Category: Events

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1959, Barbie made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York City. Barbie was the first mass-produced doll in America with adult features. Her appearance was modeled after a doll by the name of Lilli, which was based on a German comic strip character.

March 9^th, 1932, Conrad Russell to his sister Diana:

As to parents, some do and some don’t try and teach manners.  I think many are glad for an excuse not to have to say anything in the nature of criticism or a reprimand.  Of course it is only shirking something.  Sir John Horner used to say:  “Shake hands, Katharine, shake hands”, to his daughter [Katharine Asquith] after she was forty if visitors came into the room.  He also never lit a cigarette in his own room without saying to me first, “Do you mind if I smoke?”

…Right up to 1914 it was utterly impossible for two young people to dine at a restaurant together.  When Raymond [Asquith} and Katharine were engaged they used to have breakfast together at an ABC shop.  Except both going to the same ball there was no other way of meeting – at least there would have been the risk of being seen.  That’s twenty-five years ago.  Times have changed. –from The Book of Days.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Madeleine Klonoski, 2, sits on her father’s leg at a kite festival in Redondo Beach, Calif., Sunday. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

A baby polar bear and its mother, ‘Flocke,’ spend time outdoors at the Marineland animal exhibition park in Antibes, southeastern France, Monday. The baby bear was born on Nov. 26, 2014, at the park. Lionel Cironneau/AP

Market Closes for March 9^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17995.72	+138.94
		+0.78%
S&P 500	2079.43	+8.17   +0.39%
NASDAQ	4942.438	+15.067   +0.31%
TSX	14854.49	-98.01
		-0.66%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18790.55	-180.45
		-0.95%
HANG SENG	24123.05	-40.95
		-0.17%
SENSEX	28844.78	-604.17
		-2.05%
FTSE 100	6876.47	-35.33
		-0.51%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.569	1.613
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.204	2.230
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.1854	2.2414
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7924	2.8409

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79337	0.79211
US $	1.26044	1.26245
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.36765	0.73118
US $	1.08506	0.92161

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1168.50	1175.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.00	49.61

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a second day, dropping to a five-week low, as commodities producers retreated after China reduced imports a second month.

     BlackBerry Ltd. lost 7.4 percent after analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered their rating for the stock. Concordia Healthcare Corp. soared 26 percent after agreeing to buy assets from privately held Covis Pharma Holdings Sarl for $1.2 billion. Suncor Energy Inc. lost 2.6 percent for a fourth straight loss, the longest streak since November.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 98.01 points, or 0.7 percent, to 14,854.49 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest close since Jan. 30. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge lost 1.9 percent last week, its worst since Jan. 9, to close at the lowest level since Feb. 2.

     Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. fell 9.6 percent and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. declined 6.4 percent to pace a 1.9 percent drop in energy producers. Six of the 10 industries in the S&P/TSX retreated on trading volume 19 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. slumped at least 2.5 percent as raw-materials producers tumbled 1.6 percent. Raw- materials and energy make up about a third of the S&P/TSX.

     Chinese crude imports fell by 2.43 million metric tons in February to 25.6 million tons. The country’s Lunar New Year crimped imports of oil and other commodities including iron ore and copper.

     Concordia surged to a record. The Toronto-based company will buy almost all of the commercial assets of Covis Pharma Sarl and Covis Injectables Sarl to diversify sales and boost margins. The portfolios include 18 branded and generic products.

     Canadian National Railway Co. slipped 1.1 percent after one of its eastbound trains carrying crude oil derailed and caught fire on March 7.

US

By Michelle F. Davis

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose amid corporate deals after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index tumbled the most in two months on Friday.

     Macerich Co. climbed 7 percent after a buyout offer from Simon Property Group Inc. valued at about $22.4 billion, including debt. RTI International Metals Inc. soared 39 percent after Alcoa Inc. agreed to acquire it for about $1.26 billion.

     The S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent to 2,079.43 at the close in New York, as equities entered the seventh year of a bull run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 138.94 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,995.72. About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 11 percent below the three-month average.

     “The Monday morning news is typically deal related,” Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which oversees $2 billion, said in a telephone interview. “Two or three today that are somewhat noteworthy. That’s always encouraging — that companies are finding value in other companies. There’s a little better feeling about the world and Europe as far as economic growth and stability.”

     Concern the Federal Reserve may start raising interest rates this year amid a strengthening economy has dragged equities lower. The S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent last week, the most since January, as data showed the jobless rate reached the central bank’s range for what it considers full employment. Policy makers next meet on March 17-18.                           

     The S&P 500 is up 1 percent this year, after rallying 11 percent in 2014 and 30 percent in 2013. The benchmark measure is trailing all but two of 24 developed markets this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     The index has more than tripled from its bear-market low on March 9, 2009, buoyed by three rounds of Federal Reserve bond- buying and low interest rates. The gauge hasn’t had a 10 percent drop since 2011, posting more than 50 closes at all-time highs in the past year.

     The current run, lasting almost 2,200 days, is about two months away from overtaking the 1974-1980 bull market as the third-longest since 1929. After the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 Index all hit records on March 2, and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed above 5,000 for the first time since 2000.

     At 18.6 times earnings, the S&P 500’s valuation is near a five-year high and compares with an average of 16.9 since 1936, data compiled by Bloomberg and S&P Dow Jones Indices show.

     Warnings that stocks are in a bubble and that breadth is narrowing are signs that the thing that really kills bull markets, euphoria, has yet to surface, Laszlo Birinyi,  the president of Birinyi Associates Inc. in Westport, Connecticut, said in a phone interview.

     “We still see continuous negativity,” Birinyi said. “A lot of people have missed and they’ve been wrong. It’s hard to one day turn around and say ‘I was wrong.’ Ultimately, the market continues to surprise on the upside.”

     Reports this week may show an improvement in U.S. retail sales, consumer sentiment and industrial production, and a drop in jobless claims, economists forecast.

     Eight of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups advanced, led by industrial and health care companies.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index lost 0.9 percent to 15.06. The gauge, know as the VIX, rose 14 percent last week, its biggest jump in five weeks.

     Macerich climbed 7 percent after Simon Property, the largest U.S. mall owner, offered to buy the company in a cash- and-stock transaction valued at about $22.4 billion, including debt. Simon slid less than 0.1 percent.                      

     RTI International soared 39 percent to its highest level since July 2011 after Alcoa agreed to buy the company in an all- stock transaction valued at about $1.26 billion. Alcoa fell 5.4 percent to its lowest since June.

     It’s the third aerospace-related deal announced by Alcoa in less than nine months, an area where it sees growth potential outpacing other aluminum-using sectors such as cars and construction.

     Aerospace and defense stocks in the S&P 500 added 1.2 percent, led by gains of at least 1.5 percent in Raytheon Co. and United Technologies Corp.

     General Motors Co. rose 3 percent after announcing a $5 billion share buyback program on Monday. Activist investor Harry J. Wilson will give up his request for a board seat after reaching an agreement with the automaker.

     Whiting Petroleum Corp. jumped 11 percent as people familiar with the matter said the oil producer has hired a bank to pursue a potential sale.

     Apple Inc. climbed 0.4 percent, paring an earlier advance of as much as 2.4 percent, after the company presented new products and services at an event in San Francisco, including a smartwatch and an exclusive Apple TV partnership with Time Warner Inc.’s cable channel HBO for its stand-alone service.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plain living and high thinking

the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants.  Man’s happiness really lies in contentment.

 

Mahatma Ghandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The words “I am…” are potent words: be careful what you hitch them to.  The thing you’re claiming

has a way of reaching back and claiming you.    

                                                                -A.L. Kitselman, 1914-1980

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann is out of the office, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman with a purple umbrella is seen through a raindrop-covered car window in the Queens borough of New York Thursday. Another round of winter weather was forecasted to impact the New York region and northeast US.

A border collie named Honda herds sheep during a herd dog demonstration at Diamond B Ranch in Neches, Texas, Friday, during the 1836 Chuckwagon Races. The annual event takes place the first weekend in March to celebrate Texas Independence Day. There are five classes of wagon races as well as Bronc Fann’n, a cowboy style match race, pasture team roping, cowboy mounted shooting, and other western culture demonstrations. Sarah A. Miller/The Tyler Morning Telegraph/AP

Market Closes for March 6^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17856.78	-278.94
		-1.54%
S&P 500	2071.26	-29.78   -1.42%
NASDAQ	4927.371	-55.438   -1.11%
TSX	14952.50	-150.61
		-1.00%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18971.00	+219.16
		+1.17%
HANG SENG	24164.00	-29.04
		-0.12%
SENSEX	29448.95	+68.22
		+0.23%
FTSE 100	6911.80	-49.34
		-0.71%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.613	1.528
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.230	2.129
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.2414	2.1154
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.8409	2.7285

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79211	0.80102
US $	1.26245	1.24842
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.36890	0.73051
US $	1.08432	0.92223

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1175.75	1202.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.61	50.76

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, for the biggest weekly decline in two months, as speculation the Federal Reserve will is moving closer to raising interest rates sent gold producers tumbling.

     Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. plunged 9.1 percent after delaying its fourth-quarter earnings results to March 26. Detour Gold Corp. lost 7.3 percent to lead declines among gold stocks. GMP Capital Inc. fell 6.1 percent after reporting a slump in revenue.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 150.61 points, or 1 percent, to 14,952.50 at 4 p.m., the worst slide since Jan. 28. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge lost 1.7 percent this week for the biggest loss since Jan. 9. The drop trimmed its gain in 2015 to 2.2 percent.

     All 10 industries in the equity gauge fell on trading volume in line with the 30-day average. Detour Gold sank and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. declined 7.8 percent as raw-materials producers retreated 3.4 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX.

     Gold futures for April delivery tumbled 2.7 percent for the biggest drop since December 2013, erasing gains for the year, after U.S. employers added 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent, the lowest in almost seven years.

     The jobless rate has reached the range Fed policy makers consider full employment, increasing speculation the central bank will raise interest rates around mid-year.

     Penn West Petroleum Ltd. lost 4.4 percent and Trinidad Drilling Ltd. fell 3.1 percent as U.S. benchmark crude futures declined a second day. Trinidad was cut to sector perform, or a hold, by Vladislav Vlad at Scotia Capital.

     Canada recorded its second-highest trade deficit on record in January as prices for the nation’s oil shipments plunged. The deficit widened to C$2.45 billion, doubling from a revised trade gap of C$1.22 billion in December, Statistics Canada said.

     “Crude’s weakness continues to provide a significant headwind,” said Nick Exarhos, an economist with CIBC World Markets, in a note to clients.

     Telus Corp. slipped 0.8 percent and BCE Inc. lost 1.6 percent. Both mobile phone carriers were among companies that acquired wireless spectrum in the latest government auction. Telus paid about C$1.5 billion and Bell about C$500 million.

