Category: Newsletters

Dear Friends,

Sorry this is late – our email was dysfunctional last night.
Tangents:

In this week’s Barron’s:

Baby Boomers Pitch In
Senior citizens are channeling time and money to volunteer efforts. One estimate: They’ll contribute $8 trillion in two decades.
The “me generation” is finding that it’s better to give than to receive, especially in retirement.
According to a study by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, a think tank focused on aging, baby boomers will donate $8 trillion in time and money over the next two decades, as the population of those 65 and older surges. The study found that current retirees are three times more likely to say they derive more happiness from “helping people in need” than spending on themselves.
“Boomers always had a desire to change the world,” says Ken Dychtwald, founder and CEO of Age Wave.
He predicts that “you’ll see millions and millions more retirees doing very high-grade volunteer work in very interesting ways,” including contributing work skills to charitable causes, something he calls “philanthropreneurism.”
The study found that “making a difference in the lives of others” is by far the top motivation, five times more important than getting a tax deduction. The wealthiest people rank highest in both money and time donated. It would be typical of boomers, he says, to lead another revolution—in volunteerism.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

University of Southern California student Bre Flores practices her routine for her team’s upcoming ice show in front of a large Christmas tree at an outdoor skating rink Tuesday, in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong/AP

Britain’s Prince Harry, center, talks on the phone, during an ICAP Charity Trading Day in support of Sentebale – a charity supporting orphans and vulnerable children in London, Wednesday. Geoff Pugh/AP

Dusk falls over Parliament Square outside the Supreme Court after the third day of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May’s government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in central London, Britain on Wednesday. Peter Nicholls/Reuters
Market Closes for December 7^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19549.62	+297.84   +1.55%
S&P 500	2241.35	+29.12   +1.32%
NASDAQ	5393.762	+60.761   +1.14%
TSX	15237.75	+111.95
		+0.74%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18496.69	+136.15
		+0.74%
HANG SENG	22800.92	+125.77
		+0.55%
SENSEX	26236.87	-155.89
		-0.59%
FTSE 100	6902.23	+122.39
		+1.81%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.602		1.635
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.211		2.236
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3473		2.3869
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0305		3.0739

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75553	0.75311
US $	1.32358	1.32782
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42299	0.70275
US $	1.07511	0.93014

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1177.65	1172.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.77	50.93

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a fourth day, extending gains to a 19-month high, as raw-material producers advanced with gold while the Bank of Canada kept its key stimulative interest-rate unchanged.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.7 percent to 15,237.75 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest closing level since May 4, 2015. The index has risen 17 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 12 percent advance.
     Canada’s central bank kept interest rates at a stimulative 0.5 percent amid uncertain prospects for a recovery in exports and business investment following the U.S. election. Policy makers warned a significant amount of slack remains in the economy, in contrast with the U.S.
     “Today’s statement continued to highlight that a hike is still a distant proposition,” said Nick Exarhos, an economist with CIBC World Markets in a note to clients. Exarhos estimates any tightening on the part of the Bank of Canada as a late-2018 proposition, given that continued slack in the economy.
     “That is contrasted explicitly with developments stateside, an apparent attempt to highlight the economic, and more importantly, the rate divergence expected between the two nations ahead of the Fed’s likely hike next week,” he said.
     In other moves:
* Gauges of financial and raw-material stocks each climbed at least 0.7 percent as nine of 11 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced
* Gold rebounded after trading near a 10-month low
* DH Corp. soared a record 14 percent after the company said it had formed a committee to evaluate acquisition inquiries from other firms; DH is a Canadian check maker trying to transition to a financial-technology firm
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. dropped 3.9 percent after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would bring down drug prices in an interview with Time Magazine
* Concordia International Corp., a smaller drug maker, fell 5.7 percent after RBC analyst Douglas Miehm slashed the stock’s rating to underperform with a price target of $1 for its U.S. shares
* Dollarama Inc. added 1.3 percent as the nation’s largest dollar-store chain posted fiscal third-quarter profit ahead of analysts’ estimates after adding new stores
US
By Lu Wang, Joseph Ciolli and Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — Donald Trump is doing to U.S. equity bears what seven years of economic stimulus rarely could: shut them up.
     Two years of paralysis has for now ended in stocks, with more than $1 trillion added to shares values since Election Day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average looking bound for 20,000. Both the Dow and S&P 500 Index jumped to fresh records Wednesday, joined by transportation companies and small caps, while banks traded at eight-year highs.
     Wall Street stock forecasters, more pessimistic than any time since 2013 as recently as September, are suddenly falling over themselves to push up targets and explain a market where measures of anxiety are near five-year lows. The average call of bank prognosticators is for the S&P 500 to rally 3.4 percent next year, with strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of Montreal calling for even bigger gains.
     For investors, the question is how much credence to put in analysts whose futility in sussing out Trump’s impact on share prices was rivaled only by the inaccuracy of political polls prior to his victory. Not only has he not been the disaster many of them warned about, the rally since he defeated Hillary Clinton is now the biggest for any new president since Ronald Reagan.
     “What we didn’t expect was the speed and the magnitude of the so-called ‘Trump Trade,’” Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer at Leuthold Group LLC, wrote in a note published Wednesday. “The consensus hope, which we share, is that tax reform and regulatory roll-back will extend and maybe enliven an economic recovery that’s already long in the tooth.”
     To be sure, pinpointing Trump’s role in the rally is an inexact science, and a case could be made that his election is coinciding with the consummation of the Federal Reserve’s efforts. Among other things, annualized gross domestic product rose 3.2 percent in the third quarter, the most in two years, while unemployment hit a nine-year low in November.
     But the rally is particularly hard to reconcile with the body of pessimism that has shadowed the Barack Obama bull market since it started in 2009. Headwinds that looked certain to halt the advance just one month ago — from stalled corporate earnings to the highest valuations since the Internet bubble and the sputtering economy — are proving little match for the new president’s economic pronouncements.
     Not that those obstacles have gone away. While signs of a rebound emerged in the third quarter, profits for S&P 500 companies just underwent one of the longest stretches of declines for any non-bear market period on record. At just under 21 times earnings, stocks are trading at the highest multiple since 2001, excluding a few months after the financial crisis when earnings in some industries were close to nothing.
     The Dow rose 14 points to 19,563 at 9:49 a.m. in New York.
     The suddenly booming stock market has prompted fund managers who had been hoarding cash amid economic and political uncertainty to put money to work at the fastest rate since 2009. According to Bank of America Corp.’s latest survey in November, cash levels plunged to 5 percent from 5.8 percent in October.
     Investors are fretting they’ll miss out on a year-end rally. They added almost $50 billion to exchange-traded funds that track U.S. equities last month, the most since Bloomberg began tracking the data since 2000.
“US equity investors have focused more on hope than fear since Donald Trump’s election,” David Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. wrote in his 2017 outlook. “Hope will dominate during the first part of 2017. The prospect of lower corporate taxes, repatriation of overseas cash, reduced regulations, and fiscal stimulus has already led investors to expect positive EPS revisions.”
     Not only are stocks rising, they’re offering fertile ground for a category of mutual funds that suffered as the Obama rally devolved into a monolith of lockstep moves. Dispersion among S&P 500 stocks, trader lingo for the ability of share prices to chart an independent course, is increasing and poised to get better, according to Goldman.
     Next year will bring “opportunity for alpha generation,” due to macro and micro shifts associated with Trump administration and aging economic cycle, Kostin wrote in a note to clients this week. By one measure, dispersion the week after the election reached the biggest in almost eight years.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Everyone is but a manifestation of the Impersonal, the basis of all being,
and misery consists in thinking of ourselves as different from this Infinite, Impersonal Being,
and liberation consists in knowing our unity with this wonderful Impersonality.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.
                                                 -Richard Hooker, 1924-1997

 

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

St. Nicholas Day in Europe.  One of the most popular saints in Christendom, especially in the East.  He is the patron saint of Russia, of Aberdeen, of parish clerks, of scholars (who used to be called clerks), of pawnbrokers (because of the three bags of gold, transformed to the Three Golden Balls, that he gave to the daughters of a poor man to save them from earning their dowers in a disreputable way), of young boys (because he once restored to life three little boys who had been cut up and pickled in a tub to serve for bacon), and is invoked by sailors (because he allayed a storm during a voyage to the Holy Land) and against fire.  Finally, he is the original of Santa Claus.

