Le,The junior board made it four winning days in a row but the big board equities got a little spooked during Halloween Friday trading on the Canadian markets.

It was a quiet news day during Friday trading on the Canadian markets as investors bailed out of the gold stocks and went bargain hunting for undervalued base metal plays. For the tale of the tape, the TSX exchange rallied 3.16%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 2.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.89% with the declining issuers inching past the advancers by a 444 to 419 margin on good volume of 169 million shares traded.

The hemorrhaging continued during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets as falling commodity prices had investors running for the exits yet again. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 0.58%, while the TSX Gold Index plunged 9.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 5.39% with the declining issuers swamping the advancers by a 668 to 247 margin on volume of 153 million shares traded.

The unified interest rate cuts that included a 0.5% reduction in Canada did little to bolster investor confidence early on, but a binge of late day buying propelled the big board into the black by the close of Wednesday trading on the Canadian Markets.

In a reversal of recent fortunes, the more speculative stocks actually showed signs of life and out performed their bigger brothers during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange lost 0.66%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 0.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 1.82% with the advancing issuers beating out the decliners by a 536 to 406 margin on pathetic volume of 146 million shares traded.

In a surprise move, Goldcorp (G) stepped up to the plate and agreed to buy Gold Eagle Mines (GEA) in a deal valued at C$1.5 billion. The major will pay C$6.80 in cash and 0.146 Goldcorp share for each Gold…

It ain’t much fun being a miner in these torrid times. It’s raining supply problems, infrastructure problems and energy costs are rocketing. Time for investors to be really picky!

It’s a quick task to keep an eye on large-cap gold mining. Just a handful of companies sport market values above $10 billion. Near the top is Goldcorp.

It was a day of profit taking Tuesday trading on the Canadian Markets.