Market plunge a non event on Alberta Stock Exchange

While the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 190 points before closing time on the New York Stock Exchange, the ripple effect barely touched the predominantly junior- oriented Alberta exchange, according to Cumming.

“The number of issues traded was a little higher than normal and the volume index climbed slightly to 845.8 on Monday, Oct 16 from 844,” he said. “Otherwise the so-called plunge was basically a non-event.”

Cumming and a number of Alberta brokers interviewed by The Northern Miner agree that Alberta stocks don’t trade with the same degree of liquidity as stocks on New York and Toronto. “The Alberta Exchange doesn’t suffer when markets fall unless the downturn is prolonged,” said Yorkton Continental Securities of Calgary broker Jim Pratt. By and large, mining stocks, which have been active lately, managed to weather what might be called the st orm that never materialized. Pan East Resources gained 5 cents on its Oct 13 closing price of $1.85. Savoy Minerals, which has been active lately, climbed to $2.20 on Oct 16 from $1.80 where it had traded a week earlier.

International Viking Resources, the only Alberta issue controlled by Vancouver-based mining promoter Murray Pezim, remained relatively unchanged at around 47 cents .

On Oct 13, declines outweighed advances by a ratio of 3:1. On Monday, Oct 16, the number of declines versus advances dropped to 2:1. “You could drive yourself crazy trying to make sense of those numbers,” said Cumming.

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