     Manulife Financial Corp. gained 2.2 percent, snapping a three-day retreat, as the insurer joined a group of investors to buy Montreal Gateway Terminals, the largest operator in the Port of Montreal, from Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure business.

US

By Jeremy Herron and Stephen Kirkland

     (Bloomberg) — The lowest unemployment rate in seven years was greeted with despondency in stock and bond markets, where investors expressed doubt the Federal Reserve can afford more patience on interest rates. The dollar rallied and gold erased its gain for the year.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 1.4 percent at 4 p.m. in New York in its worst day since Jan. 5. Apple Inc. added 0.2 percent on news it will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent. The greenback extended an 11-year high against the euro and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 1.2 percent, the most since 2011. The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped 13 basis points to 2.24 percent. Gold fell 2.7 percent to $1,164.30 an ounce.

     Employers added 295,000 workers to payrolls in February and the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent, the lowest in almost seven years. While the Fed has said it will be “patient” on increasing borrowing costs, Chair Janet Yellen said last week the timing will depend on economic data. Diverging outlooks of the U.S. and other countries have seen the dollar rise against most global peers this year.

     “Investors are looking and focusing entirely on what the Federal Reserve will do in the coming months,” Chad Morganlander, a money manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $170 billion, said by telephone. “Effectively good news in this data point supports the notion that they will raise rates in the not-too-distant future. That scotches the speculative fervor within the equity market.”

     The Fed has kept its benchmark, the target for overnight loans between banks, in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008 to support the economy. Most Fed officials expect to raise rates this year, according to projections released in December. A number said since then an increase around mid-year was possible.

     Yields on two-year notes, most sensitive to changes in expectations for central bank policy, jumped to the highest since the start of the year. Futures showed the odds of rate increase in September climbed to 55 percent from 49 percent on Thursday.

     “Everybody was waiting to see this number the Fed has been really clear saying everything is data dependent and this is one of the large data segments they’ve been looking at,” George Rusnak, co-head of global fixed income at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, said by phone.

     The dollar climbed against 14 of its 16 major peers, advancing 1.6 percent to $1.0850 per euro, the strongest since September 2003. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 major peers, closed at the highest in more than 10 years.

     PPG Industries Inc. is selling 1.2 billion euros of bonds in the single currency, capping a week of issuance from American firms including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Kellogg Co. U.S. borrowers have raised 31.5 billion euros this year, the most for the period since 2007.

     Benchmark equity gauges capped the worst week since Jan. 30, as the S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent and the Dow sank 1.5 percent, nearly erasing its gain in 2015.

     Among U.S. stocks moving Friday, utility stocks plunged 3.1 percent as Treasuries dropped. The group has the second-highest dividend yield among the 10 main S&P 500 groups.

     Apple will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing AT&T Inc. The changes will push the number of technology-related companies in the 30-member gauge to six and boost their influence even more as the world’s largest company by market capitalization joins Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Visa Inc.

     AT&T is being kicked out after falling 4.5 percent in 2014. The changes will take effect with the start of trading on March 19. The phone company fell 1.5 percent.

     In Europe, yields are collapsing from German 30-year bunds to Portugal’s two-year notes before the European Central Bank begins its quantitative-easing plan next week.

     Germany’s 30-year bond yield fell as much as seven basis points to an all-time low of 0.87 percent. Yields on equivalent- maturity Portuguese debt tumbled as low as 2.51 percent. Irish, Italian and Spanish 10-year yields also fell to the least on record.

     From Monday and for the next 19 months, both the ECB and the euro area’s 19 national central banks will seek to buy debt from counterparties in the secondary market.

     The Stoxx 600 is poised for a fifth straight weekly gain, pushing gains this year to 15 percent, as the ECB begins additional stimulus.

     Utilities were the biggest drag on the index Friday. EON SE lost 1.1 percent after Banco Santander SA cut its rating on the German power producer. RWE AG fell 2.6 percent.

     The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 0.7 percent, leaving it down 2.2 percent this week, the biggest drop since the period ended Jan. 30. Emerging-market currencies fell, extending the longest losing streak in three months.

     A gauge tracking 20 developing-country currencies slid to a a record as Brazil’s real dropped to the lowest level since 2004 and peers in South Africa and Mexico lost at least 1.3 percent. The index has fallen for seven straight days.

     The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent, taking this week’s loss to 2.1 percent, its first weekly decline in a month, amid concern that new share offerings next week will divert funds from existing stocks.

     China lowered its 2015 growth target this week to 7 percent, the slowest pace since 1990, after the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates for the second time in three months.

     U.S. benchmark crude futures dropped for a second day as the the stronger dollar reduced the investment appeal of commodities.

     West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery lost 2.3 percent to settle at $49.61 a barrel in New York. Brent futures dropped 1.2 percent to $59.73 a barrel in London, extending losses this week to 3.7 percent. The European benchmark was at a premium of $10.33 to WTI, compared with $12.82 on Feb. 27.

     Bullion erased its 2015 gains Friday after the jobs data as the possibility of higher interest rates damps the appeal of the metal.

     Gold futures for April delivery fell 2.7 percent to settle at $1,164.30 an ounce in New York, the biggest drop since Dec. 19, 2013. Earlier, the metal slumped to $1,162.90, the lowest since Dec. 1.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

 

“Let us act on what we have, since we have not what we wish.” John Henry Newman

As ever,

 

Karen

 

“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” Marcus Aurelius

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Full Moon tonight – deserves a  gaze up at the sky

World’s oldest person turns 117 today: Misao Okawa, daughter of a kimono maker, was born in Osaka on March 5, 1898.

On this day in 1770, the Boston Massacre took place. British soldiers fired on an angry mob of American colonists gathered in front of the Customs House in Boston, killing five. – Dan Strumpf, Wall Street Journal.

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate

the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.  -J. W. Goethe

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The moon sets in the early morning hours as a man walks along an ocean pier in Oceanside, Calif., Thursday. Mike Blake/Reuters

A Sri Lankan Buddhist devotee prays offering Lotus flowers at a temple on full moon day in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, Thursday. Buddhists constitute the majority of this South Asian Island nation’s population. Eranga Jayawardena/AP

Market Closes for March 5^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18135.72	+38.82
		+0.21%
S&P 500	2101.04	+2.51   +0.12%
NASDAQ	4982.809	+15.667   +0.32%
TSX	15103.11	+20.27
		+0.13%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18751.84	+48.24
		+0.26%
HANG SENG	24193.04	-272.34
		-1.11%
SENSEX	29448.95	+68.22
		+0.23%
FTSE 100	6961.14	+41.90
		+0.61%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.528	1.508
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.129	2.102
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.1154	2.1172
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7285	2.7198

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80102	0.80477
US $	1.24842	1.24260
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.37712	0.72615
US $	1.0309	0.90654

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1202.00	1199.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.76	51.53

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, snapping a two-day decline, after the European Central Bank detailed the start of its asset-purchasing plan to combat deflation.

     Great Canadian Gaming Corp. surged 12 percent, the most since August, after posting earnings ahead of analysts’ estimates. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 5.1 percent after boosting its dividend on rising profit. SNC Lavalin Group Inc. tumbled to a two-year low after its 2015 forecast fell short of analysts’ estimates. Encana Corp. lost 3.1 percent after disclosing a plan to raise C$1.25 billion through a share sale.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 20.27 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,103.11 at 4 p.m., narrowing an earlier gain in the final minutes of trading. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 3.2 percent this year.

     Eight of 10 industries in the benchmark index advanced on trading volume 8 percent below the 30-day average.

     Financial stocks declined 0.1 percent as a group. Canadian Western Bank sank 7.1 percent, the most since July 2009, after posting first-quarter earnings and revenue short of analysts’ estimates.

     Methanex Corp. added 5.3 percent and B2Gold Corp. increased 2.9 percent as raw-materials producers advanced.

     The MSCI World Index of developed markets increased 0.1 percent after a two-day decline. The ECB will begin buying about 60 billion euros ($66 billion) in bonds a month starting March 9, ECB President Mario Draghi told reporters in Nicosia where officials had met, the first salvo in a bid to head off deflation in the euro area.

     The central bank also unveiled forecasts showing higher economic growth with an inflation outlook that puts the ECB on track to reach its inflation goal of just below 2 percent.

US

By Michelle F. Davis and Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after equities posted their biggest two-day slump in more than a month, amid corporate deals before Friday’s government jobs report.

     Pharmacyclics Inc. surged 10 percent after AbbVie Inc. agreed to buy the drugmaker in a $21 billion deal. Mallinckrodt Plc climbed 4.7 percent after buying closely-held Ikaria Inc. for about $2.3 billion.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent to 2,101.04 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 38.82 points, or 0.2 percent to 18,135.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent. About 5.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, the lightest volume since Jan. 2.

     “We didn’t really get anything definitive out of the ECB so people are just kind of flattening out in front of the employment report tomorrow,” Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in Newton, Massachusetts, said by phone. “We’re going to be in this tight range as traders push it around a little bit, and until we go one way or the other, people aren’t going to jump in with both feet.”

     European Central Bank President Mario Draghi primed investors to be ready for the central bank’s first bond-buying salvo as he signaled officials are convinced the measure will succeed in the choking off the threat of deflation.                        

     Six years after the Federal Reserve began its own quantitative easing program, the ECB’s Governing Council committed to begin asset purchases next week that will amount to 60 billion euros ($66 billion) a month, its president told reporters in Nicosia. He also unveiled forecasts showing higher economic growth with an inflation outlook that puts the ECB on track to reach its inflation goal of just below 2 percent.

     “Obviously the whole notion of European style QE has been well advertised at this juncture,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist in Philadelphia at Janney Capital Management LLC, which oversees about $68 billion in assets, said by phone. “More encouraging is the fact that they’ve raised their view of economic growth over the next several years. There’s been more upbeat news coming out of Europe.”                      

     The S&P 500 dropped 0.9 percent in the previous two days for the biggest slide in five weeks after rising to fresh records four times in February. The Dow fell 1.1 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.8 percent after surpassing 5,000 on Monday.

     The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose 7,000 last week to 320,000, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected 295,000 jobless claims.

     A separate report showed factory orders unexpectedly fell in January. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment are due Friday, with economists predicting employers added 235,000 workers in February, while the unemployment rate is expected to drop to 5.6 percent, matching a more than six-year low.

     Six of 10 main S&P 500 groups rose. Health-care advanced for a second day as Mallinckrodt gained 4.7 percent after agreeing to acquire closely-held Ikaria Inc. to expand in neonatal intensive-care treatments.

     Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 5.8 percent after Wells Fargo analyst Brian Abrahams wrote in a note that one of the company’s drugs may get early approval. Investor attention is now focusing on Vertex’s cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco/VX-809, Abrahams wrote.

     The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index advanced 2.2 percent to an all-time high, as Pharmacyclics climbed 10 percent after AbbVie agreed to buy the company for $21 billion to expand in cancer therapy. AbbVie fell 5.7 percent.

     Kroger Co. rallied 6.7 percent after the biggest U.S. grocery-store chain’s surging same-store sales lifted fourth- quarter profit well above analysts’ estimates.

     Costco Wholesale Corp. climbed 2.7 percent after second- quarter profit rose 29 percent as sales outpaced discount rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

     Joy Global Inc., the world’s largest maker of underground mining machinery, fell 5.2 percent to its lowest in more than five years after cutting full-year earnings and sales forecasts following commodity-price declines.

     H&R Block Inc. lost 4.2 percent after reporting revenue below analysts’ estimates. The company reported an adjusted loss per share of 13 cents, compared with an estimated 17 cents.     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slipped 1.3 percent to 14.04 after two days of gains. The gauge, known as the VIX, lost 36 percent in February for its biggest monthly decline on record.
 

Have a great evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

To understand pleasure is not to deny it.

We are not condemning it or saying it is right or wrong but if we pursue it,

let us do so with our eyes open, knowing that a mind that is all the time seeking pleasure

must inevitably find its shadow in pain.

They cannot be separated, although we run after pleasure and try to avoid pain.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Good words are worth much, and cost little.

                    -George Herbert, 1593-1633

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

-from V. Sackville-West:
So cosmopolitan, these English tulips,
To cottager as native as himself!
Aliens, that Shakespeare neither saw nor sang.
Alien Asiatics, that have blown
Between the boulders of a Persian hill
Long centuries before they reached the dykes
To charm van Huysum and the curious Brueghel,
And Rachel Ruysch, so nice so leisurely
That seven years were given to two pictures.

Tulip, dulband, a turban; rare
Persian that wanders in our English tongue.

How fair the flowers unaware
That do not know what beauty is!
Fair, without knowing they are fair,
With poets and gazelles they share
        Another world than this.

They can but die, and not betray
As friends or love betray the heart.
They can but live their pretty day
And do no worse than simply play
        Their brief sufficient part.

They cannot break the heart, as friend
Or love may split our trust for ever.
We never asked them to pretend:
Death is a clean sufficient end.
        For flower, friend, or lover.

   -from The Garden, Spring, 1939-1946.

Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. – Lewis Grizzard

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The interior of a Rolls-Royce Serenity luxury car is seen during the second press day ahead of the 85th International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

Buddhist monks pray at Wat Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, during Makha Bucha Day ceremonies Wednesday. Makha Bucha marks the anniversary of Lord Buddha’s mass sermon to the first 1,250 newly-ordained monks 2,558 years ago. Sakchai Lalit/AP

Market Closes for March 4^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18096.90	-106.47
		-0.58%
S&P 500	2098.53	-9.25   -0.44%
NASDAQ	4967.141	-12.760   -0.26%
TSX	15082.84	-51.01
		-0.34%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18703.60	-111.56
		-0.59%
HANG SENG	24465.38	-237.40
		-0.96%
SENSEX	29380.73	-213.00
		-0.72%
FTSE 100	6919.24	+30.11
		+0.44%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.508	1.427
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.102	2.032
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.1172	2.1207
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7198	2.7135

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80477	0.80072
US $	1.24260	1.24887
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.37697	0.72623
US $	1.10814	0.90241

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1199.50	1212.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.53	50.37

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a second day, to a one- month low, as commodity producers and financial shares declined after the Bank of Canada decided against a second straight interest-rate cut.

     Bank of Nova Scotia dropped 1 percent to lead losses among the nation’s largest lenders. Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. retreated at least 2.4 percent. Avigilon Corp. plunged 16 percent to pace declines among technology shares. Bombardier Inc. sank to a 10-year low after the company canceled its 2015 investor day and Qatar Airways Ltd. said it won’t buy any CSeries jets.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 51.01 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,082.84 at 4 p.m., the lowest since Feb. 4. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 3.1 percent this year.

     The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75 percent as exported crude oil prices and inflation have remained close to policy makers’ assumptions and a weaker currency will boost non-energy exports.

     Eighteen of 23 economists in a Bloomberg News survey expected no change, following a surprise rate cut in January.

     U.S. firms added 212,000 jobs in February, short of analysts’ estimates for a 219,000 increase, according to data from ADP Research Institute ahead of Friday’s scheduled non-farm payroll report.

     Bank of Nova Scotia, the nation’s third-largest lender, fell 1 percent for a second day of losses as financial stocks slipped 0.2 percent as a group. The industry accounts for about a third of the overall S&P/TSX. Six of the 10 main industries fell.

     Bombardier slumped 4.6 percent to the lowest since April 2005. The stock has fallen 12 percent in the past four days. The aerospace manufacturer in February shook up its management as the founding Beaudoin family brought in outsider Alain Bellemare as chief executive officer after years of delays in its aircraft programs and mounting losses.

US

By Jeremy Herron and Emma O’Brien

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks retreated for a second day, while the dollar rallied as investors assessed data on jobs and service industries for clues to the timing of interest-rate increases. The euro slid to an 11-year low and gold fell.

     All but one of 10 industry groups dropped in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which was down 0.4 percent by 4 p.m. in New York, still within 1 percent of a record. European stocks halted a two-day drop. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index returned to a decade high as the 19-nation euro touched its weakest level since September 2003. Gold futures fell 0.3 percent. U.S. oil advanced 2 percent, while Brent crude slipped 0.5 percent.

     Companies added fewer workers to U.S. payrolls in February compared with the previous month, private data showed before Friday’s official monthly jobs report, while service industries unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in February. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book showed most of the U.S. economy continued to grow from January through mid-February, as spending and manufacturing rose. The European Central Bank is expected to unveil more details on its quantitative easing plans Thursday.

     “It’s just across-the-board selling,” said Thomas Garcia, the head of equity trading at Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Thornburg Investment Management Inc. “It just seems like a little profit taking in front of the ECB meeting tomorrow and the payroll number. I doubt that they will say anything that would spook the markets, just fear of the unknown.”                         

     The market value of global equities has grown by more than $6 trillion since mid-October amid a wave of central-bank monetary easing and signs of strength in the U.S. economy. While the S&P 500 climbed to fresh records four times in February, its 2 percent advance this year through Tuesday trails all but two of the 24 developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.

     The S&P 500 halted its slide Wednesday at 1 percent after it touched the average price for the past 21 days of 2,088.39.

     The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 percent in a second day of declines, after closing Tuesday within 1.4 percent of a record reached in 2000. It has taken two bull markets and more than 4,500 days for the Nasdaq to get close to making up all the ground lost in the dot-com collapse. The index surged 7.1 percent in February, its best month since 2012.

     “We had a nice little run here and I just think we’re running out of gas,” Michael Block, chief equity strategist at Rhino Trading Partners LLC in New York, said by phone. “There’s not any leadership in stocks among sectors. The ECB should sound accommodative and the jobs report this week should be good, so if we can’t push higher after that then we’ve got a problem.”

     Among stocks moving Wednesday, Alcoa Inc. sank 3.9 percent as industrial companies tumbled 0.8 percent. Energy companies in the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent, while phone stocks fell the most, down 1.2 percent.

     Health-care shares were the only group in the benchmark to advance, as Tenet Healthcare Corp. and HCA Holdings Inc. rallied more than 5.8 percent amid questioning during a Supreme Court challenge to insurance subsidies under the U.S.’ Obamacare program.

     Justice Anthony Kennedy, who often provides the court’s swing vote in important cases, said Wednesday there is a “powerful” point to the Obama administration’s argument that the health-care law would fall apart if the subsidies were ruled unlawful.

     Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. jumped 6.1 percent to the highest level since 2001 after winning expanded U.S. approval for its lung cancer drug more than three months ahead of schedule. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index climbed 0.6 percent, touching an intraday record.                        

     Economic reports this week could give clues on when the Federal Reserve may raise benchmark rates from near zero. Wednesday’s ADP National Employment Report showed payrolls rose by 212,000 workers in February, after rising by a revised 250,000 in January. Economists had projected a 219,000 increase for last month.

     The Labor Department’s report due Friday is projected to show the world’s largest economy added 235,000 jobs last month, down from 257,000 in January. Broad-based strength in the labor market supports consumer spending and the economy, even as a slump in fuel costs prices limits hiring in the energy industry.

     In Europe, the Stoxx 600 gauge rose 0.8 percent as Standard Chartered Plc drove banks higher, with the U.K. lender capped its best day since October. ING Groep NV gained 1.2 percent after the biggest Dutch bank said it will sell its remaining stake in Voya Financial Inc., completing an exit from its former U.S. insurance unit. ITV Plc added 5.7 percent after saying it plans a special dividend.                          

     The Stoxx 600 earlier erased gains after an index tracking euro-area manufacturing and services increased less than economists forecast. While the purchasing managers index rose to a seven-month high, it was less than initially estimated. Investors are waiting for a meeting of the ECB Thursday for details on the region’s stimulatory bond buying program announced in January.

     “It’s worth noting that the market may want to increase their short euro exposure ahead of the ECB actually starting their QE program,” said Sam Lynton-Brown, a currency strategist at BNP Paribas SA in London. “While the announcement led to euro weakness, we also think the flow impact of QE is going to be very important.”

     The euro weakened against all but three of its 16 major peers Wednesday. The currency declined 0.9 percent to 132.60 yen, and fell to a record against New Zealand’s dollar. The Australian dollar also slumped to a record versus the kiwi.

     Portugal’s bonds rose with debt in Spain and Italy. The yield on 10-year Portuguese securities declined five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 1.88 percent, approaching the record 1.739 percent set on Monday.

     The Micex slid 2.7 percent in Moscow, falling for the first time in three days. Activity in Russian service industries shrank for a fifth consecutive month in February, at the fastest rate of decline since March 2009 as demand weakened.

     The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5 percent Wednesday, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1.7 percent.

     A purchasing managers’ index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics on Chinese services climbed to 52 for last month from January’s reading of 51.8. Premier Li Keqiang is expected to announce a 2015 economic growth goal of around 7 percent on Thursday, when the National People’s Congress starts its annual meeting. That would be a drop from last year’s 7.5 percent.

     Gold futures due in April dropped for a third day, declining to $1,200.90 an ounce, while silver, platinum and palladium all slid at least 0.3 percent in the spot market.

     West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $51.53 a barrel in New York, climbing for a second day, while Brent for April settlement fell to $60.71 a barrel in London.

