Category: Uncategorized

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

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

I have always loved photography, but never been quite good at it so over the past couple weeks I have been speaking with some friends to get some tips on how to take a good photo.  One friend told me “ It’s about the photographer, not the camera”.  When I asked him what that meant, he told me that a picture is directed by the photographer, meaning they pick the composition, decide on the exposure and also decide on the moment the picture is captured.  I thought about what he had told me, which made sense and decided to do some research on my own. I came across the Kodak website, which gave beginner photographers some tips on how to take a good picture:

1) Look your subject in the eye

2) Use a plain background

3) Use flash outdoors

4) Move in close

5) Move it from the middle

6) Lock the focus

7) Know your flash’s range

8 ) Watch the light

9) Take some vertical pictures

10) Be a picture director

“A good photographer will make art with a cheap camera; the same cannot be said for a bad photographer with expensive gear.” Unknown

Photos of the Day –August 12^th, 2013

In this long exposure photo, a streak appears in the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull, conceived decades ago in Spain as highway billboards, in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain in the early hours. Paul White/AP

France’s Renaud Lavillenie competes in the men’s pole vault final at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia. David J. Phillip/AP

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” – Thomas Henry Huxley

Market Closes for August 12^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	15419.68	-5.83    -0.04%
S&P 500	1689.47	-1.95    -0.12%
NASDAQ	3669.951	+9.843    +0.27%
TSX	12594.27	+52.14
		+0.42%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13519.43	-95.76
		-0.70%
HANG  SENG	22271.28	+463.72
		+2.13%
SENSEX	18946.98	+157.64
		+0.84%
FTSE 100	6574.34	-9.05
		-0.14%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.537	2.480
CND.   30 Year Bond	3.029	2.983
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.6206	2.5766
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.6838	3.6345

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.96999	0.97161
US   $	1.03094	1.02922
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.37100	0.72940
US  $	1.32986	0.75196

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1336.82	1314.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	106.11	105.97
BRENT	109.359	109.359

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose after three weeks of losses as China boosted purchases of precious metals and BlackBerry Ltd.’s board said it is considering selling the company.

BlackBerry jumped 10 percent, the most since March, as it announced it will form a special board committee to consider options for the company including joint ventures and partnerships. Barrick Gold Corp. and Eldorado Gold Corp. surged at least 4.1 percent as the metal capped the longest rally in four weeks. Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Silver Wheaton Corp. advanced more than 5.2 percent as silver prices gained. Alliance Grain Traders Inc., a seller of specialty crops such as lentils, gained 5.1 percent after reporting better-than-estimated earnings.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 52.14 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,594.27 at 4 p.m. in Toronto.

Trading volume was 8.3 percent higher than the 30-day average at this time of the day.

“You’re starting to see a bit of outperformance in the TSX on the back of strength in China,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages C$220 million ($214 million). “The Chinese are aggressively buying precious metals, so gold import numbers were quite healthy and that’s leading to a rally in materials.”

China’s domestic purchases of gold jumped 54 percent to 706.4 metric tons in the first half of 2013, compared with a year earlier, the China Gold Association said in a report today.

Buying of gold-bar purchases surged 87 percent and jewelry demand increased 44 percent.

Barrick Gold advanced 4.1 percent to C$18.74 and Eldorado Gold surged 7.6 percent to C$8.76 as all 24 companies in the S&P/TSX Gold Index advanced. The gauge jumped 5.8 percent to 1,649.24, its highest close since July 23. Gold prices rose 1.7 percent to settle at $1,334.20 an ounce in New York. Gold climbed for a fourth straight day, the longest rally since July 11.

Silvercorp Metals jumped 10 percent to C$3.52 and Silver Wheaton added 5.2 percent to C$25.26. Silver for September delivery soared to a seven-week high.

Torex Gold Resources Inc. surged 12 percent to C$1.57.

Killian Charles, an analyst at Industrial Alliance Securities Inc., began coverage of the stock today with a buy rating and a price target of C$1.80.

The company’s Morelos gold mine in Mexico is expected to begin production in 2015 and “will work in any gold price environment,” Charles said in a note to clients.

BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario, rose 10 percent to C$11.10, the biggest gain since March 13. The announcement today builds on a move last year when BlackBerry hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and RBC Capital Markets to advise the company on strategic alternatives. At the time, Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said a sale wasn’t the “main direction” he was considering. Prospects have worsened since then, with the new BlackBerry 10 — the linchpin of a turnaround strategy — meeting scant demand.

Aimia Inc. climbed 4.1 percent to C$15.93, the highest close in three months. The loyalty program manager said today Toronto-Dominion Bank will become the primary credit-card issuer for its Aeroplan loyalty cards.

The deal ends a 22-year allegiance between Aimia and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. CIBC didn’t match TD Bank’s June conditional agreement with Aimia by an Aug. 9 deadline and is now negotiating a sale of half its Aerogold credit-card portfolio to the other bank.

CIBC gained 2 percent to C$78.47 while TD Bank slipped 0.3 percent to C$86.41.

Alliance Grain Traders increased 5.1 percent to C$16.48, the most in three months. The Regina, Saskatchewan-based company, which buys, processes and sells food ingredients including pasta and rice, reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 24 Canadian cents a share, ahead of analysts’ estimates for 16 cents. The company said it is “optimistic” as it heads into the North American harvest period.

US

By Lu Wang and Nick Taborek

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its fifth drop in six sessions, as data showed a slowdown in Japan’s economic growth and investors awaited tomorrow’s report on America’s retail sales.

