Category: Newsletters

Dear Friends,

A couple of anniversaries to ponder today…On March 10, 1876, The Globe & Mail reminds us today, Alexander Graham Bell made his first successful telephone call.  “He spent three years trying to figure out how to transmit speech across electrical cables.  Three days after securing the patent for the electromagnetic telephone, [he] successfully tested it at his workshop in Boston.  As he spoke into one end, his assistant, electrical designer Thomas Watson, listened on the other in the next room.  Although Elisha Gray would lay claim to having invented the device first, Bell’s purported words that day – ‘Mr. Watson, come here.  I want to see you’  – had the ring of history.   Bell himself would be claimed by three countries: Scotland, where he was born; the United States, where he created his most famous inventions; and Canada, where he studied the Mohawk language as a young man and where, many decades later, he died.”  -Adrian Morrow

The other anniversary is that paper money was issued for the first time in the US on March 10, 1862.

The sculpture ‘The Dog’ from 1951 is pictured in front of the sculpture ‘The Chariot’ from 1950 during a media preview of an exhibition of late Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) at the Kunsthaus Zurich art museum in Zurich, Switzerland. The exhibition, ‘Alberto Giacometti – The Art of Seeing,’ which shows some ninety works of the Swiss sculptor, painter and graphic artist, runs from March 11 until May 22, 2011. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jennifer A. Johnson

March 10 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a fourth day as energy and materials producers tumbled after Spain’s debt rating was cut and U.S. jobless claims rose, spurring concern that global growth will slow.

Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest energy producer, fell

2.5 percent as crude oil dropped. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 2.8 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.

declined 2.3 percent as corn and wheat futures slipped. Barrick Gold Corp. slumped 1.5 percent as the precious metal retreated.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined 195.28 points, or 1.4 percent, to 13,689.43 at 2:30 p.m. in Toronto.

The benchmark Canadian equity index dropped as much as 2.2 percent, the most intraday since Aug. 11.

“After eight months on the TSX of unstoppable rally, we’ve hit a lull,” said Barry Schwartz, vice president at Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, who helps manage about C$390 million ($400 million). “The geopolitical crises are finally getting investors’ attention and the front page news on potential defaults and downgrades of European debt, combined with non-stop bad news out of the Middle East and northern Africa have finally taken the upper hand.”

A subgroup of energy producers in the S&P/TSX has dropped 6.2 percent since March 4 on concern higher oil prices will slow the global economic recovery. Energy and material producers make up 49 percent of Canadian stocks by market value.

U.S. applications for first-time unemployment benefits increased by 26,000 to 397,000 in the week ended March 5, Labor Department figures showed. Economists forecast claims would climb to 376,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The U.S. trade deficit increased 15 percent to $46.3 billion, from $40.3 billion in December, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington, as a surge in imports led by costlier oil overshadowed record exports.

China’s export growth was the slowest since 2009 and German exports dropped 1 percent in January from December. Moody’s Investors Service cut Spain’s rating by one level to Aa2, saying the government underestimated the cost of shoring up its banking industry.

Libyan rebels fled a key oil hub on the Mediterranean coast even as the insurgency’s leaders won recognition from French President Nicolas Sarkozy of the transitional government set up to oppose Muammar Qaddafi.

Crude oil pared losses after the Associated Press reported that police in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s biggest producer, opened fire at a rally in the east of the country.

Oil for April delivery declined 1.4 percent to $102.93 a barrel in New York.

Suncor slumped 2.5 percent to C$42.01. The energy producer fell to C$41.25, the lowest intraday price since Feb. 14.

Canadian Natural dropped 2.8 percent to C$45.06. Cenovus Energy Inc. declined 2.3 percent to C$35.77.

“The sectors that have done so well over the last two years commodities like base metals, energy, and food are the ones that will take the biggest hits,” Schwartz said.  “These are the sectors that are the most volatile and the ones tied most to economic growth.”

Potash Corp. declined 2.3 percent to C$52.81. Earlier, the fertilizer producer fell to C$51.72, the lowest intraday price since Jan. 4. Agrium Inc. slipped 1.6 percent to C$86.68. Corn futures fell 1.1 percent and wheat sank 2.2 percent.

Gold producers fell after gold futures dropped the most in a week. A stronger U.S. dollar prompted some investors to sell the metal after unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa pushed prices to a record.

Barrick Gold declined 1.5 percent to C$49.26, after falling to C$48.74, the lowest intraday price since Feb. 16. Goldcorp Inc. fell 2.2 percent to C$46.10.

Transat A.T. Inc., Canada’s largest tour operator, slumped 25 percent to C$12.40. It fell as much as 26 percent intraday, the biggest drop since March 2010. The Montreal-based company reported first-quarter revenue of C$810.2 million, missing the average analyst estimate of C$837.2 million, Bloomberg data show.

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. advanced 3.1 percent to C$25.50, the biggest gain in the Canadian benchmark equity index. The owner of Circle K convenience stores reported third- quarter profit of 38 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate by 2.2 percent, Bloomberg data show.

US

By Claudia Carpenter and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

March 10 (Bloomberg) — Stocks slid, while the dollar and Treasuries gained, as U.S. jobless claims rose, China’s export growth slowed and Spain’s credit rating was cut. Equities extended losses and oil pared declines as the Associated Press reported Saudi Arabian police fired into a crowd of protesters.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated 1.8 percent to 1,296.76 at 3:14 p.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1.2 percent to 277.88, its lowest close of the year. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six major peers, rose 0.8 percent. Crude slipped 1.6 percent after tumbling as much as 3.6 percent earlier. Treasuries extended gains after a 30-year bond auction produced the highest demand since 2000. The euro fell to $1.3783 as the dollar gained against all 16 peers.

Investors fled riskier assets after first-time applications for U.S. unemployment benefits and the American trade deficit topped economists’ estimates, China’s export growth was the slowest since 2009 and German exports dropped 1 percent in January from December. The Bank of Korea raised borrowing costs after inflation exceeded its target. Moody’s Investors Service cut Spain’s rating by one level to Aa2, saying the government underestimated the cost of shoring up its banking industry.

“We may be seeing indications of an economic slowdown,” said Donald Selkin, the New York-based chief market strategist at National Securities Corp., which manages $3 billion. “The market has been whistling past the graveyard of higher oil prices and consumers pulling back, but now it’s starting to weigh down on stocks and we’ve probably seen the highs until we get first-quarter earnings results in April. The only thing that is going up today is the bond market as people run to safety.”

The S&P 500 fell for the fourth time in five days, with energy, financial and technology companies falling more than 1.7 percent to lead declines among all 10 industry groups.

Caterpillar Inc. and General Electric Co. slumped at least 2.1 percent, pacing losses among industrial companies, and 28 of 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell.

