Category: Newsletters

 

 Tangents:

 Summer Reading:

TOLSTOY AND THE PURPLE CHAIR: My Year of Magical Reading

by Nina Sankovitch

HarperCollins

When her older sister died, Nina Sankovitch was determined to both honor her life and ease her own grief by reading a book a day.  Sankovitch’s memoir stands as a tribute to the power of books to enrich our daily lives.  

Fiction:

STATE OF WONDER

by Ann Patchett     

Even better than “Bel Canto”?  That’s what at least one early reviewer says of Ann Patchett’s latest.  I loved Bel Canto, so this will be at the top of my list this week.  This new novel is set in the Amazon, where a young pharmaceutical worker has been sent by her boss (who also happens to be her lover) to investigate the death of a colleague.

All hard work leads to profit; but mere talk leads only to poverty.

                                                                  – Warren Buffett

Did You Know?  

The precise origin of the phrases “bull market” and “bear market” are obscure. The Oxford English Dictionary cites an 1891 use of the term “bull market”. In French “bulle spéculative” refers to a speculative market bubble. The Online Etymology Dictionary relates the word “bull” to “inflate, swell”, and dates its stock market connotation to 1714. 

One hypothetical etymology points to London bearskin “jobbers” (market makers), who would sell bearskins before the bears had actually been caught in contradiction of the proverb ne vendez pas la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué (“don’t sell the bearskin before you’ve killed the bear”)-an admonition against over-optimism.

By the time of the South Sea Bubble of 1721, the bear was also associated with short selling; jobbers would sell bearskins they did not own in anticipation of falling prices, which would enable them to buy them later for an additional profit.                                                                      

Photos of the day 

July 13, 2011

A group of Sri Lankan young Buddhist monks parade, seeking alms in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In Buddhism, giving of alms is the beginning of one’s journey to Nirvana, the state of perfect bliss. Eranga Jayawardena/AP

Europcar rider Thomas Voeckler (2nd l.) of France, wearing the yellow jersey, rides with the pack during the 11th stage of the Tour de France 2011 cycling race from Blaye Les Mines to Lavaur, France. Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Market Commentary:

 Canada

By Matt Walcoff

July 13 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day as financial and energy companies advanced on speculation the U.S. may return to stimulus policies and demand for a haven from debt crises propelled precious-metals producers.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, increased 2.6 percent as gold futures climbed to a record. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-largest energy company, increased 2.1 percent as U.S. oil inventories dropped.

Teck Resources Ltd., the country’s biggest base-metals and coal producer, climbed 1.1 percent after China reported faster economic growth than most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast.

“It’s a lack of confidence in terms of what’s happening to the euro,” said Todd Johnson, a money manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which oversees C$300 million ($313 million). “The U.S. debt-ceiling debacle and the dysfunctional politics make people realize they need more tangible hard currency, adding to demand for precious metals.”

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 90.87 points, or 0.7 percent, to 13,324.94.

The S&P/TSX rallied 3.5 percent from a seven-month low on June 17 through yesterday as gold stocks jumped 9.9 percent.

Three of the world’s five largest gold companies by market value, and eight of the top 20, are Canadian, according to Bloomberg data.

Gold has surged 6.7 percent since July 1 as investors speculated the European debt crisis will spread beyond Greece and the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling to prevent default neared without an agreement among lawmakers.                      

Gold gained 1.5 percent while silver surged 7.1 percent, the most in 27 months, a day after Moody’s Investors Service cut Ireland’s credit rating to below investment grade. The U.S. dollar dropped the most in three weeks today against a basket of world currencies.

Barrick climbed 2.6 percent to C$46.62. Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-biggest gold producer by market value, increased 2.5 percent to C$52.12, extending its July advance to 12 percent. Tahoe Resources Inc., which is developing a silver project in Guatemala, soared 14 percent to C$19.92.

North American Palladium Inc., a precious-metals producer in Ontario, jumped 18 percent, the most in 17 months, to C$4.51 after Leon Esterhuizen, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada, raised his rating on the shares to “outperform” from “sector perform.”

Energy companies rose as natural gas futures advanced for a fourth day on forecasts for above-normal temperatures in the U.S. Stocks extended their gains after the U.S. reported a weekly drop in crude inventories more than twice as large as the median analyst forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Cenovus climbed 2.1 percent to C$36.25. Trican Well Service Ltd., Canada’s largest oilfield-services company, rallied 5.4 percent to C$25.69. ARC Resources Ltd., which produces oil and gas in western Canada, increased 1.8 percent to C$24.50.

Trilogy Energy Corp., a western Canadian oil and gas producer, rallied 8.8 percent to a five-year high of C$27.45 after jumping 5.5 percent yesterday. Mark Polak, an analyst at Bank of Nova Scotia, called the stock a “top pick” July 11.

Producers of base metals gained after China, the world’s biggest user of the commodities, said its gross domestic product increased 9.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier. Economists had forecast economic growth of 9.3 percent, according to the median of 18 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.                    

Teck climbed 1.1 percent to C$49.73. Quadra FNX Mining Ltd., which produces copper in Canada, the U.S. and Chile, rose 3.1 percent to C$14.37. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which is developing a copper and gold mine in Mongolia with Rio Tinto Group, gained 2.3 percent to C$24.94.

Directory publisher Yellow Media Inc. sank 5.1 percent to C$2.25, extending its 2011 plunge to 64 percent, after Tim Casey, an analyst at Bank of Montreal, cut his rating on the stock to “underperform” from “market perform.” The shift to online listings from printed publications will reduce profit margins, Casey said in a note to clients.

Telus Corp., Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier, advanced 1.9 percent to C$54.27. Adam Shine, an analyst at National Bank of Canada, began coverage of the company with an “outperform” rating in a note dated yesterday. He cited the growth of the smartphone and wireless-data markets.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Victoria Stilwell

July 13 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks pared gains, almost erasing a 164-point gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after the Associated Press reported that House Speaker John Boehner said it’s a “crapshoot” whether the federal debt limit will be boosted if an agreement isn’t reached by Aug. 2.

AP later updated its story, quoting Boehner as saying “it’s a crapshoot” to determine what would happen if the limit isn’t increased. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.3 percent to 1,317.72 at 4 p.m. in New York. Earlier, it climbed 1.4 percent after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he’s prepared to provide more stimulus if needed and China’s economic growth beat estimates. The Dow rose 44.73 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12.491.61.

“The market took the reported information for what it is worth and traded off sharply on it,” said Philip Orlando, the New York-based chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees $354.9 billion. “The market has the potential to recover tomorrow based upon a restatement of what the speaker felt he said.”

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Be magnificent!

I see things with an intense joy,

and while I observe, there is no observer, only a beauty almost like love.

For an instant, I am absent, myself and my problems, my anxieties, my troubles: nothing but this wonder exists.

 

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved

the absolute rejection of authority.

  -Thomas H. Huxley, 1825-1895 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Lady Gaga complained that the U.S. is allowing Iran and North Korea to get nukes and we have to stop

them. Before the White House makes any decision, they’re waiting to hear from Britney Spears.

                                                                                                                       – Jay Leno

 

MORE TITLES FOR THE SUMMER’S BEST READS:

Non-Fiction:

THE HOUSE IN FRANCE by Gully Wells

Knopf Doubleday

A memoir by the daughter of a privileged London couple who owned a beloved summer home in France is an engaging glimpse into the lives of interesting Europeans in the 1960s.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WALK IN  THE WORLD: A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter

HarperCollins

Film critic and biographer John Baxter takes readers on various strolls through the streets of Paris, tracking both the city’s history and the many celebrated figures who have savored the art of walking in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Photos of the day

July 12, 2011

Flutes are played around a bonfire as the Orange Order celebrates a divisive annual holiday called The Twelfth in Glenarm, Northern Ireland. Paul Faith/AP

Former Nepalese Crown Princess Himani Shah offers prayers by lighting a butter lamp at the temple of Lord Ganesh in Kathmandu, Nepal. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

Market Commentary:

                                                           

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

July 12 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the first time in three days as gold advanced for a sixth-straight session and mining companies gained as investors sought havens from the European debt crisis.

Goldcorp Inc., the world’s second-largest producer of the metal by market value, increased 2.9 percent. Westport Innovations Inc., which develops natural-gas engine technologies, jumped 8 percent after energy producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. said it will form a fund to invest in its industry. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the owner of Mac’s convenience stores, climbed 3 percent after beating analysts’ profit forecasts.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index increased 83.94 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,263.69 at 2:26 p.m. in Toronto after sinking as much as 0.6 percent earlier today.

“There’s risk aversion with respect to what’s happening in Europe,” said Andrew Pyle, who helps manage C$200 million ($207 million) as an associate money manager at Bank of Nova Scotia’s ScotiaMcLeod unit in Peterborough, Ontario. “We’re seeing two streams of safe-haven flows right now, one to the U.S. dollar, and you’ve got gold going up.”

 The S&P/TSX dropped the most in five weeks yesterday as investors speculated the European crisis will spread to Italy and oil and base metals fell. Energy and raw-materials companies make up 49 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

The euro touched a four-month low against the U.S. dollar today as European finance officials considered remedies that would put Greece into temporary default, a move opposed by the European Central Bank.

In the U.S., President Barack Obama rejected Republican Party efforts    to focus on a scaled-down deficit-reduction deal, saying the country needs to both cut spending and raise taxes.

Stocks extended their advance after the U.S. Federal Open Market committee minutes showed some members at its June 21-22 meeting said more stimulus may be necessary.

Gold stocks contributed the most to the S&P/TSX’s rise among industries in the index as the metal rallied 0.8 percent.

Goldcorp gained 2.9 percent to C$50.23. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer, advanced 2.4 percent to C$45.55. Rubicon Minerals Corp., which explores for gold in Ontario, rebounded 9 percent from a 22-month low to C$3.39.

Silver Wheaton Corp., the country’s fourth-biggest precious-metals company by market value, increased 5.1 percent to C$35.69 as silver rose in electronic trading.

 Uranium One Inc., a mining company controlled by Moscow- based ARMZ Uranium Holding, climbed 5.4 percent to C$2.95 after David A. Talbot, an analyst at Dundee Securities Corp., said uranium companies are “showing positive momentum” four months after Japan’s earthquake and nuclear disaster.

“We are starting to see more positive news coming from the sector — indications that despite Fukushima, not all that much has changed regarding the supply-demand fundamentals of the sector,” Talbot wrote in a note to clients, referring to the stricken Japanese nuclear power plant.

Westport Innovations surged 8 percent to C$25.41 after Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake said it will invest $1 billion in companies that develop infrastructure or technology to increase the use of gas as a motor fuel. Westport shares have soared 20 percent since June 27, the day before it said it will work with General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, on engine technologies.                       

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the owner of Mac’s and Circle K convenience stores, rallied 3 percent to a record C$28.94 after reporting profit that beat the estimates of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 25 percent.

An index of S&P/TSX telecommunications companies rose the most in three weeks as Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission held hearings on BCE Inc.’s proposal to impose usage-based billing on independent Internet service providers. Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC’s vice chairman for broadcasting, asserted the union-backed organization fighting the changes is as self-interested as the large companies, the CBC said on its website.

 BCE gained 1.4 percent to C$38.29. Rogers Communications Inc., the cable television provider and wireless carrier, advanced 1.8 percent to C$38.57.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Victoria Stilwell

 July 12 (Bloomberg) — A late rally in U.S. stocks faded, dragging the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a third straight loss, after Ireland’s downgrade to junk added to concern Europe is losing control of the credit crisis and overshadowed evidence the Federal Reserve hasn’t ruled out more stimulus.

Semiconductor-related shares slumped, with Intel Corp.falling 1.8 percent after Novellus Systems Inc. forecast lower- than-estimated third-quarter earnings. Alcoa Inc. slipped 1.3 percent after second-quarter profit missed analyst estimates. Cisco Systems Inc. jumped 1.1 percent after two people familiar with the matter said it would announce job cuts.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.4 percent to 1,313.64 at 4 p.m. in New York, after the index fluctuated between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 58.88 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,446.88.

