July 29, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

TANGENTS:

NASA was established on this day in 1958.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.  –Dalai Lama

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great ris.

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.

Share your knowledge.  It’s a way to achieve immortality.

Be gentle with the earth.

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

More advice from the Dalai Lama tomorrow.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The full moon rises early Wednesday over the illuminated Kazan Kremlin with the Qol Sharif mosque (l.) and The Transfiguration Cathedral in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, located in Russia’s Volga River area about 700 km (450 miles) east of Moscow. Denis Tyrin/AP

Artist Mark Balma paints a mural of Cecil, a well-known lion killed by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer during a guided bow hunting trip in Zimbabwe, as part of a silent protest outside Palmer’s office in Bloomington, Minn., Wednesday. Palmer said that he had no idea the lion he killed was protected and that he relied on the expertise of his local guides to ensure the hunt was legal. Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune/AP

Market Closes for July 29^th, 2015

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in six months as commodities producers and banks surged and the Federal Reserve policy makers failed to provide a clear signal on when U.S. interest rates will increase.

     Suncor Energy Inc. added 4.3 percent, while Bankers Petroleum Ltd. jumped 9.9 percent as oil rose the most in three weeks. Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada increased at least 2.7 percent. Torstar Corp., owner of the Toronto Star newspaper, plunged to a 2009 low after earnings missed estimates and it acquired a stake in a digital media company. CGI Group Inc. dropped 3.8 percent after quarterly sales fell short of analyst forecasts.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 224.44 points, or 1.6 percent, to 14,301.80 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the biggest gain since Jan. 21. The gauge Tuesday snapped the longest run of declines since 2011. The S&P/TSX has slumped 1.7 percent in July, headed for a third monthly decline, the longest such streak since 2012.

     The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials added 0.2 percent, after earlier trading near a 13-year low, as oil rallied after U.S. inventory data showed stockpiles unexpectedly declined.

     Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX gained on trading volume 22 percent higher than the 30-day average. Energy and financial companies in the index rallied at least 1.8 percent.

     Sherritt International Corp. surged 16 percent and Barrick Gold Corp. added 5.2 percent. Teck Resources Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added more than 2.2 percent.

     Federal Reserve policy makers said the labor market and housing have improved, inching closer to raising interest rates without providing a clear signal on the timing of any increase.

     Bombardier Inc. surged 7.1 percent. Hours after Dow Jones reported Bombardier was in merger discussions with Siemens AG over its rail unit, a company spokeswoman said there were “no talks” of a merger. Bombardier is scheduled to report second- quarter earnings Thursday.

US

By Joseph Ciolli and Annelise Alexander

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied for a second day, as earnings topped forecasts and the Federal Reserve said the labor and housing markets are improving.

     Gilead Sciences Inc. climbed 2.3 percent while General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman Corp. jumped more than 3.9 percent as the companies lifted their outlooks. Twitter Inc. tumbled 15 percent after its top executives struck a critical tone on user growth.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.7 percent to 2,108.57 at 4 p.m. in New York, after climbing above its average prices during both the past 50 and 100 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 121.12 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,751.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent.

     “Most peoples’ expectations are that we’re going to get a hike by the end of the year, and the Fed [statement] today didn’t do anything to change that narrative,” said Joe Bell, a Cincinnati-based senior equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc.

     The labor market “continued to improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement today, while also noting the housing sector “has shown additional improvement.”

     Chair Janet Yellen is guiding the Fed toward its first rate increase in almost a decade as the nation approaches full employment. She has said the Fed is likely to tighten this year if the economy continues to improve as she expects, with market speculation focused on a move as soon as September.

     Yellen has emphasized that the timing of rate liftoff is less important than the subsequent pace of increases, which she said would be gradual.

     Greece’s debt crisis and recent turmoil in China’s stock market had raised concerns about global growth and added to speculation that the Fed may further delay a rate increase.

     Earlier this month, Yellen told lawmakers that raising rates prematurely could derail the recovery. Waiting too long, on the other hand, might force the Fed to tighten at a faster pace to keep the economy from overheating.