     U.S. crude inventories climbed to 444.37 million barrels last week, the highest level since the government’s Energy Information Administration began compiling weekly data in 1982. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, increased by 536,000 to 49.2 million barrels. Cushing supplies have more than doubled since November.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We would be happy to do the millions of things that we are not able to do.

The will is there, but we are not able to fulfill our desire.  Thus when we feel a desire,

but we are unable to realize that desire, we undergo a reaction we call suffering.

What is the cause of desire?  I am, only me.

As a result, I myself am the cause of all of the suffering that I have known.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.

                                       -Margaret Fuller, 1810-1850

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1931, “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the official national anthem of the U.S. after President Herbert Hoover signed it into law. American lawyer Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to the song on September 14, 1814, after watching Britain’s overnight bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. -Wall Street Journal, 3/3/2015.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Villarica volcano erupts near Pucon, Chile, Tuesday. The volcano erupted around 3 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), according to the National Emergency Office, which issued a red alert and ordered evacuations. Aton Chile/AP

Cats crowd the harbor on Aoshima Island in the Ehime prefecture in southern Japan. An army of cats rules the remote island, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in a fishing village where felines outnumber humans six to one. Thomas Peter/Reuters

Market Closes for March 3^rd, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18203.37	-85.26
		-0.47%
S&P 500	2107.02	-10.37   -0.49%
NASDAQ	4979.902	-28.194   -0.56%
TSX	15138.19	-125.86
		-0.82%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18815.16	-11.72
		-0.06%
HANG SENG	24702.78	-184.66
		-0.74%
SENSEX	29593.73	+134.59
		+0.46%
FTSE 100	6889.13	-51.51
		-0.74%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.427	1.380
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.032	1.986
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.1207	2.0873
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.7135	2.6884

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80072	0.79736
US $	1.24887	1.25409
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39556	0.71656
US $	1.11745	0.89489

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1212.75	1212.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.37	49.59

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks dropped the most in a month after Bank of Nova Scotia led financial shares lower as profit came up short of analysts’ estimates and materials producers tumbled.

     Scotiabank, the nation’s third-largest lender, lost 1.7 percent after domestic and international banking earnings declined. Major Drilling Group International Inc. sank 7.1 percent after reporting a third-quarter loss. Air Canada, the nation’s largest airliner, rose 1.1 percent to snap a four-day loss.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 130.20 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,133.85 at 4 p.m., the biggest drop since Jan. 28. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 3.4 percent this year, the fourth-worst performing market in the developed world, ahead of the U.S., Singapore and Switzerland.

     Scotiabank’s drop paced a 1.2 percent retreat drop among financial stocks, which account for one-third of the broader index by weighting. All but one of the 10 industries in the S&P/TSX retreated, with trading volume 13 percent lower than the 30-day average. Raw-materials shares sank 2.2 percent, the most in the benchmark gauge.

     Scotiabank, the last of the country’s six big lenders to report results, joins Bank of Montreal in posting profit that missed analysts’ expectations. Bank of Montreal retreated 1.2 percent.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. lost 1 percent. Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc., the drugmaker to be acquired by Valeant, said U.S. regulators are investigating possible securities law violations connected to the company’s inventory accounting.

     Canada’s economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter, at a 2.4 percent annualized pace, Statistics Canada said. The agency also raised third-quarter growth to 3.2 percent from an initially reported 2.8 percent.

     The growth is in line with the 2.5 percent estimated by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz who is scheduled to release his next interest-rate decision March 4. The central bank unexpectedly cut rates Jan. 21.

     BlackBerry Ltd. fell 1.2 percent, reversing an earlier gain. The smartphone maker unveiled a 5-inch device targeting the lower end of the market. The Leap, which comes in white and gray, will cost $275, less than half of what the latest smartphones from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. go for.

US

By Jeremy Herron and Emma O’Brien

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with benchmark indexes retreating from record highs, as car and technology shares slipped. European equities slid before the release of details on economic stimulus, while metals sank and crude oil rallied.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.5 percent from an all-time high by 4 p.m. in New York, its worst day since Jan. 30. The Nasdaq Composite Index retreated back below 5,000 points. Ford Motor Co. sank as sales missed estimates and Seagate Technology Plc tumbled. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.9 percent as Barclays Plc led banking shares lower. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index retreated 0.1 percent. Copper lost 1.5 percent on concern China’s economy is weakening. Crude oil jumped in London after an attack on Libya’s biggest oil port.

     Stocks took a breather after the Nasdaq Composite climbed to within 1 percent of its dot-com era record, with Mylan NV driving biotechnology shares lower. Economic data this week may provide clues as to the timeline for Federal Reserve interest- rate increases, with central banks outside the U.S. easing monetary policy to support growth and fight deflation. The European Central Bank issues more details of its 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) bond buying plan on Thursday.

     “We’ve had some fantastic gains recently putting stocks at or near all-time highs so the markets are due for a little bit of consolidation,” Kevin Caron, a market strategist and portfolio manager who helps oversee $170 billion at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Florham Park, New Jersey, said by phone. “There’s not a lot to move the market, so perhaps this is some momentum carrying the market a little bit.”

     The S&P 500 hit fresh records on four occasions in February, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average — which also retreated from an all-time high Tuesday — climbed 5.6 percent for its best month since January 2013.

     It has taken two bull markets and more than 4,500 days for the Nasdaq Composite to get close to making up all the ground lost in the dot-com collapse. The index surged 7.1 percent in February, its best month since 2012.

     Among stocks moving Tuesday, Micron Technology Inc. retreated 5 percent after Nomura Holdings Inc. lowered its rating on the shares. Mylan, the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based drug maker, sank 4.2 percent. Pharmaceutical companies and drug developers have been leading the Nasdaq Composite’s gains this year.

     Ford slipped 2.4 percent. Light-vehicle sales fell 2 percent after analysts had projected an increase, while General Motors Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Nissan Motor Co. rose less than estimated as cold weather slowed showroom traffic. GM shares added 0.5 percent.

     Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. tumbled 2.9 percent to the lowest level since it began trading in September, after the company was told to leave Taiwan within six months over alleged investment violations. At the same time, rival online retailer JD.Com Inc. reported better-than-projected earnings, fueling concern that Alibaba’s sales growth may be decelerating.

     Best Buy Co. rose 1.4 percent. The world’s largest electronics chain said it will offer a special dividend of 51 cents a share, or $180 million. Best Buy also said it will repurchase $1 billion in shares over the next three years.

     Stock buybacks vaulted to a record in February, with chief executive officers announcing $104.3 billion in planned repurchases. That’s the most since TrimTabs Investment Research began tracking the data in 1995 and almost twice the $55 billion bought a year earlier.

     Companies in the S&P 500 have spent more than $2 trillion on their own stock since 2009, underpinning an equity rally in which the index has more than tripled. They were on pace to spend a sum equal to 95 percent of their earnings on repurchases and dividends in 2014, data compiled in October showed.

     Treasury yields touched the highest level in more than a week as corporate-bond issuance, led by Actavis Plc’s second- biggest sale on record, drew demand away from U.S. securities. Rates on 10-year Treasury notes rose four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 2.13 percent.

     Actavis wrapped up the $21 billion debt sale after receiving orders equal to more than four times the offering size. Company bond issuance in the U.S. headed for its second- busiest day ever, with $28 billion expected from Actavis Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. alone, as central bank stimulus pushes investors to avoid low-yielding government debt.

     The Stoxx 600 retreated Monday from a seven-year high before falling on Tuesday by the most in a month. The Stoxx 600 is still up 13 percent in 2015, its best-ever start to a year, after Greece reached a bailout deal and the ECB announced its quantitative easing plans.                         

     “This week is very much about the ECB and the jobs report,” said Witold Bahrke, an asset-allocation strategist at Nomura International Plc in London, referring to monthly U.S.payrolls data due on Friday. “We had a very strong run in the recent week. It’s only natural that people will step a bit more into the sidelines, especially when you’re heading into these big events at the end of the week when we could see larger moves.”

     ECB president Mario Draghi may present details of his QE plans at a Governing Council meeting in Nicosia on Thursday. Policy makers will also unveil their first growth and inflation forecasts for the euro area in 2017.

     Barclays dropped 3.2 percent. The lender set aside an extra 750 million pounds ($1.2 billion) to cover the cost of settling the probe into alleged currency rigging and posted a 32 percent drop in full-year pretax profit at its investment bank.                        

     Denmark’s foreign currency reserves rose to a record in February after the central bank dumped kroner on the market to beat back speculators and defend the nation’s euro peg.

     The Canadian dollar rose the most in two weeks after a report showed the economy grew at a faster rate than estimated with policy makers meeting Wednesday to consider further monetary stimulus.

     Brazil’s real fell more than 1 percent to the lowest level in a decade at 2.9342 per dollar. Signs of conflict between President Dilma Rousseff and lawmakers indicated she may struggle to win support for efforts to cut deficits.

     Ukraine’s hryvnia jumped 8.5 percent versus the dollar to 24.25. The country’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 30 percent from 19.5 percent as policy makers struggle to support a currency that’s lost 60 percent in the past 12 months amid conflict involving Russia in its eastern regions.                       

     Australia’s dollar rose as much as 1 percent after the central bank unexpectedly left key rates at a record-low 2.25 percent Tuesday. A 25 basis-point reduction was forecast by 18 of 29 economists in a Bloomberg News survey, with swaps traders pricing better than 60 percent odds of a cut before the decision.

     Emerging-market stocks fell for a third day as concern grew China will target slower economic growth. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 0.3 percent in a third day of losses. The gauge is still up 3.1 percent this year as countries from India to Turkey cut rates to preserve growth and amid a rebound in Brent crude, which is up 32 percent from its lowest price since March 2009.

     Beijing may set a China economic-growth target of around 7 percent for this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported. That’s below the 2014 target and may be announced at the start of the National People’s Congress on Thursday.

     Stocks in Shanghai posted the biggest loss in a month amid speculation new-share sales will divert funds from existing equities.

     Brent climbed 2.5 percent to $61.02 a barrel after sinking 4.9 percent on Monday. The port of Es Sider wasn’t damaged in an attack by a plane belonging to Libya’s Islamist-backed government, the nation’s Petroleum Facilities Guard said.

     West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.9 percent to $50.52 a barrel, settling above $50 for the first time since Feb. 25 as investors awaited U.S. government data on oil supplies in the world’s biggest consumer of the commodity.

     Stockpiles probably expanded by 3.95 million barrels last week, extending a record high, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

     Copper fell from its highest close in seven weeks, with futures down 1.5 percent to $2.6565 a pound after a 1.4 percent drop in the metal in London. Nickel lost 1.3 percent with zinc on the London Metal Exchange, while gold — viewed as a hedge against inflation — retreated 0.2 percent in the spot market to $1,203.90 an ounce. Silver slid 0.7 percent.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We must always bear in mind

that we are not going to be free,

but are free already.

