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.