“There’s not a whole lot of conviction in the market,” said Jason Brady, a managing director at Thornburg Investment Management in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which oversees about $80 billion in assets. “Most investors are following Europe, and they are waiting to see if the earnings season will be good enough for them to get excited about equity prices. If that doesn’t happen, then you can add corporate performance to the ugly mix.”

The benchmark index for U.S. equities gave up 2.5 percent during the previous two sessions, the most for the S&P 500 since March, as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis will spread and American lawmakers failed to agree on cutting the deficit. The gauge had climbed 5.9 percent over the previous two weeks, its biggest gain since October 2009. The rebound in July came after the S&P 500 tumbled 3.2 percent in May and June amid disappointing economic data.

The S&P 500 rallied as much as 0.6 percent today following the 2 p.m. release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting. The Fed report said policymakers continued to debate whether additional stimulus will be needed if the outlook for economic growth remains weak. Some members noted that the committee might need to consider further stimulus, while others voiced concern about an increased inflation risk that might warrant tighter monetary policy.

“The market rallied on the news that the Fed is certainly not ruling out further stimulus to further inflate the economy,” said Burt White, who helps oversee $330 billion as chief investment officer at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston. “We think it’s probably more hope than reality,” he said. “The backdrop is still difficult with the mess in Europe and a bumpy start to the earnings season with Alcoa.”                     

The rally fizzled late in the day as Ireland’s credit rating was cut to non-investment grade by Moody’s, joining Portugal and Greece to become the third euro-area country to be lowered to junk. Equities had recovered from losses of as much as 1.8 percent before the market opened on signs of progress in Europe.

Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden said selective default on Greek debt is not an option envisioned by euro-region finance ministers, while European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said officials reached agreement that investors should play a role in a second bailout of Greece. EU President Herman Van Rompuy said he didn’t rule out calling an emergency summit on Greece, although no decision has been taken.

“We’re in a very volatile period for markets and investors are almost paralyzed because they don’t know where the safe haven is,” said George Feiger, chief executive offer of Contango Capital Advisors Inc., a San Francisco-based wealth management firm with about $3.5 billion in assets. “It’s caused by a conjunction of factors, including the risk that Europe and the U.S. can’t deal with their debt issues effectively.”                        

The S&P 500 is trading near the level of 1,316 that represents the convergence of the index’s mean price over the last 50 and 100 days, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Moving averages are cited by analysts who use price charts as points where buying may pick up or selling snowball as investors reconsider past decisions. The gauge’s 200-day level is 1,274, based on intraday swings.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, swung between gains and losses after second-quarter profit excluding certain items of 32 cents a share missed the 33-cent average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The stock lost 1.3 percent to $15.71 after rising as much as 1.2 percent.     Alcoa unofficially started the earnings season in the U.S. after exchanges closed yesterday. Others reporting this week include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Google Inc. S&P 500 profits are forecast to have grown 13 percent in the quarter, the smallest increase in two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Utility companies and health-care stocks gained the most among 10 S&P 500 groups today, climbing 0.5 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, while industrials performed the worst, dropping 1 percent.                     

Novellus tumbled 11 percent to $31.75. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Hill said yesterday that profit before certain costs in the current period will be 60 cents to 75 cents a share for the maker of machinery used in semiconductor production. That compares with the average analyst estimate of 84 cents, based on a Bloomberg survey. Sales will be $300 million to $340 million, Hill said on a conference call, while analysts had predicted $360.7 million.

Chipmakers are showing a more cautious tone in orders from San Jose, California-based Novellus, and may hold off purchases until 2012, Hill said.

Semiconductor companies fell the most among 24 groups in the S&P 500, losing 2.8 percent. Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, decreased 1.8 percent to $22.45. Microchip Technology Inc. tumbled 12 percent to $32.93 for the biggest retreat in the S&P 500. The maker of analog chips said sales and earnings for the quarter ended in June missed its forecasts.

Cisco, the largest networking-equipment company, rallied 1.1 percent to $15.60 for the biggest gain in the Dow. The company may cut as many as 10,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its workforce, to revive profit growth, according to two people familiar with the plans. Motorola Solutions Inc. dropped 1.5 percent to $43.50.

Morgan Stanley cut the maker of bar-code scanners, walkie- talkies and other emergency-communication equipment to “equalweight” from “overweight.” Radiant Systems Inc. surged 30 percent to $27.99. The maker of software for retailers was acquired by NCR Corp. for $28 a share.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

When one lives with concepts one never learns.  The concepts become static.

You may change them but the very transformation of one concept to another is still static, is still fixed.

But to have the sensitivity to feel, seeing that life is not a movement of two separate activities,

the external and the inward, to see that it is one, to realize that the inter-relationship is this movement,

is this ebb and flow of sorrow and pleasure and joy and depression, loneliness and escape,

to perceive nonverbally this life as a whole, not fragmented, nor broken up, is to learn.

 

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

 

As ever,

 Carolann

In the end, we will remember not the words

of our enemies, but the silence of

our friends.

             -Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Summer Reading –The List – Authors’ all-time favorite books:

Book critic and editor J. Peder Zane asked 125 writers – among them Stephen King, Jonathan Franzen, and Margaret Drabble – to pick their favorite books.  Here are the five most mentioned:

1. ANNA KARENINA, by Leo Tolstoy.  Many readers consider Tolstoy’s 1876 story of a Russian society woman who leaves her loveless marriage for a dashing paramour the single greatest novel ever written.

 

1. MADAME BOVARY, by Gustave Flaubert.  A bored, beautiful housewife is at the center of this 1857 tale of provincial adultery.  Some 150 years later, readers of both sexes still find themselves and their neighbors in its pages.

 

1. WAR AND PEACE, by Leo Tolstoy.  The book’s length (1,000-plus pages) may intimidate some, but many fans of this 1869 story of aristocratic Russian families and the Napoleonic invasion say they wish it would never end.

 

1. LOLITA, by Vladimir Nabokov.  This 1955 novel about a middle-aged literary scholar obsessed with a 12-year old girl is at least as infamous and it is famous.

 

1. ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, by Mark Twain.  His 1884 story of a boy traveling down the Mississippi with a runaway slave is widely considered the masterpiece of American literature.  And its language still makes it the book most challenged in US libraries.

 

                                                                                                                                                             -Marjorie Kehe

Photos of the day

July 8, 2011

The space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is the last mission in the Space Shuttle program. Pierre Ducharme/Reuters

The pack passes under a bridge near Onzain during the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 135.5 miles starting in Le Mans and finishing in Chateauroux, central France. Christophe Ena/AP

Market Commentary:

 

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

July 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, trimming a weekly gain, as oil and base-metals prices slipped after the U.S. reported an increase in its unemployment rate.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, dropped 1.6 percent after the U.S. Labor Department said non-farm employment increased last month by the least since September. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada’s second- biggest energy company by market value, declined 3.1 percent as crude oil lost the most in two weeks. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, rose 2.6 percent as corn and wheat gained.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index decreased 34.3 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,371.70, reducing its weekly advance to 0.5 percent.

The jobs data “put a real damper on the market,” said David Cockfield, senior vice president and managing director at Northland Wealth Management in Toronto, which oversees C$200 million ($208 million). “People were expecting better. There were various excuses for previous bad numbers — Japan, bad weather — and those excuses are starting to run off.”

The S&P/TSX rose seven of the previous eight days as European leaders took action to prevent a Greek default and a gauge of U.S. manufacturing surpassed economists’ forecasts. The index slumped 5 percent from the end of March as U.S. unemployment increased in April and May. Seventy-five percent of Canadian exports went to the U.S. last year, according to Statistics Canada.                      

U.S. payrolls rose by 18,000 in June, less than all 85 economist estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent, the highest since December, from 9.1 percent.

Unemployment in Canada was unchanged at 7.4 percent, the lowest since January 2009.

Crude oil futures retreated 2.5 percent after the release of the U.S. jobs report. Canadian Oil Stands Ltd., the largest owner of the Syncrude project, decreased 1 percent to C$28.01. Bonavista Energy Corp., a western Canadian energy producer, fell3.2 percent to C$28.15.

 Canadian Natural slumped 3.1 percent to C$40.36 after Thomas R. Driscoll, an analyst at Barclays Plc, cut his rating on the shares to “equal weight” from “overweight.” About 70 percent of the company’s capital spending “may be devoted to assets with unexciting rates of return,” Driscoll said in a note to clients.

All major base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange dropped, with copper declining from a 10-week high. Teck lost 1.6 percent to C$50.15. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, decreased 2.2 percent to C$136.20.                         

Corn rose 3.5 percent, extending the first weekly gain since May, as forecasts for hot, dry weather in the U.S. Midwest led to concern crops may suffer. Wheat advanced 2.6 percent.

Potash Corp. increased 2.6 percent to C$56.89. Agrium Inc., Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer, climbed 1.5 percent to C$86.30. Viterra Inc., Canada’s biggest grain handler, rose 1.9 percent to C$10.92.

European Goldfields Ltd., which is developing mines in Europe, surged 11 percent to C$13.65 after receiving environmental approval for its projects in Greece. Shares of the Whitehorse, Yukon-based company soared 35 percent this week, the most since 2003.

Directory publisher Yellow Media Inc. tumbled 11 percent to C$2.40 after Scott Cuthbertson, an analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank, cut his rating on the shares to “reduce” from “hold.”

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft

July 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks sank, pulling down the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index from a two-month high, as the weakest American job growth in nine months hurt companies most tied to the economy.

Financial and industrial companies led losses among 10 S&P 500 groups, dropping more than 1.2 percent. General Electric Co. and Bank of America Corp. fell at least 1.6 percent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after the Labor Department reported job growth that was about one-sixth the median economist forecast. Google Inc. lost 2.7 percent as Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent to 1,343.80 at 4 p.m. in New York, after falling as much as 1.4 percent. The index rose 0.3 percent this week, extending its two-week rally to 5.9 percent, the most since October 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 62.29 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,657.20 today.

“The report is exceedingly disappointing,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which manages $54 billion. “It fell short of just about everyone’s expectations and it certainly has to disappoint equity investors. It wasn’t just a miss, it was a complete whiff.”

The S&P 500 Index retreated from within 0.8 percent of a three-year high after U.S. payrolls increased by 18,000 in June, less than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, which called for growth of 105,000 on average. The jobless rate rose to a 2011 high of 9.2 percent.                        

Losses in companies reliant on economic growth today represented a reversal from the past three weeks. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index tracking manufacturers, commodity producers and transportation stocks rose 10 percent between June 16 and yesterday, beating the Morgan Stanley Consumer Index of drugmakers and grocers by 6.6 percentage points. Amid concern the debt crisis in European nations including Greece would slow global growth, the consumer index outperformed the cyclical index by 9.7 points between Feb. 17 and June 16.

The S&P 500 had climbed 6.7 percent since the start of last week as Greek lawmakers passed a five-year austerity package, qualifying the country for further aid, and yesterday’s report from ADP Employer Services showed U.S. companies added twice as many jobs as forecast in June.

The Morgan Stanley index of 30 cyclical stocks slumped 1.1 percent today, reversing two days of gains. Financial and industrial stocks lost 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, the most among 10 industries in the S&P 500.

Shares of commodity companies slipped 0.7 percent.                         

Bank of America declined 2 percent to $10.70 and General Electric Co. fell 1.6 percent to $18.99 for the biggest losses in the Dow. Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, slumped 1 percent to $15.74. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, dropped 1.1 percent to $110.41.

Staffing companies declined after the U.S. job report showed that hiring by companies was the weakest since May 2010. Monster Worldwide Inc. sank 3.2 percent to $14.65. Manpower Inc. dropped 4.3 percent to $56.13.

