Events – Page 246 – Carolann Steinhoff

September 21, 2015

September 21 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Arrived home from 2 week safari in Zambia and Botswana last night….lots to tell you about later….one of the best things was no email or internet or smart phones for two weeks!

We have trained them (men) to think of the Future as a promised land which favored heroes attain – not as something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. –CS Lewis, The Srewtape Letters, 1942. (Thought of this quote when I viewed the photos below published today).

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

What’s happening with respect to the world’s various religious events today:

Pope Francis is greeted by Cuba’s President Raul Castro as he arrives to lead a mass for Catholic faithful in the city of Holguin, Cuba, Monday.Tony Gentile/Reuters

Devotees carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, into the Arabian Sea on the fifth day of the ten-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India, Monday. Ganesh idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing, and later immersed in a river or the sea, symbolising a ritual seeing-off of his journey towards his abode, taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Ultra-Orthodox Jews of the Hassidic sect Vizhnitz pray on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea as they participate in a Tashlich ceremony in Herzeliya, Israel, Monday. Tashlich, which means ‘to cast away’ in Hebrew, is a practice in which Jews go to a large flowing body of water and symbolically ‘throw away’ their sins by throwing a piece of bread into the water before the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which starts on Tuesday at sundown. Ariel Schalit/AP

A boy leads a goat at a livestock market in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Adha, marking the end of the Haj, by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God’s command. Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

Market Closes for September 21, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16510.19	+125.61 +0.77%

S&P 500	1964.90	+6.86 +0.35%

NASDAQ	4828.953	+1.725 +0.04%

TSX	13775.20	128.30
		+0.94%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18070.21	-362.06
		-1.96%
HANG SENG	21756.93	-163.90
		-0.75%
SENSEX	26192.98	-25.93
		-0.10%
FTSE 100	6108.71	+4.60
		+0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.541	1.461
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.293	2.226
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.1958	2.1283
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.0168	2.9325

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75454	0.75664
US $	1.32532	1.32164

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48298	0.67432
US $	1.11892	0.89372

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1133.25	1141.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	46.68	44.68

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, climbing for the fourth time in five days, as industrial companies rallied and energy producers advanced with crude.

Equities jumped 1 percent as a gauge of diversified commodities prices increased for only the second time in seven sessions. Oil advanced on signs that producers are investing less in drilling, which could take a bigger bite out of falling U.S. crude production.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 132.54 points to 13,779.44 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has pared a monthly decline to 0.6 percent, which would be a fifth straight drop.

Industrial and energy companies rallied at least 1.8 percent. Pipeline operators rose as Enbridge Inc. jumped 3.5 percent and TransCanada rose 4.1 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. climbed more than 1.3 percent.

Financial companies increased 1.8 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lender, increased 1.8 percent.

Suncor Energy Inc. climbed 2.2 percent after it agreed to buy an additional 10 percent working interest in the Fort Hills oil sands project from Total E&P Canada Ltd. for C$310 million.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. sank 4.9 percent, the most in a month, joining a slump in U.S. health- care stocks. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index sank 4.4 percent after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said some “price gouging” in the specialty drug market was “outrageous” in a tweet. Clinton is expected to disclose a drug pricing plan tomorrow.

Raw-materials producers tumbled 1.9 percent as gold prices declined. Gold futures fell for the second time in three sessions, down 0.4 percent to settle at $1,132.80 an ounce in New York as comments from some Federal Reserve officials fueled concern the central bank may raise interest rates this year.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. tumbled 9.4 percent for a second straight retreat and Teck Resources Ltd. lost 5.1 percent. Energy and raw-materials producers are the worst- performing industries in the S&P/TSX this year, each tumbling 20 percent as oil has plunged more than 25 percent from this year’s closing peak in June.

The spread between U.S. crude and the more expensive international benchmark Brent narrowed as West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 4.5 percent to settle at $46.68 a barrel. The spread averaged $2.25 last week, the least since January. U.S. production has declined for six weeks even as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has sustained output.

By Oliver Renick and Joseph Ciolli

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, following a two-day selloff, as investors took an optimistic view on domestic growth amid reassuring comments from Federal Reserve policy makers.

Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. increased at least 1.4 percent to pace gains in technology shares. E*Trade Financial Corp. and Allstate Corp. rose more than 1.7 percent as financial companies climbed. Energy shares rose as oil prices rebounded. Merck & Co. lost 2.2 percent, and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index slumped 4.4 percent after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted that she that she would release a plan to combat the high cost of prescription drugs.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5 percent to 1,966.97 at 4 p.m. in New York, after briefly erasing a 1.1 percent gain. The gauge fell a combined 1.9 percent Thursday and Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 125.61 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,510.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed, weighed on by the drop in biotech shares, after gaining as much as 1.1 percent. About 6.5 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 9.7 percent below the three-month average.

“There are a lot of Fed people coming out and trying to be transparent following last week’s selloff, but in some cases that’s leading to more investor confusion,” said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which oversees $2 billion. “There are so many brilliant people talking every day that it’s difficult to sort it all out. There’s still a tremendous amount of nervousness.”

Just days after the central bank voted to hold interest rates near zero, sparking the biggest post-meeting selloff since July 2014, four Fed officials separately said the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand a hike this year. Their remarks suggested continued improvement in the domestic economy may overshadow concerns about global conditions.

The quartet of policy makers who spoke out contended that any threat from abroad is temporary, providing an antidote to Chair Janet Yellen’s warning last week that global financial- market turmoil could harm growth.

Three regional Fed presidents — San Francisco’s John Williams, St. Louis’s James Bullard and Richmond’s Jeffrey Lacker — argued over the weekend for lifting the central bank’s key interest rate before year’s end. They suggested low unemployment overshadowed the concerns Yellen mentioned. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Monday he remains confident the central bank will tighten this year as those concerns prove temporary.

After the Fed left rates unchanged, the S&P 500 erased its weekly gain, with financial companies tumbling. The late-week slump put the finish another period of indecision as the equity gauge capped its 10th straight week of back-and-forth results with a decline of 0.2 percent.

The central bank’s decision, and the way its deliberations were framed by Yellen in a post-meeting press conference last week, were interpreted by many Fed watchers as a sign that the central bank might not raise interest rates this year. In holding rates steady, the Fed noted international uncertainties and subdued inflation.

“Raising rates will show confidence in the economy,” said Andrew Brenner, the head of international fixed income for National Alliance Capital Markets. “The way the Fed justified not raising rates by bringing in China and emerging markets got people really confused as to what the Fed is focusing on, and equity markets would like to see the Fed raise because they need to have that uncertainty reduced.”

Equities have been particularly volatile amid concerns about China and the Fed’s intentions. Traders are now pricing in a 20 percent chance of a rate increase in October, and about a 49 percent probability of a move in December.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index endured its biggest weekly gain on record in August, and has closed above 20 for 21 straight sessions, the longest stretch since June 2012. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX fell 9.6 percent Monday to 20.14 and is down 29 percent this month.

Equity sentiment has been plunging at a historic rate, the cost to hedge against stock losses has soared, and bearishness among professional stock handicappers has risen the most in three decades — all of which is good news for bulls, if history is any guide. Since 1963, the U.S. benchmark has advanced an average 11 percent in the year after newsletter writers surveyed by Investors Intelligence were as pessimistic as they are now, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Data today showed sales of previously owned homes fell more than forecast in August, representing a pause in momentum this year for residential real estate. Closings declined 4.8 percent to a 5.31 million annual rate from a revised 5.58 million pace that was the strongest since 2007. Prices climbed and the number of homes on the market decreased from the same time a year ago.

Amid more whipsaw action in equities, nine of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries finished higher Monday, with financial and technology shares rising more than 1 percent. Health-care companies erased an early 0.9 percent increase to lose 1.4 percent, adding to a 1.5 percent slide Friday.

Companies sensitive to higher interest rates, such as insurers and banks, rallied as bond yields rose. Comerica Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. gained more than 1.7 percent. KeyCorp and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. climbed at least 1.5 percent.

Apple and Microsoft advanced more than 1.4 percent to help pace the rally among tech companies. Facebook Inc. climbed 1.2 percent, rising for 11 straight sessions, its longest winning streak since going public in May 2012.

Red Hat Inc. added 2.3 percent ahead of its quarterly results, while Adobe Systems Inc. climbed 2.6 percent. Atmel Corp. surged 13 percent after agreeing to a $4.6 billion- takeover from Dialog Semiconductor Plc.

Yahoo rose 1.4 percent as it weighs what to do with its 15 percent stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Alibaba slipped 2.8 percent. PayPal increased 4 percent, the most in three weeks, after Stifel Financial Corp. raised the shares to buy from hold.

Merck and Pfizer Inc. lost more than 1.3 percent to weigh on the health-care group. Biogen Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc. and Celgene Corp. all sank at least 2.4 percent as the Nasdaq Biotech Index had its biggest drop in a month.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

With closed eyes, I have come to this last thought:

even while I am unconscious in sleep, the dance of life will continue

in the silent field of my sleeping body, in the same rhythm as the stars above.

