March 17, 2015 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1901, 71 paintings by the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh were shown at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris, drawing worldwide attention. Van Gogh, who was known for his post-impressionist style, had committed suicide 11 years earlier without any idea that his work would go on to receive such acclaim. In his lifetime, he sold just one painting.

 
AN IRISHMAN’S PHILOSOPHY

There are only two things to worry about.
Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well,
Then there is nothing to worry about.
But if you are sick,
there are two things to worry about.
Either you will get well or you will die.
If you get well,
there is nothing to worry about.
If you die,
there are only two things to worry about.
Either you will go to heaven or hell.
If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about.
But if you go to hell,
you’ll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends
you won’t have time to worry!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Smoke trails in the colors of the Italian national flag are released by The ‘Frecce Tricolori’ Italian Air Force acrobatic squad as they flew over Rome, Tuesday, to mark the 154th anniversary of the Italian Unification in 1861. Gregorio Borgia/AP

With the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in the background, the fountain on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, prior to President Barack Obama’s motorcade taking the president to Capitol Hill for a ‘Friends of Ireland’ luncheon. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Market Closes for March 17^th, 2015     

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day after erasing earlier declines loss as energy producers rallied with producers of essential consumer items.

     Athabasca Oil Corp. jumped 8.4 percent to lead gains among oil and gas producers. Toronto-Dominion Bank and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. paced advances among financial firms, while Bank of Montreal dropped 0.7 percent after lowering the interest rate for one of its mortgages. Chartwell Retirement Residences climbed 1 percent after agreeing to sell assets to Brookdale Senior Living Inc. and HCP Inc. for $849 million.

     The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 35.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,898.53 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, erasing an earlier loss of as much as 0.9 percent. The gauge has advanced 1.8 percent in 2015.

     Six of the 10 main industries in the benchmark rose on trading volume 12 percent lower than the 30-day average. Energy producers paced gains, with a 1.5 percent advance. The group accounts for about 21 percent of the S&P/TSX by weighting.

     Couche-Tard rose 2.4 percent. The company agreed to acquire certain retail and commercial operations from A/S Dansk Shell in Denmark for an undisclosed amount, expanding its presence in Europe. Couche-Tard also reported third-quarter profit and revenue that fell short of analysts’ projections as consolidated margins narrowed.

     Enbridge Inc. rallied 2.89 percent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. climbed 1.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 42 cents to settle at $43.46 a barrel in New York, after earlier falling to as low as $42.63 ahead of a government report Wednesday forecast to show U.S. inventories extended a record high.

     Policy makers with the Fed began a two-day meeting with Chair Janet Yellen to hold a press conference after the rate announcement on Wednesday. Recent economic data from factory output to consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell, suggesting the Fed may not be in a rush to raise rates.

     Data Tuesday showed U.S. housing starts plunged 17 percent in February, the most since February 2011, to an 897,000 annualized rate after January’s revised 1.08 million pace due largely to bad winter weather. Building permits increased, suggesting the slowdown is temporary.

US

By Callie Bost

     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks retreated from the biggest rally in more than a month as commodity and consumer shares slumped before the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

     Raw-material companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.2 percent. Caterpillar Inc. and DuPont Co. retreated more than 1.9 percent, while consumer staples lost 0.7 percent.

     The S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent to 2,074.28 at 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier falling as much as 0.8 percent. The gauge rose 1.3 percent on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 128.34 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,849.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, boosted by Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S.exchanges, 10 percent below the three-month average.

     “Markets have had big daily swings recently, but they haven’t gone anywhere,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based RW Baird & Co., which oversees $110 billion, said by phone. “This is simply because of the uncertainty surrounding interest rates in the U.S. and the state of the U.S. economy.”

     The S&P 500 has lost 2 percent from its March 2 record as concerns mounted that the surging dollar will hurt corporate earnings. Fed officials will assess the economy and debate the timing of the first interest-rate increase since 2006. The Fed may remove wording describing its stance to raising rates as “patient.”

     Speculation that a strengthening economy is pushing the central bank closer to a rate increase has weighed on U.S. equities, making them among the worst-performing developed markets this year. Fed stimulus helped spur a six-year bull market that made the S&P 500 more than triple since a low in in 2009.

     Beginning home construction plunged in February on colder- than-usual temperatures and snowstorms in parts of the U.S., while an increase in building permits indicated the drop may prove temporary.

     Housing starts slumped 17 percent, the most since February 2011, to an 897,000 annualized rate after January’s revised 1.08 million pace, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday in Washington. The median estimate of 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 1.04 million. Ground-breaking in the Northeast plummeted by the most on record.

     Investors are weighing whether weaker than-expected U.S. economic data could temper the outlook for higher rates. The Bloomberg ECO U.S. Surprise Index, which measures whether data beat or missed forecasts, dropped to the lowest level since 2009.                        

     Nine of the 10 main groups in the S&P 500 declined, with raw-material companies and consumer staples losing more than 0.7 percent.

     The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 0.3 percent to 15.66. The gauge of S&P 500 options prices posted its second consecutive weekly gain March 13.

     Chemical companies DuPont and LyondellBasell Industries NV fell at least 3 percent, leading the materials group 1.2 percent lower. DuPont sank 3.1 percent after a 4.3 percent fall Monday, its worst two-day decline since October 2012.

     Macerich Co. slumped 3.5 percent, the most since June 2013, after it rejected an unsolicited takeover bid of more than $20 billion from Simon Property Group Inc., saying it substantially undervalues the mall owner.

     Leucadia National Corp. sank 2.7 percent, leading financial companies lower after Jefferies Group, an investment bank owned by Leucadia, said fixed-income revenue dropped 56 percent to $126 million in the first quarter amid fewer high-yield bond offerings.

     Beverage companies weighed on consumer staples, as Molson Coors Brewing Co., Coca-Cola Enterprises and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. declined more than 1.5 percent.

     Energy shares slid 0.5 percent, after an earlier decline of more than 1 percent. Oil briefly erased a drop of almost 3 percent after reaching a six-year low. Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and Marathon Oil Corp. fell more than 1.7 percent.

     Weight Watchers International Inc. slipped 2 percent, paring an earlier drop of more than 10 percent, after Credit Suisse Group AG cut the shares to underperform, and said product and marketing changes rolled out in January were less effective than expected.

     American Airlines Group Inc. added 6.9 percent after Standard & Poor’s said it will add the carrier to the S&P 500, effective after the close of trading on Friday.

     Apple climbed 1.7 percent after a person with knowledge of the matter said it plans to start accepting non-Apple devices as trade-ins, as the company seeks to extend market-share gains against smartphones based on Google Inc.’s Android software.

     With almost all members of the S&P 500 having reported fourth-quarter earnings, 74 percent have exceeded profit estimates while 56 percent surpassed sales projections.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

We are always comparing what we are with what we should be.

This measuring ourselves all the time against something or someone

is one of the primary causes of conflict. Now why is there any comparison at all?

If you do not compare yourself with another

you will be what you really are.

Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

May you live a long life full of gladness and health.

                                                Irish Blessing

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