Category: Newsletters

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Saw a fabulous concert on the weekend with Bonnie Raitt and band.   Colin James appeared onstage for the encore.  Raitt is just an amazing musician.  Here is what one reviewer wrote about her latest CD, Slipstream:  Bonnie Raitt’s latest CD, brings us into her psychic living room for a reassuring aural hug.  After a  seven-year absence, she is back in the studio, more intimate and soulful than ever.  Her familiar offerings of rockers, country blues, and ballads are here.  But her signature slide guitar sound burrows deeper; the ballads are more plaintive.  Collaborations with producer Joe Henry offer lush textures that underscore Raitt’s musicianship and sensuous gravel-laced voice.

The Poem:

WORKER

sweat the felt screed the cement

pack the joist level the cleat

eat the piece hammer the nail

string-line the future

raise the bones

build the skeletons

whistle the windows

into our rooms

hoist your brushes

sweep the sky.

And on this day in…

1889 – The first coin-operated telephone is patented by William Gray

1899 – Alfred Hitchcock is born.

1926 – Fidel Castro is born.

1961 – Berlin is divided; Berlin wall is erected.
1963 – A 17-year-old Buddhist monk burns himself to death in Saigon, South Vietnam – it serves as a important turning point in the resolve of the Vietnamese to end foreign rule and exploitation.

photos of the day August 13, 2012

Table and chairs stand empty in Olympic Park in London, Monday, following the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Tim Ireland/AP

A meteor streaks past stars in the night sky over the village of Kuklici, known for its hundreds of naturally formed stones, near Kratovo, 49 miles east from the capital Skopje. The Perseids meteor shower is observed every August when the Earth passes through a stream of space debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle.

Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters

Market Closes for August 13, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13169.43	-38.52
		-0.29%
S&P 500	1404.11	-1.76
		-0.13%
NASDAQ	3022.52	+1.66
		+0.5%
TSX	11838.33	-52.56
		-0.44%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8885.15	-6.29
		+0.07%
HANG  SENG	20081.36	-54.76
		-0.27%
SENSEX	17633.45	+75.71
		+0.43%
FTSE 100	5831.88	-15.23
		-0.26%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.803	1.813
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.334	2.338
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6625	1.6881
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7515	2.7549

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00757	1.00837
US   $	0.99249	0.99170
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.22444	0.81670
US  $	1.23371	0.81054

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1609.95	1617.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	92.73	93.36
BRENT	113.92	114.80

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katia Dmitrieva

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, sending the benchmark index lower for the first time in three days, as energy and raw material shares slipped after Bank of America Corp. cut its outlook for growth in China.

TMX Group Inc., the owner of the Toronto stock exchange, tumbled 5.5 percent, the most in a year. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the third-largest energy provider, declined 2.8 percent. Teck Resources Ltd. dropped 2.5 percent as copper retreated. Raw-materials and energy companies contributed most to the decline in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index out of 10 industries.

The S&P/TSX fell 52.56 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,838.33, after rising as much as 0.2 percent early in the day.

The benchmark index rose 0.9 percent in the last two sessions.

“The market is sobering up from the good news coming out of the European Central Bank, and the bulls are basically stepping to the sidelines today,” David Sherlock at Calgary- based McLean & Partners, which manages C$1 billion, said in a phone interview. “The TSX, we’re materials and energy, and the risky stuff comes off first. This is a classic sober, second- thought, risk-off day.”

Bank of America joined Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc in cutting growth forecasts for China on weaker exports. Gross domestic product in China, the world’s largest consumer of base metals, rose 7.6 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the sixth straight quarterly slowdown. Canadian stocks are heading for their worst year since 1998 relative to global equities as a slowing economy weighs on commodities, which make up about half of the TSX.

Suncor Energy Inc., the largest energy provider in the country, dropped 0.8 percent to C$31.53. Canadian Natural Resources slipped 2.8 percent to C$30.07. Encana Corp. declined 2.7 percent to C$21.98. Cenovus Energy Inc. slid 0.4 percent to C$32.34.

Raw-materials producers in the S&P/TSX have fallen 13 percent this year, the worst performer among 10 groups.

Copper fell to a one-week low. Teck Resources, Canada’s largest diversified miner, declined 2.5 percent to C$29.58. The Vancouver-based company plunged 18 percent this year and last month reported second-quarter profit that fell more than analysts forecast because of a drop in prices for metals including copper.

Gold declined in New York, snapping three days of gains.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, fell 0.9 percent to C$36.73.

Barrick Gold Corp., the largest producer, slipped 1 percent to C$33.96. This month, Barrick touched the lowest level since 2008. The Toronto-based company in July reported profit that missed analysts’ estimates.

TMX Group tumbled 5.5 percent to C$47.00 after an analyst raised concern its new owner won’t be able to wring as much value out of its takeover as anticipated. Paul Holden, an analyst at CIBC World Markets, cited regulatory constraints. The Toronto-based company announced selling 95.4 percent of its outstanding shares to Maple Group Acquisition Corp., a consortium of Canadian banks, insurers and pension funds, after markets closed Friday.

US

By Inyoung Hwang

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell for the first time in seven days, ending the longest streak of gains in 20 months, as slower-than-forecast economic growth in Japan added to investor concern of a global slowdown.

Commodity shares led declines among 10 groups in the S&P 500 as Bank of America Corp. cut its outlook for Chinese growth.

Alcoa Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. fell the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average as investors sold stocks most tied to the economy. TripAdvisor Inc. lost 4.5 percent after Google Inc. agreed to acquire all of John Wiley & Sons Inc.’s travel assets.

The S&P 500 slid 0.1 percent to 1,404.11 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow lost 0.3 percent to 13,169.43. Trading volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was about 4.5 billion shares, the lowest level since July 3 when the market closed at 1 p.m. and about 31 percent lower than the three-month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, fell 7.1 percent to 13.70, the lowest level since 2007.

“There are some worries that while we’re all focused on Europe, China could actually be one of the reasons why GDP disappoints and that is a negative,” Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston, which oversees $350 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The GDP data from Japan reminds us of a risk of a hard landing in China.”

Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, expanded at an annualized 1.4 percent pace in the second quarter, trailing the median forecast for 2.3 percent growth from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Wells Fargo & Co. reduced its earnings estimate for the S&P 500 this year as deteriorating economic data hurts profits at energy and raw-material producers.

Bank of America cut its 2012 economic growth forecast for China to 7.7 percent from 8 percent, according to a report today from Ting Lu, an economist based in Hong Kong.

The S&P 500 posted its fifth straight weekly rally after German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a bond-buying proposal by the European Central Bank. In the U.S. last week, central bank officials debated whether more action is needed to stimulate growth. A worse-than-expected Chinese trade report on Aug. 10 added to signs the global economy is weakening, stoking speculation the government will step up measures to support expansion.

“Japan’s economy grew less than forecast and there was also speculation that China may cut rates, but now investors are thinking it’s not going to happen as quickly as speculated,”

Thomas Garcia, head of equity trading at Santa Fe, New Mexico- based Thornburg Investment Management Inc., said in an e-mail.

His firm oversees about $80 billion. “We have had a pretty nice run in the equity markets lately. We could see a little profit taking.”

Gina Martin Adams, Wells Fargo’s equity strategist, cut her 2012 forecast by $1 to $101 a share and reduced her projection for next year by $3 to $104, according to a note to clients dated today.

Eight out of 10 groups in the S&P 500 declined. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, fell 1.7 percent to $8.83. Cisco Systems lost 1.1 percent to $17.34. Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest oil company by market value, slipped 0.3 percent to $88.14.

TripAdvisor, the online travel-recommendation service, lost 4.5 percent to $33.52. Google agreed to acquire all of John Wiley’s travel assets, including the Frommer’s brand, to expand local services and attract users and advertisers from sites such as TripAdvisor’s.

Google gained 2.8 percent to $660.01 after the owner of the world’s most popular search engine said it will cut about 4,000 jobs and shut down a third of the facilities at its Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. unit.

Monster Beverage Corp. lost 1.8 percent to $53.27. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its rating on beverage stocks to neutral from attractive, citing higher valuations relative to food stocks. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. decreased 0.8 percent to $44.69. The firm also lowered its rating on Coca-Cola Co. to neutral from conviction buy. The Atlanta-based company slipped 0.2 percent to $39.30.

First Solar Inc., the world’s biggest maker of thin-film panels, slid 4.4 percent to $20.49 after German solar-panel maker Solarworld AG reported a loss and said it won’t be profitable this year.

U.S. Steel Corp. slumped 2.4 percent to $22.86 as iron ore prices slumped to a 31-month low after purchases by China, the world’s biggest buyer, fell to the smallest in three months as slowing economic growth curbed demand.

Tesoro Corp. climbed 9.5 percent to $38.87 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The largest independent refiner on the U.S.

West Coast agreed to buy BP Plc’s California oil refinery and 800 gasoline stations in the Southwest for $1.18 billion.

Sears Holdings Corp. jumped 5.7 percent to $54.36 after Barron’s reported that the second-biggest U.S. department store company may double to $100 a share if it sells assets and improves profitability.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life, perhaps the greatest,

and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody else,

that is the beauty of it.

It has no technique and therefore no authority.

When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk,

how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy –

if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice,

that is part of meditation

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

 

Life is too short to be the caretaker of the wrong details.

-Alexandra Stoddard, 1967-

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 last few weeks have really been inspiring news-wise. The Olympics have showcased the pinnacle of human physical ability and the landing of the Mars Curiosity rover shows the best of the human mind. I was also reminded of the selfless compassion people can posses when I came across the story of Scott Neeson. Neeson was a hot-shot Hollywood executive who gave up his mansion, his Porsche and his million dollar paycheck to help homeless children in Cambodia. His life changing epiphany came to him in 2004 while standing in the hot Cambodian sun watching the local children of the Phnom Penh area scour for scraps through the recently dumped rubbish. While watching this scene, his ear was glued to his cell phone. On the other end was a representative for a Hollywood star, whose client was unhappy about the in-flight entertainment. Neeson overheard the actor griping in the background. ” ‘My life wasn’t meant to be this difficult.’ Those were his exact words,” Neeson says. “I was standing there in that humid, stinking garbage dump with children sick with typhoid, and this guy was refusing to get on a Gulfstream IV because he couldn’t find a specific item onboard,” he recalls. “If I ever wanted validation I was doing the right thing, this was it.”

Neeson has since gone on to manage a multitude of charitable efforts that help Cambodia children. His office is lined with the before and after pictures of those he’s helped. Neeson says that for him, each of the children he helps is an individual. He knows what all of them look like and nearly all of their names. Through Neeson’s efforts his organization manages four residential homes around town for more than 500 other deprived children and is building another. He operates after-school programs and vocational training centers and he’s built day cares and nurseries. His charity provides some 500 children with three meals a day and runs a bakery where disadvantaged youths learn marketable skills while making nutrient-rich pastry for the poorest kids. It pays for well over 1,000 children’s schooling and organizes sightseeing trips and sports days for them.

Neeson admits there’s a lot to miss about Hollywood. He says he misses Sundays playing paddle tennis on the beach with friends and taking the boat out to the islands. When asked how it compares to his life now, Neeson said “Sundays here, I’m down at the garbage dump. But I’m really happy.”

And on this day in…

1846 – The Smithsonian was established.

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) makes the world’s first long-distance call from Brantford to the Bell homestead in Paris, Ontario, using a 13-mile long line strung from Brantford.

1911 – The House of Lords (Monarch) in Great Britain cedes power to the House of Commons (Democratic), making it the more powerful house.

1949 – Avro Canada C.102 Jetliner takes maiden flight; designed to meet a Trans-Canada Airlines requirement; first jet transport to fly in North America and second to fly in the world, 13 days after the flight of the De Havilland 106 Comet; government halts development in 1951 to force Avro to concentrate on the CF-100 jet fighter.

1950 – President Truman calls the National Guard to active duty to fight in Korean War.

photos of the day August 10, 2012

Devotees try to form a human pyramid to break a clay pot containing curd during the celebrations to mark the Hindu festival of Janmashtami in Mumbai, India.

Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

A two-week-old Chilean Flamingo stretches its wings beneath its father, Maurice, who stands guard at Drusillas Park in Alfriston, south east England. Earlier in the year Barry White songs were played to encourage the birds to breed.

Gareth Fuller/PA

Market Closes for August 10, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13207.95	+42.76
		+0.32%
S&P 500	1405.87	+3.07
		+0.22%
NASDAQ	3020.86	+2.22
		+0.07%
TSX	11890.89	+32.76
		+0.28%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8891.44	-87.16
		-0.97%
HANG  SENG	20136.12	-133.35
		-0.66%
SENSEX	17557.74	-3.13
		-0.02%
FTSE 100	5847.11	-4.40
		-0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.783	1.813
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.318	2.338
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6573	1.6881
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7469	2.7549

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00901	1.00837
US   $	0.99107	0.99170
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.21794	0.82106
US  $	1.22891	0.81373

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1620.00	1617.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	92.87	93.36
BRENT	114.49	114.80

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as gains by mining and technology companies tempered disappointment after the nation’s employers unexpectedly shed jobs and China’s export growth slowed.