Little is known of his life but he is said to have been bishop of Myra (Lycia) in the early 4^th century, and one story related that he was present at the Council of Nicaea (325) and buffeted Arius on the jaw.  His day is 6^th December and he is represented in Episcopal robes with either three purses of gold, three golden balls or three little boys, in allusion to one or other of the legends.

On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified.
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. –Abraham Lincoln.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People stand next to a merry-go-round at the Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday. Michael Probst/AP

Men exercise amid trees on a cold winter morning on the outskirts of Srinagar on Tuesday. Danish Ismail/Reuters
Market Closes for December 6^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19251.78	+35.54   +0.18%
S&P 500	2211.14	+6.43   +0.29%
NASDAQ	5333.000	+24.108   +0.45%
TSX	15128.82	+33.65
		+0.22%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18360.54	+85.55
		+0.47%
HANG SENG	22675.15	+169.60
		+0.75%
SENSEX	26392.76	+43.66
		+0.17%
FTSE 100	6779.84	+33.01
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.635		1.628
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.236		2.221
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3869		2.3941
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0739		3.0640

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75311	0.75371
US $	1.32782	1.32678
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42338	0.70255
US $	1.07197	0.93286

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1172.50	1162.20
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.93	51.79

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day, closing at the highest level in 18 months, as Bank of Montreal rallied to a record after reporting quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.2 percent to 15,125.66 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since June 2015. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 10 percent advance.
     Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, climbed 2.8 percent for a fourth day of gains, trading at a record high after fourth-quarter profit exceeded analysts’ estimates on gains in capital markets and U.S. banking. The bank also increased its quarterly dividend.
     Canada’s trade deficit narrowed more than forecast in October, to C$1.13 billion, the smallest since January as imports fell for the first time in three months. Economists had forecast a C$1.7 billion deficit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Canada remains mired in a 15-year slump in exports, with a record cumulative trade deficit in the first 10 months of this year at C$28.3 billion.
     In other moves:
* Energy stocks reversed losses of as much as 0.6 percent to end the day flat. Crude fell from the highest close in 16 months; West Texas Intermediate oil had rallied 15 percent over the previous four sessions
* Neovasc Inc. surged 69 percent, the biggest one-day increase in six years, after providing an update to its mitral valve program; the device, used to treat a condition that can lead to heart failure and death, has been implanted successfully in 19 of 22 patients
* Hudson’s Bay Co. tumbled 7 percent to a record low; the retailer reported a normalized loss of 56 Canadian cents a share, compared with estimates for 22 cents. Third-quarter sales of C$3.3 billion fell short of expectations of C$3.44 billion.
US
By Lukanyo Mnyanda and Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, rising with emerging- market assets as investors speculated the European Central Bank will extend its monthly bond purchases to stoke growth in the region. Oil slipped from a 16-month high.
     The S&P 500 Index neared its Nov. 25 record, buoyed by continued gains in financial shares and an advance in Verizon Communications Inc. on its agreement to sell a data-centers business. The dollar rallied in light currency trading, with the European Central Bank expected Thursday to extend its bond- buying program beyond March. Crude oil fell for the first time since OPEC agreed to cut production, and gold also declined. Treasuries were steady.
     The stock rally sparked by speculation U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will stoke growth continued, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a fresh record as prospects European monetary policy will remain accommodative also fueled gains. Italian bond investors moved on from the prime minister’s resignation in a sign that concerns the nation will move to leave the euro have faded. Questions over how successful major oil producers will be in their attempt to bolster prices weighed on crude prices Tuesday.
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,212.23 as of 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Average gained another 0.2 percent. Verizon led a 1.5 percent advance in phone stocks, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added 1.2 percent in a second day of gains.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1 percent, building on its 0.6 percent advance from Monday. German utilities RWE AG and EON SE climbed by at least 2 percent after a court ruled the pair must be compensated for the government’s shift away from nuclear energy.
* Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 2 percent, helped by gains in UniCredit SpA and Mediobanca SpA.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index increased 1 percent.
* Asian index futures signaled gains for Wednesday, with contracts on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average up 0.4 percent in Osaka.
* West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 1.7 percent to $50.93 a barrel, while Brent oil dropped 1.8 percent to $53.93, ending a four-day
winning streak that was the longest since August.
* Aluminum fell 1.5 percent in London to $1,709 a metric ton, its biggest drop in a week.
* The metal will probably tumble next month as an “irrational” increase in prices prompts companies to restart plants, while new capacity also ramps up in the world’s largest supplier, according to China’s top metals industry group.
* Copper lost 1.1 percent.
* Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,169.66 an ounce.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, added 0.2 percent after falling 0.4 percent on Monday.
* The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.0720 after ending Monday up 0.9 percent, erasing an earlier slide of as much as 1.5 percent in the wake of the Italian vote.
* The pound touched a two-month high as the U.K.’s top court heard a second day of arguments in a court case over who has the right to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union, climbing as much as 0.3 percent to $1.2775.
* The Australian dollar fell 0.2 percent to 74.61 U.S. cents after the nation’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged and Governor Philip Lowe said “some slowing in the year-ended growth rate is likely.”
* Italy’s 10-year bond yields declined by one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.98 percent, after Monday’s increase of eight basis points.
* Yields on Portugal’s bonds with a similar due date decreased four basis points to 3.66 percent, while Germany’s rose two basis points to 0.35 percent.
* Almost all economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the ECB to announce on Thursday that its bond-buying program will be extended after March, and most foresee an extension of about six months at the current 80 billion euros ($86 billion) a month.
* Ten-year Treasury yields edged down by one basis point to 2.39 percent

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

First of all, accept yourself.
When you do not accept yourself and imagine yourself to be someone different,
a conflict arises between what you believe you are and what you really are.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
                                                                -B.F. Skinner, 1904-1990

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Walt Disney was born on  this day in 1901.

Notable & Quotable: Post-Election Picasso
Joshua J. Whitfield, writing in “Why I took my daughter to an art museum after the election,” Nov. 16 in the Dallas Morning News:

We walked among art, Spanish mostly, Miro’, Picasso, Dali, others.  We wondered, we imagined, we talked about what is, what might be, what could be – about the art, that is.  We shared favorites, asked questions, giggled at the nudes, wondered what on earth a few things were….
   I think it was a good thing to do, and I recommend it to you, to my fellow parents wondering what to say to your children.
   The danger is that we use our children to assuage our angst, recycling our anger through them, seeking in them the validation of our fears or the vindication of our bitterness.  We forget that our children are not us, and so we foist upon them opinions and fears for which they’re unready, ruining their purposeful innocence with our foolish seriousness – lecturing, sentimentalizing, manipulating.  Sometimes when talking to our children, we talk too much.  We try to make the world right with words when we know we can’t.
   Which is why I chose art instead.  It speaks better than me, teaches better.  And it’s why I think that instead of talking politics with your children, you should take them to experience beauty wherever you may find it – your nearest art museum, your nearest artist. –WSJ, December 3,2016.

Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly.   It is your masterpiece after all.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People cross Westminster Bridge as dusk falls behind the Houses of Parliament on a clear evening in central London, Britain on Monday.Toby Melville/Reuters
A young Native American man rides his horse through the snow near the Oceti Sakowin camp as ‘water protectors’ continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Market Closes for December 5^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19216.24	+45.82   +0.24%
S&P 500	2204.71	+12.76   +0.58%
NASDAQ	5308.891	+53.238   +1.01%
TSX	15095.17	+42.65
		+0.28%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18274.99	-151.09
		-0.82%
HANG SENG	22505.55	-59.27
		-0.26%
SENSEX	26349.10	+118.44
		+0.45%
FTSE 100	6746.83	+16.11
		+0.24%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.628		1.620
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.221		2.225
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3941		2.3885
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0640		3.0673

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75371	0.75240
US $	1.32678	1.32908
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42781	0.70037
US $	1.07615	0.92924

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1162.20	1173.50
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.79	51.68

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, trading near the highest level in 18 months, as energy producers climbed with crude extending gains while copper lifted industrial metals higher.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 15,095.17 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 11 percent advance.
     Energy producers added 0.4 percent as a group as seven of 11 industries advanced in the benchmark index. Crude in New York rose 11 cents to $51.79 a barrel, settling at the highest close since July 2015 as OPEC invited non-members to Vienna to secure additional output cuts after last week’s deal. Oil has climbed more than 15 percent since the group agreed last week to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day starting in January.
     In other moves:
* Marijuana producer Canopy Growth Corp. lost 5.3 percent after agreeing to sell shares to raise C$60 million for capacity expansion, working capital and general purposes. Canopy is still up 270 percent this year. Smaller competitor Aurora Cannabis Inc. tumbled 12 percent
* Bombardier Inc. advanced a second day after its transportation unit announced France’s national railway company has ordered an additional 52 Bombardier trains in a deal valued at about $370 million
* Raw-material stocks rose 1 percent, reversing an earlier loss, as base metals producers gained. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. climbed 5.8 percent as copper posted a 17-month high on speculation demand will accelerate amid improving U.S. growth 
* Kinross Gold Corp. and OceanaGold Corp. retreated at least 2 percent as the price of gold fell to near a 10-month low; concern about political turmoil in Italy appears to be contained as stock markets in Europe and the U.S. advanced after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned upon losing a key referendum
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record as a rally in financial and technology shares reversed a dip in early trading after Italian voters rejected a constitutional referendum.
     The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to 2,204.71 at 4 p.m. in New York as financial stocks extended a post-election rally to 14 percent. Eight of 11 primary groups advanced after the benchmark on Friday capped its first weekly decline since the presidential election Friday. The Dow rose 46 points to 19,216.24.
* Markit reports on services and manufacturing were in line with or better than expectations
* Federal Reserve officials announce a policy decision on Dec. 14; futures traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance they’ll boost borrowing costs, up from 68 percent at the start of November
* European Central Bank meets on Dec. 8; investors will be watching for insight on how Italy vote will factor into Mario Draghi’s quantitative easing program
* S&P 500 is heading for its first annual advance since 2014, up 7.9 percent this year
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear is one of the greatest problems in life.  A mind that is caught in fear
lives in confusion, in conflict, and therefore  must be violent, distorted and aggressive.
Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.
                                       -Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
   Thou art not so unkind
       As man’s ingratitude;
   Thy tooth is not so keen,
   Because thou art not seen,
       Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
   Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
       This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
   That does not bite so nigh
       As benefits forgot:
   Though thou the waters warp,
   Thy sting is not so sharp
       As friend remembered not.

                         –William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, As You Like It.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People look at a Nutcracker-themed holiday window display at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York on Thursday night. Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters

Members of Sotheby’s auction house staff adjust a painting by Titian entitled ‘Portrait of Two Boys’ (circa 1485-90), said to be of members of the Pesaro family, at a press preview in London on Friday. The painting will be sold at auction on Dec. 7, with an estimated value of 1-1.5 million pounds (1.2-1.9 million USD.) Alastair Grant/AP
Market Closes for December 2nd, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19170.42	-21.51   -0.11%
S&P 500	2191.95	+0.87   +0.04%
NASDAQ	5255.652	+4.545   +0.09%
TSX	15052.52	+24.99
		+0.17%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18426.08	-87.04
		-0.47%
HANG SENG	22564.82	-313.41
		-1.37%
SENSEX	26230.66	-329.26
		-1.24%
FTSE 100	6730.72	-22.21
		-0.33%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.620		1.676
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.225		2.262
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3885		2.4481
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0673		3.1085

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75240	0.75106
US $	1.32908	1.33146
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41803	0.70520
US $	1.06692	0.93727

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1173.50	1161.85
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.68	51.06

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as the jobless rate fell with people leaving the workforce, while the nation’s economy added jobs in November, surprising economists who had expected a loss. U.S. hiring also picked up as the unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 15,052.52 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, paring a weekly decline. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 9.4 percent advance.
     Canada’s unemployment rate fell for the first time in five months in November, to 6.8 percent as people dropped out of the labor force and companies added part-time workers. Employment climbed by 10,700, compared with economists’ expectations for a 15,000 decline, for a fourth straight monthly jobs gain.
     The U.S. meanwhile added 178,000 jobs, just short of the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of an 180,000 advance. The jobless rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 4.6 percent.
     Energy producers slipped 0.2 percent as a group, paring a fourth straight weekly advance that’s the longest since October. Crude in New York edged higher, trading at about $51 a barrel, as prices surged 12 percent this week after OPEC signaled an agreement to curb oil output. Pipeline company Enbridge Inc. rose 0.5 percent after winning approval from the Canadian government for one of its pipeline projects this week.
     Raw-material stocks added 1.8 percent as gold futures advanced. Zinc headed for its first weekly drop since mid- October, pacing a decline in copper and other industrial metals as a frenzy in trading eased. Natural resource producers are the top-performing industries in the S&P/TSX this year. Teck Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest diversified miner, has surged six-fold to pace gains as metallurgical coal and zinc prices have rallied.
     In other moves:
* Bombardier Inc. added 0.5 percent after winning orders for Tanzania to buy two CS300 jetliners and one Q400 turboprop aircraft for about $200 million
* Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. retreated 0.7 percent after suspending concentrate shipments to the Chinese border from its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in southern Mongolia.
Authorities at the border introduced new requirements that are causing long wait times and safety concerns at the border, the company said.
US
By Aleksandra Gjorgievska
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed near a two- week low after November jobs data delivered a mixed picture on the strength of the labor market as investors assess the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates.
     Hiring picked up last month while the unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low on a drop in the number of people in the workforce and wages unexpectedly declined. The S&P 500 Index rose less than one point to 2,192.05 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark fell 1 percent in the week to cap its first drop since the presidential election.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.82 points to 19,171.11, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ended higher by 0.1 percent.
* Today’s jobs report is the last before Federal Reserve officials announce their policy decision on Dec. 14. Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance they’ll boost the benchmark rate, up from 68 percent at the start of November.
* Equities rallied in November, with major U.S. indexes posting new highs, as traders speculated president-elect Donald Trump will increase fiscal spending to stimulate the economy.
* Some of the largest U.S. fund managers are skeptical of the rally’s strength. Bill Gross, who runs the $1.7 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, said yesterday such a belief is misguided as the benefits of fiscal stimulus will likely be temporary.
Treasuries rose, the dollar fell and stocks were little changed after the latest jobs report delivered a mixed picture on the strength of the labor market as investors assess the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates.
     U.S. government bond yields slumped the most in three months, the S&P 500 Index hovered near a two-week low and the greenback dropped against major peers. Brent oil capped its biggest weekly gain since 2009 after OPEC approved its first supply cut in eight years, with attention now shifting to compliance with the deal and how other producers will react to a price rally. Gold futures gained for the first time in four sessions amid signs of political uncertainty ahead of an Italian referendum this weekend.
     U.S. hiring picked up in November, while the unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low on a drop in the number of people in the workforce and wages unexpectedly declined, providing a mixed picture of the labor market. The 178,000 gain followed a 142,000 rise in October that was less than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 180,000 advance. The jobless rate fell 0.3 percentage point to 4.6 percent as labor participation dropped for a second month.
     “This is a mixed number, but overall the story for December is unlikely to change,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest-rate strategist at TD Securities LLC. “Given the mixed to weaker print, I think market pricing for 2017 rate hikes could stand to decline somewhat over the near-term.”