“It means that we’re still a ways off from getting to where we should be,” Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in an interview from Sun Valley, Idaho, with Bloomberg Television’s Betty Liu on the “In the Loop” program. “How fast the recovery will come, I don’t know. I see nothing that indicates any kind of a double dip.”                    

 The job report damped optimism about prospects for profit growth before the second-quarter reporting period starts next week. The earnings season unofficially kicks off on July 11 with Alcoa Inc., the first Dow company to release results. Corporate profits are forecast to have grown by 13 percent in the period, the smallest increase in two years, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“We’ve had a very benign earnings pre-season without a lot of negative earnings warnings,” said Tim Hoyle, director of research at Radnor, Pennsylvania-based Haverford Trust, which manages $6.5 billion. “We remain positive on second-quarter earnings,” he said. “But if the jobs situation continues to be weak as it has been in the last two months, then there’s definitely going to be a downward revision.”

President Barack Obama said the job report shows that “we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the security and opportunity they deserve.”

“We still have a big hole to fill” in replacing jobs lost during the recession, Obama said in a statement from the White House Rose Garden.                    

Google dropped 2.7 percent to $531.99 after the world’s biggest search engine had its analyst rating cut to “equal weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley, which cited the risk of declining profit margins in 2011 and 2012 because of higher employee compensation costs and the uncertainty over the return on investments in social media.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. rose 1.9 percent to $31.04. Buffett may look at the world’s largest grain processor as Berkshire Hathaway seeks more acquisitions. ADM, based in Decatur, Illinois, is the “kind of company we look at,” Buffett said. General Dynamics Corp. and Exelon Corp. are also the types of companies he finds attractive, Buffett said in the Bloomberg Television interview.

Yahoo! Inc. slipped 1.3 percent to $15.61. Greenlight Capital Inc., the hedge fund run by David Einhorn, sold its stake in the Internet company for a “modest loss” over doubts surrounding the value of the company’s investment in China-based Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Yahoo, Alibaba’s biggest investor, has lost 15 percent since May 10, the last day of trading before the Alibaba transaction was disclosed.

 Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

“Thought is crooked

because it can invent anything

and see things that are not there.

It can perform the most extraordinary tricks,

therefore it cannot be depended upon.”

 

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

“History is a collection of

agreed upon lies.”

  -Voltaire, 1694-1778

 

Dear Friends,

 Tangents:

I attended the service at Christ Church Cathedral this afternoon for one of Victoria’s greats, Jane Heffelfinger, who was remembered in a most serene setting with resonating tributes. The Hon. Dr. Lloyd Axworthy spoke at length about her engaging personality and vivacity, her love of all people, her determination to fight for justice and see wrongs righted, her generous contributions of time and energy to so many causes.   

Jane was a co-founder of Pacific Opera Victoria and was passionate about music.  Captivated by her passion and charm, I, along with so many others, became the willing sponsor of many an opera production when she was Chair.  And for many years we had season tickets to the same Saturday evening performances of Seattle Opera.

As Chair of the Greater Victoria Hospital Foundation’s first Capital Campaign, which was launched in 1995, she recruited me to become a member of her 25 person Campaign Cabinet, where we managed to raise $13 million for our hospital system.

I also know first-hand of her caring and considerate nature when she supported my nomination for the Women of Distinction Awards.  I am honored to have known this remarkable woman in my lifetime.

When we walked out of the Cathedral, strong winds blew up…

Morgen

     -by Richard Strauss

 And tomorrow the sun will shine again.

        And on that path I shall take

Will we, the happy ones, meet once again

In the midst of this sun-breathing earth…

 And to the shore, to the broad, blue waves

    We will go silently and slowly down.

   Mute, we will look in each other’s eyes

And the mute silence of happiness will descend

                               on us…

Photo of the day 

July 7, 2011

A pedestrian walks past a man busking in central Melbourne, Australia. Mick Tsikas/Reuters

  

Market Commentary:

 

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

July 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the seventh time in eight days, led by energy companies, as crude oil futures advanced to a three-week high after U.S. employment reports bolstered confidence in the economy.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, gained 1.5 percent as crude futures rose 2.1 percent after ADP Employer Services said U.S. payrolls increased last month by more than twice the amount forecast by economists. Metals explorer European Goldfields Ltd. surged 11 percent after Greece said it will decide on the company’s mine-permit application within a month. Telecommunication shares retreated from their highest valuations relative to earnings since 2008.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 2.9 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 13,406. The index had gained as much as 0.5 percent before erasing most of its gains in the last hour of trading.

“Oil prices reflect a perceived better environment” economically, said Greg Eckel, a money manager at Morgan Meighen & Associates Ltd. in Toronto, which oversees about C$1 billion ($1.04 billion). “Today, you had a decent ADP jobs report, and you’ve got a lot of estimates of a better second half.”

The stock benchmark fell for the first time in seven days yesterday, trimming its gain since June 24 to 3.8 percent. The S&P/TSX has rallied as European leaders took action to prevent a Greek default and a gauge of U.S. manufacturing surpassed economists’ forecasts.                        

U.S. payrolls increased by 157,000 jobs last month, according to ADP, a unit of Roseland, New Jersey-based Automatic Data Processing Inc. Jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 418,000 in the week ended July 2, U.S. Labor Department figures showed. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a drop to 420,000.

Crude oil extended its weekly climb to 3.8 percent in New York. Suncor rose 1.5 percent to C$39.22. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, gained 1.3 percent to C$41.67. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s No. 5 company in the industry, advanced 3 percent to C$36.60.

Oil-sands developer BlackPearl Resources Inc. increased 5 percent to C$6.93 after Steve Toth, an analyst at Canaccord Financial Inc., raised his rating on the stock to “buy” from “hold.” In a note to clients, Toth cited the shares’ 23 percent plunge from Feb. 15 to yesterday.

European Goldfields jumped 11 percent to C$12.31, extending its three-day gain to 22 percent. Greece will make an announcement within a month on the permitting on the company’s projects in the country, George Papaconstantinou, the minister of environment, energy and climate change, said at a presentation in Athens today.                         

Telecommunication companies declined after reaching their highest price relative to earnings since August 2008 yesterday.

The industry has ranked second in gains this year among 10 groups in the S&P/TSX as low interest rates and bond yields have encouraged investors to buy stocks that pay higher-than-average dividends.

“People do realize rates at some point have to go up,” Eckel said. “Valuations may be stressed at this point.”

Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s largest wireless carrier, lost 2.1 percent to C$37.90. BCE Inc., the country’s biggest phone company, decreased 1.4 percent to C$37.84.

TransCanada Corp., a pipeline company that pays a dividend yield of 4 percent, retreated 2 percent to C$40.75. The company’s Keystone XL project may face delays as long as two years because of landowners’ opposition, Bloomberg News reported today.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. rallied 4 percent to C$27.87 after saying it has added 1 million new subscribers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in less than three weeks.

The company made the statement on Twitter.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Victoria Stilwell

July 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks jumped, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index close to a three-year high, as retail and job market data bolstered confidence in the economy.

Target Corp., the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, and Kohl’s Corp. rose at least 6.6 percent as June retail sales surpassed analysts’ projections. Urban Outfitters Inc. rallied 6 percent after Morgan Stanley recommended investors buy the shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. climbed 1.9 percent as banking shares soared.

The S&P 500 Index climbed 1.1 percent to 1,353.22 at 4 p.m. in New York, its highest closing level since May 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 93.47 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,719.49, as a report by ADP Employer Services showed U.S. companies added more jobs than forecast in June. Volume on U.S. exchanges totaled about 6.8 billion at 4:30 p.m., 4 percent less than the three-month average through yesterday.

 “We’re starting to cycle through the list of issues that have been on investors’ minds,” said Christopher Blum, New York-based chief investment officer for the U.S. behavioral finance group at JPMorgan Asset Management, which oversees $1.9 trillion in assets. “Economic data is coming in better than expected, and certainly the beat on the jobs number today came earlier than most investors had expected.”

The S&P 500 has climbed 6.7 percent over the past eight days, with last week’s gain the biggest since July 2009. The index is about 10 points shy of a three-year high reached April 29. Through June 24, U.S. equities had fallen for seven of the previous eight weeks on concern that the European debt crisis would spread and the U.S. economy slow. The index still has gained 7.6 percent for the year amid better-than-expected earnings and government stimulus measures.                         

Equities rose today as figures from ADP showed companies in the U.S. added 157,000 workers to their payrolls in June. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for an advance of 70,000. The data comes before the government’s June payrolls report tomorrow.

Separate data from the Labor Department showed jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 418,000 last week, compared with the median forecast of economists for a drop to 420,000. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls and those getting extended payments also declined.

“These kind of employment numbers are supportive for the market,” said Lawrence Creatura, a Rochester, New York-based fund manager at Federated Investors Inc., which oversees about $355 billion. “Unemployment is the single most dominant statistic in our national debate right now, it shadows all the other economic and political debates and it shapes the sentiment which surrounds the stock market.”                       

Measures of fuel and materials companies climbed 1.4 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, while the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index added 1.3 percent on speculation that the U.S. labor market may be stronger, indicating that job growth could accelerate in the second half of the year and demand for commodities will improve.

Investors next week also will be turning their attention to second-quarter earnings. The season starts July 11 with Alcoa Inc., the first Dow company to release results. Corporate earnings are forecast to have grown by 13 percent, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Retailers in the S&P 500 rallied 2.4 percent today to a record. Sales reports indicated that shoppers took advantage of discounts that retailers implemented in June to clear out inventory and make room for back-to-school merchandise. Lower gas prices and warmer temperatures also enticed consumers. Gas prices in the U.S. have declined 10 percent since a high of $3.99 a gallon on May 4, according to AAA.

Target jumped 6.7 percent to $51.67 while Kohl’s, the department-store chain that’s been in business since 1962, soared 7.1 percent to $55.78.

Limited Brands Inc., operator of the Victoria’s Secret chain, rose 2.7 percent to $40.36 after posting a gain of 12 percent in same-store sales for June, surpassing the 4.4 percent average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Retail Metrics Inc.

Urban Outfitters, a clothing retailer, climbed 6 percent to $32.58 after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to “overweight” from “equal weight.”

Financial companies rose 1.6 percent, the biggest gain among 10 groups in the S&P 500. JPMorgan climbed 1.9 percent to $41.32, for the third-largest increase in the Dow. Wells Fargo & Co. added 1.9 percent to $28.66, Citigroup Inc. advanced 1.5 percent to $42.63 and Bank of America Corp. jumped 1.7 percent to $10.92.

Bank of America, JPMorgan and three other U.S. mortgage servicers are in advanced talks to resolve state and federal claims over faulty foreclosures, according to two people briefed on the matter. Negotiators tentatively set a July 13 target for a settlement, which may exceed $20 billion, the people said.

The New York Post sent bank stocks lower yesterday after reporting that the settlement’s total value might reach $60 billion, citing unidentified people close to the discussions. The Post corrected its report today, saying the amount might reach $25 billion.

Seagate Technology Plc rose 2 percent to $16.64. The world’s largest maker of computer disk drives was raised to “overweight” from “underweight” at JPMorgan.

Affymetrix Inc. tumbled 18 percent to $6.59. The producer of genomic-analysis technology forecast second-quarter sales of as little as $64 million, compared with the average analyst estimate of $74.7 million.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

No one can understand the sound of a drum,

without understanding both the drum and the drummer.

No one can understand the sound of a conch shell,

without understanding the shell and the one who blows it.

No one can understand the sound of a lute,

without understanding both the lute and the one who plays it.

As there can be no water without the sea, no touch without the skin,

no smell without the nose, no taste without the tongue, no sound without the ear,

no thought without the mind, no work without hands, and no walking without feet,

so there can be nothing without the soul.

 

-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

As ever,

Carolann

All human wisdom is summed up

in two words – wait and hope.