     “The Street clearly has a tug-of-war going on between the camp that sees enough evidence and wants to get a hike under the belt, and another camp that would prefer the Fed to be cautious and wait until later in the year,” said Myles Clouston, senior director of Nasdaq Advisory Services in New York.                     

     Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein said U.S. markets are poised for prolonged growth and will quickly move on after a jolt from the Fed’s first rate increase since 2006.

     “We are in for a longish, positive market,” Blankfein said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Since the financial crisis, especially in this country, there were a lot of problems, but we chewed through them. Consumers have deleveraged, the banking system has deleveraged, we got the blessing of low energy prices, housing prices started to stabilize and move higher.”

     Data today showed an index of pending home sales unexpectedly fell 1.8 percent, the first drop this year, after a revised 0.6 percent increase in May that was smaller than initially reported.

     The S&P 500 is up 2.2 percent in July, heading for its biggest monthly advance since February. The index rose yesterday after declining for four of the last five weeks, and had lost 2.9 percent in the five sessions ending Monday as a Chinese equities rout spurred concern about the nation’s economic growth and some corporate earnings disappointed.

     About three-quarters of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings this season have beaten profit estimates while half topped sales projections. Analysts expect a 4 percent drop in second-quarter earnings, shallower than July 10 calls for a 6.4 percent fall.

     Facebook Inc. slipped 1.8 percent in late trading as of 4:45 p.m., after spending in the second quarter jumped 82 percent. Sales topped estimates, thanks to a robust advertising business and a growing number of mobile users.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slipped 7 percent Wednesday to 12.50, after reaching a two-week high Monday. The gauge, know as the VIX, rose 15 percent last week, its fifth gain in six weeks. About 7.3 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 12 percent above the three-month average.

     All of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups advanced, led by energy and industrial companies. C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. paced industrial shares’ advance, climbing 4.7 percent after reporting second-quarter profit that exceeded  analysts’ estimates.

     The freight carrier also helped lift the Dow Jones Transportation Average to its strongest two-day climb since November 2011. General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman also bolstered industrials, gaining more than 3.9 percent to records. Raytheon Co. added 4.1 percent to a three-month high.                      

     Energy and raw-material shares added to Tuesday’s rally amid a continued reprieve from a two-week commodities selloff. Crude oil extended its two-day climb to 3.1 percent, pushing Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Diamond Offshore drilling Inc. up more than 3.5 percent. Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Transocean Ltd. added at least 2.4 percent.

     Banks in the benchmark rallied as Treasury yields increased to the highest in a week. Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Comerica Inc. each added at least 1.3 percent.

     Citrix Systems Inc. climbed 8.1 percent, the most since January 2013, to lead S&P 500 technology companies higher. The software maker reached a settlement with investor Elliott Management Corp., agreeing to add the activist’s chief agitator Jesse Cohn to its board and begin a search for a new chief executive officer.                     

     Microsoft Corp. gained 2.1 percent, the most in seven weeks, amid a low-key introduction for its Windows 10 operating system. MasterCard Inc. erased an earlier drop of as much as 2.3 percent to climb 1.7 percent, even as the second-largest payments network said profit fell 1.1 percent as expenses rose and a strengthening U.S. dollar hurt earnings overseas.

     Twitter slipped 15 percent, the most since April. Interim Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey and Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto said user growth won’t improve until the social- media company reaches a mass market — something that will take a mixture of product improvements and marketing.

     Yelp Inc. plunged by a record 25 percent after the customer-review website reduced its revenue forecast and at least five analysts downgraded the stock. In addition to cutting its third-quarter sales prediction, Yelp announced it would stop selling national brand advertising.
 

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Where does the soul go after death?  Where could the earth fall to?

Where can the soul go?  Where is it not already?

The great cornerstone of Vedantism is the recognition of Self.

Man, have faith in yourself.  The soul is the same in every one.

It is all purity and perfection  and the more pure and perfect we [you] are

the more purity  and perfection you will see.

Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

Carolann

Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.

                                                               -Edgar Degas, 1834-1917

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

Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7