The S&P 500 has retreated 3.2 percent from its high for the year on Feb. 18 amid concern higher oil prices will stifle the economic recovery. The gauge is trading near its average from the past 50 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 hasn’t closed below that threshold, a level watched by analysts who make forecasts based on chart patterns, since Sept. 1. The index has rallied 93 percent from its bear-market low in March 2009.

“The down move we’re seeing today is a corrective phase within a longer-term uptrend,” said Christopher Verrone, lead technical analyst at New York-based Strategas Research Partners.

“The integrity of the uptrend since the 2009 low is still intact, but if the 1,294-level on the S&P 500 fails to hold in the next couple of days, we’ll probably come down to 1,260. And that’s a range which we would look at as a buying opportunity.”

Applications for first-time unemployment benefits increased by 26,000 to 397,000 in the week ended March 5, Labor Department figures showed. Economists forecast claims would climb to 376,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The U.S. trade deficit widened to the highest level in seven months as a surge in imports led by costlier crude oil overshadowed record exports. The gap increased 15 percent to $46.3 billion, from $40.3 billion in December, Commerce Department figures showed. Imports jumped 5.2 percent, the most since 1993, while exports grew 2.7 percent. The deficit was wider than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped eight basis points to 3.40 percent. U.S. debt extended gains after the government sold $13 billion of 30-year bonds, the final of three note and bond auctions this week totaling $66 billion, and rallied further after the report of violence in Saudi Arabia.

The 30-year bond yield dropped eight basis points to 4.54 percent. The securities sold today yielded 4.569 percent, compared with an average forecast of 4.610 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of 7 of the Federal Reserve’s 20 primary dealers. The bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 3.02, compared with an average of 2.66 at the last 10 auctions.

The cost of protecting corporate bonds from default in the U.S. climbed. The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, rose 2 basis point to a mid-price of 86.75 basis points, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd. The cost to protect debt from Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. climbed. Six stocks dropped for each that gained in the Stoxx 600.

Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. helped lead basic-resource producers to the biggest decline among 19 industry groups. Home Retail Group Plc sank 5.9 percent as the owner of the Homebase do-it-yourself store chain lowered its profit forecast. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index and China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled at least 1.5 percent.

The dollar appreciated against all of its 16 most-traded counterparts, gaining 0.3 percent to 82.99 yen and 1.6 percent versus the Norwegian krone. The pound slid against 13 of 16 major peers as the Bank of England policymakers kept the benchmark rate at a record 0.5 percent low.

The Australian dollar depreciated against all but two of its most actively traded peers after the nation’s employers unexpectedly cut workers in February for the first time in 18 months as floods and a cyclone disrupted hiring in the nation’s northeast.

Crude oil traded in New York fell 1.6 percent to $102.72 a barrel. In London, Brent oil retreated 0.5 percent to $115.31 after sliding as much as 2.1 percent.

Prices rebounded after AP quoted an unnamed witness in the city of Qatif saying gunfire and stun grenades were fired at several hundred protesters, leaving at least one person injured.

Futures slipped as much as 3.6 percent earlier.

Copper declined 0.4 percent to $4.1975 a pound in New York, its lowest settlement price of the year.

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodities slumped 1.6 percent, the most on a closing basis since Nov. 16.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Knowledge relieves all suffering.  Knowledge liberates. Which knowledge?  Chemistry?  Physics?  Astronomy?  Geology?

They help a little, but only a little.  The true knowledge is the knowledge of our own nature. Know yourself.  You must know who you are, understand your inner nature. You must become conscious of this infinite nature in yourself.  Then you will break free of your shackles.

-Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

As ever,

Carolann

Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.

-Clare Booth Luce, 1903-1987

Dear Friends,

Space Shuttle Discovery lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Discovery ended its career as the world’s most-flown spaceship today, returning from orbit for the last time and taking off in a new direction as a museum piece.

Revelers of Unidos do Peruche samba school perform atop of a float during the opening night of parades at the Sambadrome, as part of Carnival celebrations in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late on March 4. Brazil’s Carnival kicked off on the eve with millions of people taking to the streets of the northeastern city of Salvador de Bahia to dance and party, effectively putting the nation on a week-long hiatus. (Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Children revelers of Nene de Vila Matilde samba school get ready at a concentration area before the start of the second night of Carnival parades at the Sambadrome, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late on March 5. (Maurcicio Lima/Getty Images)

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

Bloomberg: By Jennifer A. Johnson

Canadian stocks fell for a third day, led by raw material producers, as Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. slipped on an analyst rating cut and Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK/B) slumped along with copper prices.

Potash Corp., the world’s largest fertilizer producer, dropped 4.6 percent after Citigroup Inc. cut the shares to “hold” from “buy.” Teck Resources declined 3.5 percent as copper slid on concern higher oil prices will slow the global economic recovery. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM) fell 5.6 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined 128.26 points, or 0.9 percent, to 13,884.71 in Toronto.

“At the beginning as oil prices go higher, energy producers benefit,” said Marcus Xu, director of equity investments at Genus Capital Management in Vancouver, which manages C$1.7 billion ($1.8 billion). “But you have to think about the other side as well, which is how higher oil prices will impact the consumer.”

A subgroup of materials producers in the Canadian benchmark equity index has dropped 4.5 percent this week. Copper futures have dropped 9.4 percent since Feb. 14. Oil soared 23 percent in the same period.

Crude oil fell for a second day in New York after the U.S. reported a surge in supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark grade. Brent oil traded in London climbed as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi stepped up attacks on insurgents.

Futures rose as much as 0.9 percent before erasing gains after Cushing supplies climbed 1.69 million barrels to 40.3 million last week, the highest level since the Energy Department began gathering data at the hub. Oil climbed earlier as Libyan government forces launched air and artillery strikes on central oil ports to halt a rebel advance.

“Even if the Libyan situation settles, there are still other countries to worry about,” Xu said. “The unrest in the Middle East isn’t going away anytime soon.”

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU), Canada’s biggest energy producer, fell 1.4 percent to C$43.07. Talisman Energy Inc. dropped 1.6 percent to C$22.96.

A group of gold producers in the S&P/TSX Index fell for a third day, declining 1.3 percent. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) slumped 1.6 percent to $49.99, while Goldcorp Inc. (G) sank 1.6 percent to C$47.12.

Potash Corp. fell 4.6 percent to C$54.06 after Citigroup Inc. cut its rating, citing a lack of catalysts to drive the shares higher.

Teck, Canada’s largest base-metals producer, fell 3.5 percent to C$50.87, after copper for May delivery fell 2.9 percent on concern demand may wane as higher energy costs slow the global economy. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, fell 5.6 percent to C$111.92.

Cineplex Inc. advanced 1.8 percent to C$23.30. The company that owns interests in Canadian movie theaters was raised to “outperform” from “market perform” at Raymond James Securities. The 12-month price estimate is C$25.

Aastra Technologies Ltd. (AAH) gained 3.3 percent to C$24.05, after the maker of telecommunications equipment was raised to “buy” from “hold” at TD Newcrest Inc. The 12-month price estimate is C$32.