  -Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Festival of San Fermin is better known as the Pamplona Bull Running Festival where its original essence as a religious celebration of the feast of San Fermin has been lost through the ages. In its stead are the week long festivities of music, drinking, dancing, street theatre and bullfighting. Wear a red scarf or shawl and you’ll blend well in the throng of people this side of historic Spain.

Just what is the significance of the color red in the San Fermin Festival other than it being particularly attractive to the eyes of the bull? The truth is, there is clearly no explanation as to why majority of the revelers in the San Fermin festivities wear red clothing or have red fashion accessories worn around their bodies.

Perhaps it has something to do with what the color red conveys. Red is well known as the most emotionally intense color as it is often associated with faster heart beats as well as breathing. It is a very powerful magnet for the eyes to behold, often making the wearer look a lot heavier. These characteristics of the color red make it a perfect choice in sheer festive atmospheres.

Bull fighting has nothing to do with the color red, however. Contrary to popular belief, bulls – and all animals for that matter – are color-blind. So it does not actually matter whether you are wearing a red colored shawl or a gray or black one. Chances are, the bull will only see shades of gray cloth. What matters more are the agitated movements you’ll make as you run from them.

The Pamplona Bull Running Festival was not at all an original July festival but rather an October event. More specifically it coincided with the Feast of San Fermin on the 10th of October, a celebration which began as early as the thirteenth century. However, because of the growing number of varied festivities aside from the usual religious undertones, the festival was essentially moved to the more weather-friendly month of July.

-Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4062468

…“There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail, and face the situation”..

W.C. Fields – American Comic and Actor

Photo of the day:

July 6, 2011

A girl stands next to a statue of a bull sporting a San Fermin (Traditional Red Scarf) before the start of the running of the Bulls in Pamplona Spain. Reuters/Eloy Alonso.

Market Commentary

 Canada

(Bloomberg)

Canadian stocks fell for the first time in seven days, led by energy companies, after China raised its benchmark interest rates and an index of U.S. service industries declined.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd., an oil and gas producer with operations in Albania, plunged 15 percent after its second- quarter production trailed its forecasts. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. lost 3.8 percent after market-research firm ComScore Inc. said its market share shrank. Silver Wheaton Corp., Canada’s fourth-largest precious-metals company by market value, advanced 5.4 percent as investors sought a haven from the European debt crisis.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index slipped 22.2 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,403.10.

“The services number came out this morning quite weak, confirming a global slowdown,” said Stephen Gauthier, a money manager at Fin-XO Securities in Montreal, which oversees C$600 million ($620 million). “With China raising interest rates again, the markets will probably correct some more in the next few days.”

The S&P/TSX had advanced six-straight days, led by commodity producers, as Greece approved an austerity package and a gauge of U.S. manufacturing climbed. The Canadian equity index increased 4 percent during the streak, narrowing its yearly decline to 0.1 percent.

China’s Rates

Energy stocks retreated after the People’s Bank of China raised its benchmark interest rates for the third time this year. China is the world’s largest user of industrial metals and second-biggest oil consumer behind the U.S.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of U.S. non-manufacturing businesses slipped to 53.3 in June from 54.6 in May, trailing most economist forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.

Cenovus Energy Inc., the country’s fifth-biggest energy company, declined 2.6 percent to C$35.55 as natural gas futures slumped as much as 3.3 percent. Talisman Energy Inc., which produces oil and gas in North America, the North Sea and Indonesia, lost 1.4 percent to C$19.91. TransCanada Corp., the owner of Canada’s largest pipeline system, slipped 1.2 percent to C$41.59.

Bankers Petroleum sank 15 percent, the most since December 2008, to C$6.07 after production missed its forecasts by about 8.5 percent. Gavin Wylie, an analyst at Bank of Nova Scotia, cut his rating on the shares to “sector perform” from “sector outperform.”

Cut to Junk

Government-bond yields in the most-heavily indebted Western European countries jumped today, a day after Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating on Portuguese credit to junk. Talks on investor involvement in the new Greek bailout package bogged down after Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings both indicated they would cut Greece to default if the European Union went ahead with a plan to ask creditors to roll over expiring Greek bonds into new debt.

Gold futures gained 1.1 percent and silver rallied 1.4 percent in New York as investors sought hard assets.

Silver Wheaton climbed 5.4 percent to C$34.99. Eldorado Gold Corp., which mines in China and Turkey, rallied 4.1 percent to C$15.47. Yamana Gold Inc., Canada’s fifth-largest gold producer, rose 3.2 percent to C$12.07.

Eastern Platinum Ltd. surged 20 percent, the most since October 2009, to C$1.02. Don MacLean, an analyst at Paradigm Capital Inc., said in a note to clients that a slide in the stock, after the mining company reported earnings that missed estimates and encountered labor unrest, was overdone. The shares closed at a 19-month low July 4.

RIM slipped 3.8 percent to C$26.79 after ComScore said it has fallen to third place, behind Apple Inc., in U.S. smartphone market share. Devices using Google Inc.’s Android operating system have the most users.

Sino-Forest Corp., the forestry company fighting a short seller’s assertions of financial manipulation, retreated for the first time in six days, slumping 10 percent to C$4.75. The company postponed a trip for analysts it had proposed for mid- July.

 

 US

(Bloomberg)

U.S. stocks rose, erasing an early drop, as gains in transportation, technology and consumer- staple companies overshadowed a slowdown in service-industry growth and China’s interest-rate boost. The euro slid and Treasuries rose after Portugal’s credit rating was cut to junk.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.1 percent to 1,339.22 at 4 p.m. in New York, its sixth gain in seven days. The euro sank 0.8 percent to $1.4314 while the 10-year Treasury yield touched a one-week low. The yield on Portugal’s 10-year bond surged 204 basis points to a record above 13 percent, erasing the drop last week that followed Greece’s approval of austerity measures aimed at winning financial aid. The two-year Irish yield soared 243 basis points to 15.31 percent. Wheat, cotton and natural gas led losses in commodities.

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) paced gains in transportation shares, while Costco Wholesale Corp. helped lead companies that sell consumer necessities higher and International Business Machines Corp. contributed the most to an advance in S&P 500 technology stocks. Investors awaited the start of the second- quarter earnings season next week and data in two days that is forecast to show U.S. payrolls grew by 100,000 jobs last month.

“We’re beginning to put the short-term economic issues behind us,” said Robert Schaeffer, a money manager at Becker Capital Management Inc. in Portland, Oregon, which oversees about $2.5 billion. “We’re likely to get better economic data over the next months and that will rally the stock market on an intermediate basis even if the long-term problems such as too much debt remain unsolved.”

Rally Resumed

DuPont Co., Intel Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. climbed at least 1.4 percent for the biggest gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. U.S. stocks fell for the first time in six days yesterday following a 5.6 percent rally last week, the biggest since July 2009, as the Moody’s Investors Service downgrade of Portugal reignited concern Europe’s debt crisis will hurt economic growth.

The S&P 500 has slipped almost 2 percent since its 2011 peak at the end of April. The gauge lost 1.8 percent in June as investors speculated that Greece would default on its debt.

The ISM index of non-manufacturing businesses decreased to 53.3 in June from 54.6 a month earlier. A reading above 50 signals expansion. The measure was projected to drop to 53.7, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Other data showed employers in the U.S. announced 5.3 percent more job cuts in June than a year earlier, according to figures from Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. The report comes two days before the Labor Department’s monthly payrolls report.  

 

“Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham

 

  

“Be Magnificent”

 

 

 As ever,

 

 Kyle  for Carolann

 

 

Dear Friends,

 Tangents: Amazing day today….I was dazzled by the story this morning of the discovery in the vaults at a temple in Kerala.

Devotees throng Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala. Five vaults were opened and revealed a ton of gold coins, precious stones, statues, some coins date back to Napoleon Bonaparte.

The discoveries have catapulted the Hindu shrine, renowned for its intricate sculptures, into the league of India’s richest temples.
It was built hundreds of years ago by the king of Travancore, and donations by devotees have been kept in the temple’s seven vaults ever since.

 Kumar Shankar Roy writes from New Delhi:

If Travancore king owned temple treasure…

The jaw-dropping discovery of untold wealth ($22 billion so far, and still counting) in underground vaults of the Kerala temple of Sree Padmanabha Swamy, the presiding deity of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom, raises one question: where would current Maharaja Marth­anda Varma be in the in the league of the richest royals of the world, had his distant forebear not placed unto the Lord all his kingdom’s wealth and render himself just its custodian?
For an answer, you have to make one presumption – that Forbes, which compiled a list of the richest living kings and queens last year, knew of the Travancore wealth at the time.
So, if the Maharaja were to be included in the list, the newfound $22 billion worth of wealth would have placed him as the second richest living royal in the world, after King Bhumibol of Thailand, who tops the league with $30 billion.
But, alas, that is not to be, for in 1750 the current Maharaj’s namesake ancestor rendered everything he and his kingdom had to Sree Padmanabha Swamy. The king of yore merely ruled the state as the servant of the Lord thereafter. And to think that all that money could have been the current Maharaja’s, if only….
So, he does not technically own the wealth. Still, under the same presumption, the Maharaja would be just a whisker ahead of the Sultan of Brunei, whose recorded wealth is worth $20 billion.
But the ranking may yet change. Mind you, assessment of the Travancore wealth is still work in progress. Once that is over, the Maharaja may find himself breathing down the neck of the Thailand King.
It comes a bit of a downer that the most famous, most reported and most talked about monarch in the world, Queen Elizabeth II of England, is worth only $450 million, way behind Prince Albert II of tiny Monaco, who is worth $1 billion.

That Travancore would unearth such a gigantic horde comes as a bit of a surprise, for the kingdom, though one of the most famed and ancient, was certainly not among the top league of Indian royals of yore. The British Raj had its own way of ranking them — in the most aural way. It devised gun salutes for living royals of the time, as a yardstick of where a princely state stood in its eyes…

CULTURE: First Bikini Swimsuit, July 5^th, 1946…skimpy two-piece swimsuits get their name from Bikini Atoll in the south Pacific.  French fashion designer Louis Réard chose the name to upstage rival designer Jacques Heim who had started selling a two-piece called the Atome.  On July 5, 1946, four days after the United States tested an atomic bomb over Bikini, Réard launched his explosively small creation under the suddenly well-known name.

–from the playwright Tony Kushner’s convocation address to graduates at Muhlenberg College a few weeks ago:

 Everywhere, the world is in need of repair.  Fix it.   Solve these things.  You need only the tools that you have learned here, even if you didn’t pay as much attention as you should, even if you’re a mess and broke and facing a future of economic terror: Who isn’t? Who doesn’t?

Help.  Help.  Help.  The world is calling.  Heal the world, and in the process, heal yourself.  Find the human in yourself by finding the citizen, the activist, the hero.  Down with the brutal-minded misadventurers.  Go after them.  You know where they are….

Duty calls.  The world calls.  Get active.  No summer vacation, no rest for you.  We have been waiting too long for you.  We need your contribution too desperately, and if they tell you your contribution is meaningless, if they tell you the fix is in and there’s no contribution to be made, if they tell you to contribute by shopping your credit card into exhaustion, if they tell you to surrender the brilliant, dazzling confusion your education should have engendered in you, exchange that quick-silver prolificity for dull monotone certainty, productive only of aggression born of boredom and violence, born of fear, born of stupidity, they’re lying.  Don’t trust them; get rid of them.  You know who they are.  Shout down the devil.

Photos of the day 

July 5, 2011

Students react after looking at the results of the baccalaureate exam at the French Clemenceau Lycee in Nantes. The baccalaureate is the final secondary school examination to qualify for university.

Models wear creations for the Giorgio Armani Fall-Winter 2011-2012 Haute Couture fashion collection presented in Paris. Jacques Brinon/AP

Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo, displays a mud sample extracted from the depths of about 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) below the Pacific ocean surface where rare earth elements were found, at his laboratory in Tokyo. Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday.