Barrick Gold Corp and Kinross Gold Corp. climbed at least 1.2 percent. Open Text Corp. soared 10 percent. Research In Motion Ltd. jumped 6.5 percent after two people familiar with the situation said the BlackBerry device maker’s enterprise- services unit has attracted the attention of International Business Machines Corp.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 32.76 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,890.89, with most of the advance coming in the last 30 minutes after the index swung between gains and losses throughout the day. The benchmark index has gained 2 percent for the week, its biggest weekly gain since May.

“This is a very good sign,” Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto, said in a phone interview. The firm manages about $4 billion.

“People want to buy the market and are willing to overlook bad news in the hope central banks will come to the rescue.”

Canadian employers unexpectedly shed 30,400 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent, as the country’s retailers and wholesalers let go part-time workers. The job losses, all in part-time work, were the most since October 2011, Statistics Canada said today from Ottawa.

China’s outbound shipments increased 1 percent from a year earlier, the customs bureau said today in Beijing, after an 11.3 percent rise in June.

Kinross advanced 2.6 percent to C$8.17. Barrick, the largest gold producer in the world, rose 1.2 percent to C$34.30.

Gold futures for December delivery climbed for a third day to settle at $1,622.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York, extending its weekly gain to 0.8 percent. The metal has risen 3.6 percent in 2012.

Argent Energy Trust traded for the first time on the S&P/TSX today, closing at C$10.07. Its initial public offering price was C$10 a unit. The Calgary-based company raised C$212.3 million in Canada’s largest IPO of the year to purchase oil and gas assets in Texas.

Magna International Inc. advanced 5.1 percent to C$43.90, the highest since May, a day after posting better-than-expected second-quarter results. North America’s largest auto-parts supplier posted adjusted earnings of $1.48 a share, ahead of analysts’ estimates of $1.28 based on a Bloomberg survey.

Open Text Corp. soared 10 percent to C$54.19, its biggest gain since February. The networking software maker was raised to a buy from a neutral rating by analyst Tom Liston with Versant Partners.

RIM jumped 6.5 percent to C$8.22. IBM made an informal approach about possibly acquiring the enterprise-services division, which operates a network of secure servers used to support RIM’s BlackBerry devices, said one of the people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

The business, seen as the company’s most valuable asset, may be valued at $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion depending on the mix of assets included, according to Berenberg Bank. RIM said in May that it had hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and RBC Capital Markets to study strategic options. The stock is up 18 percent this week.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its longest advance since December 2010, as optimism the Federal Reserve will act to stimulate the economy helped the market recover from an earlier decline.

J.C. Penney Co. rose 5.9 percent as Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson said his overhaul of the department-store chain is “on track.” Facebook Inc. added 3.8 percent as Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman is said to be meeting with investors in New York days before the lifting of a ban on stock sales by some of the company’s biggest shareholders. Broadcom Corp. gained 3 percent as the maker of chips that help mobile devices connect to the Internet was raised at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,405.87, reversing a loss of as much as 0.5 percent and rising for a sixth day. It capped a fifth weekly advance, the longest streak since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 42.76 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,207.95. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5 billion shares, 24 percent below the three-month average.

“The weaker the data the higher the likelihood of stimulus,” said Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, which oversees about $47 billion. “The weakness in China is likely to prompt a move there. While the Fed has been clear it will do anything to support growth, some people tend to think it’s inevitable.”

Stocks rebounded after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Fed Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said the lack of progress in reducing the unemployment rate and the slow economic recovery have convinced him it’s time to move ahead with a third round of asset purchases. Earlier losses were driven by a worse-than-expected Chinese trade report which intensified concern that global economic growth is slowing.

“The market is looking at the worldwide slowdown,” said Nick Sargen, chief investment officer at Fort Washington Investment Advisors in Cincinnati, which oversees about $40 billion. “China is slowing down, Europe is in a recession.

Everybody realizes that we’re on a tough situation. The question is — can it get weaker or not?”

Bets on global central bank action to stimulate the economy have driven the S&P 500 up 10 percent since June 1. The index rose for five straight days through yesterday amid better-than- estimated corporate profits and data on the jobs market. About 72 percent of the S&P 500 companies which reported second- quarter results so far have beaten earnings estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

David Bianco, Deutsche Bank AG’s chief U.S. equity strategist, cut his 2012 earnings estimate for S&P 500 companies amid lower commodity prices, weak capital markets, a stronger dollar and a “midyear stall” in global manufacturing. His forecast was cut to $102 a share from $105.

Eight out of 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose today as phone, industrial and health-care shares had the biggest gains. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against S&P 500’s declines, slid 3.5 percent to 14.74, the lowest since March.

J.C. Penney rallied 5.9 percent to $23.40. Johnson, the former Apple Inc. retail chief who joined as CEO in November, is tweaking his pricing strategy after the previous plan confused customers by reducing sales events and coupons.

Facebook gained 3.8 percent to $21.81. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other large investors that bought equity before the initial public offering will have freedom to sell their stakes starting Aug. 16. That’s after the lifting of limits imposed by underwriters on the sale of shares for a preset period after an IPO. A person with knowledge of the meetings declined to elaborate on the plans, which are private.

Broadcom rose 3 percent to $35.35. The company was raised to outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein.

Research In Motion Ltd. jumped 6.3 percent to $8.29. The company’s enterprise-services unit has attracted the interest of International Business Machines Corp., according to two people familiar with the situation.

Yahoo! Inc. lost 5.4 percent to $15.15. Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer has embarked on a strategy review that may result in a reversal of plans to restructure operations and return billions of dollars in cash to shareholders.

Monster Beverage Corp. tumbled 11 percent to $54.27. The largest U.S. energy drink maker by volume sales said an unspecified attorney general is investigating the company’s flagship drink and ingredients.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. slid 3.1 percent to $19.68. The second-largest U.S. natural-gas producer received a subpoena in June from the antitrust division of the U.S. Justice Department’s Midwest Field Office.

Cisco Systems Inc. retreated 0.9 percent to $17.54. The outlook for the biggest maker of computer-networking equipment may be worse than estimated, said Ryan Hutchinson, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets LLC.

Big Lots Inc. dropped 7 percent to $38.44. The discount retailer was downgraded to underweight from neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co. by equity analyst Matthew Boss. The 18-month share- price estimate is $34.

Manchester United Plc was unchanged at $14. The English soccer club with a record 19 championships raised $233.3 million in its U.S. initial public offering, less than first sought. The 134-year-old team and the Glazer family that bought it in 2005 sold 16.7 million shares for $14 each yesterday.

Investors put $356 billion into U.S. checking and savings accounts in the first six months of this year, almost double the $188 billion they deposited into bond mutual funds and exchanged-traded funds, according to TrimTabs Investment Research.

Equity mutual funds and ETFs attracted $6 billion in net deposits, Sausalito, California-based TrimTabs said in a statement yesterday. Retail money-market funds lost $21.3 billion to withdrawals in the first half, according to the firm.

“People are risk-averse in a risky world and don’t trust the powers that be to manage the economy and the markets,”

Charles Biderman, chief executive officer of TrimTabs, said in a telephone interview. “When that happens, you hunker down and put money away for better times.”

Some investors are avoiding equities even as stock markets have rallied this year. The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 7.9 percent and the S&P 500 increased 12 percent through yesterday. Europe’s crisis has sent some investors into the perceived safety of bonds.

Economic indicators may need to change for the better by October in order for U.S. stocks to sustain this year’s gains, according to Myles Zyblock, chief institutional strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

Shares of companies most affected by the pace of economic growth have been out of favor for months, according to data tracking the ratio of Morgan Stanley indexes for cyclical and consumer-product shares since 2009, when a bull market began.

“We see one of two likely scenarios” unfolding for stocks, Zyblock wrote two days ago in a report. The first is that the economic gauges will rebound during the next month or two to confirm the gains in stocks. The second is that share prices will decline as the indicators fall further.

The cyclical-consumer ratio, cited in the Toronto-based strategist’s report, rose only 0.2 percent for the year through yesterday as the S&P 500 gained 12 percent. The contrast became more pronounced in the past two months as the S&P 500 rebounded from its second-quarter low.

Rather than tracking the S&P 500, the cyclical-consumer ratio tended to move in lockstep with the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index, as the report showed. ISM readings for June and July were less than 50, pointing to a contraction in manufacturing.

Based on the backdrop, Zyblock wrote, higher stock prices can be attributed to “fast money investors who’ve been caught short, corporations with excess cash, and international equity investors running away from their home markets.”

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Be magnificent!

 

The healing of the mind takes place gradually on contact with nature,

with the orange on the branch, the blade of grass eating its way into the cement,

and the hills hidden by the clouds.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1902

As ever,

Carolann

 

Be kind, for everyone your meet is fighting a hard battle.

-Plato, 427 BC-347 BC

 

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:

An article in the most recent edition of Maclean’s informs that hundreds of abandoned and semi-abandoned villages up and down the Italian peninsula are for sale.   “These were farming towns and woodsmen’s towns and nobody does that anymore,” says Richard Ingersoll, an urban studies professor at Florence’s Syracuse University.  “Less than two per cent of Italians are involved in agriculture.”   For years, the owners of Pratariccia, a medieval Italian village perched atop the hills above Tuscany’s Casentino valley, have been trying to sell their abandoned town.  Now the religious order that reportedly owns the remote 800-year-old town has turned to eBay, where the 25 crumbling stone cottages and thousands of acres of farmland is on offer for US $3 million.  The agency that is handling the sale says that the best use would be as a resort since tourism is such a hot industry in Italy.  The thought depresses Ingersoll, who thinks the ideal alternative would be to re-agriculturalize the town or turn it into a spiritual retreat, without electricity or computer connections.  “St. Francis spent the most important part of his life here,” he notes.  Interested buyers should be aware of hidden costs.  It could take up to three times Pratariccia’s asking price to make the village habitable.  “But perhaps there would be some crazy-rich person who, instead of paying $140 million for a Damien Hirst work of art, would pay $6 million to put back a town,” says Ingersoll.  –Michelle Tarnopolsky, Maclean’s, August 13^th edition. Oh how I wish!

And on this day in…

480 BC – The Persian army defeats Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae.

1883 – Coco chanel was born.

1945 – B-29 bomber, Bock’s Car, drops an Atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

1957 – Melanie Griffith was born.
1969 – Charles Manson’s cult kill 5 people including Roman Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate.
1974 – Unusual succession makes Gerald Ford President of the U.S.

photos of the day August 9, 2012

A performer is silhouetted in a sea of cloth during a national celebration in Singapore which celebrated its 47th year of independence. Singapore declared independent on August 9, 1965.

Wong Maye-E/AP

The last pieces of about 5,000 Lego blocks are added by elementary school girl Yuka Takahashi to complete a reproduction of Jonannes Vermeer’s, ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ in Tokyo. A total of 380 children participated in a nine-day workshop to create the Lego art at the newly opened Legoland Discovery Center.

Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

Market Closes for August 9, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13165.19	-10.45
		-0.08%
S&P 500	1402.80	+0.58
		+0.04%
NASDAQ	3018.64	+7.39
		+0.25%
TSX	11858.13	+77.09
		+0.65%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8978.60	+97.44
		+1.10%
HANG  SENG	20269.47	+203.95
		+1.02%
SENSEX	17560.87	-39.69
		-0.23%
FTSE 100	5851.51	+5.59
		+0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.813	1.823
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.338	2.351
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6881	1.6491
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7549	2.7505

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00837	1.00536
US   $	0.99170	0.99467
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.21956	0.81996
US  $	1.22976	0.81317

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1617.35	1612.20
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	93.36	93.35
BRENT	114.80	113.09

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose on better-than- forecast earnings and as U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fell, signaling economic growth may increase in the world’s biggest crude-producing country.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 4.8 percent after the country’s third-largest oil company reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates. Teck Resources Ltd. rose 3.3 percent. Energy and mining shares contributed most to the advance in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index among 10 industries.

The S&P/TSX rose 64.87 points, or 0.6 percent, to 11,845.91 at 12:35 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity index for Canada has retreated 0.9 percent so far this year.

“It’s all earnings-driven. There’s a slew of earnings coming across the tape today,” Paul Taylor, chief investment officer with BMO Harris Private Banking in Toronto, which manages about C$18 billion ($18.1 billion), said in a phone interview. “U.S. jobless claims data was pretty positive as well. Both earnings and economic data give some reason for comfort.”

