Oreninc Index Levels Out

The Oreninc Index continued its streak of leveled out consistency for the week ending February 5, 2015. Total dollars announced dropped to $33.9m, a four-week low. Two brokered financings were announced for $21.7m, a four-week low; one bought deal was announced for $10m, also a four-week low.

No major deals were announced, making it the second week in a row of quiet deal-making in the space. Gold had another sub-par week, continuing its roller coaster of a 2015 to below $1,270 an ounce, though it still remains well above November’s YTD low. Iron ore also continued its downward trend, hitting a five-and-a-half-year low in its seemingly never-ending fall. In brighter news, copper prices rose marginally to a two-week high.

While hovering around this suppressed--if not relatively respectable--level is not an ideal way to start the year, it’s a positive sign that some companies are still raising cash via brokered and bought deals. 

Oreninc Index Holds Steady

The Oreninc Index held steady for the week ending January 29, 2015. Total dollars announced dropped to $68.3m, a three-week low. Two brokered and bought financings were announced for $34.9m, both three-week lows.

Deals were extremely sparse, with Tarsis Resources Ltd.’s (TSX-V:TCC) deal to acquire eight gold properties in Nevada from Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (TSX:SSL) for 1.5m shares of Tarsis the only real deal of note; the deal was initially announced on November 21, 2014. Commodities were down, with gold dropping over $35 an ounce on Thursday on news the US Federal Reserve was on track to lift interest rates later this year. Iron ore and copper also had an awful week, continuing their falls.

Although steady in recent weeks, it may be difficult for the Index to remain at this level if metal and oil prices continue to struggle.

Oreninc Index Falls, Stays Respectable

The Oreninc Index fell slightly for the week ending January 22, 2015. Total dollars announced dropped to $76m, a two-week low. Two brokered and bought financings were announced for $70m, both two-week lows. 

Deals slowed a bit, with Goldcorp’s (TSX:G) purchase of Probe Mines Ltd. (TSX-V:PRB) and their Ontario Borden Gold project leading the charge. The all-stock deal is worth CDN$526m. Gold prices for the week were strong, ending above $1,300 an ounce for the first time since August. Oil prices increased briefly on Thursday with news of the death of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, though they will probably come back down with the expectation that his successor will not change the country’s crude production policy.

Though sagging and not where they need to be, it’s nice to see two alright weeks strung together after two of the worst weeks in years. 

Oreninc Index Rebounds

The Oreninc Index rebounded for the week ending January 15, 2015. Total dollars announced exploded to $100.8m, a five-week high. Two brokered and bought financings were announced for $93.3m, both 13-week highs.

Deals seemed to pick up slightly, with Coeur Mining’s (NYSE:CDE) purchase of Goldcorp’s (NYSE:GG) Wharf Mine for $105m leading the charge. Commodity prices were all over the place for the week, with gold jumping to $1,264.70 an ounce, its highest level since October, on news out of Switzerland that they would drop efforts to keep the Franc from appreciating. Copper had a horrific week, dropping to levels not seen since mid-2009.

While not much excitement should be gleaned from just one positive week, it’s nice to see some strong numbers that will hopefully spark some confidence in such a depressed market.

Oreninc Index Hits New Basement

The Oreninc Index crashed to a new low for the week ending January 8, 2015. Total dollars crashed to $2.2m, its lowest level in over a year. No brokered or bought financings were announced, the second and third occurrences in as many weeks respectively. Total financings announced dropped to 10, the lowest level in one year.

Deals for the week were light--as expected, considering the proximity to the start of the year. The largest deal was Cliffs Natural Resources’ (NYSE:CLF) sale of their West Virginian Logan County Coal assets to Coronado Coal’s subsidiary, Coronado Coal II, for $174m. Both the company and its subsidiary are private. Gold had a solid week, ending above $1,210, while oil continued its fall into 2015, ending the week below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2009. 

It’s easy to panic based on the extreme low the Index hit for the week, but given the historic performance of the first week in the New Year, this is more a reflection of the decreased state of the market over the past couple months than a sudden crash that will remain. Expect the Index to moderately improve in the coming weeks, likely back to the numbers we were seeing before the holidays. 

Oreninc Index Stays Solid

The Oreninc Index stayed solid for the week ending December 18, 2014. The main takeaway from this week was the increase in deals announced to 48, a 25-week high. Total dollars dropped to $99m, a two-week low. Three brokered deals were announced for $15.7m, a two-week low; one bought deal was announced for $15m, a four-week high.

Deals for the week were moderate, with the biggest one of note being Coeur Mining’s (NYSE:CDE) purchase of Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (TSX:PZG), and with it their Sleeper Gold project and other Nevada assets, in an all-stock deal worth $146m. Gold was down for the week, falling over $30 and ending below $1,200. Iron ore continued its slide to a five-and-a-half-year low on news of China’s lowest imports in 16 years. Oil did somewhat stop its treacherous slide, though still ended lower than it did the week before.

While this has truly been a rough year, it’s nice to end with a December that had some decent Index performances, even if a year ago they wouldn’t have been considered decent.

Oreninc Index Doubles

The Oreninc Index doubled for the week ending December 11, 2014. Total dollars announced jumped to $157.7m, an eight-week high. Five brokered deals were announced for $34.1m, a four-week high; three bought-deals were announced for $9.7m, a three-week high.

Deal-making continued to stay somewhat active with Vale’s (NYSE:VALE) sale of a 14% stake in its Moatize coal project in Mozambique to the Japanese trading company Mitsui & Company (TYO: 8031), who led the charge. The deal for the stake in the property is worth $638m (USD), with an additional $313m (USD) being paid by Matsui & Co. for a 35% stake in the related Nacala Logistics Corridor. Commodity prices for the week were highlighted by gold’s rise to above $1,220 an ounce, ending the week there. 

It’s hard to find positives in this market, but the fact that deals are getting done and there seems to be some amount of appetite for investment as the year comes to a close is a positive. As we’ve said in weeks past, it would not be surprising to see an influx of flow-through financings in the weeks leading up to the end of the year, but it would also not be surprising if that didn’t happen given the state of the financing market. We’ll see how next week--the last Index reading of the year--will fare. No breaths should be held over the next few weeks.

Oreninc Index Settles into Slump

The Oreninc Index fell further for the week ending December 4, 2014. Total dollars fell to $38.6m, a four-week low. Two brokered deals were announced for $1.9m, also a four-week low; no bought deals were announced for the third time in five weeks. 

Deal-making picked up this week, led by Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.’s (TSX-V:BAY) announcement of the signing of their Definitive Earn-In Agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Antofagasta plc (LON:ANTO). 

Metals prices rallied with gold hitting a five-week high on Monday the 1st (though coming back down to around $1,200 to end the week) and iron ore moving up to its highest level since mid-November, which while not huge news, is certainly better than the fall it had in recent weeks.

As the holidays approach, it seems that bankers and executives are gearing up to be out of the office and investor's checkbooks may be tapped. There is always next year....