March 28th, 2011 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
I love the feedback I receive from all of you….after quoting in my Newsletter an e-mail I received from one my clients on Friday’s – who was remembering parachuting down on March 24, 1944 into fire across the Rhine, eventually successfully overwhelming the 2nd Parachute Corps of the 1st German Parachute Army, I received this e-mail from another client on Friday night:
Hi Carolann,
Please pass on to your client who jumped on 25 March 1944 the thanks of my brother, myself, and our parents, both of whom were liberated by the Canadians in the Netherlands, my father in fall 1944 in Tiel, and my mother at long last in Amsterdam in early May 1945.
The populations were all on the brink of starvation north of the Dutch rivers due to the Allied blockade of supplies to the occupying German force.
We’ve been there for the liberation parades (typically held on May 5th) and remembrance day (May 4th), and we attend Remembrance Day every year here in the fall. We always bring our kids, who are now 12 and 9. They really, really get it.
Sage advice in today’s Globe & Mail: Don’t cut back on sleep
As the demands of life keep rising, one of the first steps we take is to cut back on sleep. Perhaps it’s just for a few days or a week, when overly pressured. But often it’s a recurring practice, one that Tony Schwartz, an expert on personal energy, frowns upon.
“We continue to live by a remarkably durable myth: Sleeping one hour less will give us one more hour of productivity. In reality, the research suggests that even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a significant toll on our health, our mood, our cognitive capacity and our productivity,” he writes on the Energy Project blog.
So how much sleep do we need? He notes that research finds that when people are in environments without windows and clocks and told to sleep when they are tired, 95 % sleep between seven and eight hours of every 24 hours….He stresses that great performers sleep even more than the average. In a famous study of violinists by Anders Ericcson, the top performers slept an average of 8.5 hours out of every 24, including a 20- to 30- minute nap in mid-afternoon.
So sleep more, perchance to improve your productivity.
We went to the Jackson Browne concert on Friday night – and it was amazing. It was the beginning of his cross Canada tour, so if you are able to get tickets as he treads across the country, do get them, you will not be disappointed. He plays solo – no band.
photos of the day
March 28, 2011
The Three Mile Island nuclear power generating station in Middletown, Pa. continues to generate electric power with the Unit 1 reactor. TMI was the scene of the March 28th, 1979 meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor the worst nuclear power plant disaster in the United states. Bradley C Bower/AP
An religious offering of food and alcoholic drinks placed on a mat with chopsticks and glasses sits on the bank of the partially frozen Songhua River in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province. David Gray/Reuters
Market Commentary:
Canada
By Matt Walcoff
March 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in 12 days, led by producers of energy and precious metals, as oil and gold dropped after Libyan rebels recaptured territory from Muammar Qaddafi’s forces.
Kinross Gold Corp., Canada’s third-largest gold producer, declined 3.5 percent as the metal retreated for a third day.
Vector Aerospace Corp., which repairs helicopters and engines, surged 13 percent after agreeing to be bought by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil and gas producer, slipped 1.8 percent as crude futures fell the most in nine days.
“The Libyan situation is becoming more clear with the coalition forces assisting the rebel side,” said Irwin Michael, who helps manage C$1 billion ($1 billion) as a money manager at ABC Group of Funds in Toronto. “There’s less concern of there being a bottleneck with oil supply.”
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index lost 146.66 points, or 1 percent, to 13,892.73.
The index decreased 0.7 percent this month through March 25, led by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and uranium producer Cameco Corp., as RIM missed analysts’ earnings estimates and the Japanese nuclear crisis led to a plunge in uranium prices. The S&P/TSX has advanced eight straight months.
The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodities fell for the first time in nine days today. A U.S. Commerce Department report that consumer spending increased more in February than most economists had forecast weighed on precious- metal prices.
Kinross declined 3.5 percent to C$15.21. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, lost 1.5 percent to C$49.74. Eldorado Gold Corp., which mines in China and Turkey, dropped 3.1 percent to C$15.49.
Energy companies retreated as oil futures fell for a third day. Suncor lost 1.8 percent to C$43.33. Nexen Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations on five continents, slipped 3.1 percent to C$23.61. Crescent Point Energy Corp., which produces oil in western Canada, dropped 3.1 percent, the most since June, to C$46.46.
Oil producer TransGlobe Energy Corp. rallied 5 percent to C$14.30 after buying a concession in Egypt for $60 million.
Uranium producers declined as radiation reached fatal levels outside of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.
Cameco decreased 4.2 percent to C$29.29. Uranium One Inc., a mining company controlled by Moscow-based ARMZ Uranium Holding, slumped 10 percent to C$3.90. Denison Mines Corp., which produces uranium in the U.S., retreated 6 percent to C$2.51.
Producers of metals used in industry fell as copper dropped on concern Japanese carmakers may have to suspend production in China.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest base-metals and coal producer, declined 2.2 percent to C$51.50. First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-largest publicly traded copper producer, lost 4.2 percent to C$120.60. European Goldfields Ltd., which mines base and precious metals in Greece, tumbled 6.1 percent to C$12.65.
Vector Aerospace soared 13 percent to C$12.83 after accepting EADS’s bid of C$13 a share in cash. Vector Aerospace had jumped 16 percent last week to a record high on speculation of an agreement.
Lumber producers rallied after the U.S. National Association of Realtors said pending sales of existing homes rose 2.1 percent in February.
West Fraser Timber Co., Canada’s largest lumber producer, surged 5.7 percent to C$57.55, the highest in at least 24 years.
Canfor Corp. gained 3.1 percent to a six-year high of C$14.43.
Yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. soared 7.8 percent to a record C$83.32 in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.
James Cramer praised the company on his “Mad Money” show on CNBC March 25.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. decreased 2 percent to a five-month low of C$54.64 after losing a round in a legal dispute with Eastman Kodak Co. over patents. The U.S.
International Trade Commission said March 25 it will review a judge’s findings that the BlackBerry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone don’t violate a Kodak imaging-software patent.
US
By Cecile Vannucci
March 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, erasing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s gain in the final 20 minutes of trading, as Marriott International Inc. led consumer shares lower and concern grew that Japan is failing to contain hazardous materials at its damaged nuclear plant.
Marriott lost 6.3 percent after the largest U.S. hotel chain said revenue growth is being held back by weak North American demand. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. slumped 5.7 percent. EBay Inc. slipped 4.3 percent after announcing a $2.4 billion takeover of GSI Commerce Inc. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. fell 5.7 percent as it sold preferred stock.
RadioShack Corp. rallied 5 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after saying it will sell Apple Inc.’s iPad 2 starting tomorrow.
The S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,310.19 at 4 p.m. in New York after climbing as much as 0.5 percent earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 22.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,197.88. Trading volume on U.S. exchanges totaled 5.96 billion shares, the lowest since Dec. 31.
“I’d expect the market would struggle more, particularly with unknowns, not only in Japan, but all across the Mideast and north Africa,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees $85 billion. “There’s a lot of uncertainty out there.”
Equities rallied earlier, sending the Dow average 52.33 points higher, after consumer spending and sales of existing homes topped projections. Stock indexes dropped as radiation levels that can prove fatal were detected outside reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.
Consumer spending increased 0.7 percent, the most since October, to beat the 0.5 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists, Commerce Department figures showed.
Incomes rose 0.3 percent, less than projected. The index of pending home resales increased 2.1 percent after a 2.8 percent drop the prior month, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Policy makers should review whether to complete a second round of asset purchases scheduled to end in June because of strong U.S. economic data, Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said to reporters in Marseille, France, on March 26.
Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker have also urged a review of the stimulus measures in light of a strengthening economy and concern over future inflation.
U.S. equities fell on concern that Japan is failing to contain hazardous materials at the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. The discovery of plutonium particles outside the plant north of Tokyo means there has been degradation of the nuclear fuel in at least one of the reactors, International Atomic Energy Agency Deputy Director General of Safety Denis Flory said today at a press briefing in Vienna.
Nine out of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell, led by an index of companies dependent on discretionary spending by consumers, which slid 1.1 percent.
Marriott tumbled 6.3 percent to $35.30 for the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The company expects first-quarter revenue per available room to rise about 7 percent, at the low end of the company’s forecast of 7 percent to 9 percent, as North American demand has been below expectations, the hotel chain said.
Starwood, the owner of the St. Regis and W hotel brands, slid 5.7 percent to $55.37.
EBay fell 4.3 percent to $30.34 after the owner of the largest e-commerce market agreed to buy GSI for about $2.4 billion to add services that help retailers market and distribute wares. GSI investors will get $29.25 a share in cash, San Jose, California-based EBay said today in a statement.
Goodyear Tire lost 5.7 percent to $14.57 after the largest U.S. tiremaker said it started a public offering of $435 million of mandatory convertible preferred stock.
RadioShack surged 5 percent to $15.01. The electronics retailer will start selling Apple Inc.’s iPad2 tablet computer tomorrow at 500 locations. Stifel Nicolaus raised the Fort Worth, Texas-company to a “buy” from a “hold” with a forecast price of $21.
Some energy companies surged, as Bank of America Corp. said oilfield activity will accelerate in Saudi Arabia.
“A rapid increase in Middle East activity is imminent,” according to a Bank of America note today, which “could cause pricing power to shift to oil service companies.”
Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield contractor, climbed 4.1 percent to $90.43 for the second-biggest gain in the S&P 500. The Houston-based company was awarded $100 million in contracts in Iraq. The impact from disruptions from Middle East as well as weather will be 8 cents a share to 10 cents a share, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould said at Howard Weil Inc.’s energy conference in New Orleans.
Halliburton Co., the world’s second-largest oilfield- services provider, jumped 4 percent to $47.90 for the third- largest increase in the S&P 500. Baker Hughes Inc. climbed 3.8 percent to $73.76.
Eastman Kodak Co. jumped 5.3 percent to $3.58 after the U.S. International Trade Commission said it will review a judge’s findings from January that Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry don’t violate Kodak’s patent on a way to preview digital images using less processing power and storage space. The victory may add more than $1 billion in revenue from royalty payments, Kodak Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez said in an interview.
AT&T Inc. rose 1.8 percent to $29.36 to help lead telephone companies in the S&P 500 to a 1.4 percent advance, the only gain among 10 groups. Robert Baird raised the shares to “outperform” from “neutral.” AT&T may rally as much as 15 percent in the next year if the acquisition of T-Mobile USA is approved, Barron’s reported. The company plans to expand 4G wireless to cover 95 percent of the U.S., up from 80 percent, after the proposed $39 billion takeover, Barron’s reported.
Have a wonderful evening everyone.
Be magnificent!
You are never alone because you are full of all the memories, all the conditioning,
all the mutterings of yesterday; your mind is never clear of all the rubbish it has accumulated.
To be alone, you must die to the past.
When you are alone, totally alone, not belonging to any family, any nation, any culture,
any particular continent, there is that sense of being an outsider.
The man who is completely alone in this way is innocent and it is this innocence that frees the mind from sorrow.
-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986
As ever,
Carolann
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. -Will Durant, 1885-1981