* MSCI’s global gauge rose less than 0.1 percent at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The S&P 500 added less than 0.1 percent to 2,191.95.
* Real-estate shares and utilities rose, while financial companies fell.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated for a second day.
* Emerging-market shares dropped.

* Oil closed at the highest in more than a year in London and New York.
* Gold pared its weekly loss.
* Palladium slipped, while platinum rallied on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
* Silver gained on the Comex in New York.

* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, slipped 0.3 percent.
* The pound rallied after the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats gained a U.K. parliamentary seat in a by-election, a result that may complicate Prime Minister Theresa May’s efforts to begin the process of leaving the European Union early next year.
* The Turkish lira sank to a record low.

* Treasury 10-year yields dropped five basis points to 2.40 percent after increasing on Thursday to the highest since June 2015.
* The Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Total Return Index of bonds fell 4 percent in November, its biggest decline since the index was started in 1990.
* Italy’s 10-year yield was down 15 basis points at 1.90 percent, before the referendum Sunday that has the potential to topple Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Fear is man’s greatest enemy,
and it manifests itself in forms as diverse as shame, jealousy, anger, insolence, arrogance…
What causes fear?  Lack of confidence in oneself.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me 
an invincible summer.
                                                -Albert Camus, 1913-1960

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
December: Latin, 10^th month.  December was the tenth month in the Roman calendar when the year began in March with the vernal equinox.

Silence slips peacefully over the black-and-white world.  The wind moans.  The Earth is hard as iron.  Mist and cold penetrate to the bone.  The days grow shorter, the snowfalls heavier.  Bare trees and hunched figures in overcoats and heavy jackets dot the streets.  But inside it is warm.…People gather in expectation of the rebirth of the light.  There is almost the sense that the Sun will break forth again from the interior of the Earth – or from within our own souls.  Christmas and Hanukka, among other celebrations, hold forth the promise that, by our dedication and self-sacrifice a new green world of meaning, love, and compassion can be born.  At the solstice, the heavens show us the rebirth of the light, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti – the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People sit on a bench on a warm autumn evening in a park near Lake Leman in Lutry, Switzerland, on Thursday. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Staff members pose for photographs during the unveiling of a Christmas tree, by Iranian-born artist Shirazeh Houshiary, in the Rotunda of the Tate Britain gallery in London on Thursday. The tree is part of the gallery’s annual festive commissions. Matt Dunham/AP

Visitors walk through the annual year-end illumination ‘Canyon d’Azur’ in Tokyo’s Shiodome district on Thursday. Shuji Kajiyama/AP

The 84th annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is on display after the lighting ceremony in Manhattan, New York, on Wednesday. Alex Wroblewski/Reuters
Market Closes for December 1^st, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19191.93	+68.35   +0.36%
S&P 500	2191.08	-7.73   -0.35%
NASDAQ	5251.105	-72.575   -1.36%
TSX	15027.53	-55.32
		-0.37%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18513.12	+204.64
		+1.12%
HANG SENG	22878.23	+88.46
		+0.39%
SENSEX	26559.92	-92.89
		-0.35%
FTSE 100	6752.93	-30.86
		-0.45%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.676		1.584
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.262		2.161
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.4481		2.3773
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.1085		3.0337

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75106	0.74436
US $	1.33146	1.34343
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.41935	0.70455
US $	1.06602	0.93807

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1161.85	1178.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	51.06	49.44

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated from an 18-month high as raw-materials producers tumbled with metals prices, while pipeline companies were a drag on energy shares. Earnings from the nation’s largest lenders bolstered bank stocks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 15,027.53 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after Wednesday capping a fifth straight monthly gain that’s the longest winning streak in two years. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 32 percent higher than the 30-day average. The index is up 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 10 percent advance.
     Energy producers fell 0.1 percent as a group, reversing an earlier gain after posting a 5 percent surge Wednesday as OPEC signaled an agreement to curb oil output and crude rose above $50 a barrel in New York. Pipeline companies TransCanada Corp. and Enbridge Inc. fell at least 2.3 percent, offsetting gains among producers. Crescent Point Energy Corp. and Tourmaline Oil Corp. gained at least 1.6 percent.
     Natural resource producers are the top-performing industries in the S&P/TSX this year. Teck Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest diversified miner, has surged six-fold to pace gains as metallurgical coal and zinc prices have rallied.
     In other moves:
* Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce jumped 2.2 percent, trading at a record after posting fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, raising its quarterly dividend 2.5 percent.
* Toronto-Dominion Bank fell 0.8 percent as earnings stalled in its domestic retail business, offsetting gains in capital markets and U.S. consumer lending. Adjusted earnings were in line with analysts’ forecasts.
* Canopy Growth Corp., the largest marijuana producer by market capitalization in Canada, fell 4.3 percent, reversing an earlier gain after agreeing to buy competitor Mettrum Health Corp. for about C$430 million in an all-share deal. Mettrum soared 29 percent to a record.
US
By Joseph Ciolli and Julie Edde
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell from near all-time highs, after equities capped their first monthly advance in four, as technology shares plunged to overshadow rallies in bank and energy shares.
     The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4 percent to 2,191.08 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark index climbed 3.4 percent in November for its best gain in eight months amid speculation the incoming president will push through policies that boost growth in the world’s largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 68.35 points to 19,191.93 Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index slid 1.6 percent to a two-week low.
     Technology shares have lagged behind during a post-election rally that’s boosted banks to the highest since February 2008 amid speculation Donald Trump’s cabinet picks signal a slackening of regulations for the financial sector. Oil shares added to gains sparked by OPEC’s intention to curb crude output. Trump’s trade policies may have the potential to harm large-cap technology providers.
     The group slumped Thursday after a report that Apple Inc. has started reducing orders from iPhone 7 suppliers. Semiconductor shares plunged 4.6 percent. IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. lost at least 1.5 percent.
     “You have the potential for higher interest rates resulting from bigger deficits, and that’s causing some of the rate- sensitive areas to once again come under pressure,” said Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer of McQueen, Ball & Associates Inc. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “On the flipside, you have another day of strength in the oil patch, and the beneficiaries from higher infrastructure spending are moving up.”
     Attention will turn to tomorrow’s government payrolls data for clues on the strength of the economy and the timing for higher interest rates. A private report yesterday showed better- than-forecast figures. Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance policy makers will increase rates this month, up from 68 percent at the start of November.
     Among stocks moving Thursday:
* Automakers rose, with General Motors Co. adding 5.5 percent and Ford Motor Co. gaining 3.9 percent after reporting sales that exceeded analyst estimates.
* Energy shares increased for a second day as ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil Corp. and Whiting Petroleum Corp. climbed more than 2.4 percent after OPEC agreed to cut production for the first time since 2008.
* Dollar General Corp. slipped 5 percent after the dollar-store chain’s earnings and sales for the fiscal third quarter trailed analyst estimates.
* Guess? Inc. plunged 10 percent after the apparel maker cut its fiscal-year earnings forecast by about 30 percent after reporting third-quarter profit that trailed analyst forecasts.
* B/E Aerospace Inc. slid after a proposed $6.4 billion purchase of the aircraft-parts maker by Rockwell Collins ran into opposition from the activist investor Starboard Value.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