Tesla Motors Inc. declined 3.7 percent as Lazard Capital Markets LLC downgraded the carmaker’s shares. Sysco Corp. fell 5.8 percent after results missed analysts’ estimates. Apple Inc. advanced 2.8 percent after winning a patent-infringement battle against Samsung Electronics Co. BlackBerry Ltd. rallied 10 percent as the company’s board said it is exploring alternatives, including a possible sale.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent to 1,689.47 at 4 p.m. in New York, extending its loss from a record high to 1.2 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 5.83 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,419.68. About 5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 20 percent below the three-month average.

“We have growth frustratingly low offset by discount rates that are unnaturally low,” Joe Costigan, director of equity research at Bryn Mawr Trust Co. in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $6.7 billion. “As long as that’s the case, the market will stay locked at least into September and you’ll see days like this with low volume and really not a lot of conviction.”

The S&P 500 declined 1.1 percent last week, its biggest drop in seven weeks, and the Dow dropped 1.5 percent in the period, snapping a string of six weekly advances, amid growing speculation the Federal Reserve will pare bond purchases this year as the economy strengthens.

The S&P 500 has rallied 18 percent so far in 2013 and closed at a record 1,709.67 on Aug. 2. The index is trading at 15.3 times projected earnings, up from 13.1 times on the first trading day of this year. That compares with a five-year average of 13.9 times, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Better-than-estimated corporate earnings and central bank stimulus, including record-low borrowing rates, have helped equities rally, with the S&P 500 surging more than 150 percent from its bear-market low in 2009.

Of the 450 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly results this period, 72 percent have exceeded analysts’ profit estimates, with earnings rising 2.8 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“We’ve seen a rally with a multiple expansion and not necessarily earnings growth,” Jeff Schwarte, a money manager who helps oversee about $290 billion in Des Moines, Iowa, at Principal Global Investors, said by phone. “We need to see earnings, we need to see some resolution on tapering.”

Investors have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is strong enough for the Fed to curtail its monthly bond buying. A Commerce Department report tomorrow will show that retail sales rose for a fourth consecutive month in July, economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted. A Fed release on Aug. 15 may show factories, mines and utilities increased their output in July. On Aug. 16, reports will probably show that housing starts and building permits rebounded last month.

In Asia, government reports showed Japan’s gross domestic product growth slowed from the first quarter to a pace below economists’ forecasts while Chinese factor production increased a higher-than-expected 9.7 percent in July.

Stock swings have narrowed. The S&P 500’s average intraday price changes averaged about 0.7 percent over the past 30 days, the smallest fluctuation since a comparable period ended Feb. 21, data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, retreated 4.5 percent to 12.81. The equity volatility gauge reached its 2013 peak in June and has since dropped 37 percent.

Seven of 10 main groups in the S&P 500 fell today, with utility and energy stocks sinking at least 0.5 percent to lead the retreat.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lost 0.8 percent to $54.09, the stock’s seventh straight decline. Prosecutors are weighing penalties for the bank, including a fine and a reprimand, related to allegations staff tried to conceal losses last year, the New York Times reported. The U.S. may announce charges as early as this week against former London-based employees, a person familiar with the matter said.

Tesla slumped 3.7 percent to $147.38. Investors are pricing in the company’s development into a successful premium manufacturer similar to Porsche Automobil Holding SE over the next decade, and any “execution issues” with its electric car models could send the shares down to $100, Aditya Satghare, an analyst with Lazard, wrote in a note to clients.

Sysco fell 5.8 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $32.99.

The food distributor said it will not meet its fiscal 2015 earnings forecast as weak restaurant traffic hurt profit.

Apple advanced 2.8 percent to $467.36, snapping a four-day losing streak. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Aug. 9 said Samsung Electronics infringed two Apple patents and issued an order banning imports of products using the iPhone maker’s multitouch features and headphone jack detection.

F5 Networks Inc. gained 3.1 percent to $92.70. Barclays Plc analyst Ben Reitzes upgraded the Internet software provider to overweight from equalweight, citing improved prospects in the company’s networking business and “significant” opportunities to provide security solutions.

BlackBerry jumped 10 percent, the most since March 11, to $10.78. The mobile device maker said it has formed a special committee to explore options including a sale of the company or a joint venture. Its shares slumped 18 percent this year through the end of last week.

Newmont Mining Corp., the world’s second-biggest gold producer, gained 4.7 percent to $30.90 for the largest increase in the S&P 500, as the precious metal rose a fourth day, the longest rally in almost a month. Barrick Gold Corp, Newmont Mining’s bigger rival, added 4.5 percent to $18.21.

J.C. Penney Co. gained 2.3 percent to $13.17. The stock erased an earlier decline people familiar with the situation said shareholders Soros Fund Management LLC and Glenview Capital Management LLC support the current management team in a dispute between Bill Ackman and Chairman Tom Engibous over the company’s leadership.

Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP owns about 18 percent of the retailer’s shares, asked his fellow J.C. Penney directors last week to expedite the search for a new chief executive officer and to replace Engibous. The stock tumbled 5.8 percent Aug. 9 and has lost 33 percent this year.

 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

As ever,

 

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”

– Thomas Jefferson

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends.

Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln

Four score and seven years ago

our fathers brought forth on this continent

a new nation, conceived in liberty,

and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war,

testing whether that nation,

or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,

can long endure.

We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field

as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives

that that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in  a larger sense, we cannot dedicate –

we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this ground.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggle here,

have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here,

but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here

to the unfinished work which they who fought here

have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated

to the great task remaining before us-

that from these honored dead we take increased devotion

to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion –

that we here highly resolve

that these dead shall not have died in vain –

that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom –

and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,

shall not perish from the earth.

