Relentless volatility and steep declines dragged the TSX Composite Index to levels not seen since 2005 over the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 trading period. Although the U. S. government finally passed a sweetened US$700-billion financial bailout package, and governments and central banks both here and in Europe announced rescue packages and cash injection plans of their own to bring back liquidity to the markets, the share sell-off continued.
The resource-heavy TSX Composite Index, plunged 9.3%, shedding 1,054.64 points over the period to close at 10,230.43. The benchmark had its worst-ever intraday loss on Sept. 30, falling nearly 1,200 points before salvaging more than half the loss to finish the day down 573 points — worth about $75 billion on paper in one day.
The pain was felt even more drastically in the mining sector. As commodities dropped and fears that a world slowdown would decrease the demand for metals, the Capped Metals and Mining Index plummeted 11.4% to 433.19 points. Not even precious metals were safe despite a recent frenzy of gold buying. The Global Gold Index was battered hard, down 17.3% to 221.89 points.
Market darling no more, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan was the biggest loser by value over the period erasing more than 42% of its value. The company closed out at $95.25 after plunging to a new 52-week low of $84.45, compared with its 52-week high of $246.29 set only three months earlier. Agrium was No. 2 on the list, falling $15.48 per share to close at $43.
Analysts slashed price forecasts for fertilizer producers, expecting farmers to choose less fertilizer-intensive crops like soybeans over corn. The big gold companies also dominated the list with their big value losses. Agnico-Eagle Mines shares dropped $11.40 to finish the period at $48, Goldcorp tumbled $7.34 to $26.98, and Barrick Gold dropped $6.97 to $32.80.
All of the most actively traded shares resulted in losses across the board, with Yamana Gold at the top with 34.2 million shares changing hands. Yamana was down $1.90 at the period’s close to $7.02 per share after dropping to a 52-week low of $6.51 on Oct. 6. The gold miner reached a high of $19.79 in March this year.
Uranium One saw 29.3 million shares traded with its stock price slipping 63 to $41.52. The company, which mines yellow-cake in Kazakhstan and South Africa, reached a new 52-week low of $1.36 compared with a high of $12.95 nearly a year ago.
As for the good news (yes, there was some), Horizons BetaPro Bear exchange-traded fund has done its job of protecting against falling markets. The ETF gained 33.7% over the trading period to close at $14 per unit. And, a sign of the times, iShares Comox Gold Trust was up $1.18 to $92.85 and Central Gold Trust remained steady, up 92 per share to $40.72.
| TSX most active issues | |||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | ||||
| (000s) HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Yamana Gold | YRI | 34156 8.65 | 6.51 | 7.02 | -1.90 |
| Uranium One | UUU | 29345 2.15 | 1.36 | 1.52 | -0.63 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 24714 17.38 | 13.51 | 14.72 | -3.29 |
| Eastern Platin | ELR | 23129 0.90 | 0.31 | 0.50 | -0.43 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 22615 38.52 | 31.03 | 32.80 | -6.97 |
| Goldcorp | G | 21123 33.76 | 25.10 | 26.98 | -7.34 |
| Teck Comin B | TCKB | 17432 27.65 | 18.22 | 22.38 | -5.53 |
| Agrium | AGU | 14685 52.00 | 36.00 | 43.00 | -15.48 |
| PotashCpSask | POT | 14599116.00 | 84.45 | 95.25 | -41.25 |
| HudBay Minls | HBM | 13866 6.64 | 5.40 | 5.93 | -0.59 |
| TSX greatest percentage change | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Horizns G Bear | HGD | 4609 | 15.66 | 11.10 | 14.00 | + 33.7 |
| Goldstake Exp | GXP | 55 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.06 | + 20.0 |
| PC Gold | PKL | 12 | 0.71 | 0.65 | 0.70 | + 16.6 |
| Pure Nickel | NIC | 852 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.08 | + 14.2 |
| Anaconda Mng | ANX | 236 | 0.24 | 0.21 | 0.22 | + 10.0 |
| Wallbridge Mng | WM | 363 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.11 | + 10.0 |
| South Am Silvr | SAC | 142 | 0.25 | 0.15 | 0.23 | + 9.5 |
| Grandview Gld | GVX | 286 | 0.22 | 0.14 | 0.16 | + 6.6 |
| OceanaGold | OGC | 788 | 0.35 | 0.27 | 0.35 | + 6.0 |
| WGI Heavy Mnl | WG | 36 | 1.20 | 1.00 | 1.19 | + 3.4 |
| Diamond Fields | DFI | 100 | 0.19 | 0.04 | 0.04 | -84.6 |
| Coro Mining | COP | 80 | 0.95 | 0.40 | 0.40 | -55.5 |
| Katanga Mng | KAT | 2861 | 4.77 | 2.02 | 2.25 | -53.1 |
| Brazilian Diam | BDY | 573 | 0.04 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -50.0 |
| Orezone Res | OZN | 3700 | 0.50 | 0.25 | 0.25 | -48.9 |
| Eastern Platin | ELR | 23129 | 0.90 | 0.31 | 0.50 | -46.2 |
| Inspiration Mg | ISM | 328 | 1.61 | 0.86 | 0.86 | -45.9 |
| BRC DiamondCr | BCD | 23 | 0.75 | 0.50 | 0.50 | -45.0 |
| Western Copper | WRN | 312 | 0.80 | 0.43 | 0.44 | -45.0 |
| Sierra Minls | SIM | 93 | 0.15 | 0.10 | 0.10 | -44.4 |
| TSX greatest value change | ||||
| WEEK | ||||
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Horizns G Bear | HGD | 4608779 | 14.00 | + 3.53 |
| IShCOMEXGTr | IGT | 64696 | 92.85 | + 1.18 |
| Central Gold-T | GTU_U | 32481 | 40.72 | + 0.92 |
| PC Gold | PKL | 12000 | 0.70 | + 0.10 |
| WGI Heavy Mnl | WG | 3580 0 |
1.19 | + 0.04 |
| Anaconda Mng | ANX | 235959 | 0.22 | + 0.02 |
| OceanaGold | OGC | 787802 | 0.35 | + 0.02 |
| South Am Silvr | SAC | 142100 | 0.23 | + 0.02 |
| Goldstake Exp | GXP | 54800 | 0.06 | + 0.01 |
| Grandview Gld | GVX | 286252 | 0.16 | + 0.01 |
| Potash Cp Sask | POT | 14599328 | 95.25 | -41.25 |
| Agrium | AGU | 14684950 | 43.00 | -15.48 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 6122247 | 48.00 | -11.40 |
| Major Drilling | MDI | 715657 | 21.85 | -7.45 |
| Goldcorp | G | 21122730 | 26.98 | -7.34 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 22615064 | 32.80 | -6.97 |
| Labdr I-Ore Ro | LIF_U | 504087 | 34.38 | -6.44 |
| Teck Comin A | TCKA | 33777 | 25.49 | -6.05 |
| Inmet Mining | IMN | 1867193 | 41.05 | -5.95 |
| Teck Comin B | TCKB | 17431749 | 22.38 | -5.53 |
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