My heart beats, my blood courses through my arteries,

and the millions of atoms that live in my body will vibrate in time with the harp

that quivers under the fingers of the great Master.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

Heroes don’t need to talk about what they did.

-W.P. Kinsella, 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

Tel: 778.430.5808

(C): 250.881.0801

Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895

Fax: 778.430.5828

September 18, 2015

September 18 newsletter

Dear Friends,

Carolann will be back on Monday and will write you the newsletter.

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Scotland’s national rugby union team wait in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, England, ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup welcome ceremony. Action Images/Reuters

Workers prepare the spectator grandstand Wednesday near the new National Gallery (r.) ahead of the Singapore F1 night race. The race takes place starting Sept. 18. Edgar Su/Reuters

Market Closes for September 18, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16383.18	-291.56 -1.75%

S&P 500	1955.72	-34.48 -1.73%

NASDAQ	4827.227	-66.722 -1.36%

TSX	13658.17	128.99
		-0.94%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18070.21	-362.06
		-1.96%
HANG SENG	21920.83	+66.20
		+0.30%
SENSEX	26218.91	+254.94
		+0.98%
FTSE 100	6104.11	-82.88
		-1.34%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.461	1.533
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.226	2.290
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.1283	2.1903
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.9325	3.0054

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75664	0.75936
US $	1.32164	1.31690

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49362	0.66951
US $	1.12988	0.88505

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1141.50	1117.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.68	46.90

Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does.

Warren Buffett

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Doug Alexander and Scott Deveau

(Bloomberg) — Ontario’s provincial government said it aims to complete the initial public offering of Hydro One Ltd. shares by early November after filing documents in what is expected to be Canada’s largest IPO in 16 years.

The amount and share price weren’t disclosed in Friday’s filing to Canada’s securities regulator. The province said in April that it planned to sell about 15 percent of Ontario’s largest electricity transmission and distribution system in an IPO of as much as C$2.25 billion ($1.7 billion).

The market volatility that’s cooled the pace of IPOs in the past couple months shouldn’t affect demand for Hydro One, said Ed Clark, chairman of a council advising the government on asset sales. An environment of low interest rates makes stocks that offer steady yields an attractive investment, he said.

“There’s no question that this, as a general matter, is in fact a favorable environment for yield stocks, which is what this is,” Clark told reporters at a briefing. “But what the world will be like in the end of October or early November, when we price it, we’ll have to see.”

Marketing of Hydro One’s offering will begin in October and the IPO is expected to be completed by November, the province said. At least 25 percent of the IPO will be sold to retail investors and Hydro One will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The government reiterated it will remain the largest shareholder with a minimum 40 percent stake and that no other shareholder group can own more than 10 percent.

With about 1.4 million customers and C$23.1 billion of assets, Hydro One has been estimated by the province to have an equity valuation of C$13.5 billion to C$15 billion. The money raised from the sale will go toward debt repayment, transit and infrastructure, the government said.

The initial sale excludes Hydro One’s Brampton distribution network, which was sold to a group of municipally owned utilities that are merging as part of the government’s plan.

Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia are leading a group of 16 banks on the sale. The group includes Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Credit Suisse Group AG.

An IPO of C$2.25 billion would be the largest since the C$2.49 billion initial stock sale by Manulife Financial Corp. in 1999.

By Jeremy Herron

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled as commodities from copper to oil sank, while Treasuries rallied a second day after the Federal Reserve’s warning on the global economic outlook rippled through markets.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index continued its post-Fed slide, with energy producers leading declines. Oil and industrial metals got routed, while gold gained after Fed Chair Janet Yellen sounded caution over slowing growth in China.

While Yellen said recent developments “may restrain economic activity somewhat,” she added that the implications “have not fundamentally altered” the Fed’s outlook for the economy. The central bank’s decision to delay raising interest rates kept in place a measure of uncertainty that has added to volatility in global equity markets.

“There’s some concern that the Fed sees something we’re not seeing in the data,” said Eric Green, director of research and senior managing partner at Penn Capital, which oversees $4 billion in Philadelphia. “Some investors wanted them to rip the Band-Aid off and get the first one done. Then we wouldn’t have to obsess about it for the two weeks before each meeting.”

The S&P 500 retreated 1.6 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, erasing its gain for the week. The gauge ended lower yesterday by 0.4 percent, erasing a gain of as much as 1.3 percent after Yellen indicated that global developments overshadowed signs of strength in America.

The expiration of some futures and options on stocks and indexes, known as quadruple witching, added to volume, with trading in S&P 500 stocks 60 percent above the 30-day average.

“We’ve again added uncertainty as to when the hike is going to happen,” Mark Kepner, an equity trader at Themis Trading LLC in Chatham, New Jersey, said by phone. “We’re at the point where we’re almost looking at other countries as opposed to our own for signs of when the Fed will lift off.”

Automakers and banks led declines in Europe, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropping 1.8 percent to erase its gain for the week.

U.S. two-year Treasuries extended their biggest one-day rally since 2009, while Pacific Investment Management Co. said policy makers may wait until next year before raising rates. JPMorgan Asset Management said the Fed’s statement was good for bonds and they still like debt due between seven and 10 years.

Bonds gained from Australia to Germany, while Treasuries added to an advance from Thursday. The yield on 10-year German bunds, the euro region’s benchmark sovereign securities, dropped 12 basis points to 0.66 percent, set for its biggest decline since July 7, on prospects for further easing by the European Central Bank.

Rates on similar-maturity Italian bonds fell 14 basis points to 1.76 percent, while those on Spain’s declined 15 basis points to 1.94 percent. The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasuries fell six basis points to 2.13 percent on Friday, after sliding 10 basis points the previous day.

The dollar reversed losses against most of its major peers on Friday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added 0.7 percent after touching its lowest level since Aug. 25.

The greenback rose 1.3 percent to $1.1293 per euro, after tumbling 1.3 percent to $1.1435 the previous day. The yen was little changed at 119.96 per dollar.

Emerging-market stocks and currencies reversed earlier gains to end mixed. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.1 percent, trimming this week’s advance to 3 percent. A Bloomberg gauge of 20 currencies fell 0.3 percent after eight days of gains.

The Fed decision gave gold bulls a boost, as the metal headed for its first weekly advance in a month. Bullion futures for December delivery gained 1.9 percent to $1,137.80 an ounce in New York, after touching $1,141.50, the highest since Sept. 2. Prices had a 3.1 percent gain this week.

Oil dropped for a second day, with futures in New York tumbling 4.7 percent and 3.3 percent in London. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery dropped $2.22 to settle at $44.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest decrease since Sept. 1. Prices rose 5 cents this week.

Brent for November settlement fell $1.61 to end the session at $47.47 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made for the eye of one who sees.

Rumi

As ever,

Leyla

The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes.

Aristotle

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 17, 2015

September 17th Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Parents Jason and Kelli Fenley hold their identical triplets, Owen, left, Noah, center, and Miles Fenley, during a news conference in Mineola, N.Y., Thursday. Identical triplets are very rare, occurring approximately only once in every million births, when a single egg splits into three embryos. Most multiple births are combination of identical and fraternal siblings. Seth Wenig/AP

Guest walk under the super-sized table by artist Robert Therrien titled ‘Under the Table’ inside The Broad Museum during a media preview in Los Angeles. The new museum built by Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, featuring their collection of modern art, will open to the public on Sept. 20.Kevork Djansezian/Reuters

Market Closes for September 17, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16674.74	-65.21 -0.39%

S&P 500	1990.20	-5.11 -0.26%

NASDAQ	4893.949	+4.710 +0.10%

TSX	13787.16	+23.38
		+0.17%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18432.27	+260.67
		+1.43%
HANG SENG	21854.63	-112.03
		-0.51%
SENSEX	25963.97	+258.04
		+1.00%
FTSE 100	6186.99	-42.22
		-0.68%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.533	1.596
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.290	2.339
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.1903	2.2940
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.0054	3.0822

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75936	0.75436
US $	1.31690	1.32564

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50397	0.66490
US $	1.14185	0.87577

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1117.50	1117.60

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	46.90	47.15

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day, holding onto gains after the U.S. Federal Reserve opted against raising interest rates amid low inflation and an uncertain outlook for global growth.

Gains among energy producers and health-care stocks led advances. The Fed kept its benchmark federal funds rate at a record low as recent global economic and financial volatility will likely put downward pressure on inflation, policy makers said Thursday in a statement.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, or 23.38 points, to 13,787.16 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest since Aug. 31. The benchmark equity gauge has pared a loss in September to 0.5 percent after four monthly declines.

“It looks as if rates are still set to start rising this year, however there’ll only likely be one move,” said Andrew Grantham, an economist at CIBC World Markets, in a note to clients. “There were hints that a gradual tightening cycle is close.”

Canadian stocks have rebounded 2.4 percent this week after slumping 4.2 percent in August for the worst performance in a year, amid a rout among global financial markets following China’s shock currency devaluation. China is Canada’s second- largest trading partner after the U.S.

