Newsletter for January 4, 2017

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Stone on Watch at Dawn
  -by Brynn Saito

See the writer again
at the gate of memory?

The land cracks open with wind
and shots of rain.

She should drown her pages
in the sky, take to the ground
like a dogged gardener.

Turn the soil into something new –

Survive the past.

Whispers at the barbed wire
no longer suffice.  What works is singing
from the cave of the self

where memories of knives
and clouds shaped like tiger faces

live together like children
unaware of their potential.

Brynn Saito grew up in Fresno, California, the child of a Korean-American mother and a Japanese-American father.  She sometimes writes about her heritage, in poems marked by ambivalence, resonant imagery and great originality.  This poem, one of a series written from the point of view of a stone, considers how a poet might metabolize and make use of the past. – Matthew Zapruder, NY Times.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

French cyclist Robert Marchand, age 105, stops after setting a world record for distance cycled in one hour (in the 105+ age category created especially for him) at the velodrome of Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, outside Paris, on Wednesday. He rode 22.547 kilometers in one hour. Thibault Camus/AP

Al Blaschke, of Sun City, Texas, and his friend Betty Schleder celebrate after skydiving on Blaschke’s 100 birthday at Skydive Temple in Salado, Texas, on Wednesday. Blashke tied the US record for oldest skydiver, according to Mark Pollack of Skydive Temple. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/AP

A woman walks a dog on a snow-covered path beside the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada, on Wednesday. Chris Wattie/Reuters

Snow enthusiasts turn Lawrence Street into a huge sled run in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday after several inches of snow closed area schools.Brian Davies/The Register-Guard/AP
Market Closes for January 4^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Joseph Ciolli
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for the fourth time in five sessions, further extending the best annual rally since 2009, as raw-material producers and industrial companies led gains and an index of commodities snapped a three-day skid.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 0.3 percent to 15,443.22 at 9:52 a.m. in Toronto, putting the benchmark on pace to close at the highest level since April 2015. The gauge finished 2016 as the best-performing developed stock market and has risen in each of the last six months. Industrial stocks paced the gain on Wednesday, adding 0.7 percent, while health- care shares fell more than 1.8 percent.
     In other moves:
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Hubday Minerals Inc. and Pretium Resources Inc. gained more than 2.6% as the Bloomberg Commodity Index climbed 0.4%, its first increase in four days
* MEG Energy Corp., Baytex Energy Corp. and Raging River Exploration Inc. lost at least 1.4% as the price of crude oil slipped for a fourth straight day.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks added to their New Year’s rally Wednesday as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting were released. Industries from retailers to automakers and banks all advanced.
     The S&P 500 Index added 0.6 percent to 2,270.75 at 4 p.m. in New York after a 0.9 percent climb on the first day of the year that was the benchmark gauge’s biggest advance in almost a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed within 60 points of the 20,000 level, up 0.3 percent to 19,942.
* Russell 2000 up 1.6% for biggest gain in a month
* 9 of 11 sectors higher with energy and phones shares down 0.3%
* Materials stocks up 1.4% on back of 1.3% gain in Bloomberg Commodities Index
** Freeport-McMoRan, Mosaic and CF Industries all added at least 3.6%
* Discretionary stocks up 1.3% as staples shares gain 0.1%
* S&P 500 now trading back above 10-day moving average
* Fed meeting minutes indicated officials intended to maintain a gradual approach to raising interest rates even as risks of faster economic growth emerge
* A string of strong data from China and Europe helped U.S. stocks advance yesterday, ahead of Friday’s payrolls report
* VIX down 7.8% for second straight decline; ended 2016 with biggest annual slump since 2013
* EARNINGS:
** Pre-market Thursday: Emmis Communications (EMMS), Park Electrochemical (PKE), RPM International (RPM), Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), Constellation Brands (STZ), Monsanto (MON), Schnitzer Steel Industries (SCHN)

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

It is only when we give complete attention to a problem,
and solve it immediately – never carrying it over to the next day,
the next minute – that there is solitude.
To have inward solitude and space is very important
because it implies freedom to be, to go, to function, to fly.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
                                                                               -Edith Wharton, 1862-1937

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com