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

July 5 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a sixth day, the longest streak since April, as oil and gold’s gains drove rallies in their producers.

Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s largest energy company, rose 0.9 percent after Barclays Plc boosted its 2012 price forecast for Brent crude. Kinross Gold Corp. gained 3.4 percent as the metal advanced after Moody’s Investors Service said China’s national auditor is understating banks’ loans to local governments, spurring demand for havens. Imax Corp. fell 8.8 percent after a Janney Capital Markets analyst said 3-D movies may be losing popularity.

The S&P/TSX Composite climbed 38.81 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,425.30.

“The last week or so, we’ve gotten a much better indication the data is not slowing as much as once feared,” said Barry Schwartz, a money manager at Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, which oversees C$420 million ($437 million). “Even if China is cooling, the demand for commodities is not going to abate.”

The S&P/TSX increased 3.7 percent from June 24 to yesterday as Greece approved an austerity package and a gauge of U.S. manufacturing rose. The index has slipped 0.1 percent this year. Crude oil climbed to a three-week high today in New York. “Forecasts show a continuation of robust emerging market demand,” Barclays analysts led by Paul Horsnell in London wrote in a report today. Suncor rose 0.9 percent to C$38.83. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, advanced 1.5 percent to C$41.51. Niko Resources Ltd., which produces oil and gas in South Asia, rebounded 6.4 percent to C$63.67 after closing at a 26-month low yesterday.

Gold and silver rallied on speculation that a deteriorating credit outlook in China will boost demand among investors for a hedge. Moody’s said non-performing loans in China may rise to as high as 12 percent of total credit.

Royal Bank of Canada said in a report it sees potential for a second-half rally in gold producers’ shares.

Kinross climbed 3.4 percent to C$15.91. Eldorado Gold Corp., which mines in China and Turkey, rose 5 percent to C$14.86. European Goldfields Ltd., which explores in Europe, jumped 8 percent to C$10.88. Novagold Resources Inc., which is developing gold and base-metal properties in Alaska and British Columbia, soared 9.7 percent to C$9.76.                      

 Sino-Forest Corp., the forestry company fighting a short seller’s assertions of financial manipulation, increased 27 percent to C$5.29, a day after Wellington Management Co. disclosed a stake in the company. The shares have more than doubled in price over the past five days. Wellington, a Boston- based money manager, bought an 11.5 percent stake in the company, according to a filing to Canadian regulators yesterday.

Shares of Sino-Forest remain down 71 percent since June 1, the day before Muddy Waters LLC said its stated land holdings don’t match Chinese city records.

All eight S&P/TSX banks retreated after Moody’s cut Portugal’s credit rating to a junk level. Royal Bank, Canada’s largest lender by assets, lost 1.3 percent to C$54.85. Toronto- Dominion Bank, its biggest competitor, slipped 1.1 percent to C$81.01

Imax, the maker of giant-screen movie-projection systems, tumbled 8.8 percent, the most in almost a year, to C$29.12. Tony Wible, an analyst at Janney Capital, cut his ratings on U.S. movie-theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and Cinemark Holdings Inc.

In a note to clients, he said 3-D screens’ market share is dropping due to children’s difficulty with the glasses and a “lack of unique high-quality 3-D content.” The $14 million in domestic opening-weekend revenue from Imax 3-D showings of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” probably disappointed many investors, Benjamin Mogil, an analyst at Stifel Financial Corp., said in a note to clients.

Pharmacy-benefits manager SXC Health Solutions Corp. rose for an eighth day, surging 4.5 percent to a record C$61.25.

Arthur I. Henderson, an analyst at Jefferies Group Inc., called the company a “top idea” in health care in a note to clients.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft

July 5 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, ending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s five-day winning streak, as a Moody’s Investors Service downgrade of Portuguese debt rekindled concern the economy will slow and offset gains by energy producers.

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender, and General Electric Co. lost 0.8 percent as shares of financial and industrial companies led losses in the S&P 500. A gauge of banks dropped the most in the S&P 500 within 24 groups, falling 1.2 percent, as Citigroup Inc. said 2012 industry earnings estimates may be too high. Energy companies in the S&P 500 advanced 0.5 percent, the most among 10 groups.

The S&P 500 slumped 0.1 percent to 1,337.88 at 4 p.m. in New York. The intraday move in the S&P 500 between its high and low was 0.5 percent, the smallest move since April 29, when the index peaked for the year. The benchmark equity index rose 5.6 percent last week, the biggest rally since July 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.90 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,569.87 today.

“The market is correcting a little bit after a strong run last week, using the headline about Portugal’s debt rating as a catalyst,” said Tom Mangan, who helps oversee $2.7 billion at James Investment Research Inc. in Xenia, Ohio. “Portugal’s economy has virtually no impact on U.S. markets, but the question is whether this is the continuation of a problem that began in Greece. It raises fear of a contagion effect in the market.”                           

The S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent in June, spurring the first quarterly loss in a year, on concern that Greece will fail to repay all of its debt and that the U.S. economy will weaken further. Even so, the index has gained 6.4 percent in 2011 as government stimulus measures and higher-than-estimated corporate earnings lifted investors’ confidence.

Stocks reversed gains after Portugal’s long-term government bond ratings were cut to Ba2, or junk, from Baa1 by Moody’s, making it the second euro-region country with a non-investment- grade ranking.

Equities declined earlier as the Commerce Department said orders placed with U.S. factories increased 0.8 percent in May, while economists projected a 1 percent increase, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

An unexpected pickup in American manufacturing growth helped ease concern last week that the world’s largest economy is faltering, sending benchmark indexes to their highest levels since May and their biggest weekly gains in two years. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, will become the first Dow company to report second-quarter earnings on July 11.

The “earnings season is right around the very close corner,” said Richard Sichel, who oversees $1.6 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co. “The past number of quarters it’s definitely helped the market with surprises on the upside, and we could see more of that.”

Bank of America lost 0.8 percent to $11 as financial stocks in the S&P 500 slumped 0.8 percent, the most among 10 industries. The KBW Bank Index retreated 1.2 percent as 22 of its 24 stocks retreated. Wells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. home lender, dropped 0.9 percent to $28.42. Regions Financial Corp. slid 2.1 percent to $6.17.

“We believe that a prolonged low rate environment is consistent with weak earning asset growth,” Keith Horowitz, an analyst at Citigroup, wrote in a note to clients today. “While we believe the large regional banks in our universe should report 2Q results largely in line with consensus, we do see significant downside to 2012/2013.”                       

GE, the world’s biggest maker of jet engines, power- generation equipment, medical imaging machines and locomotives, slipped 0.8 percent to $19.04. A gauge of industrial companies lost 0.6 percent, the second-most within 10 groups in the S&P 500.

Energy shares climbed as crude oil jumped 2.1 percent to a three-week high of $96.89 a barrel after European finance ministers approved an 8.7 billion-euro ($12.6 billion) aid payment to Greece on July 2. Marathon Oil gained 3.4 percent to $34.07 and Peabody Energy advanced 2.2 percent to $60.69.

Chevron Corp., the second-biggest U.S. energy company, rose the most in the Dow, adding 1 percent to $105.12.

The S&P 500 Insurance Index of 22 stocks slumped 1.1 percent, the second-biggest decline in the S&P 500 among 24 groups. MetLife Inc. lost 1.5 percent to $43.72, while Genworth Financial Inc. decreased 2.7 percent to $10.28.                        

MetLife and Genworth Financial units are among nine companies subpoenaed last month as part of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s probe of the life insurance industry’s handling of so-called abandoned property, a person familiar with the matter said.

The probe is seeking to determine whether the companies do enough to determine whether someone has died and benefits are due, the person said. About 35 other states are looking into whether the insurance industry is adequately handling abandoned property such as unclaimed life-insurance proceeds.

Google Inc., the world’s largest Internet-search company, rose 2.2 percent to $532.44. The shares were raised to “overweight” from “equal weight” at Evercore Partners, which said they may reach $670 as the company grows in social media and other product initiatives.

SanDisk Corp. climbed 1.5 percent to $43.45. Deutsche Bank AG analysts Bob Gujavarty and Ross Seymore raised their recommendation to “buy” from “hold,” saying profit margins will become “far more sustainable.”

General Motors Co. gained 0.9 percent to $30.86. The biggest overseas automaker in China said its June sales rose in the country, reversing a two-month decline, as customers bought more Buick and Chevrolet passenger cars.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The like and dislike is the result of my culture, my training, my associations,

my inclinations, my acquired and inherited characteristics.

It is from that center that I observe and make my judgments,

and the observer is separate from the thing he observes.

 

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

 

As ever,

Carolann

To succeed in the  world, it is not enough

to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

                          -Voltaire, 1694-1778 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents: It was a great long weekend n’est pas?  I decided to read some Russian literature this summer and I began to do so on the weekend, beginning with Ivan Turgenev’s novella, First Love.   It is quite an enjoyable read.  I also got around to some late spring cleaning at the office.  It is wonderful to get organized and stuff that shredder box to the top.

I thought this might be interesting to pass along:

Where to Surf for Ancestors by Debra Bruno:  The amount of genealogical material available grows daily.   Ancestry.com is becoming the grand-daddy of all research sites, with links to rootsweb, a free online community and message board  (www.rootsweb.ancestry.com), family tree maker, and DNA research.  A 12-month subscription is $159, although some services are free.

The service provided by the Church of Latter-day Saints makes all its records available free of charge.  It’s described as the largest family-search organization in the world (familysearch.org).

Geneasearch offers some free databases and fun details like “lost female ancestors.”  Be careful, though: To sign up for a seven-day “free trial,” you have to type in a credit-card number and will be billed if you don’t cancel after seven days (geneasearch.com).

Happy 4^th of July to all our American friends!

Market Commentary:

 

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

July 4 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a fifth day, led by commodity producers, after an index of U.S. manufacturing beat economists’ forecasts and Europe’s finance ministers approved an aid payout to Greece to prevent default.

Teck Resources Ltd. gained 4.8 percent in the first session since the Canada Day holiday on July 1. Suncor Energy Inc. advanced 1.8 percent after the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index surpassed all 77 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.

Sino-Forest Corp., the forestry company fighting a short seller’s assertions of financial manipulation, climbed 30 percent after hedge-fund manager Wellington Management Co. said in a filing it bought a stake in the company.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index increased 85.62 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,386.49, closing above its 200-day moving average for the first time since June 9. The index’s fifth-straight gain is the longest streak of advances in six weeks.

“There’s a bit of readjusting to prices of interlisted stocks that were traded on Friday that didn’t trade in Canada, but also a continuation of positive data over the short term, including the recent ISM data out of the U.S.,” said Timothy Lazaris, chief executive officer of Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto, which oversees C$54 million ($56 million).

The stock benchmark rallied 3 percent last week, the most in 11 months, after Greece’s parliament passed austerity measures meant to reduce its debt. The index has risen 4.7 percent since declining to a seven-month low on June 17.                         

European finance ministers authorized on July 2 an 8.7 billion euro ($12.6 billion) loan payout to Greece to be paid by mid-July and said they would aim to complete talks with banks on maintaining their Greek debt holdings within weeks.

Energy companies climbed for a fifth day. Suncor, Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, rose 1.8 percent to C$38.49.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, gained 1.2 percent to C$40.91. Bankers Petroleum Ltd., which produces oil and gas in Albania, advanced 6 percent to C$7.29.

Transglobe Energy Corp., which operates in Egypt and Yemen, jumped 13 percent, the most since January 2009, to C$12.47. Last week, the company said it has agreed to buy a 50 percent interest in an Egyptian oil concession for $3 million. The land has “extensive exploration potential,” J. Frederick Kozak, an analyst at Canaccord Financial Inc., said in a note to clients dated June 30.

Copper futures increased 0.5 percent on July 1, completing a 4.5 percent weekly climb, and advanced 0.2 percent in London today.

