A Weekly Recap of All Things Resources to Friday, February 7th, 2025

‘That’s a Wrap’

By Rod Blake

As the passive big cap index investors prepared to meet the first trading day of February, they did so with a new knowledge that many had not experienced – competition. In particular – competition from China in the up until now American dominated artificial intelligence (AI) space.

The way I see it – “Greed is good” said Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko. But sometimes competition can cut through greed like a sharp knife. For the past two years those riding the AI bandwagon had the whole market to themselves and the profits just kept rolling in – up until last Monday. Most investors know, (and now so do the IA investors know as well), that every good idea will attract attention from others who want to be a part of that space. Competition creates better products but also squeezes profits. The AI space will probably still change the world as we know it, but as of last Monday, it will no longer just be the exclusive domain of the U.S. Magnificent Seven companies.

After four attempts over as many months – the TSX Venture Exchange established a new 1½-year closing high of 628 and some 22% above the lows near 500 set two Novembers ago. Should this level hold then the next short-term resistance is around the 645 level. From there – if the planets align – comes the big push up to the highs of 1,100 going back to March of 2021. Position yourself accordingly…

The equity markets sold off heavily at the open on Monday as investors went to cash ahead of the Tuesday’s pending Trump Tariffs.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. ‘IVN-T’ shares’ sank to a new 6-month closing low of $15.13.

And Cenovus Energy Inc. ‘CVE-T & N’ stock fell to close at a new 1-year low of $20.56.

Meanwhile – the Canadian Loonie fell to close at new 9-year low of US$0.6862.

Investors were whipsawed when the equity markets rallied back on Tuesday after the implementation of the tariffs was delayed for one month.

Silver rose to close at a new 3-month high of US$32.29 a troy ounce (t oz).

Gold bullion rose to a new all-time closing high of US$ 2,869 a t oz.

Fortuna Mining Corp. ‘FVI-T’ & ‘FSM-N’ shares’ rose to close at a new 3½-month high of $7.60.

IAMGOLD Corporation ‘IMG-T’ & ‘IAG-N’ stock reached a new 14-year closing high of $9.36.

The share price of SRR Mining Inc. ‘SSRM-T & Q’ rose to close a new one year high of $13.04 which effectively negated the Denver, CO based miner’s share price drop after the leach pad failure at the company’s Çöpler gold mine in Türkiye last February.

And the shareholders of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. ‘EAM-T & N’ were pleased to see their investment close at a new all-time high of $141.62.

It is said that back in the gold rush days that the suppliers of the miners often made more money than the miners themselves. That said – Finning International Inc. ‘FTT-T’ stock rose by $4.62 or 12.64% to close at $41.16 after the Vancouver, BC based Caterpillar ‘CAT-N’ distributor sighted better than expected mining activity in reporting buoyant 4th-quarter and full year 2024 operating results.

Later in the week – the TSX Venture Exchange rose to a new 23-month closing high of 642.

Trading volumes on the TSX Venture are now reaching 48.17 million shares a day – almost double the daily volumes of just a few months ago.

And then – perhaps because of short covering – the beaten down Canadian Loonie suddenly reversed course and rose to end the week at a new 2-month high of US$0.6999.

Copper rose to close at a new 4-month high of US$4.58 a pound (lb).

The stock price of Superior Plus Corp. ’SPB-T’ fell to close at a new 3-month low of $5.97.

Suncor Energy Inc. ‘SU-T & N’ reported record 4th-quarter crude oil production of 875,000 barrels per day (bbl/d).

This as the closely followed Baker Hughes Petroleum Rig Count reported the number of active American drilling rigs rose by 4-rigs over the week to 586, still down by 37-rigs from this time last year. Across the line – the number of Canadian active rigs fell by 9-rigs during the week to 249, up by 17-rigs from one year ago.

Lithium Royalty Corp. ‘LIRC-T’ shares’ dropped to a new all-time closing low of $5.00.  

I know this is more of a commodity than a resource but – the price of coffee has almost doubled in the past 3-months to a record high of US$4.12 a pound (lb).

Eldorado Gold Corp. ‘ELD-T’ & ‘EGO-N’ shares’ fell by $2.60 or 11.49% to close at a new 22-month low of $20.02 after the Vancouver, BC based miner reported labour related construction delays and increased expenses at the company’s Skouries Project in Greece.

Natural gas and copper pulled commodities higher over the week, while crude oil and uranium were the greatest drags.

After an uncommitted mixed week of trading – investors once again sold the markets down on Friday ahead of another Trump focused uncertain weekend.

For the Week – the DJI fell 0.54% to 45,303, with the S&P 500 off 0.25% to 6,026, and the NASDAQ down 0.53% to 19,523. In Canada – the TSX lost 0.35% to 25,443 while the TSX Venture rose 2.40% to 639. The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX rose 0.79% to 16.56.

With currencies – the Canadian dollar gained 1.74% to US$0.6999, while the U.S. dollar Index ‘DXY’ fell 0.42% to 108.07.

With commodities – gold bullion rose 2.36% to US$2,863, as silver gained 1.79% to US$31.85, and copper climbed 7.51% to US$4.58, while lithium lost 0.42% to US$10,584. Crude oil lost 3.70% to US$71.04, while natural gas gained 7.82% to US$3.32, and uranium fell 1.74% to US$69.95. With soft commodities – lumber was unchanged at US$592.

Overall – the CRB Commodities Index rose 0.27% to 371.