Photos of the Day –July 4th, 2013

A man looks toward the statue of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, during a visit to the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Aisha Al Dulaimi (l.) sister Noor Al Dulaimi with their father, Max (r.) all from Iraq, and Adam Omar (c.) from Sudan, celebrate Independence Day with American neighbors and new refugees in Durham, N.C. Bernard Thomas/The Herald-Sun/AP

Market Closes for July 4^th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14988.55	Closed
S&P 500	1615.41	Closed
NASDAQ	3443.670	Closed
TSX	12166.66	+20.98
		+0.17%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	14018.93	-36.63
		-0.26%
HANG  SENG	20468.67	+321.36
		+1.60%
SENSEX	19410.84	+233.08
		+1.22%
FTSE 100	6421.67	+191.80
		+3.08%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	2.418	2.414
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.858	2.858
U.S.   10 Year Bond	2.5032	2.5032
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.4931	3.4931

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.95095	0.95175
US   $	1.05158	1.05070
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.35804	0.73635
US  $	1.29143	0.77433

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1250.43	1253.51
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	101.24	101.24
BRENT	105.96	105.94

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

July 4 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as metals and energy producers advanced and investors braced for U.S. and Canadian jobs data tomorrow.

Centerra Gold Inc. rose 6.2 percent and Alacer Gold Corp.

added 1.2 percent as the price of gold headed for the biggest weekly gain in two months. Bankers Petroleum Ltd. and Niko Resources Ltd. gained at least 3.6 percent as the price of crude traded near a 14-month high. TransGlobe Energy Corp., an oil and gas producer with operations in Egypt, lost 3.9 percent. WestJet Airlines Ltd. slipped 0.5 percent after reporting that planes were less full in June than a year earlier.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 20.98 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,166.66 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has fallen 2.2 percent this year. With many U.S. markets closed due to the Independence Day holiday, trading volume was 76 percent lower than the 30-day average.

Adly Mansour, chief justice of Egypt’s constitutional court, was sworn in as interim president after the army ousted Mohamed Mursi yesterday amid widespread protests in the country that spiked crude oil prices on concern of shipping disruptions through the Suez Canal.

Mark Carney, in his first meeting as governor of the Bank of England, signaled the bank will keep interest rates at a record low for longer than investors had expected.

“We’re getting some calm out of Egypt, and the Bank of England comments are supportive of accommodative policy which may imply the Fed won’t be as quick to taper QE,” said Philip Petursson, director of institutional equities with Manulife Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$252 billion ($240 million). “The markets want to rally and investors want to put their money to work.”

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced. Centerra Gold jumped 6.2 percent to C$3.76 and Alacer Gold added 1.2 percent to C$2.48. Gold for August delivery slipped 0.2 percent to $1,249.50 an ounce in New York. The gold price has advanced 2.1 percent this week, headed for the biggest weekly gain since April.

Economists estimate U.S. payrolls grew by 165,000 workers after rising by 175,000 in May, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey ahead of a report from the Labor Department tomorrow. The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 7.5 percent from 7.6 percent.

U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers said last month they would trim bond purchases before the end of the year if unemployment continues to fall.

Canada is forecast to lose 7,500 jobs in June, following a 95,000 increase in May, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The unemployment rate will stay at 7.1 percent.

TransGlobe Energy slumped 3.9 percent to C$6.48. In 2012, the company’s Egyptian operations accounted for 93 percent of its revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bankers Petroleum surged 5.1 percent to C$2.90 and Niko Resources added 3.6 percent to C$9. Crude for August delivery was little changed at $101.12 a barrel in electronic trading in New York after rising to a 14-month high yesterday, crossing the $100 level for the first time since May 2012.

WestJet fell 0.5 percent to C$22.39 after the Calgary-based airliner reported its June load factor declined 2.2 percentage points to 76.8 percent from 79 percent a year earlier, while year-to-date the measure has slipped 0.4 percentage points to 81.9 percent. Load factor measures capacity usage in the airline industry.

US

The US markets were closed today.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

An animal, a child and an ignoramus are slaves to their desires.

They want to satisfy them immediately, whatever the time, the place or the circumstances…

How can a man be distinguished from them?  Before satisfying his desires, a man takes into account the time,

the place and the circumstances, because he is trying to achieve an aim.

Swami Prajnanpad, 1891-1974

As ever,

Carolann

The human mind is our fundamental resource.

–John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808

(C): 250.881.0801

Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895

Fax: 778.430.5828

www.carolannsteinhoff.com

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in,

1397

616 years ago

Geoffrey Chaucer, one of England’s (it’s poetry month still) greatest poets, recites The Canterbury Tales for the first time, before the court of Richard ll.

Lots of talk these days about King Richard, specifically Richard lll.  The world marveled as a team of British archaeologists recently located and dug up the remains of the supposedly villainous king’s 500-year old bones buried under a parking lot it Leicester, England.   On Sunday, April 21^st at 9 PM on the Smithsonian Channel, there will be a program to see entitled The King’s Skeleton: Richard lll Revealed.

The world said good-bye to Lady Thatcher today.  Conrad Black paid tribute to her in a column in The National Post this past week.  He wrote, “The matriarchy hated Thatcher with a passion, exceeding even the general loathing of the left.

The reason was simple.  Thatcher did it without them.

Actually, she did it in spite of them.  She did what others pay lip service to: selected what was hard and right over what was easy and wrong.  When she said dreadfully earnest things like ‘disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction,’ she meant them.  Thatcher appears to have been one of those rare people who call it as they see it and see it as it really is – not invariably, perhaps, but often enough.  Thatcher, often described as ideological, was perhaps the most pragmatic politician of our times.  She preferred what worked to what merely sounded good and ought to have worked if, in fact, it didn’t.”