Every idea that we are bound is a delusion.

Every idea that we are happy or unhappy

is a tremendous delusion.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Don’t be overly concerned about your heirs.  Usually, unearned funds

do them more harm than good.

                                                -Gerald M. Loeb, 1899-1974

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Why the “City of Light”?

Paris has long been known as la Ville Lumière, the City of Light, but its inhabitants can’t quite agree why.  One theory is that the nickname derives from the 18^th century – not from any physical lights, but from the city’s leading role during the Age of Enlightenment, when philosophers including Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot spread bold ideas through its salons.

  An alternative explanation relates to the century before, when thieves stalked Paris’s narrow, pre-Haussman streets at night.  To curb the rising crime rate, Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie, Paris’s first lieutenant-general of police, ordered a public lighting program that saw 6,500 lanterns put up in the streets.

  The third story is simply that, in the 19^th century, Paris was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic adopters of gas-powered street lighting.  The boulevards were first lit with gas in the 1820s and, by the end of the 1860s, there were almost 60,000 gas lamps.  In 1867, Julius Rodenberg wrote : “The whole of Paris is studded with golden dots as closely as a velvet gown with golden glitter.” –Theo Leanse, The Financial Times.

On this day in 1904, famed author and illustrator Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was born in Springfield, Mass. Mr. Geisel, who used his middle name, which was also his mother’s maiden name, as his pen name, wrote 48 books, including beloved stories like “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham.” His books sold well over 200 million copies and have been translated into several languages.

-By Kristen Scholer, Wall Street Journal.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

French actor Frank Samson, dressed as French Emperor Napoleon, reviews his troops during a reenactment of Napoleon’s landing in Golfe-Juan, southeastern France, Sunday. This commemoration celebrates the bicentenary of the Emperor’s landing after his exile on the island of Elba in 1815. Lionel Cironneau/AP

Children ring giant cowbells during the “Chalandamarz” parade down a snowy lane in Ardez, Switzerland, Sunday. The “Chalandamarz” is an ancient early-spring tradition that aims to drive out winter’s evil spirits with cowbells, whips, and singing. Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone/AP

Market Closes for March 2^nd,  2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18288.63	+155.93
		+0.86%
S&P 500	2116.91	+12.41   +0.59%
NASDAQ	5008.098	+44.570   +0.90%
TSX	15274.03	+39.69
		+0.26%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18826.88	+28.94
		+0.15%
HANG SENG	24887.44	+64.15
		+0.26%
SENSEX	29459.14	+97.64
		+0.33%
FTSE 100	6940.64	-6.02
		-0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.380	1.301
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.986	1.919
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.0873	1.9930
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6884	2.5903

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79736	0.79899
US $	1.25409	1.25157
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40170	0.71342
US $	1.11770	0.89469

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1212.50	1214.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.59	49.76

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, extending the biggest monthly rally in more than a year, as health-care and technology shares advanced.

     BlackBerry Ltd. rallied to a six-week high as the smartphone maker expands into cloud computing. Eldorado Gold Corp. dropped 6.8 percent after it said the Greek government blocked construction at its mine in the country. Mitel Networks Corp. retreated 12 percent after agreeing to acquire technology company Mavenir Systems in a deal worth about $560 million.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 29.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,264.05 at 4 p.m. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 4.3 percent this year. The index rose 3.8 percent in February, the most since October 2013.

     BlackBerry climbed 2.4 percent to the highest since Jan. 14, pacing gains as technology stocks rallied 2 percent as a group. Six of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 3.7 percent below the 30-day average.

     BlackBerry is making its mobile device management service, known as BES12, available on the cloud, a concept that allows users to access the software from the Internet instead of off computers in their offices.

     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 3.5 percent to a record to lead health-care shares to a 3.2 percent advance. The stock is up 53 percent this year after agreeing to buy Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. for about $10.1 billion.

     Commodity producers slipped.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — The Nasdaq Composite Index closed above 5,000 for the first time in 15 years while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reached records as gains in consumer purchases signaled strength in the biggest part of the economy.

     Whirlpool Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Tiffany & Co. added more than 1.4 percent, bolstering gains in discretionary stocks.

Energy companies in Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.7 percent as the price of Brent crude oil lost more than 4 percent.

     The Nasdaq Composite added 0.9 percent to 5,008.10 at 4 p.m. in New York. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent to a record 2,117.39, and the Dow advanced 155.93 points, or 0.9 percent, to 18,288.63, also an all-time closing high. The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.8 percent to a record 1,242.62.

     “There’s a lot to digest after the market snapped back with a good month after January was horrible,” Larry Peruzzi, the Boston-based director of international trading at Cabrera Capital Markets LLC, said by phone. “The end result is these markets are near or at all-time highs so it’ll be interesting to see if people look at that as an opportunity to take profit or if they say it’s recovered and time to jump back in.”

     The S&P 500 reached fresh records four times in February, while the Dow average climbed 5.6 percent for its best month since January 2013. The index also topped its record from December for the first time in 2015.

     Unlike the dot-com era, when investors snapped up Internet companies with promise but little profit, today’s gains are built on earnings driven by demand for products such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s web-search services.                     

     Momentum is building in stocks that have the fastest profit growth, with companies from Apple to Intel Corp. spending more money than anybody else to buy back shares. While the advance has brought the Nasdaq close to new highs, valuations are only a fraction of where they were 15 years ago.

     The Nasdaq Composite “is not going to make me change my investment strategy, but it makes me feel good about staying overweight stocks,” Paul Zemsky, the head of multi-asset strategies at Voya Investment Management LLC, which oversees

$213 billion, said by phone from New York. “It’s a confidence booster, both for the market and consumers and it’ll make some good headlines.”

     It has taken two bull markets and more than 4,500 days for the Nasdaq to get close to making up all the ground lost in the dot-com collapse. The index surged 7.1 percent in February, its best month since 2012, and is within 1 percent of a record reached in 2000.                         

     The S&P 500 increased 5.5 percent last month, rebounding from its worst month in a year with the biggest gain since October 2011, while the Dow rose 5.6 percent.

     Accommodative central-bank policy from Europe to Japan has spurred gains in global equities even as the U.S. has ended its bond-buying program. The S&P 500 has more than tripled during a six-year bull run on the back of Fed stimulus and a doubling in corporate profits.

     Consumer purchases adjusted for inflation rose in January, a sign the plunge in gasoline prices is helping boost the biggest part of the U.S. economy. The 0.3 percent increase followed a 0.1 percent drop the prior month, a Commerce Department report showed Monday.

     The Institute for Supply Management data showed manufacturing in February expanded at the slowest pace in a year as weaker growth abroad limited orders for American-made products.

     Cardinal Health Inc. rose 1.7 percent to an all-time high after agreeing to buy Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis business for$1.94 billion in cash, gaining a global manufacturer of cardiology and endovascular devices. J&J added 0.7 percent.

     NXP Semiconductors NV surged 17 percent after agreeing to buy Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. for about $11.8 billion.  Freescale rallied 12 percent.

     Visa Inc. rose 2.6 percent to an all-time high and Citigroup Inc. gained 2 percent after the two companies struck a deal to replace American Express Co. in 2016 as the exclusive issuer for Costco Wholesale Corp.’s credit cards in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Costco added 0.7 percent.

     Eight of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 gained, led by consumer discretionary companies’ 1.2 percent advance. Utilities fell for a fourth day, down 2 percent, and energy lost 0.7 percent.

     Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. tumbled 25 percent after a television report said the company sold flooring that didn’t meet California health and safety standards. In a response to the allegations, the company said its products have been tested and are safe.

     Noble Corp. lost 4.2 percent after Guggenheim Securities equity analyst Darren Gacicia cut the stock to a neutral rating from buy. The shares have lost 48 percent since June amid the decline in the price of oil.                       

     Navient Corp. lost 8.8 percent for the biggest decline in the S&P 500 after the U.S. Department of Education announced the termination of a debt collection contract with Navient subsidiary Pioneer Credit Recovery. The stock was cut to neutral from buy by Compass Point equity analyst Michael Tarkan.

     Genworth Financial Inc. slid 5.4 percent after disclosing a material weakness in its internal accounting controls related to long-term care insurance claim reserves.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 2.3 percent to 13.04. The gauge, know as the VIX, lost 36 percent in February for its biggest monthly drop on record.

     Best Buy Co. and Staples Inc. are among 13 S&P 500 companies posting results this week. Some 97 percent have reported earnings so far, with 74 percent of those beating projections and 57 percent topping sales estimates.

     Analysts predict profit at S&P 500 companies will drop 4.9 percent in the current quarter after a 4.6 percent increase in the final three months of 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Like the silkworm you have built a cocoon around yourself.  Who will save you?

Burst your own cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul.

 

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

A champion is afraid of losing.  Everyone else is afraid of winning.

                                                         -Billie Jean King, 1943-

 

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

MARCH 1^ST on Sunday!

March is the Month of Expectation

                       -by Emily Dickinson

March is the Month of Expectation.
The things we do not know—
The Persons of prognostication
Are coming now—
We try to show becoming firmness—
But pompous Joy
Betrays us, as his first Betrothal
Betrays a Boy.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Flowers adorn the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of Leonard Nimoy in Los Angeles Friday. Nimoy, famous for playing first officer Mr. Spock in ‘Star Trek’ died Friday. He was 83. Damian Dovarganes/AP

People release sky lanterns ahead of the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival in Pingxi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Believers release the lanterns as a form of prayer for good luck and blessings. Pichi Chuang/Reuters

Market Closes for February 27^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18132.70	-81.72
		-0.45%
S&P 500	2104.50	-6.24   -0.30%
NASDAQ	4963.527	-24.363   -0.49%
TSX	15234.34	-6.82
		-0.04%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18797.94	+12.15
		+0.06%
HANG SENG	24823.29	-78.77
		-0.32%
SENSEX	29220.12	+473.47
		+1.65%
FTSE 100	6946.66	-3.07
		-0.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.301	1.354
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.919	1.962
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9930	2.0191
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5903	2.6171

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79899	0.80022
US $	1.25157	1.24966
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40120	0.71368
US $	1.11955	0.89322

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1214.00	1208.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.76	48.17

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little-changed, capping the biggest monthly rally in more than a year, as declines among health-care and technology shares offset a gain in miners and lenders.

     CGI Group Inc. sank 3.5 percent, the biggest drop in a nearly a year, to pace declines among technology stocks. Catamaran Corp. dropped 2.9 percent for a fourth straight decline. Aimia Inc. sank 10 percent after the loyalty management company posted profit and revenue short of analysts’ estimates. Eldorado Gold Corp. rallied 4.2 percent as gold futures advanced in New York. Toronto-Dominion Bank increased 0.9 percent as the nation’s largest lenders climbed a third day.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 6.82 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,234.34 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing earlier gains in the final minutes of trading. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 4.1 percent this month, the biggest gain since October 2013.

