May 28, 2012 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Memorial Day today in the US, so quiet in the markets; US markets were closed.

We just had a fabulous weekend at the celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the David Foster Foundation.  The concerts on both nights, Friday and Saturday, were fantastic with the Canadian tenors, Josh Groban, Sinbad, Kenny G, Sarah McLachlan, Ruben Studdard, among many others.  Muhammed Ali was there on Saturday night as was Wayne Gretzky. An impressive amount of money was raised  for children of families awaiting organ donors.

Earlier in the day on Friday, Michael Buble cut the ribbon for the walkway around Victoria’s inner harbor which will now be known as the David Foster Way.  A fitting tribute to this amazing man.

Nita Whitaker sang Donna Summer’s Last Dance in tribute to the artist who died last week of cancer.  We sat next to Donna Summer and her husband at dinner last year when the David Foster event was held in the Napa Valley.   She looked so beautiful then, but seemed subdued.  The event took place last July and we learned on the weekend that she had been diagnosed with cancer in April.

And on this day in…

1934 – Dionne quintuplets born in Quebec

1961 – Amnesty International, a human rights organization, is founded
1940 – Belgium surrenders to Germany
1805 – Napoleon is crowned in Milan, Italy
1830 – Congress authorizes Indian removal from all states to the western Prairie.

What comes from the heart, goes to the heart. –Samuel Taylor Coleridge

photos of the day May 27, 2012

Members of Boy Scout Troop 450 and 278 lead the parade carrying a large American flag during the Memorial Day observance ceremony at the Memphis National Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. Saturday.

Chris Desmond/The Commercial Appeal/AP

Actors jump on a trampoline during celebrations marking the 309th anniversary of the city, on Nevsky Avenue in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday.

Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

Market Closes for May 28, 2012:

North American Markets

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Joseph Ciolli

May 28 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined as concern about Spain’s finances overshadowed rallies in gold and oil, preventing the fifth straight advance in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. dropped 2.1 percent after talks to end a six-day strike ended. Canadian National Railway Co. dropped 1.3 percent as the work stoppage snarled traffic.

Goldcorp Inc. and Kinross Gold Corp. fell at least 1.2 percent.

Suncor Energy Inc. gained 0.1 percent as oil futures rose for a third consecutive session.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 10.32 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,566.15. The benchmark gauge rose as much as 0.5 percent earlier. It added 2.6 percent last week and posted the biggest four-day rally since Feb. 22. Trading volume for S&P/TSX companies was 63 percent less than the 10-day average today as U.S. stock exchanges were shut for Memorial Day.

“The lack of liquidity is probably the key thing in Canada today,” Brian Huen, a managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$55 million ($54 million). “You could see some swings. I don’t expect people to give much legitimacy to big moves in stocks.”

The index completed its first weekly gain since the end of April on May 25 as materials and bank shares rallied after U.S.

home sales rose and investors speculated China and Europe will stimulate economic growth.

Industrial companies in the benchmark gauge decreased as railroads slumped. The strike is having a “grave and significant” impact on the world’s 10th-biggest economy, Labor Minister Lisa Raitt told reporters in Ottawa after introducing legislation to end the six-day dispute.

Canadian Pacific fell 2.1 percent to C$75.52. Canadian National Railway slipped 1.3 percent to C$82.51.

Goldcorp, the second-largest producer of the metal, fell 1.9 percent to C$38.11. Kinross Gold lost 1.2 percent to C$8.42.

Bank were little changed as Spanish debt fell amid concern the nation’s lenders will need more financial support to weather Europe’s debt crisis. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the euro region’s rescue fund should be able to bypass national governments and recapitalize distressed lenders directly.

Energy companies in the S&P/TSX rose as oil advanced for a third day on the growing signs that Greek voters may back austerity measures, boosting confidence that the bloc’s debt crisis can be contained.

Suncor Energy, Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, rose 0.1 percent to C$28.90.

US

Markets Closed

Futures Comment:

By Tom Stoukas

May 28 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock-index futures advanced as Greece’s pro-bailout New Democracy party came top in opinion polls before next month’s election, boosting speculation the nation can implement austerity measures and keep the euro.

Alcoa Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp. each rose 1 percent in German trading as copper climbed amid dwindling Chinese stockpiles. Apple Inc. gained while Facebook Inc. declined.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June increased 0.5 percent to 1,321.1 at 10:16 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 41 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,470. The U.S. equity market is closed today for the Memorial Day holiday.

“The polls suggest that the New Democracy and Socialist parties would have enough votes to form a coalition and hence stem the tide of negativity surrounding an immediate Greek default,” Gerard Lane, an equity strategist at Shore Capital Group Ltd. in Liverpool, England, wrote in a note to clients.

New Democracy, which supports the austerity measures imposed by the European Union, came first in all six opinion polls published on May 26 as campaigning continued for the general election on June 17.

Party leader Antonis Samaras sought to sketch out the consequences of a euro exit, saying Greek incomes, bank deposits and property values would lose at least half their value within days, while food prices would rise by a quarter.

In Ireland, supporters of the EU’s fiscal pact lead before a May 31 referendum, according to a poll for the Sunday Independent. Excluding undecided voters, the yes camp leads by 60 percent to 40 percent, the Dublin-based newspaper said.

The S&P 500 gained 1.7 percent last week, its first weekly rally since April, as investors were lured by the cheapest valuations since November.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, rose 0.9 percent to $8.71 and Newmont Mining added 0.4 percent to $49.

Copper climbed for a third day in London as inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange slumped for a seventh week, the longest losing streak in a year.

Heath Jansen, Citigroup Inc.’s head of research for European metals and mining, wrote in a report today that in the “short term,” his view on the industry changed to “neutral” from “bearish” because of higher-than-average dividend yields offered by the companies.

Apple, the maker of the iPhone and iPad, added 0.7 percent to $566.17 in Germany.

Bank of America Corp, the second-largest U.S. lender by assets, advanced 0.8 percent to $7.21.

Facebook, the world’s biggest social-network website, fell 1.1percent to $31.55 in Germany.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

The phrase ‘to meditate’ does not only mean to examine, observe, reflect, question, weigh;

it also has, in the Sanskrit, a more profound meaning, which is ‘to become.’

-Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

Friendship renders prosperity more brilliant, while it

lightens adversity by sharing it and making its

burden common.

-Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 -43 B.C.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI

Senior Vice-President &

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7