January 19, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I recently finished reading Edward Rutherford’s fabulous tome entitled Paris.  I highly recommend it.  It oscillates between La Belle Epoch and different historical periods in the history of the city of light.  It describes the building of the Eiffel tower – including one of the character’s personal involvement in building the tower – and concludes with the birth of the French resistance in the second world war.  Amazing really.  I loved it. 

Speaking of Paris, Conrad Black wrote a very moving article in the National Post on Saturday regarding the events that have taken place there recently.  Here’s an excerpt: 

“The Paris March for Unity on Sunday was one of the epochal occasions of this still-young century….Francois Hollande, an extremely unprepossessing occupant of the presidency of France, rose magnificently to the occasion.  He said that France was, above all other things, a democracy, and that there could be ‘no democracy without freedom and no freedom without freedom of the press.’  That meant that irresponsible and even malicious media, such as the targeted magazine Charlie Hebdo, must be tolerated and protected.  He referred to the attack on a kosher market the next day, a related incident in which four more people were murdered, as vile anti-Semitism, an attempted pogrom.  (The Paris special police, very experienced at dealing with terrorists, deftly rescued 15 hostages while killing the perpetrator, and killed the previous day’s attackers and took their accomplice into custody.)

  Hollande called for a march in Paris two days later.  There was no bravura, no shrill and mawkish posturing and faux patriotism.  The spirit of the appeal and of the occasion was of the utmost spontaneity and dignity;  a silent march, no speeches or additional flourishes.  Millions of Parisians joined the mighty, proud shuffling concourse from the Place de la Republique to the Place de la Nation, two miles through an adequately prosperous and ethnically varied area.  The terminal points have witnessed many dramatic moments in 225 years, as France has had two monarchies, two empires, three restorations, a directory, a consulate, three foreign occupations (including the tender mercies of the Gestapo for four years), a government in exile, several provisional governments, and five republics.  The leader of France’s imams, prominent figures in Paris’ Jewish community and many thousands of Muslims and Jews joined the great movement, along with the official representatives of 50 countries, including the leaders or foreign ministers of Algeria, the European Union, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Russia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.  The bells of Notre Dame pealed for half an hour, for only the fourth time in 200 years, (the others were the ends of the World Wars and the Liberation of Paris on Aug. 26,1944, the last occasion when Parisians massed in such numbers, to acclaim General de Gaulle when he walked down the champs-Elysees)…”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Seattle Seahawks’ Jermaine Kearse catches the game-winning touchdown pass during overtime of the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, in Seattle. Jeff Chiu/AP

Hannah Kearney from the US competes to place second in the women’s freestyle skiing single moguls final event at the Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria, Sunday. Darko Bandic/AP

Market Closes for January 19^th, 2015   

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed, as an advance among the nation’s largest lenders offset oil’s decline in London after Iraq said the country is producing crude at a record pace, worsening a global supply glut.

     National Bank of Canada gained 1 percent as financials rose a second day. Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. and Lightstream Resources Ltd. declined at least 6.1 percent, the most among energy producers. Goldcorp Inc. rose 0.6 percent after agreeing to buy Probe Mines Ltd. for about C$526 million ($440 million). Bombardier Inc. slid 5.2 percent after analysts at Bank of Nova Scotia said investors should avoid the stock.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 3.09 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,312.50 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The Canadian benchmark has lost 2.2 percent this year. U.S. markets are closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

     Pacific Rubiales lost 6.1 percent and Lightstream Resources tumbled 8.9 percent as energy shares retreated 1.1 percent, the only industry among 10 industries in the equity gauge to decline. Trading volume was 61 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Crude prices fell from a one-week high in London. Iraq is pumping at a record pace of 4 million barrels a day, and will continue to boost exports this year amid a supply glut that’s pushed oil into a bear market, Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said at a press conference.

     Detour Gold Corp. climbed 4.6 percent as raw-materials shares advanced 0.4 percent for a third day of gains.

     Foreigners divested C$580 million in Canadian stocks in November, the first such sale in 15 months, according to data from Statistics Canada. Overseas investors bought C$4.29 billion more Canadian securities overall, led by C$4.75 billion in bond purchases, slower than October’s C$9.53 billion.

     “November was still in the early stages of negative sentiment on Canadian equities as energy price retreated,” said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, in a report today.

     The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled the most in more than six years as regulators cracked down on margin lending. The nation’s largest brokerages slumped after regulators introduced a three-month ban on new loans to equity traders. China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the U.S.

     Bombardier slumped 5.2 percent for a third day of losses. Turan Quettawala, analyst at Scotiabank, slashed the company’s rating to underperform, the equivalent of a sell. Bombardier has plunged 34 percent since halting its Learjet 85 program Jan. 15, cutting 1,000 jobs and booking $1.4 billion in pretax fourth- quarter costs.

US

Closed for Martin Luther King Day.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The universe is the energy of the soul; and from this energy comes life, consciousness, and the elements.

The universe is the will of the soul; and from this will comes the law of cause and effect..

From the soul one became many; but in the soul many are one.

Mundaka Upanishad

As ever,

Carolann

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

                                                          -William James, 1842-1910

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

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7