldn’t eat while I was working there,” Dr. Franco said in describing the work at garbage dumps where storks flocked down as each truckload of garbage arrived offering rotting fish, animal offal and other tidbits.

The change in storks’ migration was pinned down by GPS devices attached to four dozen birds, showing how upward of 14,000 of them now stay all winter at Portuguese dumps where there were none 30 years ago.

Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.

The birds preferred the Iberian Peninsula route because there are stronger updrafts over land than over the Mediterranean, making the long flight to Africa safer and less laborious. The trip became a good deal less arduous for those birds that spotted fields of fast food en route.

While the study demonstrates the storks’ adaptability to humans, this talent will soon be further tested. The European Union, busy evolving, like the storks, plans new regulations for garbage disposal to take effect in the next few years. Open refuse pits will be replaced by enclosed composting factories, detouring the storks once more.

Even so, white storks, so conspicuous with their long red legs and six-foot wing spans, are in no danger of losing their special place with humans. Centuries ago, myths were created about the stork’s role in delivering babies, a tale that lets parents avoid discussing the facts of life with youngsters. Or, as Cole Porter wrote in “It’s De-Lovely”: “An absurd bird with a bundle hung on his nose — ‘Get baby clo’es.’

The new Liberal government delivered its first federal budget on March 22 in Ottawa.

Following is an overview of how some of the budget items relate to investments and taxes:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent heavily in this budget, leading to a projected $29.4-billion shortfall this year.

• OAS eligibility returns to age 65 – great news for folks born April 1, 1958 or later.
• The Canada Child Benefit replaces the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the Universal Child Care Benefit. The CCB is tax-free, unlike before, and government says nine out of 10 families will receive more in child benefits than under the current system.
• The promised small business tax cut has been frozen at 10.5%. If you’re a business owner, let’s talk about other ways to save tax.
• Special tax treatment for insurance policy transfers to corporations. If you own a business and were planning on doing such a transfer, we should revisit that strategy, as it’s no longer tax-advantaged.
• The Children’s Fitness and Arts Tax Credits will be phased out by 2017.
• There will no longer be education and textbook tax credits as of January 1, 2017, but the impact should be relatively minor.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Bjorn smiles as he poses with a Owl butterfly during an event to launch the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London on Wednesday. Dylan Martinez/Reuters

 

A student with her face smeared in colored powder, celebrates Holi at a university campus in Chandigarh, India, on Wednesday. Ajay Verma/Reuters

Market Closes for March 23^rd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17502.59	-79.98   -0.45%
S&P 500	2038.21	-11.59   -0.57%
NASDAQ	4768.863	-52.796   -1.09%
TSX	13378.06	-115.43
		-0.86%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17000.98	-47.57
		-0.28%
HANG SENG	20615.23	-51.52
		-0.25%
SENSEX	25337.56	+7.07
		+0.03%
FTSE 100	6199.11	+6.37
		+0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.244	1.330
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.036	2.099
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8804	1.9403
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6597	2.7224

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75730	0.76653
US $	1.32049	1.30459
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47646	0.67729
US $	1.11812	0.89436

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1217.60	1252.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	38.49	39.95

Market Commentary:

Marx’s great achievement was to place the system of capitalism on the defensive. –Charles A. Madison,

Canada

By Jiayue Huang

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated for a second day as falling commodity prices dragged down shares in energy and raw-materials producers.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 114.01 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,379.48 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has gained 2.8 percent this year, erasing a decline that swelled to as much as 9 percent in January. It is the second-best performer this year, after New Zealand, among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.

     Trading volume was 14 percent below the 30-day average at the close, continuing a stretch of light activity during the holiday-shortened week that has already brought two of the slowest days this year.

     Sinking commodity prices from oil to gold to copper hit the resource-rich index Wednesday, as a rally in the U.S. dollar sent assets denominated in the greenback tumbling. The Bloomberg Americas Mining Index slumped 6.3 percent, the most since 2013.