Jobless claims unexpectedly dropped by 6,000 to 361,000 in the week ended Aug. 4, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 43 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for an increase to 370,000.

Canadian Natural Resources added 4.8 percent to C$31.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were 55 cents, beating the 53-cent average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Teck Resources rose 3.3 percent to C$29.53.

Canadian Tire Corp. jumped 5 percent to C$69.68 after the retailer reported second-quarter revenue jumped 16 percent.

Shares are headed for their biggest percentage gain since August 2011.

Research In Motion Ltd. rose 1.3 percent to C$7.66 after the BlackBerry device maker won a U.S. judge’s order overturning a jury’s $147.2 million patent-infringement award to rival MFormation Technologies Inc.

Bombardier Inc. tumbled 3.2 percent to C$3.64 as profit dropped 14 percent in the second quarter on lower rail car sales, eroding growth generated by its aerospace business.

Kinross Gold Corp. rose 1.5 percent to C$7.89. J. Paul Rollinson, the company’s new chief executive, said he’s initiating a companywide review to cut costs that may require “tough decisions.”

“Given rising costs, I believe we need to get back to the fundamentals of our business,” Rollinson said yesterday in the company’s second-quarter earnings statement. Kinross has plunged 32 percent in 2012.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks rose, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its longest rally since March, as data showing an unexpected decline in jobless claims last week tempered concern about a worsening of Europe’s economy.

A measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes advanced 2.3 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it saw higher demand in the industry and data showed prices for single-family homes rose in most U.S. cities last quarter. E*Trade Financial Corp. increased 6.9 percent as Chief Executive Officer Steven J. Freiberg was ousted from the brokerage. Monster Beverage Corp. declined 9.7 percent after profit and sales trailed estimates.

Five stocks rose for every four falling on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time. The S&P 500 added less than 0.1 percent to 1,402.80, rallying 2.8 percent in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 10.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,165.19. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5.5 billion shares, 18 percent below the three-month average.

“We acknowledge the positive news,” Wayne Lin, a money manager at Baltimore-based Legg Mason Inc., said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $631.8 billion. “We’ve had some positive surprises on the jobs front and it seems that housing has found some footing. Yet people are aware of the risks. The risk in Europe is still out there.”

Labor Department data showing fewer firings signaled employers are seeing enough demand to retain staff, indicating the economy is sustaining the recovery. Stocks erased gains earlier after the Wall Street Journal reported that former European Central Bank official Otmar Issing said it was wrong to expect the ECB to buy government bonds to ease the region’s debt crisis. Economists surveyed by the ECB predicted the region’s contraction this year will be worse than previously forecast.

A five-day rally has taken the S&P 500 up almost 10 percent from a five-month low on June 1. About 72 percent of S&P 500 companies which reported second-quarter results so far have beaten analysts’ earnings estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It’s kind of blah,” said Malcolm Polley, who oversees about $1.1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital in Indiana, Pennsylvania. “Growth is slowing in other parts of the world. It will take time. In addition, we’ve had a strong move up in stocks. It may be people just getting tired.”

All 11 stocks in a measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes gained. Data from the National Association of Realtors showed that values nationally jumped the most since 2006 as real estate markets stabilized.

PulteGroup Inc., the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, jumped 4.8 percent to $12.67 after being raised to overweight at JPMorgan. KB Home added 6.3 percent to $10.74, while Beazer Homes USA Inc. rallied 4.5 percent to $2.79 after the two companies were also raised at JPMorgan.

E*Trade added 6.9 percent to $8.57. Chairman Frank J. Petrilli will serve as interim CEO while the company seeks a new leader, the company said today in a statement. A board committee which includes the head of its biggest shareholder, Citadel LLC’s CEO Ken Griffin, will lead the search for a new chief executive, the company said.

Cisco Systems Inc. rose 3.2 percent to $17.70 after the biggest maker of computer-networking equipment was added to the “Conviction Buy” list at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Piper Jaffray Cos. also raised its recommendation for the technology company today.

MBIA Inc. added 15 percent to $10.06. The bond insurer seeking reimbursement from Bank of America Corp. over faulty mortgages surged after pledging to carry on a court fight to force the lender to repurchase the loans.

James River Coal Co. soared 13 percent to $2.52. The producer of the fuel in Appalachia and the Midwest reported a smaller loss than analysts predicted as costs fell.

Lincoln National Corp. climbed 2.3 percent to $23.23. The insurer that hired Ellen Cooper from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as chief investment officer said it increased the size of its share buyback authorization to $1 billion.

Elizabeth Arden Inc. soared 13 percent to $44.02. The maker of the Britney Spears and Elizabeth Taylor brand fragrances forecast annual profit and revenue that topped estimates.

Alliant Techsystems Inc. advanced 7.1 percent to $51.94.

The U.S. military’s largest ammunition maker rose as higher defense sales helped first-quarter earnings top estimates. It raised its full-year forecast.

Robbins & Myers Inc. surged 27 percent to $59.63. National Oilwell Varco Inc., the largest U.S. maker of oil equipment, agreed to buy the company for about $2.5 billion in cash.

Monster Beverage Corp. tumbled 9.7 percent to $61.20.

Monster and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. are facing higher costs for ingredients such as sweeteners and plastic for bottles.

Knight Capital Group Inc. slid 2.9 percent to $3.07. The market maker that was driven to the verge of bankruptcy after a trading error said last week’s mishap may cause more losses and liabilities and customers may lose confidence in the firm.

Education Management Corp. plunged 19 percent to $3.24. The second-largest for-profit college chain by enrollment fell a day after posting a $1.2 billion loss in the fiscal fourth quarter.

SunPower Corp. declined 10 percent to $4.20. The solar- panel company majority-owned by Total SA tumbled after it cut its 2012 sales forecast.

Kohl’s Corp. slid 1.2 percent to $51.42. The third-largest U.S. department-store company reduced its fiscal 2012 profit forecast after sales fell in the second quarter.

NetApp Inc. dropped 2.6 percent to $32.13. The seller of hardware and software for storing data was downgraded to hold from buy at Cantor Fitzgerald LP by equity analyst Paul Mansky.

The 12-month target price is $38 per share.

Asian dealmaking in North America confirms energy and gold stocks are a bargain when compared with the underlying commodities, according to Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors Inc.’s chief executive officer. The shares have trailed commodity prices for more than a year.

“The disparities mean that the cheapest resources are not found in the ground — they’re listed” on stock exchanges, Holmes wrote three days ago in a blog posting.

Proposed multibillion-dollar takeovers of Canadian energy producers by Cnooc Ltd. and Petroliam Nasional Bhd show the value available in commodity stocks, according to Holmes.

Cnooc, China’s largest offshore-oil explorer, offered to acquire Nexen Inc. in July for 61 percent more than the stock’s market price. The proposed deal followed an offer in June from Petronas, Malaysia’s state-owned energy company, for Progress Energy Resources Corp. that was 77 percent above the market price. The bid was raised last month.

Holmes’s firm, based in San Antonio, runs three commodity- related mutual funds with total assets of about $1 billion. The biggest is the Global Resources Fund, which returned 12 percent during the two-year period depicted in the chart, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

Watching and listening are a great art.

By watching and listening we learn infinitely more than we do from any books.

Books are necessary, but watching and listening sharpen your senses.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

 

Do not fear death so much but

rather the inadequate life.

-Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956

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:

Lots of buzz about Julia Child these days, including two new biographies that have been  receiving terrific reviews.  August 15^th would have been her 100^th birthday.  PBS honors her legacy with a multi-platform initiative on-air, online, and through social media at pbs.org/food.  Julia-lovers – and I admit I am one – can cook their own versions of her classic dishes and share photographs and blogs on PBS Food and tweet their creations using the hashtag #CookforJulia.  The celebration runs August 5^th to 15^th.

And on this day in…

1937 – Dustin Hoffman was born.
1940 – The German Luftwaffe attacks Great Britain for the first time, beginning the Battle of Britain.

1942 – U.S. Marines capture Guadalcanal airstrip.

1963 – Land Rovers used in famous ‘Great Train Robbery’.
1974 – Richard Nixon resigns.

1981 – Roger Federer was born.

photos of the day August 8, 2012

A man paddles on a stand up paddle board (SUP) during a hot summer day on Lake Geneva in Vevey, Switzerland.

Denis Balibouse/Reuters

School children dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna take part in a function held ahead of ‘Janamashtmi’ celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai. Janamashtmi is the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna which will be celebrated on August 10.

Babu/Reuters

Market Closes for August 8, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13175.64	+7.04
		+0.05%
S&P 500	1402.22	+0.87
		+0.06%
NASDAQ	3011.25	-4.61
		-0.15%
TSX	11781.04	-84.46
		-0.70%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8881.16	+77.85
		+0.88%
HANG  SENG	20065.52	-7.03
		-0.04%
SENSEX	17600.56	-1.22
		-0.01%
FTSE 100	5845.92	+4.68
		+0.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.823	1.841
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.351	2.370
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6491	1.6266
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7505	2.7199

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00536	1.00322
US   $	0.99467	0.99679
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.22996	0.81303
US  $	1.23655	0.80870

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1612.20	1611.60
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	93.35	94.06
BRENT	113.09	112.73

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined as a slump in energy and financial shares offset gains in mining and phone companies amid concern about the global economy and central banks’ efforts to add stimulus measures.

Bank of Nova Scotia and Royal Bank of Canada dropped at least 0.8 percent to pace losses among banks. Barrick Gold advanced 0.2 percent as the price of the metal rose 0.3 percent, reversing earlier losses. BCE Inc. gained 3 percent as Canada’s second-largest wireless carrier topped second-quarter profit estimates and increased its annual forecast. Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, soared 5.9 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined 28.95 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,834.55 at 1:27 p.m. in Toronto.

Equities were weighed down as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president, Richard Fisher, said global central banks may not have the capacity to undertake additional measures.

German industrial production declined in June, led by a drop in construction output, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed today.

Bank of Nova Scotia tumbled 1.1 percent to C$52.05. Royal Bank of Canada slid 0.8 percent to C$51.41.

Silver Wheaton Corp., which resells silver bought from mining companies, jumped 4.9 percent to C$30.09 after it agreed to pay HudBay Minerals Inc. $750 million for access to future gold and silver production at two HudBay mining sites. HudBay dropped 1.4 percent to C$8.89. Barrick Gold gained 0.2 percent to C$34.01.

RIM jumped 5.9 percent to C$7.75 amid speculation by a Jefferies & Co analyst that Samsung Electronics Co. may license the struggling BlackBerry maker’s new software or consider buying the company.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a fourth day, the longest gain since June, as a jump in Hewlett- Packard Co. helped the measure recover from earlier losses.

Hewlett-Packard increased 2.4 percent after raising its profit forecast and appointing a new head for its enterprise services unit as it restructures the business. Dean Foods Co. surged 41 percent as its WhiteWave unit filed to raise $300 million in a U.S. initial public offering. McDonald’s Corp. slid 1.7 percent amid unchanged July global sales. Priceline.com Inc., the biggest U.S. online travel agency by market value, tumbled 17 percent on a disappointing earnings projection.

Seven stocks fell for every six rising on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.1 percent to 1,402.22. The Dow average added 7.04 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,175.64, rallying 2.3 percent in four days. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5.8 billion shares, or about 13 percent below the three-month average.

“People have been particularly surprised with earnings,” said David Goerz, the San Francisco-based chief investment officer at Highmark Capital Management Inc., which oversees about $17.5 billion of assets. “Profit margins are still very high and will not fall off a cliff. There’s a tendency for people to be more inclined to be a buyer than a seller.”

A four-day rally has taken the S&P 500 up almost 10 percent from a five-month low on June 1. The index is trading above the average year-end forecast among Wall Street strategists of 1,389. About 73 percent of S&P 500 companies which reported second-quarter results so far have beaten analysts’ earnings estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Earlier today, benchmark gauges fell after Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said adequate economic stimulus already is in place and that global central banks may not have the capacity to undertake additional measures to boost growth. Stocks rose yesterday as Fed Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said the central bank should pursue an “open- ended” easing program of “substantial magnitude.”

“Stimulus can’t hurt, but the problem is that it has less and less effect,” said Madelynn Matlock, who helps oversee about $14.7 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati.

“Any argument by policymakers is going to pull the market in various directions, depending on what they are saying.”

Seven out of 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose as consumer staples, health-care and commodity shares had the biggest gains.

Hewlett-Packard rallied 2.4 percent, the most in the Dow, to $19.41. Profit excluding some items in the current period will be $1, up from a prior projection of 94 cents to 97 cents, the Palo Alto, California-based company said today.

Dean Foods surged 41 percent, the biggest gain since it began trading 16 years ago, to $17.46. The proceeds will be used to pay down debt at Dallas-based Dean, according to the filing.

Dean said yesterday that it will own at least 80 percent of WhiteWave’s common stock following the IPO and distribute those shares to its investors at least 180 days after the offering.

