Canadian Natural, Potash May Rise; Research In Motion May Drop

By John Kipphoff

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. may rise, based on bids on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as crude-oil and natural-gas prices advance.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. may climb, on speculation potash prices will gain because of a supply shortage, as a strike at three of its mines may leave it unable to fulfill contracts. Research In Motion Ltd. may drop after one of its phone-chip suppliers, Marvell Technology Group Ltd., reported lower-than-estimated profit and forecast slowing sales growth.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index added 1.6 percent to 13,750.48 yesterday in Toronto and is poised for a monthly gain, the first since May.

Crude oil rose more than $2.80 a barrel in electronic trading in New York, heading for its biggest weekly gain in almost two months, and natural gas rose, as producers evacuated rigs before the arrival of Gustav, forecast to be the largest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Katrina in 2005.

Canadian Natural, the nation's fourth-largest energy company by market value, may gain 88 cents to C$90.88, bids already submitted in Toronto showed. Suncor Energy Inc., the world's second-biggest producer of crude from oil sands, may climb 54 cents to C$60.40, bids indicated.

Potash Corp. may rise C42.18 to C$199.59. The world's largest producer of the crop nutrient may have to declare force majeure if a strike at three Canadian mines continues, David Silver, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note to clients today

Research In Motion may fall C$1.96 to C$131.50, based on bids. Marvell Technology, a maker of chips for the BlackBerry e- mail phone, reported second-quarter profit that trailed the average of analysts' estimates in a Bloomberg survey by 30 percent. The company predicted sales in the current quarter of $860 million to $880 million, missing the $889.2 million predicted by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

U.S. stock futures fell as personal incomes decreased three times faster than economists forecast and Dell Inc.'s lower-than-estimated earnings spurred concern that a slump in technology spending is spreading overseas.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Kipphoff in Montreal at jkipphoff@bloomberg.net.