Photos of the day – April  17th, 2013

Guests read from the order of service during the ceremonial funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. World leaders and dignitaries from 170 countries attended. Stefan Wermuth/AP

Actress Tilda Swinton sleeps in a box for her performance piece called “The Maybe.”, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Keith Bedford/Reuters

Market Closes for April 17th, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14618.59	-138.19    -0.94%
S&P 500	1552.01	-22.56    -1.43%
NASDAQ	3204.673	-59.956    -1.84%
TSX	11947.29	-172.63
		-1.42%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	13382.89	+161.45
		+1.22%
HANG  SENG	21569.67	-102.36
		-0.47%
SENSEX	18731.16	-13.77
		-0.07%
FTSE 100	6244.21	-60.37
		-0.96%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.712	1.737
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.360	2.382
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.6950	1.7224
U.S.   30 Year Bond	2.8779	2.9092

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.97444	0.97925
US   $	1.02623	1.02119
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.33773	0.74754
US  $	1.30353	0.76712

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1377.63	1369.30
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	86.68	88.72
BRENT	97.77	100.52

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

April 17 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index to a five-month low, after the central bank cut its growth outlook and said that economic slack will persist for more than two years.

Lundin Mining Corp. sank 9.9 percent after the Democratic Republic of Congo banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates. Barrick Gold Corp. plunged to a 20-year low after Moody’s Investors Service said it was reviewing its debt for possible downgrade. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified miner, and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. slid at least 5 percent as copper had the biggest decline in more than a year.

Suncor Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. lost more than 1.5 percent as oil fell for the fourth time in five days.

The S&P/TSX fell 172.63 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,947.29 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the lowest since Nov. 16. The benchmark equity gauge has fallen 3.9 percent this year.

“When you look at what drives commodity prices, a very important factor is global GDP growth and estimates have come down,” said Anish Chopra, fund manager with TD Asset Management Ltd. in Toronto. The firm manages C$204 billion ($200 billion).

“You’re seeing this reaction in copper and oil as demand for these products goes down in an environment of slower economic growth.”

The Bank of Canada cut its growth forecast for 2013 to 1.5 percent from 2 percent as “a material degree of slack has re- emerged in the Canadian economy,” policy makers with the bank said today. The bank also held the benchmark interest rate at 1 percent for the 21st consecutive meeting, as expected by all 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Raw-materials, energy producers and banks contributed most to losses in the S&P/TSX as eight of 10 industries retreated.

Trading volume was 35 percent higher than the 30-day average.

Barrick, the world’s largest gold producer, slumped 5.8 percent to C$18.12, the lowest level since 1993. About $7.45 billion of debt was placed under review for downgrade, Moody’s said in a statement today.

Barrick faces challenges in its Pascua Lama project after the Chilean government filed an injunction halting construction due to environmental concerns, Moody’s said.

Suncor, Canada’s largest oil producer, dropped 1.5 percent to C$27.98 and Canadian Natural Resources lost 1.7 percent to C$29.53. Crude for May delivery declined 2.3 percent to settle at $86.68 a barrel in New York. Energy shares closed at the lowest level since November. Gold stocks tumbled to the lowest since October 2008.

Bank of Nova Scotia, the nation’s third-largest lender, dropped 1.5 percent to C$56.83 while Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurance company, lost 2.1 percent to C$13.87 as 40 of 44 stocks in the S&P/TSX Financials Index fell.

The central bank said consumer debt will likely stabilize around the current record 165 percent of disposable income, which has been elevated in part due to a surge in home purchases since the 2008 financial crisis.

There are signs of “overbuilding” of multiple-unit housing such as condos in some cities, the Bank of Canada said.

The federal government has acted four times to make mortgage lending rules more restrictive.

Lundin Mining tumbled 9.9 percent to C$3.73 after the Democratic Republic of Congo banned exports of coper and cobalt concentrates to force mining companies to add value to the minerals before shipping them. Lundin owns a 24 percent stake in the Tenke mining project, the largest in the country, which produced 11,669 metric tons of cobalt last year.

First Quantum Minerals plunged 9.4 percent to C$15.43 and Teck Resources tumbled 5 percent to C$25.42. Copper for July delivery slid 3.6 percent to settle at $3.2025 a pound in New York, the biggest decline in 16 months.

The S&P/TSX Materials Index slumped 3.9 percent to the lowest level since March 2009.

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday the global economy will expand 3.3 percent this year, less than January’s 3.5 percent forecast, while also cutting its projection for expansion in China, the world’s biggest copper consumer.

US

By Inyoung Hwang and Whitney Kisling

April 17 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, erasing the biggest rally in three months for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid disappointing results by companies from Bank of America Corp. to Textron Inc.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 declined as technology, energy and financial shares dropped the most. Apple Inc. tumbled 5.5 percent, briefly falling below $400 for the first time since 2011 as one of its suppliers reported an inventory glut. Bank of America sank 4.7 percent after profit missed analysts’ projections. Textron slumped 13 percent after lowering its forecast for business-jet sales. Caterpillar Inc. slid 1.4 percent amid an analyst downgrade.

The S&P 500 declined 1.4 percent to 1,552.01 today, paring its 2013 gain to 8.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 138.19 points, or 0.9 percent, to 14,618.59. About 7.9 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges, 23 percent above the three-month average.

“We’re at a point where it’s been exceedingly positive and it’s now swinging back the other way, and that’s a treacherous time for markets,” Bruce McCain, who helps oversee more than $20 billion as chief investment strategist at the private- banking unit of KeyCorp in Cleveland, said in a phone interview.

“People are nervous.”

Today’s decline in the S&P 500 erased yesterday’s rally of 1.4 percent, which was sparked by better-than-expected housing data and earnings from Coca-Cola Co. to Johnson & Johnson. The index has fallen 2.6 percent since reaching an all-time high of 1,593.37 on April 11, as China’s economic growth unexpectedly slowed, commodities tumbled and data on American employment and retail sales missed economists’ estimates.