How is this dream to be broken,
how shall we wake up form this dream
that we are little men and women,
and all such things?
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.
                                              -Arthur Ashe, 1943-1993

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Winston Churchill was born  on this day in 1874.
Another great, mark Twain was born on November 30^th, 1835.  Twain is quoted as saying, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1935.  It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it.”    He did. Twain died at Redding, Connecticut, April 21, 1910 (just one day after  Halley’s Comet’s perihelion).
On Nov. 30, 1995, President Clinton became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Northern Ireland.

Be careful about reading health books.
You may die of a misprint. –Mark Twain.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An elderly Kashmiri Muslim man prays seated on dried leaves on a cold and foggy day in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir on Wednesday. Parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir region is experiencing cold and foggy conditions after fresh snowfall in the Himalayan mountain ranges in the past few days. Mukhtar Khan/AP

People gather around lit candles in the shape of a ribbon during a HIV/AIDS awareness campaign ahead of World Aids Day, in Kathmandu, Nepal on Wednesday. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters
Mourners hold candles as they gather during a vigil to pay tribute to Thailand’s late King Bhumibol Adulyadej in central Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Market Closes for November 30^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19123.58	+1.98   +0.01%
S&P 500	2203.09	-1.57   -0.07%
NASDAQ	5323.680	-56.238   -1.05%
TSX	15109.25	+109.44
		+0.73%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18308.48	+1.44
		+0.01%
HANG SENG	22789.77	+52.70
		+0.23%
SENSEX	26652.81	+258.80
		+0.98%
FTSE 100	6783.79	+11.79
		+0.17%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.584		1.511
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.161		2.094
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3773		2.2910
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0337		2.9459

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74436	0.74431
US $	1.34343	1.34353
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42353	0.70248
US $	1.05963	0.94373

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1178.10	1186.55
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.44	45.23

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks sealed the longest winning streak in more than two years as the country’s resource sector continues to roar back to life.
     Energy producers soared with crude after OPEC agreed to oil production cuts, the Trudeau government approved two long- gestating pipeline projects and the economy grew at the fastest pace in two years in the third quarter, combining to drive a fifth straight monthly gain for the S&P/TSX Composite Index — the longest stretch of wins since April 2014.
    The benchmark equity gauge rose 0.6 percent to 15,082.85 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, capping a 2 percent advance in November. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 60 percent higher than the 30-day average. The index is up 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 9.2 percent advance.
    “This puts a ground floor under oil in the short run at about $50,” said John Stephenson, Chief Executive Officer at Stephenson & Co. Capital Management in Toronto. His firm manages about C$51 million. “It’s a pro-growth story today, and energy is a big part of it. It’s better than people thought, overall a great story for producers.”
    Stephenson owns energy names including Gibson Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Pembina Pipeline Corp. and may be looking at oilfield services companies such as Precision Drilling Corp. next.
    “We haven’t yet but we may start wading in,” he said. “If I was in Calgary today it might be a good day to go for a beer after.”
    Energy producers soared 5 percent as a group to drive gains in the Canadian benchmark. Canadian Natural Resources and Encana Corp. rallied at least 8.8 percent.
     Canada’s gross domestic product expanded at a 3.5 percent annualized pace from July to September, Statistics Canada said from Ottawa. Output grew 0.3 percent in September from August, ahead of economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent rise. Energy exports jumped 27 percent as the industry rebounded from losses after wildfires in Alberta disrupted production.
     “For the first time in ages, this sets the stage for broad- based upward revisions to Canada’s overall GDP growth rate, for both 2016 and perhaps 2017,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, in a report to clients. “The latter could also be potentially fueled by firming oil prices.”

    Brent crude broke above $50 a barrel for the first time since Oct. 28 and West Texas Intermediate surged in New York as members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels a day to 32.5 million. It’s a surprising turnaround after weeks of negotiations, with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran resolving their differences after threatening to derail talks.                     “The Saudis seemed very determined,” said David Cockfield, fund manager at Northland Wealth Management in Toronto. His firm manages about C$400 million. “Some people were convinced they wouldn’t be able to come up with a deal. The mathematics works – – say they cut 5 percent, if prices go up 10 percent you’re still ahead of the game.”
     Enbridge Inc. slipped 0.4 percent, erasing an earlier gain after winning approval for its Line 3 proposal from the Canadian government, one of two major pipeline projects to get the nod Tuesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau however rejected Enbridge’s Northern Gateway proposal citing excessive risks.
     Natural resource producers are the top-performing industries in the S&P/TSX this year. Teck Resources Ltd., the nation’s largest diversified miner, has surged six-fold this year for the top performance among Canadian stocks as metallurgical coal and zinc prices have rallied.
     Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lender, stumbled 3.4 percent for its worst slide since January after fourth- quarter profit fell short of analysts’ expectations amid the slowest growth in personal and commercial banking in more than two years and slumping earnings from capital markets. Toronto- Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce report their results Thursday.
     Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated 7.9 percent, the most in three weeks. The drugmaker has decided to keep and invest in its gastrointestinal drugs division after talks to sell the unit to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. fell apart, according to people familiar with the matter. Valeant will need to find another way to pay down its $30 billion in debt.
US
By Eric J. Weiner and Camila Russo
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were mostly lower despite a strong performance by energy shares after OPEC members reached an agreement to cut petroleum production.
     The S&P 500 Index soared at the market’s open and surpassed it’s record high, but then retreated and was down 0.27 percent to 2,198.81 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also touched a record high before fading and was essentially flat at 19,123.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell more than 1 percent to 5,323.68.
     Earlier Tuesday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached an agreement to curtail oil supply by 1.2 million barrels, the first cut in eight years.
     “Today, with a significant rally in crude, it’s up about 8 percent or so, leadership is going to come from energy,” said Yousef Abbasi, a global market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC. “There is going to be a positive tail wind off of this”
    Energy stocks climbed 4.82 percent as a group. Devon Energy Corp. gained 14.63 percent and Marathon Oil Corp. rose 20.8 percent, both hitting 52-week highs
     “An agreement on production cuts is positive for oil stocks in the short term, but the upside to oil prices will be limited,” said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, an equity strategist at Deutsche Postbank AG in Bonn, Germany. “U.S. stocks still have further to gain as Trump’s policies seem to be heading in a better direction than people expected before the election.”
     Stocks have rallied in November, with all major U.S. indexes touching records, on speculation president-elect Donald Trump will increase fiscal spending to stimulate the world’s largest economy. The S&P 500 has climbed 3.4 percent, on track for its biggest monthly advance since July.
     Reports on pending home sales and the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book are due later today, as well as a private release on employment. Investors are also awaiting the government payrolls data on Friday for clues on the pace of future interest-rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The probability of a rate increase in December is at 100 percent, compared with a 68 percent chance at the start of November.
      “The only things that really changed since the last Beige Book were the election, the dollar, and inflation,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management LLC. “Election uncertainty was cited as holding back auto sales, hiring, and construction. Now, that uncertainty is resolved and that excuse goes away.”

