Today on Stockhouse
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Ticker Trax’s Thom Calandra believes West Africa mining/prospector stocks could surge next week.
Top Bullboards post: “Hole # 46 is the best hole in the RJ zone to date. Looking forward to DDH results from the Cerro Amarillo zone which has a strong mega sized geophysical anomaly.” From nalibokore8 on the Malbex Resources (TSX: V.MBG, Stock Forum) board.
Top Bullboard:Allana Potash (TSX: V.AAA, Stock Forum) received the second-most reads and posts on a day its share price rose more than 9%.
Top blog: fredski posted a discussion on the future of shale gas in the Carpe Diem blog.
For news about small stocks that made big moves in Friday’s trading, please read the Stockhouse Canadian Small and Micro-cap Stock Report.
Word on Wall Street
“Positive news by Oracle and Accenture both helped create a more positive earnings environment in the market today,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group, in an interview with MarketWatch. “We could be seeing some putting money back to work ahead of quarter’s end next week.”
| Selected expected U.S. earnings releases for Monday |
| (Consensus Estimates vs. Last Year) |
|
| Ameron International (NYSE: AMN) |
Q1 |
$0.50 vs. $0.12 |
|
| China Electric Motor (NASDAQ: CELM) |
Q4 |
$0.26 vs. $0.20 |
|
| Geomet (NASDAQ: GMET) |
Q4 |
$0.02 vs. $0.00 |
|
| Medifast (NYSE: MED) |
Q4 |
$0.32 vs. $0.21 |
|
| Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) |
Q1 |
$0.42 vs. $0.35 |
|
| Selected expected Canadian earnings releases for Monday |
| (Consensus Estimates vs. Last Year) |
|
| Carmanah Technologies (TSX: T.CMH) |
Q4 |
$0.00 vs. $ - 0.02 |
|
Today In The Markets
TSX closes higher amid disappointing Research In Motion outlook, lower oil
|
| DJIA |
12,220.59 |
+50.03 |
 |
|
| NASDAQ |
2,743.06 |
+6.64 |
|
|
| S&P500 |
1,313.80 |
+4.14 |
|
|
| S&P/TSX |
14,039.39 |
+10.02 |
|
|
| S&P/TSX Venture |
2,314.11 |
+9.53 |
|
|
Toronto & New York (The Canadian Press) - Energy pushed the Toronto stock market higher Friday, but the main index was weighed down by a sharp decline in Research In Motion Ltd. shares after the BlackBerry maker delivered a disappointing outlook.
The S&P /TSX composite index gained 10.02 points to 14,039.39 while the TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.53 points to 2,314.11.
U.S. markets also advanced amid data showing the economy grew a little faster at the end of 2010 than the government had previously estimated, boosted by more inventory building and business investment in plants and equipment.
But rising oil prices will likely limit growth this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 50.03 points to 12,220.59 as the Commerce Department said the economy, measured by the gross domestic product, grew at an annual rate of 3.1 per cent in the October-December quarter. That represents an upward revision from last month’s 2.8 per cent estimate for the same period.
The Nasdaq composite index added 6.64 points to 2,743.06 while the S&P 500 index edged up 4.14 points to 1,313.8.
Please click here for the complete U.S. and Canadian market summaries.
After-Hours News
Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX: T.ORA, Stock Forum)
Aura Minerals Inc. announced that Patrick Downey, President & Chief Executive Officer, will be leaving the company. Mr. Downey stated, "The Board of Directors and I have agreed that this would be an appropriate time for me to step down as President and CEO of the Company. I am proud to have led Aura Minerals through its transition from a junior exploration Company to an established operating company with a strong management team and a solid portfolio of mining assets." Aura is an intermediate producer with four producing mines in Mexico, Honduras and Brazil and an exciting organic development pipeline.