Macy’s Inc. rose 2.7 percent to $38.01. The owner of its namesake and Bloomingdale’s department stores reported second- quarter profit that beat estimates, helped by its credit cards.

Walt Disney Co. gained 1.4 percent to $50.49. The world’s largest entertainment company, posted better than expected third-quarter profit buoyed by the film hit “Marvel’s The Avengers.” Revenue fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Computer Sciences Corp. gained 16 percent to $29.53. The technology contractor for government and corporate customers reported profit and revenue that topped estimates as its new chief executive officer works on turning the company around.

Express Scripts Holding Co. added 8.4 percent to $60.73.

The largest U.S. processor of drug prescriptions raised its annual profit forecast as gross margins improved following its April acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc.

XL Group Plc climbed 6.6 percent to $22.78 after the insurer’s second-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates as premium revenue increased.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. soared 11 percent to $2.28.

The second-largest U.S. polysilicon maker jumped after second- quarter sales of solar projects boosted its cash flow.

New York Times Co. added 6.1 percent to $8.57 after the newspaper publisher entered talks to sell About.com, aiming to salvage a portion of its ill-fated bet on the website.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. soared 13 percent to $12.41. The owner of the Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain rallied after raising $176 million in its U.S. IPO, pricing a reduced number of shares below the proposed range.

Knight Capital Group Inc. climbed 3.3 percent to $3.16, after tumbling 24 percent over the previous two days. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Joyce estimated last week’s trading loss will be $270 million after taxes and told clients the firm is “in good standing” with clearinghouses.

The post-tax loss compares with a previously disclosed pretax loss of $440 million. The letter comes a week after Knight, one of the biggest market-making firms in the U.S., was driven to the brink of bankruptcy after a technology malfunction spewed orders into the market by mistake.

Cincinnati Bell Inc. jumped 5.4 percent to $3.94 after proposing an IPO for its CyrusOne unit, a data-center operator it acquired in 2010.

A123 Systems Inc. advanced 6.4 percent to 50 cents. The maker of lithium batteries signed a $450 million non-binding financing agreement with China’s Wanxiang Group Corp.

McDonald’s slumped 1.7 percent to $87.53. Analysts projected an increase of 2.3 percent, the average of estimates compiled by Consensus Metrix. Sales at domestic locations fell 0.1 percent. Analysts estimated a gain of 2.2 percent.

Priceline tumbled 17 percent to $562.32. Consumers in Europe — one of the main engines of growth for Priceline — put off travel amid an economic crisis there. The company had been boosting sales in the region after the 2005 acquisition of Amsterdam-based Booking.com. Results were also dragged down as the strength of the U.S. dollar eroded the value of overseas receipts, said Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Boyd.

Rival Expedia Inc. declined 4.6 percent to $56.14, while Orbitz Worldwide Inc. decreased 26 percent to $3.47. TripAdvisor Inc. retreated 4.9 percent to $36.77.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. declined 8.7 percent to $6.30.

The second-largest U.S. coal producer lowered its metallurgical coal sales forecast for 2012 as steel output declined in Europe and slowed in China.

Ralph Lauren Corp. lost 1.1 percent to $151.35. The retailer of its namesake brand clothing projected second-quarter sales that trailed analysts’ estimates.

VeriFone Systems Inc. plunged 12 percent to $34.18 after Starbucks Corp., the largest coffee-shop chain, said it will use Square Inc.’s rival payment-system technology in 7,000 stores.

Warner Chilcott Plc fell 6.9 percent to $16.54. The drugmaker specializing in women’s health and dermatology said it has ended efforts to find a buyer for the company.

The S&P 500 is in a “make-or-break situation” that will probably lead to either large gains or losses for the benchmark U.S. stocks gauge, according to technical analysts at UBS AG.

After climbing through the 1,390 level, the S&P 500 may test the highs reached in March and May, Michael Riesner and Marc Mueller wrote in a note dated yesterday. A drop below 1,325 would indicate a retreat to the early-June low of 1,266.

Investors should watch the flow of money into defensive stocks, whose earnings are less dependent on economic growth, and cyclicals, which are more tied to the economy, for signs of future moves in the S&P 500, the analysts said.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

To conquer the subtle passions

seems to me to be far harder than the

physical conquest of the world by the force of arms.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

 

And remember, we all stumble, every one

of us.  That’s why it’s a comfort to go

hand in hand.

-Emily Kimbrough, 1899-1989

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:

I’m listening to the rare roll of thunder as a summer storm begins in Victoria.…it’s rather wonderful!

A poem for you:

THE ROSE-WAY IN GIVERNY

And in the reticulate distance

the cued inertia of Lucifer

astounds.  Our feet bleed:

buoyant, the body at its task.

What you wanted was what I

wanted – slant of sun to the left,

twinkling of civilization elsewise,

and the moon (whelp of history)

to our backs, all come-hither

and dream. Motion understood

is philosophy deferred: peace,

the felt pathos of space and time.

Look, darling, at the establishing

shot. It’s downright Biblical,

this thrown-together vista,

world upon world without end.

-Virginia Konchan

photos of the day August 7, 2012

Anti-nuclear activists form a human chain in Paris as they walk under the Eiffel Tower to mark the 67th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima.

Michel Euler/AP

An exile Tibetan girl in Dharmsala, India, lights a candle during a vigil to remember two Tibetans who self-immolated in Tibet.

Ashwini Bhatia/AP

And on this day in…

1861 – Lincoln imposes the first federal tax.

1882 – Hatfield-McCoy feud erupts.

1945 – August 6 – Paul Tibbets, the commander of Enola Gay, drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.It was the second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki, that induced the Japanese to surrender.

1959 –First photo of Earth from space.
1962 – August 5 – Marilyn Monroe found dead.
1981 – Reagan fires 11,869 air traffic controllers.

Market Closes for August 7, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13168.60	+51.09
		+0.39%
S&P 500	1401.18	+6.95
		+0.50%
NASDAQ	3015.86	+25.95
		+0.87%
TSX	11862.77	+200.18
		+1.72%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8803.31	+77.02
		+0.88%
HANG  SENG	20072.55	+73.83
		+0.37%
SENSEX	17601.78	+188.82
		+1.08%
FTSE 100	5841.24	+32.47
		+0.56%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.841	1.769
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.370	2.310
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6266	1.5682
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.7199	2.6537

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00322	1.00129
US   $	0.99679	0.99871
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.23579	0.80920
US  $	1.23978	0.80660

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1611.60	1603.68
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	94.06	91.63
BRENT	112.73	110.51

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to the highest level in one month, on speculation central banks will act to boost the economy and as oil climbed on forecasts that U.S. inventories fell to three- month lows.

Suncor Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., two of Canada’s biggest oil producers, gained at least 1.9 percent as crude climbed 1.8 percent. Barrick Gold Corp. gained 3.5 percent. Energy and mining shares contributed most to the increase in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index among 10 industries.

The S&P/TSX advanced 185.18 points, or 1.6 percent, to 11,847.77 at 1:16 p.m. in Toronto. The index reached its highest intraday level since July 5. Markets in Toronto were closed yesterday for a civic holiday.

“We’re on the back of a strong European market just generally recovering from the sell-off,” Jennifer Stevenson, a portfolio manager with Dynamic Funds, said in a phone interview.

“The biggest sell-off was in energy and materials and those are the sectors driving the TSX today.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rallied 0.7 percent today to reach a four-month high. German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a bond-buying plan announced last week by the European Central Bank, a spokesman said yesterday.

U.S. crude stockpiles dropped 1.6 million barrels, or 0.4 percent, as imports and production slipped and refineries operated at the highest rate in five years, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts before an Energy Department report tomorrow. Tropical storm Ernesto was forecast to become a hurricane as it heads for Mexico’s Bay of Campeche, home to most of the country’s crude production.

Canadian Natural Resources jumped 5.8 percent to C$29.57 and Suncor Energy gained 1.9 percent to C$32.23 as crude oil increased 1.8 percent to $93.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract touched $93.69, the highest level since May 17.

Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, rose 3.5 percent to C$34 after the company said it is studying buying new mines as it completes a review to reduce costs at existing assets.

“Perhaps there’s more M&A opportunities today than there were a year ago and as a company we’re looking at those assets on a daily basis,” Mike Feehan, regional president of the Toronto-based company’s Australia and Pacific operations said today at the Diggers & Dealers mining conference in Kalgoorlie, Australia.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, jumped 5.1 percent to C$28.78. The price of copper rose to a one-week high amid speculation that China, the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals, will announce more stimulus measures to bolster its economy.

Tahoe Resources Inc. soared 8.1 percent to C$16 after Guatemala said it will withdraw a proposal to change the constitution to allow the state to acquire stakes of as much as 40 percent in natural resource companies. Tahoe operates the Escobal silver mine southeast of Guatemala City.

Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.6 percent to C$79.47 and Bank of Nova Scotia added 1.5 percent to C$52.62 after John Aiken, financials analyst with Barclays Capital, maintained his overweight rating on the former and upgraded the latter to equalweight from underweight.

US

By Stephen Kirkland and Rita Nazareth

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose to a three-month high, commodities gained and the yen weakened amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings and speculation central banks will boost efforts to lift growth.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.5 percent at 4 p.m. in New York in a third straight day of gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.8 percent to reach a four-month high. Standard Chartered Plc tumbled the most since at least 1988 after a U.S. regulator said the lender may face a suspension of business activities. The yen depreciated against all 16 major counterparts while the Dollar Index was little changed. U.S. Treasuries remained lower after a $32 billion auction. Gasoline surged more than 2 percent to lead gains commodities higher.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., Sirius XM Radio Inc. and Fossil Inc. were among U.S. stocks that rallied after reporting earnings. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren told CNBC the central bank should pursue an “open- ended” easing program of “substantial magnitude” to boost growth and hiring amid a global slowdown. German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a bond-buying plan announced last week by the European Central Bank, a spokesman said yesterday.

“Any shift in sentiment can result in a powerful move upward in the market,” Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Trust Co. in Radnor, Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview. His firm manages about $6.5 billion. “Earnings have come in well above expectations. Expectations about Fed action help and there’s more confidence today that Europe is inching closer to a credit plan to avert a financial crisis.”

Commodity, consumer and industrial shares helped lead gains among the 10 main groups in the S&P 500 today while Cisco Systems Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and United Technologies Corp. were among the biggest gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Fossil, the maker of jewelry and leather goods, rallied after its profit and earnings forecast topped estimates amid increasing sales of its Skagen brand. Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest U.S. natural-gas producer, jumped after reporting the highest quarterly profit in company history and boosted its asset-sales target to plug a looming funding shortfall. Sirius XM Radio gained after adding subscribers and boosting its forecast.

Earnings have topped analysts’ average estimate at about 72 percent of the S&P 500 companies which reported second-quarter results so far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

More than four shares rose for each that declined in the Stoxx 600. Xstrata Plc climbed 1.6 percent and Danske Bank A/S added 6.7 percent after they reported earnings that beat estimates. Standard Chartered tumbled 16 percent, the most in almost 24 years, after a U.S. regulator said the lender faces suspension of business activities because of transactions with Iranian banks. Nestle fell 1 percent.

Elan Corp. sank 8.7 percent to its lowest price this year.

The Irish drugmaker wrote down to zero the value of its venture with Johnson & Johnson to develop an Alzheimer’s treatment.

Among the 24 commodities tracked by the S&P GSCI Index, gasoline and Brent crude rallied at least 2 percent to lead gains. Oil climbed 1.6 percent to $93.67 a barrel in New York, the highest settlement since May 15.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose six basis points to 1.62 percent. U.S. notes remained lower following the sale of $32 billion of three-year notes at a higher-than- forecast yield. The securities, which mature in August 2015, drew a yield of 0.370 percent, compared with the average forecast of 0.361 in a Bloomberg News survey of seven of the Federal Reserve’s 21 primary dealers.

Spain’s 10-year yield rose 12 basis points, reversing an earlier decline, while its two-year rate climbed 36 basis points. The yield on Italy’s 10-year bond fell three basis points, paring steeper declines, and similar-maturity Portuguese debt yields declined 42 basis points.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

There will have to be rigid and iron discipline

before we achieve anything great and enduring,

and that discipline will not come by mere academic argument

and appeal to reason and logic.

Discipline is learnt in the school of adversity.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

 

And the day came when the risk to remain tight

in a bud was more painful than the risk it took

to blossom.

-Anaïs Nin, 1903-1977

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:

National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson identifies 10 places every photographer should visit, creating an impressive list.   Richardson includes tips on the great shot to get at each.  Check out the full list at http://bit.ly/natbucket.

For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business. – T.S. Eliot

And on this day in…

1492 – Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his Voyage to the New World.

1610 – Henry Hudson discovers a great bay in Eastern Canada, and names it for himself.

