June 3, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann is out of the office, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A commercial aircraft flies past the moon in this photo taken from Teglas, 228 kilometers (about 140 miles) east of Budapest, Hungary.

Joggers run past a painted mural along the BeltLine in Atlanta. Today marks National Running Day, celebrated annually on the first Wednesday in June. National Running Day was created in 2009 by some of the county’s biggest running clubs and organizations to draw attention to the benefits of the activity. David Goldman/AP

Market Closes for June 3^rd, 2015

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose a third day as Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. surged to lead financial services shares and investors watched the continuing Greek debt talks.

     WestJet Airlines Ltd. advanced 0.7 percent after posting an increase in traffic for May. Canaccord climbed 4.5 percent after reporting better-than-forecast earnings. Stingray Digital Group Inc. surged 16 percent in its trading debut.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 49.94 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,154.68 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge is up 0.9 percent in the past three trading days.

     Eight of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX advanced on trading volume 12 percent lower than the 30-day average. Royal Bank of Canada increased 1.4 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.9 percent.

     Canaccord gained 4.5 percent as financial-services companies increased 0.8 percent as a group. The industry accounts for about one-third of the index by weighting.

     Monetary policy stimulus is filtering through to the real economy in Europe, said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, after officials kept interest rates on hold. Growth in 2015 is expected to average 1.5 percent, 1.9 percent in 2016, and 2 percent by 2017, the central bank said.

     Negotiations over Greece’s debt continued as the first of four payments comes due this Friday to the International Monetary Fund. The payments total almost 1.6 billion euros ($1.78 billion) this month. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels this evening to discuss next steps.

     Canada reported the second-biggest merchandise trade deficit ever in April, narrowing from a record in March as exports tumbled for a fourth straight month. The deficit of C$2.97 billion followed a revised March gap of C$3.85 billion.

US

By Joseph Ciolli

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, after falling for the third time in four sessions, as banks and insurers rose with Treasury yields and investors speculated Greece will reach a deal with its creditors.

     The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent to 2,114.26 at 4 p.m. in New York, and intraday came within 0.5 percent of its all-time closing high set last month.

     “The market is under the assumption that something is going to get done in Greece,” said Robert Pavlik, who helps oversee $9 billion as chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in Boston. “When the market holds up, people drive money back into stocks, and we’re still in an upward trajectory. U.S. equities still have upside potential.”

     Investors are speculating that Greece will reach a deal with European leaders and the International Monetary Fund before payment deadlines due this month. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will hear details of a final proposal from creditors when he meets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Wednesday.

     Investors are also assessing economic reports for clues on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. The economy expanded in the past two months, even as manufacturers in some regions took a hit from a stronger dollar and a slowdown in energy-related investment, the Fed’s Beige Book report showed today. Economists project the first Fed rate increase will come in September.

     Meanwhile, service industries expanded in May at the slowest pace in 13 months, signaling tempered improvement in the biggest part of the economy. A separate report earlier showed companies added more workers in May than the prior month, a sign job growth is getting back on track after a slow start to the year.

     The government’s employment data is due Friday, and economists predict the economy added 227,000 jobs in May, compared with April’s 223,000, with the unemployment rate remaining at 5.4 percent.

     European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday monetary policy stimulus is filtering through to the real economy, as he insisted the ECB needs to see its bond-buying plan through to the central bank’s inflation goal of just below 2 percent. He also said markets must get used to periods of higher volatility, in comments at a press conference in Frankfurt, after officials kept interest rates on hold.

     The S&P 500 hasn’t had back-to-back gains in more than two weeks, though it’s still less than 1 percent below its May record. The index’s annual advance remains among the worst in developed markets amid mixed economic data and as investors cope with the prospect that the Fed will raise rates this year.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

 
Be magnificent!

 “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” –Maya Angelou

As ever,

Karen

 “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” –Helen Keller

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