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

You must learn how to be lucid in all your actions;
that is, you must not only be aware of the time, the place, and the circumstances,
in which the action takes place, but also of yourself, the player, of your body
and what is happening at any moment.
It is not only a question of seeing things as they are, but of seeing yourself at the same time,
and the reactions that take place within you.
In other words, you absorb the whole thing within you and you become complete.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

 

Carolann

If you want the present to be different from the past,
study the past.

                                -Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 
Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

This appeared in The Wall Street Journal recently:
Notable & Quotable: James Q. Wilson
From “What Is Moral, and How Do We Know It?” by political scientist James Q. Wilson (1931-2012) in Commentary magazine, June 1993:
Almost every important tendency in modern thought has questioned the possibility of making moral judgments. Analytical philosophy asserts that moral statements are expressions of emotion lacking any rational or scientific basis. Marxism derides morality and religion as “phantoms formed in the human brain,” “ideological reflexes” that are, at best, mere sublimates of material circumstances. Nietzsche writes dismissively that morality is but the herd instinct of the individual. Existentialists argue that man must choose his values without having any sure compass by which to guide those choices. Cultural anthropology as practiced by many of its most renowned scholars claims that amid the exotic diversity of human life there can be found no universal laws of right conduct. . . .
I wish to argue for an older view of human nature, one that assumes that people are naturally endowed with certain moral sentiments. We have a peculiar, fragile, but persistent disposition to make moral judgments, and we generally regard people who lack this disposition to be less than human. Despite our wars, crimes, envies, snobberies, fanaticisms, and persecutions, there is to be found a desire not only for praise but for praiseworthiness, for fair dealings as well as for good deals, for honor as well as for advantage. These desires become evident when we think disinterestedly about ourselves or others. . . .

Mankind’s moral sense is not a strong beacon light, radiating outward to illuminate in sharp outline all that it touches. It is, rather, a small candle flame, casting vague and multiple shadows, flickering and sputtering in the strong winds of power and passion, greed and ideology. But brought close to the heart and cupped in one’s hands, it dispels the darkness and warms the soul.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Oil lamps offered by devotees illuminate the Bagmati River flowing through the premises of the Pashupatinath Temple during the Bala Chaturdashi festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Tuesday. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

Devotes wearing their traditional dresses carry the religious statue of Saint Saturtino, patron of the city, in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Tuesday. Alvaro Barrientos/AP

Emma Morano, thought to be the world’s oldest person and the last to be born in the 1800s, blows out candles during her 117th birthday celebration in Verbania, northern Italy, on Tuesday. Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
Market Closes for November 29^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19121.60	+23.70   +0.12%
S&P 500	2204.66	+2.94   +0.13%
NASDAQ	5379.918	+11.105   +0.21%
TSX	14999.81	-15.55
		-0.10%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18307.04	-49.85
		-0.27%
HANG SENG	22737.07	-93.50
		-0.41%
SENSEX	26394.01	+43.84
		+0.17%
FTSE 100	6772.00	-27.47
		-0.40%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.511		1.524
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.094		2.115
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.2910		2.3124
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9459		2.9755

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74431	0.74584
US $	1.34353	1.34076
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.43059	0.69901
US $	1.06480	0.93914

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1186.55	1187.70
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	45.23	47.08

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a second day as crude tumbled with an OPEC deal now seen at risk after Iran said it wouldn’t cut production.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.1 percent to 14,999.81 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, paring an earlier loss of as much as 0.5 percent as gains among big banks offset weakness in commodities. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 9.2 percent lower than the 30-day average. The index remains up 15 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.
     Energy producers led the index down, slumping 1.8 percent as a group for a fourth day of losses, the longest losing streak since Nov. 4. Only three of 11 industries in the S&P/TSX declined, as materials and utilities also lagged.
     Crude sank below $46 a barrel in New York, slumping 3.9 percent, after Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters in Vienna his country won’t cut output. Saudi Arabia on Sunday for the first time floated the possibility of leaving Vienna without an agreement. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says the oil market is pricing in a 30 percent chance that producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will reach a deal.
     Among other moves:
* Raw-materials companies fell 0.7 percent as industrial metals slumped, paring the biggest monthly rally in four years on signs China is taking steps to cool a trading frenzy in commodities. Copper, lead, nickel, aluminum and zinc all retreated.
* Teck Resources Ltd., the best-performing stock in the S&P/TSX this year, lost 2 percent. Teck is up about six-fold in 2016 on rallies in metallurgical coal and zinc.
* Bank of Nova Scotia advanced 1.6 percent, to the highest in two years, after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations on gains in capital markets and domestic banking. The lender is the top-performing lender in Canada this year with a 32 percent rally.
US
By Sofia Horta e Costa and Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks regained their momentum and hovered near all-time highs as traders digested encouraging data on gross domestic product growth and real estate, looking for hints about the strength of the economy ahead of Friday’s payrolls report.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.13 percent to 2,204.66 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12 percent to 19,121.60. And the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.21 percent to 5379.92
     “Notable today is a bit of rotation back into large cap tech stocks that have been lagging,” said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at MKM Partners LLC. “Facebook, Google, Microsoft are all up about one percent and financials are also doing a bit better. Those are big sectors in the market, so that’s obviously helping.”
     Stocks have rallied on speculation president-elect Donald Trump will increase fiscal spending to stimulate the world’s largest economy. Investors will turn attention to Friday’s jobs release on clues on the pace of future interest-rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The probability of a rate increase in December has now reached 100 percent compared with 68 percent chance at the start of November.
     The U.S. economy expanded more than previously reported last quarter, rising at a 3.2 percent annualized rate, the fastest in two years, Commerce Department figures showed. Home prices in 20 U.S. cities continued to climb in September, while a gauge of values nationwide exceeded the pre-recession peak, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data. The reports added to a recent flurry to better-than-expected economic releases, lifting the Bloomberg ECO Surprise Index to the highest level since August.
     Oil slipped before petroleum-producing nations meet and begin work on agreement to curb production. The oil market is pricing in a 30 percent chance of producers reaching a deal to cut output at a meeting on Wednesday, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the miner which gets about 11 percent of its revenue from oil, fell 5.1 percent.
     “I think people are treating volatility in the crude market as a one off event around the OPEC meeting and really trading stocks on the fundamentals of the improving economic data,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist and director of research for Wunderlich Securities in Boston.
     Among stocks moving on corporate news, Tiffany & Co. added 3.2 percent after the jewelry maker’s third-quarter profit exceeded estimates as demand improved in China and Japan. TiVo Corp. shot up 6 percent at the market’s open but then fell back, adding just 0.2 percent, after the digital-video recording firm signed a licensing deal with Netflix Inc. Amicus Therapeutics Inc. sank 22 percent after U.S. regulators said accelerated approval for its Fabry-disease treatment is not an option.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The craving for position, for prestige, for power, to be recognized by society
as being outstanding in some way, is a wish to dominate others, and this wish to dominate
is a form of aggression.  And what is the reason for this aggressiveness?  It is fear isn’t it?
Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others
because of your own limited imagination.
                                             -Mae Jemison, b. 1956

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

BRIGHT CROSSWALKS:
Artist Christo Guelov makes drivers and walkers alike more aware of crosswalks and makes Torrelodones, Spain, more beautiful with his project, Funnycross, for which he paints pedestrian crosswalks eye-catching shades of color.   You can see Guelov’s work at the artist’s website, www.christo-guelov.net.