Shopify Inc. soared a record 24 percent after the Canadian software maker teamed up with online retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. to help merchants create their own online stores.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 3.4 percent to the highest in a month high, to lead health-care stocks higher. Valeant has rallied 7.5 percent in three days.

Cenovus Energy Inc. jumped 5.3 percent and Suncor Energy Inc. increased 0.9 percent as crude in New York held near $47 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate oil jumped 5.7 percent Wednesday as U.S. inventories fell.

Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 0.9 percent and Royal Bank of Canada dropped 0.7 percent as financial stocks retreated.

By Craig Torres

(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve kept its policy interest rate unchanged, showing reluctance to end an era of record monetary stimulus in a time of market turmoil, rising international risks and slow inflation at home.

“Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term,” the Fed said in its statement.

Thursday’s action signified more than anything the committee’s uncertainty about how global events, such as the slowdown in China, translate into their outlook for U.S. growth.

“Discretion is the better part of valor,” Ethan Harris, co- head of global economic research at Bank of America Corp. in New York, wrote in an e-mail. The move is a “tactical delay” to gather more information on risks to the forecast, and “as the labor market recovery rolls along, and with capital markets already showing signs of calm, the pressure on the Fed to hike will build at each meeting going forward.”

The decision featured the first dissent this year by Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker as policy makers faced one of the toughest decisions of Chair Janet Yellen’s leadership of the Federal Open Market Committee.

It also bears its own set of risks, such as the perception of a “Yellen put,” or the view that market volatility could stay the Fed’s decision again.

“They put more emphasis on things that could go wrong than things that are going right,” Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit Bank AG in New York, said before the decision.

The U.S. economy is posting steady job gains and solid household spending. Fed officials, anxious not to tighten policy prematurely and risk having to reverse course and cut rates back to zero, weighed solid domestic fundamentals against uncertainties about the international outlook.

“The Committee continues to see the risks to the outlook for economic activity and the labor market as nearly balanced but is monitoring developments abroad,” the statement said.

Slowing growth in China has rippled across the world, hitting commodity-producing countries hard. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which captures stock markets in nations such as Brazil, Chile, Egypt and China, is down 14 percent this year.

“The outlook for the global economy is being marked down and that is why markets are reacting,” Laura Rosner, U.S. economist at BNP Paribas, said before the decision. Market developments are giving policy makers “fundamental, new and real-time information,” the former New York Fed staff analyst said.

Domestically, Fed officials are also grappling with an inflation rate that remains too low, rising just 0.3 percent for the 12 months ended July, according to the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred measure.

“The case for not going is that the inflation picture is still extremely murky, especially in light of developments in China,” Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies LLC in New York, said before the decision.

The PCE index has run below the Fed’s 2 percent target for more than three years. “They need to clarify” their inflation target strategy, McCarthy added.

Officials Thursday said they don’t expect to attain their 2 percent goal until 2018, according to policy makers’ median forecast.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.

Ernest Hemingway

As ever,

Leyla

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.

Victor Hugo

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 16, 2015

September 16 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A migrant woman looks in a hand mirror as she waits to registrater after crossing the border from Austria in Freilassing, Germany, Wednesday.Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters

A fisherman casts a net at a fish farm during a sudden downpour along a sea shore on the outskirts of Kochi, India, Wednesday. Sivaram V/Reuters

Market Closes for September 16, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16739.95	+140.10 +0.84%

S&P 500	1995.31	+17.22 +0.87%

NASDAQ	4889.239	+28.719 +0.59%

TSX	13763.78	+301.07
		+2.24%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18171.60	+145.12
		+0.81%
HANG SENG	21966.66	+511.43
		+2.38%
SENSEX	25963.97	+258.04
		+1.00%
FTSE 100	6229.21	+91.61
		+1.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.596	1.571
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.339	2.321
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.2940	2.2867
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.0822	3.0674

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75906	0.75501
US $	1.31742	1.32448

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48762	0.67222
US $	1.12921	0.88557

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1117.60	1105.95

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	47.15	44.59

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canada stocks rallied to the highest level since August, as commodities prices rebounded after oil surged to a two-week high while U.S. central bank officials began a two-day debate on the timing of higher interest rates.

Energy and raw-materials producers jumped at least 3.8 percent to pace gains among Canadian equities. Oil futures rose 5.7 percent in New York as U.S. stockpiles declined 2.1 million barrels last week, according to a government report. The Bloomberg Commodities Index surged 1 percent for the first increase in four days.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index jumped 301.07 points, or 2.2 percent, to 13,763.78 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the biggest increase since Aug. 27. The benchmark equity gauge has pared losses in September to 0.7 percent, after four straight months of losses.

Canadian stocks have rebounded 2.3 percent this week after slumping 4.2 percent in August for the worst performance in a year, amid a rout among global financial markets following China’s shock currency devaluation. China is Canada’s second- largest trading partner after the U.S.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 6.3 percent and Crescent Point Energy Corp. rose 5.7 percent as energy stocks jumped 4.2 percent, the most since Aug. 27.

Goldcorp Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp., Canada’s biggest gold companies, surged at least 5.6 percent as raw-materials producers rallied 3.8 percent. Gold futures settled 1.5 percent higher in New York, the most in more than three weeks.

The U.S. Federal Reserve begins two days of meetings in Washington Wednesday, with traders predicting about a 32 percent chance the central bank will raise interest rates. U.S. consumer prices dropped in August as cheaper gasoline helped keep inflation below the objective of the Fed.

“The evidence continues to mount that slack in the economy is abating,” said Kevin Caron and Chad Morganlander, fund managers at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., in a note to clients. “As for inflation, the Fed sees the current weakness as largely temporary. The Fed should move on rates but look to control expectations for future rate hikes in our view.”

Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lenders, increased more than 1.8 percent to lead financial services stocks higher.

By Stephen Kirkland and Jeremy Herron

(Bloomberg) — Oil’s best rally in two weeks, sparked by a drop in American stockpiles, pushed U.S. stocks to a four-week high as Federal Reserve officials began a two-day meeting over interest-rate policy. Emerging-nation assets rallied as equity gains in China bolstered sentiment.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capped a second day of gains as energy producers drove its advance. Shares in developing markets climbed to the highest level this month and currencies from Russia to Brazil strengthened amid easing concern over market turmoil in China. Treasuries held Tuesday’s losses, while the dollar slumped.

Traders put the chance of an increase in U.S. interest rates this week at 30 percent, up from as low as 26 percent on Monday but still well below the 50 percent odds before China roiled markets by devaluing the yuan last month. Crude, which has fallen more than 20 percent from this year’s peak amid concerns over a global glut, surged after the U.S. reported a 2.1 million-barrel decline in inventories as refineries bolstered operating rates.

“What we’re seeing now is somewhat of a relief rally,” George Schultze, who oversees $200 million as founder and managing member of Schultze Asset Management in Purchase, New York, said by phone. “There’s a varied list of expectations but if you asked most people in early August they’d say it’s very likely the Fed would raise rates in mid-September, and I don’t think people will be surprised if they do.”

The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent by 4 p.m. in New York after rallying 1.3 percent on Tuesday to the highest level since August. Energy shares led gains with a 2.8 percent surge, as Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 14 percent.

Beverage companies rallied with SABMiller Plc said to be open to discussing a potential offer from larger rival Anheuser- Busch InBev NV in a deal that would bring together the world’s two biggest beermakers. Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, climbed 6.8 percent in New York.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. jumped 14 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500, while optimism over the deal sent Altria Group Inc. up 2.3 percent as it owns 27 percent of SABMiller.

Stocks have been gaining since data Tuesday indicated resilience among American consumers, a sign of confidence in the world’s largest economy and a boost to the case for a liftoff in rates. The gauge has rallied about 6.8 percent since reaching a 2015 low last month and is down 3.1 percent this year.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said financial markets are vulnerable because nobody can agree on what the Fed will do. More than half of the 111 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predict no change on Thursday, while 50 say the key U.S. rate will be increased by 0.25 percentage point. Four see a 1/8 percentage- point increase.

Gina Martin Adams, equity strategist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, said a rate hike could be a positive catalyst for stocks.

“For one reason and for one reason alone, it removes the uncertainty which has been plaguing the market for much of this year,” she said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio.

Oil rose for a second day on news of last week’s drop in stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate crude has fluctuated since slumping below $40 a barrel last month as concern that China’s growth was slowing fueled volatility in markets.

WTI jumped 5.7 percent to settle at $47.13 a barrel while Brent gained 4.2 percent to $49.75.

Industrial metals also rose, with copper capping a second day of gains as the stock market rebound signaled improving demand in China, the world’s top metals consumer. Aluminum, nickel, zinc, tin and lead also advanced.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index surged 2 percent to close at its highest level since Aug. 20. Benchmark gauges in South Africa and South Korea climbed at least 2 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 4.9 percent amid speculation China’s scrapping of quotas on overseas borrowing by approved companies will help stem capital flight and lower borrowing costs. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 2.1 percent.