     Commodity producers in the Canadian benchmark lost 4.6 percent to cap the biggest one-day loss since December 14. Only four stocks in the 45-member materials sector rose Wednesday, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. plunging 16 percent, marking the worst slump in more than seven years. Teck Resources Ltd. tumbled 13 percent, the most since 2009.

     Canadian stocks have rebounded 13 percent after hitting a 2 1/2-year low in January and notching one of the worst declines among developed markets last year. The index is now trading at 21 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Energy shares also faltered, as oil prices slipped below $40 a barrel in New York. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. lost 3.5 percent. MEG Energy Corp. fell 12 percent, while Kelt Exploration Ltd. lost 9.8 percent.

     Health-care stocks rose 3.4 percent, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 6.5 percent, stretching its rally to a third day. Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak. The company has rebounded 26 percent in three days.

     Amaya Inc., the world’s largest publicly held online poker company, slumped 21 percent. Chief Executive Officer David Baazov has been charged in an insider trading probe by Quebec securities regulators.

     Boyd Group Income Fund surged 12 percent to an all-time- high, after the Winnipeg, Manitoba-based company reported quarterly sales that topped analysts’ estimates.

US

By Manisha Jha and Anna-Louise Jackson

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined in thin trading as commodity shares followed crude prices lower, while investors awaited further clues on the economy and direction of monetary policy.

     Equities may be losing momentum after a five-week rally erased the worst start to a year ever. Before today’s slide, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index barely budged in the two prior sessions amid the lightest trading in 2016, and has gone without a 1 percent move in either direction for eight days, the longest in seven months. About 6.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Wednesday, 21 percent below the 2016 average.

     The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 2,036.71 at 4 p.m. in New York, below its break-even level for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 79.98 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,502.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 1.1 percent, ending the lengthiest advance in 11 months. It’s a holiday- shortened week with markets closed on Good Friday.

     “Markets are taking a breather, waiting for a clearer picture of how the economy will play out in the first half,” said Hugh Grieves, who runs the 145 million-pound ($206 million) U.S. Opportunities Fund at Miton Group in London. “Investors have got over immediate recession fears but remain nervous ahead of the first-quarter earnings season.”

     West Texas Intermediate crude declined 4 percent, the most in six weeks, as the dollar gained and a government report showed rising oil stockpiles kept supplies at the highest level in more than eight decades.

     That sent energy producers lower for a third day and raw- materials slipped amid the dollar’s longest rally in a month. Nike Inc. dropped 3.8 percent after its annual forecast missed analysts’ estimates. Amazon.com Inc. advanced 1.6 percent to buoy a group of retailers, while UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Johnson & Johnson gained at least 1 percent to help limit the Dow’s losses.

     The main U.S. equity benchmark has rebounded more than 11 percent from a 22-month low last month, as oil prices firmed, economic data improved and central banks continued to signal a willingness to bolster growth. The S&P 500 dropped 11 percent in the first six weeks of the year as tumbling crude amplified concern that a slowdown in China would drag down global growth. The gauge is heading for its biggest monthly advance since October, rising 5.4 percent.

     An expected tumble in first-quarter corporate profits may be one factor curbing the rebound in stocks. The earnings season looms with Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicking off the period when it reports results on April 11. Profit at S&P 500 companies probably fell 9.4 percent in the quarter, according to analysts’ estimates, worse than forecasts two months ago that saw a 2.5 percent drop.

     Investor focus also remains locked on the Federal Reserve, which last week reduced its growth forecasts and indicated a slower pace of interest-rate increases. Policy makers continue to stress their rate decisions depend on progress in data, and report today showed purchases of new homes climbed in February for the fourth time in the last five months, indicating residential construction will remain a source of support for the economy.

