Toronto Stock Exchange – Feb. 24 -Mar. 2

There was a mixture of good and bad news over the Feb. 24-March 2 trading period, making for a 40-point gain on the S&P/TSX composite index to 7,687.51 points. Profits from Canada’s banking sector were better than expected for the period ended Jan. 31. That helped the benchmark recover momentarily from the previous week’s slide, hitting 8,186.82 points mid-period. However, the brief surge in confidence was crushed yet again when a report said that the Canadian economy contracted last quarter at the fastest pace since 1991.

The big gold miners felt the pain. The top loser in the market by value was Agnico-Eagle Mines, which saw its share price tumble $8.95 per share to $59.73 as the price of gold plunged from above US$980 per oz. to about US$937 per oz.

Agnico wasn’t alone: Barrick Gold shares dropped $8.38 to $36.30, Royal Gold shares fell $7.09 to $49.16 and Newmont Mining lost $3.62 to $34.84.

On the winning end, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan shares rose $1.44 to $96.80. The company announced over the period that president and CEO Bill Doyle will receive the same salary this year as he did in 2008 — $1.092 million. In total, Doyle received more than $17 million from stock options and other compensation, which are based on company performance. Potash Corp. earned $3.5 billion in 2008, more than triple what it made the year before. Its share price peaked last June at $246.29.

Cameco shares increased $1.40 to $17.62 and First Quantum Minerals rose 60¢ to $31 per share.

Nevada Copper shares rose 44% to 26¢ apiece following some positive results from the final 10 holes drilled in 2008 at the South and Southeast deposits at its Pumpkin Hollow copper project in Nevada.

PC Gold shares fell 34% to 40¢ apiece. The company announced a private placement with Canaccord Capital for 3 million units (one share and one warrant) at 50¢ per share for $1.5 million. The funds will be used to explore its Pickle Crow gold property, in northwestern Ontario.

Russel Metals shares took a big hit, down 29% to $10.04. A decline in steel prices, energy prices and a 40% drop in demand over the last two months have prompted the metals distributor and processer to lay off 500 employees and cut executive pay by 10% to reduce operating expenses by about $25 million this year.

Lundin Mining shares held steady over the period at 80¢ apiece as the company reported a loss of US$957 million in 2008, including US$728.5 million in the fourth quarter. Lundin, which is recovering from its failed merger deal with HudBay Minerals, has breached covenants in its debt facility, which now totals US$267 million. The company has until June 5 to restructure the debt facility with its lenders.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Teck B	TCKB	52539	4.96	3.59	3.95	+ 0.13
Equinox Minls	EQN	45394	1.65	1.18	1.34	+ 0.05
Redcorp Vent	RDV	43911	0.01	1.0E8	0.01	0.00
Yamana Gold	YRI	43593	11.40	10.02	10.18	-1.12
Barrick Gold	ABX	36816	44.25	35.73	36.30	-8.38
IAMGold Corp	IMG	35929	10.95	9.21	9.99	-1.01
HoriznsGBull	HGU	33355	14.18	10.77	10.95	-3.42
KinrossGold	K	32322	22.98	18.90	19.60	-3.31
Goldcorp	G	28049	38.39	34.03	34.84	-3.62
Eldorado Gold	ELD	25453	10.89	9.75	10.19	-1.39

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Colombia Goldf	GOL	400	0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 66.6
Zincore Mtls	ZNC	22	0.04	0.03	0.03	+ 50.0
Nevada Copper	NCU	759	0.26	0.17	0.26	+ 44.4
Arehada Mining	AHD	71	0.05	0.04	0.04	+ 33.3
High River Gol	HRG	12016	0.25	0.14	0.17	+ 30.7
Australn Solom	SGA	194	0.17	0.12	0.17	+ 30.7
Horizns G Bear	HGD	12177	10.00	7.95	9.86	+ 25.1
Acadian Mng	ADA	605	0.06	0.03	0.05	+ 25.0
Nuinsco Res	NWI	248	0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 25.0
Sulliden Expl	SUE	3236	0.85	0.52	0.71	+ 24.5
Fletcher Nicke	FL	251	0.08	0.04	0.04	-50.0
Atlanta Gold	ATG	105	0.31	0.20	0.20	-50.0
San Anton Res	SNN	896	0.20	0.10	0.11	-47.6
Homeland Enrgy	HEG	7540	0.31	0.17	0.19	-34.4
PC Gold	PKL	162	0.51	0.40	0.40	-34.4
Russell Metals	RUS	4053	13.50	9.86	10.04	-29.3
Detour Gold	DGC	1120	11.75	8.71	8.71	-26.8
Canadn Gld Hun	CGH	299	0.33	0.26	0.26	-25.7
Intl Nickel Vn	INV	2499	0.19	0.15	0.15	-25.0
Olympus Pacif	OYM	469	0.14	0.11	0.12	-25.0

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Horizns G Bear	HGD	12176509	9.86	+ 1.98
Potash Cp Sask	POT	10110415	96.80	+ 1.44
Cameco Corp	CCO	10772525	17.62	+ 1.40
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	424249	24.68	+ 0.78
First Quantum	FM	3608494	31.00	+ 0.60
HudBay Minls	HBM	8116867	5.35	+ 0.57
Ivanhoe Mines	IVN	15195219	5.88	+ 0.51
Timminco	TIM	1696344	3.06	+ 0.34
Athabasca Pota	API	929599	2.08	+ 0.33
Moto Gold Mine	MGL	1426817	3.18	+ 0.23
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	6957204	59.73	-8.95
Barrick Gold	ABX	36816108	36.30	-8.38
Agrium	AGU	11008147	38.48	-7.50
Royal Gold	RGL	43092	49.16	-7.09
Silver Std Res	SSO	1022224	18.14	-5.53
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	97532	117.59	-4.71
Russell Metals	RUS	4053132	10.04	-4.16
Newmont Mng	NMC	64608	49.08	-3.86
Barrick Gd Inc	HCX	10351	20.50	-3.78
Goldcorp	G	28049309	34.84	-3.62