Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Autumn’s a preparation for renewal,

Yet not entirely shorn

Of tardy beauty, last and saddest jewel

Bedizening where it may not adorn.

Few of the autumn blooms are deeply dear,

Lacking the spirit volatile and chaste

That blows across the ground when pied appear

The midget sweets of Spring, and in their haste

The vaporous trees break blossom pale and clear,

-Carpet and canopy, together born…

-Vita Sackville-West, from The Garden

Photos of the day

Loch Dunmore reflects autumnal leaves, near Pitlochry, Scotland. Russell Cheyne/Reuters

Fallen leaves lie on a puddle of water during a rainy autumn morning at Parque da Cidade, in Porto, Portugal. The city park, opened in 1993, is the largest urban park in Portugal, occupying 205 acres near the Atlantic coast with about 6 miles of walking paths. Paulo Duarte/AP

Market Closes for November 5^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15618.22	-20.90    -0.13%
S&P 500	1762.97	-4.96    -0.28%
NASDAQ	3939.864	+3.273    +0.08%
TSX	1336178	—
		—

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14225.37	+23.80
		+0.17%
HANG  SENG	23038.95	-150.67
		-0.65%
SENSEX	20974.79	-264.57
		-1.25%
FTSE 100	6764.84	-16.78
		-0.25%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.536	2.494
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.102	3.063
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.6660	2.5999
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.7696	3.6926

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95710	0.95961
US   $	1.04482	1.04209
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.40803	0.71021
US  $	1.34762	0.74205

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1311.79	1314.97
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	93.37	94.62
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks erased losses in the final two hours of trading as declines among gold producers offset rallies in Paladin Labs Inc. and Open Text Corp., fueled by deal activity.

Iamgold Corp. dropped 3.9 percent as the metal’s price dropped to a two-week low. Paladin, a Canadian drug company, surged 49 percent to a record high after agreeing to be bought by Endo Health Solutions Inc. Open Text jumped 10 percent after agreeing to acquire a technology consulting firm. Encana Corp. rose 3 percent as it plans to cut its workforce, lower its dividend and sell shares in an initial offering for one of its assets to boost cash flow.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index was unchanged at 13,361.78, at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing earlier losses of as much as 0.4 percent.

“I think people are still searching for direction. We’re not going to get much on the calendar until Thursday,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd., on the phone from Toronto. His firm manages about C$225 million ($215.4 million). “Gold stocks had a pretty good relief rally yesterday, but there’s very little momentum in gold prices right now so with the volatility in the sector it’s not surprising to see it at a loss.”

The S&P/TSX rallied 4.5 percent in October and is trading near a two-year high. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 7.5 percent this year, the third-worst performer in the world among developed markets, ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore.

Investors have been assessing global data to determine whether major economies are strong enough to generate faster growth. Data today from the U.S. showed service industries expanded in October at a faster pace than forecast. Reports later this week may show the U.S. economy slowed in the third quarter and employers hired fewer workers in October. Canada will report jobs data for last month on Nov. 7.

The European Union today cut its forecast for euro-area growth next year and raised its unemployment estimate. Investors are weighing whether the region’s central bank will cut interest rates on Nov. 7.

Five of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX slumped today. Raw- materials producers paced losses, sliding 0.5 percent. Trading volume was 12 percent higher compared with the 30-day average.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index slid 1.2 percent after advancing 3 percent yesterday. The gauge is down 40 percent this year. The price of gold slumped to the lowest in more than two weeks as the U.S. services data fueled bets the Federal Reserve may trim stimulus sooner than anticipated.

Alacer Gold Corp. fell 6.9 percent to C$2.68 and Iamgold dropped 3.9 percent to C$5.18.

Bombardier Inc., the world’s third-largest planemaker, lost 0.2 percent to C$4.53 for a fifth day of declines. The stock has slumped 14 percent since posting weaker-than-estimated quarterly profit on Oct. 31.

Canadian Western Bank lost 1.8 percent to C$32.94 and Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lender, slipped 0.4 percent to C$70.04. Seven of 10 members of the the S&P/TSX Banks Index retreated today.

Open Text gained 10 percent to C$85.32, an all-time high, after agreeing to buy closely held GXS Group Inc. in a $1.17 billion deal.

GXS is a business-to-business cloud integration company, marketing software that helps companies communicate and share data.

Paladin climbed 49 percent to a record C$95.43, after the drug company agreed to sell itself to Endo Health Solutions for about $1.6 billion. The purchase, to be made mostly through stock, values each Paladin share at C$77, a 20 percent premium to yesterday’s closing price.

Encana, Canada’s largest natural gas producer, rallied 3 percent to C$19.15, the most in almost two months. The company will focus spending in 2014 on five oil and liquids areas including the Duvernay, Montney, DJ Basin, San Juan Basin and Tuscaloosa Marine Shale while cutting 800 jobs.

The Calgary-based company, which has maintained a 20-cent quarterly dividend since 2009, today lowered the payout to 7 cents.

USA

By Lu Wang

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined, following two days of gains that sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to within five points of a record high, as investors awaited this week’s data on economic growth and employment.

Homebuilders slumped 1.8 percent as a group as JPMorgan Chase & Co. said D.R. Horton Inc.’s order growth may trail analysts’ expectations. Delphi Automotive Plc dropped 5.2 percent after narrowing its profit projection. Tenet Healthcare Corp. tumbled 8.8 percent as the hospital chain’s earnings forecast missed estimates. GT Advanced Technologies Inc. surged 21 percent after agreeing to supply equipment to Apple Inc.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,762.97 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 20.90 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,618.22. About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 5 percent above the three-month average.

“The market is in a quandary right now,” Colleen Supran, a principal at San Francisco-based Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough, which manages about $3 billion, said in a phone interview. “For jobs, you’re just hoping you still see some steady traction, but it’s hard to predict, because a healthy jobs market might also mean that the Fed feels more comfortable with an earlier tapering date. It’ll be a little choppy.”

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent yesterday, building on four straight weeks of gains that sent the index to a record 1,771.95 on Oct. 29, as Exxon Mobil Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. led a rally among commodity shares. The benchmark gauge has surged 23.6 percent this year, poised for the best annual performance since 2003, as company earnings beat forecasts and the Federal Reserve maintained stimulus measures.

Investors are watching data to gauge the health of the U.S. economy after the central bank last week said it needs to see more evidence of sustained improvement before slowing the pace of its $85 billion monthly bond purchases. Economists in a Bloomberg survey project that tapering will begin in March, based on the median estimate.

The European Union cut its forecast for euro-area growth next year and raised its unemployment estimate as the economy struggled to regain momentum after a record-long recession. In the U.S., service industries unexpectedly accelerated in October, as the Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. non- manufacturing index rose to 55.4 from 54.4 the prior month.

Fed Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the U.S. economy will probably grow just 2 percent next year, with no new source of strength. The forecast is far below the 2.9 percent to 3.1 percent estimate among Federal Open Market Committee participants at a Sept. 17-18 meeting.

Economists in a Bloomberg survey last week predicted a report will show the economy expanded 2 percent in the third quarter, down from 2.5 percent the previous quarter. The Commerce Department plans to release its initial estimate of third-quarter growth on Nov. 7.

A report the next day may show employers hired fewer workers in October. Payrolls rose by 125,000 workers last month after a 148,000 gain in September, Labor Department figures may show.

“A lot of people are nervous by how strong the market has been this year,” Patrick Kaser, a managing director and portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management in Philadelphia, said by phone. His firm oversees about $45 billion. “There is still skepticism about how the economy is really doing and whether these gains are from artificial factors, like the Fed, or from real strength in company results.”

Of the 404 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 75 percent have beaten analysts’ forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Income for the broad index probably increased 4.1 percent in the third quarter, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX, climbed 2.6 percent to 13.27. The measure is down 26 percent this year.

Eight out of 10 S&P 500 industries fell as telephone and energy companies fell more than 0.8 percent for the worst performance. Verizon Communications Inc. declined 1.9 percent to $50.10 and AT&T Inc. dropped 2.5 percent to $35.53 for the steepest losses in the Dow.

An S&P index of homebuilders declined 1.8 percent as all but one of its 11 members retreated. Michael Rehaut, an analyst with JPMorgan, said in a note that D.R. Horton’s quarterly order growth may miss his expectation, which is already below other analysts’ estimates. D.R. Horton, scheduled to announce results on Nov. 12, sank 2.2 percent to $18.41.

Delphi Automotive dropped 5.2 percent to $55.01. The auto- parts maker narrowed its earnings forecast, saying it expects to earn $4.25 to $4.35 a share this year. That trailed the average analyst estimate of $4.41 in a Bloomberg survey.

Tenet Healthcare declined 8.8 percent to $44 for the biggest loss in the S&P 500. The hospital chain’s fourth-quarter forecast was less than analysts’ estimates because of slow patient admissions.

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. dropped 6.2 percent to $43.41. The logistics company said it earned 45 cents a share in the third quarter. That trailed the average analyst estimate of 48 cents.

GT Advanced Technologies surged 21 percent to $10.10 after saying it will provide furnaces and related equipment to produce materials out of sapphire at a new Apple plant in Arizona.

Substances derived from sapphire are used in smartphones to cover camera lenses and home buttons. GT Advanced also forecast 2014 revenue exceeding analyst estimates.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 7.3 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $302.32. The drug maker reported third- quarter adjusted profit of $2.40 a share, compared with the average analyst estimate of $1.90 a share.

CVS Caremark Corp. gained 2 percent to $63.22. The pharmacy chain reported third-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates and raised its earnings forecast for the year.

AOL Inc. advanced 8.5 percent to $42.02, the highest level since November 2012. The online media company reported third- quarter sales and adjusted profit above forecasts.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. gained 5.8 percent to a record $79.13. The luxury-goods company predicted full-year earnings of $2.77 to $2.81 a share, compared with a previous estimate of $2.67 to $2.69. Analysts on average forecast $2.77 a share.

Endo Health Solutions Inc. soared 29 percent to an all-time high of $56.22. The maker of painkillers, facing declining revenue for its main treatments, agreed to buy Canadian drug company Paladin Labs Inc. for about $1.6 billion to expand in that country and emerging markets.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. jumped 8.5 percent to $13.04.

KKR & Co. has acquired almost 5 percent of the computer chipmaker, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Where does the soul go after death?  Where could the earth fall to?

Where can the soul go?  Where is it not already?

The great cornerstone of Vedantism is the recognition of Self.

Man, have faith in yourself.  The soul is the same in every one.

It is all purity and perfection and the more pure and perfect we [you] are

the more purity and perfection you will see.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

No one can make you feel inferior

without your consent.

-Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962.

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

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:

Lines to a Superior Young Lady on the Occasion

of Her First Manifesting a Will of Her Own

-by Rudyard Kipling

Imperious, long-coated Sage

Though your months as men reckon are two

You are wiser than ten times your age

And these rhymes are for you.

 

Oh Pagan Philosopher small,

You can’t read them now, it is true,

For dinner and sleep are your all,

And your knowledge is – you.

 

But you scream when there’s anything wrong,

And you scream till it’s righted, you do;

And Creation attends to your song

And the Earth waits on You.

 

What more could the best of us do,

Though his years might be three-score and odd?

And therefore with Deference due,

These Verses are written for You

Oh wee little, wise little God!

 

On this day in…

1922, the entrance to King Tut’s tomb was discovered in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

1946, UNESCO was founded.

1948, T.S. Eliot won the Nobel Prize in literature.

2008, Barack Obama was elected President.

 

If you refuse to be made straight when you are green, you will not be made straight when you are dry.  –African Proverb.

Photos of the day

Visitors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange use their smartphones and tablet devices to photograph the opening bell ceremonies. Twitter’s confidence appears to be increasing ahead of its initial public offering set for later this week at the NYSE, as the 7-year-old short messaging service on Monday boosted the price range for the IPO. Richard Drew/AP

Waves crash against the sea front in Wimereux as strong winds battered northern France. Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Market Closes for November 4^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15639.12	+23.57    +0.15%
S&P 500	1767.93	+6.29    +0.36%
NASDAQ	3936.591	+14.549    +0.37%
TSX	13361.78	+24.32
		+0.18%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14201.57	-126.37
		-0.88%
HANG  SENG	23189.62	-60.17
		-0.26%
SENSEX	21239.36	+42.55
		+0.20%
FTSE 100	6763.62	+28.88
		+0.43%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.494	2.505
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.063	3.073
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5999	2.6218
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6926	3.6961

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95961	0.95932
US   $	1.04209	1.04240
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.40866	0.70990
US  $	1.35177	0.73977

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1314.97	1314.97
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.62	94.61
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Aubrey Pringle

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, after a two-day drop, as raw-materials producers rallied and investors awaited data for clues on when the U.S. central bank will reduce its bond-buying program.

Aurico Gold Inc. and China Gold International Resources Corp. added at least 6 percent as gold miners led gains among materials producers. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. climbed 3.6 percent after the crude producer received licenses from Colombia’s environmental agency for a new oil field. BlackBerry Ltd. sank 16 percent after Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. walked away from a $4.7 billion plan to buy the smartphone maker.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index gained 24.32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,361.78 at 4 p.m. in Toronto after falling as much as 0.2 percent earlier in the day. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge fell 0.9 percent in the prior two sessions. It has added 7.5 percent this year. Trading volume was 10 percent below the 30-day average today.

Investors are waiting for “further confidence or clarification in terms of what the Fed’s going to do,” Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc., in a phone interview from Toronto. The firm manages about C$4 billion. “There’s not a lot of action either way here. October was a great month. We can’t keep having great months.”

Stimulus from the Federal Reserve and other central banks has helped fuel a global rally in equities. The S&P/TSX surged 4.5 percent in October, for a fourth straight monthly gain and the biggest in two years.

The Fed last week maintained the pace of its monthly bond buying even as policy makers noted underlying strength in the economy, which fueled speculation the central bank could cut stimulus sooner than anticipated.

