U.S. Markets June 20-26

Stock markets in the United States bounced in a narrow range during the trading period June 20-26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 103.17 points, finishing at 11,045.28, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 10.42 to finish at 1,250.56; both gains were less than 1% of value. While there had been general sentiment that the market was oversold, the return since the bottom on June 14 has been tentative.

Mining shares, which suffered more in the sell-off, also gained more back in the modest recovery. Only one of the major metal producers listed on New York saw its price fall during the period, copper producer Phelps Dodge, which slid US84 to US$76.23. PD announced it had been drawn into a US$56-million deal to merge with Inco and Falconbridge, and for the privilege of having their names stay on the letterhead, PD would pay a premium of 23% for Inco shares and Inco would bump its cash and share offer for Falconbridge.

The deal, announced on June 26, set off alarm bells, since the three companies are expected to take on about US$22 billion in debt. Fitch and Moody’s both put PD’s debt ratings under review, with Moody’s doing the same to Inco. Standard & Poor’s put a credit watch on PD, but a positive watch on Inco and Falco.

Elsewhere in the base metals, it was sweetness and light. Anglo American led the Big Four with a gain of US$1.55 to finish at US$19.55, an 8.6% rise; Companhia Vale do Rio Doce shares were up US$1.25 at US$22.30, BHP Billiton gained US$1.92 to US$40.53, and Rio Tinto, at US$203.67, was up US$6.81.

Gold prices started a slow climb out of their June 14 low, finishing the trading period with a price fix of US$583.50 in the London afternoon session. That was US$16.50 better than June 20, and the golds were mostly buoyant. As one measure of the group, Amex’s Gold Miners ETF was up US$3.03 to US$36.63. The South Africans showed some of the best form: AngloGold Ashanti rose US$3.39 to US$44.81, Gold Fields US$3.71 to US$20.99, Harmony Gold Mining US$2.36 to US$14.93, and DRDGold US18 to US$1.34.

Two mid-tiers also made strong gains, with Hecla Mining up US54 at US$4.81 and Randgold Resources up US$1.88 at US$19.85.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000S)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Kerr McGee*	KMG	38414	69.38	48.80	69.18	+40.6
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	52	0.14	0.09	0.14	+40.0
Newgold*	NGLD	1097	0.44	0.29	0.41	+32.2
Gold Fields*	GFI	11357	20.99	17.45	20.99	+21.4
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	1391	2.587	2.01	2.55	+21.4
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	13848	44.72	36.25	44.51	+20.3
Gammon Lk Res*	GRS	820	13.20	10.56	12.47	+19.2
Polymet Mng*	POMGF	1553	2.95	2.51	2.92	+19.1
Miramar Mng*	MNG	1066	4.02	3.34	3.99	+19.1
Harmony Gold*	HMY	5704	14.95	12.58	14.93	+18.7
Apolo Gold*	APLL	576	0.105	0.07	0.075	-27.8
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	947	0.98	0.71	0.73	-21.5
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	64	0.21	0.17	0.17	-19.0
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	58	1.90	1.25	1.55	-18.4
Geocom Res*	GOCM	197	0.35	0.25	0.28	-17.6
Goldspring*	GSPG	23843	0.012	0.009	0.01	-16.6
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	214	0.084	0.065	0.065	-16.6
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	1409	0.41	0.25	0.335	-16.2
Birch Mountn*	BMD	1882	6.10	4.85	5.06	-10.7
Crystallex In*	KRY	3788	3.19	2.75	2.94	-6.6

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Kerr McGee*	KMG	38414100	69.18	+19.99
Southern Peru*	PCU	5699600	82.05	+8.45
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	13847900	44.51	+7.51
Inco Ltd*	N	11915500	64.21	+7.37
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1260300	203.67	+6.81
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	2532000	71.65	+6.80
Glamis Gold*	GLG	6168500	35.72	+4.77
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	110900	99.82	+4.62
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	409100	60.00	+4.36
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	5583000	30.98	+3.96
Phelps Dodge*	PD	30293200	76.23	-0.84
Birch Mountn*	BMD	1881600	5.06	-0.61
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	57500	1.55	-0.35
Crystallex In*	KRY	3787700	2.94	-0.21
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	947058	0.73	-0.20
Northern Dyn*	NAK	384300	8.88	-0.10
Rubicon Mnls*	RBY	55100	1.22	-0.07
Global Gold*	GBGD	17650	1.65	-0.07
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	1409217	0.335	-0.065
Mountain Prov*	MDM	50200	2.99	-0.06

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000S)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
AuGrid*	AUGC	45253	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Kerr McGee*	KMG	38414	69.38	48.80	69.18	+19.99
Phelps Dodge*	PD	30293	84.07	74.80	76.23	-0.84
CVRD*	RIO	24946	22.69	20.95	22.30	+1.25
Goldspring*	GSPG	23843	0.012	0.009	0.01	-0.002
Newmont Mng*	NEM	18621	50.94	49.05	50.34	+1.18
Goldcorp*	GG	17448	28.60	25.57	28.25	+2.66
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	15965	52.39	48.13	51.05	+1.54
Alcoa*	AA	14735	30.96	29.06	30.63	+1.53
Freeport McMo*	FCX	14529	50.92	46.69	50.80	+3.83