U.S. stocks are poised for a “spring break” that will bring losses to investors as economic growth slows and corporate earnings weaken, according to Jonathan Golub at UBS AG.

The S&P 500 declined 7.1 percent on average from May to August in the last three years, according to data compiled by UBS. The benchmark gauge for American equities rallied 8.8 percent between January and April and climbed 8.2 percent during the final four months from 2010 to 2012, the data show.

“The market’s advance has been out of sync with weak earnings and economic trends,” Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at UBS, wrote in a note dated yesterday. “Another spring break is likely to materialize and that now is a good time to begin dialing back on risk.”

The Federal Reserve said today in its Beige Book business survey that the U.S. economic expansion remained “moderate” amid gains in manufacturing, housing and autos that offset weakness in defense-related industries in some regions. The survey is based on reports from the Fed’s 12 regional banks from late February to early April.

Companies from American Express Co. to EBay Inc. are among those in the S&P 500 posting earnings today. Of the 57 that have reported so far this season, 39 of them have beaten profit estimates and 29 have exceeded forecasts for sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings at S&P 500 companies dropped 1.4 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would mark the first year-over-year decrease since 2009.

Companies whose earnings are most tied to economic swings led today’s retreat. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index dropped 1.9 percent. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, surged 18 percent to 16.51 today. The VIX, which moves in the opposite direction to the S&P 500 about 80 percent of the time, rallied 43 percent on April 15, the most since August 2011. The gauge is down 8.4 percent this year.

Technology companies retreated 2.3 percent, the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500.

Apple, the world’s most valuable company, plunged 5.5 percent to $402.80, briefly falling below $400 for the first time since December 2011. Apple’s audio-chip supplier, Cirrus Logic Inc., reported an inventory glut that suggests iPhone sales may fall short of analysts’ estimates. Cirrus Logic plunged 16 percent to $18.05.

The KBW Bank Index slipped 2 percent as all but one of its 24 members declined.

Bank of America tumbled 4.7 percent, the most since November, to $11.70 after shortfalls in mortgage banking and trading marred first-quarter results and slowed the company’s turnaround.

Energy stocks fell 1.9 percent as a group as oil fell to a four-month low. Chevron Corp. slumped 1.9 percent to $114.81 while Schlumberger Ltd. erased 3.2 percent to $70.97.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. plunged 4.3 percent to $28. The largest publicly traded copper producer has dropped for the past six days, losing 18 percent. Copper futures plunged the most in 16 months.

Textron slid 13 percent to $25.41 after saying business jet deliveries will probably fall this year. The Providence, Rhode Island-based manufacturer previously forecast a “modest” increase. First-quarter profit was 40 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 5 cents.

Caterpillar erased 1.4 percent to $81.47. Sameer Rathod, an analyst with Macquarie Group Ltd., cut the rating on the world’s largest maker of construction equipment to neutral from outperform, citing “tepid” growth in China that will continue longer than anticipated.

Mattel Inc. gained 1.9 percent, the third-biggest rally in the S&P 500, to $43.78. The world’s biggest toymaker posted first-quarter earnings of 11 cents a share, topping the 8-cent profit estimated by analysts on average.

Abbott Laboratories climbed 2.4 percent to $37.28. The medical device and nutritional products maker that split off its drug unit on Jan. 1 said first-quarter profit rose 55 percent on higher sales of its baby formula and lower taxes.

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

 

But if you are not connected with all living beings on earth,

you risk losing your relationship with humanity, with human beings.

We never truly look at a tree’s qualities; we never touch it to feel how solid it is, how rough its bark is,

to listen to the sound it makes.  Not the sound of the wind in the leaves,

nor the morning breeze that makes them rustle, but its own sound, the sound of the trunk,

the silent sound of the roots.  You have to be extremely sensitive to hear this sound.

It is not the noise people make, the chattering of thoughts, nor that of human quarrels and wars,

but the very sound of the universe.

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The symbol of all relationships among such men, the moral symbol of

respect for human beings, is the trader.

-Ayn Rand, 1905-1982

Atlas Shrugged, 1957

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann is away from the office today; therefore I am writing the Newsletter on her behalf.

The sunshine continues here in Victoria reaching a high of 13 degrees today.  This past weekend we were also blessed with great weather and beautiful sunshine.  All around Victoria people were out shopping, taking walks along the Inner Harbor and at Willows beach, people were out tanning.  Unfortunately I wasn’t one of the people tanning in this beautiful weather, but I was lucky enough to take a few hikes around Thetis Lake.  If you have never been up to Thetis, it is a beautiful spot to hike around.  The setting of nature with the lake off to the side makes for a breathtaking view while getting in a good workout. Along with Thetis another great hike is heading up to Mount Doug.  Now that the weather is getting better, take advantage of all the beautiful spots our gorgeous city has to offer!

Thetis Lake

Today in History:

1916 – The first U.S. national women’s swimming championships were held.

1924 – Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for high treason in relation to the “Beer Hall Putsch.”

1929 – Louie Marx introduced the Yo-Yo.

1931 – Jackie Mitchell became the first female in professional baseball when she signed with the Chattanooga Baseball Club.

1935 – The first radio tube to be made of metal was announced.

1938 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, NY.

1941 – The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM radio station began on W71NY in New York City.

1946 – Weight Watchers was formed.

1949 – “Happy Pappy” premiered. It was the first all-black-cast variety show.

1952 – The Big Bang theory was proposed in “Physical Review” by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow.

1953 – The U.S. Congress created the Department of Health Education and Welfare.

1960 – The U.S. launched TIROS-1. It was the first weather satellite.

