Today on Stockhouse
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Keith Schaefer looks at why a natural gas index may not be a reliable forecaster of prices.
Larry D. Spears focuses on portfolio cash cows that point the way to profit.
Thom Calandra on why a major Canadian gold miner wants a piece of West Africa
Top Bullboards post: With Formation Metals Inc. (TSX: T.FCO, Stock Forum) shares up 0.8%, Bull boards offered an opinion as to what the company can do to benefit from strong cobalt sector fundamentals. Cobalt60 said the company needs to be more creative in getting the word out. “I think they need to do a road show just to get the price of the stock back up a few bucks.’’
Top Bullboard: Bard Ventures (TSX: V.CBS, Stock Forum) was the top bullboard of the day, when its shares jumped 33% following news of drill result from a molybdenum discovery on the company’s Lone Pine property near Houston, B.C.
Top blog:InarRocks posted the $5,000 an ounce gold? blog saying Wall Street gurus think $5,000 an ounce could happen.
For news about small stocks that made big moves in Wednesday’s trading, please read the Stockhouse Canadian Small and Micro-cap Stock Report.
Word on Wall Street
"There are issues with sovereign debt in many countries in Europe. Does that mean the market is worth nearly 5% less than three days ago?" asked Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. during an interview with MarketWatch. "We seem to find buyers when we get to a certain level in the correction process."
| Selected expected U.S. earnings releases for Thursday |
| (Consensus Estimates vs. Last Year) |
|
| Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) |
Q4 |
$0.67 vs 0.68 |
|
| Brookfield Properties Corp. (NYSE: BPO) |
Q1 |
$0.29 vs 0.32 |
|
| DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) |
Q1 |
$0.45 vs 0.20 |
|
| El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) |
Q1 |
$0.26 vs 0.47 |
|
| Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) |
Q1 |
$0.25 vs 0.16 |
|
| Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) |
Q1 |
-$0.47 vs 0.86 |
|
| Selected expected Canadian earnings releases for Thursday |
| (Consensus Estimates vs. Last Year) |
|
| BCE (TSX: T.BCE) |
Q1 |
$0.62 vs 0.48 |
|
| Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: T.CNQ) |
Q1 |
$1.23 vs 0.56 |
|
| IMAX (TSX: T.IMX) |
Q1 |
US$0.30 vs -0.06 |
|
| Manulife (TSX: T.MFC) |
Q1 |
$0.46 vs -0.67 |
|
| Sun Life (TSX: T.SLF) |
Q1 |
$0.66 vs -0.33 |
|
Today In The Markets
Fears of Euro debt contagion send stocks lower; higher US$ punishes commodities
|
| DJIA |
10,866.83 |
-59.94 |
 |
|
| NASDAQ |
2,402.29 |
-21.96 |
|
|
| S&P500 |
1,165.87 |
-7.73 |
|
|
| S&P/TSX |
11,875.13 |
-155.73 |
|
|
| S&P/TSX Venture |
1,597.14 |
-25.27 |
|
|
Toronto & New York (the Canadian Press) - Worries about a spreading European debt crisis darkened investor sentiment and sent the Toronto stock market sharply lower for a second session on Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index trimmed early losses by about half but was still down 134.5 points to 11,896.3 late in the morning.
Energy stocks led declines as investors continued to flock to the safe-haven status of the U.S. dollar, which depressed commodity prices and currencies. The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 29.75 points to 1,592.66.
New York markets also added to Tuesday's retreat after the ADP employment report said that companies added 32,000 jobs in April, which was in line with expectations. The ADP report was released two days before the release of the government's nonfarm payroll report for April.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 36.5 points to 10,890.3. Investors also worry that a stronger dollar would cut into profits for U.S. companies that heavily rely on foreign operations.
The Nasdaq composite index moved 17.57 points lower to 2,406.68 while the S&P 500 index moved down 5 points to 1,168.6.
Earlier in Asia, sovereign debt worries sent Australia's index skidding 1.3 per cent, while Indonesia's main market dropped 2.6 per cent.
Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays.
London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.98 per cent, the Frankfurt DAX shed 0.49 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 declined 0.92 per cent.
Please click here for the complete U.S. and Canadian market summaries.
After-Hours News
Symantec Corp.(NASDAQ: SYMC, Stock Forum)
Symantec Corp. reported higher fourth quarter profits, driven by demand for its security software. The anti-virus software maker said net income in the quarter was US$184 million or 23 cents a share, compared to a loss of $264 million or 32 cents in the same period last year. Revenue in the period was up 4% to $1.53 billion from $1.47 billion a year earlier.
Stratabound Minerals Corp. (TSX: V.SB, Stock Forum)
Stratabound Minerals Corp. has released assay results from exploration drilling on its wholly-owned Captain North Extension mining lease near Bathurst, New Brunswick. Highlights from four drill holes include high-grade intersections, confirming that the deposit continues at least 100 metres west of old workings, the company said.