Data this week on U.S. gross domestic product and employment will provide clues to whether the economy is strong enough to continue growing with less stimulus.

In Canada, a report today showed consumer confidence rose for the first time in five weeks as opinions about job security and house prices improved. The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, a weekly measure of the economic mood of Canadians, advanced to 58.5 in the seven days through Nov. 1 from 57.7 the previous week.

Four of 10 main groups in the S&P/TSX rose today, led by a 2.3 percent rally among raw-materials companies. Nine of the 10 biggest advances in the broad index were gold miners. China Gold added 6 percent to C$2.85 and Aurico climbed 6.4 percent to C$4.48.

The S&P/TSX Gold Index jumped 3 percent, with all 24 members advancing to snap a two-day losing streak. The metal gained 0.1 percent from a two-week low in New York. A decline in the U.S. dollar boosted demand for gold as an alternative investment.

Pacific Rubiales climbed 3.6 percent to C$22.22, halting a five-day losing streak. Colombia’s largest independent oil producer plans to start production at the well next year after the licensing process experienced repeated delays.

Energy producers retreated less than 0.1 percent as a group, as oil fluctuated near the lowest level in four months.

The industry has fallen four straight days, the longest streak since August.

Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. slid 3.6 percent to C$4.06 and Bonavista Energy Corp. dropped 2.4 percent to C$11.90 to pace the declines.

BlackBerry plummeted 16 percent to C$6.75, the lowest since September 2012. Fairfax Financial, the company’s largest shareholder, ended its bid to buy the smartphone maker, opting instead for a $1 billion bond deal and a management shakeup.

Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins will step down and former Sybase Inc. CEO John Chen will become executive chairman, putting him in charge of the company’s strategy.

Fairfax Financial dropped 2.5 percent to C$423.98, extending its losing streak to five days.

USA

By Lu Wang and Nick Taborek

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed for four straight weeks, as Exxon Mobil Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. led a commodity rally while investors awaited data on employment and economic growth.

Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest energy company, increased 2.5 percent. U.S. Steel and AK Steel Holding Corp. gained more than 4.4 percent on an industry upgrade by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Kellogg Co. climbed 0.7 percent after announcing it will reduce its global workforce by seven percent as part of a four- year cost-saving plan. BlackBerry Ltd. tumbled 16 percent as Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. walked away from a $4.7 billion takeover plan.

The S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 1,767.93 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 23.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,639.12. About 5.7 billion shares changed hands, the slowest trading in two weeks.

“The path of least resistance continues to be up,” James Dunigan, who helps oversee $118 billion as chief investment officer in Philadelphia at PNC Wealth Management, said by phone.

“In general, the earnings picture is good. Valuations with the market at these levels are probably in the fair range. As you get into year-end portfolio adjustments, playing on that momentum we’ll likely see the market continue to do well here as opposed to selling off. I think if there are any sort of corrections they’ll be short lived in this environment.”

The equity gauge jumped 4.5 percent in October, reaching a record on Oct. 29, as the Federal Reserve decided to continue $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, and companies beat earnings forecasts. Investors are watching data to gauge the health of the U.S. economy after the Fed last week said it needs to see more evidence of sustained improvement before reducing the pace of its monthly bond purchases.

Seventy-six percent of the 374 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far have beaten analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Income for the broad index probably increased 4.1 percent in the third quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 has surged more than 160 percent from a bear market low in 2009 as the central bank introduced unprecedented monetary stimulus to spur growth. The benchmark gauge is up 24 percent this year, poised for the best annual gain since 2003.

The rally pushed the index’s price-to-earnings ratio up 18 percent this year to 16.8, near the highest level in more than three years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The 15-year average multiple is 19.3.

The economy probably slowed in the third quarter and employers hired fewer workers in October, economists project reports to show this week.

Gross domestic product grew at a 2 percent annualized rate after a 2.5 percent pace from April through June, according to the median forecast of 69 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before Commerce Department figures due Thursday. Growth in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, was probably the weakest since 2011. Payrolls rose by 125,000 workers last month after a 148,000 gain in September, Labor Department figures may show Friday.

Data today showed U.S. factory orders increased 1.7 percent in September after falling 0.1 percent the prior month.

Economists estimated a gain of 1.8 percent for September.

“We’ve been in this slow growth environment for some time and we don’t see it breaking out of the trend,” Rex Macey, who helps oversee $20 billion as chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors in Atlanta, said in a phone interview. “That’s the thing markets kind of like, where it could be a little warmer, but at least it’s not too hot.”

The rally in U.S. equities may accelerate in the final two months of the year and lift the S&P 500 to its biggest annual increase in 16 years, a look at historical data suggests. Since 1928, shares have climbed in November and December 82 percent of the time when the benchmark gauge advanced at least 10 percent through October, data compiled by S&P and Bloomberg show. The mean increase of 6 percent in this period signals that the index could jump to 1,862.79.

In another sign that investor appetite for equities is growing, Twitter Inc. raised the price of shares in its initial public offering, putting it on track to raise $1.75 billion amid brisk demand. Twitter is likely to raise its offering price again as the IPO is already several times oversubscribed at $25 a share, the high end of the range, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX, lost 2.6 percent today to 12.93. The measure is down 28 percent this year.

All 10 S&P 500 main industries advanced as energy companies climbed 1.3 percent for the best performance. Exxon Mobil increased 2.5 percent to $92.10 for the biggest gain in the Dow.

U.S. Steel climbed 4.4 percent to $26.91 and AK Steel Holding Corp. rallied 8.7 percent to $5. Both stocks were raised to buy from sell at Goldman Sachs.

U.S. steel demand is “heading to a solid sustainable recovery” over coming years, Sal Tharani, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note, boosting the rating on the U.S. steel industry to neutral from cautious.

Coal stocks advanced amid an improved outlook for the steel industry. Alpha Natural Resources Inc., a producer of metallurgical coal that’s used to make steel, jumped 9.4 percent to $8.13. Consol Energy Inc. advanced 3.1 percent to $37.76.

Vulcan Materials Co. rallied 7.7 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $57.78. The producer of construction aggregates reported third-quarter sales of $813.6 million, beating the average analyst estimate by the biggest margin in more than a year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Alcoa Inc. jumped 7 percent to $9.92 for the second-biggest increase in the S&P 500.

Kellogg, the world’s largest cereal maker, increased 0.7 percent to $62.72. The company’s cost-saving program, known as “Project K,” will result in total, pretax charges of between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion, the company said.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. climbed 3.6 percent to $38.21. The teenager apparel retailer was boosted to buy from neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc.

Sysco Corp. gained 4.3 percent to $33.96. The distributor of food to restaurants, hospitals and schools reported profit of 49 cents a share for the fiscal first quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of 47 cents in a Bloomberg survey.

Groupon Inc. gained 6.4 percent to $10.57. The online-deals provider may “modestly exceed” analyst expectations for quarterly earnings, driven by growth in North America and a rebound in business from Europe, Middle East and Africa, Heath Terry, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, said in a note. Groupon is scheduled to announce results on Nov. 7.

BlackBerry tumbled 16 percent to $6.50 as the company attempts to recover with a management shakeup and $1 billion bond deal. Rather than acquiring the company, Fairfax will invest $250 million in the convertible bonds, according to a statement.

As part of the new agreement, Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins will step down. Former Sybase AG CEO John Chen will become executive chairman, putting him in charge of the company’s strategy.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

When you look at that unchanging Existence

from the outside, you call it God;

and when you look at it from the inside,

you call it yourself.  It is but one.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The truth will set you free.  But not until it is finished

with you.

-David Foster Wallace, 1962-2008.

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

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:

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

Reminder:  This Sunday, November 3 marks the end of Daylight Savings.  At 2am on Sunday morning, clocks will go back 1 hour.

When thinking about Daylight savings, I came across an article in the Globe and Mail:  “Are you a chipper early bird or narcissistic night owl? Find out before the clocks change”.  This article is very interesting and goes through different studies about early birds versus night owls.  Here is one I thought I would share:

EARLY BIRDS ARE PROACTIVE OPTIMISTS

In 2009, Harvard biologist Christoph Randler found that morning people are more likely to agree with statements like “I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself” and “I feel in charge of making things happen.” This helps explain why they are more successful in business, Randler said.

To read more on the studies visit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/early-bird-or-night-owl/article15194058/

“Success is about creating benefit for all and enjoying the process. If you focus on this & adopt this definition, success is yours.” – Kelly Kim

Photos of the Day:

Spectators watch the second free practice at the Yas Marina racetrack in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Hassan Ammar/AP

A woman takes a photograph of fish-shaped lanterns during the Seoul Lantern Festival 2013 at Cheonggye stream in central Seoul, South Korea. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

Market Closes for November 1^st, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15615.55	+69.80    +0.45%
S&P 500	1761.64	+5.10    +0.29%
NASDAQ	3922.042	+2.336    +0.06%
TSX	13337.46	-23.80
		-0.18%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14201.57	-126.37
		-0.88%
HANG  SENG	23249.79	+43.42
		+0.19%
SENSEX	21196.81	+32.29
		+0.15%
FTSE 100	6374.74	+3.31
		+0.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.505	2.424
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.073	3.014
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.6218	2.5542
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6961	3.6386

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95932	0.95840
US   $	1.04240	1.04341
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.40568	0.71140
US  $	1.34850	0.74157

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1314.97	1323.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.61	96.38
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined to a one- week low, after falling the most in three weeks yesterday, as investors assessed corporate earnings and gold producers slid after Barrick Gold Corp. said it will sell shares.

Barrick, the world’s largest producer of gold, dropped 7.5 percent as it plans to raise at least $3 billion to pay down debt. Taseko Mines Ltd. plunged 9.8 percent after a federal review panel said its project in British Columbia has significant adverse environmental effects. Norbord Inc. jumped 10 percent as the panelboard producer’s earnings topped estimates. Clearwater Seafoods Inc. climbed 8.2 percent after declaring an annual dividend.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 23.80 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,337.46 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge advanced 4.5 percent in October for a fourth month of gains.

“The commodities space is a little soft, and the explanation is the big Barrick deal yesterday,” said Michael O’Brien, fund manager with TD Asset Management Inc., in Toronto. He helps manage C$216 billion ($207 billion) with the firm. “That has an impact on the other gold names as well.”

Gold and energy producers also fell on signs of climbing supplies of raw materials at a time when the prospect of reduced U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus may cut demand.

Data from the U.S. showed an index of manufacturing rose last month to the highest level since April 2011. An earlier report from China indicated the nation’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose more than estimated in October. The U.S. and China are Canada’s two biggest trading partners.

Barrick sank 7.5 percent to C$18.77, the most in four months. The company said yesterday it plans to raise at least $3 billion through a share offering in order to repay a portion of its $15 billion in debt. Barrick also said yesterday it will suspend construction at its $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama project to conserve cash.

Osisko Mining Corp. slumped 7.5 percent to C$4.71 and Silvercorp Metals Inc. retreated 5.9 percent to C$3.06 as gold and silver prices declined to two-week lows in New York.

Taseko Mines plunged 9.8 percent to C$2.31, the biggest drop since April, as a review panel said the company’s New Prosperity copper and gold project in British Columbia would affect water quality and grizzly bears in the area.

“The risks are modest and the social and economic benefits are enormous,” the company said in a statement. Taseko said it will challenge the report’s findings.

Legacy Oil & Gas Inc. dropped 4.5 percent to C$6.74 and Suncor Energy Inc. fell 2.9 percent to C$36.80 as crude tumbled below $95 a barrel for the first time since June.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. advanced 5.4 percent to C$116.04, the biggest gain in five months, as seven of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX rose. Trading volume was 7.1 percent higher compared with the 30-day average at this time of the day.

Valeant agreed to sell its over-the-counter brand Caladryl in India to Piramal Enterprises Ltd. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Caladryl is used for minor skin irritations.

Alex Arfaei, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, separately said in a report a Valeant purchase of some Merck & Co. products would be logical for both companies.

Norbord added 10 percent to C$32.70 as it reported adjusted earnings of 33 cents a share, excluding a one-time income tax recovery, ahead of the 20 cent estimate of Bloomberg analysts.

Prices for wood particle oriented strand board, used in home construction, bottomed in September and is gradually improving, Chief Executive Officer Barrie Shineton said in a statement.

Clearwater Seafoods rallied 8.2 percent to C$6.33, for an eight-year high, after initiating an annual dividend of 10 cents a share.

US

Nick Taborek and Aubrey Pringle

Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, halting the first two-day drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in three weeks, as optimism about corporate earnings offset concern that improving economic data could prompt the Federal Reserve to trim stimulus.

First Solar Inc. rallied 18 percent after the largest U.S. solar-panel manufacturer said third-quarter profit almost doubled. American International Group Inc. lost 6.5 percent after premium revenue fell at its property-casualty division.

Chevron Corp. slid 1.6 percent as it reported profit below estimates as weaker refining margins eroded gains from higher commodity prices and output from wells.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 1,761.64 at 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier falling as much as 0.2 percent. The equity gauge advanced 0.1 percent in the past five days, its fourth straight weekly gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.80 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,615.55 today. About 6.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 14 percent above the three-month average.

“Earnings drive the market, and earnings have been good,” Richard Sichel, the chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., where he helps oversee $1.9 billion, said by phone.

“Economic growth is slow but going in the right direction. Stocks definitely have shown that they’re the best place to be, and that can continue in spite of things going on in Washington.”

Better-than-forecast corporate results and Fed stimulus have helped the S&P 500 rally 24 percent this year as it challenges 2009 for the best annual gain in the past decade. The gauge jumped 4.5 percent in October for the biggest advance in three months and closed at a record Oct. 29.

