Daily Roundup - March 13, 2009

Spot gold on Friday managed to eke out a gain, for the third day in a row, even if this day's gain was tepid compared to the last two's. Thursday night's price action was basically flat, with a slight downward bias settling in as night turned into early morning. The downdrift stopped when gold hit US$920, where it stayed at for close to an hour. Then, it began to rally. After a pause, it continued to shoot up at the about the same time it was dropping Thursday. By about 8:20 AM ET, gold hit its daily peak of about 938. The upspurt then turned into a roller-coasterish downturn, with lullifying drift turning into sickening plummet. This one, though, stopped a a higher level than the early morning's lows: 925. By 10 AM, when the drop stopped, gold was preparing for a remount, which fizzled. The rest of the day saw a range, between about 927 and 930. Gold closed the week at the higher end of the range: US$929.40, for a gain of $2.30. The Amex Gold Bugs Index was also up, also more modestly than in the last two days: +1.18%.

The top point gainer amongst the gold stocks blogged here on Friday was Detour Gold Corp, which gained 65 cents to close at $9.24 on moderately heavy volume. The news item affecting Detour was released at about 2 PM ET; by that time, some of the rise in the stock had already taken place. However, the recommendation that the merger with PDX Resources, Inc. be voted for by shareholders preceded a further 50 cent-or-so leap in the stock price. PDX itself didn't fare as well, but it gained 10 cents to close at $2.30 on moderate volume.

The top gainer on a percentage basis was a small stock with a seemingly innocuous item. Golconda Resources, Inc. hadn't traded at all when it announced it was applying for permission to trench sample its Mitchell Creek placer property. Right after the news hit, though, the stock took off after an initial drop was shaken off. Four trades in quick succession pushed the price from 8 to 10.5 cents. About ten minutes later, 11- and 10.5-cent trades were quickly followed by a 12-cent'er; within an hour, the stock had hit 15 cents for a gain of 6 cents on heavy volume. At that point, trading stopped; the bid and ask hardened into their present 11 and 14 cents. Although the ending bid-ask pair makes the gain look overstated, it nevertheless was the best performer on an official percentage basis.

Not far behind it was Darnley Bay Resources, even if the news item itself showed up after the trading in the stock was largely done for the day. By the time it was revealed that Darnley had cut a deal with a Russian exploration firm, the stock had gained four cents to reach 10. The final trade, taking place after the news was disseminated, bought the price down a penny to 9 cents. The stock was left with a three-cent, or 50%, gain on light-moderate volume. Unlike Golconda, though, the bid - ask for Darney was almost at the closing price: 8.5 cents - 9 cents.

The worst dropper on a percentage basis was Ivanhoe Mines, down 89 cents to close at $5.30 on heavy volume. The item in question was an optimistic one, which said that the Mongolian parliament was making an Oyu Togio project approval a pressing priority. Its dissemination at about 10:45 ET seemed to induce a halt in an earlier drop in Ivanhoe, but a last-minute plummet broke throught the $5.50 floor set at that time.

That's it for the Canadian Gold Stock News Watch daily wrapup. This post will stay at the header until early Monday morning, when the items that came in overnight will be put up. Also, I'll put up any items from yesterday that came through the CNW Group wire. (For whatever reason, my filter there leaves me a day behind.) Until that time, thanks for stopping by; try to have a safe weekend if you're trenching.

Stocks Mentioned: Detour Gold Corp., PDX Resources Inc., Golconda Resources Inc., Darnley Bay Resources, Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines, Ltd.

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NOTE: This blog is confined to aggregating news relating to Canadian gold stocks, as well as to commenting on past and present price movements, and is intended as an informational resource. It is not intended to make recommendations, nor is it a tool for forecasting future price movements. Its author is not a qualified investment advisor, and as such cannot make any investment recommendations. Should you be interested in any stock that appears here, please consider carefully if it is suitable for you and your portfolio. Please also consider seeking advice from a professional investment advisor if you have not already done so.

Ivanhoe Expresses Thanks For Mongolia Prioritizing Approval Of Oyu Tolgoi

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. issued a statement thanking the Mongolian parliament for making the approval of Ivanhoe's Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining complex a principal priority. The Investment Agreement will be at the top of the action list for the coalition government one the spring session starts, according to a State Great Khural press statement. The news release goes into more detail.

Ivanhoe is currently trading at $5.54, down 65 cents on the day, although the release of this item has accompanied a halt in an early-morning decline.

The company's Google Finance web page is here.

