Roger Biduk; Four in a Row for Bay Street

Roger Biduk

The Toronto stock market's winning streak extended to a fourth session on Wednesday as financials continued to rise after reports that a "bad bank" could be created in the United States to buy toxic or illiquid assets to help free up the credit market.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 146.60 points to 8,906.23 as investors also took in plans by Ottawa for billions of dollars in stimulus spending.
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 2.05 points to 869.92.

The Canadian dollar advanced despite the fact that the deficit is estimated at $34 billion in fiscal 2009 and $30 billion in 2010. The loonie was up 0.74 cent to 82.29 cents US after running as high as 83.16 cents US.

The Toronto financial sector ran ahead four per cent with Royal Bank (TSX:RY) up $1.01 to $31.67 and Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) advanced $1.57 to $31.17.
Shares in AGF Management Ltd. (TSX:AGF.B) were off 12 cents to $8.40 after the investment management firm slid to a fourth-quarter loss of $19.3 million as it took $46.3 million in impairment charges related to weakness in financial markets.

Roger Biduk
The TSX energy sector moved up more than two per cent as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange finished the session 58 cents higher at US$42.16 a barrel.
EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) rose $2.68 to $57.22 while Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU) headed up $1.20 to $25.10.
UTS Energy Corp. (TSX:UTS) jumped 90 cents or 108 per cent to $1.73 after French energy giant Total made a $617-million all-cash bid to buy the Calgary company. The unsolicited bid is $1.30 per share, and the market price indicates a higher offer is expected for UTS, which owns 20 per cent of the Fort Hills oilsands project. Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) has a 60 per cent stake in the project. Its shares rose 74 cents to $28.70 while Teck Cominco (TSX:TCK.B), which owns 20 per cent of Fort Hills, climbed 35 cents to $5.95.

The gold sector fell 3.5 per cent as the March bullion contract in New York moved down $to US$an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) declined $1.62 to $33.77 .

Elsewhere on the TSX, Liquidation World Inc. (TSX:LQW) rose 15 cents to 90 cents after a deal to acquire the U.S. wholesale business of Talon Merchant Capital LLC, issuing $7.6 million worth of shares to the U.S. private equity firm.
Shares in Air Canada (TSX:AC.A) rose five cents to $2.35 even as a majority of 5,000 customer service and sales agents represented by the Canadian Auto Workers union members rejected a tentative agreement. The current collective agreement remains in effect until May 31, so no immediate impact on service is expected. And shares in TMX Group Inc. (TSX:X) declined 74 cents to $31.36 after Canada's dominant financial market operator reported a fourth-quarter profit of $49 million, up 61 per cent from a year earlier, as revenue grew 36 per cent, largely because of the merger with the Montreal Exchange.

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