TMX Group Inc., the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal Exchange derivatives market, dropped 2 percent to C$39.07 after Toronto-Dominion Bank and other Canadian lenders expressed concern about the proposed sale of TMX Group to London Stock Exchange Group Plc because the country will cede regulatory control of its main stock exchange.

 

US

Bloomberg: By Rita Nazareth and Adam Haigh

U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower a third time in four days, as escalating violence in Libya tempered optimism that the biggest equity rally since 1955 will extend into a third year.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and DuPont Co. dropped at least 1 percent, pacing losses in industrial shares. Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) slumped 3.1 percent as the largest analog chipmaker narrowed its earnings forecast. Finisar Corp. (FNSR) tumbled 39 percent, leading other network-equipment makers lower, as its profit estimate missed analysts’ projections. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) rose 2.2 percent as Deutsche Bank AG lifted its share- price estimate for the largest computer-services provider.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,320.02 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.29 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,213.09 as IBM, which makes up about 10 percent of the Dow, propped up the 30-stock gauge. Oil slid 0.6 percent to settle at $104.38 a barrel as a surge in supplies at a U.S. hub overshadowed concern about violence in Libya.

“You’d be crazy not to be concerned about geopolitical risks,” said Philip Dow, director of equity strategy at Minneapolis-based RBC Wealth Management, which oversees $164 billion. “Oil touches everything. However, if you’ve paid attention to every near-term uncertainty of the last two years, you would have missed the big move in stocks. You can’t see the forest for the trees. There’s not enough evidence that this could derail the global recovery. This is an expansion.”

The S&P 500 has fallen 1.7 percent from this year’s highest level on Feb. 18 as crude oil surged amid unrest in Libya and the Middle East. The benchmark for U.S. equities has rallied 95 percent from its bear-market low two years ago on government stimulus measures and as corporate earnings beat analysts’ estimates for eight straight quarters.

Libya’s Ras Lanuf refinery, the country’s largest crude- processing plant, was shut amid fighting between government forces and rebels, an official with the Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Co. said. Oil tanks at the nearby Es Sider terminal were damaged by bombings today, according to Al Jazeera television.

While some use “these issues to paint a gloomy picture, we remain optimistic and believe this ‘wall of worry’ will help elongate the bull run,” said Kully Samra, who manages U.K.- based clients for Charles Schwab Corp., which has $1.5 trillion in client assets. “The general trend in stocks continues to be higher despite increasing concerns over inflation, debt, global conflict, rising interest rates and oil prices.”

Laszlo Birinyi, who told clients to buy as the S&P 500 fell to a 12-year low of 676.53 on March 9, 2009, says gains that added about $28 trillion to global share values will outlast previous increases as investors who missed the first phase play catch-up. Valuations are still below historical averages, said Barton Biggs, the hedge-fund manager who purchased stocks before the S&P 500 almost doubled.

“These kinds of strong beginnings lead to long and durable bull markets,” Birinyi, who founded Westport, Connecticut-based research and money management firm Birinyi Associates Inc. in 1989 after a decade on the trading desk at Salomon Brothers, said in a March 7 phone interview. “While there will be corrections and while there will be pauses, we’re still of the view that this is a bull market that we expect to go on for several years.”

Five straight quarters of U.S. profit growth and the biggest yearly increase since 1988 have held down valuations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S. benchmark index is trading at 15.5 times reported earnings, compared with the average ratio of 19.7 at bull-market peaks.

The proportion of investment publications that are forecasting a stock market correction, or 10 percent drop, declined to a four-month low of 26.7 percent between March 2 and yesterday, according to Investors Intelligence, which has examined forecasts in newsletters since 1963. Newsletter writers who are bullish rose to 52.2 percent, the highest since Jan 11, while bearish publications climbed to 21.1 percent, the highest in a month.

Stocks of industries which are most dependent on economic growth, including commodity producers, technology and industrial companies, led the declines in the S&P 500.

Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, lost 1.7 percent to $102.36. DuPont, the third- biggest U.S. chemical maker, slid 1 percent to $53.71.

Texas Instruments fell 3.1 percent to $34.74. The largest analog chipmaker narrowed its first-quarter profit estimate to 56 cents to 60 cents a share from 54 cents to 62 cents. The average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey was 59 cents.

Finisar tumbled 39 percent to $24.61 for its biggest decline since going public in 1999. The maker of fiber-optic transmission gear said it won’t earn more than 35 cents a share excluding some items in the fourth quarter, missing the average analyst estimate of 48 cents.

Other makers of networking equipment also slumped. JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU) fell 17 percent, the biggest drop in the S&P 500, to $21.14. Ciena Corp. (CIEN) slumped 5.3 percent to $24.33.

IBM rose 2.2 percent to $165.86, the biggest increase in the Dow, and touched an all-time high of $167.72. Deutsche Bank raised its share-price estimate for the computer-services provider to $200 from $175. There is “ample flexibility” for IBM to beat its forecast of generating at least $20 a share by 2015 given its revenue growth, productivity gains and share buybacks, analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a note to clients.

Retailers advanced as American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) reported fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations of 44 cents, beating the average analyst estimate by 1 cent. The Pittsburgh-based company climbed 5.1 percent to $15.56.

J.C. Penney Co. rallied 4.8 percent to $36.94, the biggest increase in the S&P 500. Macy’s Inc. (M) rose 3 percent to $24.08.

 

Yoga is concerned with freedom from spiritual disturbance. The first step in yoga is to engage in introspection, and thereby understand the inner obstacles that must be overcome. The purpose of yoga is to weaken the hindrances which obstruct knowledge of the soul. There are five hindrances: ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion and tenacity.

~Patanjali

Warmest regards,

Chelsey for Carolann

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”  ~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Dear Friends,

Today is International Women’s Day!! To all the hard working, beautiful, successful women out there – you go girls!

From the Globe and Mail:

Royal officials have launched a website to offer regular updates on the upcoming marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Officials at Prince William’s office, St. James’ Palace, say the website will offer information for anyone interested in the April 29th wedding.

The palace says it will be updated regularly with photos, links and videos.

 

Also in the Globe and Mail today – Movie rentals will be coming to Facebook.

Warner Bros is making some of its films available on Facebook, opening up a new revenue source for the Internet social network and signaling new competition for online entertainment companies.

Consumers can pay for the movies using Facebook Credits, a virtual currency so far used mainly in social games on the site, according to Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc, on Tuesday.

What next?

Female members of the Ugandan police march as part of the International Women’s Day celebrations at Kololo Airstrip, in Kampala, Uganda. The head of the new United Nations women’s agency said there has been ‘remarkable progress’ since International Women’s Day was first celebrated a century ago, but gender equality remains a distant goal because women still suffer widespread discrimination and lack political and economic clout.