Of the 368 S&P 500 companies that have reported results for the third quarter, 75 percent exceeded analysts’ predictions for profit, while 53 percent beat sales estimates, data by Bloomberg showed. Profits for members of the gauge probably increased 4.1 percent in the period as sales climbed 2.9 percent, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Investors continued to shift money into stocks last month, as U.S. equity exchange-traded funds drew $18.2 billion in October, the most in three months and the third-highest amount since 2010, according to Bloomberg data. About $110.6 billion has been absorbed this year, putting the stock ETFs on pace for the highest flows since the records began in 2000.

Equities turned lower earlier today after improving manufacturing data raised concern that the Fed will cut its $85 billion in monthly bond buying sooner than expected. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose at a faster pace than forecast in October, indicating U.S. manufacturing was a source of strength. An earlier report from China indicated the nation’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose more than estimated in last month.

“There’s some concern clearly that the economic data is getting better and we might get tapering in December,” Eric Green, director of research and fund manager at Penn Capital Management, said by phone. The Philadelphia-based firm oversees about $7 billion. “As you get positive economic data points, those that were concerned about the taper get more concerned.”

Fed policy makers this week said the economy showed signs of “underlying strength” even as the bank maintained the pace of stimulus while awaiting further signs growth is strong enough to bring down 7.2 percent unemployment. Economists in a Bloomberg survey project that tapering will begin in March, based on the median estimate.

The data today came amid concern the 16-day U.S. government shutdown last month may have slowed growth in the fourth quarter. The economy will probably expand at a 2 percent annualized rate in the final three months of the year, less than economists projected at the start of the federal closure. The median projection of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg yesterday compares with a 2.4 percent forecast in an Oct. 4-9 survey.

Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said gains in the labor market since September 2012 could warrant a cut in the Fed’s monthly bond purchases. Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Fed who has opposed the central bank’s current round of stimulus, said inflation will be a concern as the Fed unwinds its balance sheet.

The S&P 500’s rally has left the index trading at 15.9 times its companies’ estimated earnings, after slipping from the highest valuation since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“We have gotten pretty overbought and we were due for some pause, which is what we have been getting since the Fed statement,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in an interview. “The market continues to be sloppy since.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as VIX that measures options traders’ estimate of future price swings in S&P 500, slid 3.4 percent, halting a four-day rally. The gauge dropped 17 percent in October.

Seven out of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced today, as industrial stocks and utilities rose at least 0.7 percent to pace gains. Boeing Co. jumped 1.9 percent to a record $133.03 for the biggest gain in the Dow.

First Solar rallied 18 percent to $59.14 as sales of power plants and revenue from new projects boosted profit. Net income rose to $195 million, or $1.94 a share, from $87.9 million, or $1, a year earlier, according to a statement late yesterday. Analysts on average had predicted earnings of 83 cents.

J.C. Penney Co. advanced 8.5 percent to $8.14, a one-month high. ITG Investment Research analyst John Tomlinson boosted his third-quarter revenue estimate, citing “improved sales trends.”

Netflix Inc. rose 2.1 percent to $329.27. The online video- streaming service was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Robert Baird & Co.

Chevron slid 1.6 percent to $118.01. The second-largest U.S. energy producer by market value said profit from processing crude oil into fuels tumbled 45 percent during the third quarter to $380 million amid rising feedstock costs and repairs at a California plant that crimped gasoline and diesel output. The refining slowdown overshadowed a 2.7 percent rise in oil and gas production led by fields from Kazakhstan to Pennsylvania.

Energy companies lost 0.3 percent for the steepest decline among S&P 500 groups, as crude fell below $95 a barrel for the first time since June.

AIG, the insurer that repaid a U.S. rescue last year, declined 6.5 percent to $48.28, headed for the lowest close in a year. Premium revenue at the property-casualty division fell 3.7 percent to $8.43 billion in the third quarter, the company said in a statement late yesterday. Third-quarter net income rose to $2.17 billion, or $1.46 a share, from $1.86 billion, or $1.13 a year earlier, New York-based AIG said.

Tower International Inc., a maker of metal components for the automotive industry, fell 5.1 percent to $20.14 after saying an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP plans to sell about 2.6 million shares in the company.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

 

Be magnificent!

 

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs

As ever,

 

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!

 

Photos of the day

The Witch Head nebula, named after its resemblance to the profile of a witch, is seen in an undated infrared photo from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Astronomers say the billowy clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are brewing, are being lit up by massive stars. Dust in the cloud is being hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light, which was picked up by WISE’s detectors. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/Reuters

A costumed character referred to as the ‘Headless Horseman’ is seen at the start of the haunted trail known as the ‘Horseman’s Hollow’ on the grounds of the historic Philipsburg Manor in celebration of Halloween in Sleepy Hollow, New York October 25th. Sleepy Hollow, located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River about 30 miles north of Midtown Manhattan, is best known to many through American author Washington Irving’s story ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.’ Adrees Latif/Reuters

Market Closes for October 31^st, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15545.75	-73.01    -0.47%
S&P 500	1756.54	-6.77    -0.38%
NASDAQ	3919.706	-10.914    -0.28%
TSX	13361.26	-94.07
		-0.70%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14327.94	-174.41
		-1.20%
HANG  SENG	23206.37	-97.65
		-0.42%
SENSEX	21164.52	+130.55
		+0.62%
FTSE 100	6731.43	-46.27
		-0.68%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.424	2.421
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.014	3.015
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5542	2.5342
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6386	3.6403

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95840	0.95466
US   $	1.04341	1.04749
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.41778	0.70533
US  $	1.35880	0.73594

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1323.10	1344.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.38	96.77
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Aubrey Pringle

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, trimming the benchmark gauge’s best monthly gain in two years, as miners dropped on concern the Federal Reserve may taper stimulus sooner than anticipated and investors assessed corporate results.

Endeavour Silver Corp. and China Gold International Resources Corp. each dropped more than 7 percent as prices for the precious metals retreated. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. sank 3.7 percent after lowering its full-year revenue forecast. Bombardier Inc. slid the most in more than four years after posting a quarterly profit that missed analysts’ estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 94.07 points, or 0.7 percent, to 13,361.26 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge rose 4.5 percent in October to cap its fourth straight monthly gain.

“There’s a slight possibility they could start tapering off a little bit in December, so the market is reacting negatively to that,” Paul Gardner, portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management, said by phone from Toronto. He helps manage C$300 million ($290 million). “Earnings season is decent. Nothing stellar but nothing horrible.”

The U.S. central bank yesterday maintained $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, saying that while the economy shows signs of “underlying strength” it needs to see more evidence of sustainable improvement before scaling back.

Economists at Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc said yesterday’s policy statement opens the possibility of reduced bond purchases as soon as December. The odds of a taper in January rose to 45 percent, from 25 percent before the decision, according to Citigroup. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg Oct. 17-18 had predicted the Fed would pare stimulus in March.

In Canada, gross domestic product grew faster than economists forecast in August on record extraction of oil and natural gas. Output is on pace to quicken to about a 2.5 percent annualized pace this quarter according to economists at CIBC World Markets and TD Securities, the fastest since a 6.2 percent gain two years ago.

The Bank of Canada last week predicted third-quarter growth at a 1.8 percent pace, after it slowed to 1.7 percent in the April-to-June period on energy exports and business investment.

Nine of 10 industries in the benchmark gauge declined. The S&P/TSX Materials Index plunged 2.9 percent, the most in six weeks, as the price of gold headed for the biggest loss in almost three weeks and silver slumped the most in more than a month.

Endeavour Silver plunged 8.3 percent to C$4.33, its biggest drop in more than a month, and China Gold fell 7 percent to C$2.80, pacing declines among mining companies.

Barrick Gold Corp. fell 5.8 percent to C$20.28. The company said it will temporarily suspend construction at its $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama mine on the Argentina-Chile border as the world’s largest gold producer tries to conserve cash after prices slumped. The miner also reported quarterly results that topped estimates.

After the market closed, Barrick said it will sell about $3 billion in shares and use the proceeds to pay down debt.

Barrick was among 14 members of the S&P/TSX scheduled to report third-quarter results today.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals dropped 3.7 percent to C$110.15, the biggest drop since August. Canada’s largest pharmaceutical company now expects full-year revenue of as much as $5.59 billion. Its prior forecast topped out at $6.2 billion.

Bombardier slid more than 10 percent to C$4.74, its steepest slide since March 2009. The world’s third-largest planemaker delivered fewer aircraft and collected less revenue in the last quarter.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added 2.3 percent to C$19.78, the highest level since March. The miner said third-quarter production beat estimates and raised the upper end of its estimated gold production for 2013. The company lowered its expected cost of production for copper and nickel.

Stantec Inc. jumped 6.6 percent, the most in the benchmark index, to a record C$61.96. The engineering services firm’s earnings and revenue topped analyst estimates.

Methanex Corp. climbed 4.4 percent to C$60.47. The methanol maker reported higher earnings and said demand for its products remains “healthy.”

US

By Nick Taborek

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its first two-day slide in three weeks, on speculation the Federal Reserve will scale back stimulus in coming months as investors assessed earnings.

Visa Inc. lost 3.5 percent as the bank-card network said revenue rose less than projected. Avon Products Inc. fell 22 percent after saying possible fines related to foreign bribery probes may hurt earnings. Facebook Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. jumped more than 0.9 percent after earnings topped estimates.

Boeing Co. advanced 0.6 percent after saying it would step-up production of its 737 jets.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.4 percent to 1,756.54 at 4 p.m. in New York, after fluctuating between gains and losses during the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73.01 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,545.75. About 7.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 21 percent above the three-month average.

“The market is re-rating expectations to maybe earlier Fed tapering than consensus,” Andres Garcia-Amaya, New York-based global market strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s mutual funds unit, said in a phone interview today. His firm oversees $400 billion. “The Fed was a little bit more hawkish than people expected, not a lot, but incrementally more hawkish.”

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent from a record yesterday, halting four days of gains, as the Fed fueled bets it may begin to cut stimulus in the coming months. The central bank maintained $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, saying that while the economy shows signs of “underlying strength” it needs to see more evidence of sustainable improvement.

Economists at Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc said yesterday’s Fed policy statement opens the possibility of reduced bond purchases as soon as December. The odds of a taper in January rose to 45 percent, from 25 percent before the decision, according to Citigroup. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg Oct. 17-18 had predicted the Fed would begin paring stimulus in March.

“We don’t expect anything really before the March time frame,” David Roda, the Miami-based regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank, said in a phone interview.

His firm manages $170 billion. “Even though the jobs data is slowly improving, the pace of improvement has slowed and the quality of job growth is certainly not that great.”

Fed stimulus has helped propel the S&P 500 higher by more than 160 percent from a 12-year low in 2009. The gauge surged 4.5 percent in October, for the biggest monthly gain since July, as lawmakers ended a 16-day government shutdown and agreed to extend the U.S. borrowing authority, avoiding a possible debt default.

Stocks slumped earlier today after a report showed business activity in the U.S. expanded in October as orders and production surged. The MNI Chicago Report business barometer jumped to 65.9 from 55.7 in September, the biggest monthly increase in more than three decades. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

Separate data showed fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as a backlog in California’s reporting cleared.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as VIX that measures options traders’ estimate of future price swings in the S&P 500, rose 0.7 percent to 13.75.

The gauge lost 17 percent for the month.

The S&P 500 is trading at 15.9 times its companies’ estimated earnings, the highest valuation since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Two of America’s best known investors are moving in opposite directions in the stock market, with Laszlo Birinyi predicting more gains as David Einhorn takes a more cautious approach.

“As the market continued its relentless climb, we’ve become more conservatively positioned,” hedge-fund manager Einhorn said today on a conference call.

Long positions, which gain on rising asset prices, exceeded short bets by 35 percentage points as of Sept. 30 at Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., the Cayman Islands-based reinsurer where Einhorn oversees investments and serves as chairman. That’s down from about 42 percentage points three months earlier, said Einhorn, who gained fame for betting on a decline in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. stock before it collapsed in 2008.

Birinyi, president of Birinyi Associates Inc., raised his forecast for the S&P 500, predicting a 3.2 percent advance to 1,820 in the next three months.

Birinyi, one of the first money managers to advise clients to buy in 2009, said he purchased calls on an exchange-traded fund tracking the S&P 500, according to a report today. His previous forecast for the U.S. equity benchmark, set Sept. 25, was 1,760.

Exxon, MasterCard and American International Group Inc. are among 34 companies in the S&P 500 reporting results today. Of the 364 companies that have reported results this season, 75 percent exceeded analysts’ predictions for profit, while 53 percent beat sales estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

Profits for members of the gauge probably increased 3.7 percent in the third quarter as sales climbed 2.4 percent, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts project earnings will rise 7.5 percent in the final quarter, and 8.3 percent in the first three months of 2014.

Nine out of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 fell today, as financial shares slid 1.1 percent for the biggest decline.

Consumer-discretionary companies added 0.2 percent as a group.

Visa lost 3.5 percent to $196.67 for the largest decline in the Dow. Fourth-quarter net operating revenue rose 8.9 percent to $2.97 billion, missing the $3.02 billion average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Avon tumbled 22 percent, the most since 1999, to $17.50.

The world’s largest door-to-door cosmetics seller posted a third-quarter net loss, while its profit excluding some items fell short of analyst estimates.

Avon and the government have investigated whether former employees in China and other countries bribed officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Securities and Exchange Commission offered a settlement last month with monetary penalties that were “significantly greater” than the $12 million the company had offered, Avon said in a filing today.

Computer Sciences Corp. lost 4.5 percent to $49.26. The provider of technology consulting to governments and companies signaled that a probe by the SEC is escalating.

As part of an almost three-year investigation by the SEC, former U.S. executives, along with some current employees outside the country, have received Wells notices from the commission, CSC said today in a filing. The SEC sends a Wells notice to notify that investigators may recommend an enforcement action.

JDS Uniphase fell 11 percent to $13.09. The provider of network analytics for the telecommunications and broadband industries was cut to hold from buy at Jefferies by equity analyst James Kisner after forecasting sales below analyst estimates for this quarter.

