This from Andrew:

Two weeks ago I sold the Virginia-based utility company Dominion Resources (D).  I got out at a double-digit profit.

Of all the utilities in the S&P 500, Dominion had the best earnings growth (38.5%) last quarter. So why did I get rid of the stock?

When I recommended it in mid-2005, electricity consumption was still rising and regulated rates were providing cover for rising energy costs. Dominion also had productive gas fields in Texas and expanding Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) ports.

But now the sector is heading in the wrong direction.

In the last week alone the utility sector lost 8.2 percent. Only the financial, conglomerates and industrial goods sectors have done worse – recording bigger losses over the past week and last three months.

I got out just in time. Since I exited my position in Dominion, it has lost 9.1 percent. But as you can see, Dominion has lots of company…

As recently as last quarter, utilities were holding up fine. Their profits had risen an average of 5.3 percent (unweighted) and 0.9 percent (weighted). Along with health care and consumer staples, utilities formed a strong line of defense against the encroaching recession.

So what the heck happened?

Listen, utilities have certain advantages, like fixed prices, monopoly-like markets, and a consistent revenue stream.

But that revenue stream has sprung a few leaks. Listen to CEO Lewis Hay of Florida Power & Light (FPL)…

“A lot of people think demand for electricity is inelastic. It’s not. Our customers are cutting back, and they’re not paying their bills, either.”

I wrote to my readers last week that “I’m not quite ready to put utilities in the same category as banks…”

But utilities are sounding more and more like banks. Here’s another utility CEO, Michael Morris of American Electric Power (AEP), sounding off…

“Clearly, industrial sales will be off,” he said, “we’re selling less electricity to neighboring utilities as their needs drop.”

The recession has finally caught up to the utilities. As a result, utilities are husbanding their cash along with all the other companies…

APE is cutting back spending from $2.5 billion to $1.25 billion. FPL is and Georgia Power is also cutting back.

And in the strongest sign yet that the utility sector is no refuge for investors, two utilities cut their dividend last week: Ameren (AEE) and Constellation Energy (CEG).

Investors made a lot of money shorting banks. I’m not ready to put utilities in the same camp as the banking sector, but the weaker companies in the utility sector definitely represent shorting opportunities. My Red Flag portfolio used to be full of banks and financials. My bets that their shares would sink made mostly triple-digit gains.

Last week I added a couple of utilities to the portfolio. The utility sector is catching up to the rest of the economy – and not in a good way.

Source: Why Utilities Are No Longer a Refuge for Safe Investors

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange tacked on 0.41%, while the TSX Gold Index added a modest 0.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, ended the session 0.38% lower with declining issues swamping the advancers by a 548 to 432 margin on good volume of a tad more than 194 million shares traded.

Teck Cominco went out shopping and elected to buy Global Copper. The price tag is C$425 million in cash and stock. Of interest to the major is Global’s Relincho copper-molybdenum deposit in northern Chile. Global shareholders will receive C$3 in cash and 0.2 of a Teck Class B share for each Global share, plus the holders will get one share of a new company called Lumina Copper. If the market price of Teck Class B shares is less than C$45 per share, Teck will pay additional consideration, in cash or Teck Class B shares, such that the consideration payable for each Global share has a value of C$12.

If at closing the market price of Teck Class B shares exceeds $55.00, the number of Teck Class B shares to be issued will be reduced so that the value of the consideration per Global share does not exceed C$14. The new Lumina will hold all assets of Global other than the Relincho project, including Global’s interest in the Taca Taca and San Jorge properties in Argentina, some C$10 million in cash and a 1.5-per-cent net smelter return royalty in respect of the Relincho project, payable commencing in the fifth year after the start of commercial production. Global ended the day up C$2.78 at C$13.91, while Teck dropped C$0.91 at C$45.70.

Asia Thai Mining Co. has offered to by all the shares of Pan African Mining at C$4 each. On completion, the company aims to transfer C$2.5 million in cash and all of the non-Madagascar assets to a new company. Pan African ended the day up C$1.02 at C$3.79.

Skeena Resources tagged some nice holes on its advanced Malpica copper-gold project in Mexico’s Sinaloa state. Highlights included 112 metres running 0.949% copper and 0.427 gram gold per tonne. The project hosts a historic resource of 29 million tonnes grading 0.64% copper. Skeena ended the day up C$0.055 at C$0.30.

Gold Eagle Mines got a boost after reporting a 4.2 metre intercept averaging 29.85 grams gold per tonne at its flagship Gold Eagle property in Red Lake, Ontario. Gold Eagle ended the session up C$0.32 at C$9.13.

A stock to watch is Spur Ventures. Shares in the Chinese phosphate producer were halted pending news at C$0.68. Spur announced a deal with a private Chinese company to complete a C$11.34 million equity private placement and to pursue strategic investments in China and elsewhere in Spur’s fertilizer business. The Chinese entity will acquire 18 million units of Spur at C$0.63 per unit, which will make it Spur’s largest investor.

The more speculative junior issues continue to struggle as investors elect to take money off the table on almost any uptick. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.