March 2nd, 2011 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
Today, The Globe & Mail reminds us is the anniversary of the premiere of King Kong in New York. On March 2, 1933, “In the darkest year of the Depression, two days before Franklin Roosevelt delivered his only-thing-to-fear-is-fear-itself inauguration address, New York audiences lined up for the premiere of the decade’s greatest horror film, King Kong. The story of the giant ape who wreaks havoc in Manhattan after being kidnapped from his native island starred 25-year old, Alberta-born Fay Wray as beauty to Kong’s beast. With a blond wig over her brown hair and a form-fitting satin gown she was carried in an enormous hand to the top of the Empire State Building, Wray shrieked her way into history as Hollywood’s first ‘scream queen.’ Over the decades, the title has been passed to Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis and another Canadian, Neve Campbell. After Wray died in 2004, the lights of the Empire State Building were shut off for 15 minutes in her honor.”
British artist Anthony McCall poses for photographers next to a scale model of his work, “Column,” during a presentation of his commission for the Cultural Olympiad, in central London. McCall has been commissioned by Britain’s Arts Council and the Cultural Olympiad to create his “column” – a 20 metre wide column of cloud that will rise from the surface of water – on Merseyside next year.
Andrew Winning /Reuters
Market Commentary:
Canada
March 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as energy producers advanced after the U.S. job market strengthened and concern mounted that unrest in Libya will spread to other oil exporting countries in northern Africa and the Middle East.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation’s second- largest energy company by market value, advanced 1.6 percent.
Bombardier Inc. added 7.5 percent after NetJets Inc., the business-jet operator owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., ordered as many as 120 planes. Cenovus Energy Inc. added 2.4 percent as oil rallied.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 21.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 14,144.02 in Toronto, the highest level since June 2008.
“There was some economic data out of the U.S. that was pretty positive for the market,” said Marcus Xu, director of equity investments at Genus Capital Management in Vancouver, which manages C$1.7 billion ($1.8 billion).
A private report released before exchanges opened showed that companies in the U.S. added more workers in February than forecast, indicating the labor market may be strengthening.
Employment increased by 217,000 last month after a revised 189,000 gain in January, according to figures from ADP Employer Services. Canada is the largest U.S. oil supplier.
A subgroup of 58 energy producers in the Canadian benchmark equity index has added 14 percent since Jan. 10 on concern political unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa will restrict oil supply. Oil futures have soared 15 percent in the same period.
Oil futures climbed to a 29-month high as Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi attacked rebels on the east coast where much of the oil is refined and shipped abroad. Crude oil for April delivery rose 2.6 percent to settle at $102.23 a barrel in New York, the highest price since September 2008.
Canadian Natural advanced 1.6 percent to C$49.73, the highest price since July 2008. Suncor, the country’s biggest energy company, added 0.8 percent to C$46.02, the fourth straight gain. Cenovus gained 2.4 percent to C$38.60, the highest price since November 2009.
European Goldfields Ltd. gained 2.7 percent to C$13.54, after Executive Chairman Martyn Konig said the company expects environmental permits for two mines in Greece “imminently,”
after news reports last week said the approvals may be delayed.
Bombardier rose 7.5 percent to C$6.60 for the biggest gain in the Canadian benchmark equity index. Buffett’s agreement to purchase as many as 120 planes from the company is worth $6.7 billion at list prices, and comprises 50 firm orders and 70 options, according to a statement.
GMP Capital Inc., Canada’s second-biggest non-bank brokerage, climbed 3.1 percent to C$15.50, after the firm said fourth-quarter profit almost doubled on record capital markets revenue. GMP reported profit of 50 Canadian cents a share on an adjusted basis, beating the average analyst estimate by 35 percent, Bloomberg data show.