“In emerging markets, China is at least as important a factor as the Fed,” Maarten-Jan Bakkum, a senior emerging- markets strategist at NN Investment Partners in The Hague, said by e-mail. “So if the Chinese market rises, investors are willing to believe that this can offset some of the Fed risk.”

A gauge of 20 developing-nation currencies advanced for a seventh day, the longest string of gains since early 2014.

The dollar and euro weakened against most of their major peers on sluggish data from both the U.S. and euro zone. Prices paid by American households declined 0.1 percent in August, the first decrease since January, while in the euro area they slowed almost to a standstill.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the greenback versus 10 major peers, slipped 0.4 percent after the measure that tracks the greenback against 10 of its major peers climbed 0.3 percent on Tuesday.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose one basis point, or0.01 percentage point, to 2.30 percent, after climbing 10 basis points on Tuesday. Yields on two-year notes, regarded as being more policy sensitive, also added one basis point, to 0.82 percent after surging eight basis points last session to the highest level since April 2011.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Arrange whatever pieces come your way.

Virginia Woolf

As ever,

Leyla

I know that two and two make four – and should be glad to prove it too if I could – though I must say if by any sort of process I could convert 2 and 2 into five it would give me much greater pleasure.

Lord Byron

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 15, 2015September 22, 2015

September 15, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Mira Saville spins in her petticoat during the Nashuva Spiritual Community Jewish New Year celebration on Venice Beach in Los Angeles Monday. As Jews take part in the Tashlich prayer, a Rosh Hashanah ritual, bread crumbs are tossed into the waters to symbolically cast away sins. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Women decorate gingerbread Oktoberfest hearts with icing at the Fesey company factory in Munich, Germany, Tuesday. Fesey will produce about 1000 gingerbread hearts with the word ‘tolerance.’ The proceeds will go toward the Caritas charity. Michaela Rehle/Reuters

Market Closes for September 15, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16599.85	+228.89 +1.40%

S&P 500	1978.09	+25.06 +1.28%

NASDAQ	4860.520	+54.757 +1.14%

TSX	13462.71	+109.37
		+0.82%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18026.48	+60.78
		+0.34%
HANG SENG	21455.23	-106.67
		-0.49%
SENSEX	25705.93	-150.77
		-0.58%
FTSE 100	6137.60	+53.01
		+0.87%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.571	1.472
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.321	2.234
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.2867	2.1831
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.0674	2.9555

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75501	0.75436
US $	1.32448	1.32564

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49284	0.66986
US $	1.12713	0.88721

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1105.95	1104.80

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.59	44.00

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canada stocks rose, after a two-day drop, as utilities and financial services companies rallied before a key meeting of U.S. central bank policy makers.

Financial stocks climbed 0.7 percent as all 10 industries in the benchmark equity gauge advanced. Fortis Inc. increased 3.4 percent to pace a 2.6 percent advance in utilities stocks.

Energy producers advanced as oil prices in New York rose. Metals mining companies climbed as copper rose. The gold market has gone quiet ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve meetings, with volume about 47 percent below the 100-day average.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 109.37 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,462.71 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

Canadian stocks have slid 2.9 percent this month after slumping 4.2 percent in August for the worst performance in a year, amid a rout among global financial markets following China’s shock currency devaluation. China is Canada’s second- largest trading partner after the U.S.

Pessimism remains acute over the outlook for Canada’s largest stocks, with derivatives traders raising their bets that the turmoil in global equity markets will continue.

Short positions have more than quadrupled since the beginning of 2015 and the ratio of put to call options remains elevated in the C$9.5 billion ($7.2 billion) iShares Standard & Poor’s/TSX 60 exchange-traded fund, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The resource-rich S&P/TSX has been one of the worst- performing developed markets in the world this year as crude plunged. Energy and raw-materials producers have the biggest declines among 10 industries in the S&P/TSX this year.

Penn West Petroleum Ltd. surged 6.1 percent after agreeing to sell its properties in the Mitsue area of central Alberta for C$192.5 million in cash. The company plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt. Energy producers added 0.1 percent, paring an earlier gain, led by a 3 percent rally in Tourmaline Energy Corp.

Silver Wheaton Corp. jumped 3.1 percent and HudBay Minerals Inc. increased 4.7 percent as raw-materials producers advanced 0.5 percent as a group. Copper futures for December delivery rose 0.9 percent in New York.

The U.S. Federal Reserve begins two days of meetings in Washington Wednesday, with traders predicting about a 28 percent chance the central bank will raise interest rates.

By Anna-Louise Jackson

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closing at its highest level in more than two weeks, as retail sales data showed a resilient consumer before the Federal Reserve decides on Thursday whether to raise interest rates.

United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. added more than 2.5 percent to pace industrials. Citigroup Inc. and U.S. Bancorp gained at least 2 percent as lenders rose for the first time in three days. Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. paced a climb among technology companies, rising more than 1.9 percent. Energy shares rebounded, with Chevron Corp. up 1.9 percent as oil gained.

The S&P 500 gained 1.3 percent to 1,978.09 at 4 p.m. in New York, its highest since Aug. 28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 228.89 points, or 1.4 percent, to 16,599.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.1 percent. About 5.9 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, about 18 percent below the three-month average.

“Everybody’s waiting on the Fed,” said John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston. “We saw a pretty solid gain in retail sales in August and an upward revision to July. People have been worried about a possible spillover from China and that’s just not happening.”

A report today showed retail sales climbed for a second straight month, a sign consumers may be looking past recent volatility in financial markets. Although confidence has taken a hit from stock-market turmoil and global-growth concerns, the data show households are still putting their savings from cheap energy to work.

Other data showed that while consumers are holding up, factories are struggling. U.S. factory production declined in August by the most since January 2014 as automakers scaled back after a surge the month before and a stronger dollar weighed on demand from overseas customers.

Meanwhile, a quarterly survey said chief executive officers of large U.S. companies are becoming less optimistic about the prospects for the world’s largest economy, with more leaders planning to cut capital spending and employment in the next six months. The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index fell to the lowest level since 2012, according to results compiled by Bloomberg.

Speculation has increased that the Fed will delay raising rates as China ignited concern that its slowdown could weigh on global growth. While investors remain confident the central bank will increase borrowing costs this year, traders are pricing in just a 30 percent chance of action on Thursday, down from 48 percent before China’s currency devaluation last month. Odds of a move at the December gathering are 63 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Equities have been particularly volatile recently, with the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumping a record 135 percent in August amid the first 10 percent correction in U.S. equities in four years. Since 1990, the measure of market turbulence known as the VIX has averaged 16.9 when U.S. policy makers started raising rates. It fell 7.1 percent Tuesday to 22.54. If the Fed increases rates this week, it would be the first time since 1946 it has done so within a month of a correction.

The bull market that began in March 2009 is the third longest in history, but it’s the longest ever to go without an increase by the Fed, eclipsing the nearest competitor by more than eight months. Economists are evenly split on whether there will be a hike, with about half the 81 surveyed by Bloomberg predicting a rate increase.

After sliding into a correction, the S&P 500 has rallied 5.9 percent since Aug. 25, though the benchmark is still down 7.2 percent from its all-time high set in May. The gauge has lost 3.9 percent this year. All of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups advanced Tuesday, with industrial, financial and health-care companies rising the most. Eight groups rose more than 1 percent. Semiconductors climbed for a fourth day, their longest streak in almost three months. Avago Technologies Ltd. and Skyworks Solutions Inc. increased 2.4 percent.

UPS rallied 3.6 percent, the most in seven weeks. The delivery company plans to hire about the same number of holiday season workers this year as in 2014 as the company recalibrates its response to the annual shipping surge from Christmas-gift shipping. FedEx reached a three-week high, up 2.5 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average gained 1.9 percent. Among other industrials, mining equipment maker Joy Global Inc. jumped 5.6 percent.

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. climbed more than 1.2 percent, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV rose 3.3 percent. GM CEO Mary Barra said the U.S. carmaker will continue to resist Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s call to combine with his company. Fiat Chrysler and the United Auto Workers union agreed to extend their current four-year contract, that was set to expire at midnight Monday, while they keep negotiating toward a new accord.

Financial companies rallied with rising bond yields, as investors speculated that higher interest rates would help lift profitability. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury yield reached the highest since July. E*Trade Financial Corp., Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. each gained at least 2.1 percent.

Drugmakers led the advance among health-care shares. Allergan Plc and Merck & Co. climbed more than 2.3 percent. Gilead Sciences Inc. and Pfizer Inc. added at least 1.4 percent. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index increased 1.1 percent to regain the 0.5 percent lost on Monday.

Ensco Plc and Transocean Ltd. led the energy group higher, climbing more than 4.6 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.3 percent for just its second increase in seven sessions. Cheniere Energy Inc. added 1.2 percent, trimming an earlier 4.2 percent climb, after Carl Icahn increased his stake in the natural-gas exporter this month to 9.6 percent from 8.2 percent.

