Stockhouse @ the Bell: Retail sales surprise lifts stocks

Today on Stockhouse

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Thom Calandra looks at Mexico Manic (gold) Acquisitions in his subscribers-only Ticker Trax.

This as Doug Hadfield examines the Top-10 worst mining jurisdictions in the world.

Top Bullboards post: “GRZ [Gold Reserve] on the move now - this would correlate with a KRY settlement with VZ but I don't think so - looks more like speculation. RML [Rusoro Mining] needs to move if this is VZ related - either up if they are involved or down if they have been excluded,” wrote hrattle on the Crystallex International (TSX: T.KRY, Stock Forum) Bullboard.
“I'm beginning to think that KRY is finally about to file for arbitration - this is the only thing that I can think of that could stop them commenting on the price action.”

Top Bullboard: Geo Minerals (TSX: V.GM, Stock Forum) gathered the most posts as its stock was halted for the entire trading day, while Decade Resources (TSX: V.DEC, Stock Forum) received the most reads.

Top blog: LexLuthor2 writes about a gold/copper explorer that keeps inching up and is still under the radar in the Lex Corp blog.

For news about small stocks that made big moves in Monday’s trading, please read the Stockhouse Canadian Small and Micro-cap Stock Report.

Word on Wall Street

"You still have all these markets being driven by an amazing amount of liquidity," said Marshall Adkins, director of energy research at Raymond James & Associates, in an interview with MarketWatch. "But there's also this long-term fundamental play going on in the commodity stocks, which are just on fire today."

Today In The Markets

Retail sales figures, Japan’s economic outlook spurs stock rally

DJIA	10,406.96	+136.49
NASDAQ	2,197.85	+29.97
S&P500	1,109.30	+15.82
S&P/TSX	11,512.26	+104.58
S&P/TSX Venture	1,377.94	+18.04

Toronto & New York (The Canadian Press) - U.S. retail sales data and more signs of strong growth in Asia sent North American markets higher. The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 104.58 points to 11,512.26.

In the U.S., rebounding auto sales were largely responsible for retail sales rising 1.4 per cent in October.

But excluding auto sales, retail demand rose 0.2 per cent, half of the expected 0.4 per cent rise.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.31 of a cent to 95.5 cents US as commodity prices were also supported by data showing the Japanese economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.8 per cent in the third quarter, the biggest rise since 2007.

Oil moved up $2.55 to US$78.90 a barrel after Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its forecast for the average price of crude next year to US$85 a barrel from US$75. Gold closed at another record high of US$1,139.20 an ounce, up $22.50 from Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 136.49 points at 10,406.96. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 29.97 to 2,197.85, while the S&P 500 index edged up 15.82 points to 1,109.3.

Please click here for the complete U.S. and Canadian market summaries.

After-Hours News

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX, Stock Forum)
The media giant said late Monday that it would spin off its AOL internet unit in less than one month. AOL will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange December 10 under the symbol “AOL.” Time Warner shareholders will receive one AOL share for every 11 Time Warner shares they hold.

Crystallex (TSX: T.KRY, Stock Forum)
The company issued a release at the close of trading on Monday to say that it was not aware of any material undisclosed corporate events that would account for the recent increase in its share price. The company said that it has been holding ongoing discussions with the Venezuelan government regarding issuance of an environmental permit for its Las Cristinas gold project. There is no definitive agreement that the company has reached.