 

Britain’s Prince William watches as Kate Middleton flips a pancake at a display by the charity Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children outside City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Police kept watch from the rooftops for a visit that brought the center of Belfast to a standstill. The crowd around the couple swelled to several hundred as shoppers realized something special was happening.

 

Market Commentary

Canada

Bloomberg: By Jennifer A. Johnson

Canadian stocks slumped for a second day as oil and gold producers dropped along with prices for the commodities.

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU), Canada’s biggest energy producer, fell 4.2 percent as members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries discussed whether to hold a special meeting to discuss increasing production as unrest in Libya continued. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) declined 1.4 percent after the precious metal fell. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation’s second- largest energy company, slumped 3.4 percent after oil dropped.

“If you look at the actual oil supply, it hasn’t actually changed that much,” said Jennifer Radman, who helps oversee about C$1 billion ($1.03 billion) as a money manager at Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. in Toronto. “A lot of the spike in prices has been in anticipation of things going wrong. Until you see the actual supply lessening, you are going to have limitations on how much higher oil can climb.”

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined 79.38 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 14,012.97 in Toronto, the lowest level since Feb. 24.

A subgroup of 58 energy producers in the Canadian benchmark equity index advanced 8.4 percent from Feb. 11 through March 4 on concern unrest in Libya and the Middle East would disrupt oil supply. The group has fallen 3.6 percent since March 4.

Stockpiles of crude oil probably rose 1.13 million barrels from 346.4 million the prior week, according to a Bloomberg survey. Eight of the analysts forecast a gain and six projected a decrease. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Washington.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said NATO is debating a “wide range” of options in Libya, and his press secretary, Jay Carney, said that providing arms to the rebels is among them. Arab Gulf nations advocated a no-fly zone and U.K Foreign Secretary William Hague said the United Nations Security Council is discussing how to set a “clear trigger” for UN action to ground Muammar Qaddafi’s air force.

“I think the Libyan situation is somewhat cooling the market,” said Robert “Hap” Sneddon, president of Oakville, Ontario, money manager Castlemoore Inc. and vice president of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts. “If things do calm down and Qaddafi does end up leaving, you may get other areas start to heat-up again.”

Suncor Energy dropped 4.2 percent to C$43.67, the lowest level since Feb. 16. Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., which explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta, Canada, declined 5.4 percent to C$23.19, the biggest slide in the S&P/TSX Index. Canadian Natural fell 3.4 percent to C$46.46.

A subgroup of gold producers in the S&P/TSX Index slumped 1.3 percent. Twenty-six of the 34 members in the group declined.

Barrick slumped 1.4 percent to C$50.80. Goldcorp Inc. fell 1.5 percent to C$47.89. Gold futures for April delivery declined 0.5 percent to $1,427 an ounce in New York, as a stronger dollar and dropping energy prices eroded the appeal of the previous metal as an alternative asset and inflation hedge.

Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI/B), Canada’s largest wireless carrier, advanced 1.4 percent to C$34.00, the biggest gain since Feb. 16. The Toronto-based company plans to sell as much as $1.8 billion ($1.85 billion) of senior unsecured debt in a two-part offering, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

Celtic Exploration Ltd. (CLT) dropped 5.9 percent to C$20.93, the second-biggest decline in the Canadian benchmark equity index. The oil and natural gas producer was cut to “sector perform” from “sector outperform” at Scotia Capital Inc. The 12-month price estimate is C$24.00.

 

US

Bloomberg: By Rita Nazareth

U.S. stocks advanced, snapping a two-day decline for benchmark indexes, as crude oil retreated and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) sparked a rally in financial shares after saying its home-loan business is in “recovery mode.”

Bank of America jumped 4.7 percent, leading a gauge of financial shares to the biggest gain among 10 Standard & Poor’s 500 Index industries. Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) climbed 4.9 percent after people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News that Deutsche Telekom AG held talks to sell its T-Mobile USA unit to the company. PulteGroup Inc. climbed 8.4 percent after the homebuilder reported “good traffic and sign-up rates.”

The S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 1,321.82 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge had fallen 1.6 percent over the previous two trading days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 124.35 points, or 1 percent, to 12,214.38. Crude oil declined 0.4 percent to $105.02 a barrel in New York.

“We’re in an economic recovery and the stock market is reflecting that,” said John Carey, a Boston-based money manager at Pioneer Investments, which oversees about $250 billion. “Companies are flush with cash and there’s been a pick-up in M&A activity, which is an indication of corporate confidence. In addition to that, crude oil prices are down and people can relax a bit about energy costs not going through the roof.”

The S&P 500 yesterday erased last week’s gain as oil reached a 29-month high. The gauge rallied 5.1 percent this year as companies reported earnings that topped analysts’ estimates for the eighth straight quarter and the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at a record low.

Crude oil fell as members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries discussed whether to hold a special meeting and Libyan rebels prepared an offensive to regain a town. Kuwait’s oil minister said OPEC members are considering whether to convene an “urgent meeting.”

Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the global financial crisis, said an increase in oil prices to $140 a barrel will cause some advanced economies to slide back into recession. Underlying how fragile the recovery is, Roubini said the European Central Bank may be making a mistake by raising interest rates “too soon” when debt-ridden countries on the euro region’s periphery struggle to restore the competitiveness of exports.

Stock-index futures erased gains before the open of exchanges as European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said he doesn’t want to correct market expectations for as many as three quarter-point increases in the bank’s benchmark interest rate this year.

“One of the biggest fears is that the developed nations have gotten themselves into a zero rate trap,” said Peter Sorrentino, who helps oversee $14.4 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati. “So, if they start to raise rates, the market will begin to move beyond their control.”

Financial shares in the S&P 500 rose 2.2 percent, collectively, the biggest gain within 10 groups. The KBW Bank Index added 2.7 percent, as all of its 24 stocks gained.

Bank of America jumped 4.7 percent, the most in the Dow, to $14.69. The largest U.S. lender said its commercial- and investment-banking businesses are already transitioning this year and may post what the company considers normalized earnings in 2012 and 2013.

Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan, hosting the lender’s first investor day since 2007, is seeking to assure investors the bank will return to profitability as the economy stabilizes and the company recovers from disputes with investors over soured mortgages. The company’s net loss last year was driven by writedowns at credit-card and home-lending units acquired by Moynihan’s predecessor, Kenneth D. Lewis.

“We are changing the culture of the company from a company that was built upon acquisitions and consolidation,” Moynihan said today in New York. “We are again a growth company.”

Sprint gained 4.9 percent to $4.70. Deutsche Telekom has held talks to sell its T-Mobile USA unit to Sprint in exchange for a major stake in the combined entity, said people with knowledge of the matter. Talks have been on and off, and a deal may not be reached, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

“In general, all options are open in the U.S. — the sale of the whole business or of parts,” Deutsche Telekom Chief Financial Officer Timotheus Hoettges said in an e-mail today. He said the company could also find a partner, sell shares in the market or form a network agreement.