     Traders are pricing in a 38 percent probability for a boost in borrowing costs at the central bank’s June meeting, in line with the level after last week’s Fed meeting. Odds had briefly crept higher in the past two days amid some more hawkish commentary from Fed officials this week.

     St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said in an interview with Bloomberg today a decline in joblessness below the natural rate may force policy makers to raise rates faster in the future. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said yesterday two rate increases this year are “not at all unreasonable.”

     “Nobody’s really looking to make a substantial bet at this point,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer of Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts, which oversees $100 billion. “The big story over the past couple months has been an absolute loss of confidence and then all of a sudden the return of that confidence. The market’s continuing to struggle with the implications of the Fed.”

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 5.4 percent Wednesday to 14.94, marking back-to-back gains for the first time in two weeks. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX reached a seven-month low on Monday.

     Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries sank, with energy companies dropping 2.1 percent, the most in two weeks, while raw-materials shares slipped 1.2 percent. Utilities rose 0.7 percent, lifted by regulatory approval on an industry merger, and consumer staples edged higher.

     Chevron Corp. fell 2 percent to extend declines to a third day, the longest in two months. Marathon Oil Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. dropped at least 8 percent, among the biggest losers in the benchmark index. Transocean Ltd. slid 7.3 percent, taking its four-day retreat to 21 percent.

     Copper prices had the biggest drop in two weeks, sinking miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. 11 percent, the steepest retreat since March 8. Still the shares are up 28 percent this month after soaring 66 percent in February. Newmont Mining Corp. sank 8.8 percent, the biggest since July as gold also succumbed to the stronger dollar. Alcoa lost 5.4 percent.

     Banks declined for a second day to weigh on the S&P 500, with Citigroup Inc. down 2.3 percent and Comerica Inc. losing 2 percent. Both stocks are still up more than 21 percent since Feb. 11.

     Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. led a slide among drugmakers, falling 7.6 percent as the group ended the strongest three-day climb in a month. Gilead Sciences Inc. fell 3.9 percent, the most in seven weeks, after losing a patent claim to Merck & Co. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index sank 3.4 percent, reversing more than half of a 6.4 percent surge in the prior three sessions.

     Among shares moving on corporate news, Pepco Holdings Inc. jumped as much as 28 percent after Exelon Corp.’s proposed $6.8 billion takeover of the power company was approved by District of Columbia regulators, clearing the way for the companies to form the nation’s biggest utility.

     Virgin America Inc. climbed 13 percent, the largest one-day increase in 15 months, after Bloomberg reported the airline backed by U.K. billionaire Richard Branson, is reaching out to potential buyers about a sale of part or all of the company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Yum! Brands Inc. advanced as much as 3.2 percent after a report said it’s holding talks on potentially selling a stake in its China unit.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!
 

Why is there this division between man and man, between race and race, culture against culture, one series of ideologies set one against another?  Why?

Why is there this separation?

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

This is the gift – to have the wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again,

freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and

even ecstasy.

                            -Abraham Maslow, 1908-1970

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Look at things as though you
are seeing them either for
the first or the last time.
Then your time on earth
will be filled with glory.

     BETTY SMITH

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A parrot drinks the nectar of a Yoko cherry blossom at Ueno park in Tokyo Tuesday. Buds on Tokyo’s benchmark cherry trees of ‘Somei Yoshino’ at a shrine started to bloom five days earlier than usual. Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

People bring flowers and candles to mourn at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city’s metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. Martin Meissner/AP

Market Closes for March 22^nd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17582.57	-41.30   -0.23%
S&P 500	2049.80	-1.80   -0.09%
NASDAQ	4821.660	+12.788   +0.27%
TSX	13493.49	-67.60
		-0.50%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17048.55	+323.74
		+1.94%
HANG SENG	20666.75	-17.40
		-0.08%
SENSEX	25330.49	+45.12
		+0.18%
FTSE 100	6192.74	+8.16
		+0.13%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.330	1.303
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.099	2.097
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9403	1.9155
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7224	2.7192

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.76653	0.76355
US $	1.30459	1.30967
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46307	0.68350
US $	1.12148	0.89168

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1252.50	1244.90
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	39.95	39.91

Market Commentary:

The symbol of all relationships among such men, the moral symbol of respect for human beings, is the trader. –Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, Atlas Shrugged.

