Icon Industries Limited ("Icon" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ICN - News) is pleased to announce that it has completed the $3,045,199 financing (the "Offering") announced by news release dated April 24, 2007 consisting of 3,383,554 units ("Units") at a price of $0.90. Each Unit consists of one common share and one-half transferable share purchase warrant, each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at $1.25 per share for a period of 18 months subject to the exercise term being accelerated on notice from the Company if the closing price of the Company's shares is $2.00 or greater for 10 consecutive trading days.
A Finder's fee of 10% in cash will be payable to eligible finders in connection with the financing.
All of the securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a four month hold period that will expire on September 19, 2007.
Proceeds from the Offering will be used for general working capital and the advancement of the Company's Otish Basin claims in Quebec. The property comprise of 85 contiguous claims which the Company has the right to purchase 100% of subject to an NSR, along with an additional 7 claims which Icon, under an option agreement, can earn up to 55% subject to an NSR. The claims lie 4 km west of Strateco Resources' Matoush property from which Strateco has recently released significant drilling results of 2.00% U3O8 over 16 meters (including and intersection of 4.05 over 3.55 meters) and 2.10% over 12.4 meters. The combined group of claims were explored for uranium in the 1970's as part of a regional program by Uranerz Exploration which conducted regional mapping, airborne radiometric and geochemical surveys. This work resulted in the discovering of a large uraniferous boulder field. Individual samples from this boulder field returned values of up to 0.91% U3O8.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Icon Industries Limited
T. Barry Coughlan, President
Certain matters discussed in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all statements, other than statement of historical fact, involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: exploration and mining risks and financing risks. There can be no assurance that such statement will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Investors are encouraged to review Icon's filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Dragon Capital Corporation (TSX: AHD - News; the "Company") is pleased to advise that it has appointed Christopher Harrop, CFA, ICD.D, as non-executive Chairman and a director of the Company effective immediately. The appointment is subject to TSX approval.
Mr. Harrop has extensive corporate finance and governance experience and has helped found numerous public and private companies including ClubLink Corporation, Serica Energy PLC, International Uranium Corporation and HarbourEdge MIC.
About Dragon Capital
Through its 100% owned subsidiary Arehada Mining Corporation, Dragon Capital is engaged in the exploration, development, extraction and refining of zinc, lead and silver in Donwuzhumuqinqi, located in Inner Mongolia, China. Arehada produces zinc and lead concentrates, which is sold to smelters in China.
OPEC Secretary General Abdulla Salem el-Badri said late Wednesday that there was no need for its members to inject more crude into the market and that critics of the group shouldn't pressure it to do so.
Ahead of a workshop here between the International Energy Agency, representing oil-consuming nations, and the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, el-Badri told Dow Jones Newswires that "there is no reason, no reason whatsoever," for the group to leak more crude volumes into the market.
"The market is fine" he added and OPEC's current output policy won't be amended ahead of its next meeting Sept. 11.
U.S. oil inventories data that showed builds in crude and products Wednesday contributed to a fall in oil prices, with U.S. light, sweet crude at 1817 GMT down 65 cents at $62.52 a barrel.
Last Friday, the IEA warned of a summer of discontent in global oil and products markets unless OPEC introduces a substantial output hike soon, a need underscored by lower-than-expected non-OPEC flows and low gasoline inventories.
In its widely watched monthly oil market report, IEA, the energy security watchdog for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, raised a red flag over the ability of refiners and the willingness of OPEC to meet a 1.6 million barrels a day jump in oil product demand in June.
The IEA is unsettled by its reconfirmation of the "dramatic" and sharpest draw of first-quarter OECD inventories in 11 years, with almost 1 million barrels sucked down in the period and with stocks at the end of March falling 17 million barrels on the month to 2.6 billion barrels.
Tied with U.S. gasoline inventory cover at a 16-year low, a reversal of this situation "requires an increase in OPEC output before the summer" if a steep decline in crude stocks isn't to take place, the agency said.