Bill White, a spokesman for Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint, declined to comment.

Announced takeovers of U.S. companies have totaled $186.4 billion so far in 2011, 21 percent more than in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A gauge of homebuilders in S&P indexes rallied 4.8 percent. PulteGroup jumped 8.4 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $7.09. The largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue said it signed up 2,674 homes for sale in the first two months of the year. The orders showed “demand continues to stabilize and slightly improve entering the current spring selling season,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index of 12 stocks jumped 7.3 percent, as the retreat in crude oil prices eased concern about higher energy costs. US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) climbed 12 percent to $9.28. Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) added 9.7 percent to $11.07.

Energy shares had the only decline in the S&P 500 among 10 industries, falling 0.6 percent, collectively. Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) slumped 2.1 percent to $100.92. ConocoPhillips (COP) decreased 1.1 percent to $78.32.

McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) fell 1 percent, the most in the Dow, to $75.54. The world’s biggest restaurant chain reported sales rose 2.7 percent at stores open at least 13 months in the U.S. last month, missing analysts’ estimates. Analysts had projected a gain of 4 percent, according to the average of three estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) had the biggest decline in the S&P 500, tumbling 17 percent to $31.66. The operator of the namesake and Anthropologie clothing chains said profit margins shrank last quarter. Gross margin, or the percentage of sales after the cost of goods sold, narrowed 2 percentage points to 39.7 percent in the quarter ended Jan. 31, the Philadelphia-based company said yesterday. Profit amounted to 45 cents a share, trailing the 52-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The past two years have shown that stock investors need to focus on “the beaten-up areas of the market” when prices rebound, according to Tobias Levkovich, Citigroup Inc.’s chief U.S. equity strategist.

Auto stocks set the S&P 500’s pace since March 9, 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as the industry-group index more than quintupled in the period through yesterday. Grocery and drugstore stocks had the smallest gain, at 34 percent. The two industries’ rankings were almost exactly the opposite in the preceding bear market, which lasted 17 months. The S&P 500 Automobiles and Components Index tumbled 84 percent, more than any other industry except banks. The S&P 500 Food and Staples Retailing Index did best by losing only 26 percent.

“Fears of a Great Depression reenactment provided investors with a powerful trading opportunity over the past two years,” Levkovich wrote today. The auto industry is among those most closely linked to the economy’s performance, while food and drug retailers had less to gain from economic growth.

With warmest regards,

Chelsey for Carolann

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. ”

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-

Dear Friends,

Bodies in motion: Dancing around the world

The dictionary defines it as “to move one’s feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, especially to the accompaniment of music.” People around the world, however, have their own definitions of dance, as exemplified by these images taken since the first of the year. And such expressions can celebrate a culture, win a competition, make a living, entertain a crowd, and play a role in propelling social change. Get those bodies and feet moving. — Lloyd Young

American Matthew Harding (center) performs with his fans and followers at a compound in Beijing on Feb. 19. Harding is an Internet celebrity known as Dancing Matt for his viral videos “Where The Hell Is Matt,” which show him dancing in front of landmarks and street scenes in various countries. (Andy Wong/Associated Press)

Dancer and choreographer Daniel Ezralow performs with dancers onstage at the Ariston Theatre in Sanremo, Italy, during the 61th Sanremo Music Festival on Feb. 16. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images) #

member of the Canadian dance troupe “The 7 fingers” rehearses in Bogota on Feb. 8. (John Vizcaino/Reuters)

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Jennifer A. Johnson

March 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time in four days as copper producers declined on concern that escalating unrest in Libya will boost oil prices and slow economic growth.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest base-metals producer, dropped 2.8 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. slipped 1.4 percent as energy stocks retreated from a 31-month high. Uranium producer Cameco Corp. slumped 4.5 percent, as the nuclear fuel declined. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s biggest fertilizer company, slumped 2.5 percent amid falling wheat, corn and soybean futures.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined 159.82 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,092.95 at 1:30 p.m. in Toronto, erasing all of the three-day rally through March. 4.

“There is continued uncertainty about what is going to happen in Libya,” said Todd Johnson, a money manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which oversees C$255 million ($231 million). “I doubt that Libya is the last country to go through some turmoil. Oil prices can be very volatile.”

The Canadian benchmark equity index added 6 percent from the beginning of the year through March 4 as oil soared 14 percent on concern that unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa will restrict supply. Energy shares account for about 28 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Crude climbed as much as 2.4 percent after fighting between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi intensified.

Hedge funds raised purchases of futures to a record for a second week on speculation unrest will cut output further. Citigroup Inc. increased its Brent oil price estimate, saying the threat of more disruptions supports a “fear premium.”

Teck Resources dropped 2.8 percent to C$52.60 after copper slid 4 percent on the London Metal Exchange on concern slower economic growth will curb demand for industrial metals. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. declined 4.6 percent to C$118.29.

Equinox Minerals Ltd. fell 5.6 percent to C$5.44. Lundin Mining Corp. postponed a special meeting of shareholders to allow them time to review an unsolicited C$4.8 billion takeover offer by Equinox.

Lundin Mining Corp., which had agreed to sell to Inmet Mining Corp. for C$4.2 billion, dropped 4.9 percent to C$7.51.

Inmet fell 1 percent to C$63.34.

An index of energy shares in the S&P/TSX fell 1.2 percent after closing at the highest level since August 2008 on March 4.

Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s biggest energy producer, dropped 0.5 percent to C$46.14. Canadian Natural fell 1.4 percent to C$49.00.

Uranium prices dropped $2.75 from the Feb. 28 exchange value to $66.75 a pound, according to TradeTech LLC. The spot price for uranium was beginning to rebound after falling in February when a seller unexpectedly entered the market offering more than 800,000 pounds, TradeTech said.

Uranium One Inc. dropped 4 percent to C$6.19. Cameco Corp.

declined 4.5 percent to C$37.69, after dropping 6.4 percent, the biggest intraday decline since Nov. 16.

Potash Corp. fell 2.5 percent to C$57.90 after corn futures fell 2.3 percent, soybeans dropped 1.9 percent and wheat slipped 1 percent.

US

By Michael P. Regan and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

March 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, erasing last week’s gain, as chipmakers slid after a ratings downgrade and oil advanced to a 29-month high. Treasuries climbed, while Greek default risk increased to a record after Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s credit rating.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index decreased 0.8 percent to

1,310.15 at 4 p.m. in New York and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index erased earlier gains to slip 0.4 percent. Oil advanced 1 percent to $105.44 a barrel. Gold trimmed gains after rallying to as much as $1,445.70 an ounce, an all-time high. Ten-year Treasury note yields slid five basis points to 3.51 percent.

Chipmakers in the S&P 500 slumped 2.5 percent collectively, the biggest decline among 24 industries, after Wells Fargo & Co. cut the group to “market weight” from “overweight.” Fighting increased between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, reducing crude-oil output by as much as 1 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency.

