Category: Events

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1952, Elizabeth became Queen of England. She succeeded her father King George VI of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth who died in his sleep after a long illness. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, at 27.

February 6^th, 1842, Edward  Fitzgerald wrote to Frederick Tennyson, elder brother of the poet:

You enter Drury Lane at a quarter to seven: the pit is already nearly full: but you find a seat, and a  very pleasant one.  Box doors open and shut: ladies take off their shawls and seat themselves: gentlemen twist their side curls: musicians come up from under the stage one by one:  ‘tis just upon seven.  Macready [the manager] is very punctual: Mr. T, Cooke is in his place with his marshal’s baton in his hand: he lifts it up:  and off they set with old Handel’s noble overture…Do you know the music [to Acis and Galatea]?  It is one of Handel’s best: and as classical as any man who wore a full-bottomed wig could write.  I think Handel never gets out of his wig: that is, out of his age: his Hallelujah chorus is a chorus not of angels, but of  well fed earthly choristers, ranged tier above tier in a Gothic cathedral, with princes for audience, and their military trumpets flourishing over the full volume of the organ.  Handel’s gods are like Homer’s, and his sublime never reaches beyond the region of the clouds.  Therefore I think that his great marches, triumphal pieces, and coronation anthems, are his finest works.   –from The Book of Days.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man poses in a flooded St. Mark’s Square during a period of seasonal high water in Venice, Friday. Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

A woman poses for a photograph amongst decorations to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, Friday.Kin Cheung/AP

Market Closes for February 6^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17824.29	-60.59
		-0.34%
S&P 500	2055.48	-7.04   -0.34%
NASDAQ	4744.398	-20.699   -0.43%
TSX	15073.30	-51.62
		-0.34%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17648.50	+143.88
		+0.82%
HANG SENG	24679.39	-86.10
		-0.35%
SENSEX	28717.91	-133.06
		-0.46%
FTSE 100	6853.44	-12.49
		-0.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.446	1.367
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.028	1.958
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.9549	1.8204
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5252	2.4318

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79896	0.80419
US $	1.25163	1.24349
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41644	0.70599
US $	1.13168	0.88364

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1241.00	1259.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.69	50.48

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated from a four-month high, as gold and silver prices dropped after data showed hiring is accelerating.

     Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Yamana Gold Inc. slipped at least 6.6 percent. Sierra Wireless Inc. slumped 12 percent after posting first-quarter earnings that missed expectations. Lightstream Resources Ltd. surged 17 percent as Brent crude capped the biggest two-week gain in 17 years.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 41 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,083.92 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing an earlier advance of as much as 0.5 percent. The equity gauge rallied 2.8 percent this week. Trading volume was 3.9 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Yamana Gold lost 6.6 percent and Agnico Eagle retreated 7.7 percent as raw-materials shares plunged 2.7 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Gold futures for April delivery fell 2.2 percent to settle at $1,234.60 an ounce in New York. The latest jobs data boosts speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will increase its benchmark interest rate, lowering demand for gold as a hedge against inflation.

     BCE Inc. sank 3.7 percent, retreating from a record, and Telus Corp. slipped 1.3 percent as telephone stocks sank 2.5 percent as a group.

     Canada added 35,400 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell close to a six-year low. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expected no change in the unemployment rate and 5,000 new jobs. The actual employment gain exceeded all 21 forecasts.

     Employers in the U.S. added more jobs than forecast in January, capping the biggest three-month gain in 17 years, and workers’ earnings jumped. Payrolls advanced 257,000 last month, following a revised 329,000 gain in December that was bigger than previously reported. The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent as the labor force increased.

     Lightstream Resources surged 17 percent to a two-month high and Legacy Oil & Gas Inc. gained 5.3 percent. Energy producers have jumped 4.9 percent this week.

     Brent crude jumped 18 percent in the past 10 trading days, the most since March 1998. A measure of price volatility for the U.S. benchmark rose this week to the highest since 2009.

US

By Joseph Ciolli and Callie Bost

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell as benchmark indexes pulled back after climbing toward all-time highs on data showing stronger-than-forecast jobs growth.

     The KBW Bank Index rose 1.8 percent as Regions Financial Corp. and Bank of America Corp. added more than 3.2 percent on the prospect of higher interest rates. Utility companies, which have the second-highest dividend yield among 10 groups in the S&P 500, plunged 4.1 percent for the biggest loss since August 2011. Energy stocks reversed an earlier advance, even as oil continued to rally.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent to 2,055.47 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,824.29. The gauges came within 1 percent of records reached in December before retreating. Almost 7.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 14 percent above the three-month average.

     “The market is still near all-time highs and there are big unanswered questions out there, whether it be Greece, Ukraine, oil prices or when rates will rise,” Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in Newton, Massachusetts, said by phone. “Maybe that’s why people are not as enthusiastic to pile in here.”

     Stocks retreated after the S&P 500 earlier pushed its gain since Jan. 30 to 3.9 percent during intraday trading, good at the time for the biggest weekly advance since October. More than 400 of the gauge’s companies have risen in the past four days as the index erased a 2015 decline that exceeded 3.2 percent on Jan. 15 and Jan. 30, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

   The S&P 500 rose as much as 0.5 percent after the government’s report showed the U.S. added more jobs than forecast in January, capping the biggest three-month gain in 17 years, and workers’ earnings jumped.

     The 257,000 advance in payrolls last month followed a 329,000 gain in December that was bigger than previously reported, figures from the Labor Department showed. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 228,000 increase. The unemployment rate climbed to 5.7 percent as the improving job market lured more Americans into the labor force.

     A stronger economy has encouraged companies to boost hiring, creating a virtuous cycle of growth as Americans spend newfound incomes on goods and services. Sustained job growth will probably help assure Federal Reserve policy makers that the expansion is well-rooted and can withstand an increase in interest rates later this year.                      

     “This is a very positive number,” said Lisa Hornby, a fixed income portfolio manager at Schroders in New York. The firm manages about 276 billion pounds ($447 billion) globally. “The market is starting to price the Fed back into 2015, we’d seen the market price out the Fed all year, now it looks like we’ll have a Fed hike at least priced into the tail end of the year now.”

     The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped 13 basis points while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 1 percent after the report.

     Fed Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said stronger U.S. economic data had him “at the cusp” of thinking the time to raise interest rates was now.

     “We’re fast approaching” a point where it’s hard to justify not raising rates, Plosser told CNBC in an interview on Friday.                          

      More than $1.3 trillion has been added to the value of global equities this week as higher oil prices boosted energy shares and companies including Pfizer Inc. and Staples Inc. announced more than $20 billion in deals. The S&P 500’s 3 percent weekly gain was its biggest since December.

     The benchmark gauge on Thursday erased its losses for 2015, after posting its worst month in a year. Stocks fell in January amid concern that slowing growth overseas will hurt the U.S. economy, while tumbling crude oil and the strengthening dollar weighed on earnings at multinational corporations.

     Oil rallied for a second straight day on Friday, capping the biggest two-week gain since March 1998. Brent crude climbed9.1 percent this week, adding to an 8.6 percent gain last week. It’s still about half the price it was in June.

     About 77 percent of the gauge’s companies that have posted earnings this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 56 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     With 322 of the 500 companies in the S&P having already reported, earnings last quarter are projected to have grown 4.1 percent, with revenue gaining 1.4 percent. That’s up from 2.4 percent and 0.8 percent at the beginning of the year, respectively.

     All 24 lenders in the KBW Bank Index rose as investors anticipated higher interest rates, with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Comerica Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc. among the leaders.

     Interest rates have set new lows in the six years since the financial crisis, crimping lending margins for banks. Sustained job growth probably will help assure Fed policy makers that the expansion is well-rooted and can withstand an increase in interest rates this year.

     The Fed’s decision to raise rates will be the biggest story for banks this year, Fred Cannon, a KBW Inc. analyst,  said in December. Cannon, who predicts the Fed will begin raising rates in the middle of 2015, said he would have to cut average earnings estimates for all banks by 5 to 6 percent if the central bank leaves rates unchanged this year.                       

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 2.6 percent to 17.29. The gauge, know as the VIX, fell more than 17 percent this week after rising 26 percent last week.

     Moody’s gained 5.1 percent, its strongest advance since April 2013, after reporting quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates, even as the owner of the second-largest ratings company faces lawsuits over its grades leading up to the financial crisis. Insurance providers Lincoln National Corp. and Prudential Financial Inc. gained more than 3.2 percent.

     Twitter surged 16 percent, the most since July, after posting quarterly revenue that topped estimates and forecast that the number of new users will pick up. LinkedIn rose more than 10 percent to its highest level ever as the professional- networking service issued a profit forecast for 2015 that topped estimates.
 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

In this world there are two orders of being,

the perishable and the imperishable.

The perishable is all that is visible.  The imperishable

is the invisible substance of all that is visible.

The Bhagavad Gita

As ever,

 

Carolann

Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment.

                                                 -Pearl S. Buck, 1892-1973

 

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:

This is sort of an amazing news item in this week’s Economist:

Dubai airport claimed it had overtaken Heathrow to become the world’s busiest international hub last year, with 70.5 million international passengers passing through its terminals.  That beat Heathrow, which recently said that 68.1 million international passengers had arrived at the airport in 2014.  Extensive repairs to Dubai’s runways over the summer had been expected to prevent the Emirati airport from soaring above its London rival.

Also in The Economist this week:

Astronomy: Old Planets
 

 

The picture above shows Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, as seen a few days ago from Dawn, an American spacecraft that is en route there.  Ceres’s gravity is strong enough to make it round, like a planet.  And it probably has a core and a mantle, like Earth (though the core is thought to be rocky, and the mantle icy).  It may even have a thin atmosphere.

  But Ceres  is not a planet.  It was classified as such in 1801, when it was discovered, but soon after it was spotted astronomers started finding other objects in the junkyard of rock and ice that is now called the asteroid belt.   The idea of calling all of them planets began to look silly, and so Ceres was quietly demoted.  These days it is classed as a “dwarf planet”, one of at least five in the solar system.

  The most famous of them is Pluto, which was, in 2006, demoted from full planethood by the International Astronomical Union, amid much wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Pluto is merely the  biggest object in the Kuiper Belt, a second group of asteroids, which extends far beyond the orbit of Neptune, the most distant of the true planets.

… Neither Ceres nor Pluto has been visited before, though Dawn did visit another big asteroid, Vesta, in 2011.  Both are the cosmic equivalent of builder’s rubble, left over from the construction of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.  These days, the best place to look for full-blown planets is in solar systems other than Earth’s.  More than 1,800 such exoplanets have been discovered  since the first turned up in 1992.  On January 26^th, a group of astronomers led by Tiago Campante of Birmingham University in Britain, announced the discovery of five rocky planets around Kepler-444, a star about 117 light years from Earth that is smaller, dimmer and more orange than the sun.