Teck, Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, rose 4.8 percent to C$51.36. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, gained 1.2 percent to a record C$142.35. Mercator Minerals Ltd., which mines copper and molybdenum, surged 10 percent to C$3.16.                         

 Uranium One Inc., a mining company controlled by Moscow- based ARMZ Uranium Holding, soared 15 percent to C$3.05 after the Russian company said profit doubled last year.

Romarco Minerals Inc., which is developing a gold mine in South Carolina, plunged 7.3 percent to a 16-month low of C$1.52 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked it to complete an environmental impact statement, adding 12 months to the project’s schedule.

All eight S&P/TSX banks advanced. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, increased 1.4 percent to C$55.58. Bank of Montreal, the country’s No. 4 lender, climbed 1.1 percent to C$62.03.

Technology-patent owner Wi-LAN Inc. rallied 8.4 percent to a 10-year high of C$8.43 after saying it reached a settlement in its lawsuit against Texas Instruments Inc. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Sino-Forest advanced 30 percent to C$4.15 after Wellington Management said it bought or acquired control of an 11.5 percent stake in the company. The shares tumbled 83 percent last month as Muddy Waters LLC said its stated land holdings don’t match Chinese city records.

US – Markets closed today; the following is a commentary regarding Friday’s (July 1, 2011) session:

By Cecile Vannucci

July 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks posted the biggest weekly rally in two years, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 648 points, after Greece took action to avoid a default, Nike Inc.’s earnings topped analyst estimates and U.S. manufacturing growth rebounded.

Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies Corp. and 3M Co. jumped at least 6.3 percent, pacing gains among companies most- dependent on economic growth. Nike, the world’s largest sporting-goods company, climbed 13 percent. Visa Inc. surged 20 percent, the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the Federal Reserve moved to set a less-severe limit on debit-card swipe fees than previously proposed.

 The S&P 500 surged 5.6 percent to 1,339.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 5.4 percent to 12,582.77 this week. Both indexes rose all five days for the biggest weekly gains since July 2009.

“It’s a week of major reversal,” said Stephen Lieber, chief investment officer of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC, which manages about $7 billion, in Purchase, New York. “As soon as you got the first manufacturing indexes that began to turn positive and then culminated by the Chicago manufacturing index above estimates, it shifted confidence very positively.”

The gain helped the S&P 500 erase about 75 percent of the decline suffered since reaching its high for the year on April 29. Through June 24, U.S. equities had fallen for seven of the previous eight weeks on concern the European debt crisis would spread and the U.S. economy slow. The index is up 6.5 percent for the year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.                 

 The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, also known as the VIX, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500, tumbled 25 percent this week, the biggest weekly drop since March.

The advance in equities marked a partial reversal of returns that had favored companies and industries that are less sensitive to economic growth. Since the S&P 500 slipped to its low for the year on March 16, drugmakers, phone companies, utilities and household-products producers have gained the most, rising at least 9.7 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The biggest gains in last week’s rally were among so-called cyclical stocks. Energy companies climbed 7.2 percent, computer and software makers increased 6.8 percent, a group of retailers, hoteliers and automakers added 6.6 percent and industrials rose 6.4 percent, the data show.

Stocks rose this week after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on June 29 clinched enough votes to pass the first part of an austerity plan aimed at meeting European Union aid requirements and staving off default for his debt-laden nation. Lawmakers backed a bill on June 30 to authorize the measure.

Greece may receive as much as 85 billion euros ($124 billion) in new financing, including a contribution from private investors, in a second bailout aimed at preventing default and ending the euro-region’s debt crisis, an Austrian Finance Ministry official said.

“The major issue that was weighing down the market in the prior five or six weeks was the issue in Greece,” said John Canally, investment strategist at Boston-based LPL Financial Corp., which manages $330 billion in advisory and brokerage assets. “Now that’s cleared up, the market’s got a little more clarity. The move of this week in markets is pricing in a sizable bounce in economic activity.”

Stocks extended gains after a report yesterday showed that U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in June, a sign the industry is rebounding after shortages of parts and components from Japan slowed production. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 55.3 last month from 53.5 in May. Economists estimated the index would drop to 52, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion.

The ISM report was a positive surprise, according to investors, at a time when manufacturing growth is slowing from China to Europe, creating a dilemma for central bankers considering higher interest rates to combat inflation. China’s factory index fell to the lowest level since February 2009, while in the 17-nation euro area, a gauge slipped to an 18-month low. German manufacturing expanded at the weakest pace in 17 months, while Italy, Ireland, Spain and Greece contracted.                     

 Another report on June 30 showed businesses in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in June. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said its business barometer climbed to 61.1 this month from 56.6 in May. Economists called for the index to drop to 54, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. Consumer confidence rose to the highest level in 10 weeks, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed June 30.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index added 6.6 percent as all of its 30 stocks gained. The Dow Jones Transportation Average of 20 stocks, a proxy for economic growth, rose 6.4 percent.

Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, surged 8.6 percent, the most in the Dow, to $108.62.

Jet engine maker United Technologies added 6.9 percent to $90.13. 3M, the maker of Post-It Notes and films to brighten TV screens, climbed 6.4 percent to $96.67.

Nike rallied 13 percent to $91.82, the highest price since December, after posting better-than-expected profit projections on June 28. Nike Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker has boosted sales and reduced marketing costs from a year earlier, when Nike promoted around the World Cup, to fight rising costs for cotton, labor and transportation that have reduced profitability in the apparel industry this year.

Visa jumped 20 percent to $87.97, its highest price in more than a year, after the Fed moved to cap debit-card transaction fees at 21 cents. MasterCard Inc. gained 15 percent reaching its highest price since June 2008, $314.47.

An index of energy shares in the S&P 500 rose 7.2 percent, the most among 10 groups as crude for August delivery settled at $94.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Marathon Petroleum Corp., which replaced RadioShack Corp. in the S&P 500, increased 1.6 percent to $42.06 in its first day of trading after the second-largest independent U.S. oil refiner was spun off by Marathon Oil Corp. Halliburton Co., the world’s second-largest oilfield services provider, advanced 12 percent to $51.29 for the week.

Investors “are buying in front of the quarterly earnings estimates that are going to be coming out,” said Michael Vogelzang, chief investment officer at Boston Advisors LLC, which manages $1.9 billion. “It probably says something about expectations for quarterly earnings.”

Alcoa Inc., the first Dow-average company to report second- quarter earnings, will give its results on July 11. Earnings at S&P 500 companies rose 13 percent in the second quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Net income will rise 19 percent in 2011, the data show.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Life is very real-

life is not an abstraction – our problems begin when we encounter it only through images.

 

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

Adventure is just bad planning.

   -Roald Amundsen, 1872-1928

 

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Music and mud: Glastonbury Festival 2011

Glastonbury, a festival held at Worthy Farm in England, has become Europe’s largest such gathering for music fans. Its five-day run ended Sunday, after entertaining nearly 175,000 fans. Heavy rain and mud greeted the attendees, who paid 195 pounds (about $310) for a basic ticket compared to the 1 pound when the show began in 1970. The next festival will take place in 2013. – Lloyd Young

Market Commentary:

 Canada

By Matt Walcoff

June 30 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a fourth day, trimming the biggest quarterly drop since 2008, as energy producers and financial shares advanced on speculation Greece will avoid defaulting on its debt.

Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurer, increased 3 percent after Germany’s biggest banks and insurers and government agreed to reinvest money from maturing debt holdings into new Greek bonds. Nexen Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on five continents, climbed 2 percent as natural gas futures rallied. Contract electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc. gained 5.3 percent after a Deutsche Bank analyst raised her rating on the shares.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 55.93 points, or 0.4 percent, to 13,244.87 at 2:24 a.m. in Toronto, extending its weekly gain to 2.4 percent. The S&P/TSX has advanced this week as Greek lawmakers voted yesterday to approve an austerity package.

“There was likely some anxiety going into that Greek vote,” said Gareth Watson, vice president of investment management at Richardson GMP Ltd. in Toronto, which oversees about C$16 billion ($16.6 billion). “We’re just kind of carrying through today.”

The S&P/TSX retreated 6.6 percent this quarter through yesterday, the most since the fourth quarter of 2008. The stock benchmark declined as data on U.S. unemployment and manufacturing trailed economists’ forecasts, concern about Europe’s debt crisis intensified and crude oil fell 9.1 percent.

Germany’s biggest banks and insurers and its government have agreed on a draft proposal to reinvest money from maturing Greek debt into new bonds, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in Berlin today.

Seven of eight S&P/TSX banks and Canada’s three largest insurers rose after the German agreement. Also today, Statistics Canada reported gross domestic product was unchanged in April.

Most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a decline.

Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s fourth-largest insurer, gained 3 percent to C$16.94. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-biggest lender by assets, advanced 0.9 percent to C$81.59. Sun Life Financial Inc., the country’s No. 3 insurer, increased 1.9 percent to C$28.82.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index climbed for a fourth day after U.S. natural gas inventories fell more than analysts estimated last week. Nexen, which operates on five continents, rose 2 percent to C$21.56. Cenovus Energy Inc., Canada’s fifth-largest energy company, gained 1.6 percent to C$36. Talisman Energy Inc., which operates in North America, the North Sea and Indonesia, advanced 1.9 percent to C$19.68.

Fertilizer producers retreated after the U.S. Agriculture Department said U.S. corn inventories totaled 3.67 billion bushels on June 1, surpassing all 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Farmers planted about 92.3 million acres of corn, topping the USDA’s estimate from earlier this month of 90.7 million acres. Corn fell the most allowed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, dropped for the first time in six days, losing 1.3 percent to C$54.43. Agrium Inc., an agricultural-products retailer and fertilizer producer, declined 1.9 percent to C$83.99.

Rubicon Minerals Corp., which explores for gold in Canada, slumped 9 percent to C$3.24 after plunging 24 percent yesterday as the company increased its cost estimates for its Phoenix Gold Project. Catherine Gignac, a Toronto-based analyst at NCP Northland Capital Partners Inc., cut her rating to “sector perform” from “sector outperform” today.

Among other mining stocks, First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Canada’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, increased 3.1 percent to C$139.78 as the metal added to an eight-week high.

Uranium One Inc., a mining company controlled by Moscow- based ARMZ Uranium Holding, rose for a second day, gaining 6.4 percent to C$2.66 two days after closing at a 12-month low.

Celestica rallied 5.3 percent to C$8.43 after Sherri Scribner, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, boosted her rating on the share to “buy” from “hold.” The stock plunged 23 percent this quarter through yesterday as its largest customer, Research In Motion Ltd., sank 49 percent.

Power-plant owner Capital Power Corp. slumped 3.8 percent, the most intraday in 23 months, to C$25.01, after saying it will sell 8 million shares at C$25.10 a share.

An index of consumer-discretionary stocks in the S&P/TSX advanced after analysts in a Bloomberg survey said U.S. auto sales probably rebounded in this month.

Magna International Inc., Canada’s largest auto-parts maker, climbed for an eighth day, the longest streak in 25 months, rallying 1.7 percent to C$52.29. Linamar Corp., the second-biggest parts manufacturer in the country, rose 3.9 percent to C$21.81.

Shaw Communications Inc., Canada’s largest cable and satellite television provider by subscribers, gained 1.5 percent to C$21.91 a day after reporting earnings that surpassed analysts’ estimates.

 US

By Rita Nazareth and Cecile Vannucci

June 30 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest four-day gain since September, amid increased optimism Greece will avoid default and after American business activity improved.

Industrial, energy and technology companies led gains in the S&P 500, rising at least 1.4 percent, as investors bought stocks tied to economic growth. Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies Corp. and 3M Co. climbed at least 1.8 percent to help the Dow Jones Industrial Average erase its quarterly loss.

Hewlett-Packard Co. added 2.4 percent after a report that private-equity firms want the computer maker to split up.

