Canada’s main stock index continued its downward trend with a fourth straight day of losses on Friday, driven to one-month lows as crude oil prices brought down energy stocks.
The TSX Composite Index fell 3.2 per cent over the last five days, down 684.57 points as of 1:00 pm on Friday.
The dollar has continued to rally and now sits at just over US$0.80/C$1.00 after falling to 77 cents US in December.
Inflation remains high, up to 4.8 per cent in December, and many Canadians are still more concerned about inflation than they were before the pandemic, according to a report by the Bank of Canada released on Monday.
Despite concerns over inflation, consumer expectations surrounding future inflation rates remain well-grounded. According to the report, Canadians generally feel that once the pandemic ends, the Bank of Canada will be able to achieve its inflation target.
In terms of labour markets, the Bank reported that approximately 40 per cent of firms see labour shortages as holding back their sales. In a business outlook survey released on Monday, the BoC said that firms expect that tightness in the labour market may have a lasting impact.
In the face of lower prices of major metals, mining companies took a bit of a back seat in this week’s top 5 stories. Technology company Datametrex made two of our top stories, while consumer company good natured Products Inc. was also of interest to our readers.
Let’s take a look at those and other top 5 stories for this week.
Rover Metals (TSXV:ROVR) reports on the phase 2 exploration program at its Cabin Gold Project
On Monday, Rover Metals CEO Judson Culter sat down with Caroline Egan to discuss the results of Rover’s exploration program at the Cabin Gold Project.
The exploration program has confirmed and expanded the historic gold grades at the Andrew South, Andrew Middle, and Andrew North Targets.
“We expect the 2022 Phase 3 Exploration Program at the Cabin Gold project to focus on the highest grade gold areas of these zones,” said Mr. Culter.
Shares in Rover Metals Corp. (ROVR) are steady, trading at $0.045 per share as of 1:37 pm EST.
Datametrex (TSXV:DM) reports $20M on the balance sheet
Datametrex AI announced on Tuesday that it now has approximately $20 million in cash and marketable securities on its balance sheet.
Marshall Gunter, CEO of Datametrex, sat down with Caroline Egan to discuss the news.
“We are pleased with the great start to the year as we continue to make every effort to improve revenue and find efficiencies from the efforts made over the years. We look forward to delivering on greater cash flow in 2022,” said Mr. Gunter.
Datametrex AI (TSXV:DM) plans to roll up the AI industry
The technology company then announced on Thursday that it is implementing a roll up strategy focused on artificial intelligence company in 2022.
As artificial intelligence is becoming a growing influence in business, Datametrex is poised to leverage its AI experience to help reshape the entire industry, landing significant AI contracts with many companies over the last several years.
Shares in Datametrex AI Ltd. (DM) are down 4.35 per cent, trading at $0.22 per share as of 2:34 pm EST.
Argentina Lithium (TSXV:LIT) options additional properties on Pocitos Salar
In energy news, Argentina Lithium CEO Nikolaos Cacos sat down with Dave Jackson to discuss the company’s three new option agreements.
The company is expanding its holdings in the Pocitos Salar, where it now holds over 26,000 hectares.
The company and its Argentinian subsidiary, Argentina Litio y Energía S.A. have entered into three new option agreements with local vendors to acquire a 100 per cent interest in 10,364 hectares of new properties.
Shares in Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (LIT) are down 7.53 per cent, trading at $0.43 per share as of 1:48 pm EST.
good natured Products Inc. (TSXV:GDNP) announces preliminary Q4 & full-year financial results
On Thursday, good natured Products announced that its preliminary revenue for Q4 2021 is anticipated at $21.0 million to $23.0 million, an increase of approximately 300 per cent compared to $5.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020.
Revenue for FY2021 is expected in the range of $59.3 million and $61.3 million, an increase of approximately 255 per cent compared to $16.7 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2020.
The company plans to release full Q4 2021 results in April 2022.
Shares in good natured Products (GDNP) are down 4.23 per cent, trading at $0.68 per share as of 2:25 pm EST.