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. lost 2.3 percent and Marriott International Inc. slid 1 percent amid concerns about a gauge of revenue after Pebblebrook Hotel Trust cited weaker-than- anticipated hotel demand in August and September. Pebblebrook fell 1 percent, paring an earlier 9.3 percent drop.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Mark Twain

As ever,

Leyla

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

Helen Keller

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 14, 2015September 22, 2015

September 14, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Golden Temple is illuminated as Sikh devotees throng the shrine on the 411st anniversary of the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the religious book of Sikhs, in Amritsar, India, Monday. Munish Sharma/Reuters

A festival goer walks through a so-called ‘luminarium’ (an interactive walk-in sculpture maze) at the Lollapalooza festival at the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany, Sunday. Britta Pedersen/dpa/AP

Market Closes for September 14, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16370.96	-62.13 -0.38%

S&P 500	1953.03	-8.02 -0.41%

NASDAQ	4805.763	-16.578 -0.34%

TSX	13353.34	-108.13
		-0.80%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17965.70	-298.52
		-1.63%
HANG SENG	21561.90	+57.53
		+0.27%
SENSEX	25856.70	+246.49
		+0.96%
FTSE 100	6084.59	-33.17
		-0.54%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.472	1.474
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.234	2.236
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.1831	2.1866
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.9555	2.9516

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75436	0.75400
US $	1.32564	1.32626

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49924	0.66700
US $	1.13096	0.88421

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1104.80	1101.25

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.00	44.63

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canada stocks fell, adding to last week’s loss, as commodities producers slipped after disappointing Chinese industrial data deepened investor concerns that global economic growth is slowing.

Energy and raw-materials producers paced declines among equities, dropping at least 1.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude fell a fifth time in six days as China’s slowdown stoked fears global oversupply will continue. New York oil tumbled 2.8 percent Friday after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said prices could fall to as low as $20 a barrel.

Canadian stocks have continued their slide this month after slumping 4.2 percent in August for the worst performance in a year amid a rout among global financial markets following China’s shock currency devaluation. China is Canada’s second- largest trading partner after the U.S.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 108.13 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,353.34 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has slumped 8.7 percent this year.

Global stocks retreated, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping the most in three weeks overnight. Industrial output in China rose 6.1 percent in August, short of economists’ forecasts, while investment in the first eight months increased at the slowest pace since 2000. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4 percent in New York.

Canada’s federal government posted an unexpected surplus of C$1.9 billion in its last budget for the fiscal year ended March 31, the finance ministry said. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government had previously forecast a C$2 billion deficit.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. dropped 8.1 percent and Teck Resources Ltd. lost 3 percent as raw-materials producers slumped 1.7 percent as a group. Nickel and copper fell, leading declines in industrial metals.

B2Gold Corp. tumbled 7 percent and Eldorado Gold Corp. retreated 3.3 percent as gold in New York rose 0.4 percent after a 1.6 percent decline last week. The U.S. Federal Reserve begins two days of meetings in Washington Wednesday, with traders predicting a 30 percent chance the central bank will raise interest rates.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. dropped 3.9 percent after naming Neil Bruce the engineering firm’s next chief executive officer effective Oct. 5, succeeding Robert Card. Bruce had been SNC’s chief operating officer.

Bombardier Inc. sank 11 percent for a second day of losses, after soaring a record 56 percent last week amid optimism over the potential value of its rail unit and sales prospects for the CSeries jet. The company is due for a “significant correction” as the market-implied value of Bombardier’s transportation unit is less likely, Macquarie Capital Markets analyst Konark Gupta said in a note.

By Emma O’Brien

(Bloomberg) — The dollar maintained losses as bets on the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this Thursday held below 30 percent. Concern over China’s deepening slowdown saw futures on most Asian stock indexes signaling declines following a pull back in U.S. equities.

Japanese index futures bucked the trend, rising in Osaka and Chicago ahead of a monetary policy review and after losses of more than 1 percent in stock gauges there Monday. Oil in New York remained below $45 a barrel, while copper resumed its advance with commodities trading in line with sentiment toward China, the No. 1 consumer of industrial metals.

While the Fed’s meeting is this week’s marquee event, attention will be trained on the Bank of Japan Tuesday with some economists predicting it will expand stimulus as soon as this month amid a lackluster recovery. With two days to go until the Fed’s statement, interest-rate futures put the odds of a hike this week at 28 percent, down from more than 50 percent before China roiled markets with its surprise currency devaluation. U.S.-traded Chinese stocks followed losses in Shanghai on Monday.

“The market is in a wait-and-see mode,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab Corp. in Austin, Texas. “Unless we get a major, major move in oil or the dollar or China pulls a crazy stunt, I think we’ll be like this until Thursday.”

The dollar was little changed at 120.27 yen by 7:43 a.m. in Tokyo, after slipping 0.3 percent on Monday. Australia’s dollar was near a two-week high versus the greenback after the sitting prime minister was ousted by a former cabinet minister. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed 0.1 percent after the gauge dropped 0.4 percent in its first decline in three days. Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures rose 0.3 percent in Chicago, with contracts on indexes in Australia and Hong Kong down at least 0.3 percent in recent trade. Copper futures advanced for the fifth time in six days.

Monday’s retreat in U.S. equities followed their best week since July, with uncertainty over the Fed’s move taking hold. While economists are evenly divided on whether the U.S. central bank will pull the trigger on the first American rate increase since 2006, the declining odds hit the dollar Monday, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipping a third day to its lowest level in almost three weeks. Treasuries held onto their gains, with 10-year yields down one basis point to 2.19 percent.

Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index tracked the losses in the U.S., slipping 0.3 percent in most recent trading, while those on the Kospi index in Seoul were little changed. Contracts on the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong declined 0.6 percent. Futures on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a gauge of Chinese equities listed in the city, were down 0.4 percent as were those on the FTSE China A50 Index.

While Hong Kong shares rallied last session, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.7 percent, its steepest sell-off in three weeks after disappointing data on investment and industrial output underlined concerns over the economic outlook. The biggest U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Chinese stocks slid 5 percent on Monday, while the Bloomberg China-US Equity Index lost 2 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.

W. Clement Stone

As ever,

Leyla

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

Helen Keller

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 11, 2015September 22, 2015

September 11, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People visit the ‘Van Gogh Alive’ exhibition at Joy City in Beijing Friday. More than 3,000 images associated with the life and work of Vincent van Gogh are on display. Jason Lee/Reuters

The Weeping Window poppy piece is displayed at Woodhorn Museum in Ashington, England, Friday. The sculpture will be displayed from Sept. 11 to Nov. 1, part of a country-wide tour. Scott Heppell/AP

Market Closes for September 11^th, 2015

MarketIndex	Close	Change
DowJones	16433.09	+102.69 +0.63%

S&P 500	1961.05	+8.76 +0.45%

NASDAQ	4822.340	+26.088 +0.54%

TSX	13461.47	-108.42
		-0.80%

International Markets

MarketIndex	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18264.22	-35.40
		-0.19%
HANGSENG	21504.37	-58.13
		-0.27%
SENSEX	25610.21	-11.96
		-0.05%
FTSE 100	6117.76	-38.05
		-0.62%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.10 Year Bond	1.474	1.492
CND.30 Year Bond	2.236	2.262
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.1866	2.2238
U.S.30 Year Bond	2.9516	2.9900

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75400	0.75488
US$	1.32626	1.32471

Euro Rate1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50335	0.66518
US$	1.13353	0.88220

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London GoldFix	1101.25	1109.50

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.63	45.92

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Dani Burger and Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, erasing a weekly gain, as energy companies slipped after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said oil could fall to as low as $20 a barrel.

Energy stocks led the slump among Canadian equities, dropping 2.8 percent as West Texas Intermediate fell below $45 a barrel. The world’s oversupply of crude is even bigger than Goldman thought and that could drive prices lower, the bank said in an e-mailed report Friday as it trimmed its forecasts through 2016.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 108.42 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,461.47 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has dropped 0.1 percent this week, after alternating between gains and losses for four straight days.

The benchmark slumped 4.2 percent in August after a selloff in the Chinese stock market sent a volatility gauge for 60 of the largest, most liquid stocks in Canada up 78 percent, the most since 2009.

Baytex Energy Corp. retreated 8.6 percent and Bonavista Energy Corp. dropped 6.8 percent as energy producers fell 2.8 percent as a group.

Bombardier Inc. fell 1.1 percent. The plane and train maker soared 58 percent in the previous two days after displaying its long-delayed CSeries jet and amid optimism over the potential value of Bombardier’s rail unit. Industrials dropped 0.8 percent as a group.

Bank of Montreal slipped 0.7 percent after agreeing to buy General Electric Co.’s transportation finance business in the U.S. and Canada for an undisclosed sum. The unit had net earning assets of about C$11.5 billion as of June 30, the bank said.

Timber producers Interfor Corp. and West Fraser Timber Co. rose at least 6.5 percent, after Toronto-Dominion Bank noted that a selloff in paper and forest products had created a buying opportunity. Raw-material companies on the benchmark rallied 0.4 percent.

Gold companies as a group reversed earlier losses, rising 0.9 percent to end a three-day slide even as the metal slid.