1914 – Germany and France declare against each other.

1941 – Martha Stewart is born.

1949 – The NBA is born.

1958 – the USS Nautilus travels under the North Pole.

1996 – the “Macarena” tops U.S. pop charts.

photos of the day August 3, 2012

Dark clouds cover the sky in downtown Shanghai.

Aly Song/Reuters

Jamaica’s Rosemarie Whyte stands in the pouring rain during a women’s 400-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London.

Anja Niedringhaus/AP

Market Closes for August 3, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13111.83	+232.95
		+1.81%
S&P 500	1391.98	+26.98
		+1.98%
NASDAQ	2974.71	+64.94
		+2.23%
TSX	11659.59	+153.09
		+1.33%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8555.11	-98.07
		-1.13%
HANG  SENG	19666.18	-24.06
		-0.12%
SENSEX	17197.93	-26.43
		-0.15%
FTSE 100	5787.28	+124.98
		+2.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.769	1.674
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.310	2.250
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.5682	1.4762
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.6537	2.5509

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00129	1.00737
US   $	0.99871	0.99268
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.24030	0.80625
US  $	1.2371	0.80729

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1603.68	1589.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	91.63	87.13
BRENT	110.51	107.23

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks snapped a four-day losing streak as oil and gold prices rebounded after U.S. payrolls in July increased more than forecast.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil company, gained 3.6 percent as the price of oil rose 4.9 percent. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. jumped 7.1 percent, the most since April, as gold futures advanced the most in more than a week. Royal Bank of Canada, the nation’s largest lender, climbed 1.5 percent. Energy and bank shares contributed most to the rise in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index among 10 industries.

The S&P/TSX surged 156.09 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,662.59 in Toronto. The benchmark gauge pared its losses for the week to 0.9 percent.

“Every day brings a new story and the market reacts, sometimes quite violently, both up and down,” Greg Eckel, a fund manager with Morgan Meighen & Associates, which manages about C$1 billion ($1 billion), said in a phone interview. “A couple of positives in Europe and in the U.S. seems to be enough for today.”

Non-farm payrolls for the U.S., the world’s largest consumer of crude and Canada’s biggest trade partner, increased 163,000 in July boosted by a pickup in employment at automakers.

The median estimate of 89 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a gain of 100,000. Unemployment rose to 8.3 percent.

In Europe, members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition parties signaled they won’t stand in the way of European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi’s plan to buy government bonds.

Suncor rose 3.6 percent to C$31.63. Oil futures surged 4.9 percent, the biggest gain since June 29, climbing to $91.40 in New York.

Ivanhoe Mines, which is developing the massive Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper mine in Mongolia, jumped 7.1 percent to C$8.60 as gold futures for December delivery increased 1.2 percent to settle at $1,609.30 an ounce in New York, the biggest gain since July 25.

Royal Bank of Canada climbed 1.5 percent to C$51.60.

Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 1.3 percent to C$79 and Bank of Nova Scotia gained 1 percent to C$51.86.

Stantec Inc. soared 10 percent to C$31.22, the most in three years, after the engineering and architecture services company posted second-quarter earnings the topped analyst expectations.

“We are impressed with Stantec’s modest but consistent growth profile in a difficult environment, particularly in the U.S.,” Sara O’Brien, analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said in a note upgrading the company to outperform.

Telus Corp., Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier, rose 1.3 percent to C$63.17 after reporting second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as customer spending on smartphone data surged. The company raised its forecast for annual revenue.

US

By Lu Wang

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for a fourth week, giving the Dow Jones Industrial Average the longest rally since October, as better-than-forecast jobs data erased a four-day drop amid investor disappointment with global stimulus efforts.

Technology companies climbed the most among the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Apple Inc. jumped 5.2 percent amid speculation the company may join the Dow, while First Solar Inc. soared 18 percent on surging profit. Better- than-expected earnings at MetLife Inc. and Frontier Communications Corp. sent their stocks up at least 9 percent.

Knight Capital Group Inc. plunged 61 percent after a trading error spurred a $440 million loss.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent for the week to 1,390.99. The benchmark index for American equities extended its 2012 gain to 11 percent. The Dow climbed 20.51 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,096.17, the highest level since May 3.

“We’ve come to fall into this trap if you will, when it comes to central banks, we want something from them immediately and if we don’t get it, the market gets disappointed,” Mark Freeman, who oversees about $13 billion as chief investment officer at Westwood Holdings Group Inc. in Dallas, said in a phone interview. “At the end of the day, the fundamentals matter, and the fundamentals are doing OK.”

Equities reversed weekly losses on the final day, with the S&P 500 jumping 1.9 percent, after a Labor Department report showed American payrolls climbed more than forecast even as the jobless rate unexpectedly rose. The benchmark index slumped 1.5 percent in the previous four days as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke failed to reassure investors on immediate efforts to bolster the economy.

The S&P 500 slipped as much as 9.9 percent from an almost four-year high on April 2 amid concern Europe’s debt crisis is worsening and the global economy is slowing. The equity gauge has since climbed 8.8 percent after central banks in Europe and China cut interest rates.

U.S. stocks fell on Aug. 1 as the Fed held off on stepping up record stimulus, saying it will “closely monitor” economic and financial developments and “will provide additional accommodation as needed.” Equities slid the next day as Draghi kept interest rates on hold and signaled the ECB intends to join forces with governments to buy bonds, while conceding that Germany’s Bundesbank had reservations about the plan.

The rally in stocks on the final day gained strength as members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition parties signaled they won’t stand in the way of Draghi’s bond plan.

“The U.S. economy is continuing to plod along, not going into a recession,” James McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust Corp., said in the phone interview. The Chicago-based firm oversees $704.3 billion. “While Mario Draghi did not give us the magic bullet, they’re clearly working towards further intervention to help support the European Monetary Union.”

Computer and software makers in the S&P 500 climbed 1.5 percent as a group. Apple rose 5.2 percent to $615.70, the highest since April. The world’s largest company by market value is considering a stock split and its decision in March to pay its first dividend in 17 years makes it more likely the shares could be added to the Dow index, Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote in a July 31 note.

First Solar surged 18 percent to $17.06 after second- quarter earnings increased 81 percent. The world’s biggest maker of thin-film panels boosted its full-year profit forecast.

About 73 percent of S&P 500 companies which reported quarterly results have beaten estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales missed estimates at 59 percent of companies.

MetLife, the largest U.S. life insurer, jumped 9 percent to $33.19 after profit beat analysts’ estimates on gains from derivatives it uses to protect against a drop in interest rates.

Prudential Financial Inc. rallied 8.2 percent, the most since December, to $52.03. The second-largest U.S. life insurer said profit more than doubled as its international business improved and the company recorded gains on derivatives.

Frontier Communications Corp. advanced 18 percent to $4.40 for the biggest increase in the S&P 500. The company, which sells voice and broadband service to individuals and businesses, reported per-share earnings that topped the average analyst estimate by 70 percent, the most since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Knight plunged 61 percent to $4.05. Errors related to the company’s trading software sent stocks moving as much as 151 percent on Aug. 1, prompting the New York Stock Exchange to review trading in 140 companies from Molycorp Inc. to AT&T Inc.

Transactions that occurred during the height of the volatility were canceled in six securities, where prices swung at least 30 percent in the first 45 minutes.

Knight fought to preserve its business as concern grew about its solvency. On the final day of the week, Knight told brokers it received short-term financing, according to a person familiar with the matter. As the company opened its books to potential saviors, people with knowledge of the matter said KKR & Co., TPG Capital and Silver Lake were among buyout firms that had an initial interest — while one said chances of a private- equity deal are small.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. slumped 20 percent to $29.37 for the biggest retreat in the S&P 500. The teen retailer cut its annual forecast, citing an anticipated drop in same-store sales in the second half of 2012.

Coach Inc., the largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, tumbled 15 percent, the most since August, to $52.66, after reporting revenue that trailed analysts’ estimates amid slowing sales growth in North America.

Facebook Inc. declined 11 percent to $21.09 for the week.

The world’s biggest social-networking website dropped to its lowest level on Aug. 2. It was Facebook’s fifth straight day of losses after reporting earnings that showed slowing growth. The company snapped its losing streak on the final day of the week, jumping 5.2 percent, after Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group, said the company could step up revenue growth with ad sales.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

All things are linked together through cause and effect.  There is no such thing as an accident.

When we cannot find the link between cause and effect in an event, we call it an accident.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

 

As ever,

Carolann

 

Knowledge is the only instrument of production

that is not subject to diminishing returns.

-John Clarke, 1948-

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:

To get where you’re going, you have to be good, and to be good where you’re going, you have to be damned good.  Every once in a while, you’ll succeed.  Most of the time you’ll fail, and most of the time  the circumstances will be well beyond your control. – Aaron Sorkin, Syracuse University Commencement Speech, 2012.

On this day in…

1876 – Wild Bill Hickok is shot while playing poker.

1934 – Hindenburg dies, Hitler becomes Fuhrer.
1939 – Einstein urges U.S. Atomic action.

1965 – (Toronto-born Canadian) Newsman Morley Safer films the destruction of a Vietnamese village by U.S. Marines.
1990 – Iraqi forces invade neighbouring Kuwait.

Trust your intuition and be guided by love. –Charles Eisenstein

photos of the day August 2, 2012

Buddhist monks walk in thick mist during a monsoonal rain in Dharmsala, India. The area receives heavy rainfall during the summer monsoon season though this year it has been lighter than usual.

Ashwini Bhatia/AP

The English National Ballet troupe waits to perform a pre-show for the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London.

Gregory Bull/AP

Market Closes for August 2, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	12878.88	-92.18
		-0.71%
S&P 500	1365.00	-10.14
		-0.74%
NASDAQ	2909.77	-10.44
		-0.36%
TSX	11506.50	-112.03
		-0.96%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8653.18	+11.33
		+0.13%
HANG  SENG	19690.20	-130.18
		-0.66%
SENSEX	17224.36	-33.02
		-0.19%
FTSE 100	5662.30	-50.52
		-0.88%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.674	1.711
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.250	2.295
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.4762	1.5240
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.5509	2.5973

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00737	1.00512
US   $	0.99268	0.99491
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.22731	0.81479
US  $	1.21833	0.82080

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1589.00	1600.35
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	87.13	88.91
BRENT	107.23	106.58

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined for a fourth day as natural gas and oil prices slumped after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi failed to reassure investors on immediate efforts to bolster the economy.

Suncor Energy Inc. lost 1.9 percent as oil tumbled 1.3 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Cenovus Energy Inc. sank at least 2.4 percent as the price of natural gas plunged 5.6 percent. Energy shares contributed most to the decline in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index among 10 industries.

The S&P/TSX fell 78.23 points, or 0.7 percent, to 11,540.30 at 12:59 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has lost 1.9 percent this week, bringing its 2012 decline to 3.5 percent.

“What we’ve seen from Europe to date has been talk, not specific plans or actions,” Brian Belski, chief investment strategist with BMO Capital Markets, said in a phone interview from New York. “Markets and investors around the world — and it doesn’t matter if it’s today or next week — they want and deserve answers. That’s why you see these reactions and are most likely going to continue to see these reactions.”

Draghi, who pledged last week to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro, said the bank will join forces with governments to buy sovereign bonds. Details of the purchase plan will be fleshed out in the coming weeks, Draghi said at a Frankfurt press conference. Earlier, the ECB kept its main interest rate at 0.75 percent.

Suncor lost 1.9 percent to C$30.19. Canadian Natural Resources slid 2.4 percent to C$26.95. Cenovus slipped 2.5 percent to C$30.49 as natural gas futures declined in New York after a government report showed that U.S. stockpiles climbed more than expected last week.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer, fell 3.7 percent to C$42.30, and Agrium Inc. decreased 0.8 percent to C$93.94 after analyst Charles Neivert with Dahlman Rose & Co. in New York cut his rating on both companies to a hold from a buy.

“The severe drought in the major growing areas of the U.S. may be about to apply the coup de grace to the fertilizer shares,” he wrote in a report today.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down for a fourth straight day, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi failed to reassure investors on immediate efforts to bolster the economy.

Alcoa Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and DuPont Co. dropped at least 1.8 percent to pace losses in the biggest companies.

Knight Capital Group Inc. plunged 63 percent after saying losses from a trading breakdown are $440 million, more than some analysts had estimated, as it explores strategic and financial alternatives. General Motors Co. slid 2.6 percent as the automaker said second-quarter profit slumped 38 percent.

About five stocks fell for every three that rose on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time. The S&P 500 lost 0.7 percent to 1,365, dropping 1.5 percent in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 92.18 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,878.88. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 7.3 billion shares, or 8.6 percent above the three-month average.