Wall Street rallied strongly on Wednesday with trading influenced by a number of well-known investors revealing their latest purchases in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commision. Early on Wednesday, stocks traded in a choppy fashion as a better-than-expected rise for industrial production in April was offset by news that building permits last month fell at their fastest pace since 1990.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was boosted by the disclosure that its constituents, Citigroup (NYSE:C - news), and Johnson & Johnson were in favour among leading investors.
The Dow closed up 0.8 p+er cent at 13,487.53, and set its 23rd record close for the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.9 per cent to close at 1,514.14 and edged closer to its record level of 1,527.46 set in March 2000.
Georges Yared, chief investment officer at Yared Investment Research said good earnings and guidance for the coming quarter should support stocks and that the S&P was building up to moving higher towards its 2000 record peak.
Within the S&P, telecom, and financial stocks led the major sectors higher, while materials lagged.
Analysts at Bespoke Investment Group said that while all 10 major S&P sectors were still trading near their recent highs, "many seem to be rolling over a bit."
They said: "Financials, consumer discretionary, consumer staples and health care have all had slight declines after hitting overbought levels, and it will be key to see how they react to resistance levels."
The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9 per cent to 2,547.42, and shrugged off weakness among semiconductors stocks. Earnings and lower guidance from Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - news) did weigh upon technology for much of on Wednesday and the Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 0.2 per cent, following a slide of 1.1 per cent on Tuesday.
Applied Materials, a chipmaker, reported better-than-expected earnings, but its guidance for sales disappointed investors. Its shares were down 3.1 per cent at $19.17.
Meanwhile the Russell 2000 index of small companies rose 0.7 per cent at 820.29 and rebounded from its lowest closing level in more than a month on Tuesday.
A number of stocks were in the spotlight on Wednesday when Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett investment company, said it had invested in Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - news) and Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP - news), two railroads, and also bought stock in Wellpoint and raised its holding in Johnson & Johnson, two healthcare companies.
Norfolk Southern rose 1.65 per cent to $56.79, Union Pacific gained 0.9 per cent to $119.39 and the S&P railroad index rallied 1.3 per cent, taking its gain for the year to 25.1 per cent.
Wellpoint gained 1.6 per cent at $84.86, while Johnson & Johnson rallied 2 per cent to $63.05.
Edward Lampert, the hedge fund manager, said late on Tuesday that he had purchased 15m shares of Citigroup. This prompted the shares to jump 4 per cent to $54.91. Analysts believe that the banking conglomerate could now become the next high-profile target for activist investors, given its underperforming share price in recent years. Such a move would show that even the biggest companies were not immune to activist pressure.
Meanwhile, George Soros, another of the most famous hedge fund managers, said his stake in Microsoft had doubled, and the stock rose 0.55 per cent to $31.07. Mr Soros had lowered his holdings in Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL - news), and shares were up 0.8 per cent at $18.99, while he had sold shares in Ebay, down 0.75 per cent at $33.25, and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO - news), and shares in the video game maker slid 0.2 per cent at $19.08.
Another big investor, Carl Icahn, a well-known activist, said he had purchased a large slice of Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC - news), boosting its shares by 1.6 per cent to $47.20, and also bought shares in CSX (NYSE:CSX - news), the railroad finished up 1.4 per cent at $46.40. Mr Icahn also disclosed that his stake in Time Warner (NYSE:TWX - news), had been cut by nearly half. Its shares in the media group rallied 1.55 per cent to $21.60.
In takeover news, Bausch & Lomb agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Warburg Pincus for about $3.7bn in cash. Shares in the the maker of eye-care products jumped 9.8 per cent to $67.50.
"We believe pressure on operating cash flow, as the company struggles to recapture lost market share, creates significant risks in terms of return on capital for an acquiring firm and we do not expect any higher offers," said Robert Gold, medical devices analyst at Standard & Poor's Equity Research.