By Stephen Kirkland and Jeremy Herron

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose amid the thinnest trading in three weeks, while Treasuries halted a three-day slump as investors remained cautious before the Federal Reserve meets to debate raising interest rates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 ended at session highs after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 17 percent below the 30-day average as the gauge capped its biggest weekly gain since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average claimed its best week in five months. Oil dropped below $45 a barrel, as commodities slumped.

“The market just can’t make up its mind,” Joseph Tanious, an investment strategist at Bessemer Trust in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. The firm oversees more than $100 billion. “There is confusion around what the Fed is going to do. There is uncertainty around the future of China and where oil prices are heading. Investors are having a hard time wrapping their mind around it.”

Economists and money-market traders are split on whether the Federal Open Market Committee will raise interest rates at its Sept. 16-17 meeting. Global stocks rose this week as China was able to rein in equity-market volatility and thwart speculation of further currency depreciation, easing concern its financial-market turmoil will derail global growth.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge advanced 2.1 percent this week amid volatile trading and light volumes. The gain is the best since July. The Dow added 328 points for its best week since March 20.

Fed policy makers have already seen the major economic data available to them before their rate decision next week. Investors are also assessing the extent of impact recent market volatility will have on officials’ thinking.

The turbulence took a toll on consumer sentiment, which declined in September to the lowest level in year as Americans anticipated a weaker economy. Some 17 percent of respondents mentioned unfavorable news about equity markets, the highest share since the height of the last financial crisis in October 2008.

A separate report showed wholesale prices were little changed in August.

Energy shares led declines in the S&P 500, as oil slipped after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the global surplus of oil is even bigger than it thought, and that could drive prices as low as $20 a barrel. Shares of consumer-discretionary producers advanced.

“It’s normal to have volatile markets ahead of such an important decision from the Fed,” said Ralf Zimmermann, a strategist at Bankhaus Lampe KG in Munich. “It’s been such a long time — there are a lot of traders who have never seen a rate hike in their career. Markets will have to live with uncertainty until then.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1 percent, ending a three-day rally. The gauge advanced 0.7 percent this week, its best performance since July.

Treasuries rose for the first time in four days, with the 10-year note yield dropping three basis points to 2.19 percent. Treasuries also advanced as buyers piled into U.S. auctions of notes and bonds this week.

Germany’s 10-year bund yield declined four basis points to 0.65 percent and Italy’s rate slid three basis points to 1.83 percent.

Emerging-market stocks pared their biggest weekly gain since April as conflicting speculation about the timing of Fed tightening and the magnitude of China’s economic slowdown drove volatility to the highest levels since 2011.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slipped 0.2 percent, trimming its five-day gain to 1.8 percent. Developing-nation stocks have slumped for four straight months amid widening price swings. Higher U.S. rates would make dollar assets more appealing to investors, spurring them to shift capital from emerging markets.

The dollar fell against most of its major peers this week, with traders doubting the Fed will increase interest rates this month for the first time since 2006.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent on Friday, extending its its slide in the week to 0.7 percent. The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.1336, up 1.7 percent this week, and the yen was at 120.57 per dollar. The Bank of Japan is also scheduled to meet next week.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.8 percent to $44.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A failure to reduce production fast enough may require prices near $20 a barrel to clear the oversupply, Goldman said in a report e-mailed Friday while cutting its Brent and WTI crude forecasts through 2016. Brent was down 75 cents to end at $48.14 a barrel in London.

Corn futures rose after the U.S. government reduced its forecast for domestic production, citing lower yields after excessive rain across parts of the Midwest. The U.S. Agriculture Department unexpectedly raised its forecast for the country’s soybean crop this year as favorable weather boosted yields.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

“In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.” Nikos Kazantzakis

As ever,

Karen

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

Confucius

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 10, 2015

September 10, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire look at a piece titled ‘The Dappled Light of the Sun’ by Conrad Shawcross during the Beyond Limits selling exhibition at Chatsworth House near Bakewell, Britain, Thursday. Darren Staples/Reuters

A camel and her calf stand in a field during a sandstorm near Rahat, southern Israel, Thursday. Amir Cohen/Reuters

Market Closes for September 10^th, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16331.14	+77.57 +0.48%

S&P 500	1946.11	+4.07 +0.21%

NASDAQ	4796.250	+39.722 +0.84%

TSX	13550.68	+18.83
		+0.14%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18229.62	-470.89
		-2.51%
HANG SENG	21562.50	-568.81
		-2.57%
SENSEX	25622.17	-97.41
		-0.38%
FTSE 100	6155.81	-73.20
		-1.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.492	1.492
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.262	2.259
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.2238	2.2006
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.9900	2.9611

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75488	0.75346
US $	1.32471	1.32721

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49406	0.66932
US $	1.12784	0.88665

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1109.50	1109.85

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	45.92	44.15

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as oil producers gained while better-than-expected earnings from Dollarama Inc. and Hudson’s Bay Co. boosted retailers.

Industrial stocks paced gains among Canadian equities as Bombardier Inc. soared a record 28 percent after showing off its long-delayed CSeries jet in Toronto. Energy stocks rose 0.7 percent, erasing an earlier loss. Energy and raw-materials producing companies make up about 30 percent of the broader index. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. added 1 percent as gold futures gained 0.7 percent in New York to snap a five-day losing streak.

Dollarama and Hudson’s Bay rallied at least 4.6 percent to lead consumer discretionary stocks higher, after second-quarter earnings for both companies topped analysts’ estimates.

Canadian stocks are rebounding from the worst month in a year, slumping 5.2 percent in August after Chinese stocks sank amid increasing concern economic growth in the country was stalling. China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the U.S.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index added 38.04 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,569.89 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has advanced 0.7 percent this week, after alternating between gains and losses for four straight days.

Suncor Energy Inc. added 0.8 percent and Encana Corp. rallied 3.5 percent as energy producers increased 0.7 percent as a group. Crude in New York advanced 4 percent, the first increase in four days. The Energy Information Administration cut forecasts for U.S. oil production in 2015 and 2016.

China’s stocks dropped for the first time in three days after the nation’s producer-price index fell 5.9 percent in August, extending slides to 42 straight months. Consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in a year.

Bombardier, the train and plane maker, one of the worst performers in the benchmark gauge this year, has surged 58 percent in two days amid growing optimism over the potential value of Bombardier’s rail unit and sales prospects for the CSeries jet.

Sun Life Financial Inc. rose 3.1 percent after agreeing to buy the U.S. employee benefits business of Assurant Inc. for a net investment of $975 million.

By Stephen Kirkland and Jeremy Herron

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose amid light volumes a week before the Federal Reserve’s policy decision. Apple Inc. led a rally in technology shares, while a retreat in the dollar sparked a surge in commodities from oil to metals.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounded from a selloff yesterday in a market increasingly characterized by sharp shifts in sentiment amid the looming threat of higher interest rates. The dollar slipped to a one-week low on speculation the Fed won’t act next week amid continued turbulence in global financial markets. Oil surged past $45 a barrel in New York.

While a second day of robust U.S. jobs data bolstered the case for higher rates, money-market derivatives traders see only a 28 percent chance of an increase at next week’s meeting. The Bank of England said turmoil in global markets hasn’t upset its economic outlook, fueling speculation the Fed could also look past recent volatility.

“People are on the sidelines and you get these violent moves and you don’t know what’s behind them,” Dan McMahon, director of institutional equity trading at Raymond James and Associates, said by phone. “There’s really no rhyme or reason so it’s very difficult to make a rational decision in this kind of environment.”

Fed officials in recent weeks, while giving a nod to global events including the equity rout that followed China’s currency devaluation, haven’t been willing to rule out a September hike. While futures traders have pared bets, many economists are still predicting the Fed will increase its key rate.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent by 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge rallied as much as 1 percent before paring the advance throughout the afternoon and then padding out the gain in the session’s final minutes. Volumes in S&P 500 shares were about 9 percent below the 30-day average.

Apple Inc. rallied 2.2 percent to lead technology shares higher as nine of the 10 main S&P 500 groups advanced. Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. climbed at least 1.5 percent as health-care stocks gained amid deal announcements.

“It’s a pretty choppy trade today and volumes are a little low,” Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC in New York. “You have a mentality right now where people don’t want to add risk but they do want to play intraday volatility. They’re not taking on new risk but they’re trying to take advantage and trade around the market.”

In 11 of the last 14 sessions through Wednesday, the S&P 500 had closed with a move exceeding 1.3 percent, as wide market swings have become more prevalent since China’s currency devaluation on Aug. 11.

Investors are assessing whether the ructions on financial markets would prevent the Fed from raising rates even as the central bank insists its focus will be on economic data. A report Thursday showed fewer Americans lined up last week to file for jobless benefits.

Equities from Asia to Europe declined on renewed concerns that U.S. policy tightening would damp global growth, while a downgrade of Brazil’s debt rating to junk roiled markets there and underscored weakness in developing nations.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.7 percent, halting a two-day advance as renewed concern over the U.S. rate outlook and Brazil’s downgrade damped demand for riskier assets. Chinese stocks fell for the first time in three days after data indicated a widening divergence between consumer and producer prices. The Brazilian real slid to the lowest level in 13 years.