“I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door – or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Photos of the Day – April 1^st, 2013Pilgrims dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes attend the traditional Georgi horse riding procession on Easter Monday in the southern Bavarian town of Traunstein, Germany. Since the early 16th century, farmers have taken part in the pilgrimage to bless their horses. Michaela

A performer walks through the street during Lagos Carnival in Lagos, Nigeria. Performers filled the streets of Lagos’ islands Monday as part of the Lagos Carnival, a major festival in Nigeria’s largest city during Easter weekend. Jon Gambrell/AP

Market Closes for April 1^st, 2013

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	14572.85	-5.69    -0.04%
S&P 500	1562.17	-7.02    -0.45%
NASDAQ	3239.173	-28.348    -0.87%
TSX	12695.14	-54.76
		-0.43%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	12135.02	-262.89
		-2.12%
HANG  SENG	22299.63	-165.19
		-0.74%
SENSEX	18864.75	+28.98
		+0.15%
FTSE 100	6411.74	+24.18
		+0.38%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.848	1.872
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.495	2.500
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.8314	1.8487
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.0743	3.1023

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98357	0.98395
US   $	1.01670	1.01631
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.30604	0.76567
US  $	1.28459	0.77846

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1599.59	1596.65
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	97.07	97.23
BRENT	111.52	110.37

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Inyoung Hwang

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as industrial and commodity shares paced declines amid reports showing U.S. manufacturing slowed and China’s factory output trailed forecasts.

China Gold International Resources Corp. plunged 13 percent after a mine accident. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Silver Wheaton Corp. sank more than 1.6 percent, as commodity prices slumped. Canadian National Railway Co. slumped 1.8 percent, while Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. lost 2.7 percent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. climbed 1 percent after a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst raised his rating on the stock.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 54.76 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,695.14 in Toronto. The benchmark gauge for Canadian equities is up 2.1 percent this year. Trading volume was 45 percent below the 30-day average.

“This is the beginning of a choppy period that may lead into a traditional May, June correction, which is why I’m positioning myself conservatively,” Keith Richards, fund manager with ValueTrend Wealth Management, said by telephone from Barrie, Ontario. His firm manages about C$100 million ($98 million). “The market looks for a trigger, whether it’s manufacturing data or something else.”

U.S. manufacturing expanded less than forecast in March as factories slowed production and orders waned. Factory output in China, the world’s biggest consumer of industrial metals, rose less than estimated. The Bank of Japan’s Tankan index showed pessimism among large manufacturers. The U.S and China are Canada’s two largest trading partners.

Eight out of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX dropped, led by a 1.6 percent decline among industrial companies. Canadian National slumped 1.8 percent to C$100.27. Canadian Pacific Railway lost 2.7 percent to C$128.99.

Material stocks lost 0.9 percent as a group. Copper futures slumped to the lowest in almost eight months on concern demand from China might ease. Silver slumped 1.3 percent to $27.94 an ounce.

China Gold International, the Vancouver-based unit of China National Gold Group, fell 13 percent to C$3.33. A landslide at a mine it owns in Tibet killed 21 people and another 62 are still missing, China National Radio said.

First Quantum, which explores for copper and gold, dropped 2.3 percent to C$18.88. Silver Wheaton sank 1.6 percent to C$31.30. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest miner of the metal, slid 1.2 percent to C$29.48.

Potash climbed 1 percent to C$40.29 after JPMorgan’s Jeffrey Zekauskas raised his recommendation on the world’s largest fertilizer producer to overweight from neutral.

Energy companies climbed 0.2 percent after fluctuating between gains and losses, as oil fell for the first time in six days on speculation that the closure of an Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline will increase U.S. inventories. Encana Corp. fell 1.1 percent to C$19.54.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., rallied 4.4 percent to C$15.39. The smartphone maker that is attempting a comeback with a new lineup was lifted to speculative buy from hold at Paradigm Capital Inc.

US

By Lindsey Rupp and Nikolaj Gammeltoft

April 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower after a record high, as data showed American manufacturing slid in March. The yen rose to a three-week high, while commodities tumbled after economic reports from Japan, China and South Korea missed estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.5 percent to 1,562.17 at 4 p.m. in New York. The yen appreciated 0.9 percent against the dollar after declining for a sixth month in March, the longest losing streak in 12 years. The S&P GSCI Index of 24 commodities fell 0.3 percent, with silver and corn both sliding into a bear market. Crude oil snapped a five-day rally while gold rose. Most European markets were closed for a holiday.

U.S. manufacturing expanded less than forecast in March as factories slowed production and orders waned. The Bank of Japan’s Tankan index showed pessimism among large manufacturers and data on South Korean exports and China factory output trailed forecasts. Shares retreated today after global stocks beat all other investments for a second quarter in the first three months of the year, the first back-to-back outperformance since 2009.

“We’ve had a whole year of returns in three months,” Tim Hartzell, who helps manage about $425 million as chief investment officer at Sequent Asset Management in Houston, said in a phone interview. “U.S. equities have gained at the expense of other markets, but we may slow down as we go into the summer season.”

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 51.3 in March from 54.2 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona- based group said today. Economists projected a reading of 54 for gauge, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Figures higher than 50 signal expansion. to need good earnings reports later this month.’’

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent on March 28 to reach its highest closing level. It remains below the all-time intraday high of 1,576.09. The gauge rallied 10 percent in the first quarter, extending a recovery that has added more than $10 trillion of value to the world’s largest stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average first passed its 2007 record on March 5.

Joy Global Inc., U.S. Steel Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. tumbled more than 2.2 percent as industrial and raw-material shares had the biggest declines among 10 S&P 500 groups. General Mills Inc. fell 1.3 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares.

Treasuries traded close to a four-week low after the manufacturing data. The 10-year yield fell one basis point to 1.84 percent.

