U.S. Markets April 11-17

Rising tension in the Middle East was the main fear factor driving up prices for energy and gold over the report period April 11-17. Investors bid up shares of gold, oil and copper producers, but gave coal companies the cold shoulder. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index see-sawed over the period, shedding 11.29 points to close at 1,285.33, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost 100 points to close at 11,073.78 over the Easter holiday-shortened trading session.

Bargain-hunters pushed several relatively unknown junior companies onto the most-active list, with most up a few pennies from a few pennies. One solid junior churning out steady news on the exploration front is GeoCom Resources, which holds the Illiama copper-gold porphyry project in Alaska, and various gold and base metal prospects in Chile and Argentina. The company’s shares gained 52% in active trading to close at US58.

Newmont Mining, always a favourite with gold bugs, rose with the gold price and closed at US$56.07, up US$3.17 from a week earlier.

Diversified miner Rio Tinto was the biggest value gainer, up US$5.29 to US$223.19. The highly profitable company has been an enduring investor’s favourite in recent years.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rallied after the government of Indonesia voiced support for the company’s rights to the vast Grasberg copper-gold mine on the island of Papua. Recent demonstrations near the mine had led to speculation that the company was no longer welcome by local citizens. Few people realize that only a handful of people lived in the remote highlands before the huge deposit was discovered and explored decades ago. Freeport shares finished at US$65.19, up US$3.42.

Copper giant Phelps Dodge has been rolling in profits and rolling out hefty dividends to shareholders in recent quarters. The company’s shares closed at US$87.48, up US$3.34.

On the down side, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan lost US$4.77 to close at US$86.86, while Chinese coal producer Yangzhou Coal was off $1.24 at $43.86.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
AuGrid*	AUGC	12043	0.002	0.001	0.002	+100.0
Geocom Res*	GOCM	747	0.60	0.374	0.58	+52.6
Lafayette Mng*	LYMGF	52	0.12	0.08	0.12	+33.3
Northgate Mnl*	NXG	8486	3.56	2.77	3.54	+27.8
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1424	2.40	1.86	2.32	+25.4
Sterling Mini*	SRLM	1031	5.99	4.75	5.90	+24.2
Pac Gold*	PCFG	15430	0.74	0.40	0.59	+20.4
Grand Cen Sil*	GSLM	21	0.75	0.63	0.75	+19.0
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	644	0.10	0.084	0.10	+17.6
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	1229	2.845	2.33	2.82	+16.0
Goldspring*	GSPG	53608	0.016	0.013	0.013	-18.7
US Antimony*	UAMY	56	0.80	0.60	0.61	-12.8
Halo Res*	HLOSF	18	0.525	0.525	0.525	-12.5
Tara Gold*	TRGD	3243	0.44	0.335	0.37	-11.9
Coral Gold*	CGREF	103	5.12	4.00	4.63	-9.7
World Vent*	WVNTF	202	0.42	0.37	0.38	-9.5
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	242	1.56	1.40	1.41	-9.0
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	276	0.73	0.59	0.65	-8.4
CanAlaska Ven*	CVVLF	656	0.69	0.561	0.60	-7.4
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	422	0.439	0.309	0.40	-6.9

U.S. greatest value change

		Volume	Close	Change
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1068800	223.19	+5.29
Freeport McMo*	FCX	9693700	65.19	+3.42
Phelps Dodge*	PD	11245600	87.48	+3.34
Newmont Mng*	NEM	21966200	56.07	+3.17
Southern Peru*	PCU	3843100	94.50	+3.08
Inco Ltd*	N	6834200	55.82	+2.85
Cameco Corp*	CCJ	3088500	39.89	+2.44
Randgold Res*	GOLD	1629281	22.45	+2.30
Gold Fields*	GFI	7447500	24.00	+2.11
Falconbridge*	FAL	474400	38.86	+1.95
Potash C Sask*	POT	2452200	86.86	-4.77
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	1384700	88.28	-2.07
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	101900	43.86	-1.24
Westmoreland*	WLB	70800	28.05	-1.15
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	6952500	51.36	-0.97
Massey Energy*	MEE	5830500	35.81	-0.77
Cabot Corp*	CBT	865300	33.14	-0.73
FNX Mining*	FNX	124500	11.68	-0.69
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	1980700	41.90	-0.57
Buenaventura*	BVN	2947700	25.40	-0.55

U.S. most active issues

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
UNICO Inc*	UNCN	951574	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.00
Goldspring*	GSPG	53608	0.016	0.013	0.013	-0.003
Alcoa*	AA	33509	35.30	33.42	34.00	+1.17
Newmont Mng*	NEM	21966	56.08	51.39	56.07	+3.17
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	16913	6.99	6.48	6.97	+0.31
Pac Gold*	PCFG	15430	0.74	0.40	0.59	+0.10
Silverado*	SLGLF	13326	0.14	0.121	0.139	+0.004
Barrick Gold*	ABX	12898	30.18	28.37	30.12	+0.73
AuGrid*	AUGC	12043	0.002	0.001	0.002	+0.001
Crystallex In*	KRY	11691	6.20	5.15	6.00	+0.34