Numbers of the day:
2 Trillion – Estimated number of galaxies in the universe according to a new study.  That’s 10 times the number previously thought.
51.3 Percentage of worldwide internet access accomplished via cell phones or tablet computers in October, putting mobile devices in the top slot for the first time.

On Nov. 28, 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Fishermen place bamboo where they will later place tree branches and food to catch fish in a river in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday.Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

Strollers make their way through the morning fog across a landscape covered with frost near Cologne, Germany, on Monday. Federico Gambarini/dpa/AP

Snowmaker Jose Martinez checks the artificial snow-making machine at a ski resort in Verbier, Switzerland, on Monday. Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Market Closes for November 28^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19097.90	-54.24   -0.28%
S&P 500	2201.72	-11.63   -0.53%
NASDAQ	5368.813	-30.107   -0.56%
TSX	15015.36	-60.08
		-0.40%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18356.89	-24.33
		-0.13%
HANG SENG	22830.57	+107.12
		+0.47%
SENSEX	26350.17	+33.83
		+0.13%
FTSE 100	6799.47	-41.28
		-0.60%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.524		1.560
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.115		2.147
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3124		2.3572
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9755		3.0045

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74584	0.73934
US $	1.34076	1.35255
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42300	0.70274
US $	1.06134	0.94221

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1187.70	1187.70
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	47.08	44.76

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in two weeks, as energy companies are mired in a losing streak with talks among producers continuing ahead of the OPEC summit in Vienna this week.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 15,015.36 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the most since Nov. 11. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 11 percent lower than the 30- day average. The index remains up 15 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.
     Energy producers led the index lower, falling 1.4 percent as a group for a third day of losses, the longest losing streak since Nov. 4. Seven of 11 industries in the S&P/TSX were lower. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. retreated as industrial stocks also declined.
     Medical marijuana producer Canopy Growth Corp. jumped 5.9 percent after agreeing to buy German pharmaceutical distributor MedCann GmbH Pharma and Nutraceuticals. The Canadian government, meanwhile, is preparing to review a task force report on recreational legalization.
     Among other moves:
* Raw-materials producers rose 1.8 percent as industrial metals extended their winning streak. The Bloomberg Industrial Metals sub-index posted its biggest five-day gain since 2011 as zinc touched the highest level in nine years.
* Teck Resources Ltd.,  slipped 0.5 percent. Teck is up in 2016 on rallies in metallurgical coal and zinc.
* Encana Corp. dropped 3.9 percent for a third day of losses after John Gerdes at KLR Group cut his rating for the stock to accumulate from buy.
US
By Julie Edde
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell the most in four weeks as investors speculated that gains sparked by expectations for brisker economic growth under a new administration went too far too quickly.
     Financial shares that have paced a three-week surge since the election fell 1.4 percent Monday, after the value of American financial firms was inflated by more than $300 billion since Nov. 8. Consumer discretionary shares slipped after the start of the holiday sales season was lackluster. Utility stocks climbed 2 percent as a rout in bonds eased.
     The S&P 500 Index lost 0.5 percent to 2,201.82 at 4 p.m. in New York, halting a four-day advance that left the equity benchmark at a record. It had gained 3.4 percent since the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 52.80 points to 19,099.34, while the Russell 2000 Index halted a 15-day surge that was the longest since 1996.
     “With S&P at new all-time highs there is too much hope for fiscal reflation priced into markets at least in the short- term,” said Ralf Zimmerman, an equity strategist at Bankhaus Lampe KG based in Dusseldorf, Germany. “Investors don’t know anything about the future stimulus and today’s futures declines are also triggered by fading hopes for a meaningful OPEC deal.”
     Equities had rallied while bonds plunged on speculation Donald Trump will be able to implement fiscal stimulus to jumpstart growth in the world’s largest economy. Investors will turn attention to U.S. jobs data due Friday for clues on the pace of future interest-rate increases, while OPEC nations continue to work toward a deal to curb production. A referendum Sunday in Italy also has cooled demand for riskier assets.
     “People are stepping back and saying the market is a little bit overbought, let’s sit back here and see if we get some follow through” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. LLC in New York. “The OPEC meeting is giving people a little bit of a reason to take a little bit of a breather.”
     Backward looking economic figures will have little impact on the likelihood of the December rate decision, as a hike is viewed with increasing certainty, though the data may indicate whether the Federal Reserve intends to implement additional increases next year. The probability of a rate hike in December has now reached 100 percent compared with 68 percent chance at the start of November.
     On Tuesday, third quarter GDP growth are released along with information on corporate-profits. Profits have declined in five of the last six quarters and are important as such to see an acceleration in business investment. As the end of the earnings season approaches, 19 companies are reporting this week with many retailers including Tiffany & Co. and Dollar General Corp.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Freedom is a  state of mind – not freedom from something.
Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

Many live in the ivory tower called reality; they never venture on the
open sea of thought.
                                             -Francois Gautier, b. 1959

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Number of the Day:  3,000
Cost (in US dollars) of a set of 350 colored pencils, markers, charcoals, and watercolor brushes.  The set, created by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, has a waiting list at New York’s Museum of Modern Art gift shop.

Are These the World’s Most Magical Places?, a short video by National Geographic, introduces four natural wonders in different location on Earth.  It gives a glimpse into their history, explains the science behind their beauty, and features some awe-inspiring pictures.  Whether you are looking for an exciting travel destination or just want to see something extraordinary from where you are right now, this vieo will fascinate.  Find it at http://bit.ly/natgeoplaces.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Dogs wait as its owner stands in a polling booth to vote in the first round of the French center-right presidential primary election in Nice, France on Sunday, November 20^th, 2016. Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Waves crash against the harbour wall as Storm Angus passes Newhaven in southern Britain on Sunday, November 20^th, 2016. Hannah McKay/Reuters
Market Closes for November 25^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19152.14	+68.96   +0.36%
S&P 500	2213.35	+8.63   +0.39%
NASDAQ	5398.920	+18.242   +0.34%
TSX	15075.77	+0.24
		—

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18381.22	+47.81
		+0.26%
HANG SENG	22723.45	+114.96
		+0.51%
SENSEX	26316.34	+456.17
		+1.76%
FTSE 100	6840.75	+11.55
		+0.17%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.560		1.589
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.147		2.181
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3572		2.3498
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0045		3.0207

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73934	0.74127
US $	1.35255	1.34903
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.43286	0.69791
US $	1.05937	0.94395

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1187.70	1186.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	44.76	46.66