     Six of 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge retreated Friday on trading volume 15 percent above the 30-day average. Raw-materials producers advanced 1 percent to pace gains.

     Catamaran, the pharmacy benefits management company, lost 3 percent for the biggest drop in almost two months. Shares have slumped 6 percent in the past four days. The midpoint of Catamaran’s forecast for adjusted earnings for the year fell short of analysts’ estimates.

     Eldorado Gold rose 4.2 percent and Detour Gold Corp. advanced 2.6 percent. Gold for April delivery added 0.2 percent to settle at $1,213.10 an ounce in New York.

     Teck Resources Ltd. rose 3 percent and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added 0.4 percent as copper posted a 7.9 percent gain in February, the most since September 2012

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, paring the best month for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 2011, as technology shares slumped and data showed the economy expanded at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than previously reported.

     Apple Inc., one of the best performers of the month, and Facebook Inc. slid more than 1.5 percent to lead declines among technology shares. J.C. Penney Co. tumbled 6.8 percent after giving a lower-than-estimated annual forecast. Gap Inc. rose 3.1 percent after profit beat estimates. Bank of America Corp. declined 1.4 percent after UBS Group AG downgraded the shares.

     The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 2,104.50 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 81.72 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,132.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.5 percent.

     “The last day of a month or quarter is always hard to explain — it can be anything, especially with algos playing such a big part of trading,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in Newton, Massachusetts. Investors taking profit after a month of gains “played a part as well,” he said.

     Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 2.2 percent annualized rate, down from an initial estimate of 2.6 percent, Commerce Department figures showed. The median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 2 percent pace.                          

     Consumer spending last quarter climbed by the most in four years, underscoring the underlying strength of the expansion. An improving job market and cheaper fuel costs will probably keep underpinning households this year, which will help the U.S. overcome a slowdown in exports as the dollar climbs and foreign economies struggle.

     Separate data showed more Americans signed contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes in January, rounding out a week of housing data that depicted an uneven recovery.

     Consumer confidence cooled in February from an 11-year high, reflecting recent gains in fuel costs and bad winter weather in parts of the U.S. A Chicago index of business activity fell to 45.8 in February from 59.4 in the prior month. Economists were looking for a level of 58.

     U.S. stocks rallied this week after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said inflation and wage growth remain too low for the central bank to raise rates at its next meeting. She signaled that a change in the Fed’s guidance on interest rates won’t lock it into a timetable for tightening.

     The S&P 500 reached fresh records four times in February, capping its best monthly performance since 2011 with a gain of 5.5 percent. The Dow rose 5.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 7.1 percent for February, advancing at one point to within 1.2 percent of its 2000 record.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slid 36 percent in February, its biggest monthly drop on record after it jumped as much as 17 percent in January. The gauge, known as the VIX, fell 4.1 percent to 13.34 on Friday.

     Eight out of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 dropped, with technology shares falling the most. The industry had the best performance for the month, surging 7.9 percent.

     Apple lost 1.5 percent, trimming its rally for the month to 9.6 percent. The maker of iPhones reached an all-time high on Feb. 23. Facebook tumbled 1.8 percent after gaining 2.5 percent in the previous two days.

     Salesforce.com Inc. lost 1.2 percent after soaring 12 percent Thursday. Cisco Systems Inc. slumped 1.3 percent.

     J.C. Penney tumbled 6.8 percent. The department-store chain attempting a turnaround gave a disappointing annual forecast and posted a loss in the holiday quarter.

     Gap gained 3.1 percent. The biggest U.S. apparel-focused retailer posted fourth-quarter profit that was higher than analysts estimated as the company’s discount brand Old Navy boosted sales.

     Monster Beverage Corp. surged 13 percent to the highest ever after reporting fourth-quarter revenue and earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. The maker of energy drinks amended a pact with bottlers to make Coca-Cola Co. its preferred partner globally.

     Ross Stores Inc. added 6.8 percent after the apparel retailer announced a buyback.

     The earnings season is drawing to a close, with 96 percent of companies having already reported. Of those, 74 percent beat profit projections and 57 percent topped sales estimates. In the current quarter, analysts predict profit at S&P 500 companies will drop 4.5 percent after a 4.3 percent increase in the final three months of 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Bank of America lost 1.4 percent. The bank was downgraded to neutral from buy by UBS analyst Brennan Hawken, after the lender disclosed that U.S. banking regulators demanded changes to capital models ahead of annual industry stress tests. The firm’s changes raise the risk the bank could fail the Federal Reserve’s Comprehensive Capital Analysis Review, Hawken wrote.
 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The freedom of the seed resides in its fulfillment of its dharma, of its nature and its destiny,

which is to become a tree; the failure to achieve this

becomes for the seed a prison.

The sacrifice through which one thing reaches its fulfillment is not a sacrifice that leads to death;

it is the casting off of chains and the attainment of freedom.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.

                                                         -Peter Drucker, 1909-2005

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

–from The Wall Street Journal today:

Rhymes for Dimes 
Immense odds tend to be against poets. The publisher of Poetry magazine, for example, receives more than 100,000 poems a year and publishes only 300 of them. But as with most endeavors in life, persistence can go a long way. We tell the story of one Pittsburgh poet who seems to embody the meaning of the word. Billie Nardozzi, 58 years old, writes for love, not money. “I do pretty much one a day—like the vitamins,” he said. For eight years, as often as once a week, he has paid more than $50 for a few inches of space in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “In a period of declining revenue, it’s always nice to have someone pay us,” said the paper’s executive editor. Some of his poems pay tribute to individuals, and several allude to the breakup of his marriage. He once also penned an ode to the people of the U.K. “I think you’re the coolest people/Living on this earth…” The poem goes on, but that’s my favorite part.

 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

 

The Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered plane, flies over the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Thursday, during preparations for next month’s round-the-world flight. Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg will attempt to fly around the world in a bid to prove that such a flight is possible without the use of fossil fuels. The solar-powered plane has a wingspan of 72 metres, larger than that of a Boeing 747, but weighs only 2.3 tons, about as much as a family car. Solar Impulse/Revillard/Rezo.ch/Reuters

A bald eagle flies with a dead chicken plucked from a farmer’s field Thursday near Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia, Canada. The carcass was from the die-offs of local chicken farms that are put out every year for a variety of hawks and eagles to feast on. Tim Krochak/Halifax Chronicle-Herald/AP

Market Closes for February 26^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18214.42	-10.15
		-0.06%
S&P 500	2110.74	-3.12   -0.15%
NASDAQ	4987.890	+20.753   +0.42%
TSX	15241.16	+12.59
		+0.08%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18785.79	+200.59
		+1.08%
HANG SENG	24902.06	+123.78
		+0.50%
SENSEX	28746.65	-261.34
		-0.90%
FTSE 100	6949.73	+14.35
		+0.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.354	1.321
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.962	1.949
U.S.    10 Year Bond	2.0191	1.9601
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.6171	2.5615

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80022	0.80465
US $	1.24966	1.24277
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40084	0.71386
US $	1.12098	0.89208

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1208.25	1204.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	48.17	50.39

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little-changed, trading at a one-week high, as Canadian Tire Corp. advanced on earnings while banks rallied after two lenders raised their dividends, offsetting a decline among oil producers.

     Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the fifth-largest lender in the nation, gained 3.3 percent on better-than-forecast profit. Toronto-Dominion increased 0.7 percent as profit rose on gains in its Canadian and U.S. retail businesses. Royal Bank of Canada increased 0.4 percent after reclaiming the top spot as the nation’s largest lender. Canadian Tire Corp. jumped 8.9 percent as revenue topped analysts’ estimates on rising same- store sales.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 12.59 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,241.16 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since Feb. 17. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 4.2 percent this year. Trading volume was 20 percent below the 30-day average.

     CIBC jumped 3.3 percent, the most since November 2011, to pace gains as financials stocks rose 0.5 percent as a group. The industry accounts for about a third of the benchmark Canadian equity gauge. Seven of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced.

     Toronto-Dominion rose 0.7 percent as the nation’s second- largest lender raised its dividend 8.5 percent. CIBC boosted its dividend 2.9 percent.                          

     Royal Bank rose 0.4 percent. The firm, with C$1.09 trillion in total assets as of Jan. 31, has retaken the top spot as the nation’s largest lender ahead of Toronto-Dominion at C$1.08 trillion, which held the lead for 15 months. Royal Bank had been the leader for much of the last century. The firms are also the first in Canada to pass the C$1 trillion milestone.

     Loblaw Cos. increased 0.5 percent after posting fourth- quarter earnings at the top end of analysts’ estimates.

     Canadian Tire jumped 8.9 percent to a record close of C$133.44. The shares have climbed 13 percent in six days. The retailer posted fourth-quarter revenue of C$3.65 billion, ahead of consensus estimates of C$3.53 billion.

     Capstone Mining Corp. soared 8.9 percent and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. increased 4.4 percent as copper rallied to a six- week high on signs China will take steps to boost economic growth. Iamgold Corp. rose 2.8 percent as gold climbed the most in more than three weeks.

     Trican Well Service Ltd. sank 12 percent and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. lost 9.6 percent as energy producers dropped 1.7 percent as a group. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery declined 5.5 percent as U.S. crude traded at the biggest discount to the global price in 13 months.

US

By Jeremy Herron and Michelle F. Davis

     (Bloomberg) — The benchmark U.S. stock gauge retreated as energy producers slid with crude oil, while a rally in technology shares sent the Nasdaq Composite Index back to a 15- year high. The dollar climbed and Treasuries fell as prices data supported the case for higher interest rates.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.2 percent by 4 p.m. in New York, as energy stocks sank the most in a month. U.S. crude fell for the sixth time in seven days, trading at its biggest discount to Brent oil in 13 months amid record American supplies. Gains in Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. sent the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4 percent to its highest level since March 2000. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rallied 0.9 percent, the most in three weeks, while 10-year Treasury yields rose six basis points to 2.03 percent. Copper and gold advanced.

     The S&P 500 extended its retreat from an all-time high reached on Tuesday as New York-traded crude fell below $50 a barrel, erasing its February rebound. Core inflation in the U.S., which excludes food and fuel, rose more than economists projected last month, even as overall consumer prices tumbled. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told U.S. lawmakers this week that inflation and wage growth remain too low for the central bank to consider raising key rates at its next meeting.

     “Oil’s selling off pretty heavily but we also have a very strong move in the dollar today and that’s going to have an impact on oil prices,” James Gaul, a portfolio manager at Boston Advisors LLC, which oversees $2.8 billion, said by telephone. “Some of the bigger technology names are rallying, finally catching up with the rest of the market.”

