Zinc Investing News

Congress is divided over the proposed 700 million dollar bailout plan that is being promoted as a solution to the current stock market crisis. This morning’s vote was only supposed to take a few moments, but it has been plagued with arguments and dissent as both sides struggle to come to an agreement about the huge U.S. Treasury bailout of failing banks and investment houses. The Dow Jones plunged 700 points before rebounding to a 500-point drop this Sept. 29, 2008.

Investors are nervous as the plan’s acceptance now appears uncertain, and the stock market drop shows the importance of the bailout in restoring investor confidence in the American financial world.

Zinc metal spot prices on Sept. 29/08 fell 5.59 percent, with bid/ask prices ranging from a low of .7444 to .7535 USD per pound. Lead prices were down 7.97 percent, with lows of 0.8118 - to highs of 0.8186 USD per pound. This worrisome decline in commodity prices represents an ongoing market trend.

“Speculators and investors are exiting commodity markets,” Alan Heap (Citigroup) commented: “It is notable that both long and short positions are being liquidated and we interpret this as part of a broad de-risking tactic rather than a negative view on the relative performance of commodities.” 

For several months, zinc and lead metals, along with other industrial metals, have displayed worsening performance on world markets, as a result of stock market woes, as well as a stronger American dollar. Base metals tend to do better when the US dollar is weak, and problems of oversupply have also affected the demand for zinc on metal exchanges worldwide.  

Zinc and Lead Company News

Canadian Zinc Corporation: TSX: CZN: This company conducts exploration and drilling at the Prairie Creek silver and zinc mine in the Northwest Territories: this company is still seeking out all the necessary permits for running this mine. The applications for the permits were filed in August 2008, and the company awaits permission to go ahead full full-scale operations at Prairie Creek.

Bard Ventures Limited: CA:CBS: In early September, Bard ventures announced results from the BD-08-35 drill hole and were positive about drill results at their Lone Pine Molybdenum Property. This property is about 15 km north-northwest of Houston, BC, within the Omineca Mining Division. Today’s stock quotes for this company show a real decline in share values, with bid/ask prices hitting a low of 0.065 per share, down .030 as of September 29, 2008. This drop is a 31.58 percent drop from yesterday’s close.  

Kent Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KEX-V) On September 8^th , Kent announced that they had staked seven claims in Saskatchewan. The deposits at these sites are believed to contain high concentrations of zinc, silver and lead. Current stock quotes for Kent are: bid/ask of 0.065 per share, down -18.75 percent, as of Sept.29/2008.

Late Breaking News: The 700 billion dollar bailout plan was rejected by Congress late this morning, after a heated debate with partisan overtones. It is believed that Nancy Pelosi spoke to the House about her opposition to the bill, and won over many voters with her rationale. “$700 billion [is a] a staggering number, but only a part of the cost of the failed Bush economic policies - policies that were built on budget recklessness … combined with an anything goes economic policy, [that] have taken us to where we are today” she remarked during her speech. President Bush is quoted as being “very disappointed” with the bill, and the Dow Jones is plunging as the optimism raised by the bailout plan is lost.  

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