Brazilian bonds fell and Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s American depositary receipts declined after S&P cut the sovereign one step to BB+, with a negative outlook.

The yen was little changed versus the dollar after recovering earlier losses as an aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said October would be a “good opportunity” for the central bank to boost stimulus.

China appeared to expand efforts Thursday to bolster the yuan in what traders said is an attempt to align its exchange rates at home and abroad.

The pound jumped 0.5 percent to $1.5445 after the Bank of England said the turmoil in global markets hasn’t shaken its view that the time for a rate increase is approaching.

Treasuries extended losses, with 10-year note yields down two basis points to 2.22 percent. Buyers piled into U.S. auctions of notes and bonds this week, with investors undeterred by the chance of a Fed rate hike next week. Thursday’s auction of 30-year bonds drew a yield of 2.98 percent, the highest since July.

Bond bulls are wagering that even if the Fed does move, slower inflation will keep longer-term Treasury yields in check.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 1.1 percent after falling 1.3 percent on Wednesday to a two-week low. Metals led gains, with copper climbing for a fourth day in its longest run of gains in three months.

The jittery equities trading prompted investors to seek the safety of gold as the metal ended a five-session losing streak. Gold futures for December delivery gained 0.6 percent to $1,108.40 an ounce.

West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 4 percent to settle at $45.92 a barrel, snapping a three-day losing streak. Brent futures added 2.8 percent to end at $48.89 in London.

The Energy Information Administration cut forecasts for U.S. crude output in 2015 and 2016, predicting a slide to 8.82 million barrels a day next year from 9.22 million a day in 2015 in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook Wednesday. The market shrugged off an EIA report Thursday that showed crude supplies climbed last week as refineries idled units to perform seasonal maintenance.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Vince Lombardi

As ever,

Karen

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” Maya Angelou

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 9, 2015

September 9, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday. Picture taken with a slow shutter speed and a zoom effect. Vincent Kessler/Reuters

A man is silhouetted walking past the Apple logo during a product display for Apple TV following an Apple event Wednesday in San Francisco. Apple staked a new claim to the living room as the maker of iPhones and other hand-held gadgets unveiled an Internet TV system that’s designed as a beachhead for the tech giant’s broader ambitions to deliver a wide range of information, games, music and video to the home. Eric Risberg/AP

Market Closes for September 9^th, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16253.57	-239.11 -1.45%

S&P 500	1942.04	-27.37 -1.39%

NASDAQ	4756.528	-55.402 -1.15%

TSX	13531.85	-98.82
		-0.72%

International Markets

Market

Index

Close

Change

NIKKEI

18770.51

+1343.43

+7.71%

HANG

SENG

22131.31

+872.27

+4.10%

SENSEX

25719.58

+401.71

+1.59%

FTSE 100

6229.01

+82.91

+1.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.492	1.472
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.259	2.231
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.2006	2.1846
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.9611	2.9579

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75346	0.75706
US $	1.32721	1.32091

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48861	0.67177
US $	1.12161	0.89158

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1109.85	1121.15

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.15	45.94

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, erasing an earlier gain, as a slide in commodities producers overshadowed an equities rally in China and Japan.

Energy and raw-material producers paced a midday drop in equities. Gold prices fell to a four-week low, and crude declined 3.9 percent in New York on estimates U.S. stockpiles rose ahead of a data release Thursday. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. lost 3.1 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 98.82 points to 13,531.85 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge has dropped 7.5 percent this year.

Canadian and U.S. shares failed to keep pace with increases in Asian and European markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average soared 7.7 percent, the most since October 2008, amid speculation a selloff that drove valuations to an 11-month low was overdone. Equities rallied a second day in China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner.

Canada’s benchmark index erased an earlier gain of as much as 1 percent after the Bank of Canada maintained its main interest rate at 0.5 percent. The central bank has made two cuts this year amid the plunge in oil prices.

“In this market the overall sentiment can change very quickly,” said Prab Sagoo, a Canadian equity market analyst at Nasdaq Advisory Services.

Stephen Poloz, governor of the central bank, was expected to leave the main interest rate unchanged in the lone decision during the Canadian federal election campaign. In its decision the Bank of Canada said a weaker currency and household spending are leading a recovery from the shock of lower oil prices.

Global shares are rebounding from the worst month since May 2012, as the MSCI World All-Country World Index tumbled 7 percent in August after Chinese stocks slumped amid increasing concern economic growth in the country was stalling.

Bombardier Inc. jumped a record 23 percent to pace gains among industrials stocks. The company said its transportation rail unit wasn’t for sale after a report the maker of planes and trains had rejected an offer by a Chinese company. Railway operator Canadian National Railway Co. increased 0.5 percent.

By Oliver Renick and Lu Wang

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks dropped as market volatility remained pervasive, with equities giving back more than half of Tuesday’s gains from the second-strongest climb this year.

An early advance withered after a report showed job openings rose more than forecast, and declines picked up pace after a jump in Apple Inc. lost momentum during an event unveiling new products. Equity futures had soared at the outset, sparked by strong gains in Japan and China, leading to the brief opening surge. Energy companies led declines as oil slid 3.9 percent. Apple fell 1.9 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.4 percent to 1,942.04. at 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier rising as much as 1 percent. The gauge rallied 2.5 percent yesterday, second only in 2015 to a 4 percent jump on Aug. 26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 239.11 points, or 1.5 percent, to 16,253.57. The Dow was up 172 points at its peak today. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 1.2 percent. About 7.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average.

“Yesterday seemed to be more of a sellers strike with just small buying and today there does not seem to be much buying,” said Rick Fier, director of equity trading at Conifer Securities LLC in New York. “If anything, it’s been selling all day after JOLTS number pointing to higher rates.”

U.S. data today showed job openings surged to a record in July, as hiring cooled, a sign employers are having a hard time finding qualified workers amid tightening labor market. The number of positions waiting to be filled jumped by 430,000, the biggest gain since April 2010, to 5.75 million. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast 5.3 million openings.

Equities earlier joined in a global rally as China’s markets climbed amid optimism that more government stimulus is on the way,while stocks in Tokyo staged the biggest rally since 2008 amid speculation a selloff that drove valuations to an 11- month low was overdone.

“The market is trying to consolidate from a huge move we had yesterday,’’ said Jeffrey Yu, head of U.S. single stock derivatives trading at UBS AG in New York. “We’re sitting in a range. It’s just that it’s very volatile within that range.”

Wide market swings and rapid shifts in sentiment have become more prevalent since China’s currency devaluation on Aug. 11 sparked concerns that a slowdown in the world’s second- largest economy would spread. The S&P 500 yesterday regained almost three-quarters of its 3.4 percent slide last week, which was the second-biggest retreat since December behind the 5.8 percent plunge it suffered in the five days through Aug. 21. In 11 of the last 14 days, the benchmark has closed with a move of at least 1.3 percent.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index Tuesday snapped a streak of 11 straight sessions above 25, a level that before August it touched on just five days since 2011. The respite was brief as the measure of market turbulence known as the VIX climbed 5.3 percent today to 26.23.

Investors remain confident the Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs this year, even as they pare bets on a move at next week’s meeting. Traders are pricing in a 28 percent chance the central bank will increase rates this month, down from 48 percent before China’s devaluation. Odds of a move at the December gathering are about 59 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A Bank of America study showed that the Fed rarely makes a move amid the level of recent equity turbulence. In four tightenings since 1990, including the tapering of bond purchases announced in 2013, the S&P 500 had posted positive returns over the prior three and six month periods, and was within 3 percent of the gauge’s 52-week high, according to the report. By comparison, the benchmark index is down 6.6 percent over the last three months and is 8.9 percent below its high of 2,130.82 reached in May.

“Today’s job openings report is very important because with the combination of job openings and an unemployment rate down to 5 percent, it’s clearly a tight labor market and it copper- fastens some of the criteria the Fed looks at,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JP Morgan Funds in New York.

The afternoon swoon sent all of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups lower, led by energy, consumer staples and health-care companies as they fell at least 1.6 percent. Nine of the industries lost more than 1 percent.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.9 percent as estimates that U.S. stockpiles rose reinforced worries that there’s no end in sight for the global supply surplus. Marathon Oil Corp. tumbled 8.6 percent, the most since November, while Apache Corp. and Noble Energy Inc. slumped at least 3.9 percent.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. sank 4 percent to lead the slide among consumer staples companies. Philip Morris International Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. paced declines, losing more than 1.8 percent.

Biotechnology shares weighed on the health-care group. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. slid more than 2.8 percent. Amgen Inc. dropped 2.3 percent after a 5.1 percent jump Tuesday. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index sank 2.2 percent following a 4.2 surge yesterday.

Device maker St. Jude Medical Inc. lost 3.7 percent, its biggest slide since last October, after the company said Chief Executive Officer Daniel Starks will retire at the end of the year and be replaced by Michael Rousseau, currently chief operating officer.

