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CA-BUSINESS Summary

21/11/08

HudBay agrees to buy Lundin Mining, shares plunge

TORONTO (Reuters) - HudBay Minerals Inc said on Friday it will buy fellow Canadian base miner Lundin Mining Corp for about C$500 million, triggering a 40 percent drop in its stock as shareholders worried about taking on Lundin's large, but riskier, metals portfolio. Under the friendly transaction, HudBay will pay 0.3919 of a share for each Lundin share to create Canada's No. 2 base metals miner, trailing only Teck Cominco .

TSX rallies 5.5 pct, but still down on week

TORONTO (Reuters) - Surging commodity prices propelled gold and energy shares to a big win over weak financials on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, as the volatile session ended with a gain of more than 5.5 percent. Every one of the 10 main subgroups of the S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> rose by the end of the day, despite earlier volatility that saw the benchmark wheeling wildly between positive and negative territory.

Bay Street Week Ahead: Banks slam the door on 2008

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian banks will show some ugly end-of-year numbers in the next two weeks and the more interesting bit -- their 2009 outlooks -- are bound to be vague. Two bank warnings about fourth-quarter charges this week helped to sink the benchmark Toronto Stock Exchange index, with financial issues logging stunning double-digit percentage drops on Thursday. The S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> fell 9.9 percent in the week to 8,155.33.

GM to further cut Ontario production in '09: union

TORONTO (Reuters) - General Motors of Canada is going to cut a second week of production at its Oshawa, Ontario, car plant in January, and may move up the timeframe for shuttering its Oshawa truck plant to May from July, an official from the Canadian Auto Workers union said on Friday. "Our car assembly plant was scheduled to be on layoff the first week of January, but they notified us today that they're going to take a second week out of January as well, as the market continues to soften," said Chris Buckley, President of CAW Local 222 in Oshawa.

Citigroup shares drop; CEO plans to keep Smith Barney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit tried to downplay speculation the banking giant might sell major businesses to restore its health and investor confidence, but shares still tumbled for a fifth straight day. Pandit told employees on Friday that the second-largest U.S. bank by assets does not want to change its business model and plans to keep its Smith Barney brokerage, according to two people who heard him.

Price drop has yet to cut Canadian oil output

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian energy companies have yet to start shutting down large volumes of oil production due to low prices, but the market meltdown has started to fuel some nervousness about the prospect. So far, a 66 percent drop in crude prices since July, coupled with the credit crunch and still-high construction costs, has prompted numerous oil sands developers to defer and rethink their plans for new projects and expansions.

Hundreds wait at Verizon stores for BlackBerry Storm

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of people lined up at some Verizon Wireless stores on Friday to buy the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen phone from Research In Motion that aims to compete with Apple's iPhone. More than 200 people had waited at a Verizon store in mid-town Manhattan early in the morning, many of whom were turned away after it ran out of the new phones less than an hour after opening at 8 a.m. The angry customers caused a ruckus and police came to restore order.

Bailout debate simmers as GM pares output

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Detroit automakers began work on the turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for a possible $25 billion rescue as General Motors Corp said it will cut production more deeply and drop two of its controversial corporate jets. Pushed to the brink of failure by a plunge in auto sales, GM said on Friday it would idle five North American plants for more time to cut production and keep inventories.

Car dealers pitch for auto sector aid

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Car dealers are heading for near-record sales this year but asked the federal government on Friday to help auto manufacturers and to make it easier for dealerships to get financing. The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association told a news conference that their 3,500 dealers employ 140,000 people and they would bear the brunt of the economic impact if the big manufacturers were not provided bridge financing.

Oil rallies from 3-1/2-year low as stocks rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose 1 percent on Friday as stock markets recovered from early lows caused by continuing economic gloom. U.S. crude rose 51 cents to $49.93 a barrel, after earlier dipping to $48.25, the lowest level in 3-1/2 years. London Brent crude settled up $1.11 at $49.19 a barrel.

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