May 8, 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in…

1868 – Mary Cassat’s painting The Mandolin Player is selected for exhibition at the Paris Salon.

1942 – Irving Berlin registers a copyright for White Christmas.

1945 – A day after Germany surrenders, Harry S. Truman announces today is “Victory in Europe’ day.

1970 – The Beatles released their final album, Let It Be.  The band breaks up later that year.

A friend sent this to me today; it is remarkable:

This is really exciting and one more reason why medical care may someday get better.

Amazing medical technology being developed in Israel

If you have someone who is suffering from Cancer, Parkinsons, Tumors, etc. then the following will be of interest. It’s short, but very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/IfJemqkby_0?rel=0

Imagination is something you do alone. –Steve Wozniak

Photos of the day – May 8th, 2013

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, (center r.) talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center l.) as the witness a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chinese leaders welcomed Netanyahu to Beijing as China tries to bring its growing international influence to an area where it has had little impact – the Middle East peace process. Kim Kyung-Hoon/AP

Judges sit in the House of Lords as they wait for the start of the State opening of Parliament, in the Palace of Westminster in London. Toby Melville/Reuters

Market Closes for May 8th, 2013

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

May 8 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the fifth straight day, reaching a one-month high, as commodities rallied after reports showed China’s trade and Germany’s industrial output beat estimates.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Teck Resources Ltd. advanced more than 4.9 percent as industrial metals gained.

Kinross Gold Corp. added 6.3 percent as earnings beat forecasts.

Iamgold Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp. climbed at least 8.6 percent after the precious metal rallied. Tim Hortons Inc. slumped 2.6 percent after same-store sales fell in its restaurants in Canada and the U.S.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 120.94 points, or 1 percent, to 12,585.05 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest since April 2. The benchmark equity gauge has added 2.1 percent since May 1 and is up 1.2 percent this year. Trading volume was 5 percent above the 30-day average.

“A number of stocks are now factoring in a better economy; it may be premature but that’s what’s happening,” Irwin Michael, fund manager with ABC Funds, said on the phone from Toronto. His firm manages about C$800 million ($797 million).

“Commodities are acting better. China’s been growing about 7 percent. Europe is still pretty bleak and the only shining light is Germany.”

China reported gains in both imports and exports, which may ease concern that domestic demand is slowing after the world’s second-largest economy unexpectedly decelerated last quarter.

China is Canada’s second biggest trade partner.

German industrial production unexpectedly rose for a second month in March in a further sign that Europe’s largest economy is returning to growth.

Commodities producers contributed most to gains in the S&P/TSX as six of 10 industries advanced. The S&P/TSX Materials Index climbed 4.5 percent, the most in two weeks.

First Quantum gained 5.2 percent to C$18.71 and Teck Resources advanced 4.9 percent to C$29.34 as copper futures rose to a three-week high. China accounts for more than 40 percent of global copper consumption. Prices for aluminum, tin, zinc, nickel and lead also advanced.

Kinross rose 6.3 percent to C$5.61 after reporting adjusted earnings of 15 cents a share, ahead of analysts’ average estimates of 13 cents according to a Bloomberg survey.

Production rose 10 percent from a year ago, while all-in costs fell, the company said in a statement.

Iamgold jumped 12 percent to C$6.03 after posting better- than-expected earnings. Barrick, the world’s largest gold miner, rallied 8.6 percent to C$21.50.

Gold producers rallied 6.5 percent as a group to a three- week high as the metal’s price advanced 1.7 percent to settle at $1,473.70 an ounce in New York. Gold imports to China from Hong Kong more than doubled to a high in March, Hong Kong government data showed yesterday.

Parkland Fuel Corp., Canada’s largest independent fuel distributor, climbed 7.2 percent to C$17.48, the biggest gain in 18 months. First-quarter net income rose to 42 Canadian cents a share from 26 cents a year earlier. Sales jumped 14 percent.

Trevor Johnson, an analyst with National Bank Financial, upgraded the stock to the equivalent of a buy from hold.

Tim Hortons, Canada’s largest coffee and doughnuts chain, slumped 2.6 percent to C$57.13. Sales at Canadian stores open for more than a year declined 0.3 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago. The Oakville, Ontario-based company blamed the economy and weather for the drop.

The company also announced it has hired Marc Caira, a senior Nestle SA executive, as its new president and chief executive officer effective July 2.

US

By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Sofia Horta e Costa

May 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 15,000 for the first time yesterday, as earnings forecasts from Whole Foods Market Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. beat analyst estimates.

Whole Foods Market and Electronic Arts gained more than 10 percent. J.C. Penney Co. added 7.4 percent as quarterly sales declined less than in the year-earlier period. Symantec Corp. lost 2.4 percent after it said sales and revenue will miss analyst estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,632.69 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow added 48.92 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,105.12. More than 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, about in line with the three- month average.

“We’ve recovered from the nervousness that we saw in the market in April and we’ve built a nice base here,” Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $3.5 billion as co-chief investment officer of Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments LLC, said by phone. “We’ve gotten through the earnings season and we’re turning to the phase in the quarter where economic reports will determine if the market can hold up.”

The Dow closed above 15,000 for the first time yesterday on optimism over global central bank stimulus and better-than- estimated corporate earnings. The S&P 500 posted its fifth straight record today. The gauge has climbed 3.2 percent in that time, the largest five-day rally since Jan. 7. U.S. stocks are in the fifth year of a bull market amid three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.

About 86 percent of S&P 500 stocks traded above their average prices from the past 50 days as of yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the highest level since Feb. 13, while below the two-year high of 93 percent in January.