“It’s going to be hard for the market to push through this headwind from oil in the short-term,” said Daniel Genter, president of RNC Genter Capital Management in Los Angeles, which oversees about $3.7 billion. “The oil theme has taken over from the inflation theme because of the effect higher energy prices will have on inflation and economic growth. The market wants to go higher because all the other demographics look solid, but we’re entangled in this net of geopolitical uncertainty.”

Teradyne Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Applied Materials Inc. lost at least 4.6 percent to lead declines in all 19 semiconductor companies in the S&P 500 after the Wells Fargo analysts cited the rally that more than doubled the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index over the past two years.

“Our sector downgrade is more an indication of a more moderate though still optimistic view of the sector rather than any active concern about the chip stocks as a group,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Takeovers helped lift U.S. and European shares earlier.

Western Digital Corp., the largest maker of computer hard-disk drives, rallied 16 percent after agreeing to buy a unit from Hitachi Ltd., while jewelry maker Bulgari SpA surged after receiving a takeover offer.

As crude approaches $110 a barrel, higher energy costs may begin to cause pain for companies that were able to weather $100 oil thanks to a strengthening economy. Corporate assumptions would have to start changing when oil reaches $110 a barrel, according to economists such as Chris Low of FTN Financial in New York. Crude at that price would offset the benefit from the tax cut approved by Congress in December, and begin to slow economic growth, Low said.

Commerzbank forecast today that West Texas Intermediate oil will average $107 in the second quarter. Technical analysts from Citi FX say oil is poised to test prices above $120 for the first time since September 2008 after breaching a target near $103. Oil faces resistance above $120 a barrel, the 76.4 percent retracement level on a linear-chart Fibonacci study of oil’s

2008 collapse, said Tom Fitzpatrick, chief technical analyst at Citi FX, part of Citigroup Capital Markets in New York.

Treasury five-year notes advanced, pushing the yield down 10 basis points to 2.19 percent, as the Federal Reserve purchased $6.6 billion in debt maturing from September 2013 to February 2015 to support the U.S. recovery.

Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said the central bank shouldn’t rule out asset purchases beyond the $600 billion planned by June because the U.S. economy could slow again. Fed of Dallas President Richard W. Fisher said he might vote to cut short the asset-purchase program if he believed it to be “counterproductive.”

Most European stocks declined, with three shares retreating for every two that rose in the Stoxx 600. Inmarsat Plc dropped

13 percent as sales missed estimates. Bulgari soared 59 percent after LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA agreed to buy the world’s third-largest jeweler for about 3.7 billion euros ($5.2 billion).

Credit-default swaps on Greek bonds rose 50 basis points to a record 1,036 basis points, according to CMA. Moody’s signaled Greece may face further cuts as European leaders prepared to meet this week to discuss ways to contain the region’s debt crisis. The Greek Finance Ministry said the Moody’s decision was “incomprehensible.” Moody’s didn’t heed the progress Greece made in cutting the deficit by 6 percentage points of gross domestic product last year, according to a ministry statement.

The extra yield, or spread, investors demand to hold Greek 10-year bonds instead of benchmark German bunds rose 8 basis points to 906 basis points. The spread for Portuguese 10-year securities climbed eight basis points to 428 basis points.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9 percent. Kajima Corp., a Japanese construction company, slid 2.3 percent following a report that its highway project in Algeria may incur losses of more than 80 billion yen ($971 million).

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.6 percent to snap a six-day streak of gains, the longest in eight weeks. Air China Ltd. and Korean Air Lines Co. lost more than 3 percent on speculation higher fuel costs will crimp earnings. India’s Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index retreated 1.4 percent as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party said March 5 it would end support for Singh’s Indian National Congress-led government.

The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Persian gulf stocks advanced

1.4 percent, with Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rising

3.3 percent. S&P said the country may escape the popular unrest that is sweeping the Middle East and that the outlook for nation’s debt is stable.

Tunisia’s Tunindex gained 4.2 percent as trading resumed after a week-long stoppage triggered by violent protests that forced the prime minister to resign.

 

The only way to achieve consciousness is by concentrating on the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. Concentration on the powers of the spirit to discover unity in diversity is called consciousness. All that draws on unity is moral; all that draws on diversity is immoral.

~Swami Vivekananda

 

With kind regards,
Chelsey for Carolann

 

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined.”

~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

 

Dear Friends,

Carolann is at a course today at UBC so I am writing in her absence ~ Chelsey

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss’s birthday. He would have been 107. Some of my favourite Dr. Seuss quotes are:

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

~Dr. Seuss (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991)

 

First Lady Michelle Obama reads ‘The Cat in the Hat’ to students during a visit to the Oyster Adams Bilingual School, with Mexico’s first lady Margarita Zavala, in Washington. Jose Luis Magana/AP

Market Commentary

Canada

Canadian stocks rose for a second day after Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) reported earnings that beat analyst estimates as a rebounding economy boosted fees from consumer lending.

Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, advanced 5.2 percent after it reported first-quarter profit on an adjusted basis that beat the average analyst estimate by 25 percent. Toronto-Dominion rose 3.9 percent after reporting first-quarter profit excluding some items that beat the average analyst estimate by 13 percent. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) declined 2.6 percent as the metal dropped.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index gained 70.70 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 14,214.72 in Toronto, the highest level since June 2008.

“Toronto-Dominion and other Canadian banks don’t have subprime worries,” said Paul Ma, who oversees C$500 million ($512.82 million) as a money manager at McLean & Partners in Calgary. “If you look at income and lending, they are doing really, really well and beating estimates. The only thing you worry about is valuation.”

Fifty-four percent of the companies in the S&P/TSX that have reported earnings since Jan. 10, have surpassed the average analyst estimate. All six Canadian banks that posted results have beaten forecasts as loan losses fell and consumer lending climbed after Canada’s economy grew more than economists forecast.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY) added 5.2 percent to C$59.92, the highest price since May 19. Toronto-Dominion advanced 3.9 percent to C$83.60, the highest price since at least January 1983.

Barrick slumped 2.6 percent to C$51.10. Gold declined the most in six weeks after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to mediate a resolution to the crisis in Libya. The Arab League said it’s weighing the offer.

Gold futures for April delivery declined 1.5 percent to settle at $1,416.40 in New York. The precious metal had gained 9 percent from Jan. 27 through yesterday as unrest in northern Africa and the Middle East spurred demand for a haven.

Oil declined for the first time in three days in New York, as crude for April delivery slid 0.3 percent to settle at $101.91 a barrel. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ) slumped 3.2 percent to C$48.12, the biggest drop since Jan. 7. The nation’s second-largest energy company reported fourth-quarter earnings of 57 Canadian cents a share on an adjusted basis, missing the average analyst estimate by 13 percent, Bloomberg data show.

