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By Gregory Thomas
Vancouver Sun
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Energy stocks led Canadian markets lower Friday as crude oil prices sunk to their lowest level in six weeks. Banking shares gave up much of their gains from earlier in the year, victims of a sell-off in financials south of the border.
Adrian Mastracci, fee-only portfolio manager at KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver, says, "In the long run, the markets deliver. In the short run, you're going to have blips."
April crude fell 44 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $57.11 US a barrel, down five per cent for the week and 10 per cent from a year ago. Natural gas at Spectra Energy's Huntingdon tolling station in Abbotsford dropped 14 cents to $6.28 US per million Btu. Suncor fell $1.34 to $79.66, sliding 3.9 per cent this week. Natural gas producer EnCana dropped $1.31 to $53.90, off 3.6 per cent on the week. Talisman shed 47 cents to $18.51, down 5.8 per cent since last Friday.
The S&P/TSX composite lost 44.64 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 12,829.68, down 1.7 per cent from the previous Friday close. The S&P/TSX Venture composite gained 12.08, or 0.4 per cent to 3,065.62, down two per cent for the week. The S&P financials group gave up 1.7 per cent on the week. CIBC fell 57 cents to $100.03, off 2.78 per cent this week.
"In the long run, the markets deliver. In the short run, you're going to have blips," said Adrian Mastracci, fee-only portfolio manager with KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver.
"Sometimes, where we've got a cycle where we've run up for three or four years, these slowdowns have to be expected. People should look at it and say, 'This is normal.' It's a normal part of volatility."
Mastracci's portfolios tend to have a lower weighting to stocks, with the most aggressive clients holding just 75 per cent in equities. A third of his portfolios have just 20 to 50 per cent in stocks, with the rest in fixed-income securities and short-term paper.
In New York, inflation fears sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its sixth losing week this year, and its worst start for the year since 2003. Consumer prices climbed 0.4 per cent in February, more than economists expected and twice as much as they rose in January. An index of U.S. consumer confidence fell to 88.8 from 91.3 in February, to its lowest level since last September. Gold for April delivery rose $6.80, or 1.1 per cent, to $653.90 US an ounce, a gain of 0.3 per cent for the week.
The Dow average shed 49.27 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 12,110.41, ending the week lower by 1.4 per cent. The S&P 500 gave up 5.33, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,386.95 to end the week down 1.1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite fell 6.04, or 0.3 per cent to 2,372.66, finishing the week down 0.6 per cent.
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.08 cents to 85.09 cents US, down from 85.30 cents a week ago.
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