Exxon rose 0.9 percent to $89.62 for the biggest gain in the Dow. The largest oil company by market value lifted production for the first time in more than two years and reported third-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates.

Facebook advanced 2.4 percent to $50.21, reversing a decline of as much as 5.1 percent, after the operator of the world’s largest social network yesterday reported third-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates.

The shares slid earlier after Facebook said younger teens aren’t using its website as much as they used to and it will limit its news feed advertisements that have driven revenue gains.

Pivotal Research Group LLC upgraded the shares to buy from hold, saying Facebook retains its advantage in ad sales and the negative reaction to comments about lower teen use was overdone.

Boeing gained 0.6 percent to $130.50. The world’s largest plane-maker plans to speed the monthly production tempo of its best-selling 737 jets by 24 percent to 47 a month by 2017, the highest rate ever.

Expedia Inc. rallied 18 percent to $58.97. Adjusted earnings were $1.43 per share in the third quarter, the online travel company said in a statement, more than the $1.36 predicted by analysts.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

In all religions of the world you will find it claimed that there is unity within us.

Being one with divinity, there cannot be any further progress in that sense.

Knowledge means finding this unity.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life:

the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for

the suffering on mankind.

-Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970.

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

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:

What the Pollen Says

Humans are biological survivors, part of an unbroken genetic stream linked to the remote past.  Yet the history of civilizations – rising, flourishing, crashing – is episodic.

Why do prosperous civilizations vanish?  One team of scientists, studying ancient pollens in the Middle East, believes it can explain the sudden collapse of the grand cultures that flourished there some 3,200 years ago.  The cause – so the pollen says – was long-term drought.

The strength of those vanished civilizations – Egyptian, Hittite, Mycenaean, a dense network of trading culture in the eastern Mediterranean – can hardly be disputed.  Until now, no one has been certain what caused them to collapse.  As part of a new, comprehensive effort to reconstruct the nature of life in ancient Israel, a team of scientists in 2010 began studying core samples taken from beneath the Sea of Galilee.

They analyzed pollen samples from those cores at 40-year intervals, creating a fine-grained portrait of climatic changes during the period in question.  What the pollen samples showed was a broad shift in vegetation consistent with drought at its most intense around 1250 to 1100 BC.

Drought is both a cause of cultural disturbance and a cause of other causes.  It induces a cascade of changes, disrupting agriculture, trade and social cohesion.  The coherence that produces a civilization can swiftly fall apart under those pressures, whether it occurs in the Middle East in the Late Bronze Age or in the American Southwest in the 12^th century, when the people known as the Anasazi reached their cultural peak and then collapsed.

The pollen findings from the Sea of Galilee are interesting in and of themselves, but now, in an era of intensifying drought in so many places, they require more attention as reminders of how vulnerable even the strongest human societies may be to natural forces.  –NY Times.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. –William Butler Yeats.

Photos of the day

The 1987 mural titled ‘We The Youth’ by artist Keith Haring in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Philadelphia, has gotten a makeover. The city’s Mural Arts Program has worked for months to restore the only collaborative public mural by Haring that is still intact and at its original site. Matt Rourke/AP

A sculpture by Australian artist Ken Unworth is displayed during the world’s largest annual free-to-the-public outdoor art exhibition, ‘Sculptures By The Sea’ in Sydney in Australia. The exhibition features sculptures which were made by both Australian and overseas artists. Rob Griffith/AP

Market Closes for October 30^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15618.76	-61.59    -0.39%
S&P 500	1763.31	-8.64    -0.49%
NASDAQ	3930.620	-21.718    -0.55%
TSX	13455.33	+14.72
		+0.11%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14502.35	+176.37
		+1.23%
HANG  SENG	23304.02	+457.48
		+2.00%
SENSEX	21033.97	+104.96
		+0.50%
FTSE 100	6777.70	+2.97
		+0.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.421	2.408
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.015	3.007
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5342	2.5034
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6403	3.6127

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95466	0.95525
US   $	1.04749	1.04685
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.43885	0.69059
US  $	1.37361	0.72801

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1344.60	1344.12
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.77	98.20
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, erasing earlier losses, as earnings from Yamana Gold Inc. pushed gold shares higher and investors analyzed a statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve for clues on when it may scale back stimulus.

OceanaGold Corp. climbed 16 percent after raising its copper production target and cutting its cost estimates. Yamana Gold gained 4.8 percent as earnings topped forecasts. Wi-Lan Inc. jumped 6.5 percent as the company considers strategic options including a sale after losing a patent case. B2Gold Corp. fell 1.1 percent as third-quarter revenue declined amid rising costs.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 14.72 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,455.33 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing earlier losses of as much as 0.6 percent. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 5.2 percent in October, heading for the biggest monthly gain in two years.

“The tension is going to shift back to the economy and the Fed is clarifying further that what they do will be very dependent on economic data,” Youssef Zohny, portfolio manager with Stenner Investment Partners of Richardson GMP Ltd., said from Vancouver. Richardson GMP manages about C$16 billion ($15.3 billion). “It seems like the Fed decision was being anticipated. Investors are going to be keeping an eye out for the data starting next week, which will likely be more important than this announcement.”

The U.S. central bank said it sees improvement in economic activity even as it maintained its $85 billion in monthly purchases. The Fed said it needs to see more evidence that the economy will continue to improve. The central bank will keep stimulus measures at the current level until March 2014, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey this month.

OceanaGold soared 16 percent to C$1.71 and Yamana rallied 4.8 percent to C$10.71 to pace gains among raw-materials stocks as five of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced. Trading volume was in line with the 30-day average.

OceanaGold raised its 2013 copper production guidance to 18,000 to 20,000 tons from 15,000 to 18,000 tons. The company produced 6,150 tons of copper in the third quarter and 74,697 ounces of gold.

The company also lowered its cash costs forecasts for the year to $550 to $650 an ounce from $650 to $800 an ounce earlier.

Yamana reported adjusted earnings of 9 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with analysts’ estimates for 8 cents.

Production climbed 4 percent from the second quarter and revenue increased, the company said.

Cameco Corp. increased 4.6 percent to C$19.87. The company said revenue this year is now forecast to grow 30 percent to 35 percent, compared with earlier projections of 25 percent to 30 percent.

Cameco reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 53 Canadian cents a share, ahead of analysts’ estimates of 18 cents.

Copper Mountain Mining Corp. jumped 5.3 percent to C$1.78 as revenue climbed 42 percent compared with a year ago. Copper rose the most in five weeks in New York as inventories tracked by the London Metal Exchange shrank for a 40th straight session.

B2Gold dropped 1.1 percent to C$2.69 after reporting third- quarter revenue of $128.7 million, short of analysts’ estimates for $134.7 million. The company now forecasts 2013 cash costs of $675 to $690 an ounce, compared with $630 to $660 earlier.

Wi-Lan, the Ottawa-based patent licensing company, climbed 6.5 percent to C$3.30. Wi-Lan will consider changes to dividend policy or other forms of return of capital, as well as “the acquisition or disposition of assets, joint ventures, the sale of the company, alternative operating models or continuing with the current business plan,” it said today in a statement.

The company lost a patent-infringement trial against Apple Inc. on Oct. 23 in which Wi-Lan was seeking $248 million in royalties for wireless technology used in mobile devices.

USA

By Nick Taborek and Aubrey Pringle

Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index halting a four-day winning streak, after the Federal Reserve fueled bets it will begin to cut stimulus even as it maintained the pace of monthly bond buying as expected.

LinkedIn Corp. lost 9.3 percent after its quarterly sales outlook missed analysts’ predictions. Western Union Co. tumbled 12 percent after saying costs tied to regulatory compliance will prevent operating profit from rising next year. General Motors Co. gained 3.2 percent as quarterly profit topped estimates.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. surged 9 percent after raising its full- year earnings forecast. Facebook Inc. jumped 10 percent after the market closed as it released results.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent to 1,763.31 at 4 p.m. in New York after rising yesterday to a third straight record. The index has jumped 24 percent this year, on track for its best annual gain since 2003. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 61.59 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,618.76 today. About 6.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 7.4 percent above the three-month average.

“People are looking at it and saying, ‘OK it’s about what we expected, so there’s no real upside, and we’ve traded it up, so now let’s back off a little bit,’” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Waltham, Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Financial Network, said in a phone interview. His firm has more than $71 billion under management. “Everyone was buying in the anticipation of continued stimulus. That is more or less exactly what they’ve got.”

The Fed decided to press on with the $85 billion in monthly bond purchases that have helped propel the S&P 500 higher by more than 160 percent from a 12-year low in 2009. The gauge has surged 4.9 percent in October, heading for the biggest monthly gain in two years, as lawmakers ended a 16-day government shutdown and agreed to extend the U.S. borrowing authority, avoiding a possible debt default.

While Fed policy makers said fiscal policy is “restraining economic growth,” the central bank said it sees signs of “underlying strength.” The Fed removed a sentence from its previous policy statement that had said tighter financial conditions could slow the improvement in the economy, sparking speculation it could cut stimulus in the coming months.

“When you look at the reaction in the market, investors are really taking the opinion that the taper may actually come sooner than previously thought,” Chris Gaffney, senior market strategist at EverBank Wealth Management, said by phone from St. Louis. “Everything indicates that people, when they read that statement, they felt like the Fed continues to have a positive view on the economy and they would be starting to taper maybe before the expected March date.”

The central bank was expected to maintain the pace of assets purchases at the current level until March 2014, according to a Bloomberg survey this month.

The Fed left unchanged its statement that it will probably hold its target interest rate near zero “at least as long as” unemployment exceeds 6.5 percent, so long as the outlook for inflation is no higher than 2.5 percent. A report today showed the cost of living in the U.S. rose 0.2 percent as projected in September, capping the smallest year-to-year gain in five months.

Separate data based on payrolls showed companies added fewer workers than projected in October, adding to signs that growth slowed in the weeks before the shutdown. The government closure will reduce economic growth by 0.3 percentage points this quarter at an annual rate, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

While the S&P 500’s rally has lifted equity valuations to a four-year high, with the index trading at 16 times estimated operating earnings, that’s still below the multiples at the market’s two previous peaks, when the ratio reached 16.5 in October 2007 and 25.7 in March 2000, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Investors have also been assessing better-than-expected corporate earnings from the third quarter. Profits have grown by an average of 5 percent among the 312 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, while sales have gained 2.9 percent. Profits for the broad equity gauge probably increased 3.7 percent during the quarter as sales climbed 2.4 percent, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Some 35 members of the S&P 500 reported results today.

Facebook, which is not in the gauge, rallied 10 percent to $54.11 at 4:34 p.m. in New York. The world’s largest social network reported third-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates as advertisers boosted spending on promotions targeting users on smartphones and tablets. The stock fell 0.8 percent to $49.01 in the regular session for a fourth day of losses. It closed at a record $54.22 on Oct. 18.

All 10 main S&P 500 groups dropped at least 0.2 percent today. Utilities and consumer-staples stocks fell the most, dropping more than 0.6 percent.

LinkedIn lost 9.3 percent, the most since May, to $224.11.

The world’s biggest professional-networking site said fourth- quarter revenue will be $415 million to $420 million. That trailed the average analyst estimate of $438.9 million.

Western Union Co. tumbled 12 percent to $16.85 for the biggest slide in the S&P 500 and its lowest level since July 2.

The largest money-transfer business reported a drop in third- quarter profit. Operating income won’t increase next year because of additional investments needed to comply with new and existing regulations, Chief Executive Officer Hikmet Ersek said.

U.S. Steel Corp. slid 2.9 percent to $24.72. The largest U.S. producer of the metal will permanently close parts of two plants as it cuts costs after four unprofitable quarters. The company was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank by equity analyst David Martin.

General Motors gained 3.2 percent to $37.23. The largest U.S. automaker posted third-quarter profit that beat estimates as North American earnings, boosted by redesigned large pickups, helped buffer international losses.

Buffalo Wild Wings jumped 9 percent to $141.22 after saying late yesterday it expects full-year earnings growth of 28 percent, up from a previous estimate of 25 percent. That implies adjusted profit of $3.83 a share, surpassing the average analyst projection of $3.64.

Electronic Arts Inc. rallied 7.8 percent to $26 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The second-largest U.S. video-game publisher was raised to strong buy from hold by Needham & Co. by equity analyst Sean McGowan.

Sealed Air Corp. jumped 6.4 percent to $30.35. The manufacturer of packaging materials raised its full-year profit forecast above analyst estimates.

Gilead Sciences Inc. gained 4.6 percent to a record $72.67.

The drug maker reported third-quarter adjusted profit that beat analyst estimates as antiviral revenue rose 14 percent. The company raised its product sales forecast for the year.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

As long as there is division in any form

there must be conflict.

You are responsible, not only to your children,

but to the rest of humanity.

Unless you deeply understand this, not through words or ideas or the intellect,

but feel this in your blood, in your way of looking at life, in your actions,

you are supporting organized murder which is called war.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions.  All life is an experiment.

The more experiments you make the better.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882.

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

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:

Gary and I were in  Vancouver this past weekend to assess what we have to do in order to clear out my Mom’s home before the closing date sale is completed on  November 15^th – it’s a lot- three floors of decades of a life of accumulation of memorabilia from a very sentimental person’s perspective – in addition to the standard – i.e., furniture, dishes, appliances and all the other de rigueur stuff that becomes our unbelievably blessed western standard of living  – contrast A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry, for instance….

I lifted the latch to the kitchen door and meandered along the long back lawn kept anonymous from the outside world by the towering leafy trees, to the back shed.  I opened the door, whereupon I learnt that raccoons had discovered this wonderful sanctuary in her absence, made it their home, and completely ripped to shreds all the stacked up upholstery for her outdoor furniture  – et alia.