  The most striking thing about this star, though, is its immense age.  Using a technique called asterosesmology, which measures stellar pulsations, the researchers estimate this to be 11.2 billion years, give or take a billion.  This is ancient indeed.  The universe itself is only 13.8 billion years old.

  Assuming the planets are the same age as their star (likely but not definite; it is just conceivable they have arrived from elsewhere), that suggests planet formation began not long after the Big Bang.  Kepler-444’s worlds look uninhabitable.  All orbit scorchingly close to their parent star.  But if other, similarly ancient worlds exist in more temperate climes, then life may have been possible in the universe almost from the beginning.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A tree is covered by the ice as the snow covers the landscape in the Pyrenees small town of Roncesvalles, northern Spain, Thursday. A cold spell has reached northern Spain with temperatures plummeting far below zero. Alvaro Barrientos/AP

A couple kiss each other as a rainbow forms just after a storm in the Mediterranean Sea in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday. Emilio Morenatti/AP

Market Closes for February 5^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17884.88	+211.86
		+1.20%
S&P 500	2062.52	+21.01   +1.03%
NASDAQ	4765.098	+48.395   +1.03%
TSX	15124.92	+129.27
		+0.86%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17504.62	-174.12
		-0.98%
HANG SENG	24765.49	+85.73
		+0.35%
SENSEX	28850.97	-32.14
		-0.11%
FTSE 100	6865.93	+5.91
		+0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.367	1.279
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.958	1.871
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8204	1.7641
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.4318	2.3595

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80419	0.79544
US $	1.24349	1.25716
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42661	0.70096
US $	1.14727	0.87164

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1259.25	1268.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.48	49.01

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a four-month high as energy producers rallied with crude oil and earnings from BCE Inc. bolstered phone shares.

     BCE extended a record after reporting earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Suncor Energy Inc. rose 2.8 percent as the nation’s largest energy company maintained its dividend and said it will continue development of an oil sands project even as fourth-quarter profit plunged. Lightstream Resources Ltd. and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. advanced at least 20 percent as U.S. crude surged more than 4 percent in New York.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 129.27 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,124.92 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since Sept. 23. Trading volume was 7.4 percent higher than the 30-day average.

     Seven of 10 industries in the equities benchmark climbed Thursday. Energy producers gained 1.5 percent to lead the advance. Toronto-Dominion Bank jumped 2.1 percent to a one-month high to pace a 1.4 percent gain in financials shares.

     Lightstream Resources jumped 23 percent and Pacific Rubiales climbed 20 percent, as West Texas Intermediate oil surged 4.2 percent to settle at $50.48 a barrel in New York.

     Energy shares tumbled 3 percent Wednesday after rising more than 3 percent on each of the week’s first two sessions as the price of crude has swung between gains and losses. A gauge of crude oil volatility is at 63.14, the highest level since April 2009.

     Air Canada soared 5.8 percent to C$13.12 for a second day of gains, the highest close in more than seven years. The nation’s largest airline reported record traffic and load factor results in January. Load factor is a measure of airline efficiency.

     BCE added 0.2 percent to C$58.93, extending a record, after the telecommunications company added more than 117,000 new wireless contract customers and 52,000 Internet customers. The company has added wireless subscribers for the third quarter in a row, outpacing rival Rogers Communications Inc.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed, with benchmark indexes erasing declines for the year, as oil resumed a rebound and Pfizer Inc. announced a $17 billion deal.

     Denbury Resources Inc. and Noble Corp. jumped more than 3.7 percent as oil climbed 4.7 percent. Pfizer added 2.9 percent as it agreed to buy Hospira Inc., the biggest provider of injectable drugs and infusion technology. Hospira jumped 35 percent.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1 percent to 2,062.52 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 211.86 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,884.88. The Russell 2000 Index surged 1.5 percent. About 7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Thursday, 3.2 percent more than the three-month average.

     “Right now it’s earnings, Greece and M&A,” Krishna Memani, the New York-based chief investment officer at Oppenheimer Funds Inc., said by phone. “It’s more about the corporate outlook in the U.S. remaining good and the realization that while the Greek issue is important, it will eventually be resolved.”

     The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent yesterday, following the biggest two-day rally in almost a month, as stocks gave up gains in the final 30 minutes after the European Central Bank tightened its rules on lending to Greek banks and oil retreated.

     The benchmark gauge in January posted its worst month in a year amid concern that slowing growth overseas will hurt the U.S. economy, while tumbling crude oil and the strengthening dollar weighed on earnings at multinational corporations.

     U.S. crude prices gained more than 6 percent Thursday, after plunging 8.7 percent Wednesday, the most since November. Oil’s swings have intensified since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided in November not to cut output amid a global surplus. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Crude Oil Volatility Index, which measures price fluctuations using options of the U.S. Oil Fund, ended Wednesday at the highest since April 2009.

     Oil’s wide swings have rippled through equity markets. The CBOE Volatility Index fell 8.1 percent to 16.85 after rising 5.8 percent Wednesday. The gauge, known as the VIX, is down 20 percent this week after jumping 26 percent last week.

     A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gauge of the most-shorted stocks in the Russell 3000 Index jumped 2.3 percent Thursday, bringing its rally since the end of January to 5.9 percent. The S&P 500 has advanced 3.4 percent in that period.

     About 78 percent of S&P 500 members that have posted results this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 55 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.                           

     Data on Thursday showed fewer Americans than forecast filed jobless claims last week. Applications for unemployment benefits increased by 11,000 to 278,000 in the week ended Jan. 31, from a revised 267,000 in the prior period. The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a rise to 290,000.

     Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department is predicted to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 230,000 last month, while the unemployment rate remained at 5.6 percent.

     A separate report showed the U.S. trade deficit increased unexpectedly in December to a two-year high on a pickup in imports of motor vehicles and fewer shipments overseas. Companies imported a record $48.8 billion in consumer goods along with more industrial supplies and capital equipment, showing U.S. demand is holding up as global economies cool.

     Progress toward reducing the trade gap will probably be difficult because of slower demand from overseas markets and a rally in the U.S. dollar.

     “Obviously Europe matters but what’s a little more important is what’s happening domestically,” Jerry Villella, a global investment specialist at JP Morgan Private Bank in Dallas, said by phone. “We’re about halfway through earnings season and with the exception of energy and financials, it’s been mostly a good story.”                         

     Materials, health-care and energy companies led as all 10 of the S&P 500’s industry groups rose.

     Pfizer had its biggest gain since April and Hospira climbed to a record. Pfizer has been looking to make an acquisition after a failed $120 billion bid for AstraZeneca Plc last year in what would have been the industry’s biggest-ever takeover. Buying Hospira will add a broad range of generic sterile injectable medicines to Pfizer’s portfolio and assist the company’s strategy to offer more biosimilar drugs.

     Ball Corp. saw its biggest gain since 2011, adding 8.9 percent and reaching a record high, after Rexam Plc confirmed talks about a possible sale to its U.S. competitor that may value the U.K. beverage-can manufacturer at about $6.6 billion.

     “Good companies are feeling comfortable enough that they want to merge and the market is generally positive toward that, but there’s always the question of if they are merging because they can’t grow their top line organically,” Frank Ingarra, head trader at Greenwich, Connecticut-based NorthCoast Asset Management LLC, said by phone.

     Twitter Inc. climbed 1.3 percent as people with knowledge of the matter said it struck a deal with Google Inc. to facilitate easier online searches for its 140-character updates. It climbed an additional 7.6 percent in late trading as fourth- quarter revenue topped estimates, showing the company was able to draw more advertising even as user growth continues to slow.

     Visa Inc. added 2.6 percent to $271.80, a record high. The shares have rallied 10 percent in six sessions, the most since November, after announcing last week better-than-forecast earnings and a stock split.

     Frontier Communications Corp. advanced 5.8 percent on speculation it may buy landline assets. After the close of trading, Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to sell landline assets across California, Florida and Texas to Frontier for$10.54 billion in cash.                        

     Keurig Green Mountain Inc. slid 4.9 percent after cutting its 2015 profit outlook. The company cited slower-than-expected sales of a new coffee brewer.

     Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. fell 2.3 percent after North American sales missed estimates, raising concern that the maker of luxury goods is suffering a slowdown in its biggest market.

     Airline stocks declined for the fourth loss in five sessions, as oil prices gained. United Continental Holdings Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. lost at least 1.1 percent as seven of 11 companies in a Bloomberg index of airlines fell.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The lamp is empty; the oil is used up.

The tambourine is dead, the dancer lies down,

The fire is out, and no smoke rises from it.

The soul is absorbed into the Unique, and there is no longer a duality.

Kabir,

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.

                                    -Mae West, 1893-1980

 

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

Skaters pass city hall on an ice rink set up on Rathausplatz square in Vienna Tuesday. Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters

Lava erupts from the Mt. Etna’s volcano, near Catania, in Sicily, southern Italy, early Monday. Davide Cautullo/AP

Market Closes for February 4^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17673.02	+6.62
		+0.04%
S&P 500	2037.87	-12.16   -0.59%
NASDAQ	4716.703	-11.035   -0.23%
TSX	14986.12	-76.76
		-0.51%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17678.74	+342.89
		+1.98%
HANG SENG	24679.76	+124.98
		+0.51%
SENSEX	28883.11	-117.03
		-0.40%
FTSE 100	6860.02	-11.78
		-0.17%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.279	1.312
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.871	1.903
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7641	1.7915
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.3595	2.3792

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79544	0.80484
US $	1.25716	1.24249
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42738	0.70028
US $	1.13583	0.88041

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1268.50	1264.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.01	53.05

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in five days, as energy producers declined after oil halted its biggest rally since 2009 amid an increase in U.S. inventories.

     Legacy Oil & Gas Inc. and MEG Energy Corp. slumped at least 7.1 percent as energy shares retreated from a two-month high. Alacer Gold Corp. and Yamana Gold Inc. increased more than 8 percent as gold rose for the first time in three days. Equities extended losses in the final 30 minutes of trading after the European Central Bank tightened the terms of Greece’s bailout.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 67.23 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,995.65 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after reaching the highest level since Nov. 25 on Tuesday. The benchmark equity gauge had jumped 3.2 percent in the past four days. Trading volume was 8.5 percent higher than the 30-day average.

     Selling accelerated late in the session as the ECB said in a statement that it had lifted a waiver on Greek government debt as collateral. During the 2010 debt crisis Greece met its obligations by issuing short-term bills to local banks, which pledged them to the ECB as collateral.

     Seven of 10 industries rose in the S&P/TSX. Energy shares, which account for about 22 percent of the broader index, sank 3 percent after a three-day rally added 10 percent to the gauge.

     West Texas Intermediate futures fell as much as 9.4 percent, the most since November, to end the biggest rally in almost six years. U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 6.33 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported.

     Alacer Gold jumped 8 percent and Yamana Gold rallied 8 percent as gold for April delivery rose 0.3 percent to settle at $1,264.50 in New York. Copper advanced a second day.