The S&P 500 advanced 1 percent to 1,320.64 at 4 p.m. in New York, rising 4.1 percent in four days. The Dow average gained 152.92 points, or 1.3 percent, to 12,414.34 today.

“It’s not surprising that the market is rebounding,” said Mike Ryan, the New York-based chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas, which oversees $761 billion. “The Greece situation will work out, concerns about a soft patch were overdone and earnings will continue to be strong. The market will do better in the second half.”

The Dow fell 1.2 percent in June amid concern about Europe’s debt crisis and weaker-than-expected economic data. Over the last century, the 30-stock gauge had an average gain of 1.4 percent in July, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group. The index was up 7.2 percent in 2011 amid better-than-estimated earnings and government stimulus measures.

Global stocks rose today on expectations that Greece will avoid defaulting on its debt. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s drive to stave off the euro area’s first sovereign default stayed on track after lawmakers backed a bill to authorize an austerity plan required to keep rescue aid flowing.

Germany’s biggest banks agreed on a proposal to “roll over” Greek debt holdings, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. That means reinvesting money from maturing bonds into new Greek bonds. German banks have agreed to roll over at least the Greek bonds they’re holding that mature through 2014, which amount to about 2 billion euros ($2.9 billion), Schaeuble said.

“The big driver behind the rally has been Greece,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage about $2.7 billion at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “The implementation of an austerity plan is certainly an important step. That should be less of an overhang for the market in July.”

Stocks extended gains after the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said its business barometer climbed to 61.1 this month from 56.6 in May. Economists called for the index to drop to 54, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. Consumer confidence rose to the highest level in 10 weeks, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index gained 1.5 percent as 29 of its 30 stocks rallied. The Dow Jones Transportation Average of 20 stocks, which is considered a proxy for economic growth, advanced 1.3 percent.

Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, added 3 percent to $106.46. United Technologies rose 2.4 percent to $88.51. 3M increased 1.9 percent to $94.85.

Hewlett-Packard climbed 2.4 percent to $36.40. The world’s largest maker of personal computers is being urged by private equity firms including Blackstone Group to break up and sell some units to them, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

EBay Inc. climbed 4.6 percent to $32.27. The world’s largest online marketplace was raised to “buy” from “neutral” by Bank of America Corp, which cited the Federal Reserve Board’s vote yesterday to approve a less severe cap on debit-card transaction fees than previously proposed.

First Solar Inc. jumped 2.2 percent to $132.27. The world’s largest maker of thin-film solar modules won $4.5 billion in conditional loan guarantees from the U.S. Energy Department for three projects it’s developing in California.

The S&P 500 today surpassed its average price of the last 50 days of about 1,317, which shows potential for further gains, according to analysts who study charts to make forecasts.

“It just confirms the strength of the rally that we’ve seen here,” said Richard Ross, global technical strategist at Auerbach Grayson & Co. in New York. “If it doesn’t provide any resistance at all and the market continues to power through that level, that would be a bullish signal for the market.”

The benchmark gauge has made a high on the last day of a week only once since peaking in April, and tomorrow may determine whether the market can build on its current rally, Strategas Research Partners said.

The S&P 500 had its weekly intraday high on a Friday only once over the past eight weeks, as the gauge sank 7 percent, according to data from Strategas and Bloomberg. That marked a shift in trend from the first four months of the year, when the S&P 500 rallied 8.4 percent and Fridays accounted for 10 of the 17 weekly highs.

“We need to see this trend re-emerge,” Christopher Verrone, head of technical analysis at the New York-based firm, wrote in a note yesterday. “The bulls have had trouble sustaining strength late in the week.”

The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release tomorrow the factory index, which may show a decrease to 51.8 this month from 53.5 in May, according to the median forecast from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Worse-than-expected economic reports and concern about the debt crisis in Europe spurred losses for the S&P in six consecutive weeks from April 29 to June 10, the longest streak since July 2008. The index has since climbed 2.9 percent through yesterday.

“If this is going to be more than an ‘oversold bounce,’ it will be important for this trend to improve over coming weeks,” Verrone said.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone.

 Be magnificent!

It is necessary that this be the aim of our entire life.

In all of our thoughts and actions,

we must be conscious of the infinite.

 

-Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1901

As ever,

Carolann

There are more things to alarm us

than to harm us, and we suffer more

often in apprehension than reality.

-Seneca, 3 BC- 65 AD

 

 

Dear Friends,

 Tangents: I attended an event this afternoon to celebrate the life of a client of mine who passed away recently. One of her relatives wrote a poem on May 9^th, 1903, and the hand written poem was in a frame on a table with some old photos.  I think it is lovely:

The friends who leave us do not feel the sorrow of parting,

as we feel it who must stay

lamenting day by day and knowing,

when we wake upon the morrow,

we shall not find in its accustomed place

the one beloved face.

For Christians, today is the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Photos of the day 

June 29, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI leads a solemn mass to celebrate the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Tony Gentile/Reuters

A child with mud on his face smiles after celebrating Asar Pandhra festival in Bhaktapur. Farmers in Nepal celebrate the festival to mark the commencement of rice crop planting in paddy fields. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

Market Commentary:

 

Canada

By Matt Walcoff

June 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a third day, led by raw-materials producers, as copper climbed after Greece’s parliament passed an austerity package and Canpotex Ltd. reached a potash-supply deal with Sinofert Holdings Ltd.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, increased 2.5 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. advanced 2.1 percent after Canpotex, which represents North American potash sellers overseas, agreed to a deal that boosts prices. Rubicon Minerals Corp. slid 24 percent after releasing a preliminary economic assessment of its Phoenix Gold Project in Ontario.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 83.96 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,188.94.

“The risk-on trade is coming back,” said Greg Taylor, a money manager at Aurion Capital Management in Toronto, which oversees about C$5 billion ($5.2 billion). “The fear of the Greek vote not passing is behind us.” The S&P/TSX dropped 7.2 percent this quarter through yesterday, which would be the biggest quarterly loss since 2008.

World equities have declined on concern Greece won’t be able to pay its debts. S&P/TSX energy companies slumped 11 percent as crude oil sank 13 percent. The energy industry makes up 27 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

The Greek Parliament approved a 78-billion-euro ($112 billion) package of budget cuts and asset sales today amid violent protests in Athens.

A U.S. index of pending home sales increased 8 percent in May from April, signaling the residential real estate market in Canada’s main trading partner may be rebounding. Economists had forecast a 3 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The U.S. dollar dropped against 15 of 16 other major currencies. The Canadian dollar rallied 1.1 percent after the country reported that inflation jumped to an eight-year high last month.

Gold advanced 0.7 percent and silver 3.3 percent in New York. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, increased 1.5 percent to C$43.80. Kinross Gold Corp., Canada’s third-biggest company in the industry, climbed 0.9 percent to C$15.03. Iamgold Corp., which mines in West Africa, South America and Quebec, rallied 3 percent to C$18.38.

Rubicon Minerals sank 24 percent, the most in 10 years, to C$3.56. The company forecast mining costs higher than Bank of Montreal had forecast, Andrew Kaip, an analyst at BMO, wrote in a note to clients.

Potash Corp. gained for a fifth day after Canpotex said its agreement with Sinofert, a Hong Kong-based fertilizer manufacturer, for the second half of the year boosts potash prices by $70 a metric ton. Also today, analysts at UBS AG named Potash Corp. one of nine “most-preferred” chemicals stocks, citing its “balanced exposure to potash, phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers.”

Shares of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company rose 2.1 percent to C$55.13.

Base-metals producers advanced as copper rallied the most in a month. Teck increased 2.5 percent to C$48.55. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which is building a copper and gold mine in Mongolia with Rio Tinto Group, climbed 5.6 percent to C$24.52. Capstone Mining Corp., a copper producer with operations in Yukon and Mexico, jumped 16 percent to C$3.44 for its first gain in six days. Mercator Minerals Ltd., which mines copper and molybdenum, surged 9.8 percent to C$2.70.

Fifty of 67 S&P/TSX energy companies gained today as crude futures advanced after the U.S. reported a bigger drop in inventories than all 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey had forecast.                       

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada’s second-largest energy company by market value, rose 1.4 percent to C$39.99. Cenovus Energy Inc., the country’s fifth-biggest energy company, increased 2.4 percent to C$35.44. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest owner of the Syncrude project, climbed 3 percent to C$27.76.

TMX Group Ltd., the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, rallied 1.5 percent to C$44.20 after London Stock Exchange Group Plc withdrew its C$3.29 billion bid for the company. In a statement, the companies said they were unlikely to obtain enough shareholder votes for approval at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Maple Group Acquisition Corp., which has offered C$3.73 billion in cash and shares for TMX, said it will continue to pursue regulatory approvals for its bid.

Directory publisher Yellow Media Inc. gained for the first time in seven days, rising a record 18 percent to C$2.69. The shares had plunged 52 percent to a record low from May 17, the day San Francisco banned the unsolicited distribution of phone books, to yesterday.

Exfo Inc., which makes equipment for the telecommunications industry, tumbled 17 percent to C$7.22 after forecasting fourth- quarter profit below analysts’ estimates. Shares of the Quebec City-based company have fallen 44 percent from a post-2002 high on March 8.

US

By Rita Nazareth and Cecile Vannucci

June 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, giving benchmark indexes the biggest three-day gain since March, as Greece passed austerity measures and the Federal Reserve moved to set a less- severe limit on debit-card swipe fees than previously proposed.

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., the biggest consumer-payment networks, jumped more than 11 percent, as the Fed moved to cap debit-card transaction fees at 21 cents. Bank of America Corp. advanced 3 percent after agreeing to pay $8.5 billion to resolve claims over soured mortgages. Monsanto Co., the largest seed company, climbed 5 percent after net income jumped 77 percent. U.S. Steel Corp. paced a rally in steelmakers, rising 5.9 percent, as Deutsche Bank AG predicted demand rebound.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.8 percent to 1,307.41 at 4 p.m. in New York, adding 3.1 percent in three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 72.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,261.42 today.

“Greece is kicking the can down the road,” said Bruce McCain, who helps oversee $22 billion as chief investment strategist at the private-banking unit of KeyCorp in Cleveland. “That’s certainly an important first step. On top of that, the economy has a number of catalysts that could help push the market higher over the next few weeks. We’ve came down a lot on price. It seems a bit overdone.”

The S&P 500 has fallen 2.8 percent in June, and headed for the second straight monthly loss, amid concern about the European debt crisis and weaker-than-expected economic data. The index is still up 4 percent in 2011 on government stimulus measures and better-than-estimated profits.

Global stocks rose for a third day, the longest advance in a month, as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou clinched enough votes to pass the first part of an austerity plan aimed at meeting European Union aid requirements and staving off default for his debt-laden nation. Papandreou is now on track to secure a bill setting out the strategy for a 78 billion-euro($112 billion) package of budget cuts and asset sales that is the condition for further rescue funds.

“It relieves a certain amount of uncertainty related to outsized risks that would come with a default,” said Kevin Caron, market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which has $115 billion in client assets. In addition, “it was good to see that home sales rose more than expected. That was a positive sign.”                         

More Americans than forecast signed contracts in May to buy previously owned homes. The index of pending home resales increased 8.2 percent from April after a revised 11 percent drop the prior month that was smaller than initially reported, the National Association of Realtors said. Economists forecast a 3 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

Financial shares had the biggest gain in the S&P 500 within 10 industries, rising 2.1 percent. Visa soared 15 percent, the most since March 2008, to $86.57. MasterCard surged 11 percent to $309.70, the highest since June 2008.

“This is a big win for Visa and MasterCard,” said Giri Cherukuri, lead trader and portfolio manager for Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments, which manages about $2.7 billion. “They’ve been arguing for a long time that these regulations are too onerous. Definitely good news for them.”

Bank of America added 3 percent to $11.14. The stock rose even after the bank said its settlement will contribute to a second-quarter loss of $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion, or 88 cents to 93 cents a share.                       