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NOTE: This blog is confined to aggregating news relating to Canadian gold stocks, as well as to commenting on past and present price movements, and is intended as an informational resource. It is not intended to make recommendations, nor is it a tool for forecasting future price movements. Its author is not a qualified investment advisor, and as such cannot make any investment recommendations. Should you be interested in any stock that appears here, please consider carefully if it is suitable for you and your portfolio. Please also consider seeking advice from a professional investment advisor if you have not already done so.

Daily Roundup - March 9, 2009

Today was not a good day for gold. After hovering around the US$935-40 level, gold plummeted at about 9 AM ET. 935 was definitively broken through, and gold spent late morning at around 925. Early afternoon was worse: 920 was broken right after noon ET, and the next range was itself broken at about 2. The low of the day was about 911. After that final drop, though, gold began to recover. It was back above 920 by 4 PM ET, at which it dawdled until the end of regular trading saw it at about US$922/oz. No wonder why the AMEX Gold Bugs Index plopped today.

Given the stormy market conditions, the performance of the fifteen Canadian gold stocks with news releases, before the market closed, wasn't that bad. In terms of point gain, the best performer was Ivanhoe. The news on it came before market open: Ivanhoe's Oyu-Tougou Project goes before Mongloian Parliament for final approval. Ivanhoe spent the entire day up from Friday's close, and closed today at $5.60 for a gain of 33 cents. Not bad in the midst of a mostly down day for gold.

Up far less on a point basis, but similarly on a percentage basis, was Cypress Development Corp. Cypress was up 1.5 cents, closing at 29 cents. Before market open, it and Skyharbour announced that their mother drill hole in their jointly-owned Broulan Reef was being braced for the drilling of daughter holes. The drill-core rock from the mother hole was being prepared for analysis and assaying. Unlike Cypress, Skyharbour didn't fare that well today; it closed unchanged at 9.5 cents.

The stock that was up the most on a percentage basis was Hawk Uranium, up 1 cent to close at 4.5 cents to re-nestle into a trading range. This leap started before Hawk's news release, which announced that Noront Resources chairman emeritus Richard Nemis had joined Hawk's board. Given that Hawk had abandoned its McFaulds property on Feb. 25th, there was a certain irony in this announcement: Noront had been the star of the McFaulds Lake "amazing race."

Not all the stocks went up or stayed unchanged, of course. Far West Mining was down before it announced its acquisition of the Iris properties, containing some areas that look good for gold and molybdenum. The spread of this news accompanied a halt in its decline. Far West closed at 86 cents, down 4 cents on the day.


That's it for the Canadian Gold Stock News Watch daily wrapup. This post will stay at the header until early tomorrow morning, when the items that came in overnight will be put up. Until that time, thanks for stopping by - and best chances, as it's still stormy out there.


Stocks Mentioned: Ivanhoe Mines, Cypress Development, Skyharbour Resources, Hawk Uranium, Far West Mining.

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NOTE: This blog is confined to aggregating news relating to Canadian gold stocks, as well as to commenting on past and present price movements, and is intended as an informational resource. It is not intended to make recommendations, nor is it a tool for forecasting future price movements. Its author is not a qualified investment advisor, and as such cannot make any investment recommendations. Should you be interested in any stock that appears here, please consider carefully if it is suitable for you and your portfolio. Please also consider seeking advice from a professional investment advisor if you have not already done so.

Ivanhoe Mines' Oyu Tolgoi Development Plan To Be Considered By Mongolian Parliament

Mongloia's national parliament is about to consider Ivanhoe Mineals Inc.'s Investment Plan for the development of its Oyu-Tolgoi copper-gold project. Mongolia's National Security Council has approved the investment/development agreement in principle, and there are no indications as yet that the project will be blocked. More detials are in the news release, found here.

Ivanhoe's stock went up after the news was announced, to about $5.40 shortly after the market opened. A run up to $5.48 was made at about 9:55 AM. At the time of this post, though, Ivanhoe setted back to about $5.35 before advancing up to $5.45 and falling back a little to $5.43. The previous day's close was $5.27.

The Google Finance page for Ivanhoe is here.



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NOTE: This blog is confined to aggregating news relating to Canadian gold stocks, as well as to commenting on past and present price movements, and is intended as an informational resource. It is not intended to make recommendations, nor is it a tool for forecasting future price movements. Its author is not a qualified investment advisor, and as such cannot make any investment recommendations. Should you be interested in any stock that appears here, please consider carefully if it is suitable for you and your portfolio. Please also consider seeking advice from a professional investment advisor if you have not already done so.