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, led by declines among in industrial and material shares, after deadly bombings in Brussels fueled demand for safer assets.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 0.5 percent to 13,493.49 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge is still up 3.7 percent this year and remains one of the best-performing developed markets in the world, posting returns ahead of the U.S., Germany and U.K. 

     Equities tumbled in the final hour of trading, after fluctuating throughout the day, as Belgium remained at the highest terror-alert level amid fears of follow-up attacks after two explosions at the airport and one at a subway station near the European Union headquarters. Canadian airliners Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. slipped more than 2.3 percent as industrial stocks retreated the most among 10 industries in the S&P/TSX.

     The retreat Tuesday marked a slowdown for the S&P/TSX, which rebounded as much as 15 percent from a 2 1/2-year low in January after last year posting one of the worst declines among developed markets. The Canadian benchmark equity gauge now trades at 21.5 times earnings, about 15 percent more expensive than the valuation of the U.S. equity benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

     Investors in Canada also waited on Tuesday for the first budget to be presented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. The budget, presented in Ottawa after markets closed in Toronto, will boost deficits to almost C$120 billion over six years, offering some stimulus to Canada’s struggling economy.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 9.6 percent to climb a second day. The drugmaker surged yesterday after shaking up its senior leadership, including the ouster of CEO Michael Pearson and billionaire investor Bill Ackman joining the board. Briefly the largest company in Canada by market capitalization last year, Valeant has lost almost 90 percent of its value from an August peak.

     Veresen Inc. surged 7.2 percent, for the highest close since Dec. 10, after the energy infrastructure company has agreed to a deal with Jera Co. to sell at least 1.5 million tonnes a year of natural gas liquefaction capacity at Veresen’s Jordan Cove LNG facility in Oregon.

US

By Anna-Louise Jackson

     (Bloomberg) — The Nasdaq Composite Index edged higher in light trading, giving the index a fifth straight gain and its longest advance in 11 months, while travel-related shares helped drag the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower after a deadly terrorist attack in Brussels.

     Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 4,821.66, pushing its climb over five days to 2 percent. The rally has come amid the lightest trading volume of the year, and delivered just one day of gains for the technology-heavy index that topped 0.7 percent. Other major indexes were little changed after briefly erasing losses sparked by bombings at the Belgian capital’s airport and a subway station that killed at least 31 people.

     The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 2,049.80 at 4 p.m. in New York, declining for the first time in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,582.57. The gauge erased a 0.5 percent drop before losing momentum in the final hour to halt the longest winning streak since October.

     “The market appears to be more resilient than you’d expect after a terrorist attack,” said Michael Antonelli, an institutional equity sales trader and managing director at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. “They’re horrible to see, but it’s a weird world and you see these kind of events and they’re not as shocking anymore. It’s a quiet, slowish market where we’re digesting the news.”

     Activity was light again in the holiday-shortened week after yesterday marked the lowest volume this year. About 6.2 billion share traded hands on U.S. exchanges Tuesday, 29 percent below the 2016 average. That follows two of the year’s slowest sessions last Monday and Tuesday before the Federal Reserve meeting. U.S. stock markets will be closed in observance of Good Friday.

     In the face of the Brussels attacks, equities lost little ground amid a five-week rally bolstered by improving economic data, rising crude prices and optimism that central banks around the world will continue to support growth. It’s another indication of the market’s wherewithal after the S&P 500 erased the fallout from a tumultuous start to 2016, rebounding 12 percent since its February low and turning positive for the year last week.

