XPost: can.politics, can.ai, can.general   
   XPost: soc.culture.canada, can.atlantic.general   
   From: none@none.com   
      
   TSX up 9%, Dow up 26% in stellar 2013 for stocks.   
      
   Easy money and improving economies boost stock prices, with more to   
   come in 2014   
      
   Dec 31, 2013   
      
      
   Easy monetary policies and an improving U.S. and EU economic outlook   
   mean that 2013 has been a great year for equity investors.   
      
   As the year comes to an end, the Toronto Stock Exchange is up nine per   
   cent since the beginning of the year, with Air Canada the stellar   
   performer at $7.48 per share, after hitting a 52-week low of $1.70.   
      
   Gold stocks, a major component of the TSX, have been the main   
   underperformer this year, with the gold index down almost 50 per cent   
   for the year.    After rising in price for more than a decade, gold is   
   now at $1,202 an ounce, down 28 per cent this year, the worst drop   
   since 1981.   
      
   The TSX base metals component has fallen about 28 per cent, so the   
   index is being pulled down by mining and energy stocks.   
      
      
   But some traders expect a recovery in the commodities sectors.   
      
   "I think commodities will outperform next year," said Marcus Xu, a   
   portfolio manager at MY Capital Management in Vancouver.   
      
   Canadian bank stocks have done well, with Royal Bank and TD up more   
   than 10 per cent on the year, while BMO was up eight per cent and CIBC   
   up 5.5 per cent. All reported strong earnings in 2013.   
      
   On Tuesday, the TSX closed up 40 points at 13,621.   
      
   Soaring U.S. stock prices   
      
   The gain in U.S. stocks was much steeper, with the S&P 500 up 29 per   
   cent on the year, led by tech darlings such as Tesla, Twitter, Best Buy   
   and Netflix.   
      
      
   The Dow Jones average has been breaking records in recent months, and   
   is up 26 per cent for 2013. It continued its gains Tuesday, rising 72   
   points to close at 16,576.   
      
   The U.S. economy appears to be in recovery, with the Fed beginning its   
   long-anticipated tapering in January. It made a surprise announcement   
   in December that it would begin buying $75 billion US  of U.S. bonds   
   per month, down from $85 billion.   
      
   Manufacturing orders are up and unemployment is down in the U.S. The   
   stock market was also buoyed by a resolution of the budget impasse,   
   which had threatened to overshadow the economy in January.   
      
   U.S. corporate earnings rose for a fourth straight year. Total earnings   
   for S&P 500 companies in 2013 are forecast to increase 5.37 per cent,   
   to a record $109.03 a share, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.   
      
   "It's tough to argue that companies are in anything other than good   
   health," says Paul Atkinson, head of North American equities at   
   Aberdeen Asset Management, a global fund management company.   
      
   Loonie down 6.4 per cent   
      
   The Canadian dollar closed the year down 6.4 per cent against the U.S.   
   dollar, and it looks to remain below parity in the near future. The   
   loonie rose 0.04 of a cent to close at 94.02 cents U.S. on Tuesday.   
      
   Declining commodity prices contributed to the loonie's fall, but the   
   biggest pressure point was the Bank of Canada's outlook.   
      
   "Most importantly, the view on the Bank of Canada changed, as we came   
   into this year expecting the BoC to hike rates at some point," observed   
   said David Watt, chief economist at HSBC Bank of Canada.   
      
   "Instead, the Bank of Canada stepped back from its tightening bias and   
   removed its tightening bias and now the discussion is actually whether   
   the Bank of Canada might cut rates."   
      
   Other markets around the world are at six-year highs:   
      
   Japan’s Nikkei index is up  56.7 per cent.   
   London’s FTSE is up 14 per cent.   
   Frankfurt’s DAX is up 23.9 per cent.   
   Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 2.7 per cent, dragged down by its   
   mainland-related stocks.   
   There was considerable gloom over Chinese stocks, despite signs that   
   the Chinese economy may strengthen. The benchmark Shanghai Composite   
   Index ended 2013 on a low note on Tuesday, closing at 2,115.98 points,   
   a decline of 6.75 per cent from a year earlier.   
      
   Reuters polls show European stocks are expected to hit new highs in   
   2014, while Chinese, U.S. and other major stock markets are also   
   forecast to post solid gains.   
      
   "There is almost a complacency about next year and how well it could   
   go," said Hans Peterson, head of asset allocation at SEB investment   
   management in the Netherlands.   
      
   "There is still abundant liquidity even if the Fed started to taper and   
   that is still the main theme ... Everything looks nice and easy right   
   now."   
      
   Bonds aren't such a pretty picture. The yield on the 10-year U.S.   
   Treasury note climbed from 1.76 per cent to as high as 3 per cent in   
   2013 as investors sold bonds in anticipation of the Fed's pullback.   
   The rise in yields and the corresponding decline in bond prices has   
   meant losses for bond investors, prompting them to cut their holdings.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)