Toronto Stock Exchange Feb. 10-13

The TSX was down during the holiday-shortened Feb. 10-13 trading period, with the S&P/TSX composite index losing 369 points, or 4.1%, to 8,678. The drop was triggered by doubts about the effectiveness of the U. S. economic rescue plan.

Another factor weighing on equities was the 8% decline in Canadian factory sales in December. Marc Pinsonneault, an economist with National Bank, does not expect the manufacturing sector to turn around before the second half of 2009.

But it is not all doom and gloom out there. The Bank of Canada reaffirmed its forecast, projecting a rebound to a 3.8% growth rate next year.

And, remarkably, Yanick Desnoyers, assistant chief economist at National Bank, projects that U. S. home prices will stabilize in 2009. In e-mailed comments, he said: “it is just a matter of time before present economic incentives gain the upper hand on consumer doldrums.”

The Capped Metals and Mining index fell 2 points, or 0.7%, to 291, and the Capped Materials index rose 8 points, or 3.3%, to 267.

Nickel prices fell 6.3% on the week, while copper prices gained 4%. Precious metals climbed, with the gold price rising 1.3%, and silver gaining 5.7%, both on safe-haven buying.

With higher metal prices, precious metals stocks shone. Seabridge Gold added $3.33 to $20.26, and gold royalty company Franco-Nevada added $3.28 to $26.66.

Silver issues were generally up, with Silver Wheaton adding a dollar at $8.89, and Pan American Silver gaining $2.11 to $21.76. But Mag Silver, the target of a takeover bid by Mexican silver miner Fresnillo, dropped 81¢ to $6.62. The two companies are partners at the Juanicipio silver property, in Zacatecas state.

Another precious metal, platinum, is showing signs of life after being hammered since last year by a weak auto sector. Eastern Platinum, with projects in South Africa, added 5¢ to 37¢.

Uranium issues lost ground after spot prices sank a dollar to US$47 per lb. uranium oxide. Cameco dropped $1.51 to $19.20, while Laramide Resources declined 28¢ to $1.67. But Mawson Resources, which has uranium projects in Sweden, jumped 22¢ to 57¢ on news that the country is revisiting a nearly three-decade ban on new nuclear power plants.

Banro lost 29¢ to $1.62. The company announced a private-placement financing of US$14 million following a feasibility study for its Twangiza gold project, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Rubicon Minerals rose 15¢ to $1.71. The company announced a $40-million private placement after reporting gold intercepts from its Phoenix project, in Red Lake, Ont.

Ventana Gold vaulted 35¢ to $1.05 after reporting gold intercepts on its La Bodega project in Colombia, and announcing a $3.4-million private placement.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Eastern Platin	ELR	63637	0.40	0.28	0.37	+ 0.05
Uranium One	UUU	45109	2.24	2.02	2.11	+ 0.10
Yamana Gold	YRI	38787	11.50	10.23	11.07	+ 0.78
Teck B	TCKB	30825	5.71	4.81	4.92	-0.58
Kinross Gold	K	21716	24.25	21.80	23.32	+ 1.41
Lundin Mng	LUN	21436	0.93	0.80	0.85	-0.05
HoriznsGBull	HGU	19844	15.08	12.73	14.16	+ 1.40
Barrick Gold	ABX	18234	49.10	45.97	46.70	+ 0.88
Goldcorp	G	17870	39.85	36.18	39.12	+ 3.05
Silver Wheaton	SLW	17213	9.00	7.75	8.89	+ 1.00

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
North Atlc Res	NAC	837	0.11	0.05	0.11	+175.0
DynacorGoldM	DNG	962	0.34	0.16	0.31	+121.4
Grandview Gld	GVX	759	0.14	0.06	0.14	+100.0
Golden Predatr	GP	2357	0.48	0.25	0.48	+ 71.4
Mawson Res	MAW	255	0.57	0.33	0.57	+ 62.8
Australn Solom	SGA	276	0.22	0.12	0.17	+ 54.5
Colossus Minls	CSI	3322	2.70	1.51	2.18	+ 50.3
Ventana Gold	VEN	1929	1.05	0.57	1.05	+ 50.0
Opawica Expl	OPW	1893	0.15	0.10	0.15	+ 50.0
Homeland Enrgy	HEG	11712	0.32	0.20	0.28	+ 40.0
Geologix Ex	GIX	4244	0.26	0.11	0.14	-39.1
Coro Mining	COP	3286	0.16	0.11	0.11	-26.6
Freegold Vent	ITF	499	0.25	0.21	0.22	-24.1
Pac NW Cap	PFN	139	0.13	0.10	0.10	-23.0
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	465	0.19	0.13	0.14	-22.2
GrandeCacheC	GCE	8211	0.99	0.68	0.75	-20.2
Candente Res	DNT	37	0.21	0.18	0.18	-18.1
Dejour Enterp	DEJ	166	0.49	0.41	0.41	-18.0
Mirabela Nickl	MNB	336	1.70	1.45	1.48	-15.4
Banro Res	BAA	396	2.09	1.60	1.62	-15.1

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	88404	114.78	+ 7.38
Seabridge Gold	SEA	87093	20.26	+ 3.33
Central Gold-T	GTU_U	31449	49.41	+ 3.31
Franco-Nevada	FNV	2012536	26.66	+ 3.28
Goldcorp	G	17869831	39.12	+ 3.05
Agrium	AGU	6286202	50.10	+ 2.98
Newmont Mng	NMC	118732	51.90	+ 2.77
Pan Am Silver	PAA	1659604	21.76	+ 2.11
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	4348590	66.34	+ 1.84
Inmet Mining	IMN	2073021	28.20	+ 1.59
Potash Cp Sask	POT	9318748	106.28	-1.65
Cameco Corp	CCO	14010638	19.20	-1.51
Horizns G Bear	HGD	9136366	8.20	-1.14
Mag Silver	MAG	297057	6.62	-0.81
Russell Metals	RUS	718956	19.75	-0.67
Teck B	TCKB	30824611	4.92	-0.58
Thompson Creek	TCM	2948018	5.02	-0.35
Banro Res	BAA	396159	1.62	-0.29
North Am En Pa	NOA	23000	3.02	-0.28
Laramide Res	LAM	795973	1.67	-0.28