Citigroup Inc. advanced 3.4 percent to $41.50. Bank of America raised the stock to “buy” from “neutral,” saying potential earnings should lift the shares.

Gauges of raw material and energy shares in the S&P 500 gained at least 1.1 percent. The S&P GSCI Index of 24 commodities advanced 2.1 percent as oil and metals rallied.

Monsanto climbed 5 percent to $70.26. The world’s largest seed company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates and raised its full-year profit forecast on higher sales of Roundup weed killer and genetically modified crop seeds. Profit excluding some items will rise to $2.84 to $2.88 a share in the fiscal year through August. Its previous forecast was for $2.72 to $2.82.

U.S. Steel rallied 5.9 percent, the biggest increase since July 2010, to $45.85. Deutsche Bank AG said demand and prices for the metal will rise. Steel producers in the U.S. will benefit as Chinese inventories empty and industrial activity picks up in the second half of 2011, analysts including David Martin and Jorge Beristain wrote in a research note yesterday.

Deutsche Bank raised its ratings on Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel and AK Steel Holding Corp., the third-largest U.S. steelmaker, to “buy” from “hold.”

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. climbed 4.6 percent to $50.29 as Leonard Green & Partners LP and CVC Capital Partners agreed to buy the warehouse-club chain for $2.8 billion. Its investors will receive $51.25 a share in cash for each common stock they hold, the companies said. That’s 6.6 percent more than the closing price yesterday.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500, tumbled 9.9 percent, the most since March, to 17.27.

A gauge of homebuilders in S&P indexes slumped 2.3 percent.

KB Home tumbled 15 percent, the most since September 2008, to $10.08. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder that targets first- time buyers reported a wider second-quarter loss as new orders and revenue decreased amid weak demand for new houses.

PulteGroup Inc. declined 3.9 percent to $7.58. D.R. Horton Inc. fell 3.2 percent to $11.37.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

  

Meditation is movement without any motive, without words, and the activity of thought.

It must be something that is not deliberately set about.

Only then is it a movement within the infinite, measureless to man, without a goal, without an end,

without a beginning.  And that has a strange action in daily life, because all life is one,

and then becomes sacred.

 -Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

 

As ever,

 Carolann

 It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that

I stay with problems longer.

     -Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Birthday: Peter Paul Rubens, June 28^th, 1577

Peter Paul Rubens, The Elevation of the Cross, oil on canvas, 1610-1611 (Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp)

Rubens was an enormously successful artist in the first half of the 1600s. His paintings were sought after by important patrons all over Europe. A shrewd businessman, Rubens was of course, also a devout Catholic. He is also a perfect example of the changed status of the artist: his friends and confidants were scholars, aristocrats, and even the Royal Families of Europe (Rubens was so trustworthy and clever that he served as a diplomat).
Rubens spent several years in Italy early in his career studying Italian Renaissance art, as well as the art of classical antiquity. He combined this with the influence of Caravaggio, the Venetian artists of the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the tradition of his native Flanders (think Campin and Van Eyck). Rubens was so successful that he set up a large studio in his native Antwerp (which you can still visit). There, he churned out large numbers of paintings for his royal and wealthy clients, and charged for the paintings according to how much he had personally painted. He was always responsible for the idea of a painting, but if his assistants executed most of it, the work was less expensive. In his studio Rubens had assistants working for him who specialized in different things, so they could all work on different parts of a single painting.  From: SmartHistory.

Photo of the day

June 28, 2011

The father of seven-month-old Nopparat teaches him to ‘wai,’ a traditional Thai greeting with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion, to neighbors as they pass outside their residence in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district, Thailand. Adres Latif/ Reuters.

Market Commentary:

 Canada

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft

June 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day as energy producers and bank shares gained amid optimism that a deal can be reached to help Greece avoid defaulting on its debt.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, advanced 1.5 percent as oil futures jumped. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s biggest bank, and Toronto-Dominion Bank increased at least 0.8 percent as financial stocks rallied. Westport Innovations Inc. soared 11 percent after General Motors Co. agreed to work on projects with the developer of natural-gas engine technologies.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 138.49 points, or 1.1 percent, to 13,104.98 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

“Everyone’s thinking of Greece and there’s a little bit of optimism today as we wait for the vote tomorrow,” said Irwin Michael, who helps manage C$1 billion ($1 billion) as a money manager at ABC Group of Funds in Toronto. “Greece has to be repaired and put on the right track because you got other problematic countries that are being watched very closely.”

The S&P/TSX broke a three-week losing streak last week as investors speculated Greece will be able to enact austerity measures and avoid default. Greek lawmakers are in the midst of a debate this week to approve an austerity package needed for the release of the next phase of an international bailout.

Germany’s biggest banks and insurers will meet with the Finance Ministry in Berlin tomorrow as they seek to reach an agreement on their contribution to a Greek aid package, two people with knowledge of the matter said. A preliminary deal may be reached as early as tomorrow, they said. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s 78 billion euro ($111 billion) plan to cut spending and sell assets is set for a vote in parliament tomorrow.                      

S&P/TSX energy stocks rallied 1.6 percent, the second-most among ten groups in the benchmark index for Canadian equities. Suncor advanced 1.5 percent to C$37.52. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second-biggest energy company by market value, increased 3 percent to C$39.44. Industrial companies rose the most S&P/TSX Composite Index.

Oil rose from a four-month low amid speculation that Greek lawmakers will approve austerity measures to prevent a default on the country’s debt and on forecasts U.S. fuel demand will rise before the Fourth of July holiday. The U.S. Independence Day weekend typically marks the peak consumption period for U.S. motorists.

The S&P/TSX Financials Index, the largest part of the S&P/TSX Composite, gained 0.5 percent. Royal Bank of Canada rose 1.1 percent to C$54.49. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second- largest lender by assets, increased 0.8 percent to C$80.26.

Westport Innovations surged 11 percent to C$23.55 after agreeing with GM to develop natural gas controls, emissions and performance strategies. Westport will also open a new technical center in Michigan.

Stocks rose in Canada even after a report that confidence among U.S. consumers dropped to a seven-month low in June as Americans grew concerned about the outlook for jobs and wages.

The Conference Board’s sentiment index decreased to 58.5 from a revised 61.7 in May. Home prices fell in the year ended in April by the most in 17 months, another report showed.

“Everyone is betting on Europe finding a resolution for the Greece,” said Ken Mack, an analyst and trader at Stone Asset Management in Toronto, which oversees about C$850 million.

“The U.S. put out a consumer confidence number that was lower than expected and the market shrugged it off. It’s very day to day, the optimism comes and goes and today it’s up.”

US

By Rita Nazareth and Cecile Vannucci

June 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its highest level in three weeks, amid optimism European nations will take action to prevent a Greek default and after Nike Inc.’s earnings beat estimates.

Nike rallied 10 percent as higher North American sales helped the world’s largest sporting-goods company top profit projections. Caterpillar Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Alcoa Inc. added at least 2.1 percent, pacing gains in companies most-tied to economic growth. Home Depot Inc. climbed 2.4 percent after the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer said that it is targeting about $3.5 billion in share repurchases for 2011.

The S&P 500 advanced 1.3 percent to 1,296.67 at 4 p.m. in New York, rising to the highest closing level since June 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 145.13 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,188.69 today. More than 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges at 5:12 p.m., 14 percent less than the three-month average through yesterday.

“The rally is a continuation of the global growth story,” said Sean Kraus, who oversees about $2.2 billion as chief investment officer at Citizens Business Bank in Pasadena, California. “There’s relief around Greece. As a global company, people looked at Nike to say, ‘hey, how was the global economy really doing on the consumer side?’ Because Nike actually had a very good quarter, that was a surprise to the market.”

Energy, consumer discretionary and raw material companies posted the biggest gains today among 10 industries in the S&P 500, rising at least 1.7 percent. Since the index bottomed on March 16, defensive industries such as health-care, telecommunications and utilities have risen the most as investors sought havens on speculation growth is slowing.

Global stocks rallied today as two people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News that Germany’s biggest banks and insurers will meet with the Finance Ministry in Berlin tomorrow as they seek to reach an agreement on their contribution to a Greek aid package.

German and French lenders are the biggest European holders of Greek debt and their participation in the plan is key to the European Union goal of getting banks to roll over at least 30 billion euros ($43 billion) of bonds. The debt swap is part of a broader aid package European Union leaders have pledged to pass next month to prevent the euro-region’s first default a year after the Greek bailout that failed to stop the debt crisis.

 “The Germans and the French are the key players,” said Mike Shea, a managing partner and trader at Direct Access Partners LLC in New York. “The market is looking for some kind of clarity. Nobody expects a permanent solution right now, but if the German banks are on board with the French plan it indicates that we are closer to some kind of resolution.”

Nike jumped 10 percent to $89.90. Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker has boosted sales and reduced marketing costs from a year earlier, when Nike promoted around the World Cup, to fight rising costs for cotton, labor and transportation that have reduced profitability in the apparel industry this year.

“Nike had strong earnings,” said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Fort Lee, New Jersey-based Palisade Capital Management LLC, which oversees $3.8 billion. “We’re coming into earnings season, which is going to be good. What is going to drive the stock market is going to be earnings. U.S. companies are doing very well.”

Alcoa is the first Dow average company to report second- quarter earnings on July 11. Earnings at S&P 500 companies rose 13 percent in the three-month period ending June 30, according to a Bloomberg survey with analysts. Net income will rise 20 percent in 2011, the data showed.               

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index rose 1.5 percent as 29 of its 30 stocks rallied. The Dow Jones Transportation Average of 20 stocks, a proxy for economic growth, added 1.4 percent. The S&P GSCI Index of 24 commodities advanced 2.2 percent as crude oil rebounded from a four-month low and metals rallied.

Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, gained 3 percent to $103.84. Exxon Mobil increased 2.2 percent to $79.63. Alcoa advanced 2.4 percent to $15.65.

Home Depot climbed 2.4 percent, the third-biggest gain in the Dow, to $36.06. The home-improvement retailer closed at the highest level since May 31.

Accenture Plc rose 3.2 percent to $59.65. The world’s second-largest technology-consulting firm will replace Marshall & Ilsley Corp. in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on July 5, S&P said. The change is being made because Bank of Montreal is acquiring Marshall & Ilsley in a deal expected to be completed around that date.                     

 LinkedIn Corp. soared 12 percent to $85.56. JPMorgan Chase & Co. predicted that the shares would climb to $85 in the next 18 months, giving them an “overweight” rating, while Bank of America Corp. has a “buy” recommendation and an estimate of $92. UBS AG, which also assigned a “buy” rating, expects the stock to increase to $90. Morgan Stanley projected $88, with an “overweight” rating.

Pfizer Inc. rose 1.9 percent to $20.55. The world’s biggest drugmaker said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted the company’s filing for review of axitinib for patients with advanced kidney cancer.

The S&P 500 may extend its gains from a three-month low to as much as 4.1 percent after a trend measure sent out its first buy signal since April, according to Piper Jaffray Cos.

The Moving Average Convergence/Divergence line, calculated by subtracting the S&P 500’s average level during the past 26 days from the average over the past 12 days, crossed last week above the “signal line” that plots the 9-day average difference between the two. That suggests the gain is likely to continue and help drive the S&P 500 to its 50-day moving average, or 1,317, said Craig W. Johnson, a technical market strategist with Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.

“People know the summer doldrums probably won’t carry through into the fall,” he said in an interview. “They’re trying to use pullbacks toward the 200-day average as the opportunity buying stocks.”

 Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Man cannot be broken down into emotions, intellect, or action.

Man is a whole.

When these three elements of intellect, feelings, and action are in harmony, they make up man.

 -Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

 

As ever,

 Carolann

 Fortunately Nature, kind and patient as she is,

has never put the dire question as to the meaning

of their lives into the mouths of most people. 

And where nobody asks, nobody needs to answer.

                         -Carl Gustav Jung, 1875-1961