The yen strengthened against 15 of its 16 major peers, advancing 0.7 percent versus the euro. South Korea’s won slipped 0.2 percent against the dollar. The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.2849, after depreciating 1.8 percent last month.

Unemployment in the euro area probably climbed to an all- time high of 12 percent in February, economists estimated before a report tomorrow. European Central Bank officials meet this week to set interest rates.

Japan’s Topix Index slid 3.3 percent, the most since March 2011, and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 2.1 percent. The Tankan rose to minus 8 in March from minus 12 in December, the Bank of Japan said today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey was minus 7.

“We need to see the economy showing signs of improvement and inflation numbers picking up in Japan,” Vasu Menon, head of content and research at OCBC Bank Ltd. in Singapore, said on Bloomberg Television’s On the Move with Rishaad Salamat. “China is recovering, but the recovery is going to be a modest one.”

Copper futures declined to the lowest in almost eight months after an industry report on manufacturing signaled demand may ease in China, the world’s biggest user of industrial metals. Futures for May delivery slid 0.8 percent on the Comex in New York. The London Metal Exchange is closed today. Silver fell 1.3 percent, extending a decline from Oct. 4 to 20 percent, meeting the definition used by some investors to identify a bear market. Gold rose for the second time in three sessions.

Oil slid for the first time in six days, dropping 16 cents to $97.07 a barrel, on speculation that the closure of an Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline will increase U.S. inventories.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index was 50.9 in March, Chinese government data showed today. The median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey was 51.2.

“The Chinese data came in below expectations, and the realization may be starting to set in that demand isn’t picking up as much as people thought it would,” Harry Denny, a broker at Hoboken, New Jersey-based PVM Futures Inc., said in a telephone interview. “The expectations for China are high, and they’re just not there. Stocks of copper are also very high.”

Corn entered a bear market, tumbling 7.6 percent, the biggest decline in 24 years. The price is down 23 percent since last year’s closing high. Bigger-than-forecast stockpiles and higher planting signal ample supplies in the U.S., the world’s top grower and exporter. Wheat fell to a nine-month low today, and soybeans dropped.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.3 percent, extending last quarter’s 1.9 percent decline. South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1 percent.

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

 

Be magnificent!

 

“Freedom lies in being bold.”– Robert Frost

 

As ever,

 

Amanda Bourke

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5808

Fax: 778-430-5838

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

We are enjoying a beautiful winter day today, with just a light dusting of frost this morning!  One of my favourite winter poems by Robert Frost came to mind today.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the villiage though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

 

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

 

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

 

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

By Robert Frost

 

“Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant” – Robert Louis Stevenson

 

On this day in…

1815 – By secret treaty, Austria, Britain, and France formed a defensive alliance against Prusso-Russian plans to solve the Saxon and Polish problems.

1825 – The first engineering college in the U.S. , Rensselaer School, opened in Troy, NY. It is now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

1833 – Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. About 150 years later, Argentina seized the islands from the British, but Britain took them back after a 74-day war.

1888 – The drinking straw was patented by Marvin C. Stone.

1925 – In Italy, Mussolini announced that he would take dictatorial powers.

1938 – The first broadcast of “Woman in White” was presented on the NBC Red network. The program remained on radio for 10 years.

1959 – In the U.S., Alaska became the 49th state.

 

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe” – Anatole France

Photos of the day January 3rd, 2013

A young snowy owl looks into the camera at the zoo in Krefeld, Germany. The species is native to northern Eurasia and North America.

Roland Weihrauch/dpa/AP

A woman gestures as others run into the English Bay during the annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Ben Nelms/Reuters

Robin and Rob Whitten and their dog, Bella, walk along the Eastern Promenade overlooking Casco Bay in Portland, Maine. The overnight low temperature dropped to 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The combination of cold air and warmer water created the arctic sea smoke rising from the ocean in the background.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

 

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new”  – Albert Einstein

Market Closes for January 3rd, 2013:

Market  Index	Close	Change
Dow  Jones	13391.36	-21.19    -0.16%
S&P 500	1459.37	-3.05    -0.21%
NASDAQ	3100.566	-11.697    -0.38%
TSX	12470.44	-70.33
		-0.56%

International Markets

Market  Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	10395.18	+72.20
		+0.70%
HANG  SENG	23398.60	+86.62
		+0.37%
SENSEX	19764.78	+50.54
		+0.26%
FTSE 100	6047.34	+19.97
		+0.33%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND.  10 Year Bond	1.926	1.871
CND.   30 Year Bond	2.481	2.425
U.S.   10 Year Bond	1.9095	1.8371
U.S.   30 Year Bond	3.1242	3.0411

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.98783	0.98564
US   $	1.01232	1.01457
Euro Rate  1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian   $	1.28913	0.77572
US  $	1.30501	0.76628

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold   Fix	1663.50	1686.00
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	92.92	93.12
BRENT	113.01	112.83

 

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell from a nine- month high, led by declines among gold mining companies, after Federal Reserve policy makers said they will probably end their $85 billion monthly bond purchases in 2013.

Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc., the world’s two largest gold producers, slumped at least 2.9 percent as the price of the metal fell. Silvercorp Metals Inc. declined 6.8 percent as silver fell for the first time in three days.

Reitmans Canada Ltd. dropped 4.2 percent after the clothing retailer reported falling sales during December.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 70.33 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,2470.44 in Toronto. The benchmark gauge has risen 1.3 percent this week as U.S. lawmakers reached a budget deal averting automatic spending cuts and tax increases.

“We’re all concerned about the amount of money they’re printing,” said Keith Richards, fund manager with ValueTrend Wealth Management in Barrie, Ontario, referring to the Fed’s stimulus programs since the 2008 financial crisis. The firm manages about C$100 million ($101.4 million). “It’s not a bad thing if they stop it when they should, but if they stop it before they should, that is a bad thing.”