     Air Canada soared 4.9 percent, the most in two months, after it reached a tentative labor deal with Teamsters for 650 U.S. employees including airport, cargo and call center workers.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell, after the biggest two-day rally in almost a month, as the European Central Bank tightened its rules on Greece’s bailout and oil retreated for the first time in five days.

     The S&P 500 dropped 0.4 percent to 2,041.51 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge fell in the final 30 minutes of trading, erasing a gain of 0.2 percent, as the ECB said it lifted a waiver on Greek government debt as collateral. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.62 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,673.02, after climbing 0.7 percent amid a rally in Walt Disney Co.

     “This happened sooner than expected and the market’s a little shocked,” said Michael Block, chief equity strategist at Rhino Trading Partners LLC in New York. “This is the ECB turning the screws, not going to let Greek banks die but the clock is ticking. People thought the ECB would do this at the end of the month and that perhaps before then, a deal could be struck. I guess not.”

     The ECB said it will no longer suspend its own collateral rules for Greek government debt, citing doubt over the commitment of the new government to previous reform pledges.

     The decision will force Greek lenders, who since 2010 had been able to access funds from the ECB against junk-rated collateral, to apply for funding from their national central bank at less-advantageous rates. The decision comes hours after Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis met ECB President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt to gain support for his government’s push to renegotiate the terms of its international bailout.

     “In the grand scheme of things, it won’t have a major impact on the U.S. stock market, but the fact it was unexpected may cause people to take risk off the table,” Joe Bell, a Cincinnati-based senior equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview.

     Equities fell earlier in the day as weekly inventory data showed crude stockpiles at their highest levels since at least 1982, sending oil down 8.8 percent to end the biggest rally since 2009.

     Transocean Ltd. paced declines among energy shares in the S&P 500. The group had jumped 6.8 percent over the previous four sessions, the most since December, amid speculation that reduced investment will curb crude production. The industry tumbled 20 percent from a June high through the end of 2014 as crude entered a bear market.

     The S&P 500 rallied 2.8 percent in the past two days, helped by the surge in energy stocks. In January, the index posted its worst month in a year as concern mounted that slowing growth overseas will hurt the American economy, while the plunge in crude oil and stronger dollar have shown signs of eroding corporate profits.

     Economic data on Wednesday was mixed. An ADP Research Institute report showed companies added 213,000 workers in January, below economists’ forecast of 223,000. The data come before Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department, which economists predict will show nonfarm payrolls increased 231,000 last month, while the unemployment rate remained at 5.6 percent.

     The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index expanded at a faster pace in January, a sign of progress in the biggest part of the economy that will help the U.S. work through a global slowdown.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 5.8 percent to 18.33, following a two-day decline. The gauge, known as the VIX, jumped 26 percent last week.

     Volatility has increased this year. The Dow moved at least 1 percent in either direction in each of the previous six sessions, the longest such streak since October 2011. The benchmark’s daily moves were all greater than 190 points in that stretch, the first time that’s happened in the gauge’s history.

     Investors also watched corporate earnings. About 78 percent of S&P 500 companies that have posted results this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 54 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Merck & Co. and Gilead Sciences Inc. led a 1.4 percent decline in health-care companies. Merck fell 3.2 percent after saying 2015 adjusted earnings and sales will be below analyst estimates.

     Gilead retreated 8.2 percent after saying discounts for its blockbuster hepatitis C drugs will weigh on revenue this year. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell for a fourth day, down 1.8 percent.

     Walt Disney rallied 7.6 percent to an all-time high after quarterly results beat analysts’ estimates. Whirlpool Corp. added 6.9 percent after also topping projections.

     Clorox Co. climbed 1.8 percent after raising its 2015 profit and sales outlook, joining Disney and Whirlpool in driving gains in consumer shares. General Motors Co. climbed 5.4 percent after reporting quarterly profit that beat projections and raising its dividend. GM has gained 9.8 percent this week.

     Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. lost 7 percent after posting fourth-quarter same-store sales that trailed analysts’ estimates and saying that higher food costs slowed profit gains.

     J.M. Smucker Co. rose 5.9 percent, the most since 2010, after agreeing to buy Big Heart Pet Brands for about $3.2 billion. Staples Inc. slipped 12 percent after agreeing to buy Office Depot Inc. for about $11 a share. The stocks jumped on Tuesday after the two retailers were said to enter merger talks.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” William Arthur Ward

 

As ever,

 

Karen

 

“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca

 

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 decorated elephant marches during Navam Perahera, a Buddhist pageant of elephants, dancers and drummers, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday. More than 50 elephants participated in the parade. Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Seagulls fly near a beach at the Baltic Sea town of Karlshagen, eastern Germany, Tuesday. Stefan Sauer/dpa/AP

Market Closes for February 3rd, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17666.40	+305.36
		+1.76%
S&P 500	2050.03	+29.18   +1.44%
NASDAQ	4727.738	+51.049   +1.09%
TSX	15062.88	+162.41
		+1.09%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17335.85	-222.19
		-1.27%
HANG SENG	24554.78	+70.04
		+0.29%
SENSEX	29000.14	-122.13
		-0.42%
FTSE 100	6871.80	+89.25
		+1.32%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.312	1.236
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.903	1.830
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7915	1.6659
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.3792	2.2497

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80484	0.79548
US $	1.24249	1.25711
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42514	0.70169
US $	1.14700	0.87184

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1264.25	1272.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	53.05	49.57

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fourth day, extending a two-month high, as oil surged into a bull market amid speculation reduced investment will curb a production supply glut.

     Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. surged 20 percent, extending a record rally as energy shares jumped to the highest level since November. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank, the nation’s largest lenders, climbed at least 2.6 percent to pace gains in financial shares. Teck Resources Ltd. added 7.4 percent as copper advanced the most in more than 21 months.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 162.30 points, or 1.1 percent, to 15,062.77 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest level since Nov. 25. The benchmark equity gauge has jumped 3.2 percent in the past four days.

     “People are thinking the $40s was a little oversold on oil so now you’re seeing more stabilizing,” said Greg Taylor, fund manager at Aurion Capital Management Inc. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$6 billion ($4.84 billion). “If we can hold in the $50s that will go a long way to adding a lot of support to the energy sector and also the entire Canadian stock market with the banks doing a little better.”

     West Texas Intermediate crude rallied 7 percent to close at $53.05 a barrel in New York. WTI is up 19 percent from its Jan. 28 close of $44.45 a barrel. Brent crude entered a bull market after settling at $57.91 a barrel, more than 20 percent above its Jan. 13 settlement.

     Oil prices are getting a lift as producers cut back on their production and capital investments, lessening a supply glut that drove prices into a bear market last year. Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc lowered their spending targets for this year as the industry cut more than $40 billion from budgets. BP Plc said Tuesday it will cut spending by 13 percent after oil slumped.

     Prices are still down 50 percent since June. The next few days will be crucial in determining whether the current rally will be short-lived, Taylor said.

     Five of the 10 main groups in the S&P/TSX advanced today, with energy shares surging 3.3 percent to lead gains. Financial shares, the biggest industry by weighting, rallied 2.1 percent. Trading volume was 41 percent higher than the 30-day average.

     Canadian Oil Sands surged 20 percent for a third straight advance that has lifted the oil and gas producer’s shares by 75 percent. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. climbed 29 percent and Lightstream Resources Ltd. jumped 31 percent.

     “It appears the market was a bit too negative and oversold,” said Irwin Michael, fund manager at ABC Funds in Toronto. His firm manages about C$600 million. “You do want to see some stability. Things can change very quickly.”

     First Quantum Minerals Ltd. soared 6.8 percent and Capstone Mining Corp. increased 16 percent as copper rose the most in 21 months on speculation more stimulus in China will boost demand for the metal. Aluminum had the biggest three-session gain in 15 weeks. Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, climbed 7.4 percent.

     Royal Bank jumped 2.6 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported the bank has closed many of its wealth-management offices across Latin America in the past 18 months due to scrutiny of potential money-laundering activities.

     Bank of Montreal rallied 2.4 percent, the biggest increase since November 2011.

     Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., the investment services company, soared 10 percent, the most in a year, after reducing its workforce by 4 percent Monday.

US

By Oliver Renick and Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied for a second day, rebounding from the biggest monthly drop in a year for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as a surge in energy stocks spread to the broader market.

     Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. climbed at least 3 percent as Brent crude entered a bull market. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. rose 8.8 percent as commodities had the biggest three-day advance since 2012. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. jumped after sales exceeded analysts’ estimates as cheaper gas and falling unemployment boosted consumer confidence.

     The S&P 500 added 1.4 percent to 2,050.03 at 4 p.m. in New York, climbing above its average level for the past 50 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 305.36 points, or 1.8 percent, to 17,666.40. The gauge is up 2.9 percent over two days, the most since Jan. 8.

     “The fact that oil is stabilizing takes some edge off the argument that the global economy is really in trouble,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based RW Baird & Co., which oversees $110 billion, said in a phone interview. “The markets are a little oversold after being down in January, which is also part of the strength today.”

     The S&P 500 rebounded 1.3 percent Monday, and the two-day rally has trimmed the gauge’s decline for the year to 0.4 percent. The index lost 3.1 percent in January, the worst performance in a year, as concern mounted that slowing growth overseas will hurt the American economy at the same time that the plunge in crude and the stronger dollar have shown signs of eroding corporate profits.

     Brent crude closed more than 20 percent above its Jan. 13 settlement, a common definition of a bull market, on speculation that reduced investment will curb crude production. Crude prices are still down 50 percent since June.

     Energy shares in the S&P 500 are up 6.8 percent over the past four sessions, the most since December, and the group is now up 0.7 percent for the year. The industry tumbled 20 percent from a June high through the end of the year as crude entered a bear market.

     Denbury Resources Inc. soared 11 percent, following a 12 percent rally on Monday. Oil and gas explorer EOG Resources Inc. rose 4.1 percent, and energy services company Schlumberger Ltd. added 2.9 percent.

     Caterpillar Inc. climbed 3.8 percent, its best gain since Nov. 21 and the biggest advance in the Dow. The company fell 6.6 percent last week after the company blamed lower oil prices in cutting its 2015 profit outlook.

     U.S. equities followed European stocks higher earlier in the day after Greece retreated from a plan to ask the euro area to write down debt. That eased concern that the nation would defy its creditors.

     “The biggest concern has been Greece and what will happen there and that’s being taken off the table in the short term,” Rick Fier, director of equity trading at Conifer Securities LLC in New York, said in an interview. “The past few days seems rotational, people are trying to catch a bounce by moving into energy stocks and selling winners like biotech and health care to create cash.”

     All 10 groups in the S&P 500 advanced, led by energy shares. Phone, raw-materials, consumer-discretionary and financial companies rallied more than 1.6 percent.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 11 percent to 17.33. The gauge, known as the VIX, is down 17 percent in the past two sessions after a 26 percent jump last week.

     The Dow Jones Transportation Index climbed 1.5 percent, as railroads Norfolk Southern Corp., CSX Corp. and Union Pacific Corp. jumped more than 2.3 percent. Those gains offset declines in airlines, which fell amid the prospect of rising fuel costs.

     Banks rallied, with Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc.

and JPMorgan Chase & Co. each rising at least 2.3 percent. The worst-performing stock in the KBW Bank Index, Huntington Bancshares Inc., still rose 1 percent.

     KB Home, Toll Brothers Inc. and PulteGroup Inc. carried the homebuilders higher, each rising at least 2.6 percent.

     Office Depot Inc. jumped 22 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is in advanced merger talks with Staples Inc. Staples added 11 percent.

     Eaton Corp., a maker of circuit breakers and large truck transmissions, soared 8.4 percent, the most since 2009, after reporting earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on strong U.S. housing demand and truck sales.

     Ford Motor and General Motors climbed after January data showed the two led automakers with the biggest U.S. sales. GM rose 2.6 percent after an 18 percent sales increase, and Ford added 2.5 percent as it reported a 16 percent gain in light- vehicle sales.

     Arch Coal Inc. added 16 percent after reporting a narrower fourth-quarter loss compared to a year ago after raising output at lower-cost mines. The company also suspended its 1-cent quarterly dividend to preserve liquidity, Chief Financial Officer John T. Drexler said in a statement.

     The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index lost 0.5 percent for the third straight loss. The index is down 2.9 percent from an all- time high on Jan. 26.

     Luminex Corp. fell 13 percent drop after the company predicted first-quarter and yearly revenue below analysts’ estimates. Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. declined 5.8 percent after Deutsche Bank analyst Alethia Young said the company’s diabetes data don’t appear as strong as similar drugs.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Buddha

 

As ever,

 

Karen

 

“The starting point of all achievement is desire.” Napoleon Hill

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in…1887,

Punxsutawney, Pa., held its first Groundhog Day festival.

In addition to Groundhog Day, the first days of February also mark several other ancient festivals and feast days, such as Candlemas                   and Imbole, all having to do with light, fire, and the coming of spring. 

SPRINGTIME SPLENDOUR

Springtime splendor, springtime sweet,
how soon will it be?
If there’s no shadow at your feet,
it may come suddenly
Springtime splendor, springtime true,
may be on its way
But if all the sky is blue,
winter ’s here to stay.

                         -Don Halley

On this day in 1922, 

The James Joyce novel “Ulysses” was published in Paris on the author’s 40th birthday.

Mistakes are the portals of discovery. –James Joyce.
 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Groundhog Club handler Ron Ploucha, (r.), holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, as Jeff Lundy, (l.), reads Phil’s weather proclamation of six-more weeks of winter during the 129th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Monday. Gene J. Puskar/AP

A detail of the Salisbury Magna Carta one of the four original surviving Magna Carta manuscripts that have been brought together by the British Library for the first time, on display at the library during a media preview in London, Monday. The event marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, which established the timeless principle that no individual, even a monarch, is above the law. Alastair Grant/AP

 

Market Closes for February 2^nd, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17361.04	+196.09
		+1.14%
S&P 500	2020.85	+25.86   +1.30%
NASDAQ	4676.691	+41.451   +0.89%
TSX	14901.42	+227.94
		+1.55%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17558.04	-116.35
		-0.66%
HANG SENG	24484.74	-22.31
		-0.09%
SENSEX	29122.27	-60.68
		-0.21%
FTSE 100	6782.55	+33.15
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.236	1.258
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.830	1.840
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6659	1.6525
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2497	2.2281

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79548	0.78621
US $	1.25711	1.27192
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42525	0.70163
US $	1.13376	0.88202

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1272.50	1260.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.57	48.24

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day, to a two-month high, as energy producers extended a rally with the price of crude oil and banks rebounded from a steep drop on Friday.

     Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. soared 20 percent, as energy shares jumped to a one-month high. National Bank of Canada rose 1.8 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia climbed 1.6 percent after financial stocks fell 2 percent on Friday. Bombardier Inc. gained 1.4 percent after Chorus Aviation Inc. signed a firm purchase agreement to buy 13 aircraft.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 226.99 points, or 1.6 percent, to 14,900.47 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge advanced 0.3 percent in January.

     Canadian Oil Sands has rallied 46 percent in the past two sessions, pacing gains among energy producers. The group climbed 3.7 percent, the most in the S&P/TSX. Nine of 10 industries advanced on trading volume 2.9 percent below the 30-day average.

     Imperial Oil Ltd., the producer majority owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., added 4.5 percent after the company said it will push ahead with its multi-billion-dollar expansion plans even after the months-long slump in oil.

     Canadian Western Bank, which focuses on businesses in the country’s oil region, surged 7.9 percent, the most since February 2009.

     Crude oil rose to a one-month high as gasoline climbed with a U.S. refinery strike entering a second day. The strike by oil workers at plants accounting for 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity continued Monday in the biggest walkout since 1980.

     First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added 6.3 percent as the price of copper for three-month delivery in London added 0.1 percent to settle at $5,500 a metric ton. The metal tumbled 13 percent in January, the biggest drop in three years.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extending gains in the final 30 minutes of trading, as energy shares rallied after the price of crude oil advanced to a one-month high.

     The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 2,020.85 at 4 p.m. in New York. Buying accelerated after the gauge climbed above its average price for the past 100 days as oil extended gains. The index earlier fell to its lowest level since Dec. 17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 196.09 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,361.04. About 7.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 12 percent more than the three-month average.

     “The price of oil went up, boosting oil and energy stocks, which contributed to the market gain this afternoon and pulled up other sectors too,” Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama, said in a phone interview. “If you had to lay the strength at the feet of one item, it’s the fact that oil prices didn’t collapse and in fact moved higher.”

     Oil rose to a one-month high on speculation some investors bought contracts to close out bearish bets amid a falling rig count. Gasoline climbed as a refinery strike entered a second day. Crude has fallen more than 50 percent since a June high amid a global supply glut.

     Energy shares in the S&P 500 led gains, surging 3 percent for the biggest advance in two weeks. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. jumped at least 2.5 percent. Phone shares added 2.4 percent as a group, with Verizon Communications Inc. climbing 2.8 percent, the most since Feb. 20, 2014.

     The S&P 500 fell 2.8 percent last week, extending the worst monthly loss in a year, as weaker-than-forecast economic growth outweighed a rally in energy shares and the highest consumer confidence reading in 11 years, amid continuing concern in Europe over the new Greek government’s challenge to an austerity program. The index lost 3.1 percent for the month, the worst performance since January 2014.

     Data Monday showed factories expanded in January at the weakest pace in a year as orders cooled, a sign weakness in overseas markets is restraining U.S. manufacturing. The Institute for Supply Management’s index dropped to 53.5 from 55.1 in December, the report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed Monday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 74 economists called for a decline to 54.5. Readings greater than 50 signal growth.

     The plunge in oil prices is limiting sales at manufacturers such as Caterpillar Inc. while slower growth from Europe to China and the strengthening dollar represent another hurdle for American exports.

     A separate report Monday consumer spending fell in December as households took a breather from the break-neck pace of buying that characterized the fourth quarter.                        

     Data last week showed the U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than forecast in the fourth quarter as cooling business investment, a slump in government outlays and a widening trade gap took some of the luster off the biggest gain in consumer spending in almost nine years.

     The Federal Reserve upgraded its assessment of the U.S.economy in a Jan. 28 statement, and noted labor market conditions have improved further, “with strong job gains and a lower unemployment rate.”

     That view suggests the Fed remains on track for a mid-year interest rate hike, and Friday’s January nonfarm payrolls report may further solidify that view. Economists forecast 232,000 jobs were added last month, compared with 252,000 in December.

     Nine S&P 500 members reported financial results on Monday. About 78 percent of the companies that posted earnings this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 55 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.                         

     “The bottom line is it all comes down to company earnings and growth is on the positive side,” Karyn Cavanaugh, the New York-based senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management LLC, said by phone. Voya oversees $215 billion. “There are a lot of worries out there and the market gets a bit wobbly, but earnings guide the way.”

     All of the 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced at least 0.4 percent, while all but one of the 30 stocks in the Dow average advanced. Financial and industrial shares in the broader gauge jumped more than 1.5 percent.

     Exxon Mobil advanced after reporting a steep drop in fourth-quarter profit on lower prices and declining production as the rout in oil ushered in an era of frugality for an industry that reaped $3.2 trillion in sales last year.

     Denbury Resources Inc. added 12 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500, while Chesapeake Energy Corp. climbed 7 percent.

     First Solar Inc. and SunEdison Inc. jumped at least 6.7 percent. President Barack Obama’s 2016 budget calls for continued tax breaks for wind and solar energy.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Nature if forever giving us chance after chance at what we call rebirth and death,

and we, in our folly, in our fear of death, fail to understand that which represents a new journey,

a new page on which to write, and thus to believe in a new beginning for ourselves…

The truth is that my body has come to existence, and that it will cease to exist.  I am eternal.

 

Rev. Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari

 

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

We die only once, and for such a long time.

                                -Moliere, 1622-1673

 

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:

SUPERBOWL WEEKEND!  HAVE A GREAT TIME!

February:  the month of purification among the ancient Romans  – Latin februum meaning purgation.

2^nd of February is known as Candlemas Day, and is the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It is said that if the weather is fine and frosty at the close of January and the beginning of February, there is more winter ahead than behind.

The Dutch used to call the month Sokkelmaand meaning vegetation month.  The Anglo-Saxons knew it as solmonath meaning mud month.  In the French Revolutionary calendar its equivalent, from 21^st   

January to 19^th February, its equivalent was Pluviose meaning rain month.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Max Charlton and Jamie Morrison of team Cartier, in red, fight for the ball with Cedric Schweri and Pepe Riglos of team Trois Pommes, in green, from left, during the St. Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow on the frozen lake in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday. Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone/AP

Brian Evensen, a teacher at Walla Walla, Washington Community College, gets the back of his head painted with the Seattle skyline Friday, at the hands of student Makiah Steen. The cosmetology department was busy, with school and community members coming by for free Hawkmania make-overs. Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin/AP

Market Closes for January 30^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17164.95	-251.90
		-1.45%
S&P 500	1997.02	-24.23   -1.20%
NASDAQ	4635.242	-48.165   -1.03%
TSX	14681.43	+44.15
		+0.30%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17674.39	+68.17
		+0.39%
HANG SENG	24507.05	-88.80
		-0.36%
SENSEX	29182.95	-498.82
		-1.68%
FTSE 100	6749.40	-61.20
		-0.90%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.258	1.370
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.840	1.945
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6525	1.7631
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2281	2.3248

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78621	0.79287
US $	1.27192	1.26123
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.43552	0.69661
US $	1.12863	0.88603

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1260.25	1268.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	48.24	44.31

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, erasing an earlier loss, as energy companies rallied on the biggest jump in crude- oil prices since 2012, overshadowing declines in bank shares.

     Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. and Lightstream Resources Ltd. soared. Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada fell more than 3.1 percent after Barclays Plc downgraded ratings for the nation’s largest banks amid concern the plunge in oil and a slowing economy will hobble lending. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 3.5 percent, the most since 2011, after cutting about 500 jobs Thursday.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 36.20 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14673.48 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing an earlier loss of as much as 0.8 percent. The benchmark equity gauge is up 0.3 percent for the month.

     Canadian Oil Sands rallied 21 percent and Lightstream Resources jumped 18 percent as energy and raw-materials shares each advanced 3 percent, the most in the S&P/TSX.

     Crude oil in New York jumped 8.3 percent, the biggest gain since June 2012, and gold posted the biggest monthly gain in three years as the Bloomberg Commodity Index climbed 2.1 percent.

     Bank of Montreal slumped 4.2 percent and Royal Bank of Canada retreated 3.1 percent as financials shares declined 2 percent. Trading volume was 20 percent higher than the 30-day average.

     John Aiken, analyst at Barclays Capital Inc., cut his ratings for Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Laurentian Bank of Canada to underweight, the equivalent of sell. The Bank of Canada unexpectedly cut its key interest rate 25 basis points to 0.75 percent Jan. 21, which implies lower economic growth for Canada than reflected in the market, he said.

     Canada’s economy contracted 0.2 percent in November as manufacturing dropped the most since January 2009 and on declines in mining and oil and gas extraction. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for output to be little changed.

     “With low oil prices prompting a pullback in the energy sector, economic growth is likely to remain sluggish,” said David Madani, an economist with Capital Economics in Toronto, in a note to clients earlier today.

     Eldorado Gold Corp. sank 14 percent after Reuters reported Greece’s new government was opposed to the company’s mine in northern Greece.

US

By Oliver Renick

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest monthly decline in a year, as weaker-than-forecast economic growth overshadowed a rally in energy shares sparked by a surge in the price of crude.

     The S&P 500 slid 1.3 percent to 1,994.99 at 4 p.m. in New York, extending its monthly loss to 3.1 percent. The index tumbled 2.8 percent in the week, the most since Dec. 12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 251.90 points, or 1.5 percent, to 17,164.95. The Russell 2000 Index of small caps tumbled 2.1 percent, the biggest slide since Dec. 10.

     More than 8.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, the busiest trading since Dec. 19 and 26 percent above the three-month average.

     Energy shares in the S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent as U.S. oil surged 8.3 percent. Amazon.com Inc. and Biogen Idec Inc. soared at least 10 percent after reporting earnings.

     Broad equities gauges tumbled amid concern over economies in Europe and Russia as data showed slower growth in America. The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than forecast in the fourth quarter as cooling business investment, a slump in government outlays and a widening trade gap took some of the luster off the biggest gain in consumer spending in almost nine years.

     “All this data does is further cloud the entire investment picture,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a phone interview. “It confirms that there’s going to be continued uncertainty and continued significant volatility.”                         

     Gross domestic product grew at a 2.6 percent annualized rate after a 5 percent gain in the third quarter that was the fastest since 2003, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 3 percent advance. Consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy, climbed 4.3 percent, more than projected.

     A separate report showed American consumer confidence reached an 11-year high in January as a strengthening labor market and plunging gas prices kept households looking on the bright side.

     Federal Reserve officials are confronting divergent economic forces as they weigh the timing of the first interest- rate increase since 2006. Surprisingly strong job gains argue for tightening sooner, while inflation held down by a plunge in oil prices and a cooling global economy provides grounds for delay.

     “In the background of all of these reports is the Fed,”  Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, said by phone. Paulsen helps manage $351 billion in assets. “It’s the big elephant in the room in terms of how fast they might raise rates.”

     The central bank boosted its assessment of the economy in a statement this week and downplayed low inflation readings, while repeating a pledge to remain “patient” on raising interest rates. It acknowledged global risks, saying it will take into account readings on “international developments” as it decides how long to keep rates low.     “Zero interest rates are not the right interest rates for this economy,” James Bullard, president of the Fed Bank of St. Louis, said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Betty Liu and Michael McKee. “Inflation is low, but not low enough to rationalize zero interest rates. There’s a lot of underlying momentum in the U.S. economy.”                         

     Equity futures fell earlier as Russia’s central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate by two percentage points, letting the ruble slide as the economy sinks toward recession.

     Data showed consumer prices in the euro area fell more than economists forecast in January, underscoring the challenges facing European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. The ECB last week unveiled a 1.14 trillion-euro ($1.3 trillion) quantitative-easing program to combat deflation.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, jumped 12 percent to 20.97, capping its biggest weekly gain since Dec. 12.

     Companies from Procter & Gamble Co. to DuPont Co. and Pfizer Inc. have said the U.S. currency’s strength is hurting profits. The strongest dollar in a decade is making American goods and services more expensive overseas, eroding sales.

     About 78 percent of the S&P 500’s more than 220 companies that posted earnings this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 56 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.                       

     Nine of 10 primary industry groups in the S&P 500 declined, as energy stocks rebounded from a loss to post a 0.7 percent advance. Utilities paced losses with a decline of 2.2 percent.

     Chevron Corp. fell 0.5 percent after dropping as much as 4 percent. The energy company slashed its drilling budget by the most in 12 years and said it may delay some shale projects as energy producers around the world hoard cash and curtail ambitions in response to free-falling oil prices.

     PulteGroup Inc. slid 5.6 percent as Wells Fargo Securities analyst Adam Rudiger downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform.

     Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. retreated more than 3.1 percent to pace losses among the biggest companies.

     Amazon.com Inc. surged 14 percent, the most since April 2012, after the online retailer posted a fourth-quarter profit following two straight quarters of losses.                        

     Google Inc. jumped 4.7 percent even as fourth-quarter sales and profit missed estimates.

     Visa Inc., the world’s largest payments network, climbed 2.8 percent as first-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates and the company announced a 4-for-1 stock split. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is poised to replace Visa as the most heavily weighted component of the Dow after the split.

     MasterCard Inc. added 0.8 percent after profit beat analysts’ estimates as customer spending climbed.

     Biogen Idec Inc. jumped 10 percent after the maker of multiple sclerosis drugs made a 2015 profit forecast that surpassed analysts’ estimates.

     “Certainly GDP was a pretty big miss but in the tech world we’ve got Amazon and Google higher and in the credit card world we’re up,” Todd Salamone, senior vice president at Cincinnati- based Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview. “Also, the question going forward is whether bad data relieves the market in some way in terms of the Fed remaining on hold longer than expected with rates.”

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The divine music is incessantly going on within ourselves,

but the loud senses drown the delicate music,

which is unlike and infinitely superior to anything we can perceive with our senses.

Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?

                             -Vince Lombardi, 1913-1970                    

 

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, January 28^th in 1817, Lord Byron wrote to Thomas Moore:

I tremble for the ‘magnificence’, which you attribute to the new Childe Harold.  I am glad you like it; it is a fine indistinct piece of poetical desolation, and my favourite.  I was half mad during the time of its composition, between metaphysics, mountains, lakes, love unextinguishable, thoughts unutterable, and the nightmare of my own delinquencies.  I should, many a good day, have blown my brains out, but for the recollection that it would have given pleasure to my mother-in-law; and, even then, if I could have certain to haunt her – but I won’t dwell upon these trifling family matters.
                                                                                            -from The Book of Days

Also on this day in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. All seven crew members died: flight commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, pilot Michael J. Smith, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Gregory B. Jarvis, and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end. – Ursula K. le Guin

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Waiters present a dish to jury members during the ‘Bocuse d’Or’ (Golden Bocuse) trophy at the 15th World Cuisine contest in Lyon, central France, Wednesday. The contest, a sort of world cup of cuisine, was started in 1987 by Lyon chef Paul Bocuse to reward young international culinary talents. Laurent Cipriani/AP

Sotheby’s employees pose with ‘Le Grand Canal,’ painted by Claude Monet, at Sotheby’s preview in London Wednesday. The art piece is expected to fetch between 20 and 30 million pounds ($30.4 and $45.6 million) at the upcoming Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on Feb. 3.Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Market Closes for January 28^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17191.37	-195.84
		-1.13%
S&P 500	2002.51	-27.04   -1.33%
NASDAQ	4637.996	-43.501   -0.93%
TSX	14610.33	-223.55
		-1.51%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17795.73	+27.43
		+0.15%
HANG SENG	24861.81	+54.53
		+0.22%
SENSEX	29559.18	-11.86
		-0.04%
FTSE 100	6825.94	+14.33
		+0.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.357	1.419
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.930	1.985
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7207	1.8145
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2935	2.3890

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79786	0.80687
US $	1.25336	1.23936
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41432	0.70705
US $	1.12854	0.88610

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1288.00	1288.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.45	46.23

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in three weeks, halting a five-day rally, as energy producers sank with the price of crude and Statistics Canada lowered its estimate of jobs creation in 2014.

     Legacy Oil & Gas Inc. and Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.plunged more than 14 percent as U.S. oil tumbled 3.9 percent. Cenovus Energy Inc. fell 6.9 percent after cutting capital spending this year due to the drop in oil. OpenText Corp. sank 8.3 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange after reporting second-quarter revenue short of analysts’ estimates on Tuesday. Iamgold Corp. retreated 8.6 percent as gold declined for a third time in four sessions.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 231 points, or 1.6 percent, to 14,602.88 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the biggest drop since Jan. 5. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge had rallied 3.7 percent during the past five sessions, the longest streak since November. The S&P/TSX’s slide today erased its gain for 2015.

     Eight of the 10 main groups in the benchmark index retreated. Energy producers fell 3.8 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Trading volume was 5.3 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Crude futures slid 3.9 percent in New York to the lowest in almost six years as a U.S. inventory report showed stockpiles expanded a three-decade high.

     Statistics Canada reduced its estimate of job creation last year by about a third, to 121,300 jobs from 185,700 with the unemployment rate at 6.7 percent. The latest jobs report also now shows a 11,300 job loss in December, compared with the initially reported loss of 4,300.

     “In light of the magnitude of the changes, the Bank of Canada’s decision to cut rates may now look slightly less surprising,” said Nick Exarhos, an economist with CIBC World Markets Inc. in a report.

     The Bank of Canada unexpectedly cut its key interest rate to 0.75 percent from 1 percent on Jan. 21 amid concern the slump in oil prices is threatening economic growth.

     Sun Life Financial Inc. slipped 0.3 percent after agreeing to buy Ryan Labs Inc., which manages about $5.1 billion in assets in the U.S. Terms were not disclosed.

US

By Michelle F. Davis and Callie Bost

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its biggest two-day loss in a year, as energy shares plunged and concern grew about international risks to the American economy and weakness in multinational earnings.

     Energy companies slumped 3.9 percent as a group after oil retreated. Apple Inc. climbed 5.7 percent after reporting a record $18 billion in quarterly profit, one of the biggest in corporate history. Boeing Co. advanced 5.4 percent as it posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.4 percent to 2,002.16 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 195.84 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,191.37. The gauge fell 2.8 percent over two days, the most since February 2014. The Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 0.6 percent, erasing an earlier rally of 1.7 percent. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, added 19 percent to 20.44, its biggest jump of the year.

     “People smell no growth,” Rick Fier, director of equity trading at Conifer Securities LLC in New York, said in an interview. “Currency problems are affecting revenues for multinationals. Greece is becoming a much bigger worry for the markets right now,” he said. “Think about where the market would be today without Apple and Boeing.”

     U.S. stocks turned lower after the Fed boosted its assessment of the economy and downplayed low inflation readings while repeating a pledge to remain “patient” on raising interest rates. Losses accelerated in the final hour, pushing declines in the Dow and S&P 500 beyond 1 percent and wiping out gains in the Nasdaq.                        

     Fed officials are confronting divergent economic forces as they weigh the timing of the first interest-rate increase since 2006. Surprisingly strong job gains argue for tightening sooner, while inflation held down by a plunge in oil prices and a cooling global economy provides grounds for delay.

     The Fed acknowledge global risks, saying that it will take into account readings on “international developments” as it decides how long to keep rates low.

     “The Fed continued to emphasize that any rate hike decisions will be very data-dependent, which has been the norm for quite some time,” Joe Bell, a Cincinnati-based senior equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview. “People are looking closely at earnings, which has been the story of the volatility in the past week or two. Oil and the strong U.S. dollar are also creating a drag on large multinational companies.”

     U.S. futures pared early gains amid concerns over Greece’s new government. New Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras named a cabinet yesterday that includes a foreign minister who raised questions over European Union sanctions against Russia and a finance minister who has called Greece’s bailout a trap, while new ministers said they will cease the sale of some state assets and increase the minimum wage.

     The S&P 500 has more than tripled from its March 2009 low, buoyed by three rounds of stimulus from the Fed. The index is down 4.2 percent from an all-time high reached in December.

     As the U.S. has ended its bond-buying program, the European Central Bank is expanding its stimulus plan. The ECB announced last week it would spend 60 billion euros ($68 billion) a month starting in March on purchases of debt to ward off the threat of deflation in the euro area.

     Equities opened higher on Wednesday as Apple and Boeing rallied amid quarterly results, a day after benchmark indexes tumbled on concern that a stronger dollar is eroding profits at large companies.                        

     While the dollar’s climb is reducing profits at U.S. companies from Procter & Gamble Co. to Pfizer Inc. and Microsoft Corp., more than 77 percent of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index members have still beaten analysts’ estimates so far this earnings season, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

     All 10 main industries in the S&P 500 fell.

     Energy shares lost 3.9 percent, the most in three weeks, after oil tumbled as U.S. inventories rose to a three-decade high. Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. fell at least 3.3 percent.

     Yahoo! Inc. fell 3.2 percent, erasing an earlier rally of 4.9 percent. The company said Tuesday it will spin off its remaining stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The tax-free spinoff will place Yahoo’s holding in the Chinese e-commerce company into a new firm called SpinCo.

     Apple jumped 5.7 percent. Net income surged 38 percent, fueled by sales of larger-screened iPhones and refreshed Mac computers that Apple had unveiled in September, part of a barrage of new products from Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook as he sought to revitalize the company’s revenue.

     Boeing gained 5.4 percent, the most since 2011, as it beat analysts’ estimates and predicted it would make good in 2015 in converting a record jetliner-order backlog into cash. Investors have been waiting to see Boeing start generating more cash from its plane orders and stem losses on the 787 Dreamliner.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

There are thousands of lives in one single life.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.

                                           -H. Jackson Brown, Jr., 1940-

 

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 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded “to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge.”

Today marks the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.  Visiting the camp when I was in Poland a few years ago will forever be one of the most moving and spiritual experiences of my life.  You can really still feel the ghosts of those who died there, their souls still linger.  Very profound.  Hallowed ground.

I AM NOT I

 -Juan Ramon Jimenez, translated by Robert Bly

I am not I
I am this one
walking beside me whom I do not see,
whom at times I manage to visit,
and whom at other times I forget;
who remains silent when I talk.
The one who forgives sweet, when I hate.
The one who takes a walk when I am indoors.
The one who will remain standing when I die.

 
Epitaph for a Child of the Nakba (“Catastrophe”)

by Michael R. Burch

I lived as best I could, and then I died. 
Be careful where you step: the grave is wide.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Survivor Juda Widaski, 96, poses for a picture inside a tent on the site of former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, Tuesday. Ceremonies marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by Red Army soldiers. Laszlo Balogh/Reuters

At the Jewish cemetery in the former Nazi concentration camp in Terezin, Czech Republic, a child places a candle during a commemoration ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp. David W Cerny/Reuters

Market Closes for January 27^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17387.21	-291.49
		-1.65%
S&P 500	2029.56	-27.53   -1.34%
NASDAQ	4681.496	-90.267   -1.89%
TSX	14833.88	+36.05
		+0.24%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17768.30	+299.78
		+1.72%
HANG SENG	24807.28	-102.62
		-0.41%
SENSEX	29571.04	+292.20
		+1.00%
FTSE 100	6811.61	-40.79
		-0.60%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.419	1.471
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.985	2.033
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8145	1.8266
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.3890	2.3972

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80687	0.80180
US $	1.23936	1.24720
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40948	0.70948
US $	1.13726	0.87930

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1288.50	1281.25
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	46.23	45.51

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fifth day, after erasing an earlier loss, as gold producers rallied to offset disappointing U.S. economic data and earnings. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner.

     Metro Inc. rallied to a record after announcing a three- for-one stock split and dividend increase. Torex Gold Resources Inc. and Detour Gold Corp. jumped at least 5.6 percent as gold snapped a two-day decline. Finning International Inc., which sells Caterpillar Inc. equipment, lost 3.8 percent after the U.S.-based heavy equipment company forecast profit that missed estimates.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 36.05 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,833.88 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing an earlier loss of as much as 1 percent. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has rallied 3.7 percent during its five- day streak, the longest since November. It is up 1.4 percent this year and trades at a two-month high.

     U.S. markets are running normally as a potentially life- threatening blizzard ended up as a mundane winter snowfall. New York City may get no more than a foot by the time the nor’easter tapers off Tuesday evening, compared with a forecast of as much as 23.8 inches, while Boston may top out at two feet.

     Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, reported profit short of estimates while Microsoft Corp.’s software-license sales to businesses trailed estimates. Both shares tumbled.                        

     U.S. orders for business equipment unexpectedly fell in December for a fourth month, signaling a global growth slowdown is weighing on American companies.

     Four of the 10 main groups in the S&P/TSX advanced today as consumer staples shares increased 2 percent to pace gains. Metro advanced 4.1 percent to a record.

     Detour Gold gained 5.6 percent as raw-materials producers rallied 1.8 percent. Finning International tumbled 3.8 percent and heavy-equipment company Wajax Corp. lost 4.3 percent. Trading volume was 12 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Royal Bank of Canada slipped 0.3 percent after lowering its prime lending rate to 2.85 percent, the first of Canada’s largest banks to do so after the Bank of Canada last week unexpectedly cut its key rate.

     CGI Group Inc. lost 2.7 percent while Sierra Wireless Inc. retreated 2.1 percent, for a six-week low, as the S&P/TSX Information Technology Index lost 0.5 percent.

     First Quantum Minerals Ltd. lost 1.5 percent for a fourth day of declines and Teck Resources Ltd. lost 1.3 percent as copper fell toward a five-year low after data showed China’s industrial profits grew at the slowest pace on record. Copper futures for March delivery fell 3.2 percent to settle at $2.4625 a pound in New York. On Monday the metal dropped to $2.419, the lowest since 2009.

US

By Lu Wang, Joseph Ciolli and Callie Bost

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled, with the Nasdaq 100 Index falling the most since April, as a drop in durable-goods orders and disappointing results from Caterpillar Inc. to Microsoft Corp. heightened concern about the economy’s strength.

     Technology shares in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged 3.3 percent for the biggest drop since November 2011. Microsoft lost 9.3 percent, the most in 18 months, as software- license sales to businesses were below forecasts. Caterpillar plunged 7.2 percent after forecasting 2015 results that trailed estimates as plunging oil prices signal lower demand from energy companies. Procter & Gamble Co. slid 3.5 percent as a surging U.S. dollar cut into its earnings.

     Apple Inc. jumped more than 6 percent in after-market trading after reporting revenue that topped estimates. Yahoo! Inc. surged 6 percent in late trading after announcing a tax- free spinoff of its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

     “Currency headwinds, as well as evidence of a continual deceleration of global growth, is having a major impacts on quarterly results,” Chad Morganlander, a money manager at St. Louis-based Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., which oversees about $160 billion, said in a phone interview. “Coupled with that, durable goods orders were somewhat disappointing, which scotches any optimism for today’s trading session.”

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 1.3 percent to 2,029.55 at 4 p.m. in New York, below its average price for the past 50 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 291.49 points, or 1.7 percent, to 17,387.21, after losing almost 400 points earlier in the day. The Nasdaq 100 Index tumbled 2.6 percent for the biggest drop since April.

     About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 3.6 percent below the three-month average, as exchanges opened for a full day despite a snow storm that shut down travel around New York City overnight and during part of the morning.                       

     A travel ban came to an end on Tuesday morning after the storm brought less snow than had been forecast. The National Weather Service downgraded its assessment to a winter storm from a blizzard. The last time snow prompted the New York Stock Exchange to shut down was in 1996, according to the exchange’s website.

     The S&P 500 is trading at 17.1 times the projected earnings of its members, about 16 percent above its 10-year average. The multiple reached a five-year high at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The measure rallied 1.6 percent last week after the European Central Bank announced a 1.1 trillion-euro ($1.2 trillion) bond-buying plan.

     Yahoo! Inc. and Apple Inc. are among 27 companies releasing quarterly results on Tuesday.

     Of the S&P 500 members that have reported profit so far, 75 percent have exceeded projections that analysts have lowered since late last year. Analysts predict profit at S&P 500 companies climbed 1.1 percent in the final three months of 2014, down from an October estimate of 8.5 percent.

     “Everybody is aware of weakness in crude oil, but you’re seeing spillover into large, industrial companies like Caterpillar and that may be giving people pause,” Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $1.9 billion as co-chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based OakBrook Investments LLC., said in a phone interview. “And certainly Microsoft is a bellwether of the tech industry, and that’s another cause that’s having people pulling back.”

     Multinational corporations flooded the market with fourth- quarter results as Federal Reserve officials gather in Washington for a two-day policy meeting. The central bank is trying to determine whether declining oil prices, a slowdown in European growth and any fallout from the Greek elections will threaten the U.S. recovery as it considers raising interest rates. Chair Janet Yellen told reporters after the last meeting not to expect higher borrowing costs before the end of April.

     Orders for business equipment unexpectedly fell in December for a fourth month, signaling a global growth slowdown is weighing on American companies. Bookings for non-military capital goods excluding aircraft dropped 0.6 percent for a second month, data from the Commerce Department showed. Demand for all durable goods — items meant to last at least three years — declined 3.4 percent, the worst performance since August.

     Slackening demand from Europe and some emerging markets is probably weighing on orders, making companies less willing to invest in new equipment.

     Purchases of new homes in the U.S. increased 12 percent in December to a 481,000 annualized pace from a 431,000 rate in the prior month, figures from the Commerce Department showed Tuesday in Washington. Consumer confidence in the U.S. increased this month as declining unemployment and lower fuel costs lifted Americans’ outlooks.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, jumped 14 percent to 17.74. The gauge is down 7.6 percent for the year.

     Nine of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 declined. Consumer staples and industrials shares lost more than 1.2 percent.

     Technology companies in the S&P 500 dropped 3.3 percent for their biggest one-day loss since Nov. 9, 2011. Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. sank more than 3.4 percent.

     Microsoft plunged 9.3 percent, the most since July 2013. Revenue slumped in China and Japan and a stronger U.S. dollar curbed sales of business-software licenses. Unearned revenue, a measure of future sales, missed analysts’ estimates.

     Caterpillar lost 7.1 percent for its biggest drop since August 2011. The world’s largest mining and construction equipment maker forecast lower-than-estimated earnings and revenue for 2015.

     Crude’s slump of more than 40 percent in the past six months is the latest headwind for Caterpillar, which had already seen declining orders from the mining industry for its signature yellow machines.

     DuPont Co. fell 1.3 percent. The chemical maker posted an unexpected drop in fourth-quarter sales and forecast 2015 earnings below analysts’ estimates as a stronger dollar cuts into its profit.

     P&G slid 3.5 percent, the most since April 2013. The world’s biggest consumer-products maker reported profit that missed analysts’ estimates in the quarter ended Dec. 31 after what Chief Executive Officer A.G. Lafley called “unprecedented” foreign-exchange rate fluctuations reduced sales by 5 percentage points.

     Apple rallied in late trading after falling 3.5 percent during the regular session. Sales of iPhones during the quarter ended Dec. 27 rose 46 percent to 74.5 million units, topping analysts’ average estimate of 64.9 million, according to a company statement on Tuesday.

     That helped push Apple’s fiscal first-quarter profit to a record $18 billion, or $3.06 a share, on sales of $74.6 billion. Analysts had predicted profit of $2.60 a share, and revenue of $67.5 billion.

     Yahoo advanced in extended trading after sliding 2.9 percent during the day. The Web company announced a tax-free spinoff of its entire stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., seeking to maximize its return of cash to shareholders and minimize taxes on the sale.

     The deal with the Chinese e-commerce company will put Yahoo’s Alibaba shares into a newly registered company called SpinCo, which will own all of Yahoo’s remaining 384 million shares of Alibaba valued at $40 billion, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said in a statement Tuesday. SpinCo will be distributed to existing Yahoo shareholders as a separate public company.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Our consciousness is not actually yours or mine; it is the consciousness of man,

evolved, grown, accumulated through many, many centuries…

When one realizes this our responsibility becomes extraordinarily important.

Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.

                                                                  -Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

 

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:

We went to Seattle on the weekend to take in Seattle Opera’s production of Puccini’s Tosca.  It was superb.  Seattle is gripped with Super Bowl fever.  Lots of fans turned out in their Seahawks paraphernalia to line the route to the airport because the team was headed to Phoenix yesterday.  Businesses have signs in their windows referencing the team.  Many cars have Seahawk banners flying – it’s really quite something.

Found a terrific restaurant you might want to visit next time you’re in Seattle.  It is called  Altura and the food is really quite amazing.  Reservations are essential as it is very popular.

I read in the Wall Street Journal this morning that the movie American Sniper has now grossed 200 million in its second week – phenomenal.  Good news for Clint Eastwood.  Brad Cooper who plays US navy SEAL Chris Kyle is superb in this movie.  When we saw it last week , no one in the movie theatre moved when it ended.  Everyone was sort of entranced by what they had just seen.  Even though Brad Cooper’s acting is flawless in the picture, I sort of think the Oscar is going to go to Michael Keaton for his incredible performance in Birdman.   What a fantastic film that was!  All in all, it is a good year for films.  I thought Imitation was terrific too – though tragic….still a couple more nominees to see before Oscar night February 22nd.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man surrounded by snowmen takes a selfie with a cell phone during a protest against the Davos World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday. Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP

Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday. Marco Trovati/AP

Market Closes for January 26^th, 2015    

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17678.48	+5.88
		+0.03%
S&P 500	2054.85	+3.03   +0.15%
NASDAQ	4771.762	+13.883   +0.29%
TSX	14793.29	+13.94
		+0.09%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17468.52	-43.23
		-0.25%
HANG SENG	24909.90	+59.45
		+0.24%
SENSEX	29278.84	+272.82
		+0.94%
FTSE 100	6852.40	+19.57
		+0.29%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.471	1.443
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.033	2.016
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.8266	1.7926
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.3972	2.3687

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80180	0.80508
US $	1.24720	1.24212
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.40195	0.71329
US $	1.12408	0.88962

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1281.25	1294.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	45.51	45.22

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fourth day, extending a two-month high, as industrials and commodities producers advanced to offset a slump in telephone stocks.

     Badger Daylighting Ltd. climbed 4.4 percent to pace gains among industrials shares after announcing it will “conservatively manage” its capital spending amid plunging oil prices. Intertape Polymer Group Inc. plunged 15 percent after lowering its fourth-quarter earnings outlook. Rogers Communications Inc. dropped 4.2 percent, the most since February 2014, after analysts at Canaccord Genuity cut their rating for the stock.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 18.48 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,797.83 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has advanced 1.1 percent this year to the highest since Nov. 27.

     U.S. markets are thus far operating normally ahead of a “life-threatening” blizzard set to dump as much as two feet of snow from New York to Boston. The storm has already caused more than 1,800 flight cancellations and will probably snarl road and rail traffic, close schools and knock out power across the U.S. Northeast.

     Intertape Polymer, which makes tape, plunged 15 percent, the most since 2009, after cutting its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue projections due to some delays in customer orders and higher than expected employee medical costs.

     Industrial stocks rose 1 percent, the most in the S&P/TSX, as seven of 10 industries in the broader equity gauge advanced. Phone companies fell 1.8 percent. Trading volume was 24 percent lower than the 30-day average today.

     Centerra Gold Inc. jumped 7.2 percent as raw-materials shares climbed 1 percent as a group, reversing an earlier loss. The S&P/TSX Energy Index added 0.4 percent for a fourth day of gains, the longest streak since Dec. 19.

US

By Michelle F. Davis

     (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose, following its first weekly advance this year, as gains in energy companies overshadowed a drop in technology shares as investors considered possible fallout from Greek elections.

     The S&P 500 added 0.3 percent to 2,057.09 at 4 p.m. in New York, extending gains in the final 30 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 6.10 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,678.70. The Nasdaq 100 Index slipped 0.1 percent, while the Russell 2000 Index of small caps rallied 1 percent.

     In New York, officials told residents to stay at home as a blizzard forecasters call “life-threatening” may dump as much as two feet of snow from New York to Boston. Exchanges plan to remain open in the U.S., with the New York Stock Exchange’s owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc. saying it’ll be business as usual.

     About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 7 percent below the three-month average.

     The last time NYSE’s trading hours were changed because of a snowstorm was on Jan. 8, 1996, according to the exchange’s website. Weather shut American equity markets for two days in October 2012 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

     “We’re sort of at an inflection point in the market,” Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. “It needs more to get it moving to higher levels. It’s just trying to digest all of this information and try to make heads or tails of it. You saw the Greek election although that was not a big surprise.”

     The S&P 500 rallied 1.6 percent last week after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said it plans to buy up to 1.14 trillion euros ($1.28 trillion) of private and public securities.

     European equities rose and the region’s shared currency strengthened, while Greek stocks retreated, after Syriza, whose leader has pledged to renegotiate the nation’s international bailout, won 149 out of a possible 300 seats in Parliament. Prime Minister-elect Alexis Tsipras’ mandate is now to confront the nation’s program of austerity, imposed in return for pledges of 240 billion euros in aid since May 2010.

     The Greek elections “infused a little bit more risk into the market,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a phone interview. “More people are focusing on a pretty busy earnings calendar this week and the Fed commentary on Wednesday. Those are going to be the much bigger focus for traders than the situation in Greece.”

     Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to begin a two-day policy meeting Tuesday. The central bank is trying to determine whether declining oil prices, a slowdown in European growth and any fallout from the Greek elections will threaten the U.S. recovery as it considers raising interest rates. Chair Janet Yellen told reporters after the last meeting not to expect higher borrowing costs before the end of April.                        

     Investors are also watching earnings reports. Microsoft Corp. is among those releasing quarterly results today. United Technologies Corp. changed its plans and will release results after the close of trading today instead of tomorrow morning.

     United Technology slid 2.1 percent in late trading after cutting its earnings forecast. Microsoft slid 1.7 percent in after-market trading.

     Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 77 percent have exceeded earnings projections after analysts reduced their estimates. Profit at S&P 500 companies climbed 1.1 percent in the last three months of 2014, analysts predict, down from an October estimate of 8.1 percent.

     D.R. Horton Inc. gained 5.5 percent. The largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue posted better-than-expected first-quarter profit as sales and orders jumped.

     An S&P index of homebuilders surged 2.2 percent.

     Energy companies rose 1.4 percent, the most in three weeks, to lead gains among six of the 10 main S&P 500 groups. Chevron Corp. gained 1.9 percent for the biggest rise in the Dow.

     MeadWestvaco Corp. jumped 14 percent. Rock-Tenn Co. agreed to acquire its U.S. rival in a deal valued at about $9.2 billion to create the world’s second-largest packaging company.

     Ocwen Financial Corp. surged 8.4 percent. The company, one of the biggest U.S. mortgage servicers, rejected as “groundless” accusations by an investor group that the company’s practices created defaults on home-loan bonds backed by debt it oversees.

     Mattel Inc. retreated 5 percent after the maker of Barbie dolls said it replaced Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bryan Stockton amid a five quarter sales slump and holiday- season earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates.

     Seagate Technology Plc sank 7.7 percent to lead a slide among technology shares. The maker of disk drives plunged after projecting quarterly revenue that trailed analysts’ estimates.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

What is the soul?  The soul is consciousness.