United Continental Holdings Inc. rose 0.3 percent, trimming an earlier 2.5 percent gain following the ouster of Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smisek and two of his lieutenants while federal investigators probe the airline’s ties to the former chairman of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Netflix Inc. climbed 4.5 percent to snap a seven-session losing streak, its longest since March 2014. The shares had fallen 19 percent since Aug. 27. The online video-streaming company plans to enter Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea early next year as it races to complete a global rollout.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” Joel A. Barker

As ever,

Karen

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Francis of Assisi

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

September 8, 2015

September 8, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann will be away on vacation for the next two weeks.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The orange sky of sunrise is captured behind the skyline of Washington Tuesday on the US Congress’ first day back to work after their summer recess. J. David Ake/AP

Hot air balloons take off at the international Montgolfiade in Warstein, Germany, Tuesday evening. Balloon pilots from all over the world meet at the festival to display their hot air balloons and flying skills. Martin Meissner/AP

Market Closes for September 8^th, 2015

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	16492.68	+390.30 +2.42%

S&P 500	1969.41	+48.19 +2.51%

NASDAQ	4811.930	+128.011 +2.73%

TSX	13630.67	+152.36
		+1.13%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17427.08	-433.39
		-2.43%
HANG SENG	21259.04	+675.52
		+3.28%
SENSEX	25317.87	+424.06
		+1.70%
FTSE 100	6146.10	+71.58
		+1.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.472	1.439
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.231	2.197
U.S. 10 Year Bond	2.1846	2.1244
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.9579	2.8836

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75706	0.75304
US $	1.32091	1.32795

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.47974	0.67579
US $	1.12025	0.89266

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1121.15	1118.25

Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	45.94	46.05

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced, rebounding from last week’s slide, as signs of stability in China sparked a rally in global equities and commodities.

Canada’s benchmark index jumped 1.1 percent, led by industrial and raw-material shares. All 10 major industries advanced, with financial companies adding 1.3 percent. Railway companies surged, as Canadian National Railway Co. rose 2.7 percent after TD Securities raised the stock to a buy.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 152.36 points to 13,630.67 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The equity gauge rebounded from a 2.8 percent slide last week, and pared its drop this year to 6.9 percent. Canadian equity markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

Canadian shares followed global markets higher today. A gauge of developed and developing equity markets increased 1.8 percent as the S&P 500 jumped 2.5 percent in New York. Brent crude rebounded from a one-week low and copper jumped the most in two years.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.9 percent at the close today for the first increase in five days, on speculation state-backed funds bought shares after data showed signs of a weakening economy. Exports from China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner, declined in August.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. surged 23 percent and Teck Resources Ltd. increased 5.8 percent today. Copper jumped 5.3 percent in New York after China reported higher imports of the metal. China, the biggest user of copper, said imports soared 19 percent in August from the previous month.

Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank increased more than 1.8 percent to lead the advance in financial-services stocks.

Concordia Healthcare Corp. lost 11 percent after agreeing to buy drugmaker Amdipharm Mercury Ltd. for about $3.5 billion in cash, shares and a deferred payment. Concordia, along with its much larger competitor Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., are two of the best-performing stocks in the S&P/TSX this year, driven by a spree of acquisitions.

Penn West Petroleum Ltd. dropped 7.1 percent, for a third day of losses, after the company said it received a notification from the New York Stock Exchange the company’s listing was no longer in compliance as its average close price was less than $1 over a consecutive 30-trading-day period.

By Oliver Renick and Anna-Louise Jackson

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks surged, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s second-best gain this year, after signs of stability in Chinese markets led global equities higher.

Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and General Motors Co. all posted gains of at least 2.7 percent amid a broad-based rally as investors returned from the Labor Day holiday. Teco Energy Inc. surged 25 percent to a 13-year high after agreeing Friday to a $6.5 billion buyout by Canada’s Emera Inc. Meredith Corp. added 10 percent after Media General Inc. agreed to buy the company in an acquisition valued at about $2.4 billion.

The S&P 500 jumped 2.5 percent to 1,969.41 at 4 p.m. in New York, after the gauge’s second-biggest weekly retreat in 2015. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 390.30 points, or 2.4 percent, to 16,492.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.7 percent. The Dow and Nasdaq Composite joined the S&P 500 to also mark their second-best rallies in 2015. About 6.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 4.5 percent below the three- month average.

“Now that China showed that it was not going to break down further, our market is taking back what it lost on Friday,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York. “The market got hit hard on Friday because people were worried about China.”

Equities around the world climbed today, led by China. A rally in Shanghai in the final hour of trading followed a pattern that has recently suggested state intervention to prop up the nation’s equities. U.S. stocks have turned more volatile in recent weeks amid concerns that a Chinese economic slowdown will weigh on global growth, while investors bet the Federal Reserve is on course this year for its first interest-rate increase since 2006.

The S&P 500 swung up or down an average of 2 percent a day for more than two weeks through Friday, while before Aug. 20, the 2015 average was around 0.6 percent. In 10 of the last 13 days, the benchmark has closed with a move of at least 1.3 percent. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index snapped a streak of 11 straight sessions above 25, a level that before August it touched on just five days since 2011. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX fell 10 percent Tuesday to 24.90.

U.S. stocks slumped last week as August payrolls data gave little guidance on interest rates. The S&P 500 lost 3.4 percent, the second-biggest retreat since December behind the 5.8 percent plunge it suffered in the five days through Aug. 21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has had declines of more than 270 points in five of the last 12 sessions, the biggest cluster of selloffs since the summer of 2011.

Investors remain confident the Fed will raise borrowing costs this year, even as they pare bets on policy makers deciding to do so at a meeting next week. Traders are pricing in a 28 percent chance the central bank will increase rates at this month’s gathering, down from 48 percent before China’s currency devaluation on Aug. 11. Odds of a move at the December meeting are 59 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“These next two weeks are very important — the Chinese market has reopened, we have FOMC next week, we may get some guidance from U.S. companies,” said Pierre Mouton, who helps manage $8.3 billion at Notz, Stucki & Cie. in Geneva. “When it comes to the Chinese situation, it’s important that either you’re positive and think the government can handle the situation and everything will come back to normal, or you’re negative and think a downward spiral has started.”

All of the S&P 500’s 10 main industries climbed at least 1.4 percent Tuesday, with health-care, technology and industrial companies rising the most, up more than 2.7 percent.

“We’re just enjoying the snapback rally today,” said Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion as a senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. “The market was slightly oversold and there was a lack of any bad news from over the weekend.”

Semiconductors led the gains in technology shares. Microchip Technology Inc. added 9.4 percent, the most in almost seven years, after raising its fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue outlook. Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. rose at least 3.4 percent. Microsoft Corp. and Apple both gained more than 2.7 percent.

CSX Corp. and Union Pacific Corp. paced an increase among industrial shares, with the two railroads up at least 3.6 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average rallied 2.8 percent, and a Bloomberg gauge of U.S. airlines increased 2.1 percent. Among other industrials, General Electric Co. advanced 4 percent after receiving approval from European and U.S. antitrust regulators to buy most of Alstom SA’s energy business. Boeing Co. rose 3.1 percent, its strongest day in seven months.

Banks climbed for the third time in four sessions. Wells Fargo and Bank of America Corp. gained more than 3.2 percent. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added at least 3 percent. E*Trade Financial Corp. climbed 7.5 percent, the most since January, after restructuring its bank balance sheet to eliminate $4.4 billion of wholesale funding obligations by the end of the quarter.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index surged 4.2 percent, winning back almost all of its 4.3 percent loss last week. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amgen Inc. and Celgene Corp. each rose more than 4.8 percent. Aetna Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. added at least 3.3 percent to help health-care companies in the S&P 500 rebound 2.9 percent after a 4.4 percent drop last week.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. jumped 7.1 percent to lead the raw- materials group as copper rallied the most in two years. People familiar with the matter also said the company is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to review its strategy following activist investor Carl Icahn’s entry into the shareholder register. Dow Chemical Co. gained 4.8 percent, while Alcoa Inc. increased 2.4 percent.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. rose 5.5 percent, the best advance among energy companies today. The oil and natural gas producer reached agreements with pipeline operator Williams Cos. to revise natural gas shipping contracts in Louisiana and Ohio in a move that will help conserve more cash. Refiners Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp. gained more than 4 percent, the most in nearly a month.

Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., an owner of luxury lodging properties across the U.S., climbed 3.5 percent after agreeing to be bought by Blackstone Group LP for about $3.93 billion in an expansion of its hotel holdings. Blackstone rose 5.2 percent.

Concordia Healthcare Corp. fell 11 percent, the most since January 2014. The Toronto-based drug maker’s agreed to buy Amdipharm Mercury Ltd. from European private equity firm Cinven and other investors for about $3.5 billion in cash, shares and a deferred payment.

Netflix Inc. slumped 3.9 percent, the worst in the S&P 500, to fall for a seventh session amid its longest losing streak since March 2014. The online video-streaming service’s shares are down 19 percent since Aug. 27 and reached a two-month low.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” –Amelia Earhart

As ever,

Karen

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” –Christopher Columbus

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7