US

(Bloomberg) U.S. stocks rallied, giving benchmark indexes their biggest advances in three months, as a decrease in jobless claims and growth in service industries bolstered confidence in the economic recovery.

DuPont Co. and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) advanced at least 2.8 percent, pacing gains in industrial companies. A gauge of retailers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.2 percent as Retail Metrics said industry sales rose 4.3 percent in February, topping analyst estimates. Big Lots Inc. (BIG) jumped 3.6 percent after reporting earnings that beat forecasts. Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) rose 7.7 percent as the refiner projected a profit.

The S&P 500 added 1.7 percent to 1,330.97 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 191.40 points, or 1.6 percent, to 12,258.20. Both gauges gained the most since Dec. 1. Crude oil declined as Venezuela offered to mediate a resolution to the Libyan crisis. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500, tumbled 10 percent, the most since November, to 18.60.

“It’s a relief rally,” said Michael Nasto, senior trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages about $3 billion in San Antonio. “We got strong economic data across the board. Oil is down, which is also a positive, reflecting what I like to call a controlled chaos in the Middle East. Traders are happy about the fact that the market has been hanging in there despite all the recent turmoil.”

The S&P 500 has risen 5.8 percent this year as government stimulus measures, improving profits and increased takeovers bolstered confidence in equities. Per-share profit topped analysts’ estimates at 71 percent of the 470 companies in the gauge that have reported results since Jan. 10, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Earlier today, equity-index futures extended gains before the open of exchanges as the Labor Department report said applications for unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 to 368,000 in the week ended Feb. 26. Economists forecast claims would rise to 395,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level since October 2008.

A separate report today showed that the Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses rose to 59.7, the highest level since August 2005, from 59.4 in January. Economists forecast the gauge would fall to 59.3, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. A reading above 50 signals growth.

U.S. consumer confidence last week held close to the highest level in almost three years as more Americans said their finances were in good shape. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, formerly the ABC News U.S. Weekly Consumer Comfort Index, was minus 39.3 in the period to Feb. 27, compared with minus 39.2 the prior week. Respondents’ view of their financial situation climbed to an almost two-year high.

“All the economic data today was strong and pointed to a self-sustaining U.S. recovery,” said Richard Campagna, chief executive officer of 300 North Capital LLC, which manages $500 million in Pasadena, California. “You had two big picture things that came out. There’s possibly less uncertainty in the Middle East. At the same time, jobless claims dipped below expectations. These things added together are driving everything higher except the safe havens.”

Bridgewater Associates LP Chief Investment Officer Ray Dalio told financial-news channel CNBC that a “pretty good environment” exists for some investments in U.S. equities. Dalio said investors in U.S. stocks should consider diversification in underrated assets, adding that 2011 “should be a good year for equities, by and large.”

Shares of industrial companies, among the stocks most dependent on economic growth, led the gains in the S&P 500, rallying 2.4 percent as a group. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index added 2.1 percent as 28 of its 30 stocks advanced.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average of 20 shipping, airline, railroad and trucking companies increased 2.5 percent as the drop in oil prices eased concern about rising fuel costs.

DuPont, the third-biggest U.S. chemical maker, rose 2.8 percent to $54.55. Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, advanced 3.3 percent to $104.25.

The S&P 500 Retailing Index (S5RETL) gained 1.2 percent as same- store sales in February surpassed analysts’ estimates, driven by department stores as more confident shoppers embraced the arrival of warm-weather goods.

Same-store sales rose 4.3 percent last month, beating an overall compilation of analysts’ estimates for a gain of 3.8 percent at the 27 chains tracked by Retail Metrics, based in Swampscott, Massachusetts. That marked the 18th straight monthly gain from September 2009 and the fifth time in the past seven months that sales have beaten projections.

Big Lots advanced 3.6 percent to $41.33. The Columbus, Ohio-based discount retailer reported fourth-quarter profit of $1.46 a share excluding some items. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated profit of $1.38 on average.

Valero climbed 7.7 percent, the biggest gain in the S&P 500, to $28.98. The independent U.S. refiner said it expects to earn as much as 30 cents a share in the first quarter, after recording a loss of $348 million on forward sales of refined products. The company removed a “negative” by closing out the positions, Credit Suisse Group AG said in a note.

Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) advanced 5.7 percent to $32.30, the highest price since September 2008. Stifel Nicolaus & Co. raised its recommendation for the managed health-care company to “buy” from “hold”.

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. fell 5.6 percent, the biggest decline in the S&P 500, to $26.78. The mobile-phone maker was cut to “neutral” from “outperform” by Cowen & Co., which cited competition for the company’s XOOM tablet from Apple Inc.’s iPad 2, being introduced next week.

 

Warmest regards,

Chelsey for Carolann

 

“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” ~George Washington (1732-1799)

 

Dear Friends,

 

Today, The Globe & Mail reminds us is the anniversary of the premiere of King Kong in New York.   On March 2, 1933, “In the darkest year of the Depression, two days before Franklin Roosevelt delivered his only-thing-to-fear-is-fear-itself inauguration address, New York audiences lined up for the premiere of the decade’s greatest horror film, King Kong.  The story of the giant ape who wreaks havoc in Manhattan after being kidnapped from his native island starred 25-year old, Alberta-born Fay Wray as beauty to Kong’s beast.  With a blond wig over her brown hair and a form-fitting satin gown she was carried in an enormous hand to the top of the Empire State Building, Wray shrieked her way into history as Hollywood’s first ‘scream queen.’  Over the decades, the title has been passed to Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis and another Canadian, Neve Campbell.  After Wray died in 2004, the lights of the Empire State Building were shut off for 15 minutes in her honor.”

British artist Anthony McCall poses for photographers next to a scale model of his work, “Column,” during a presentation of his commission for the Cultural Olympiad, in central London. McCall has been commissioned by Britain’s Arts Council and the Cultural Olympiad to create his “column” – a 20 metre wide column of cloud that will rise from the surface of water – on Merseyside next year.

Andrew Winning /Reuters

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

March 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as energy producers advanced after the U.S. job market strengthened and concern mounted that unrest in Libya will spread to other oil exporting countries in northern Africa and the Middle East.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation’s second- largest energy company by market value, advanced 1.6 percent.

Bombardier Inc. added 7.5 percent after NetJets Inc., the business-jet operator owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., ordered as many as 120 planes. Cenovus Energy Inc. added 2.4 percent as oil rallied.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 21.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 14,144.02 in Toronto, the highest level since June 2008.

“There was some economic data out of the U.S. that was pretty positive for the market,” said Marcus Xu, director of equity investments at Genus Capital Management in Vancouver, which manages C$1.7 billion ($1.8 billion).

A private report released before exchanges opened showed that companies in the U.S. added more workers in February than forecast, indicating the labor market may be strengthening.

Employment increased by 217,000 last month after a revised 189,000 gain in January, according to figures from ADP Employer Services. Canada is the largest U.S. oil supplier.