It shines a s the light within the heart.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

                           -Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882-1945

 

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:

Literary birthdays this weekend:

January 25^th, 1759, Poet Robert Burns
January 25^th ,1874, writer W. Somerset Maugham.

January 25^th, 1882, Virginia Woolf.

Virginis Woolf once said that “fiction is liked a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”  One of the 20^th century’s great literary innovators, she and her sister Vanessa formed the core of the intellectual Bloomsbury group.

In 1917, Woolf and her husband Leonard Woolf, bought an old hand press and set two stories on it, one by each of them, which sold out almost immediately.  Hogarth Press, as they called it, continued to publish, preferring young and unknown writers including Katherine Mansfield and T.S. Eliot. 

She wrote this in her diary on January 25^th, 1915:

My birthday – and let me count up all the things I had.  Leonard had sworn he would give me nothing, and like a good wife, I believed him.  But he crept into my bed, with a little parcel, which was a beautiful green purse. and he brought up breakfast, with a paper which announced a naval victory (we have sunk a German battleship) and a square brown parcel, with The Abbot [by Sir Walter Scott] – a lovely first edition.  So I had a very merry and pleasing morning – which indeed was only surpassed by the afternoon.  I was then taken up to town, free of charge, and given a treat, first at a picture palace, and then at Buszards [Tea Rooms].  I don’t think I’ve had a birthday treat for ten years; and it felt like one too – being a fine frosty day, everything brisk and cheerful, as it should be, but never is.  We exactly caught a non-stop train, and I have been very happy reading father [Sir Leslie Stephen] on Pope, which is very witty and bright, without a single dead sentence in it.  In fact I don’t know when I have enjoyed a birthday so much – not since I was a child anyhow.

She ended her life on March 28, 1941, at age 59, when she filled her pockets with stones and walked into the River Ouse.

“As an experience, madness is terrific…and in its lava I still find most of the things I write about.”

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An expanding shell of debris called SNR 0519-69.0 is left behind after a massive star exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way, as seen in this undated NASA handout image released on Friday. Multimillion degree gas is seen in X-rays from Chandra, in blue. The outer edge of the explosion (red) and stars in the field of view are seen in visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA/Reuters

 

Danish artist Olafur Eliasson poses next to ‘Big Bang Fountain’, as part of his exhibition ‘Contact’ at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Friday. Olafur Eliasson said in the presentation that ‘Contact is not a picture, it is not a representation; it is about your ability to reach out, connect, and perhaps even put yourself in another person’s place’. Francois Mori/AP

Market Closes for January 23^rd, 2015   

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	17672.60	-141.38
		-0.79%
S&P 500	2051.82	-11.33   -0.55%
NASDAQ	4757.879	+7.482   +0.16%
TSX	14779.35	+15.37
		+0.10%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	17511.75	+182.73
		+1.05%
HANG SENG	24850.45	+327.82
		+1.34%
SENSEX	29278.84	+272.82
		+0.94%
FTSE 100	6832.83	+36.20
		+0.53%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.443	1.425
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.016	2.069
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7926	1.8820
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.3687	2.4523

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80508	0.80883
US $	1.24212	1.23635
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.39190	0.71844
US $	1.12059	0.89239

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1294.75	1295.75
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	45.22	45.99

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a third day, capping the biggest weekly advance in a month, as energy companies rose and banks extended gains amid a wave of central bank stimulus in the week.

     Home Capital Group Inc. added 3.5 percent as financial stocks surged 3.2 percent this week, the most in three years, after the Bank of Canada cut its key lending rate. BlackBerry Ltd. rose 1.8 percent for a third day of gains. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. sank 10 percent as copper posted a sixth weekly drop in London. Eldorado Gold Corp. and Alamos Gold Inc. retreated at least 10 percent as gold fell.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 15.37 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,779.35 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest level since Nov. 27. The Canadian benchmark rallied 3.3 percent this week, halting a two-week slide.

     Six of the 10 main groups in the benchmark index advanced today, led by 1.1 percent gains in technology and energy shares. Financial shares advanced 0.6 percent for a third day to cap the best week since December 2011.

     Home Capital rallied 3.5 percent. Royal Bank of Canada gained 1 percent and National Bank of Canada added 1.7 percent to pace gains among the lenders.

     Canada’s inflation slowed to 1.5 percent in December, less than the consensus 1.6 level forecast by economists in a Bloomberg News survey, as cheaper gasoline countered accelerating prices on most other items.

     The Bank of Canada unexpectedly cut interest rates Jan. 21, joining a stimulative push with other central banks around the world. The European Central Bank on Thursday announced a 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) bond-buying plan to combat deflation.

     Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. gained 1.3 percent as consumer-staples stocks rose 0.9 percent as a group.

US

By Michelle F. Davis

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, trimming the first weekly gain of 2015, as weaker-than-forecast results at companies from United Parcel Service Inc. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. offset confidence that central banks will support global growth.

     UPS slumped 9.9 percent as it said preliminary 2014 earnings were lower than previously forecast, after an over- expanded program to handle a deluge of holiday shipments. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. led financial shares lower after both said the falling euro hurt revenue from the region. Kimberly-Clark dropped 6.1 percent after forecasting 2015 earnings that missed estimates.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.6 percent to 2,051.82 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring a weekly gain to 1.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 141.38 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,672.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rallied 1.7 percent a day after the European Central Bank expanded its stimulus plan.

     “The bigger picture is that we had a pretty sizable move in the market the day before,” Kevin Caron, who helps oversee $170 billion at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Florham Park, New Jersey, said in a phone interview. “The market is still assessing the recent actions by the ECB, trying to figure out how much of that action was already priced into markets going into the meeting and what it might mean for markets going forward.”

     About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, in line with the three-month average. Selling accelerated in the final 30 minutes of trading as materials producers extended declines to 1.6 percent and investors anticipated the results of an election in Greece on Sunday. Opinion polls show the anti-austerity party may win enough votes to take power.

     Equities had earlier pared declines after ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure told Bloomberg TV that policy makers are prepared to extend asset purchases beyond September 2016 if the inflation outlook warrants it. The ECB on Thursday unveiled a plan to buy 60 billion euros ($69 billion) a month in bonds through that time.

     The S&P 500 gained 1.6 percent this week and briefly erased its losses for the year following two retreats that lasted five days amid tumbling oil prices and concerns that the global economy is slowing. The index is about 1.9 percent from its all- time high reached Dec. 29.

     U.S. stocks rose for a fourth day on Thursday, extending the longest rally of the year, as the ECB expanded an asset- purchase program to include government bonds. Banks and transportation companies also pushed benchmark gauges higher on better-than-forecast earnings.                          
     ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank plans to buy up to 1.14 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) of private and public securities. A near-stagnant economy and the risk of deflation forced Draghi’s hand six years after the Federal Reserve took a similar step to inject cash into the U.S.

     “The ECB is still going to be at the forefront over the next few trading days,” Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in Newton, Massachusetts, said in a phone interview. “People are still trying to digest this bazooka blast. Obviously earnings will become more of a focus as well but the key is we need follow-through. It was a nice rally yesterday, but we’ve had a lot of one-day rallies that didn’t really pan out.”

     In the U.S., three rounds of Fed stimulus helped the S&P 500 more than triple from a bear-market low in March 2009. The central bank ended its quantitative easing program three months ago.

     Among data today, the Conference Board’s index of U.S. leading economic indicators, a gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months, increased 0.5 percent in December.

     Purchases of previously owned U.S. homes rose less than forecast in December as higher prices limited sales to first- time buyers. The Markit Economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing cooled in January to a one-year low of 53.7 from a final reading of 53.9 a month earlier. A figure greater than 50 for the purchasing managers’ measure indicates expansion.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, rose for the first time in five days, dropping 1.6 percent to 16.66 after closing Thursday at the lowest level of the year.

     Eight of the 10 main groups in the S&P 500 retreated today, with raw materials companies declining 1.6 percent to pace declines.

     Freeport-McMoRan Inc. retreated 3.9 percent to halt a four- day rally as copper capped its third straight weekly drop amid signs of slowing growth in China. Freeport has fallen 18 percent this year.

     The Dow Jones Transportation Average slipped 1.8 percent to halt a four-day streak after rallying the most since October on Thursday.

     UPS fell the most since 2006 after it said 2014 earnings were below prior forecasts as an overexpanded program to handle a deluge of holiday shipments left its network underutilized on some other days.

     FedEx Corp. lost 3 percent even after reaffirming its 2015 forecast in the wake of UPS’s outlook.

     Eight companies listed on the S&P 500 posted results Friday. Of the companies that have reported quarterly earnings so far, 77 percent have exceeded projections after analysts reduced their estimates. Profit at S&P 500 companies climbed 1.1 percent in the last three months of 2014, analysts predict, down from an October estimate of 8.1 percent.

     The S&P 500 is trading at about 17 times the projected earnings of its members, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Valuations reached a five-year high at the end of last year.

     Currency fluctuations roiled banks, as the euro tumbled to an 11-year low and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rallied to the highest close on record. Bank of New York Mellon and State Street said today that a failing euro is cutting revenue from the region and may increase fees for excess deposits in Europe if rates there fall further. State Street plunged 6.1 percent, while Bank of New York dropped 4.7 percent.

     Kimberly-Clark lost 6.2 percent as it lowered its outlook for the full year, citing “significant headwinds” from foreign-exchange rates. Difficulty exchanging U.S. dollars for Venezuelan bolivars will cost the company $462 million as falling oil prices increase pressure on Venezuela’s economy and amplify the currency’s lack of liquidity.                         

     Ford Motor Co. said it will also take a charge, causing its fourth quarter profits to decrease by $700 million, in order to revalue its bolivar-denominated assets. Ford fell 0.8 percent.

     Avon Products Inc. declined 7.9 percent, retracing part of a 19 percent rally yesterday following a report by Dealreporter that the company held talks with TPG Capital about a possible transaction.

     Starbucks climbed 6.6 percent to a record. The world’s biggest coffee-shop chain is expanding its lunch offerings and bringing beer and wine to more stores, aiming to draw more customers after the morning hours.

     Honeywell International Inc. added 3.1 percent to an all- time high after it posted fourth quarter profits that surpassed analysts’ estimates. A strong U.S. economy drove sales of the technology and manufacturing company’s security systems and thermostats.

     E*Trade Financial Corp. jumped 8.4 percent to a 10-month high, increasing the most among companies on the S&P 500. The company said yesterday afternoon it will be allowed to run its bank with a more favorable leverage ratio.

     General Electric Co. led the Dow, rising 0.8 percent for a fifth consecutive day, as rising sales in its power and water business helped fourth-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates.
 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

It is through you that the sun shines and the stars shed their luster, and the earth becomes beautiful.

It is through your blessedness that they all love and are attracted to each other.

You are in all, and you are all.

 

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

                            -Desmond Tutu, 1931-

 

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