After the closing bell, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - news) said second-quarter profit fell 6.5 per cent after a tax gain in the year- earlier period. In after-hours trade, shares in the computer maker were 0.7 per cent lower at $44.86, after a rise of 1 per cent in regular trade.
Shares in Amazon closed 4.4 per cent higher at $63.22, after the online retailer said it plans to launch a digital music store later this year and sell songs without copy protection restrictions.
In earnings news, Compuware reported a 20 per cent rise in fourth-quarter earnings and its shares rose 7.3 per cent to $10.67.
Shares in Federated Department (NYSE:FD - news) stores rose 1.2 per cent to $62.69 after its first-quarter profit rose more than 5 per cent, but missed analysts' estimates.
Wall Street rallied on Wednesday as a steady US interest rate outlook contrasted with harder expectations of further monetary policy tightening in Europe.
Meanwhile, Brazil's sovereign foreign debt rating moved one step closer towards investment grade status, sparking a rally in its stock and currency markets.
By contrast, European shares were weighed down by inflation news that firmed up expectations of rate increases from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index closed up 0.9 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 per cent. In the face of further mixed news on the US housing market, Wall Street seemed to draw some confidence from a series of stake-building moves by prominent investors such as Warren Buffett Carl Icahn and Edward Lampert, the hedge fund manager.
In the key data release on Wednesday, US housing starts unexpectedly rose 2.5 per cent last month, above expectations, but permits for future building sank 8.9 per cent to the lowest level since June 1997.
However, Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak, said housing starts began the second-quarter above their average for the first-quarter, clearly suggesting that housing would be a much smaller drag on GDP growth during the current quarter.
"Building permits were low in April, but the April figure is best viewed in the context of the first-quarter average, which was unusually high relative to starts," he said.
US Treasuries were largely flat with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note trading unchanged at 4.71 per cent.
In Brazil, the Bovespa stock index rose 2.3 per cent and set a new record close, after Standard & Poors raised its long-term foreign sovereign credit rating one notch, to 'BB+' from 'BB', one step below investment grade status.
The Brazilian real surged 1.5 per cent against the dollar and closed at its strongest level since 2001. S&P also Brazil's long-term local currency rating two notches to BBB from BB+, which is the lowest investment grade rating.
In Europe, investors had to contend with some higher-than-expected inflation numbers for the eurozone which cemented expectations that the European Central Bank would raise its benchmark interest rate from 3.75 per cent by at least 25 basis points. Consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent month-on-month for a 1.9 per cent year-on-year gain, the same annual rate of growth as in March.
"Despite the annual inflation rate remaining below target, a rate rise to 4.0 per cent in June seems almost certain, and is increasingly unlikely to be the last this year," said Simon Wallace, economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
The gilts market was also on the defensive after Mervyn King, Bank of England governor, indicated that another rate increase would probably be needed to help return UK inflation to its 2 per cent target.
On European government bond markets, yields on the 10-year bund fell 1.3 basis points to 4.29 per cent while yields on 10-year gilts were 2 basis points lower at 5.11 percent. On European equity markets, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index fell 0.16 per cent to 1,581.45.
On commodity markets, US oil prices eased below the $63 a barrel mark on news of a larger-than-expected rise in crude oil and petrol stocks last week.
However, the influential Merrill Lynch oil analyst Francisco Blanch warned the "stars are aligned for another leg up in oil prices".
Mr Blanch raised his forecast for the average WTI crude oil price forecast to $66 a barrel for the third-quarter from $60.50 a barrel. For the fourth-quarter, the firm raised its forecast from $61.50 to $67.50 a barrel.
The analyst added that if the 10 leading members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to ramp up production and global oil demand continued to expand, any minor unexpected disruption in the second half of 2007 could push WTI and/or Brent oil prices temporarily above $80 a barrel.
"Similarly, any unexpected demand event like a weather shock or a major Chinese power shortage could put significant short-term upward pressure on oil prices."