     The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1 percent from a record, reducing its February advance to 6.1 percent. The Nasdaq Composite is up 7.6 percent this month, after climbing 11 of the past 12 days. The MSCI All-Country World Index touched an intraday record Thursday, eclipsing its 2014 peak before falling 0.2 percent as energy companies led declines.

     Among U.S. stocks moving Thursday, Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. lost more than 1 percent as S&P 500 energy stocks slipped 1.8 percent. Salesforce.com Inc. soared 12 percent after raising its revenue forecast. Avago Technologies Ltd. rallied 15 percent after agreeing to buy Emulex Corp.

     Monetary stimulus has spurred equity gains from Europe to Japan this year, even after the U.S. ended its bond-buying program. The S&P 500 has more than tripled during a six-year bull run on the back of accommodative central-bank policies and a doubling in corporate profits. The index has gained 5.8 percent in February, set for its best month since October 2011.

     “Sentiment’s fairly positive when we look at the market’s bounce last week and all of February,” Tim Dreiling, a portfolio manager with the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Kansas City. “The equity increase has been broad-based — domestically, Europe, some of the growth showed up in emerging markets. Domestically it’s broad-based across almost all of the economic sectors.”

     The dollar surged 1.5 percent to $1.1195 per euro, approaching its strongest level against the 19-nation currency since 2003. The greenback added 0.5 percent to 119.48 yen, appreciating versus all but two of its 16 major peers. The Bloomberg dollar gauge, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 major counterparts, is up 0.5 percent in February, on track for its smallest advance amid an eight-month rally.

     Ten-year Treasury yields are higher than rates on similar maturity securities issued by 19 other developed nations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That advantage is also burnishing the dollar’s allure. Yields on two-year Treasury notes climbed five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 0.65 percent.

     Data Thursday showed the U.S. consumer-price index declined 0.7 percent in January after dropping 0.3 percent in the previous month. The median of economists’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg called for a 0.6 percent decrease. Core inflation rose 0.2 percent from December, exceeding the 0.1 percent projected increase.

     Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years increased 2.8 percent after a revised 3.7 percent decrease the prior month, data from the Commerce Department showed. Investors are scrutinizing U.S. economic data for clues on the timing of any increase in borrowing costs. The Fed has kept rates near zero since 2008.

     Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Thursday that the Fed Open Market Committee should remove its pledge to be “patient” in raising rates in March to give it flexibility to tighten policy as soon as June.

     “If we take it out, then we can move at any of the meetings during the summer,” Bullard, a non-voting member of the FOMC this year, said in an interview with CNBC. “But we don’t have to. We can make it be data dependent, which is what I’d like.”

     Feb Bank of San Francisco President John Williams, who votes on policy this year, expects inflation to return to the central bank’s target level of 2 percent by the end of 2015, and advocated for raising borrowing costs before then.

     “We can’t wait until inflation is back to 2 percent and we’re at full employment before we start removing accommodation,” Williams said in a Fox Business Network interview.

     In Europe, the Stoxx 600 gauge extended a seven-year high, gaining 1 percent. The index has rallied 6.4 percent in February, pushing its climb this year to 14 percent, after Greece clinched a bailout deal and the European Central Bank announced plans to embark on quantitative easing.

     In Germany, the DAX Index rose 1 percent as data showed unemployment in February fell twice as much as forecast.

     Among stocks moving after reporting results, Bayer AG added 3.7 percent after it forecasted an increase in 2015 sales. GDF Suez SA gained 1 percent after saying it will cut costs and posting annual net income in line with estimates. Solvay SA rallied 3.8 percent after reporting quarterly net income that was more than double the average analyst projection.

     The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.1 percent. The gauge has added 3.4 percent this month, the most since October 2013 as signs of stability in oil prices and progress in talks between Russia and European leaders to resolve the Ukraine crisis boosted sentiment.

     Gold futures advanced the most this month, climbing 0.7 percent to $1,210.10 an ounce as Chinese buyers returned from the Lunar New Year holidays and investors assessed the outlook for Fed rate rises. Copper rose to a six-week high on speculation China will increase government support to boost economic growth and commodity demand.

     West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery tumbled 5.5 percent to $48.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent for April settlement slid to $60.05 a barrel in London. Brent is up 13 percent this month, while WTI has gained 1.5 percent. Brent’s premium to WTI stood at $11.39 on the ICE Thursday.

     A report Wednesday showed U.S. crude supplies rose to 434.1 million last week, the highest level in weekly estimates from the Energy Information Administration beginning in 1982.

     Both grades sank about 50 percent in 2014 amid an increasing global oversupply as Saudi Arabia led a decision in November by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain the group’s output.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Do we still not know that the appearance of a seed is in direct contradiction to its true nature?

If you submit the seed to a chemical analysis, you would find in it perhaps some carbon, protein

and many other things, but never the hint of the leaf of a tree.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Success is finding satisfaction in giving a little more than you take.

                                             -Christopher Reeve, 1952-2004

 

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Singing

Before the age of the wireless, we all used to sing, all of us, all day long. 
If you walked down the street in Florence in 1350, you would hear every
craftsperson and trader bellowing out songs both secular and divine, folk songs,
courtly love songs, lyrics by Dante  The gloom of the late Puritan age has
killed much of this joyful expression.  But it lingers still, on the building
site or in the garage.  So sing again!  Sing once more, as we used to
in the old days!

 -Dan Kieran and Tom Hodgkinson, The Book of Idle Pleasures

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Britain’s Prince Harry sits in a hide with wildlife trust patron Conrad Dickinson and photographer Will Nicholls (unseen), as he visits the conservation of red squirrels at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s red Squirrel Northern England (RSNE) project, at Frankham Woods near Fourstones, northern England on Wednesday. Photo: Jason Friend/Reuters

This photo provided by the Department of Defense US Army White Sands Missile Range shows a NASA Terrier-Black Brant research rocket that launched from White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico early Wednesday, just beyond the reaches of the earth’s atmosphere. The rocket is carrying an experiment to study ionization in space. Drew Hamilton/AP

Market Closes for February 25^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18224.57	+15.38
		+0.08%
S&P 500	2113.75	-1.73   -0.08%
NASDAQ	4967.137	-0.985   -0.02%
TSX	15231.75	+66.78
		+0.44%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18585.20	-18.28
		-0.10%
HANG SENG	24778.28	+28.21
		+0.11%
SENSEX	29007.99	+3.33
		+0.01%
FTSE 100	6935.38	-14.25
		-0.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.321	1.314
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.949	1.963
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9601	1.9774
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5615	2.5850

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80465	0.80015
US $	1.24277	1.24976
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41188	0.70828
US $	1.13607	0.88023

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1204.75	1192.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.39	48.58

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in two weeks as Hudson’s Bay Co. surged to a record after announcing real- estate joint ventures while banks gained on improving earnings.

     Hudson’s Bay soared a record 20 percent after saying the real-estate deals will enable it to pay down about $1.1 billion in debt. Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s second-largest lender by assets, advanced 3.8 percent after posting earnings ahead of analysts’ estimates. Centerra Gold Inc. rose 5.6 percent as gold climbed from a seven-week low.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 63.60 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,228.57 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 4.1 percent this year. Trading volume was 17 percent below the 30-day average.

     Six of the 10 main industries in the S&P/TSX advanced. Hudson’s Bay soared to an all-time high, leading consumer discretionary shares to a gain of 1.9 percent as a group.

     The two joint ventures collectively value the real estate portfolio of Hudson’s Bay at C$9.2 billion, the company said on a conference call with analysts. The retailer will pay down C$1.1 billion in debt and plans to use funds to renovate existing stores.                          

     Royal Bank rallied 3.8 percent, the biggest gain since June 2012, after posting record profit on domestic lending and investment banking. The lender raised its dividend 2.7 percent. National Bank of Canada, which also posted better-than-expected earnings, added 3.3 percent.

     Centerra Gold rose 5.6 percent and Iamgold Corp. increased 2.1 percent as gold for April delivery rose to $1,201.50 an ounce in New York, from a seven-week low. First Majestic Silver Corp. gained 4.6 percent as silver advanced.

     Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled Tuesday an interest-rate increase wasn’t imminent. She continues testimony to U.S. lawmakers today.

     BlackBerry Ltd. increased 1.6 percent to the highest level in almost a month after the Waterloo, Ontario-based company announced a partnership with Google Inc. to allow the search giant’s suite of mobile productivity tools to run on the smartphone maker’s device management system.

US

By Michelle F. Davis

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed near all- time highs as declines in Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Inc. offset gains among retailers amid corporate earnings.

     Hewlett-Packard tumbled 9.9 percent after saying earnings will be hurt by the rising dollar. Apple lost 2.6 percent as technology shares slumped 0.7 percent. Chesapeake Energy dropped 9.6 percent as earnings fell short of analysts’ projections. Dollar Tree Inc. and TJX Cos. added more than 2.1 percent to pace gains among retailers.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 2,113.86 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.38 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to a record 18,224.57. The Nasdaq Composite lost less than 1 point, ending a 10-day rally that brought the gauge to within 1.6 percent of its 2000 record. About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 9.2 percent below the three-month average.

     “We’ve had a great run and we’re still up around the new highs,” Matt Kaufler, the Rochester, New York-based portfolio manager of Federated’s Clover Value Fund, said by telephone. “It’s not uncommon to take a brief pause.”

     Stocks rallied on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee that inflation and wage growth remain too low for the central bank to raise rates at its next meeting. She signaled that a change in the Fed’s guidance on interest rates won’t lock it into a timetable for tightening.

     Yellen repeated that stance before lawmakers a second day.

     The S&P 500 rose last week as minutes from the central bank’s latest meeting showed some policy makers argued for keeping rates low for longer amid risks facing the economy.                         

     Data Wednesday showed new homes in the U.S. sold at a faster pace than forecast in January, a sign of stabilization in the housing industry.

     “Momentum is still there, you have support from central banks, and the U.S. economy is looking pretty decent,” said Allan von Mehren, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “Markets interpreted Yellen to be a little more to the softer side. It’s been a rapid rally this month, so maybe we’ll rise a bit more steadily from here.”

     The S&P 500 has gained 6 percent in February, poised for the best monthly performance since October 2011, while the Dow has added 6.2 percent. Both climbed to records yesterday. The Nasdaq Composite has rallied 7.2 percent, buoyed by gains in Apple, which has the biggest weighting in the index.                        

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 1.1 percent to 13.84. The gauge, known as the VIX, is on track for its worst month ever.

     Five of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 fell. Utilities shares lost 1.6 percent, and technology companies slipped 0.7 percent.