“It’s status quo,” said Hayes Miller, who helps oversee about $48 billion as the Boston-based head of asset allocation in North America at Baring Asset Management Inc. He spoke on a phone interview. “I don’t know why people feel that authorities can come up with magic solutions. I don’t know that the magic bullet exists. There are limits to what the ECB can do.”

Stocks joined a global slump as Draghi signaled the ECB intends to join forces with governments to buy bonds in sufficient quantities to ease the region’s crisis, while conceding that Germany’s Bundesbank has reservations about the plan. Details on the plan will be fleshed out in coming weeks, he said after keeping the interest rate on hold at 0.75 percent.

Yesterday, the American central bank also failed to bolster confidence. The Federal Reserve’s pledge to provide additional support for the economy disappointed investors anticipating a more definitive sign of further monetary easing. The S&P 500 rose as much as 29 percent from its October 2011 low amid bets the central bank would add economic stimulus.

Tomorrow’s jobs report may provide more direction toward the Fed’s next steps to ensure the recovery is not derailed.

Payrolls rose by 100,000 after an 80,000 gain in June and the unemployment rate held at 8.2 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey. Data today showed orders placed with U.S. factories unexpectedly fell and jobless claims rose less than forecast.

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Mohamed El-Erian said the world economy is suffering its severest slowdown since the recession ended in 2009. The chief executive officer of Pimco predicted global growth of 2.25 percent over the next 12 months.

That’s down from the 3.9 percent in 2011 and 5.3 percent in 2010 recorded by the International Monetary Fund. The world economy contracted 0.6 percent in 2009.

“This is a serious, synchronized slowdown,” El-Erian said in an interview today.

Companies which are most-dependent on economic growth tumbled today, with the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index slumping 1.1 percent. Nine of 10 groups in the S&P 500 retreated as commodity companies had the biggest losses. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, slipped 3 percent to $8.18. JPMorgan dropped 2.3 percent to $35.17. DuPont, a chemical maker, declined 1.8 percent to $49.02.

Investors watched the latest developments with Knight Capital. The shares plunged 63 percent to $2.58, extending a two-day tumble to 75 percent. Knight has “all hands on deck” and is in close contact with clients and counterparties as it tries to weather trading errors that cost it $440 million, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Joyce said.

Joyce said it’s “hard to comment” on discussions with creditors and the firm explored strategic and financial alternatives following a loss almost four times its annual profit. The problems were triggered by what Joyce called “a bug, but a large bug” in software as the company, one of the largest U.S. market makers, prepared to trade with a New York Stock Exchange program catering to individual investors.

“Technology breaks,” Joyce said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers” program with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle today. “It ain’t good. We don’t look forward to it.”

Investors also watched second-quarter corporate earnings.

About 73 percent of companies which reported quarterly results have beaten analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales missed estimates at 59 percent of companies.

GM slumped 2.6 percent to $19.14. The automaker faces rising losses in Europe and a stagnating China market. Overseas challenges threaten to undercut the company’s recovery even as its domestic market is on pace for the best year since 2007.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. plunged 15 percent to $29.06, the lowest since 2009. The teen retailer with more than 1,000 stores cut its annual forecast yesterday, citing an anticipated drop in same-store sales in the second half of 2012.

Monster Worldwide Inc. declined 14 percent to $6.10. The Internet recruiting service exploring a possible sale forecast earnings that fell short of analysts’ predictions, citing European economic weakness.

MGIC Investment Corp. sank 64 percent, the most ever, to 88 cents. The mortgage insurer reported its biggest loss since 2009 and its risk-to-capital ratio breached regulatory standards.

Apache Corp. dropped 4.9 percent to $82.58. The independent oil and natural-gas producer reported second-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates after energy prices fell and maintenance hampered production.

Parker Hannifin Corp. slid 3.3 percent to $78.85 after the maker of fluid power systems and air-conditioning products forecast annual earnings lower than some analysts’ estimates amid a demand slump in Europe.

DirecTV fell 2.6 percent to $48.80. The largest U.S. satellite-television provider reported second-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates after posting the company’s first net decrease in U.S. subscribers.

Sealed Air Corp. sank 17 percent, the biggest decline in the S&P 500, to $13.15. The maker of Bubble Wrap posted second- quarter earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates and announced plans to pursue “strategic options.”

Navistar International Corp. dropped 13 percent to $21.44.

The maker of International brand trucks disclosed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry and withdrew its full-year earnings forecast.

Bristol-Myers slumped 8.6 percent, the most since 2002, to $32.55. The company lost ground in the race to develop a stand- alone hepatitis C pill after it suspended testing of an experimental drug for the disease that cost it $2.5 billion to buy earlier this year.

Separately, executive Robert Ramnarine was charged with insider trading for making $311,361 in illegal profit by buying stock options in three companies targeted for acquisition.

Facebook Inc. dropped 4 percent to $20.04, a record low.

The shares are 47 percent below their initial public offering price of $38. The world’s largest social-networking service last week reported earnings that showed slowing growth.

Gap Inc. and Macy’s Inc. posted July same-store sales that beat estimates as promotions and warm weather boosted shopping traffic. Gap, the biggest U.S. specialty-apparel retailer, climbed 13 percent to $33.17. Macy’s, owner of its namesake and Bloomingdale’s department stores, added 3.8 percent to $36.40.

First Solar Inc. surged 21 percent, the biggest advance in the S&P 500, to $17.93. The world’s biggest maker of thin-film panels said profit jumped 81 percent after it recognized revenue for selling power plants.

MetLife Inc. rose 4.2 percent to $31.70. Profit beat estimates and more than doubled on gains from derivatives it uses to protect against a decline in interest rates.

Tesoro Corp. jumped 14 percent to $31.79. The largest independent refiner on the U.S. West Coast said profit surged 78 percent and announced a $500 million share buyback plan.

Time Warner Cable Inc. added 2.7 percent to $87.94. The second-largest U.S. cable-television provider reported second- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates after gaining broadband Internet subscribers.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. rallied 27 percent to $22.66. The maker of Keurig brewers and single-serve pods said third-quarter profit rose 30 percent and it will repurchase as much as $500 million in shares over the next two years.

Yelp Inc. added 17 percent to $22. The online review website reported second-quarter sales that topped estimates as an expansion into new regions helped widen its user base.

Jeremy Siegel, author of “Stocks for the Long Run”, said Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pimco, is wrong when he compares long-term returns from equities investing to a “Ponzi scheme.”

“I like Bill Gross a lot, but he’s got the economics wrong,” Siegel said on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop” with Betty Liu. Siegel is “obviously pushing at windmills,”

Gross said today in an interview with Liu. “He belongs back in his ivory tower,” Gross said.

In his monthly investment outlook July 31, Gross said that the so-called Siegel Constant, which purports to show a long- term history of inflation-adjusted equity real returns of 6.6 percent since 1912, may be a “historical freak” unlikely to be seen again. Presuming a 2 percent return for bonds and 4 percent nominal returns for stocks, a diversified portfolio produces a nominal return of 3 percent and inflation-adjusted returns near zero, Gross, who manages the $263.4 billion Total Return Fund at Pimco, wrote in the outlook.

“Those that are looking for double-digit returns for stocks to pay education, to pay for retirement, are bound to be disappointed and that’s why the cult of equity is dead,” Gross said today in the interview with Liu. “It’s hard to see how corporations and stocks can continue to earn 3 percent more than GDP going forward and that’s only common sense.”

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

 

I declare out loud to whoever wants to believe me:

I have no word in my mouth

that is not in your heart!

Kabir, 1440-1518

As ever,

Carolann

 

Great services are not canceled by one act

or by one single error.

-Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881

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:

 

AUGUST: Formerly called Sextilis in the Roman calendar, as the sixth month from March, when the year began.  The name was changed to Augustus in 8 BC in honor of Augustus, 63 BC-14 AD, the first Roman emperor, whose lucky month it was.  It was the month in which he began his first consulship, celebrated three triumphs, received the allegiance of the legions on the Janiculum, reduced Egypt and ended the civil wars.

The Old English name for August was Weodmonath, weed month, weod meaning grass, herbs.  In the French Revolutionary calendar, the equivalent month was Thermidor – gift of heat – which lasted from 20^th July to 18^th of August.  –from Brewar’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

And on this day in…

1789 – US Customs established

1819 – Herman Melville was born.

1914 – First World War erupts in Europe.

1936 – Yves St. Laurent was born.

1942 – Jerry Garcia was born.
1943 – PT 109 sinks; Lieutenant John F. Kennedy is instrumental in saving crew.

1981 – MTV launches.

1990 – World Wide Web established.

2007 – First drive-thru ATM opens in China.

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?  –Henry David Thoreau.

photos of the day

August 1, 2012

Mime artists Maciek, (R), and Viola, (L), painted in gold and silver take a break in the shade, near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.

Gero Breloer/AP

The skyline of the business district is silhouetted at sunset in Hong Kong.

Vincent Yu/AP

Market Closes for August 1, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	12971.06	-37.62
		-0.29%
S&P 500	1375.32	-4.00
		-0.29%
NASDAQ	2920.21	-19.31
		-0.66%
TSX	11618.53	-46.18
		-0.40%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8641.85	-53.21
		-0.61%
HANG  SENG	19820.38	+23.57
		+0.12%
SENSEX	17257.38	+21.20
		+0.12%
FTSE 100	5712.82	+77.54
		+1.38%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.711	1.686
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.295	2.274
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.5240	1.4713
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.5973	2.5559

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00512	1.00339
US   $	0.99491	0.99662
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.22960	0.81327
US  $	1.22334	0.81743

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1600.35	1614.15
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	88.91	88.06
BRENT	106.58	106.11

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a third day as gold declined and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy statement disappointed investors looking for more definitive signs the central bank would make additional stimulus moves.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, lost 1.3 percent. Intact Financial Corp., Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer, fell 3.2 percent after second-quarter profit missed analysts’ estimates. Energy shares advanced, lifted by rising oil prices.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index dropped 46.18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,618.53. The benchmark gauge has lost 1.3 percent in the last three sessions.

“The markets were expecting Bernanke would mention some type of easing,” John Goldsmith, portfolio manager with Montrusco Bolton Investments in Toronto, which manages C$5 billion ($5 billion) in assets, said in a phone interview. “If the market had been pricing in so much easing, it would be off huge right now. Clearly, the market wasn’t anticipating that much.”

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues at the Federal Open Market Committee said they “will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability.” The statement, coming at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington, also said that economic activity had decelerated somewhat over the first half of 2012.

Goldcorp lost 1.3 percent to C$35.74, as gold futures for December delivery slid 0.5 percent to settle at $1,607.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York.

Intact Financial fell 3.2 percent to C$62.46 after its earnings announcement. Net operating income was C$1.35 a share, missing the C$1.40 average adjusted estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Oil climbed 1 percent to $88.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Talisman Energy Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on three continents, soared 7.3 percent, the biggest increase since March 2009, to C$13.31.

Chief Executive Officer John Manzoni said the company is in discussions about converting its Montney output to liquefied natural gas.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. surged 7.2 percent to C$10.72, the most since October 2008, after the food processor reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

US

By Rita Nazareth

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined, reversing earlier gains, as the Federal Reserve’s pledge to provide additional support for the economy disappointed investors anticipating a more definitive sign of further monetary easing.

Knight Capital Corp., one of the largest market makers of U.S. stocks, plunged 33 percent as it experienced technology issues with trading. MasterCard Inc., the second-biggest payments network, slumped 2.2 percent as sales missed analysts’ estimates. Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company, and Allstate Corp., the biggest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, rose at least 3 percent as earnings topped projections.

Fourteen stocks fell for every five rising on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. in New York. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent to 1,375.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 32.55 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,976.13. The Russell

2000 Index of small companies slumped 2 percent to 771.11, led by Knight. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 7.4 billion shares, 10 percent above the three-month average.

“The Fed basically passed,” said Michael Strauss, who helps oversee about $26 billion of assets as the chief investment strategist at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut.

“They didn’t say anything new. The Fed is recognizing the economy is a bit weaker, but there’s not that much it can do.”

Equities fell a third day as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke held off on stepping up record stimulus even as economic growth slowed. Before their next meeting starts Sept. 12, Bernanke and his colleagues will assess reports on unemployment in July and August, and the European Central Bank may take steps to ease Europe’s crisis at a meeting tomorrow.

“I wasn’t expecting anything new from the Fed,” John Carey, who helps oversee about $220 billion at Pioneer Investments in Boston, said in a telephone interview. “It would be premature to do something ahead of any European action and the jobs report. They are watching closely, at some point they may step in, but they need more information. We’ll wait for the next chapter I guess.”

U.S. stocks rose earlier as data showing manufacturing weakness from China and Europe boosted speculation policy makers will act to support the economy. Manufacturing in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted for a second month in July, indicating a mainstay of the economy was struggling to improve.