Four years after cutting the main interest rate to near zero, policy makers are expanding their third round of so-called quantitative easing to boost economic growth and cut the jobless rate, now at 7.7 percent. In prior rounds of bond purchases, the central bank bought $2.3 trillion in securities.

“A few members expressed the view that ongoing asset purchases would likely be warranted until about the end of 2013” while a few others specified no time frame, according to the record of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Dec. 11-12 gathering released today in Washington.

Gold mining stocks contributed the most to losses in the S&P/TSX as seven of 10 industries retreated. Trading volume was 8.7 percent lower than the 30-day average.

All 31 members of the S&P/TSX Gold subindex declined as the industry gauge fell the most, 4 percent, since November 2012.

Rubicon Minerals Corp., which explores for gold in the Red Lake gold camp in northwestern Ontario, plunged 8.4 percent to C$2.41 to pace losses in the S&P/TSX. Goldcorp lost 4.7 percent to C$35.22 and Barrick declined 2.9 percent to C$34.08.

Gold for February delivery lost 1.4 percent to $1,665.50 an ounce in electronic trading in New York.

Silvercorp fell 6.8 percent to C$4.83 and Silver Wheaton Corp. dropped 3.1 percent to C$35.24. Silver for March delivery slipped 1.8 percent to $30.455 an ounce in electronic trading.

Reitmans slumped 4.2 percent to C$11.98. The Montreal-based fashion retailer said sales for the five weeks ended Dec. 29 dropped 5.4 percent. Same-store sales fell 3.4 percent.

Africa Oil Corp., which is exploring for oil and gas in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, declined 4.8 percent to C$6.99 after Christopher Brown, director of research in international oil and gas with Canaccord Genuity Corp., downgraded the stock’s rating to hold from speculative buy. He also reduced his price target to C$8 a share from C$13.50.

The stock is at risk due to several near-term potentially negative events relating to well results, flow tests, elections in Kenya and possible changes to existing contracts, Brown said in a note to clients today.

’’A previously high-risk, high-reward story has devolved into a high-risk, medium-reward opportunity,’’ he said.

US

By Michael P. Regan and Inyoung Hwang

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) — Treasuries slid, sending 10-year yields to the highest since May, and U.S. stocks retreated after Federal Reserve policy makers said they will probably end their bond-purchase program this year. The dollar extended gains after the Fed minutes and commodities declined.

Ten-year Treasury note yields increased seven basis points to 1.90 percent at 4:10 p.m. in New York. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.2 percent to 1,459.37 after earlier climbing within one point of its highest closing level in five years. The index surged 2.5 percent yesterday, the most in a year, after lawmakers reached an agreement on tax rates. The U.S. currency rose versus 13 of 16 major peers and the Dollar Index jumped to the highest since November, while industrial metals led commodities lower. Gold lost 1.4 percent in extended trading.

Fed policy makers said they will probably end their $85 billion monthly bond purchases sometime in 2013 with members divided between a mid- or end-of- year finish, signaling a divide among central bankers on how long the quantitative easing should last. Earlier gains in stocks came after a private report showed better-than-forecast growth in employment and retailers posted improving sales.

“There’s a pretty active debate” at the Fed, Christopher Orndorff, who helps oversee $450 billion as senior money manager at Western Asset Management Co. in Pasadena, California, said in a telephone interview. “They’re airing the disagreements on the board and preparing the markets for what will eventually happen. But the Fed has been pretty clear unemployment has to come down lower and the economy has to grow faster before QE ends.”

Four years after cutting the main interest rate to near zero, policy makers are expanding their third round of so-called QE to boost economic growth and cut the jobless rate. In prior rounds of bond purchases, the central bank bought $2.3 trillion in securities.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury security rose the most since October yesterday as lawmakers approved a budget averting income-tax increases for more than 99 percent of households, breaking an impasse about how to head off the so- called fiscal cliff. Lawmakers must next tackle the U.S. debt ceiling, which reached its $16.4 trillion limit on Dec. 31.

Among U.S. stocks, UnitedHealth Group Inc. lost 4.7 percent to lead declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after Deutsche Bank AG removed its buy rating on the stock. Mellanox Technologies Ltd. sank 17 percent after the Israeli developer of data-management technology reduced its revenue guidance on weaker demand.

TJX Cos. rose 3.3 percent and Ross Stores Inc. climbed 8 percent, while Target Corp. and Nordstrom Inc. also helped lead gain in retailers after reporting December sales. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. rallied more than 1.9 percent after reporting December results that topped analysts’ estimates.

A report today from ADP Research Institute indicated the labor market finished 2012 with momentum, with a 215,000 increase in jobs that was the largest since February and more than economists estimated. The data fueled optimism before tomorrow’s government payrolls report as investor focus returned to economic prospects after the budget agreement was sealed.

Separate government data showed applications for jobless benefits increased by 10,000 to 372,000 last week.

The Labor Department releases non-farm payrolls for December tomorrow. Economists predict an addition of 153,000 workers last month after a 146,000 gain in November. The unemployment rate held at 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, according to economists’ estimates.

BlackRock Inc.’s Laurence D. Fink, who heads the world’s largest asset manager, lowered his expectations for stocks in the first quarter after saying yesterday he’s disappointed by the bill U.S. lawmakers passed and thinks it doesn’t address the deficit strongly enough. The package won’t cut deficits enough to avoid a sovereign-rating downgrade, Moody’s Investors Service said.

 

Have a great evening everyone!!!

 

Be Magnificent!

 

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Karen Parnham

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

 

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8X 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5808

Fax: 778-430-5838