     Hewlett-Packard slumped 9.9 percent after forecasting quarterly and full-year profit that trailed estimates, saying a rising U.S. dollar will hurt results as the computer maker prepares to split in two.

     The shares maintained losses after people with knowledge of the matter said Hewlett-Packard is in talks to acquire Aruba Networks Inc., a maker of wireless-network infrastructure used by hotels, universities and shopping malls.

     Apple slid 2.6 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. announced a partnership with Google Inc. to allow the search giant’s suite of mobile productivity tools to run on the smartphone maker’s device management system. BlackBerry added 2.3 percent while Google gained 1.5 percent.

     Chesapeake Energy lost 9.6 percent as earnings fell short of analysts’ projections.

     The earnings season is drawing to a close, with more than 90 percent having already reported. Of those, 74 percent beat profit projections and 56 percent topped sales estimates.

     Analysts predict profit at S&P 500 companies will drop 4.5 percent in the current quarter after a 4.3 percent increase in the final three months of 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. plunged 26 percent, the most since 2011, after Chief Executive Officer Robert Lynch said “60 Minutes” will feature the retailer in an unfavorable light.

     The company also disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice may file criminal charges stemming from an inquiry that began in 2013 for a violation of import laws.

     Consumer-discretionary shares increased 0.8 percent for the best performance.

     Dollar Tree and TJX added at least 2.1 percent after fourth-quarter earnings topped analysts’ estimates. Macy’s Inc. jumped 2.4 percent, rebounding after a drop of 3.2 percent on Tuesday.

     McDonald’s Corp. jumped 3.9 percent, the most in the Dow, to the highest level since July 18.

     Newfield Exploration Co. jumped 14 percent, the most in six years, after the energy company said it sees production increasing by 18 percent in 2015.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Man must understand that when he cuts himself off from all stimulating and purifying contact with infinity,

and no longer relies on it for his subsistence and his health, he risks madness;

he tears himself asunder, and divorces himself from his very substance.

 

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

 
 

To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.

                                                                     -Confucius, 551-479 BC

 

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

February 24^th, 1955, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, was born.

Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.  ~Steven Jobs.

Steven Grosz, Psychoanalyst:

In my 25 years of practicing psychoanalysis, I can’t recall anyone ever asking me this question.  Patients do ask what’s the point of doing such-and-such or being married to so-and-so.  And I’ve been asked – more than once – “what’s the point of analysis?”

  Typically, the people who come to see me are in pain.  They may be confused, or anxious, or depressed but, more often than not, their complaints are specific.  They might be suffering because their husband has died, their marriage as collapsed, or they can’t find someone to love.  They don’t ask “what’s the point?”  they don’t want to know the meaning of life – they want the suffering to stop so they can live their lives.

  Often, part of the suffering is that they can’t  articulate it.  Pain is resistant to language; it can reduce us to a stage before language – to the confusion and anguish, the cries we had before we had words.  Karen Blixen said, ”All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.”  But what if a person can’t tell a story about his sorrows?  Experience has taught me that there are stories that we never found a way to voice, because no one helped us to find the words.  When we cannot find a way of telling our story, our story tells us – we dream these stories, we develop symptoms, or we find ourselves acting in ways we don’t understand.  My job as a psychoanalyst is to help others find a way of telling their story.

  We will probably never know what’s the point, but we can find meaning, and ourselves, through speaking and listening.  We are born into a world of feelings and words; we become who we are by sharing our stories.  We need others to help us make sense of ourselves.  From our first words to our last, we’re story-tellers, but we can’t be story-tellers alone – we need someone to listen.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The glow of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is seen in the horizon in the Kawartha Lakes region, southern Ontario on Monday. The colorful cosmic display of the northern lights is rarely seen in Ontario. Fred Thornhill/Reuters

A view shows the Invalides and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Tuesday. Five drones have been seen flying over sensitive sites of Paris, including the US Embassy, between midnight and six o’clock in the night of Monday to Tuesday, according to French police. French authorities have opened an investigation. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Market Closes for February 24^th, 2015     

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	18209.19	+92.35
		+0.51%
S&P 500	2115.55	+5.89   +0.28%
NASDAQ	4968.121	+7.149   +0.14%
TSX	15179.60	-20.66
		-0.14%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18603.48	+136.56
		+0.74%
HANG SENG	24750.07	-86.69
		-0.35%
SENSEX	29004.66	+29.55
		+0.10%
FTSE 100	6949.63	+37.47
		+0.54%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.314	1.357
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.963	2.012
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9774	2.0574
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5850	2.6572

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80015	0.79537
US $	1.24976	1.25727
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41737	0.70553
US $	1.13411	0.88175

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1192.50	1204.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	48.58	48.55

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated, after erasing an earlier gain, as energy producers fell and lenders slid amid disappointing earnings from Bank of Montreal.

     Bank of Montreal dropped 2 percent after profit missed analysts’ estimates on a slowdown in investment banking. Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank, among the nation’s largest lenders, fell at least 0.5 percent. Trican Well Service Ltd. and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. dropped more than 4.9 percent to pace declines among energy shares. PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. jumped 6 percent after profit topped estimates. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. gained 8.1 percent as copper rebounded.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 35.29 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,164.97 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing an earlier advance of as much as 0.5 percent. Trading volume was 15 percent below the 30-day average.

     Trican Well Service declined 6.1 percent as energy producers fell 0.3 percent as a group, erasing an earlier gain of as much as 0.9 percent.

     Equities retreated as Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said oil’s decline is an “important setback” to the nation’s economy. The central bank’s surprise interest rate cut in January will give policy makers time to see how the economy responds to the lower prices, Poloz said in the text of a speech Tuesday at Western University in London, Ontario.                           

     The impact of the oil price shock is immediate, while longer-term benefits of falling energy costs will be more gradual in arriving, Poloz said.

     Bank of Montreal dropped 2 percent, the most in more than three weeks. Canada’s fourth-largest lender by assets posted net income of C$1 billion ($792 million), a 5.7 percent decline from year-ago levels. Earnings were hampered by lower insurance earnings due to falling interest rates.

     First Quantum Minerals surged 8.1 percent, the most in five weeks, and Teck Resources Ltd. rallied 2.8 percent as copper jumped the most in more than a week amid speculation global supplies are set to tighten. Raw-materials producers increased 0.3 percent as a group.

US

By Michelle F. Davis

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending benchmark gauges to records, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated an increase in interest rates is unlikely before mid-year as inflation and wage growth remain too low.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to a record 2,115.48 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 92.35 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,209.19, as Home Depot Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rallied. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent, climbing for a 10th straight day to bring it within 1.6 percent of its 2000 record. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 11 percent below the three-month average.

     “We have some more time where rates are not going to change dramatically over the near-term,” Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. “The market’s interpreting it as a continuation of policy until proven otherwise — going to need to see continued evidence, job growth, inflation or economic growth picking up before they’re going to change their forward guidance.”

     The S&P 500 has gained 2.8 percent this year and the Dow has added 2.2 percent. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 5.1 percent in the past 10 days, the longest winning streak since July 2009. Apple Inc., which has the biggest weighting in the Nasdaq Composite, has surged 20 percent this year.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index lost 6 percent to 13.69, the lowest since Dec. 5. The gauge, know as the VIX, is on track for its worst month ever.

     Yellen said in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee inflation that wage growth remain too low even as the job market improves, and she signaled that a change in the Fed’s guidance on interest rates won’t lock it into a timetable for tightening.

     She repeated that the Fed’s pledge to be “patient” on beginning to raise the benchmark interest rate means an increase is unlikely for “at least the next couple” of meetings. The central bank adopted the guidance in December and repeated it in January.

     Investors have been seeking clues on the timing of a U.S. interest-rate increase. San Francisco Fed President John Williams said he wouldn’t rule out a move in June, the Nikkei newspaper reported.                         

     The S&P 500 rose last week as minutes from the central bank’s latest meeting showed some policy makers argued for keeping rates low for longer amid risks facing the economy.

     The Federal Open Market Committee pointed to a strengthening dollar, international flash points from Greece to Ukraine, and slow wage growth as weakening the case for the first rate rise since 2006, according to a record of the Jan. 27-28 meeting.

     “The momentum remains to the upside,” Steve Sosnick, equity risk manager at Timber Hill, the market-making unit of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Interactive Brokers Group Inc., said by telephone. “Volumes have not necessarily been impressive but it’s some combination of ‘don’t fight the Fed’ and ‘the trend is your friend.’”

     Among economic reports Tuesday, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index decreased to 96.4 in February from 103.8 a month earlier. The S&P/Case-Shiller index showed home prices in 20 U.S. cities appreciated at a faster pace in the year ended in December, a sign that a limited supply is forcing up property values.

     In Europe, finance ministers approved Greece’s package of new economic measures and paved the way for an extension to the country’s bailout agreement. The agreement came on a conference call Tuesday, according to an official involved in the talks who asked not to be named in line with policy.

     Based on the provisional agreement between Greece and its official creditors on Feb. 20, the approval of the list was a condition for extending the availability of bailout funds for another four months.

     Nine of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 rose, buoyed by utilities, financial and phone stocks. Health-care companies had the only loss, falling after nine straight days of gains.

     Home Depot advanced 4 percent to a record after the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as consumers spent more on their homes. The company’s board also approved an $18 billion stock buyback program, replacing its previous authorization, and increased the quarterly dividend.                        

     JPMorgan added 2.5 percent. The largest U.S. bank plans to cut as much as $100 billion of some clients’ excess deposits in its efforts to limit capital required under a new U.S. proposal. The firm’s investment bank is reducing the size of its trading book and eliminating offsetting derivative contracts to cut its need for capital, according to an investor presentation.

     Comcast Corp. gained 1.7 percent after Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts said he still expects the proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc. will close early this year, addressing the growing concerns about the prospects for regulatory approval. Time Warner rose 2.1 percent.

     Coach Inc. rose 3 percent to a nine-month high after Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. analyst Anna Andreeva upgraded the company to outperform from market perform, citing improving profitability and the stabilization of its brand.

     First Solar Inc. rallied 10 percent and SunPower Corp. jumped 18 percent. The two largest U.S. solar-panel manufacturers are planning a joint venture and expect to register for an initial public offering for it.

     Macy’s Inc. dropped 3.2 percent after the largest department-store chain forecast lower-than-estimated annual profit after posting disappointing sales growth during the holiday season.

     Micron Technology slumped 2 percent after a Korea Times report said competitor Samsung Electronics Co. had signed a deal with Apple to supply more than half of that company’s DRAM needs for iPhone 6S, according to Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. analyst Kevin Cassidy.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!
 
 

Order is the very essence of the universe – the order of birth and death and so on.  It is only man that seems to live in disorder, confusion.

He has lived that way since the world began.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The art of communication is the language of leadership.

                                            -James Humes, 1942-

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7