Dozens of stocks swung 10 percent or more without accompanying news in the first minutes of trading, whipsawing investors. Knight Capital told some clients of its market-making unit that a “technical issue” was affecting its systems and advised them to route orders elsewhere.

The company said the issue was confined to its market- making unit, which helps execute billions of dollars in equity transactions every day. The errors were caused by a malfunction in a so-called trading algorithm, according to a person at the company who asked to remain anonymous. The New York Stock Exchange canceled transactions in six securities that occurred during a period of heightened volatility after the open.

The volatility, occurring after three Dow stocks fluctuated in regular hourly patterns for a full trading day on July 19, may embolden critics of American market structure who say the computers that dominate trading have become too complex to control. Special curbs adopted after the May 2010 equity crash helped calm today’s fluctuations.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. rose more than 10 percent just after the 9:30 a.m. open in New York. Manitowoc Co. gained 14 percent, Pandora Media Inc. climbed almost 11 percent and Level 3 Communications Inc. plunged 15 percent before the swings narrowed minutes later, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“All of a sudden, there was choppy trading and some stocks were halted,” Arthur Hogan, a strategist at Lazard Capital Markets LLC, said in a telephone interview. “People were scratching their heads, but it wasn’t a sense of panic. It was more curious. There’s got to be some human error here.”

NYSE Euronext said it will review trading in 140 securities, including Bank of America Corp., Caterpillar Inc. and Pfizer Inc. It canceled trades in six securities where prices swung at least 30 percent in the first 45 minutes.

Knight Capital shares dropped 33 percent to $6.94.

Investors also watched corporate results today. About 72 percent of the S&P 500 companies which reported second-quarter earnings beat estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg showed, even as 59 percent missed analysts’ sales forecasts.

MasterCard lost 2.2 percent to $427.20. The company is among global corporations whose earnings have been hit by currency fluctuations against the dollar. Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga is pushing the company into emerging markets and gets about 60 percent of revenue from outside the U.S., more than larger rival Visa Inc.’s 45 percent.

Avon Products Inc. fell 1.2 percent to $15.30. The door-to- door cosmetics seller that rebuffed a takeover offer from Coty Inc. this year reported a 70 percent decline in second-quarter profit amid a sales slump in Europe and China.

Genworth Financial Inc. dropped 11 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $4.48 after acting Chief Executive Officer Martin Klein listed potential obstacles to separating the U.S. mortgage-insurance unit from the company.

Facebook Inc. slumped 3.8 percent to a record low of $20.88. The shares are 45 percent below their initial public offering price of $38. The world’s largest social-networking service last week reported results that showed slowing growth.

Car companies had the biggest decline in the S&P 500 among 24 industries, falling 2 percent. Harley-Davidson Inc. retreated 3.6 percent to $41.67. The biggest U.S. motorcycle maker reported second-quarter revenue trailed analysts’ estimates and said currency exchange rates will hurt profit margins.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. plunged 6.3 percent to $17.99. The independent film studio fell after second-quarter results missed analysts’ estimates on lower-than-expected results related to “Madagascar 3.”

Career Education Corp. tumbled 22 percent to $3.69. The for-profit college chain with more than 90 campuses fell a day after reporting a second-quarter loss and disclosing a regulatory investigation.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. slid 10 percent to $7.87. The publisher of the “Grand Theft Auto” video games reported first-quarter results and a full-year outlook that fell below analysts’ estimates.

Comcast added 3.1 percent to $33.55. The company improved its video guide, boosted Internet speeds and added phone features to fight competition from online video companies, satellite-television providers and Verizon Communications Inc.’s FiOS and AT&T Inc.’s U-verse. Comcast has curbed video losses for the seventh consecutive quarter on a year-over-year basis.

Allstate added 6.1 percent to $36.40. Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson has been seeking rate increases and changing terms of policies to boost profitability as severe weather increases claims costs and low interest rates put pressure on investment income from the company’s bond portfolio.

Some casino companies gained as Macau gaming revenue rose 1.5 percent in July, beating estimates from some analysts who predicted a little changed or lower result on declining demand from mainland Chinese gamblers and the impact of a Hong Kong typhoon. Wynn Resorts Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to $95.30. Las Vegas Sands Corp. advanced 2.3 percent to $37.26.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings rallied 4.5 percent to $87.90. The company may be the target of a private equity buyout, Reuters reported, citing Mergermarket, a provider of news and data on acquisitions.

Phillips 66 gained 1.8 percent to $38.27. The company, which became the largest U.S. independent refiner after its spinoff from ConocoPhillips earlier this year, said second- quarter profit rose 13 percent on higher fuel margins and announced a plan to buy back shares valued at $1 billion.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. jumped 3.5 percent to $36.79. The chain controlled by the Pritzker family said second-quarter earnings climbed 5.4 percent amid strong demand in major U.S. cities.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Guard your tongue, for it is highly dangerous;

unguarded words can cause terrible distress.

A single bad word can destroy a vast quantity of good.

A wound caused by fire will eventually heal;

but a wound caused by the tongue leaves a scar that never heals.

Valluvar, 1479-1531

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity

pays to genius.

-Fulton Sheen, 1895-1979

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:

 

FIREFLIES

 

here come

the fireflies

 

with their staccato

lights

 

their tiny headlamps

blinking

 

in silence

through the tall grass

 

like constellations

cut loose

 

from the night

sky

 

(see how desire

transforms

 

the plainest

of us)

 

or flashes of insight

that flare

 

for a moment

then flicker out

 

-Linda Pastan

Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning. –Joseph Campbell

 

And on this day in…

1790 – U.S. Patent Office opens.

1891 – British government declares territories in Southern Africa up to the Congo to be within their sphere of influence.

1965 – J.K. Rowling was born.

1971 – Apollo 15 astronauts take a drive on the moon in the land rover.

photos of the day

July 31, 2012

Shepherd Pascal Sapet walks with his flock of sheep near Les Diablerets, Switzerland. Great Pyrenees dogs are used to prevent attacks by wolves on their cattle by Swiss farmers.

Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Storm cells move over the 40 freeway near Needles, California area at sunset as monsoon moisture continues to invades the Mojave deserts area.

Gene Blevins/Reuters

 

Market Closes for July 31, 2012:

North American Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13008.68	-64.33
		-0.49%
S&P 500	1379.33	-5.97
		-0.43%
NASDAQ	2939.52	-6.32
		-0.21%
TSX	11652.67	-105.21
		-0.89%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8695.06	+59.62
		+0.69%
HANG  SENG	19796.81	+211.41
		+1.08%
SENSEX	17236.18	+92.50
		+0.54%
FTSE 100	5635.28	-58.35
		-1.02%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.686	1.699
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.274	2.285
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.4713	1.5019
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.5559	2.5809

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00339	1.00194
US   $	0.99662	0.99807
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.23409	0.81032
US  $	1.22992	0.81306

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1614.15	1622.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	88.06	89.78
BRENT	106.11	108.01

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Katia Dmitrieva

July 31 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined as oil fell for a second day and investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy decision tomorrow.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer company, dropped 1.3 percent. Suncor Energy Inc., the nation’s biggest oil company, declined 2.3 percent. Energy and raw materials stocks contributed the most to the decline on the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index. Rona Inc. jumped 14 percent after the company said it rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from U.S. home-improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos.

The S&P/TSX lost 93.17 points, or 0.8 percent, to 11,664.71. The benchmark index gained 0.6 percent for July, its second straight monthly advance.

“General sentiment is cautious. It just speaks to money in the mattress and folks just saying ’I’ll put smaller bets on,’ but the real money is on the sidelines,” David Sherlock of Calgary-based McLean & Partners, which manages C$1 billion, said in a phone interview. “Canada’s going to have a tough time moving forward without some meaningful resolution to the European crisis.”

Stocks fell as Germany’s Finance Ministry said the rules of the European Stability Mechanism don’t foresee a banking license to allow refinancing at the European Central Bank. In the U.S., a Bloomberg survey found the Fed will probably forgo announcing a third round of large-scale asset purchases this week.

Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly rose for the first time in five months.

Canada’s gross domestic product grew less than economists predicted in May as a manufacturing decline curbed gains in energy and retailing. Output rose 0.1 percent, less than the 0.2 percent increased forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The Bank of Canada is relying on business investment and consumer spending for economic growth in what it calls the slowest export recovery since World War II.

Oil fell 1.9 percent to settle at $88.06 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, paring its monthly advance to 3.6 percent.

Enbridge Inc. lost 1.9 percent to C$41.03. Suncor declined 2.3 percent to C$30.66. Cenovus Energy Inc. slipped 1.6 percent to C$30.65.

Potash Corp. slipped 1.3 percent to C$44.40. Eldorado Gold Corp. fell 4.7 percent to C$10.85. Teck Resources Ltd. declined 3 percent to C$28.13.

Thomson Reuters Corp. slipped 1.7 percent to C$28.44 after the company reported that second-quarter revenue fell 4 percent to $3.31 billion. Profit for the financial news and information provider jumped 64 percent after the $1.25 billion sale of its health-care business.

Rona soared 14 percent to C$13.50 as it rejected Lowe’s C$14.50-a-share offer as not in the best interest of shareholders. The offer is 22 percent higher than Rona’s closing price yesterday and values the Quebec-based retailer at about C$1.76 billion.

Inmet Mining Corp., a base-metals producer, rose 4.8 percent to C$39.89, the most in a month. The company said its Spanish copper mine performed well in the second quarter and it expects to complete a deal to sell precious metals from a project in Panama.

US

By Rita Nazareth

July 31 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, trimming a second monthly advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy decision tomorrow.

Coach Inc., the largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, tumbled 19 percent after reporting revenue that trailed analysts’

estimates. Humana Inc. slumped 13 percent as the provider of Medicare benefits cut its 2012 profit forecast. Apple Inc. rose 2.6 percent as Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said it is considering a stock split that could prompt the world’s most valuable company to be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

About five stocks fell for every three that rose on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time. The S&P 500 slid 0.4 percent to 1,379.32. The benchmark measure rose 1.3 percent in July. The Dow average slid 64.33 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,008.68 today. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 6.7 billion shares, or about in line with the three-month average.

“People are taking some chips off the table as they don’t expect the Fed to come up with any positive surprise,” said Michael Holland, chairman of New York-based Holland & Co. His firm oversees more than $4 billion. “In addition, you have a mixed bag of earnings and news out of Europe is not helping.”

Equities fell on bets the Fed may forgo announcing a third round of large-scale asset purchases this week, and is more likely to wait until September to unveil plans to buy $600 billion in housing and government debt. Policy makers meeting today and tomorrow may wait for more employment data before deciding whether action is needed to boost an economy that’s slowed for two straight quarters.

Consumer spending in the U.S. stagnated in June as labor- market weakness prompted Americans to use the biggest gain in incomes in three months to build savings. Yet Americans may be growing less pessimistic about job prospects later in the year, with another report today showing consumer confidence rose unexpectedly for the first time in five months.

U.S. equities followed a slump in European shares after companies including BP Plc and UBS AG posted earnings that missed forecasts. In the U.S., 60 percent of the companies which reported second-quarter results missed sales estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About 73 percent beat profit estimates, the data showed.

Companies which rely on consumer discretionary spending lost 1.2 percent for the biggest decline among 10 S&P 500 groups. Coach tumbled 19 percent, the most since 2001, to $49.33. Sales at North American stores open at least a year advanced 1.7 percent, compared with a gain of 10 percent a year earlier. Jennifer Davis, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, projected an increase of 5 percent.

Humana dropped 13 percent, the biggest decline since 2009, to $61.60. The company generated three-quarters of sales last year from Medicare, the U.S.-backed program for the elderly and disabled, and Chief Executive Officer Michael B. McCallister said that new members were proving more expensive.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. slumped 5.1 percent to $26.09.

The largest corn processor reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as its ethanol business swung to a loss and the U.S. drought increases corn costs.

Facebook Inc. dropped 6.2 percent to $21.71, the lowest price on record. The shares are trading 43 percent below the company’s initial public offering price of $38. Facebook, the largest social-networking service, last week reported second- quarter results that showed slowing growth.

U.S. shares of UBS slumped 4.2 percent to $10.60.

Switzerland’s biggest bank said second-quarter profit fell 58 percent, missing analysts’ estimates, as the investment bank posted a loss tied to Facebook’s initial public offering.

RealD Inc. retreated 23 percent to $9.70. The supplier of 3-D projection systems to theaters reported quarterly profit that missed analysts’ estimates because of costs to supply theaters with new eyeglasses.

Gains in technology companies, the biggest group in the S&P 500, limited the benchmark measure’s decline. Apple rallied 2.6 percent, the most since May 21, to $610.76. The company’s decision in March to pay its first dividend in 17 years makes it more likely the stock could be added to the index after a split, said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein who rates the shares outperform, in a report today.