Well, here’s something I have since learned and thought I’d share with you…

Racccoons Masked trickster, urban success story:

Clever and charismatic, the raccoon – from the Algonquin arukun, “he who scratches with his hands” – is as at home in the city as in the country.  In Native cultures, raccoon is the Trickster who uses his wits to lead enemies astray, leaving them stranded and bewildered.  The Cheyenne call him macho-an, “one who makes magic,” and his bandit’s mask lends him an aura of mischievousness and wily intelligence.  His scientific name, Procyon lotor, refers to the washing behavior thought to be instinctive.  In reality, what raccoons really like to do is experience their food, handling it a much as possible and dunking and soaking it in water when available.  Maybe it’s that human like behavior and their five-fingered “hands” that have always made raccoons seem subtly akin to us, or at least to the lost wild in ourselves.

Raccoons have lived on our continent, virtually unchanged, for more than a million years.  -exerpeted from The Humane Society of the United States.

Photos of the day

Elmo the cat sits amid poinsettias in a greenhouse in Barth, northern Germany. 50,000 plants in different colors and sizes are grown in these gardens. Bernd Wuestneck/dpa/AP

Camels are escorted to Radio City Music Hall for the first day of rehearsals for the 2013 Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York. The animals will be a part of the ‘Living Nativity’ scene. Amanda Schwab/Starpix/AP

Market Closes for October 29^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15680.35	+111.42    +0.72%
S&P 500	1771.95	+9.84    +0.56%
NASDAQ	3952.338	+12.209    +0.31%
TSX	13440.61	+68.77
		+0.51%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14325.98	-70.06
		-0.49%
HANG  SENG	22846.54	+39.96
		+0.18%
SENSEX	20929.01	+358.73
		+1.74%
FTSE 100	6774.73	+48.91
		+0.73%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.408	2.424
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.007	3.023
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5034	2.5206
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6127	3.6170

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95525	0.95745
US   $	1.04685	1.04444
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.43913	0.69486
US  $	1.37472	0.72742

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1344.12	1353.16
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.20	98.40
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to the highest level in two years, after U.S. economic reports fueled speculation Federal Reserve policy makers will continue stimulus measures as they begin two days of meetings.

Thomson Reuters Corp. climbed to a two-year high after disclosing it will buy back some of its shares and cut 3,000 positions in a bid to focus on growth. Sears Canada Inc. jumped 6 percent after deciding to terminate five leases, including its flagship location in Toronto. Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto- Dominion Bank rose more than 1 percent to pace gains among the nation’s largest lenders as financial shares rallied.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 68.77 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,440.61 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 5.1 percent in October, for the biggest monthly gain in two years.

“The recent government shutdown and continued uncertainty about U.S. fiscal policy are expected to keep growth little changed through the end of the year,” said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist with RBC Capital Markets, in a note today. “These recent developments weigh in favor of the Fed leaving the pace of asset purchases unchanged.”

Central bank policy makers meet today and tomorrow to consider whether to scale back the $85 billion a month of stimulative bond purchases. The Fed support has helped fuel a rally in global equities.

Retail sales in the U.S. declined 0.1 percent in September, restrained by the biggest decrease at auto dealers since October 2012. Confidence among U.S. consumers declined in October by the most since August 2011 as the 16-day government shutdown took a toll on outlooks.

President Barack Obama’s nomination of Janet Yellen, vice chairman of the Fed, to succeed Ben S. Bernanke as chairman at the end of January has added to speculation the central bank will not make any changes to its policy.

“When you have a new person coming in, they won’t do anything dramatic at all,” said David Cockfield, fund manager with Northland Wealth Management in Toronto. He helps manage C$225 million ($216 million) with the firm. “In times like these you do as little as possible and with the threat of further interparty fighting, you want to remain soft, accommodative and don’t introduce anything else that will cause stress or strain.”

Thomson Reuters gained 3.4 percent to C$38.60, the highest since April 2011, as consumer discretionary stocks added 1.2 percent as a group. Eight of 10 industries advanced on trading volume 7.2 percent lower compared with the 30-day average.

Thomson Reuters, a provider of news and information services, plans to cut 3,000 positions, or about 5 percent of the workforce, to focus on growth markets and boost profitability.

The company also reported higher-than-projected earnings of 48 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with 44 cents estimated by analysts.

Sears Canada increased 6 percent to C$14.35, the highest close in almost two years. The department store retailer is selling five store leases to Cadillac Fairview Corp. for C$400 million, including its flagship location in the Toronto Eaton Centre.

In the U.S., parent Sears Holdings Corp. is considering separating its Lands’ End and auto center units to raise cash.

Toronto-Dominion Bank rallied 1 percent to C$95.15 and Scotia Bank advanced 1.1 percent to C$63.54 as both lenders extended record highs. The S&P/TSX Banks Index climbed 1 percent, extending a record as it gained for the 13th time in the last 14 sessions.

Talisman Energy Inc. rose 2.6 percent to C$13.25 and Suncor Energy Inc. added 1.4 percent to C$38. Crude slipped for the first time in four days.

Imax Corp., the big-screen cinema technology company, gained 1.8 percent to C$30.94. Imax will develop and produce in- home theater systems in partnership with Hong Kong-based TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Ltd. The first products will be introduced in China and other unspecified global markets in 2015.

US

By Nick Taborek and Michael P. Regan

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Stocks rose in the U.S. and Europe as earnings beat analysts’ estimates at companies from BP Plc to Xylem Inc. The dollar gained and oil and gold paced losses in commodities, while Treasuries increased as the Federal Reserve began a two-day policy meeting.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.6 percent to 1,771.95 at 4 p.m. in New York, reaching a record for a third straight day. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.4 percent after BP raised its dividend and Spanish and Italian bonds gained. The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the currency against 10 major peers, strengthened 0.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped from a one-week high and gold futures dropped 0.5 percent to $1,345.50 an ounce, retreating from the highest level in five weeks.

Earnings and Fed stimulus have helped extend the S&P 500’s advance to 24 percent in 2013, which would mark its best yearly rally in a decade. Per-share profit has beaten the average analyst estimate at three-quarters of the 284 companies in the index that have reported their latest results, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Fed began a two-day meeting today after consumer confidence fell, an Oct. 22 report revealed growth in American jobs slowed in September and data yesterday showed factory output and home sales missed forecasts.

“It still seems that the Fed has created this good-news- is-bad-news, bad-news-is-good-news scenario,” Randy Bateman, who oversees $15 billion as chief investment officer of Huntington Asset Advisors in Columbus, Ohio, said by telephone.

“The anticipation is that the Fed will retain its purchasing of $85 billion in monthly Treasury and mortgage securities, which is going to continue to help the housing market. That will be taken fairly well by the market.”

Xylem, the water company whose pumps helped clean tunnels in New York flooded by Hurricane Sandy, surged 12 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 and largest advance for the stock since it was spun off from ITT Corp. two years ago. The company posted earnings that beat estimates by 40 percent and raised annual profit and sales forecasts.

Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, jumped 1.7 percent after profit beat analysts’ estimates on cost cuts and increased sales of its top vaccine and pain drugs. Masco Corp., which makes faucets and kitchen and bath cabinets, rose 2.6 percent as its sales topped forecasts.

Apple Inc., the world’s most valuable company, slipped 2.5 percent after earlier rallying as much as 1.8 percent. The maker of the iPhone said revenue in the current quarter will be $55 billion to $58 billion, compared with the $55.5 billion average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Gross margins will be 36.5 percent to 37.5 percent, versus the 38 percent projection.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 0.3 percent at 3,952.34, above its highest closing level in 13 years. Earlier, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. indexes stopped updating for almost an hour starting at around 11:53 a.m. amid a data-feed error.

Commerce Department figures showed today that retail purchases excluding vehicles gained 0.4 percent following a 0.1 percent increase in August and matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Total sales dropped 0.1 percent. A report from S&P/Case-Shiller showed house prices climbed at a faster rate in August, jumping 12.8 percent from the previous year.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 71.2 in October from 80.2 the month prior, below the median forecast in a survey of economists for a reading of 75.

Two shares advanced for each that declined in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. BP jumped 5.6 percent, the most in almost three years.

Oil, insurance, telephone and technology companies posted the biggest gains in Europe while banks and household products companies led losses. UBS AG lost 7.7 percent after saying it probably won’t be able to reach its profitability goal in 2015.

This year’s rally in equities has pushed valuations on benchmark indexes in the U.S. and Europe to the highest levels in more than three years. The S&P 500  trades for 16.8 times reported earnings, the most since May 2010. The Stoxx 600 is valued at 20.9 times reported earnings and 14.9 times projected profit, the most expensive valuations since the end of 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The European gauge has rallied 15 percent this year following a similar gain in 2012.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose for a second day, advancing 0.1 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex index added 1.7 percent, snapping a five-day slump, after the central bank further eased emergency measures imposed in July to support the rupee. Brazil’s Ibovespa index slid 1 percent as Eike Batista’s OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA sank after ending talks with bondholders without an agreement, outweighing gains by lender Itau Unibanco Holding SA. Argentina’s Merval sank 4.6 percent, the most in two years.

The Czech PX Index rose 2.7 percent, the most since January, after parties pledging to increase company taxes failed to gain control of parliament in general elections over the weekend.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to a seven- week low after the People’s Bank of China’s first cash injection in two weeks failed to reduce money-market rates.

WTI oil fell 0.5 percent to $98.20 a barrel, its first drop in four days, before government data tomorrow that’s forecast to show crude stockpiles rose to a four-month high in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer of the fuel.

Coffee futures capped the longest route in more than four decades as wet weather signaled bigger crops than forecast in Brazil, the world’s largest grower. Increasing precipitation in Brazil this week will improve conditions for crops that have been able to flower multiple times amid ample rain, MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said yesterday. Soil moisture will also gain in Colombia, the second-biggest producer, the forecaster said.

Arabica coffee for delivery in December fell 0.6 percent to $1.0695 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after touching $1.066, the lowest since March 2009. A decline today would be the 11th straight, the longest slump since at least 1972.

Australia’s dollar slid to a two-week low after Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens said the nation’s terms of trade are likely to worsen and its currency may be “materially lower” than current levels. The Aussie weakened 1 percent to 94.78 U.S. cents.

Spain’s government bonds rose for a second day, pushing 10- year yields to the lowest level since May, as a report showed retail sales rose in September, adding to evidence the nation’s recovery is gaining momentum. The rate dropped five basis points to 4.05 percent. Italy’s 10-year yield fell six basis points to 4.14 percent.

Ten-year Treasury yields were down two basis points at 2.50 percent. Treasury five-year notes were the most expensive in four months relative to two- and 10-year securities before the U.S. sells $35 billion of 2018 debt today.

The so-called butterfly spread measuring differences between the yields was negative 30 basis points, a level not seen since June 18, based on closing prices. The figure reflects increased demand for the middle security over the outliers.

The Treasury sold $32 billion of two-year securities yesterday with a bid-to-cover auction ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, at 3.32, the highest level since April.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

When you believe that the truth is living, moving, that it does not have one home or rest in any temple,

mosque, or church, in any religion, master or philosopher – in short, that nothing can lead you to it –

you will see also that you are this living thing in every respect;

it is your anger, your brutality, your violence, your despair.

It is the agony and the pain that you live through.  The truth is in the comprehension of all of this;

you cannot comprehend it unless you are determined to see it in your life.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I don’t know which is more discouraging,

literature or chickens.

-E.B. White, 1899-1985

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

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:

Isn’t this beautiful fall weather for those of us living on the left coast?  Enjoy it while it lasts – rain is coming later in the week.

Today is the anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty  –  a gift from the people of France; President Grover Cleveland dedicated the statue in New York Harbor on October, 28^th, 1886.

I think I’ve now seen the biggest TV screen in existence at  recently renovated Tappo Restobar on Richards Street in Vancouver.  Now that football season has officially arrived, they are opening on Sundays for brunch – Mediterranean inspired menu – best minestrone soup!

In life, as in a football game, the principal to follow is: Hit the line hard.  –Theodore Roosevelt.

Photos of the day

A woman and her daughter struggle against strong winds and rain in central Brussels. According to local media, the winds could reach speeds of over 62 miles per hour. Francois Lenoir/Reuters

People stop on a bridge over the river Garry to view the autumn scene near Killiecrankie, Scotland. Russell Cheyne/Reuters

Market Closes for October 28^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15568.93	-1.35    -0.01%
S&P 500	1762.11	+2.34    +0.13%
NASDAQ	3940.129	-3.232    -0.08%
TSX	13382.07	-17.35
		-0.13%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14396.04	+307.85
		+2.19%
HANG  SENG	22806.58	+108.24
		+0.48%
SENSEX	20570.28	-113.24
		-0.55%
FTSE 100	6725.82	+4.48
		+0.07%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.424	2.417
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.023	3.023
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5206	2.5034
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6170	3.5964

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95745	0.95686
US   $	1.04444	1.04509
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.43994	0.69447
US  $	1.37867	0.72534

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1353.16	1351.78
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	98.40	97.55
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Aubrey Pringle

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell from a two-year high, as energy and industrial shares dropped before the U.S. Federal Reserve meets to consider extending monetary stimulus.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. dropped at least 1.7 percent as natural gas prices slid.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. fell 1.3 percent to pace losses among industrial shares after Pershing Capital Management LP cut its stake in the company by four percentage points. Taseko Mines Ltd. added at least 8.3 percent as miners advanced.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 27.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,371.84 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge rallied 2 percent last week to the highest since July 2011. It’s risen 4.6 percent in October, poised for its best month in two years. Trading volume was 9 percent below the 30- day average at this time of day.

“The market is somewhat directionless,” Brian Huen, the Toronto-based managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management Ltd., said by phone. His firm oversees C$225 million ($215 million). “We have lots of earnings coming out later this week and the FOMC meeting, and that’s what going to start driving investor sentiment. Until we get more news flow, I think we’re going to be range-bound.”

The benchmark index swung between a gain of 0.1 percent and a drop of 0.2 percent today, with seven of 10 main groups retreating. The gauge had advanced eight of the nine sessions prior to today.

