June 26, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Interesting item in The Economist:

The 800^th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta on June 15^th  is (was) being celebrated with, among other jollities, a pageant, a masquerade, a bespoke cantata, bell-ringing, a flower festival and a river relay on the Thames featuring the queen’s barge, Gloriana.  But the most interesting commemoration is a tapestry that replicates the entire Wikipedia article on the Magna Carta, stitched by an army of professional embroiderers, 36 prisoners, lawyers, journalists and campaigners.  Julian Assange, a whistle-blower, stitched “freedom” in the Ecuadorean embassy; Edward Snowden, another, did “liberty” in Moscow.  Jewel-like illustrations by  the Embroiderers’ Guild nestle beside clumsy letters by judges, and the blood of Alan Rusbridger, a former editor of the Guardian, who pricked his finger while sewing.  “I like the democracy of the Wikipedia page, and I wanted that echoed in the piece,” says Cornelia Parker, the artist who created the embroidery.  “Everybody can contribute, everybody is on the same page” –as, it is to be hoped, are Britons on the matter of the liberties that the Magna Carta embodies. –

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wild mares gather in front of the shrine of El Rocio during the ‘Saca de yeguas’ event in Almonte, southern Spain, Friday. Every year on June 26 hundreds of wild mares are grouped together by riders at Donana National Park and taken to a livestock fair in Almonte village. Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters

A one-month-old eagle owl chick looks out from a plywood birdhouse inside an open-air cage at the Royev Ruchey zoo in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Friday. Ilya Naymushin/Reuters

Market Closes for June 26^th, 2015

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell a second day, paring a weekly advance, after oil extended losses below $60 a barrel and an equity rout in China deepened while investors awaited a resolution to Greek debt talks.

     TransCanada Corp. retreated 3 percent to pace declines among energy stocks. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. retreated 1.9 percent after a report the drugmaker had approached animal health company Zoetis Inc. about a takeover. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. fell 1.8 percent amid its pursuit of German K+S AG.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell 89.41 points, or 0.6 percent, to 14,808.09 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The gauge has risen 1.1 percent this week after four straight declines.

     Surge Energy Inc. dropped 4.1 percent and TransCanada lost 3 percent as energy companies fell 1.2 percent. All 10 industries in the S&P/TSX retreated on trading volume 14 percent lower than the 30-day average.

     Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. tumbled 5.6 percent. The two companies seeking to acquire it said Thursday the price for their joint bid was justified given the difficulties Pacific Rubiales would face surviving as an independent company.

     The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 7.4 percent,the most in five months, leaving the benchmark on the cusp of a bear market. China’s stock market has plunged from first to worst on global performance rankings as leveraged speculators unwind their positions and a growing number of analysts warn that valuations have climbed too far. China is Canada’s second- largest trading partner after the U.S.

     Investors are also monitoring the situation in Europe. Greece’s creditors have proposed a five-month program extension and 15.5 billion euros ($17.3 billion) of funding that would extend the country’s bailout program through November, a European official told reporters in Brussels. A Greek government news agency later reported the deal was rejected.

     Potash Corp. slipped 1.8 percent. The Canadian fertilizer producer is pursuing K+S, though the German potash supplier is likely to reject the offer as the bid is too low, according to people familiar with the matter.

US

By Joseph Ciolli and Annelise Alexander

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were little changed, with equities posting a weekly decline, as a rally in Nike Inc. offset a selloff in semiconductors while investors continued to watch Greek debt talks.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 2,101.80 at 4 p.m. in New York, after trading between its average prices during the past 50 and 100 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent as Nike added about 30 points to the index’s gain. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.6 percent as semiconductors led a retreat in technology shares.

     “The selloff here seems to be more in tech than anywhere else, which could be weighing on the market overall,” said Tim Ghriskey, who helps oversee $1.5 billion as managing director and chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management. “Traders are taking money off the table in front of the weekend and perhaps even quarter-end as we head into earnings season and a short week.”

     FTSE Russell concluded the annual revisions to its equity benchmark gauges, usually spurring one of the busiest sessions of the year. About $5.7 trillion is benchmarked to Russell indexes worldwide, including $800 billion in passive products such as exchange-traded funds.

     In three of the previous four years, the reconstitution day ranked in the top five busiest trading sessions, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

     Technical talks are underway in Brussels before euro-area finance ministers meet on Saturday to hammer out an agreement ending a five-month standoff with Greece. They’ll reconvene armed with a proposal by creditors to unlock as much as 15.5 billion euros ($17.3 billion) and extend Greece’s program through November.

     “There’s a couple of factors going on,” said Jon Corpina, a senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners. “You have the overhanging impending headlines coming out of Greece. Couple that with the Russell and the end of the quarter and it’s an interesting yin and yang that’s performing in the market right now.”

     The S&P 500 rose within 0.3 percent of a record earlier this week, and is poised for a 10th straight quarterly gain. Stocks have been trading in a tight range as investors await a resolution to the Greek crisis and assess data for hints on when the Federal Reserve will start raising borrowing costs. The S&P 500 is heading for its longest streak since 1993 without posting a weekly move of more than 1 percent.

     Data today showed consumer confidence climbed in June to a five-month high as an improving job market boosted Americans’ attitudes about the world’s largest economy. Data Thursday showed consumer spending in May climbed the most in almost six years.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

The Upanishad tells us:  Know the soul that is your own.

In other word:  Realize the grand unique principle of the whole that is in all men.

Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

The truth is always the strongest argument.

                      -Sophocles, 497-406 BCE

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

Senior Portfolio Manager &

Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7