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied for a third straight week, the longest winning streak since July, led by Alberta utilities after the province agreed to compensate them for lost revenue from the phase out of coal plants.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index was flat at 15,075.44 at 4 p.m. in Toronto and gained 1.4 percent on the week as metals and mining companies offset declines in energy stocks. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 42 percent lower than the 30-day average with U.S. markets reopening for a half day of trading after the Thanksgiving holiday. The equity benchmark is up 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.
     Energy producers fell 1.1 percent as a group for a second day of losses. Crude futures fell 4.3 percent in New York for the biggest drop in more than two months. Saudi Arabia pulled out of talks with non-OPEC producers including Russia. The meeting, scheduled for Monday, was later abandoned entirely. Members of the production group have wrestled with how to distribute the burden of supply cuts ahead of a ministerial meeting at the end of the month.
     Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. added at least 1.8 percent to drive a 0.9 percent increase in gold producers. Gold recovered from a nine-month low, posting its first gain in four days as the dollar halted a rally. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index retreated from its highest levels in a decade. Gold has struggled, slumping 7.2 percent in November as the prospect of rising interest rates and stimulative spending from President- elect Donald Trump have dimmed the attractiveness of the precious metal as a haven.
     Among other moves:
* Amaya Inc. jumped 7 percent. The online gaming company’s founder David Baazov has secured new financing for his $4.1 billion bid to take the firm private. This comes after a Dubai firm said a previous offer of backing was given without its knowledge.
* Capital Power Corp. and TransAlta Corp. both rallied the most on record as the power generating companies along with Atco Ltd. were granted a total of C$1.1 billion in compensation from Alberta for phasing out coal plants in the coming years.
TransAlta surged 17 percent while Capital Power gained 9.6 percent.
* Ithaca Energy Inc. tumbled 11 percent, the most since July, after first output from its North Sea Stella field was delayed until January as the company works to fix faults in electrical junction boxes at the floating facility.
US
By Emma O’Brien and Stephen Kirkland
     (Bloomberg) — The dollar trimmed a weekly advance that was spurred by prospects of higher U.S. interest rates. U.S. stocks rallied to a record.
     The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell from the highest level in more than a decade, while emerging-market currencies clawed back gains after India’s rupee fell to a record-low on Thursday. All four major U.S. equity benchmarks reached all-time highs as trading resumed following the Thanksgiving holiday. Oil dropped the most in more than two months on doubts OPEC will come to an accord to cut output as planned talks between producers inside and outside the group was canceled.
     Strong economic data and the prospect of increased spending after Donald Trump won the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential vote have fueled a surge in bets on Federal Reserve rate hikes, propelling the greenback higher against all but two of it peers this month. Traders see an increase in borrowing costs in December as a certainty, while the odds of additional moves by June have risen to more than 60 percent, according to futures data tracked by Bloomberg.
     “The dollar bull run had perhaps become a little stretched,” said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in London. “We’ve had a very strong run since the election and it’s just a bit of a pull back.”
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 percent at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The yen posted the worst weekly performance among major currencies.
* The rupee strengthened after sinking to a record low Thursday.
* China’s yuan, which fell to an eight-year low this week, was little changed.
* South Africa’s rand pared gains after the nation moved closer to a junk credit rating as Fitch Ratings Ltd. changed the outlook on its assessment to negative from stable.

     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to a record high. Equity markets in the U.S. are due to shut at 1 p.m. local time Friday.
* European stocks also gained, with trading volume below the 30- day average.
* Actelion Ltd. jumped after people familiar with the matter said Johnson & Johnson has approached the Swiss drugmaker about a potential takeover.
* Emerging-market shares posted their weekly advance in more than a month.

     Bonds
* The difference between German two-year yields and the equivalent swap rate reached the widest level since 2012 amid speculation the European Central Bank may relax its deposit rate floor for bond purchases.
* Yields on 40-year Japanese bonds reversed an earlier climb as an auction saw 499.7 billion yen ($4.4 billion) of securities sold at a highest yield of 0.725 percent.
* “The 40 year bonds were well received in the auction, triggering a bout of bond buying,” said Masahiko Sato, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo.

     Commodities
* Gold’s first gain in four days cut this week’s loss to 2 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude oil lost 4.3 percent to $46.06 a barrel.
* Ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao climbed 3.5 percent to $79.61 a dry ton on Friday, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts.  This is the secret of success.
Swami Sivananda

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

It’s not reason that gives us our moral orientation; it’s sensitivity.
                                               -Maurice Barres, 1862-1923

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On November 24^th, 1801, Dorothy Wordsworth wrote in her journal:

A rainy morning.  We all were well except that my head ached a little, and I took my breakfast in bed.  I read a little of Chaucer, prepared the goose for dinner, and then we all walked out. I was obliged to return for my fur tippet and spencer (a close-fitting jacket or bodice), it was so cold … As we were going along we were stopped at once, at the distance perhaps of fifty yards from our favourite birch tree. It was yielding to the gusty wind with all its tender twigs, the sun shone upon it, and it glanced in the wind like a flying sunshiny shower.  It was a tree in shape, with stem and branches, but it was like a spirit of water.  The sun went in, and it resumed its purplish appearance, the twigs still yielding to the wind, but not so visibly to us.  The other birch trees that were near it looked bright and cheerful, but it was a creature by its own self among them.  –from The Book of Days.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The moon sets behind a statue atop the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican before a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on the occasion of the closing of the Holy Door on Sunday. The Holy Door closing marks the end of the Jubilee of Mercy. Gregorio Borgia/AP

A photographer stops to capture the early morning ground fog on the National Mall in Washington on Saturday. J. David Ake/AP
Market Closes for November 24^th, 2016

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19083.18	Closed
S&P 500	2204.27	Closed
NASDAQ	5380.678	Closed
TSX	15075.20	-5.71
		-0.04%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18333.41	+170.47
		+0.94%
HANG SENG	22608.49	-68.20
		-0.30%
SENSEX	25860.17	-191.64
		-0.74%
FTSE 100	6829.20	+11.49
		+0.17%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.589		1.555
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.181		2.184
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3498		2.3552
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.0207		3.0207

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74127	0.74103
US $	1.34903	1.34947
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.42420	0.70215
US $	1.05572	0.94722

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1186.10	1185.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	46.66	46.66

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended the day little-changed as energy producers retreated to offset a rally in industrial metals led by First Quantum Minerals Ltd.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index edged lower to 15,075.20 at 4 p.m. in Toronto on Thursday, erasing an earlier gain of as much as 0.3 percent. Trading volume in the Canadian equity benchmark was 68 percent lower than the 30-day average with U.S. markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. The equity benchmark is up 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.
     First Quantum and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. climbed at least 2.9 percent as copper stocks led gains with the metal set for its biggest monthly gain in a decade with a 21 percent rally. TransAlta Corp. rose 7.8 percent, the most in seven months, after Alberta said utilities in the Western Canadian province will be compensated for the power-generation capacity they add under new rules to lure investment. Energy producers slipped to offset the advance.
     Among other moves:
* Sherritt International Corp. is up 54 percent during a four- day winning streak with nickel joining the wider rally in industrial metals.
* Diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd., the best-performing stock in the S&P/TSX this year with an almost six-fold gain, rose 0.3 percent, on a four-day rally to the highest in more than three years.
* Bombardier Inc. added 1.1 percent after winning a $620 million option order for 40 double-deck trains for the Normandy region of France.
* Energy stocks slipped 0.2 percent as crude ended little- changed, trading near $48 a barrel in New York. Iraq’s prime minister said the country will shrink production, while Russia said it would go no further than a freeze.
US

US MARKETS CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

When a man has an idea of what he must be and how he must act,
and undermines this by not ceasing to act in the opposite way,
he must realize that his principles, his beliefs, his ideals,
will inevitably fall prey to hypocrisy and dishonesty.
It is the ideal that begets the opposite of itself.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I paint object as I think them, not as I see them.
                          -Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com