The Oreninc Index stayed low for the week ending January 28, 2016. Total dollars dropped to $21.2m, a two-week low. One brokered and bought deal financing was announced for $8.4m, three and two-week lows respectively.

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V:BAY) led the way with deal making news, signing an LOI with BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP). Gold had an excellent week, hitting a 12-week high.

Not much movement is not much of a surprise at this point in this market. Entering what is generally considered one of the stronger times in the year for fundraising, the trend of continuously poor numbers make one think that maybe we may truly have hit a “market bottom”.  

Oreninc Index Falls to 21-Week Low

The Oreninc Index fell to a 21-week low for the week ending January 21, 2015. Total dollars announced jumped to $58.4m, a two-week high. One brokered and bought deal financing was announced for $15m, seven-week and nine-week highs respectively.

The biggest deal-making news of the week came from Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) increasing its friendly takeover bid of Canadian Oil Sands (TSX:COS) to $6.6bn, which is now backed by both companies. Gold had a moderately good week, increasing slightly. Oil had a tumultuous week, reaching an almost 13-year low on Wednesday before recovery slightly to end the week.

Despite the horrible index performance, some metrics such as total dollars announced did raise significantly. Part of the reason for the awful performance so far this year has been because here have not been many deals announced yet. Let’s see if that is the start of a trend as companies are finding it more and more difficult to raise money, or if they are merely saving the announcements for conference season to enhance their ability to market their deals.

Oreninc Index Rises Marginally

The Oreninc Index rose marginally for the week ending January 14, 2016. Total dollars announced rose to $13.4m, a 53-week low. One brokered financing was announced for $10m, tied for a six-week high; No bought deal financings were announced for the seventh time in eight weeks.

After a couple of holiday-filled weeks, deal-making activity has picked up a bit, with reports that South32 (ASX:S32) is considering an offer for Anglo American plc’s (LON:AAL) Brazilian niobium and phosphate business being the biggest news. Oil had a brutal week, with iron ore and copper not faring much better. Gold had a volatile week, but ended mostly where it started.

While the index numbers did rise this week, key numbers did go down. The increased performance is mostly due to an increase in broker dollars, which have been hard to come by recently. Still, seeing companies mull over acquisitions again brings some movement to the space as commodities continue to fall and money continues to be difficult to raise.

Oreninc Index Falls to Four-Month Low

The Oreninc Index fell to a four-month low for the holiday shortened week ending January 7, 2016. Total dollars announced jumped to $60.8m, a two-week high. No brokered financings were announced, a six-week low. No bought deal financings were announced for the sixth time in seven weeks.

Gold had a fantastic week, hitting a seven-week high on the back of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Korea. Copper and Oil, on the other hand, both had horrendous weeks on the back of concerns over the Chinese economy.

While it is never great to see the index as low as it is this week, the first week of the year is historically a slow week in the financing markets. With falling commodity prices, however, it would not be surprising if we had a slow start to the new year.

Oreninc Index Stays Level in Holiday Shortened Week

The Oreninc Index stayed level for the holiday shortened week ending December 31, 2015. Total dollars fell to $29.4m, a three-week low. No brokered financings were announced, a five-week low. No bought deals were announced, for the fifth time in six weeks.

No major deal-making news was announced, which is no surprise given the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. Gold was down for the week and the year, as 2015 marked the third straight year that gold prices ended lower than they started.

Given the holiday, the mostly-level performance is a nice surprise. As we enter the new year, let’s hope that financing levels, and with it the industry as a whole, are headed for a better 2016 than 2015.

Oreninc Index Jumps to Five-Week High

The Oreninc Index jumped to a five-week high for the week ending December 17, 2015. Total dollars announced exploded to $126m, a 9-week high. Two brokered financings were announced for $10m, a two-week high; No bought deal financings were announced for the third time in four weeks.

The biggest deal making news of the week came from Rio Tinto Group’s (LON:RIO) announcement that they had secured a $4.4bn financing deal for their Oyu Tolgoi mine. Gold prices were way down for the week on news that the United States Federal Reserve had increased interest rates, with the precious metal falling to a six-year low.

Though gold had a rough week, this was a surprisingly good performance for the index in a generally quiet time of year for the industry.

Oreninc Index Falls into Pre-Holiday Funk

The Oreninc Index fell into a pre-holiday funk for the week ending December 10, 2015. Total dollars announced dropped to $25m, a 14-week low. Three brokered financings were announced for $3.1m, a two-week low; A two-part bought deal financings was announced for $2.8m, a three-week high.

Deal-making was light on the week, with no major deals of note being announced. That said, both Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) and Glencore plc (LON:GLEN) both announced major job cuts and other restructuring efforts in reaction to sinking commodity prices. Gold prices were slightly down for the week, and iron ore fell to a record low.

While things certainly look grim in the natural resources space, it’s important to remember that often the weeks leading up to the holidays can get wonky, both with financings and with deal-making. Let’s see what the beginning of 2016 brings before going even deeper into panic mode.

Oreninc Index Stays Stable

The Oreninc Index stayed stable for the week ending November 5, 2015. Total dollars announced increased to $60.9m, a three-week high. Three brokered financings were announced for $7.1m, a two-week low; no bought deal financings were announced for the sixth time in seven weeks.

The largest deal of the week was Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) acquiring a silver stream of Glencore Xstrata’s (LON:GLEN) Peruvian Antamina copper mine for $900m in cash. Gold had an awful week, falling to its lowest level since summer. Iron ore also had a rough week, almost falling to record lows.

While by no means a strong performance, the Index does appear to have somewhat stabilized at a relatively solid place. With commodity prices falling though, it would be naive to think that even this modest uptick in fortune is guaranteed to be here to stay for any significant period of time.

Oreninc Index Shows Signs of Life

The Oreninc Index feigned life for the week ending October 29, 2015. Total dollars announced rose to $42.4m. Two brokered financings were announced for $33.7m, a six-week high; one bought deal financing was announced for $33.2m, also a six-week high. However total deals announced dropped to a 12-week low

Deal making was very light for the week, with Cyprium Mining Corp. (TSX-V:CUG) closing an acquisition of a 53% controlling interest in a joint venture in the Potosi silver mine in Mexico. The joint venture will have a term of 20 years and will be carried out through Cypval Mining SAPI de CV, a Mexico-based private company. The gold price fell sharply for the week on news that the US federal reserve intends to keep interest rates the same and are more likely to raise rates in December. Iron ore also had a rough week, falling below $50 a tonne.

While the Index was up for the week, the drop in the price of key commodities and the lack of any substantial deals continue the narrative that this has been a rough fall in the natural resources space. Still, it is good to see broker participation, although more is needed before we can really feel like they are back with any force.

 Oreninc Index Five-Week Average Falls to Five-Week Low

The Oreninc Index five-week average fell to a five-week low for the week ending October 22, 2015. Total dollars announced fell to $41.6m, a four-week low. No brokered financings were announced for the fourth time in five weeks, and no bought deal financings were announced for the fifth straight week.

The top dealmaking news of the week was the finalization of OceanaGold Corporation’s (ASX:OGC) purchase of Newmont Mining Corporation’s (NYSE:NEM) Waihi gold mining operation for $106m. Gold prices were down for the week, though they retained much of the value they had gained the week prior.

Another week and still no sign of a resurgence of brokered or bought deal financings. While companies are finding creative ways to finance their projects, the complete lack of interest by bankers to get involved with metals and mining should be a concern for the industry.