News Corp. and Monster Beverage Corp. were among five S&P 500 companies reporting earnings today. About 72 percent of companies that have released results since the start of the earnings season have exceeded profit projections, while 52 percent have missed sales estimates, data compiled’ by Bloomberg show.

The S&P 500 will extend its record rally as the U.S. central bank continues using economic stimulus as a way to reduce unemployment, according to Scott Black, president of Boston-based Delphi Management Inc.

“There’s room to go on the upside, especially since you’re getting nothing on the fixed-income side,” Black said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio today. “There’s every indication that Ben Bernanke is going to remain accommodative because we’re not even near the threshold where he wants to get unemployment back under 6.5 percent.”

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has kept overnight interest rates near zero since December 2008 and embarked on a bond buying program that has expanded the central bank’s balance sheet to more than $3 trillion. The Fed has pledged to maintain this policy as long as U.S. unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation doesn’t exceed 2.5 percent.

Economic data from China and Germany today came in better than estimated. Chinese export growth unexpectedly accelerated in April even as shipments to the U.S. and Europe fell. German industrial production also rose more than forecast, increasing for a second month in March in a further sign that Europe’s largest economy is returning to growth.

Investors bought shares of stocks most tied to economic growth, sending 25 out of 30 members of the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index higher. The gauge has rallied 5.7 percent in the past five days. Raw-material, technology and phone shares had the biggest advances among 10 groups in the S&P 500, climbing at least 0.7 percent.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. added 3.3 percent to $62.51, Hewlett-Packard Co. increased 2.8 percent to $21.07 and Alcoa Inc. gained 2.7 percent to $8.87 for the biggest gains in the Dow. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 1.3 percent to $49.76.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 1.3 percent to 12.66. The equity volatility gauge is down 30 percent for the year.

Whole Foods gained 10 percent to $102.19. Net income rose to about $142 million, or 76 cents a share, from $118 million, or 64 cents, a year earlier, the Austin, Texas-based company said yesterday. Analysts had projected profit of 73 cents a share, the average of 24 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The company also said that profit excluding certain items will be as much as $2.89 a share in fiscal 2013, up from a previous estimate of as much as $2.87. Analysts estimate $2.87 a share, on average.

Electronic Arts increased 17 percent to $21.56, the highest since December 2011. The company, which makes the “FIFA” and “SimCity” video games, forecast adjusted earnings of $1.20 a share in the year ending in March, exceeding the $1.10 average estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

J.C. Penney added 7.4 percent to $17.61. The department- store chain that replaced its chief executive officer last month said preliminary fiscal first-quarter sales fell 16 percent, a smaller drop than a year earlier. CEO Myron Ullman is working to improve sales after revenue last year tumbled 25 percent to $13 billion amid Ron Johnson’s failed attempt to remake the retailer.

Sotheby’s rose 3.8 percent to $36.25. The auction house sold a Paul Cezanne painting for $41.6 million in its Impressionist and modern art sale yesterday.

News Corp. climbed 3.3 percent in extended trading following the close of exchanges after reporting profit that beat estimates amid higher licensing fees for television shows such as “American Idol.” Monster Beverage lost 16 percent at 5:50 p.m. as profit was cut by $8.3 million from payments to terminate distributor agreements.

Symantec declined 2.4 percent to $24.49. Revenue in the current period, which ends in June, will be $1.61 billion to $1.65 billion, the biggest maker of security software said yesterday. Profit excluding some costs will be 35 cents to 36 cents a share. Analysts on average had projected sales of $1.7 billion and profit of 44 cents.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. lost 7 percent to $57.26 for the biggest retreat in the S&P 500. The transportation logistics firm posted quarterly profit lower than analysts estimated.

Williams Cos. lost 3.7 percent to $35.60. The third-largest U.S. pipeline company posted its full-year earnings forecasts through to 2015, trailing current analyst estimates for all three years.

Manchester United Plc lost 1.8 percent to $18.44. Alex Ferguson will retire as British soccer’s most successful manager, having led the club to 38 trophies in 26 years.

The S&P 500 may trigger a longer-term buy signal for global equity markets, even as the benchmark gauge for U.S stocks nears a resistance level, according to Roelof-Jan van den Akker, a technical analyst at ING Groep NV.

The measure is nearing its short-term resistance of 1,635, signaling a possible 1.6 percent decline from yesterday’s finish to 1,600 within the next two weeks. Still, a monthly close above the longer-term resistance level of 1,600 would send a buy signal for the next year, triggering a greater increase in the S&P 500 that will lead global stock markets higher, van den Akker said.

“Prices are slowly breaking the upward rising resistance line around 1,600,” he said via phone from Amsterdam. “Even though we may see a short-term pullback that we will consider normal, the S&P 500’s uptrend is intact and likely to continue. Prices are still in a steep upward move in the next few weeks.”

In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Energy is action and movement.  All action is movement and all action is energy.

All desire is energy.  All feeling is energy.  All thought is energy.

All living is energy.  All life is energy.

If that energy is allowed to flow without any contradiction,

without any friction, without any conflict, then that energy is boundless, endless.

When there is no friction there are no frontiers to energy.

It is friction which gives energy limitations.  So, having once seen this,

why is it that the human being always brings friction into energy?

Why does he create friction in  this movement which we call life?

Is pure energy, energy without limitations just an idea to him?

Does it have no reality?

Krishnamurti, 1895-1986

As ever,

Carolann

I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.

I said “I don’t know.”

-Mark Twain, 1835-1910

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