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number cruncher

What are we looking for?

One month ago today, the Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark index hit its high for the year to date. Since then the S&P/TSX composite index has tumbled 6 per cent. Over the next three days, to get a sense of what has been driving portfolios in either direction, we will look at the biggest individual stock winners and losers since April 26 on both the S&P/TSX and the S&P 500, the broad based gauge for U.S. markets.

What did we find?

On the Toronto benchmark the top gainers are composed primarily of gold producers, plus a technology player, an automobile parts maker and a waste disposal company.

With the price of an ounce of gold rising by nearly 4 per cent in the last month on fears of economic instability in Europe and beyond, gold producers in general have enjoyed a lift during the market mayhem. Vancouver's Eldorado Gold Corp., a mid-tier producer that operates mines in Brazil, China, Turkey and Greece, leads the list of gainers on the S&P/TSX, rising by more than 23 per cent since April 26.

Stocks of technology companies have been widely credited with helping lead North American markets out of the recession over the last 18 months. In Canada, there is a lack of depth in the sector, but one of the domestic heavyweights, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., lands sixth on the list. The Vancouver-based company sells technology to help customers organize complicated operational systems, such as data collection and management. Three weeks ago MacDonald Dettwiler posted first-quarter results that blew past expectations.

Magna International Inc.'s single-vote class A shares have benefited from a proposal announced this month that would see founder and chairman Frank Stronach sell his multiple-voting B shares for $863-million. Outside investors applaud the move because it opens the company up to wider ownership and a possible takeover.

Another stock moving on transaction-related news is the solid waste disposal company IESI-BFC Ltd. The Toronto-based company has an average two-year growth rate of 9.2 per cent. In the first quarter it posted an 18-per-cent rise in revenue and 39-per-cent increase in share profit compared with the previous year. IESI-BFC aims to become the third-largest solid waste management company in North America through its proposed acquisition of rival Waste Services Inc.

Tomorrow, we isolate the weakest performers on the Toronto index.

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