Toronto's main stock index climbed to a higher close today on rising metal prices, as gold continues to make new record highs and weak U.S. economic data pushed the U.S. dollar lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 88.28 points, or 0.72%, to 12,278.88.
Strike News -- The union representing 2,700 train conductors and other workers at Canadian National Railway Co Ltd will only serve strike notice if the Company is firm on making major changes in labor agreements.
Oil Gusher -- Nexen Inc. (T.NXY) reported a major oil find in the Gulf of Mexico, a discovery it says contains more than 250 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Gold Rules -- Among Canadian stocks, gold producers were the clear winners again today after the price of gold climbed to $1308.30 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. rose 2.7% and Goldcorp Inc. rose 1.7%.
TELUS continues its climb -- Shares of T.T made another new high today by hitting $45.33.
Mining Stocks continue to push -- Pan American Silver peaked at $30.50.
RIM still dropping -- Research in Motion Ltd. announcement of the roll-out of "The Playbook" not boding well for the stock price today as shares of T.RIM have bounced off lows, but are still down 2.76% today.
Canada's dollar fell against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, pressured by weak commodity prices and largely flat equity moves, remaining in a narrow range as investors looked for more guidance from economic data.
Gold Stocks trying to recoup today -- After most gapping down this morning, gold-mining shares are climbing up this morning as spot gold is trading firmly over $1,300 an ounce.
Goldcorp is up .69% to $45.08, Kinross is up .57% in morning trading to $19.32. Barrick Gold is up 1.00% to $47.47.
The Canadian dollar made up ground against the U.S. dollar; trading up .000095 of a cent to .97125 cents US.
ON BAYSTREET
All 14 of the TSX Subgroups closed in the green today. Gold stocks are led the way; up 2.70%, materials closed up 1.85% and metals and mining issues closed up 1.48%.
The TSX Venture Exchange closed up by 8.48 points to 1703.11, while the Nasdaq Canada index closed red; down 8.17 points to 607.33.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks shifted and then kicked it in gear this afternoon as the market swung more than 100 points today. Investors shrugged off the lowered consumer confidence data and focused instead on merger and earnings news and drove the market higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 46.10 points, or .43% at 10,858.14. The S&P 500 closed up by 5.54 points, or .49%, to 1147.70. The NASDAQ closed green as well; up 9.82 points, or .41%, to 2379.59.
This morning, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York followed through on their pledge to reinvest cash from maturing mortgaged-backed securities and housing agency debt by announcing the purchase $550 million in Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS).
Walgreens roars -- with solid earnings, shares of Walgreens closed up 11.37% for the day.
Tough day for Monsanto -- Lack of support overseas for genetically-modified crops hurt the stock today as the price dropped 8.14%.
Eyes turning to HP -- Hewlett Packard will be holding analyst meetings after hours today. Many issues will be discussed and reported on.
More Acquisition News -- Drug developer Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. said it would acquire Qualitest Pharmaceuticals for $1.2 billion to diversify its stance in the generic-drug market. Shares of ENDP closed up 8.13%.
Holiday Hiring -- Macy's and Toys R Us and others announced plans for hiring employees and ''pop up stores'' for the holidays.
The Rich Get Richer -- data today stated that there is the largest gap of all time between rich and poor in the United States.
Oil slipped by the end of the day. Crude oil for November delivery lost 44 cents, or 0.58%, to $76.08.
Financial Laggards -- Shares of M&T Bank Corp. are leading the large-cap financial sector lower today. Shares of MTB are down 3.49% to $81.30.
BP to sell bonds -- BP Plc announced today that it plans to sell bonds maturing in 2015 and 2020.
DOJ orders records -- Shares of Amedisys Inc. are falling after news that the Department of Justice issued a civil investigative demand for documents concerning the company's Medicare billing practices in Alabama. AMED is down 16.74% to $23.67.
Oracle is suing Micron claiming that Micron and other companies have artificially inflated chip prices to levels above what it should have been paying. Nearly $1 billion in fines were handed out companies involved previously, but Micron was granted amnesty because it cooperated. Shares of Oracle are up .22% to $27.01 and shares of MU are up .64% to $7.07.
JP Morgan may be seeking to recoup monies used to buy the assets of Washington Mutual in September of 2009. Figures of reimbursement desired range from $1.9 billion to $6 billion.
Among stocks in focus -- Drugstore chain Walgreen Co.'s profit topped forecasts, send the price north; up 9.46% to $33.22.
Boeing plans to receive a $1.1 billion order from Air China for four 777-300ERs. Shares of BA are down .09% to $63.83 this morning.
AOL in talks to acquire high profile tech blog, "TechCrunch." Shares of AOL are up 2.55% this morning to $24.12.
Where have you gone, Lehman? -- Could be to your house. Artwork and other pieces of property from Lehman's office in London are being auctioned to pay creditors. It is anticipated that the auction will raise up to $2 million, still only a shell of the amount of total dollars owed.
Gold keeps on truckin' -- Spot Gold is up 14.53 to 1,309.355 today.
The US Dollar is gaining against the euro this morning; up .2186% and rising against the yen; up .0356%.
Oil futures for November delivery are down $.02 today to $76.50 a barrel.
Bonds: The yield on the 10-year bond closed down .6100% at 2.4560%
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