The Federal Open Market Committee starts a two-day meeting tomorrow to consider when to start trimming $85 billion of bond purchases that have helped bolster global equities. A report today showed factory production in the U.S. rose less than forecast last month, reviving prospects for an extension of economic stimulus by the Fed.

Some 50 companies in the S&P/TSX will report earnings in the next four days, including Barrick Gold Corp., Suncor Energy Inc. and Bombardier Inc.

Canadian consumer confidence fell for a fourth straight week, the Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index showed today. The weekly measure of the economic mood of Canadians dropped to 57.7 in the seven days through Oct. 25, from 58.0 the previous week.

Consumer staples stocks retreated 0.6 percent, dragged lower by Maple Leaf Foods Inc., which fell 3.2 percent to C$15.47.

Industrial shares halted a six-day rally, sliding 0.8 percent. Canadian Pacific fell from an all-time high, retreating 1.3 percent to C$148.17. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square completed a previously announced sale of the railway operator’s shares, reducing its to 9.8 percent from 13.8 percent in July. Canadian National Railway Co. dropped 1 percent to C$114.03.

Bombardier Inc., Canada’s largest plane maker, dropped 1.9 percent to C$5.27 after a UBS analyst reported that the new CSeries aircraft has logged fewer test flight hours than the bank estimates are needed before the planes can be shipped.

Energy stocks fell 0.5 percent, led lower by gas producers.

Canadian Natural Resources slid 1.9 percent to C$32.68 and Advantage Oil & Gas fell 1.7 percent to C$4.15. Natural gas prices plummeted 3.7 percent.

Atlantic Power Corp. plunged 6.2 percent to C$5 for its biggest slide since June. Bank of Nova Scotia cut its rating on the power generation company’s stock to underperform.

Raw materials producers gained 0.2 percent, reversing an earlier drop of as much as 0.7 percent for the best performance in the benchmark index. Gold advanced for the third straight session on speculation the Fed will delay tapering.

Detour Gold rose 3.8 percent to C$9.12 and Eldorado Gold Corp. gained 3 percent to C$7.49. Taseko Mines jumped 8.3 percent to C$2.73.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which has an investment portfolio worth $24.1 billion, jumped 1.2 percent to C$473.58.

The Toronto-based insurer and financial services company climbed to the highest level since 1999 after investments in Irish banking and Canadian cattle feed surged, more than offsetting any potential loss from a $4.7 billion bid for smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd.

USA

By Nick Taborek and Alexis Xydias

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, leaving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index poised for the best annual gain since 2003, as weaker-than-forecast economic data fueled bets the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus at its meeting.

Burger King Worldwide Inc. rose 5.8 percent after third- quarter sales topped estimates. Dendreon Corp. jumped 11 percent as people familiar with the matter said the drugmaker is seeking a buyer. Merck & Co. slid 2.6 percent after reporting revenue that fell short of estimates. Apple Inc. dropped 2.2 percent after the market close as the maker of iPhones and iPads released results.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 1,762.11 at 4 p.m. in New York. The gauge has rallied 23.6 percent this year, which would be the best annual gain since a 26.4 percent surge in 2003. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.35 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,568.93. About 5.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average.

“The most bullish thing a market can do is go up, and that’s what it’s been doing,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at RW Baird & Co., said by phone from Sarasota, Florida. His firm oversees $100 billion. “With Janet Yellen coming on stream and the latest jobs data that was a disappointment, that suggests that the Fed will continue to ease and print money until at least March and probably beyond.”

The S&P 500 rallied 0.9 percent last week for its third straight weekly gain, as signs of slower economic recovery fueled bets the Fed will wait until March before scaling back bond purchases. The gauge has jumped 4.8 percent this month as lawmakers agreed to raise the government’s borrowing limit.

Fed policy makers meet Tuesday and Wednesday to consider whether economic growth is strong enough to start trimming $85 billion of bond purchases. This month’s 16-day government shutdown took at least $24 billion out of the economy and will spur central-bank policy makers to wait until March to scale back the stimulus, a Bloomberg survey showed this month.

Data today added to concern that growth slowed in the weeks before the shutdown. Factory output rose 0.1 percent in September, slower than the 0.3 percent forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey. Another report showed fewer Americans than forecast signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in September, the fourth straight month of declines. A report last week showed hiring grew at a slower-than-estimated pace.

“Investors are going to be overly focused on this Fed meeting,” Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at St. Louis, Missouri-based Wells Fargo Advisors LLC., which oversees about $1.3 trillion, said by phone. “I suspect that when the statement is released there’s going to be very little change to it.”

Better-than-expected earnings and the Fed stimulus have driven the S&P 500 up more than 160 percent since March 2009.

The rally has lifted equity valuations, with the index trading at 16.7 times reported earnings.

Profits have beaten the average analyst estimate at 76 percent of the 249 S&P 500 companies that have released results so far in the latest reporting season, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as VIX that measures options traders’ estimate of future price swings in S&P 500, has slid 20 percent so far this month. The gauge climbed 1.7 percent to 13.31 today.

Five out of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced, as consumer-staples companies rose 1.2 percent to pace gains.

Burger King rose 5.8 percent to $20.90. The fast food chain reported third-quarter revenue beat analyst estimates as overseas gains in comparable-store sales offset a decline in the U.S. and Canada.

Hershey Co. gained 3.1 percent to $100.14, giving the chocolate maker’s stock a record close three days before Halloween.

J.C. Penney Co. rallied 8.8 percent to $7.39 for the biggest gain in S&P 500. Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman said at a conference he still expects positive comparable sales in the third quarter, Reuters reported.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. rallied 6.7 percent to $52.02, the highest since December 2001. The company’s experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug reduced symptoms of the disease and was about as effective as a current standard treatment sold by AbbVie Inc., a study found.

Dendreon surged 11 percent to $2.81. The maker of Provenge prostate-cancer treatment is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to find suitors after sales of the prostate-cancer treatment failed to meet expectations, said one of the people, who asked not to be named as the process is private.

The company, whose market value once topped $7 billion, has generated about $2 billion in losses over the past decade. That market capitalization now hovers at about $400 million.

Apple fell 2.2 percent to $518.46 as of 4:50 p.m. in New York. After the close of regular trading, the world’s most- valuable company predicted lighter-than-estimated gross margins.

Its sales forecast for the crucial holiday quarter topped analysts’ projections. Profit for the just-ended quarter fell 8.6 percent to $7.51 billion, or $8.26 a share, above the $7.92 projected by analysts on average and the third-consecutive period of declines.

Merck dropped 2.6 percent to $45.35 in regular trading for the biggest drop in the Dow. Third-quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, were 92 cents a share, beating by 5 cents the average of analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Sales fell 4 percent to $11 billion, hurt by patent expirations and foreign currency exchange, the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker said. The revenue fell short of the $11.1 billion projected by analysts.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. slid 5 percent to $73.24 after forecasting fourth-quarter profit below analysts’ estimates. The maker of replacement heart valves is facing increased competition from Boston Scientific Corp. which said today it received approval for its Lotus heart valve, a second-generation device, in Europe. Medtronic Inc. plans to present data on its CoreValve at a medical meeting tomorrow.

The smallest stocks are rallying almost twice as fast as bigger companies in the U.S., a bullish economic signal from businesses whose profits are most dependent on domestic demand.

Shares of companies from Rite Aid Corp. to Teledyne Technologies Inc. in the Russell 2000 Index have advanced 32 percent in 2013, compared with 19 percent for the Dow. The spread is the widest for any year since 2003, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Three of the last four times small-caps outperformed by this much, the economy grew faster the next year and stocks stayed in a bull market for another year or more, based on data from the past 34 years.

Gains in smaller companies that are more dependent on U.S. growth show investors are betting the world’s largest economy will pick up even after jobs growth slowed and the government shutdown weighed on gross domestic product. Smaller firms are surpassing analyst earnings estimates by more than Dow companies and are forecast to grow faster next year.

“If you’re focused on the U.S., and the U.S. is performing very well, then of course your revenues and earnings are going to be much better,” Kully Samra of Charles Schwab Corp., which has $2.15 trillion of assets globally, said by phone Oct. 24 from London. “Other regions are at different stages of dealing with structural issues, and the U.S. has already dealt with them.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

We should never try to follow another’s path for that is his way, not yours.

When that path is found, you have nothing to do but fold your arms

and the tide will carry you to freedom.

Therefore when you find it, never swerve from it.

Your way is the best for you,

but that is no sign it is the best for another.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

We cannot do great deeds unless we are willing

to do the small things that make up the sum

of greatness.

-Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919

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

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:

Apparently changing climate is threatening to the coffee industry, which fills 1.6 billion cups a day.  It may not be long before that after-dinner espresso costs more than the wine.  More importantly, there are some 26 million farmers who depend on coffee to feed their families.  Coffee is the most valuable tropical export crop and the world’s favorite drink.  It is now the second most traded commodity after oil, with exports worth $15 billion US per year.  The plant is peculiarly vulnerable to climate change according to the New Scientist.

On this day in 1964, the Rolling Stones made their US television debut, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Pablo Picasso was born on October 25^th, 1881.

128 years ago, on October 25^th, 1885, Johannes Brahm’s 4^th Symphony in E  premiered.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. –Thomas A. Edison

Photo of the day

A man takes a photograph of a sculpture by artist Lucy Humphrey titled ‘horizon’ on a rocky cliff which is part of the ‘Sculpture by the Sea’ exhibition at Sydney’s Tamarama Beach in Australia. The free and temporary outdoor exhibition, now in its 17th year, stretches for 1.24 miles along the coastline. David Gray/Reuters

Market Closes for October 25^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15570.28	+61.07    +0.39%
S&P 500	1759.77	+7.70    +0.44%
NASDAQ	3943.361	+14.401    +0.37%
TSX	13400.39	+75.63
		+0.57%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14088.19	-398.22
		-2.75%
HANG  SENG	22698.34	-137.48
		-0.60%
SENSEX	20683.52	-41.91
		-0.20%
FTSE 100	6721.34	+8.16
		+0.12%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.417	2.423
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.023	3.025
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5034	2.5179
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.5964	3.6119

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95686	0.95985
US   $	1.04509	1.04183
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.44260	0.69320
US  $	1.38036	0.72445

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1351.78	1346.70
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.55	96.71
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Aubrey Pringle

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the eighth time in nine days, capping the benchmark index’s third straight weekly gain, as energy producers and miners rallied amid higher commodity prices.

Trilogy Energy Corp. surged 8.3 percent to lead gas companies higher after a report said China Petrochemical Corp. plans to sell half its stake in two shale gas blocks in Canada.

Centerra Gold Inc. jumped 4.2 percent to pace gains among gold miners. CGI Group Inc., the designer of the website for the new U.S. health-care exchanges, fell 0.8 percent amid blame for software snags on the portal.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 74.66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,399.42 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge rallied 2 percent in the past five days, the biggest weekly gain since July. It’s risen 4.8 percent in October, poised for its best month in two years.

“There’s been a nice uptick in some of the material names,” said Matt Skipp, chief investment officer with Sw8 Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. The firm manages about C$54 million ($52 million). “People are looking for places to put money, and Canada is hanging on the positive side at the moment.”

While the benchmark Canadian index traded at a two-year high after rallying 7.8 percent so far in 2013, U.S. stocks have surged 23 percent this year, with the S&P 500 closing at a record today.

Eight of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX advanced today. Utility stocks gained 1.3 percent to pace gains. Canadian Utilities Ltd. rose 2.3 percent to C$38.08 and ATCO Ltd. gained 2.5 percent to C$48.47.

Energy stocks rallied 1 percent as a group to the highest since March 2012, with gas producers pacing gains. Trilogy Energy jumped 8.3 percent to C$31.58, a three-month high.

Precision Drilling Corp. added 4.4 percent to C$11.05 and Enerplus Corp. climbed 2.8 percent to C$18.12.

China Petrochemical plans to sell the stakes in its two biggest shale blocks in Canada to spread costs and speed up their development, Reuters reported, citing Feng Zhiqiang, chairman of North America operations of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp.

Materials stocks increased 0.6 percent, erasing an earlier drop of as much as 1 percent as gold prices reversed. Gold for December delivery added 0.2 percent in New York to the highest in a month.

Centerra Gold surged 4.2 percent to C$4.19, while Alacer Gold Corp. jumped 1.3 percent to C$3.22 and Semafo Inc. rose 2.4 percent to $2.98.

CGI Group dropped 0.8 percent to C$35.59, pushing its loss for the week to 4 percent. Canada’s biggest technology company continues to bear responsibility for glitches on the new www.healthcare.gov exchange website. Canada’s biggest technology company posted its second straight weekly loss.

Cameco Corp., a uranium company, erased earlier gains and slipped 0.4 percent to C$19.27 after an earthquake struck northeast of Tokyo and a tsunami warning was issued for the Fukushima region.

USA

By Lu Wang

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record, as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. sales beat estimates while a drop in consumer confidence added to speculation the Federal Reserve will delay scaling back monetary stimulus.

Amazon.com surged 9.4 percent as consumers flocked to the largest online retailer ahead of the holiday shopping season, helping to curtail losses. Microsoft jumped 6 percent as the company relied on corporate software demand to make up for weak consumer personal-computer purchases. Eastman Chemical Co. slumped 5.2 percent after cutting its full-year forecast.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to 1,759.77 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent to 3,383.83. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 61.07 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,570.28. About 6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average.

“Earnings have been good enough and the liquidity spigot is open so that people see very little risk in the system,” Charlie Smith, chief investment officer of Pittsburgh-based Fort Pitt Capital Group Inc., said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $1.5 billion. “It’s like a giant game of musical chairs. The attitude on the part of most investors is that they have to play while the Fed got the music going.”

The S&P 500 has jumped 4.7 percent this month as lawmakers agreed to raise the government’s borrowing limit, avoiding a sovereign default. Equities rallied for a third week, with the benchmark index up 0.9 percent, as signs of slower economic recovery fueled bets the Fed will wait until March before scaling back bond purchases.

Exchange-traded funds that invest in U.S. equities took in more than $2.3 billion the last four days, bringing this month’s flows to about $15.8 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

October is on track for the biggest intake since July.

Stocks briefly pared gains today as a person in Kentucky Republican Rand Paul’s office said the Senator is considering placing a hold on the nomination of Janet Yellen to lead the Fed. Equities rallied earlier this month when President Barack Obama chose Yellen to succeed Ben S. Bernanke as Fed chairman.

As a top deputy to Bernanke, Yellen supported the central bank’s bond-buying programs that have helped propel the S&P 500 up 160 percent from a 12-year low in 2009.

Better-than-expected earnings and continued monetary stimulus have driven the S&P 500 up 23 percent this year. While the rally lifted equity valuations to a four-year high, with the index trading at 15.9 times estimated operating earnings, that’s still below the multiples at the market’s two previous peaks, when the ratio reached 16.5 in October 2007 and 25.7 in March 2000, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Valuation is still reasonable and the economy appears to getting better,” Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist and director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Capital Management, said by phone from Atlanta. His firm oversees about $48 billion.

“The market does look a bit extended so it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw some near-term pullback.”

Data today showed consumer confidence in the U.S. dropped in October to a 10-month low, showing the reopening of the federal government failed to reassure households. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index for October decreased to 73.2 from 77.5 the prior month. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for a decline to 75 compared with a preliminary reading of 75.2.

Orders for U.S. durable goods rose in September by the most in three months as stronger demand for commercial and military aircraft outweighed a drop in business equipment.

Sixteen S&P 500 reported earnings today. Of the 244 members of the gauge that have released results so far, 76 percent exceeded analysts’ predictions for profit, while 54 percent beat sales estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

Earnings for the broad equity gauge probably increased 3.7 percent in the third quarter as sales climbed 2.4 percent, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX, slipped 0.8 percent to 13.09, trimming its gain for the week to 0.4 percent.

All 10 S&P 500 groups gained today as phone and utility shares climbed more than 1 percent to lead the advance.

Technology shares increased 0.4 percent.

Amazon jumped 9.4 percent to an all-time high of $363.39.

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has poured money into the company’s delivery network, cloud-computing services and line of Kindle e-readers and tablets, sacrificing near-term profits to fuel growth. That could put Amazon on track to outpace the e- commerce market, where sales are seen climbing 15.5 percent to $83.2 billion, according to EMarketer Inc.

Microsoft rallied 6 percent to $35.73. The world’s largest software maker is undergoing unprecedented changes, conducting its first-ever CEO search to replace Steve Ballmer and starting an organizational overhaul aimed at bolstering sales by focusing on devices and services.

United Parcel Service Inc. added 1.2 percent to a record $95.61. The world’s largest-package delivery company beat analysts’ estimates for third-quarter earnings. The company said revenue from each domestic parcel rose 1 percent and daily package volume was up 2.3 percent.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. climbed 7.3 percent to a record $125.17. The maker of a drug for rare blood diseases boosted its full-year earnings forecast to as much as $3.04 a share. That compared with the average analyst estimate of $3.03.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. rose 4.5 percent to $82.72. The biggest U.S. maker of oil-field equipment reported third-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates and said it expects orders for the current quarter to be good, “maybe great.”

Zynga Inc. advanced 5.5 percent to $3.73. The maker of social-networking games reported its first quarter under Chief Executive Officer Don Mattrick, recording a smaller-than- forecast loss as purchases of items used in games exceeded the company’s forecast.

Eastman Chemical slumped 5.2 percent to $77.94. The producer of chemicals said it expects full-year earnings to be as low as $6.30 a share, trailing the average analyst estimate of $6.47 in a Bloomberg survey.

Express Scripts Holding Co. declined 4.5 percent to $60.88, the lowest since May. The largest U.S. processor of prescription drug claims reduced its 2013 cash flow forecast, citing delays in some non-client integration activities.

Yahoo! Inc. lost 2.5 percent to $32.25 after Yahoo Japan Corp. forecast full-year sales and profits that missed analysts’ estimates.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Truth has no path, and that is the beauty of truth, it is living.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

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

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:

The United Nations was founded on this day in 1945.  It’s a wonderful concept isn’t it?  U n i t e d  N a t i o n s.

On October 24^th, 1664, King Charles II wrote to his sister Henrietta:

“You have heard of our taking of New Amsterdam, which lies just by New England.  ‘Tis a place of great importance to trade.  It did belong to England heretofore, but the Dutch by degrees drove our people out and built a very good town, but have got the better of it, and ‘tis now called New York.”

When I go to New York every October for the annual Barron’s investment conference, one of the things I try to sneak in is a walk along the streets of the Upper East Side to see the Halloween decorations.  Many of them are spectacular, amazingly imaginative and spooky.  If anyone happens to be going there before October 31^st, check out the display in front of the brownstone at 72^nd and 5^th.  It is amazing.  I tried to take a photo with my phone but it was already nighttime, so it didn’t turn out very well.  The attachment  is supposed to be a photo of a ghost with flashing purple eyes!

Photos of the day

A child looks through a magnifying glass at the ‘Cosmology of Life’ miniature wooden sculptures by Indonesia’s Toni Kanwa during a preview of the contemporary art exhibition titled ‘If The World Changed’ at a museum in Singapore. The exhibition features works by 82 artists from 13 countries.Edgar Su/Reuters

A shepherd guides a flock of sheep in Lyon, France, as ‘Confederation Paysanne’ farmers’ union members protest against the electronic chip system imposed on their animals. Robert Pratta/Reuters

Market Closes for October 24^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15509.21	+95.88    +0.62%
S&P 500	1752.07	+5.69    +0.33%
NASDAQ	3928.960	+21.886    +0.56%
TSX	13324.75	+81.43
		+0.61%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14486.41	+60.36
		+0.42%
HANG  SENG	22835.82	-164.13
		-0.71%
SENSEX	20725.43	-42.42
		-0.20%
FTSE 100	6713.18	+38.70
		+0.58%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.423	2.425
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.025	3.025
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5179	2.4926
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6119	3.5871

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95985	0.96293
US   $	1.04183	1.03850
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.43765	0.69558
US  $	1.37998	0.72465

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1346.70	1333.51
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	96.71	96.36
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, after snapping six days of gains yesterday, as resource companies including Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. reported improving earnings and manufacturing in China grew more than forecast.

Agnico Eagle surged 19 percent and Goldcorp Inc. rallied 4.5 percent as both gold-mining companies reported better-than- projected earnings. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, advanced 3.8 percent as profit rose on increasing coal sales. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. lost 1.6 percent after pricing for the fertilizer plunged. Wi-Lan Inc. sank 23 percent after losing a patent suit against Apple Inc.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 81.43 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,324.75 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has advanced 7.2 percent in 2013 and is trading at a two-year high.

“Materials stocks have been beaten down so much that it doesn’t take much to get them going, and an earnings beat is one of those things,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc., in an interview from Toronto. The firm manages about C$4 billion. “And you also have the China PMI number. Expectations are low, so all you need is a little positive push to get stocks going.”

A preliminary purchasing managers’ index reading for China of 50.9 came in ahead of a 50.4 median estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

Raw-materials producers gained 2.9 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX, as six of 10 industry groups in the benchmark index advanced. The gauge of commodity producers has lost 26 percent this year. Trading volume for S&P/TSX stocks was about 23 percent higher compared with the 30-day average.

Agnico Eagle jumped 19 percent to C$31.82, the most in almost five years. The company reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and said 2013 production and costs will be better than it previously forecast.

Agnico is among gold producers seeking to curb costs and cut spending after the metal slumped into a bear market in April.

Goldcorp, the largest gold miner by market value, gained 4.5 percent to C$27.76 as costs rose less than expected. The company, which operates mines in North and South America, wrote down the value of its assets by $1.96 billion in July and is slowing some project spending and seeking to cut costs. The company is building new mines in Canada and Argentina.

Barrick Gold Corp. gained 4.1 percent to C$20.95 and B2Gold Corp. rose 5.8 percent to C$2.73 as the S&P/TSX Gold Index rallied to a one-month high. Gold for December delivery climbed 1.2 percent to a three-week high.

Teck Resources increased 3.8 percent to C$30.54. The company’s coal sales climbed 36 percent from a year earlier to 7.57 million metric tons in the third quarter, while mine operating costs fell 14 percent to C$50 a ton.

Wi-Lan sank 23 percent to C$3.16, for the lowest close since June 2010. Apple won a patent-infringement trial and fended off a demand for $248 million in royalties for wireless technology used in mobile devices.

Potash Corp. declined 1.6 percent to C$32.41. The price of potash, a key nutrient used in farming, plunged 28 percent after the company’s biggest rival announced plans to raise output.

Potash Corp. received an average price of $307 a metric ton for its potash in the third quarter, compared with $429 a year ago, the company said in a statement.

Buyers of potash, a form of potassium used to boost crop yields, have deferred purchases since the end of July after OAO Uralkali, the world’s largest producer, quit a sales accord with its Belarusian rival and announced plans to boost output and take a larger market share.

USA

By Lu Wang

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, putting the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index three points from a record, as corporate earnings beat estimates and signs of slower economic growth fueled bets the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus.

Homebuilders rallied 3.3 percent as a group after PulteGroup Inc.’s profit surged. McKesson Corp. jumped 4.9 percent after boosting its annual forecast and agreeing to buy Germany’s Celesio AG for about 3.9 billion euros ($5.4 billion).

Citrix Systems Inc. climbed 4.9 percent as it raised its share buyback. Xerox Corp. tumbled the most in four years after its forecast trailed analysts’ estimates.

The S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 1,752.07 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.88 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,509.21. About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 10 percent above the three-month average.

“We are right at the heart of earnings season so everything at this point of time is very earnings driven,” Mark Spellman, a portfolio manager at Value Line Funds in New York, said by phone. His firm manages $2.3 billion. “Earnings have been as good if not slightly better than expected. We’ve done a lot on the cost side. What people want to see is continued progress in the sales line.”

The S&P 500 has advanced 4.2 percent this month, closing at a record of 1,754.67 on Oct. 22, as lawmakers agreed to raise the U.S. borrowing limit, avoiding a possible debt default. The benchmark gauge fell 0.5 percent yesterday, halting five days of gains, as forecasts at companies from Caterpillar Inc. to Broadcom Corp. disappointed investors.

Some 47 companies in the S&P 500 posted results today, the busiest day of the third-quarter season. Microsoft Corp. surged 5 percent to $35.40 at 4:27 p.m. in New York after reporting sales and profit that topped estimates. The stock slipped 0.1 percent during the regular session.

Amazon.com Inc. rallied 4.7 percent to $347.72 in extended trading, adding to today’s 1.7 percent gain. The company’s revenue beat analysts’ estimates as consumers flocked to the world’s largest online retailer, fueling sales growth while net losses shrank.

Of the 217 S&P 500 members that have released earnings so far, 77 percent exceeded analysts’ predictions for profit, while 53 percent beat sales estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Earnings for members of the gauge probably increased 2.5 percent in the third quarter as sales climbed 2.2 percent, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“We want to look at the quality of these earnings as far as looking at revenues and making sure there is actual growth and not just manufactured growth,” David James, director of research at Alpha, Ohio-based James Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview. His firm oversees more than $4.5 billion.

Better-than-expected earnings and monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve have driven the S&P 500 up 23 percent this year. The 16-day government shutdown dispute weighed on fourth- quarter growth and will prompt Fed policy makers to wait until March before starting to scale back the $85 billion of monthly bond purchases, a Bloomberg survey showed last week.

Data today added to signs that economic growth is slowing, as U.S. manufacturing expanded in October at a weaker pace than forecast, according to the Markit Economics preliminary index.

Euro-area services and factory output also missed economists’ projections while manufacturing output in China strengthened more than anticipated.

Government data showed the trade deficit in the U.S. was little changed in August and more Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week. A report Oct. 22 showed payrolls in the U.S. climbed by less than forecast in September. U.S. consumer confidence dropped last week to an eight-month low, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index released today.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX, fell 1.6 percent to 13.20 today, extending its decline for the month to 20 percent.

Six of 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced, with producers of consumer discretionary products adding 1 percent to lead gains.

The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index jumped 3.3 for a third straight gain, as all its 11 members climbed. PulteGroup, the second-largest U.S. homebuilder by market value, surged 7 percent to $17.85 after recording a tax-related gain and rising revenue from house sales.

Home Depot Inc., the biggest U.S. home improvement retailer, advanced 2.3 percent to $76.78 for the steepest climb in the Dow.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index climbed 2.7 percent to the highest close since July 2007. Southwest Airlines Co. added 3.7 percent to $17.02 after earnings and operating revenue matched analysts’ forecasts.

U.S. Airways Group Inc. jumped 5.9 percent to $22.67, the highest level in almost six years, as Deutsche Bank AG lifted the stock’s rating to buy from hold.

McKesson rose 4.9 percent to an all-time high of $150. The largest U.S. pharmaceutical distributor said it will acquire the 50.01 percent stake in Celesio from Franz Haniel & Cie GmbH, a family-owned investment company, for 23 euros a share.

Citrix Systems Inc., the maker of software that lets people access work files from home, rallied 4.9 percent to $58.79 after saying it plans to buy back as much as $500 million in shares.

Visa Inc. gained 2 percent to a record $202.91. The world’s biggest payments network increased its quarterly dividend by 21 percent to 40 cents a share.

Telephone shares fell 1 percent for the worst performance among 10 S&P 500 industries, as AT&T Inc. slipped 1.8 percent to $34.63 to halt a six-day rally. While the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier reported better-than-expected profit, its subscriber gains of 363,000 customers were dwarfed by Verizon Communications Inc.’s 927,000 new contract users last quarter.