A subgroup of 58 energy producers in the Canadian benchmark equity index has added 14 percent since Jan. 10 on concern political unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa will restrict oil supply. Oil futures have soared 15 percent in the same period.

Oil futures climbed to a 29-month high as Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi attacked rebels on the east coast where much of the oil is refined and shipped abroad. Crude oil for April delivery rose 2.6 percent to settle at $102.23 a barrel in New York, the highest price since September 2008.

Canadian Natural advanced 1.6 percent to C$49.73, the highest price since July 2008. Suncor, the country’s biggest energy company, added 0.8 percent to C$46.02, the fourth straight gain. Cenovus gained 2.4 percent to C$38.60, the highest price since November 2009.

European Goldfields Ltd. gained 2.7 percent to C$13.54, after Executive Chairman Martyn Konig said the company expects environmental permits for two mines in Greece “imminently,”

after news reports last week said the approvals may be delayed.

Bombardier rose 7.5 percent to C$6.60 for the biggest gain in the Canadian benchmark equity index. Buffett’s agreement to purchase as many as 120 planes from the company is worth $6.7 billion at list prices, and comprises 50 firm orders and 70 options, according to a statement.

GMP Capital Inc., Canada’s second-biggest non-bank brokerage, climbed 3.1 percent to C$15.50, after the firm said fourth-quarter profit almost doubled on record capital markets revenue. GMP reported profit of 50 Canadian cents a share on an adjusted basis, beating the average analyst estimate by 35 percent, Bloomberg data show.

US

March 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, rebounding from yesterday’s slump, as chipmakers rallied and signs of a strengthening job market bolstered optimism the economy can withstand a surge in energy costs. Treasuries and the dollar fell. Persian Gulf shares slid to the lowest level since July.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.5 percent to

1,312.35 at 3:11 p.m. in New York after sinking 1.6 percent yesterday. Chipmakers led gains as JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its recommendation on the industry. Oil climbed to a 29-month high above $102 a barrel amid concern unrest in the Middle East will disrupt supplies. Ten-year Treasury yields rose seven basis points to 3.47 percent and the Dollar Index lost 0.5 percent.

The S&P 500 tumbled 2.7 percent from its 32-month high on Feb. 18 through yesterday amid concern surging energy prices will hurt consumer spending and corporate profits. Today’s advance came after ADP Employer Services said companies in the U.S. added 217,000 jobs last month, topping economists’

estimates, and the Federal Reserve said the labor market improved throughout the country early this year.

“This is a fairly resilient market,” said Jeffrey Davis, who oversees $5 billion as chief investment officer at Lee Munder Capital Group in Boston. “We’re in a sustainable economic recovery. Without any serious move in oil prices, you’ll probably get a market that has a firm foundation to it.

In such a case, any pullback will be minor.”

Xilinx Inc., Altera Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc. rose at least 3.1 percent and semiconductor companies climbed the most among 24 groups. Christopher Danely, an analyst at JPMorgan, raised the industry to “constructive” from “cautious” on improving economic and inventory trends.

Improvements in the labor market were driven by increasing retail sales and “solid growth” in manufacturing, the Fed said in its Beige Book report, an anecdotal account of the economy.

The Labor Department will release its February jobs report in two days, with the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey calling for an increase of 195,000 jobs.

Equities retreated from Tokyo to London earlier as crude surged. Oil futures advanced as much as 2.8 percent as Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi attacked rebels on the east coast where much of the country’s oil is refined and shipped abroad.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.7 percent as about three shares fell for every one that advanced. Daimler AG, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, lost 2.8 percent, leading automakers lower. Swiss Reinsurance Co. slipped 1.9 percent after estimating $800 million of costs from the New Zealand earthquake. Celesio AG tumbled 6.2 percent after DZ Bank AG recommended selling shares of the German drug wholesaler.

The VStoxx Index, which measures the cost of protecting against a decline in the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, climbed 3.3 percent to 24.60, the highest level in almost a week.

The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, a gauge of Persian Gulf shares, slid 3.3 percent and has tumbled 9.8 percent in four days. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slumped 3.9 percent, down 15 percent in four days. The Dubai Financial Market General Index sank 3.5 percent to the lowest since June

2004 today, while benchmark equity measures in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar lost more than 2 percent. Credit-default swaps on Bahrain rose 16 basis points to 315 at 3 p.m. in London, according to CMA.

New Zealand’s dollar slumped against all 16 of its most- traded peers, sliding as much as 1.2 percent versus the U.S.

currency to a 2011 low, after Prime Minister John Key said he expects the central bank to cut interest rates as the nation grapples with the aftermath of the deadliest earthquake in 80 years.

The extra yield investors demand to hold Greek 10-year bonds instead of benchmark German bunds rose to 888 basis points, the highest level in almost two months. S&P said the debt ratings of Greece and Portugal remain at risk of being cut on concern about how a European Union rescue fund may affect holders of the two nations’ sovereign bonds.

The ratings company kept Greece’s BB+ long-term ratings and Portugal’s A- long-term and A2 short-term classifications on creditwatch negative, according to a statement yesterday. The yield on the 10-year Portuguese security rose two basis points to 7.48 percent.

 

Be magnificent!

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

-Swami Vivekananda,1863-1902

As ever,

Carolann

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible. -Walt Disney, 1901-1966

Dear Friends,

We had a fun experience last night at The Empress where there was a culinary adventure named Battle of the Chefs.   Victoria Empress Hotel chef Takashi Ito competed with Newport Beach’s Fairmont Hotel’s chef to create dishes to compliment cocktails that were created by the beverage team.  There were five courses and really, both chefs were outstanding.  One of our table’s favorite  cocktails was a 1908 creation served in a martini glass, black tea infused gin with some other concoction.  The Newport Beach chef paired this with seared foie gras on a scone with marmalade, while the Victoria chef created a chicken with orange infusion.  Anyway it was really great.  There are many things scheduled all year long  like this which you can check out on their web site.

Oscar night Sunday night!

photos of the day
February 25, 2011

Marathon runner Joseph Tame, wearing the ‘iRun’ apparatus, stretches prior to a test run in Tokyo for Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon. Tokyo-resident Tame, of Hereford, England, intends to run the Tokyo marathon with his self-made, mobile, social-media studio that is equipped with four iPhones, an iPad, two Android handsets, a weather center pinned on his helmet and a heart monitor with a GPS, to give viewers a real-time experience of the marathon on his website www.tm2011.com.

Itsuo Inouye/AP

Sotheby’s technicians hold Guardi’s Venice, A View of the Rialto Bridge, which will be auctioned on July 6, 2011. The painting is expected to sell for more than $32 million.

Joel Ryan/AP

One of two 8-foot-tall Oscar statues is delivered to The Carlyle Hotel for the Official New York Oscar Night Party in New York. The 83rd annual Academy Awards will be held on Sunday.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters