News

January 02, 2009

2008 Marked The End Of The Commodity Boom, But Modest Rebound Predicted in 2009

Our Canadian Correspondent

The past year was a very nasty one for investors in general and resource players in particular. The Canadian Markets however started 2008 off in fine form with many commodity prices hitting historic highs but an abrupt drop in economic activities sparked a sell-off of unprecedented magnitude. The falling prices left many leveraged resource players on the brink of economic disaster.

In a nut shell, 2008 will be remembered for the end of a remarkable commodity market boom that started in 2001-2002. The surprise in not that the resource cycle ended, it always does, but at the speed in which it occurred. The abrupt nature caught many resource companies off guard and the price that could be paid in 2009 has yet to be played out.

A poster child for 2008 has got to be Teck Cominco. Over the past few years, Teck rode the commodity boom by posting double or triple digit gains in...