October 29, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Between Ornamentation & Essentiality

-by Jerry Burchfield, Artist

I was only ten years old, but I still remember going into the backyard at night to watch the first satellite orbit the earth as it traveled through the night sky.  On one of those nights my Dad told me that “outer space” was the only hope for humanity.  Our efforts to make life “better” were destroying the earth, and ultimately we would have no choice but to abandon her.

This was in 1957, and now, more than fifty years later, we are finally beginning to realize that our struggle to control nature and our ever-escalating demands upon her have gotten out of hand.  Being an optimist, I still believe that it is not too late to change things.  I find solace, however, in the fact that outer space does provide us another option.

Throughout my career, my work has been about change and the “teetering” relationship between humanity and nature.  I seek the physical essence of nature, while drawing attention to the loss that is occurring.  Using methods similar to that of the photographic pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot, who made cameraless images of botanicals in the early 1800s, I work outdoors, not in a darkroom, using extended sunlight exposures to create color images of flora directly on gelatin silver black-and-white photographic paper.  I call these one-of-a-kind fossil-like images lumen prints.

To see more, go to  jerryburchfield.com/.

And on this day in…

1945 – The first ball-point pen goes is sold by Gimbell’s department store in New York for a price of $12.

1949 – Alonzo G. Moron of the Virgin Islands becomes the first African-American president of Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia.

1952 – French forces launch Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina.

1964 – Thieves steal a jewel collection–including the world’s largest sapphire, the 565-carat “Star of India,” and the 100-carat DeLong ruby–from the Museum of Natural History in New York. The thieves were caught and most of the jewels recovered.

1969 – The U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation, superseding the previous “with all deliberate speed” ruling.

1969 – Internet created between Stanford & UCLA>

1972 – Palestinian guerrillas kill an airport employee and hijack a plane, carrying 27 passengers, to Cuba. They force West Germany to release 3 terrorists who were involved in the Munich Massacre.
photos of the day

October 29, 2012

Hurricane Sandy is seen moving towards the east coast of the United States in this NASA satellite image.

NOAA/NASA/GOES/Reuters

Sparrows sit on a fence under falling snow in a park in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

Market Closes for October 29^th, 2012:

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Eric Lam

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks erased losses in the final minutes of trading, led by gains in MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. and Progress Energy Resources Corp. as U.S. equity markets closed before the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.

MacDonald Dettwiler surged 10 percent, the most since June, after a U.S. regulator approved its $875 million acquisition of Space Systems/Loral Inc. and analysts upgraded the stock. Intact Financial Corp., which provides home, automobile and business insurance in Canada, declined 1.9 percent with southern Ontario in the potential path of Sandy.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 12.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,312.75 in Toronto, erasing earlier losses of as much as 0.4 percent. Energy and mining stocks contributed most to gains on the benchmark Canadian equity gauge. Trading volume was 45 percent lower than the 30-day average.

“American players aren’t around so there’s a tremendous lack of liqudity,” said Brian Huen, managing partner with Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. His firm manages about C$55 million. Due to a lack of sellers, bids placed at the end of the trading session closed at higher prices, Huen said. “People had to pay up for stocks and this caused the index to jump up at the end,” he said.

Barry Schwartz, a fund manager with Baskin Financial Services Inc. in Toronto, said Canadian investors are reluctant to make big bets when the U.S. market is closed.

“The question is with the U.S. markets possibly closed for the next few days, whether that will leave us directionless,” Schwartz said. His firm manages about C$450 million ($450 million).

The U.S. securities industry canceled equity trading on all markets today, moving to protect workers as Hurricane Sandy barreled toward New York City with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles (145 kilometers) per hour, up from 75 mph earlier, and the threat of an 10-foot sea surge. The shutdown was extended through tomorrow.

Intact slid 1.9 percent to C$59.50. The company’s insurance business would be affected if the hurricane caused damage in Canada, Andre-Philippe Hardy, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said in a note.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, which has the biggest U.S. consumer lending operations among Canada’s banks, slipped 0.6 percent to C$80.68. The bank announced it has closed 776 branches across several states along the U.S. northeast coast including all stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts as well as in Washington D.C. and New York City.

Inmet Mining Corp., a diversified gold and copper miner, slumped 0.7 percent to C$50.10. Copper for December delivery fell 1.6 percent to settle at $3.4945 a pound in New York, declining for an eighth session on speculation the hurricane will disrupt the U.S. economy.

Progress Energy Resources Corp. jumped 7.9 percent to C$19.81 after Malaysian oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd. extended the “outside date” for its takeover of the Canadian firm by 30 days as it seeks government approval. Industry Canada rejected the C$5.59 billion Petronas bid for Progress on Oct. 19, saying it was not of “net benefit” for the nation.

Nexen Inc., awaiting government approval for its $17.4 billion takeover by CNOOC Ltd., added 5.4 percent to C$24.53.

TransCanada Corp. added 1.1 percent to C$44.90 after it agreed to a deal with a unit of PetroChina Co. Ltd. to develop a C$3 billion oil pipeline to ship crude from oil-sands projects in northern Alberta. TransCanada and Phoenix Energy Holdings Ltd. will each own 50 percent of the proposed pipeline.

MacDonald Dettwiler, a Canadian maker of space-data collection equipment, gained 10 percent to C$55.43 after it received notice from a branch of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it has completed its review of the proposed acquisition of Space Systems/Loral.

“We view the acquisition as very accretive,” said Stephanie Price, an analyst with CIBC World Markets, in a note to clients. Price upgraded the stock to sector outperform and raised her 12-month price target to C$66.

Steven Arthur, a technology analyst at RBC Capital Markets, also raised the stock to outperform with a one-year price target of C$68.

US

All markets closed

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

When the poor come to you in great need, begging for food,

do not harden your hearts against them.

Remember that the poor may once have been rich,

and you may one day be poor.

When you see people who are thin for lack of food,

beg them to accept your help;

remember that you may need their friendship in times to come.

Rig Veda

As ever,

Carolann

It is easier to fight for one’s principles

than to live up to them.

-Alfred Adler, 1870-1937

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