Market News: After the Bell
Commodities lift Canadian stocks
RTGAM
If the commodity-heavy Canadian stock market loves higher oil and gold prices, it got big doses of both on Friday which helped drive the benchmark Canadian index up even as U.S. stocks fell.
Crude oil futures traded at $91.74 (U.S.) a barrel in New York, up $3.63 or 4.1 per cent, a substantial reversal from declines earlier in the week when observers fretted over rising U.S. inventories and concerns about lower consumption in the face of a slowing U.S. economy. As well, the price of gold shot up $11.59 an ounce in New York to $922.10 in another sudden reversal that brings bullion close to its record close of $929.40, according to Bloomberg.
The Canadian index closed at 12,989.34 on Friday, up 63.97 points or 0.5 per cent, driven higher by Barrick Gold Corp., Goldcorp Inc. and Suncor Energy Ltd. The index was also given a lift by a sharp rally in Research In Motion Ltd. Its shares rose 4.6 per cent to $89.73 on speculation that the technology company may include a touch screen when it introduces its next line of BlackBerry wireless communications devices.
Meanwhile, major U.S. indexes ended the day down on more concerns about the health of the U.S. economy, despite a rally among blue-chip technology stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,182.13 down 64.87 points or 0.5 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1331.29, down 5.62 points or 0.4 per cent.
The S&P/TSX composite index now has the dubious distinction of being the world's best-performing major index in 2008, even though it is under water. So far this year, it is down 6.1 per cent - which would normally look bad if it were not for the 8.2 per cent loss at the Dow Jones industrial average, the 10.4 per cent loss at the U.K.'s FTSE 100, the 15 per cent loss at Japan's Nikkei 225 and the 16.1 per cent loss at Germany's DAX index.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
Friday, February 8, 2008
Commodities lift Canadian stocks
Thursday, February 7, 2008
BWR+ MKO Partnership Pays Off
Metco Resources Inc.: Resources Update of the Orphee Deposit
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MONTREAL, CANADA--(Marketwire - Feb. 7, 2008) - Metco Resources Inc, ("Metco") (TSX VENTURE:MKO) is pleased to announce the release of an NI 43-101 compliant resource update on the Orphee Deposit, located in the Lebel-sur-Quevillon mining camp. The resource update dated Feb 6, 2008, was prepared by Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("Scott Wilson RPA"), of Toronto. The resource update forms an integral part of the Orphee Pre-Feasibility Study being prepared by Scott Wilson RPA, who are responsible for geology, diamond drilling programs and mineral resource estimation, and GENIVAR Limited Partnership ("Genivar"), a Quebec City engineering firm, responsible for mining methods, mineral reserve estimates, metallurgy, infrastructure and economic evaluation. The Orphee Deposit is held in a 50:50 joint venture with Breakwater Resources Ltd. ("Breakwater").
The mineral resources of the Orphee Deposit were re-estimated by Scott Wilson RPA and stand at:
Indicated category: 607,000 tonnes @ 6.6% Zn, 0.44% Cu, 14 g/t Ag and 0.12 g/t Au
Inferred category: 276,000 tonnes @ 7.0% Zn, 0.79% Cu, 13 g/t Ag and 0.08 g/t Au
The mineral resources were estimated utilizing the following assumptions:
- Metal prices: Zn: US $1.12/lb, Cu: US $2.55/lb, Ag: US $12.00/oz;
- Exchange rate: Can $ 1.09 per US $;
- Cut-off NSR of $80/t.
The previous historical mineral resource estimate for the Orphee deposit included inferred resources of 1,800,000 tonnes @ 4.25% Zn, 0.54% Cu and 11.75 g/t Ag. The historical mineral resources, estimated by Cambior Inc. in 1998, were classified as inferred resources in accordance with NI 43-101 following a review of the description of the methodology and drill hole spacing used, by Yvan Bussieres, eng, and Donald Theberge, eng, M.B.A. (Technical Qualification Report NI 43-101 on "Les proprietes du secteur Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec" dated November 15th, 2005 and filed on SEDAR).
The corporate strategy of Metco is to search for, acquire, explore, and develop mining properties with a high potential for base metals throughout Canada. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Florent Gauthier, P.Eng. is the qualified person who has reviewed the content of this news release.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Metco Resources Inc.
Florent Gauthier
President
514-875-6279
514-954 9673 (FAX)
info@metco.ca
or
SOLAK Communications
Francois Kalos
450-993-0828
kalos@solak.ca
Its green but not everywhere...Mother said there would be days like these...
Stocks up despite grim news
RTGAM
There was enough bad news on Thursday to sink the stock market equivalent of a battleship, but in the end North American investors sailed through.
They dodged comments from Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, who warned that aggressive rate cutting on the part of the U.S. Federal Reserve could "juice up" inflation - the second comment in as many days that the tonic investors are counting on might not arrive. They steered clear of a dismal forecast from Cisco Systems Inc., made on Wednesday night after markets closed. And they just plain ignored the fact that European stocks fell sharply on renewed fears of a U.S. recession and a global slowdown.
North American stocks ended the day higher, despite some waffling earlier. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,247, up 46.0 points or 0.4 per cent. The broader S&P 500 ended at 1336.91, up 10.5 points or 0.8 per cent. And Canada's S&P/TSX composite index ended at 12,925.37, up 58.17 points or 0.5 per cent.
In the end, investors may have ignored the near-term turbulence for what looked like a concerted effort on the part of the world's major central banks to cut rates and get the global economy humming again. The Bank of England did it on Thursday, trimming its benchmark by 25 basis points (or a quarter of a percentage point). And while the European Central Bank held rates steady on Thursday, initially causing some concern among investors who want a rate cut, it sent out the right message later in the day that it may be open to rate cuts this year.
Stefane Marion, an economist at National Bank Financial, noted that the global policy rate among the G7 developed economies, after adjusting for inflation, is negative for the first time in three years, which usually works a powerful dose of medicine for an ailing economy.
"There may still be a lot of uncertainty regarding the impact of a U.S. recession on the global economy, but the good news is that central banks are responding," he said.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
