Stockhouse @ the Bell: Markets little changed on weak volume

Today on Stockhouse

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From PDAC, Thom Calandra reports on some potential hard rock investments, as well as companies that have not kept their promises.

And Sean Mason shines the light on reasons for the recent share price gains from a lithium exploration company.

Jeff Clark of Casey Research discusses whether it’s the size or the price of your gold holdings that matters most.

This as Brian Hunt of the Growth Stock Wire wonders whether the current rally is sustainable, if professional traders are no longer in the market.

Top Bullboards post: Following Volta Resources’ (TSX: T.VTR, Stock Forum) release of fresh assay results from its Gaoua copper-gold property saint67 wrote: “This is VEN potential seen this before. We can easily hit 8 dollars by end of summer. World class deposits . I’m starting to look and accumulate players in surrounding areas.”

Top Bullboard: Explor Resources (TSX: V.EXS, Stock Forum) received the second-most posts on Stockhouse on a day its share price slid 18%.

Top blog: On the GHOST TRADER2 blog ghost11 pointed to several candidates that show potential as takeover targets.

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

"We're going to be seeing a somewhat listless market, especially today, as there is not much in the way of market-moving news," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners in an interview with Marketwatch. "And volume is going to be by appointment only," he said of the light trade.

Today In The Markets

Markets drift on low volume trading day

DJIA	10,552.52	-13.68
NASDAQ	2,332.21	+5.86
S&P500	1,138.50	-0.19
S&P/TSX	11,963.84	-11.30
S&P/TSX Venture	1,561.93	+4.00

Toronto & New York (The Canadian Press) - The Toronto stock market drifted to a slightly lower close with investors not inclined to do much in the way of buying following sharp gains last week.

The S&P/TSX composite index stepped back 11.3 points to 11,963.84. Analysts say the market needs to digest the solid, three per cent gain that took the main index to its highest level of 2010 by Friday's close.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.27 of a cent at 97.31 cents US, while oil ticked 37 cents higher to US$81.87 a barrel.

Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX: T.RIM, Stock Forum) was a major source of support, up 5.5 per cent to $75.48 after BMO Capital Markets upgraded the BlackBerry maker to outperform from market perform.

New York's Dow Jones industrials index declined 13.68 points to 10,552.52, while the RIM upgrade helped push the Nasdaq composite index 5.86 points higher to 2,332.21. The S&P 500 index slipped a fifth of a point to 1,138.5.

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

After-Hours News

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TI, Stock Forum)
The chipmaker narrowed its expected earnings and revenue to the high end of its prior expected range after the close on Monday. The company now expects to post earnings between 48 and 52 cents per share on revenue between $3.07 billion and $3.19 billion. Analysts were forecasting earnings of 49 cents per share on revenue of $3.1 billion.

Esperanza Silver (TSX: V.EPZ, Stock Forum)
The company announced that it would raise $625,000 in a private placement by selling 500,000 units at a price of $1.25 each. The units consist of one common share and one share purchase warrant, which enables the holder to purchase another share for $1.75 for two years. Esperanza Silver plans to use the proceeds of the private placement to continue to advance its exploration work at the San Luis and Cerro Jumil properties.