U.S. Markets June 6-12

Equity markets in the United States went into a tailspin during the reporting period June 6-12, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 256.14 points to 10,792.58, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index falling 28.89 points to 1,236.40. The declines wiped out all the gains the indexes had made since mid-November 2005.

General weakness in the markets was bad for all the commodity producers, although the gold producers probably took worse punishment. AngloGold Ashanti was down US$6.04 at US$40.03 — a 10% loss — and Gold Fields fell US$2.90, or 14%, to US$17.69.

Among juniors, U.S. Gold was obliged to pull back its offer for Venture-listed White Knight Resources following an opinion from the Securities and Exchange Commission that U.S. Gold needed to file more information before making a formal bid. U.S. Gold was down US$1.78 to US$6.72.

Despite inflation fears — an increase in the core U.S. consumer price index having been one of the factors spooking the market — crude oil prices declined, possibly as a result of the Western initiative for talks with Iran. Brent prices were back into the high US$60s, while New York Mercantile Exchange prices for light sweet crude fell to US$68.63. That was bad for the coal companies, and the market knew it: Arch Coal plunged US$7.42 to US$39.58, Foundation Coal slid US$4.96 to US$39.40, and Peabody Energy dived US$11.28 to US$49.52.

The Big Three of the base metal sector all lost ground, with Rio Tinto off US$18.84 to US$190.02, BHP Billiton down US$3.20 to US$38.48, and Anglo American falling US$1.62 to US$17.42. Cooling copper prices hit Southern Peru Copper, which fell US$12.10 to US$72.77, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which fell US$4.45 to US$47.46. The most active of the large base metal miners was diversified producer Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, with over 40 million shares moving. It was hit for a US$2.90 loss, closing at US$20.54. Phelps Dodge, which saw 28 million shares change hands, was down US$6.35 at US$76.81.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	115	0.15	0.10	0.15	+25.0
Lafayette Mng*	LYMGF	77	0.08	0.06	0.06	+20.0
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	548	0.165	0.142	0.16	+5.2
Bullion Rvr G*	BLRV	752	0.87	0.73	0.85	+4.9
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	199	0.346	0.273	0.34	+3.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	61	0.75	0.65	0.70	+2.9
IMA Expl*	IMR	129	2.99	2.76	2.95	+2.7
Liberty Star*	LBTS	962	1.29	1.15	1.23	+2.5
Apollo Gold*	AGT	469	0.53	0.48	0.48	+2.1
Northern Dyn*	NAK	746	8.45	7.56	8.19	+2.1
Gold Reserve*	GRZ	781	7.29	4.08	4.70	-36.0
Geocom Res*	GOCM	1015	0.50	0.32	0.32	-36.0
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	292	0.53	0.311	0.35	-34.5
Peru Copper*	CUP	11796	6.90	4.07	4.10	-32.2
Crystallex In*	KRY	9961	4.28	2.36	3.04	-25.6
US Energy*	USEG	750	4.93	3.69	3.69	-24.1
Northw Min Vt*	NWTMF	1915	0.54	0.41	0.41	-24.0
Orezone Res*	OZN	350	1.74	1.37	1.37	-23.0
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	6419	8.74	6.51	6.53	-22.6
Uranerz Engy*	URNZ	356	2.52	1.72	1.96	-22.2

U.S. greatest value change

		volume	close	change
Falconbridge*	FAL	1256000	50.16	+0.51
Northern Dyn*	NAK	746300	8.19	+0.17
IMA Expl*	IMR	128800	2.95	+0.08
Bullion Rvr G*	BLRV	751868	0.85	+0.04
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	114500	0.15	+0.03
Liberty Star*	LBTS	962201	1.23	+0.03
US Antimony*	UAMY	61050	0.70	+0.02
Apollo Gold*	AGT	469400	0.48	+0.01
Lafayette Mng*	LYMGF	77150	0.06	+0.01
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	199071	0.34	+0.01
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2623900	190.02	-18.84
Southern Peru*	PCU	9120800	72.77	-12.10
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	24981700	49.52	-11.28
Arch Coal*	ACI	17405200	39.58	-7.42
Alcan*	AL	14004100	44.21	-6.79
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	11675400	37.03	-6.71
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	232000	94.50	-6.66
Potash C Sask*	POT	3783600	79.18	-6.49
Phelps Dodge*	PD	28332200	76.81	-6.35
Lihir Gold*	LIHRY	340873	40.30	-6.18

U.S. most active issues

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
UNICO Inc*	UNCN	632100	0.002	0.002	0.002	0.00
AuGrid*	AUGC	217639	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Goldspring*	GSPG	42201	0.015	0.012	0.012	-0.001
CVRD*	RIO	40889	45.35	20.22	20.54	-2.90
Alcoa*	AA	29982	31.52	28.55	29.73	-1.65
Phelps Dodge*	PD	28332	83.71	75.11	76.81	-6.35
Newmont Mng*	NEM	28080	52.17	47.93	48.52	-3.96
Freeport McMo*	FCX	26779	53.58	47.10	47.46	-4.45
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	24982	60.80	49.25	49.52	-11.28
Goldcorp*	GG	23553	29.13	25.17	25.33	-4.05