Xerox fell 10 percent, the most since September 2009, to $9.61. The printer and copier pioneer lowered its full-year earnings forecast to as little as $1.08 a share, raising concerns about the company’s attempt to shift into business services.

Boston Scientific Corp. dropped 6.1 percent to $11.54. The second-biggest maker of heart devices said it plans to eliminate as many as 1,500 more jobs as the industry struggles with shrinking markets and development costs. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Capello will leave the role at the end of the year and be replaced by Daniel Brennan, the company said.

Symantec Corp. sank 13 percent to $21.49. The maker of security software forecast sales and profit that missed analyst estimates. Chief Executive Officer Steve Bennett said that sales staff, who are being assigned fewer clients and getting additional training, weren’t able to close as many deals.

Akamai Technologies Inc. slumped 11 percent to $46.06, the lowest since August. The company, which helps customers deliver online content faster, forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit that fell short of some projections.

Cameron International Corp. tumbled 14 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $53.85. The maker of oilfield equipment forecast fourth-quarter revenue that trailed analysts’ estimates and cited delays in international bookings for the tempered outlook.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

We gain our freedom when we realize our most true nature.

The man who is an artist gains his artistic freedom when he discovers the true ideal of art.

Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.

-Michael Pollan, 1955-

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

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:

Attended a very informative investment seminar in NYC yesterday – lots of interesting investment ideas and perspectives from money managers from around the world.  Took the red-eye home last night after the meeting, so I’ll be brief tonight and get into more details with you later  🙂 .

Tattoo

-by John Whale

According to Aetius, a physician

of some second-century repute,

the ancients had their own recipe for it:

as if preparing for their funerals

they would take some corroded bronze

previously attacked by vinegar

and grind it solemnly with vitriol

and just a touch of predictable gall

before they applied it with needles

to the relative permanence of the dermis.

 

And now, at both ends of the M62

there are reports of the stricken natives

taking this rite of the hot scratch

some way closer to their raw grief

by asking their artists to grind

the coarse ashes of their beloved

with a suitably back ink

and to bury this finer dust

through repeated puncture wounds

in the form of words which go down

deep into their sore and grieving flesh:

Just like me/ They long to be / Close to you.

Photos of the day

Autumnal trees are reflected in the water as a fisherman rows his boat during a sunny day at the Sylvenstein barrier lake in Germany. Michael Dalder/Reuters

A torch bearer carries the Olympic torch past Kizhi Pogost, world famous 18th-century wooden churches, in Kizhi Island, northern Russia. The torch relay for the Sochi Winter Games will pass through many cities that showcase the historical, cultural and ethnic richness of Russia. olympictorch2014.com/AP

Aspiring witches line up to register before the start of an audition session to work as the resident witch at the Wookey Hole Caves tourist attraction in Wookey Hole, Somerset, England. About 50 applicants auditioned for the position, each given one minute to perform in front of a panel of judges. The requirements for the job include: must be able to cackle and must not be allergic to cats. Matt Dunham/AP

Market Closes for October 22^nd, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15467.66	+75.46    +0.49%
S&P 500	1754.90	+10.24    0.59%
NASDAQ	3929.566	+9.517    +0.24%
TSX	13253.39	+66.86
		+0.51%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14713.25	+19.68
		+0.13%
HANG  SENG	23315.99	-122.16
		-0.52%
SENSEX	20864.97	-28.92
		-0.14%
FTSE 100	6695.66	+41.46
		+0.62%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.483	2.550
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.072	3.120
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5142	2.5995
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6110	3.6664

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97180	0.97080
US   $	1.02902	1.03008
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.41785	0.70529
US  $	1.37787	0.72576

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1340.33	1315.93
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.80	99.22
BRENT	109.360	109.360

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a sixth day, the longest streak since April, as banks extended a record high and gold and silver prices surged after U.S. jobs data fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will extend stimulus.

Detour Gold Corp. and B2Gold Corp. rallied at least 7.2 percent as gold climbed to the highest in almost a month.

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. surged 10 percent to pace gains among materials producers. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce added 1.2 percent as the largest lenders rose a ninth day.

Pretium Resources Inc. plunged 28 percent after a consultant that withdrew from the company’s Valley of the Kings project said there are “no valid gold mineral resources” at the site.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 61.53 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,248.06 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has rallied 2.8 percent in the past six days, extending a two-year high.

“The weak U.S. data perpetuates this easy money environment and pushes expectations for tapering of bond-buying in the U.S. out, which is good for stock prices,” said Bob Decker, fund manager with Aurion Capital Management in Toronto.

The firm manages about C$6 billion ($5.84 billion). “Gold notionally is a beneficiary, it’s been purged from a lot of portfolios this summer, so it’s forming a base here.”

The U.S. added 148,000 workers in September, following a revised 193,000 rise in August that was larger than initially estimated. The median forecast of 93 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 180,000 advance. The unemployment rate fell to 7.2 percent, the lowest since November 2008.

Turquoise Hill Resources surged 10 percent to C$5.11 and Endeavour Silver Corp. added 8.3 percent to C$4.98 as  raw- materials producers surged 2.7 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX. Six of 10 industries in the benchmark Canadian equity gauge advanced. Trading volume was 19 percent above the 30-day average at this time of the day.

Detour Gold jumped 8.8 percent to C$8.79 and B2Gold added 7.2 percent to C$2.67. Semafo Inc. gained 9.5 percent to C$2.78 as 23 of 24 members of the S&P/TSX Gold Index rose. Gold for December delivery soared 2 percent to $1,342.60, reaching the highest since Sept. 30.

Bombardier Inc. increased 0.6 percent to C$5.33, a two-year high. The aircraft maker has soared 7.7 percent in the past five days, the longest rally since December 2012.

Pierre Beaudoin, chief executive officer with Bombardier, said in an interview yesterday its agreement to sell as many as 30 CSeries aircraft to a Chinese leasing company may prompt more deals in the nation.

RMP Energy Inc. jumped 9.2 percent to C$6.29, the highest close since August 2006, after analyst Anthony Petrucci with Canaccord Genuity raised his rating for the stock to buy from hold.

Bank of Montreal added 0.7 percent to C$72.63, a six-year high. Canadian Imperial gained 1.2 percent to C$86.41. The S&P/TSX Banks Index has advanced 4.6 percent in the past nine days, the longest streak since 2005. The gauge is up 13 percent this year to a record high.

Pretium Resources sank 28 percent to C$3.45, the lowest since shares began trading in December 2010.

Pretium today reported preliminary results from the processing of bulk samples from Valley of the Kings in British Columbia. The report comes two weeks after the company said Strathcona Mineral Services Ltd., which had been hired to evaluate ore samples, resigned from the project.

In withdrawing from the evaluation program, Strathcona said ore samples showed “there are no valid gold mineral resources for the VOK Zone, and without mineral resources there can be no basis for a feasibility study,” Pretium said today in a statement.

USA

By Lu Wang and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — Speculation slower growth in hiring will extend Federal Reserve stimulus lifted U.S. stocks and pushed the annual advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index within a percentage point of the best yearly gain in a decade.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to 1,754.67 at 4 p.m. in New York after closing at a record yesterday, bringing its increase since December to 23.0 percent. The gauge would have to reach 1,761 to surpass the 23.5 percent surge in 2009 and be poised for the largest annual rise since 2003, when it climbed 26.4 percent. American stocks have rallied amid $85 billion in monthly bond purchases by the Fed aimed at jumpstarting the economy and record earnings.

Unlike in 2003, when gains in the S&P 500 followed a 49 percent plunge after the bursting of the technology bubble, this year’s advance is building on strength. The benchmark gauge for American equities had already doubled from its 12-year low in March 2009 through the end of 2012. Almost $13 trillion has been restored to U.S. equity values during the 4 1/2-year bull market, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 75.46 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,467.66 today, the highest in a month. About 6.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 17 percent higher than the three-month average.

Whirlpool Corp. climbed 12 percent after the world’s largest appliance maker lifted its forecast. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. jumped 3.8 percent amid better-than-estimated earnings. Apple Inc. lost 0.3 percent, reversing an earlier gain of 1.4 percent and halting a nine-day rally. Netflix Inc. slipped 9.2 percent after Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings attributed the stock’s rally to investor “euphoria.”

The S&P 500 rallied as much as 0.8 percent today, boosted by speculation the Fed will delay curtailing its monetary stimulus after payrolls in the U.S. climbed by less than forecast in September, indicating the economy had little momentum leading up to the 16-day shutdown of the federal government. The jobless rate fell to an almost five-year low.

“This report indicates the Fed is joining us for the holiday season at the current level of quantitative easing,” Darrell Cronk, the New York-based regional chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which oversees $170 billion, said by phone. “And it will probably be ringing in the New Year with us as well as it continues QE through the end of 2013. Right now the data is not suggesting any kind of tapering.”

Progress in the labor market depends on how quickly the world’s largest economy can bounce back from the loss of business caused by the government closure. The budget dispute weighed on fourth-quarter growth and will prompt Fed policy makers to wait until March before starting to scale back the $85 billion of monthly bond purchases, a Bloomberg survey showed last week.

A separate report showed construction spending in the U.S. rose in August for a fifth consecutive month, propelled by the strongest outlays on homebuilding in five years. Federal spending dropped to the lowest level in five years, showing government budget cuts will hold the industry back.

Investors are also watching corporate earnings to gauge the health of the economy. Analysts have raised their forecasts for profits in the third quarter, predicting an average increase of 2.5 percent for all companies in the gauge, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a 1.7 percent projection at the beginning of the month.

Earnings at the 138 companies that have reported so far grew 5.5 percent, while sales gained 2.3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some 72 percent of the companies have topped analysts’ profit estimates, while 54 percent have beaten on sales.

“You’re getting a significant number of beats again and you’re seeing it widespread again,” Sandy Lincoln, the Chicago- based chief market strategist in the U.S. with BMO Global Asset Management, which oversees about $120 billion, said in a telephone interview. “I think those surprise factors continue to cause the market go higher.”

The S&P 500 will rise past 1,800 as earnings and the U.S. economy improve, Michael Shaoul, the chairman and chief executive officer of New York-based Marketfield Asset Management LLC, told Bloomberg TV.

“We feel pretty good about equities,” said Shaoul in an interview from New York. “Corporate earnings point to a re- accelerating domestic economy. 1,800 is attainable.” He did not specify a time frame.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX, rose 1.3 percent to 13.33. The measure has fallen 20 percent this month.

Nine of 10 S&P 500 industry groups gained, with materials, consumer-staples and utility stocks increasing more than 1.3 percent to lead the advance. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index rallied 1.7 percent to a record.

Walt Disney Co., the world’s largest entertainment company, rose 2.1 percent, the most in the Dow, to a record $69. Alcoa Inc., the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, jumped 8.8 percent to $9.36 for the largest advance in two years.

An S&P index of homebuilders climbed 2.8 percent amid the rise in construction spending and a decline in Treasury 10-year note yields. All 11 members in the Supercomposite Homebuilding Index gained. Lennar Corp. advanced 4.2 percent to $36.17 while D.R. Horton Inc. rose 3 percent to $19.23.

Whirlpool climbed 12 percent to $146.19. The world’s largest appliance maker lifted its forecast for earnings this year to as much as $10.10 a share from an earlier estimate of no more than $10. That compared with the analyst estimate of $9.97.

Freeport-McMoRan jumped 3.8 percent to $36.36. The largest U.S. miner reported third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as copper costs were better than expected.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index advanced 2.2 percent to its highest level since October 2007. Delta Air Lines Inc. added 3.2 percent to a record $25.49. The carrier’s quarterly profit beat analysts’ estimates as more people flew at higher fares and fuel prices declined.

Transocean Ltd. jumped 6 percent to $49.35. The offshore drilling contractor will replace Dell Inc. in the S&P 500, the index provider said in a statement late yesterday. Revisions in the benchmark’s composition prompt some money managers to shift holdings to match the equity index.

VMware Inc. climbed 2.8 percent to $85. The biggest maker of software that lets computers run different operating systems reported quarterly profit that beat analysts’ forecasts.

Lockheed Martin Corp. added 3.8 percent to $130.05. The biggest U.S. government contractor raised its 2013 forecast as third-quarter profit jumped, defying Pentagon budget cuts.

The reduction in government spending weighed on United Technologies Corp., as the company trimmed its full-year sales projection. The stock dropped 1.4 percent to $106.13 for the biggest retreat in the Dow.

Apple lost 0.3 percent to $519.87, declining as much as 2.6 percent during the day after erasing an earlier gain. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, facing two straight quarters of declining profit and a stock that’s down by more than a quarter from a September 2012 record, updated the company’s lineup of iPads at an event today.

Netflix slid 9.2 percent to $322.52. Shares of the world’s largest online subscription-streaming service have more than tripled this year for the best performance in the S&P 500 as of yesterday. Netflix’s valuation is “difficult to justify,” Bank of America Corp. said in a note. The stock jumped as much as 9.6 percent earlier today, after profit beat analyst estimates.

Coach Inc. slid 7.5 percent to $50.10, the lowest since April. The largest U.S. luxury handbag maker said fiscal first- quarter profit fell 1.6 percent as stiffer competition curtailed handbag sales in North America.

EMC Corp. slipped 4.8 percent to $24.04. The world’s biggest maker of storage computers cut its full-year sales and profit forecasts after earnings fell short of estimates after U.S. federal government spending declined.

Groupon Inc., a deal-of-the-day coupon company, tumbled 6.9 percent to $9.87. The slowdown in Groupon’s domestic business worsened last month from August, Steve Weinstein, an analyst with ITG Investment Research, wrote in a note to clients.

RadioShack Corp. tumbled 18 percent, the most since July 2012, to $2.89 as the consumer-electronics retailer posted a seventh straight quarterly loss. The company also said it received commitments for $835 million in new five-year financing to boost liquidity amid a turnaround effort.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

Adaptability is not imitation.

It means power of resistance and assimilation.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want

to test a man’s character, give him power.

-Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7