Toronto Stock Exchange August 14-20

The outlook on Bay Street continued to be grim over the Aug. 14-20 trading period. The TSX Composite Index fell another 317.11 points to 13,110.34 for the period, as word that the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis had touched down in Canada through the investment firm Coventree.

While Canadian lenders were more conservative with their lending criteria than their U.S. counterparts, Coventree revealed that it had 7% of its $17 billion worth of investment products tied up in risky U.S. mortgages.

Other companies with exposure to investments tied to dubious debt — in the form of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) that is now frozen — include Baffinland Iron Mines, with $43.8 million, and Ivanhoe Mines, with US$13.8 million exposed. Baffinland lost 23% of its share price by the end of the session, finishing at $2.86, while Ivanhoe fell 25% to $10.64.

Smaller plays, like Vancouver-based New Gold and Redcorp Ventures, also took a direct hit from bad debt. The companies had 40% of their cash tied up in Coventree. New Gold shares lost 23%, falling $5.10, and Redcorp stock lost 37%, falling to 27 the day after they announced their respective positions.

The situation led to a strong feeling of risk aversion on Bay Street, and when investors flee risk, stocks tied to commodities can get hit.

That was just the case for big boys like Nexen, one of the country’s bigger oil plays, and Barrick Gold, the world’s biggest gold producer. Barrick stock lost 6% to close the period at $33.51 per share.

And while the big money fled to more stable investments like treasury bills, commodity prices themselves began to slump. Gold was off roughly US$10 to US$659.50 per oz., silver fell close to a dollar to US$11.95 per oz., and copper was down 23 to US$3.49 per lb., while aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc were also down.

The Capped Metals and Mining Index fell nearly 70 points to 729.7, while the Global Gold Index was down 22.01 points to 253.34.

The once-hot uranium sector also continued to cool as falling uranium prices continued to take the steam out of the formerly booming stocks. The metal was trading at US$105 per lb. U3O8 for the period.

Khan Resources felt the brunt of the fall perhaps more than any other uranium explorer. The company learned that Mongolian authorities have declared some of its exploration licences invalid. The government based its decision on the fact that historical work on the projects was paid for by the state. Another 34 mineral licences issued to 18 entities could be cancelled, according to reports.

Khan was quick to point out the ruling does not affect its existing mining licence for the Main Dornod property, in which it indirectly holds a 58% interest.

Khan saw $2.29 chopped off its share price to finish the period at $1.33.

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Carpathian Gld	CPN	585	0.90	0.71	0.88	+	25.7
Western Copper	WRN	48	1.53	1.30	1.49	+	17.3
Mega Uranium	MGA	2813	3.67	3.13	3.49	+	16.7
San Anton Res	SNN	33	0.88	0.77	0.88	+	15.7
Opawica Expl	OPW	369	0.08	0.075	0.08	+	14.2
Olympus Pacif	OYM	55	0.58	0.56	0.58	+	13.7
Arehada Mining	AHD	58	0.425	0.365	0.395	+	12.8
Rubicon Mnrls	RMX	150	1.89	1.65	1.80	+	12.5
Sulliden Expl	SUE	22	0.42	0.375	0.42	+	12.0
Coro Mining	COP	39	1.40	1.30	1.40	+	12.0
Sterlite Gold	SGD	59	0.255	0.18	0.21	–	19.2
Ascendant C wt	ACX_T	100	0.06	0.06	0.06	–	14.2
Kinross Gld wt	K_T	108	0.34	0.22	0.24	–	14.2
South Am Gld&C	SAG	1151	0.04	0.035	0.035	–	12.5
Anaconda Mng	ANX	28	0.40	0.395	0.395	–	10.2
X-Cal Res	XCL	18	0.245	0.225	0.225	–	10.0
Corona Gold	CRG	44	0.60	0.50	0.50	–	9.0
Armistice Res	AZ	30	0.55	0.50	0.50	–	9.0
Khan Res	KRI	1721	1.68	1.33	1.33	–	8.9
Alexco Res	AXR	100	4.85	4.05	4.42	–	8.8

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Potash Cp Sask	POT	1002621	83.62	+	3.39
First Quantum	FM	583736	77.50	+	2.50
Teck Comin A	TCKA	20100	52.24	+	1.73
Agrium	AGU	618758	41.67	+	1.47
Barrick Gold	ABX	1663025	33.51	+	1.08
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	687643	41.73	+	1.03
Silvercorp Mtl	SVM	179219	16.78	+	0.88
First Uranium	FIU	250282	7.85	+	0.80
Inmet Mining	IMN	265081	77.60	+	0.79
Aurora Energy	AXU	77875	11.18	+	0.78
Thompson Creek	TCM	1777831	16.10	–	0.55
Royal Gold	RGL	10193	31.35	–	0.45
Alexco Res	AXR	100082	4.42	–	0.43
Newmont Mng	NMC	216964	41.96	–	0.42
Intl Royalty	IRC	222605	6.00	–	0.40
Major Drilling	MDI	134048	41.07	–	0.38
CIC Energy	ELC	49167	14.75	–	0.30
Tanz Roy Exp	TNX	109278	5.48	–	0.29
Gabriel Res	GBU	2042715	3.21	–	0.29
Silver Std Res	SSO	221804	29.94	–	0.26

TSX most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Kinross Gold	K	7841	12.35	11.90	12.05	+	0.07
Redcorp Vent	RDV	6216	0.29	0.24	0.28	+	0.005
Breakwater Res	BWR	6154	2.55	2.45	2.50	+	0.07
Equinox Minls	EQN	5228	3.20	3.00	3.15	+	0.01
Goldcorp	G	4612	23.78	22.53	22.80	–	0.18
Yamana Gold	YRI	4211	10.79	10.28	10.48	+	0.21
Starfield Res	SRU	3598	1.27	1.17	1.26	+	0.09
Paladin Res	PDN	3583	5.29	5.05	5.27	+	0.34
Eldorado Gold	ELD	2933	5.08	4.78	5.06	+	0.28
Mega Uranium	MGA	2813	3.67	3.13	3.49	+	0.50