     “Usually with these types of events, the second time around the impact on volatility is much less than the first time around,” said Michael Purves, chief global strategist at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Connecticut. “These are unfortunately almost semi-expected at this point. The markets are getting to the point where they even ignore it. A terror attack is a tragedy, but it’s not a tragedy for the markets.”

     Transportation companies were the hardest hit, with Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. down more than 1.4 percent. Railroad Union Pacific Corp. lost 2.3 percent. Offsetting those declines, Amgen Inc. increased 2.5 percent to a one-month high and Pfizer Inc. added 1 percent, spurred by a rebound in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Apple Inc. increased 0.8 percent to buttress the technology group.

     The main U.S. equity gauge is poised for the first monthly increase since November, which would halt the longest streak of declines since 2011. Worries over China’s slowdown and routs in oil and banks had dragged the S&P 500 last month to the lowest level since 2014. It’s now among the top three best-performers this year for developed-market benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.

     Despite the recent rebound, Bank of America Corp. said today that clients were net sellers of $1.4 billion of U.S. stocks in an eighth consecutive week of selling, the longest client-selling streak in five years. That suggests investors still doubt the sustainability of the rally, strategists at the firm said.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 2.8 percent Tuesday to 14.17, after closing yesterday at a seven-month low. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is on its way toward a sixth weekly retreat which would be the longest since 2008.

     The S&P 500 slipped for the first time since the Fed last week signaled a slower pace for interest-rate increases. Traders are pricing in a 46 percent probability for a boost to borrowing costs at the central bank’s June meeting, down from about 54 percent before the Fed released a revised economic outlook last Wednesday. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said today policy makers rightly refrained from raising rates this month after a rocky start to the year clouded the economic outlook.

     Seven of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries fell Tuesday, with consumer staples shares slipping the most, down 0.8 percent. Health-care companies gained for a third session, rising 0.9 percent, while technology and raw-material shares also edged higher.

     Health-care shares extended a three-day gain to 2.7 percent, led by drugmakers. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 2.6 percent to a two-week high, while an S&P biotech gauge added to its longest rally since November.Akorn Inc. surged 41 percent, the most in 12 years, after reporting preliminary results for 2015 and forecasts for the current fiscal year.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals added 10 percent, bringing its two- day gains to 18 percent, the most in a comparable period since December as it rebounds from a 61 percent plunge last week.

     Technology stocks rose for the eighth straight day, the longest in two years, with Apple’s 0.8 percent gain contributing the most to the group’s advance. Western Digital Corp. increased 4.2 percent to a two-month high. Qorvo Inc. added 2.2 percent to the highest this year.

     Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Carnival Corp. and Priceline Group Inc. sank more than 2 percent following the Brussels bombings. Lodging companies Marriott International Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corp. fell at least 1.1 percent.

     Airlines weighed on a group of industrial stocks, which decreased 0.3 percent. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index slid 1.2 percent, paring an earlier 2.2 percent drop, with Delta and American Airlines slumping the most in two weeks.

     Modelez International Inc., Hershey Co. and Campbell Soup Co. each lost at least 1.5 percent to lead consumer staples lower. Thirty-three of 37 staples stocks in the S&P 500 fell as the group dropped the most in three weeks.

     Banks slipped for the first time in four sessions, though the worst declines in the group were less than 0.7 percent. In the broader financial industry, Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. sank 2 percent while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lost 1.3 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Why is the lamp extinguished?

I surrounded it with my robe to shelter it from the wind; this is why the lamp is extinguished.

 

Why has the flower wilted?

I pressed it to my heart with anxiety and love; this is why the flower has wilted.

 

Why is the river dry?

I built a dike across it so that it would serve me and me alone; this is why the river is dry.

 

Why is the harp string broken?

I tried to play a note too high for it; this is why the harp string is broken.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

What do you hang on the walls of your mind?

                            -Eve Arnold, 1912-2012

 

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