Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (AEM)

[Sam Dan]

The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that shares of Canadian gold miners are on a tear, as investors pile into gold in search of safety. The Post's Christina Pellegrini, writing in Trading Desk, says that on Thursday, the stocks of Barrick, Goldcorp and Agnico Eagle Mines continued their winning ways. Shareholders have catapulted the miners' stock prices sharply higher since the beginning of the new year, with Barrick adding 69 per cent, Goldcorp 33 per cent and Agnico 32 per cent. The price of gold has risen 14.8 per cent in 2016, as concerns over sluggish growth and sputtering equity markets have increased demand. Six of the 10 best performing companies trading on the country's senior stock exchange are in the gold business. Barrick places in the third sport and No. 4 is Kinross. "We are positive on the outlook for gold given the macro-environment back drop," TD Securities analysts wrote Thursday in a research note on Barrick, suggesting that the metal still has room to run, "and believe that exposure to a gold producer with strong leverage to the gold price is appropriate." Barrick has been slashing expenses and reducing its debt load, while its fourth quarter results beat Street expectations.