US
March 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, rebounding from yesterday’s slump, as chipmakers rallied and signs of a strengthening job market bolstered optimism the economy can withstand a surge in energy costs. Treasuries and the dollar fell. Persian Gulf shares slid to the lowest level since July.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.5 percent to
1,312.35 at 3:11 p.m. in New York after sinking 1.6 percent yesterday. Chipmakers led gains as JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its recommendation on the industry. Oil climbed to a 29-month high above $102 a barrel amid concern unrest in the Middle East will disrupt supplies. Ten-year Treasury yields rose seven basis points to 3.47 percent and the Dollar Index lost 0.5 percent.
The S&P 500 tumbled 2.7 percent from its 32-month high on Feb. 18 through yesterday amid concern surging energy prices will hurt consumer spending and corporate profits. Today’s advance came after ADP Employer Services said companies in the U.S. added 217,000 jobs last month, topping economists’
estimates, and the Federal Reserve said the labor market improved throughout the country early this year.
“This is a fairly resilient market,” said Jeffrey Davis, who oversees $5 billion as chief investment officer at Lee Munder Capital Group in Boston. “We’re in a sustainable economic recovery. Without any serious move in oil prices, you’ll probably get a market that has a firm foundation to it.
In such a case, any pullback will be minor.”
Xilinx Inc., Altera Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc. rose at least 3.1 percent and semiconductor companies climbed the most among 24 groups. Christopher Danely, an analyst at JPMorgan, raised the industry to “constructive” from “cautious” on improving economic and inventory trends.
Improvements in the labor market were driven by increasing retail sales and “solid growth” in manufacturing, the Fed said in its Beige Book report, an anecdotal account of the economy.
The Labor Department will release its February jobs report in two days, with the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey calling for an increase of 195,000 jobs.
Equities retreated from Tokyo to London earlier as crude surged. Oil futures advanced as much as 2.8 percent as Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi attacked rebels on the east coast where much of the country’s oil is refined and shipped abroad.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.7 percent as about three shares fell for every one that advanced. Daimler AG, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, lost 2.8 percent, leading automakers lower. Swiss Reinsurance Co. slipped 1.9 percent after estimating $800 million of costs from the New Zealand earthquake. Celesio AG tumbled 6.2 percent after DZ Bank AG recommended selling shares of the German drug wholesaler.
The VStoxx Index, which measures the cost of protecting against a decline in the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, climbed 3.3 percent to 24.60, the highest level in almost a week.
The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, a gauge of Persian Gulf shares, slid 3.3 percent and has tumbled 9.8 percent in four days. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slumped 3.9 percent, down 15 percent in four days. The Dubai Financial Market General Index sank 3.5 percent to the lowest since June
2004 today, while benchmark equity measures in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar lost more than 2 percent. Credit-default swaps on Bahrain rose 16 basis points to 315 at 3 p.m. in London, according to CMA.
New Zealand’s dollar slumped against all 16 of its most- traded peers, sliding as much as 1.2 percent versus the U.S.
currency to a 2011 low, after Prime Minister John Key said he expects the central bank to cut interest rates as the nation grapples with the aftermath of the deadliest earthquake in 80 years.
The extra yield investors demand to hold Greek 10-year bonds instead of benchmark German bunds rose to 888 basis points, the highest level in almost two months. S&P said the debt ratings of Greece and Portugal remain at risk of being cut on concern about how a European Union rescue fund may affect holders of the two nations’ sovereign bonds.
The ratings company kept Greece’s BB+ long-term ratings and Portugal’s A- long-term and A2 short-term classifications on creditwatch negative, according to a statement yesterday. The yield on the 10-year Portuguese security rose two basis points to 7.48 percent.
Be magnificent!
Everyone is but a manifestation of the Impersonal, the basis of all being, and misery consists in thinking of ourselves as different from this Infinite, Impersonal Being; and liberation consists in knowing our unity with this wonderful Impersonality.
-Swami Vivekananda,1863-1902
As ever,
Carolann
It’s kind of fun to do the impossible. -Walt Disney, 1901-1966