“We see the timing as ripe,” Sacconaghi said. “Apple’s initiation of a dividend brings the company in line with all other Dow components. We note that Apple is currently the only company above $215 billion in market cap that pays a dividend and is not included in the Dow.”

The Cupertino, California-based company is preparing to introduce the next version of the iPhone on Sept. 12 in what will be a design overhaul of its top-selling product, according to two people with knowledge of the company’s plans.

Pfizer Inc. climbed 1.4 percent, the most in the Dow, to $24.04. The world’s largest drugmaker said it will file in mid- August to sell as much as 20 percent of its animal-health unit in an initial public offering. The company also reported profit that beat analyst estimates as a result of cost cutting.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. rose 10 percent to $11.45. The largest U.S. tiremaker reported a second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and lowered its full-year forecast for tire sales for the second time this year.

Cummins Inc. jumped 6 percent to $95.90. The maker of truck engines reported second-quarter earnings excluding some items of $2.45 a share, beating the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey of $2.28 a share.

U.S. Steel Corp. rallied 9.1 percent to $20.65. The country’s largest producer of the metal reported earnings that beat estimates after demand rose for tubular products.

Valero Energy Corp. jumped 5.4 percent to $27.50. The largest U.S. refiner by processing capacity said second-quarter profit rose as access to cheaper crude produced in the U.S. led to a rally in the margin between oil costs and fuel prices.

Valero plans to separate its retail business to “unlock value” for its shareholders.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp. soared 13 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $80.19. The operator of a database that provides credit and business data to firms is weighing a sale, said a person familiar with the matter.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. climbed 3 percent to $39.70. The third-biggest U.S. drug distributor won an $18.5 billion contract to supply Express Scripts Holding Co.

Investors should buy stocks before the Fed’s announcement tomorrow, if history is of any guide, according to Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

The S&P 500 has advanced in 20 out of the past 29 decision days since the Fed pledged to keep interest rates near zero in December 2008, a study from Harrison, New York-based Bespoke shows. While Fed days made up 3 percent of the trading days during the period, they accounted for about 38 percent of the equity gauge’s gain, the data show.

“‘Don’t fight the Fed’ is one of the most well-known market axioms around, and these performance numbers couldn’t do a better job of highlighting why,” Justin Walters, Bespoke’s co-founder, wrote in a note today.

The S&P 500 has rallied 9.7 percent this year amid speculation that worse-than-expected economic data will prompt the Fed to take more actions to spur growth.

The Fed has carried out two rounds of so-called quantitative easing since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in 2008, buying $2.3 trillion in bonds to boost the economy. The S&P 500 jumped 59 percent during the 913 trading days from December 2008 through yesterday, with return on the Fed days totaling 22 percent, data from Bespoke and Bloomberg show. The average gain on the past 29 Fed days was 0.7 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Being human,

I feel profoundly the necessity of putting an end to violence,

and I will make sure to put an end to it in myself.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.  Think only on those things that are

in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.  The content of your

character is your choice.  Day by day, what you do is who you become.

-Heraclitus, 535-475 BC

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:

Think before you answer

We now know why smart people make stupid mistakes.  Remember those geniuses who ran the global economy in the 1990s, and then ran it into the ground in 2007?  It seems that smart people take mental shortcuts.  They hear a question and assume, before the question is fully asked, they know the answer.

Consider this math problem posed by Richard West at James Madison University and Keith Stanovich at the University of Toronto, to a group of undergrads, and see if you get the answer right:  “In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads.  Every day, the patch doubles in size.  If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long does it take for the patch to cover half the lake?

For the answer, you should read the June 12 New Yorker blog post by Jonah Lehrer, or look below.

Answer: 47 days.

Other recently reported numbers:

38.8:  Percentage drop in median US family’s net worth between 2007 and 2010, the biggest drop since the Federal Reserve’s survey started.

1/5: Cut in prize money to be awarded to Nobel Prize winners, starting December, to $1.1 million.

60: percentage of recent high school grads not enrolled in college full time who live with parents, other relatives.,

Summer of the Bee: Get stories, videos, and ideas for supporting honeybees at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/sharethebuzz. Natural foods grocer Whole Foods is hoping to increase awareness of the plight of the honeybee with its summer initiative, Share the Buzz.

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. –  Henry Miller.

And on this day in…

1818 –Author Emily Bronte was born.

1848 – Sculptor Henry Moore was born.

1938 – George Eastman demonstrates his color motion picture process.
1940 – A bombing lull ends the first phase of the Battle of Britain.

1967 – General William Westmoreland claims that he is winning the war in Vietnam, but needs more men.

1975 – Jimmy Hoffa, Teamster leader disappears, last seen coming out of a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan restaurant.

Today at the Olympics July 30, 2012

Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch of Austria sail in the first race of the 49er class in Weymouth and Portland, southern England.

Benoit Tessier/Reuters

Denis Mesples of France competes with his horse Oregon De La Vigne in the equestrian eventing cross-country stage in London.

Jae C. Hong/A

Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Britain’s Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge read a program as they watch the equestrian eventing cross country phase at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Monday.

David Goldman/AP

Market Closes for July 30, 2012:

North American Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	13073.01	-2.65
		-0.02%
S&P 500	1385.30	-0.67
		-0.05%
NASDAQ	2945.84	-12.25
		-0.41%
TSX	11757.88	-8.48
		-0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	8635.44	+68.80
		+0.80%
HANG SENG	19585.40	+310.44
		+1.61%
SENSEX	17143.68	+304.49
		+1.81%
FTSE 100	5693.63	+66.42
		+1.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.699	1.746
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.295	2.330
U.S. 10 Year Bond	1.5019	1.5463
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.5809	2.6277

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.00194	1.00336
US $	0.99807	0.99665
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.22829	0.81414
US $	1.22592	0.81572

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1622.00	1622.90
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	89.78	90.13
BRENT	108.01	108.38

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

July 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined, after swinging between gains and losses, as gold rose while oil snapped a four-day advance amid speculation that policy makers will act to solve Europe’s debt crisis.

Banks, consumer-discretionary and raw-materials shares contributed most to the decline in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index among 10 industries, while telecommunications stocks gave it the biggest boost. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer company, fell 2 percent.

BCE Inc., Canada’s largest phone company, rose 0.3 percent.

The S&P/TSX declined 8.48 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,757.88. The benchmark index fell as much as 0.4 percent and gained as much as 0.3 percent during the day. Trading was down 27 percent from the 30-day average. The S&P/TSX had advanced 2.6 percent in the previous three sessions.

“Gold is up and banks are off, but none of it feels very urgent in one direction or another,” Bruce Campbell, president with Campbell & Lee Investment Management Inc. in Oakville, Ontario, said in a phone interview.

Crude oil for September delivery fell 0.4 percent to settle at $89.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Suncor Energy Inc., the nation’s largest oil company, slipped 1.6 percent to C$31.39.

Potash Corp. retreated 2 percent to C$44.98. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer company, fell 1.1 percent to C$96.26.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender, slipped 0.6 percent to C$79.03. Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurer, slipped 0.9 percent to C$10.70.

BCE advanced 0.3 percent to C$42.52.

Gold prices rose for a fourth day. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, advanced 1.9 percent to C$33.10.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who sparked a global market rally last week by pledging to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro, is trying to build consensus among governments and central bankers for a plan to ease borrowing costs in Spain and Italy before policy makers convene on Aug. 2.

He is attempting to win over Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, a critic of ECB bond purchases.

US

By Rita Nazareth

July 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined amid concern that a rally which gave the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest two-day gain in 2012 has outpaced the economic outlook.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. retreated 2 percent after Deutsche Bank AG lowered its recommendation for the shares. Loews Corp.

slumped 5.2 percent as Chief Executive Officer James Tisch said he’s “very concerned” about the global economy after profit fell for a third-straight quarter. A measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes dropped 2 percent as Citigroup Inc. said the industry’s shares may decline after this year’s surge.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time. The S&P 500 declined 0.1 percent to 1,385.30, after rallying 3.6 percent in two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 2.65 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 13,073.01. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 5.8 billion shares, or 14 percent below the three-month average.

“You have the jobs report on Friday, the Fed meeting before that and that’s getting people a little nervous,” said Keith Wirtz, who oversees $14.7 billion as chief investment officer for Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati. “You’ve got concerns about a weakening economy and slowing earnings. It’s a terribly difficult trading environment.”

Stocks declined ahead of an Aug. 3 report that may show the pace of hiring in July failed to reduce the U.S. jobless rate, which has been stuck above 8 percent for more than three years.

Policy makers meeting this week are looking for new monetary tools after the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate to near zero in December 2008 and purchased $2.3 trillion of securities to spur the economy.

American equities fell even as European stocks rallied to their highest level since April on speculation policy makers will take action to ease the debt crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble backed a commitment by European leaders to do everything needed to defend the euro area while failing to mention its weakest link, Greece.

“Policy makers are saying: hey, we have another card to play,” said Ann Miletti, fund manager for Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Her firm manages $201 billion. “It’s a positive to have indications out of Europe that they are willing to do things that the market feared they weren’t willing to do before, such as buying bonds.”

JPMorgan lost 2 percent, the most in the Dow, to $36.14.

The shares were cut to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank, which said earnings expectations may be too high.

Loews slumped 5.2 percent, the biggest decline since Aug.10, to $39.54. It has been pursuing growth at subsidiaries that sell insurance, manage hotels and produce energy. Second-quarter profit fell 78 percent to $56 million as the company took an impairment at its HighMount Exploration & Production LLC tied to lower natural gas prices.

Nine out of the 11 stocks in a measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes retreated. The gauge had surged 51 percent this year through July 27. PulteGroup Inc., the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, declined 3.4 percent to $11.60 after Citigroup downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.

Solar companies slumped on concern an oversupply of panels and reduced subsidies in Europe will erode revenue. Trina Solar Ltd. sank 11 percent to $4.84 after cutting its forecast for second-quarter shipments. Suntech Power Holdings Co. tumbled 15 percent to $1.34 after the world’s largest solar-panel maker said it may have been the victim of fraud.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. plunged 50 percent, the most since 2008, to $5.39. The company failed to gain U.S. approval to expand use of its constipation medicine Relistor licensed to Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Salix decreased 13 percent to $46.25.

Best Buy Co. rose 1.7 percent to $18.06. Founder Richard Schulze is recruiting executives to help lead the retailer if his attempt to take the company private is successful, according to a senior Best Buy executive.

Shaw Group Inc. surged 55 percent to $41.49. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. agreed to buy the company for about $3 billion, expanding its nuclear building services in a portfolio of energy-related engineering and construction projects. Chicago Bridge lost 14 percent to $34.94.

Roper Industries Inc. rose 1.1 percent to $99.64 after agreeing to buy Sunquest Information Systems Inc. for about $1.42 billion to add health-care diagnostic systems that bridge its software and medical businesses.

Franklin Resources Inc. rallied 2.8 percent to $115.39. The manager of the Franklin and Templeton mutual funds beat analysts’ estimates after gathering money into its funds amid sagging global markets.

Supervalu Inc. surged 13 percent to $2.24. The supermarket chain that said earlier this month it will review strategic alternatives named board member Wayne C. Sales chief executive officer to replace Craig Herkert. The third-largest U.S. grocery chain increased the interest rate and price discount on an $850 million term loan it’s seeking to refinance debt, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. climbed 5.5 percent to $36.42. The world’s biggest vehicle-safety equipment supplier agreed to pay a $5.1 million fine to settle an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

AT&T Inc. added 0.8 percent $37.43. The biggest U.S. telephone company said July 27 its board authorized a repurchase of as much as $11.1 billion in stock, doubling a buyback program the company announced in December 2010.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index has fallen to the lowest daily average in five years, pushed down amid optimism that policy makers will support growth and prevent Europe’s debt crisis from derailing the global recovery.

The VIX’s mean rate of 18.9 in 2012 compares with 24.2 last year and is the lowest since 17.5 in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark gauge for options that protect against losses in the S&P 500 has held below 20.7, its two-decade average, 77 percent of the time in 2012.

Demand for options linked to the S&P 500 has fallen after the index rallied 6.2 percent during the past 12 months, the most among the world’s 10 largest developed stock markets.

“Investors aren’t paying for volatility because they believe that government intervention will put a floor on stock prices,” Sean Heron, who manages options strategies at Glenmede Trust Co., said in a phone interview last week. The Philadelphia-based firm oversees about $21 billion. “The fear of a big down market has been diminished.”

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

We gave at the present moment everybody claiming the right of conscience

without going through any discipline whatsoever

that there is so much untruth being delivered to a bewildered world.

Truth is not to be found by anybody who has not got a sense of humility.

If you would swim on the bosom of this ocean of Truth

you reduce yourself to a zero.

Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

As ever,

Carolann

Efforts and courage are not enough without

purpose and direction.

-John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

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