U.S. Markets August 15-21

Stock markets south of the line were buoyant over the reporting period Aug. 15-21, as economic and statistical news from the U.S. government suggested a gentle economic slowdown and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would hold interest rates near present levels. Energy prices were lower, though they did rally somewhat on Aug. 21 with West Texas Intermediate at US$72.46 per barrel. Reflecting the sentiment, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was 29.31 points (2.3%) higher in the five trading days, finishing at 1,297.52.

The resource stocks were ahead of the market, particularly the golds, as bullion prices were driven higher by Middle East tension. The Philadelphia gold index (XAU) rode up 7.97 points, or 5.7% of value, to 147.68. Newmont Mining was up US$1.70 at US$52.55, AngloGold Ashanti rose US$1.71 to US$50.08, Gold Fields picked up US54 to close at US$20.53, and Harmony Gold Mining finished at US$14.44, US$1.23 better for the period.

The South Africans were helped by a falling rand, which finished the period at US14.21. Over on the NASDAQ, DRDGold gained US3 to US$1.35, and Anglo American Platinum touched a 52-week high of US$119.50 before closing US$3 higher at US$111. Another white-goods producer, Stillwater Mining, was the top percentage gainer among the New York-listed miners, rising US$1.19 (13.6%) to US$9.94.

Three mid-tier producers made good gains: Hecla Mining was up US48 at US$6.13, Lihir Gold jumped US$3.69 to close at US$46.24, and Randgold Resources vaulted US$1.85 to US$23.15.

Base metal behemoth Anglo American — the latest name batted around in takeover rumours in the sector — was up US$1.49 at US$23.49.

The rumour mill was fed by the Sunday Observer in London, which said Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce were readying for a joint bid to dismember Anglo. In New York, Rio shares were up US$6.50 at US$209.91 and CVRD — which of course has the Inco bid on its plate — was up a quarter at US$22.26. A common-sense observation, from the nice folks at Socit Gnrale, was that Xstrata and CVRD have heavy cash commitments and Anglo has US$16 billion cash of its own.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Centrl Minera*	CENMF	53	0.06	0.04	0.06	+50.0
Liberty Star*	LBTS	959	0.84	0.55	0.75	+36.3
Halo Res*	HLOSF	30	0.407	0.38	0.407	+28.8
Little Squaw*	LITS	205	1.70	1.35	1.70	+28.7
Clifton Mng*	CFTN	333	0.67	0.54	0.67	+26.4
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	276	0.502	0.27	0.36	+24.1
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	2811	0.425	0.31	0.39	+22.2
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	1087	5.25	4.27	5.23	+20.7
Rio Narcea Gd*	RNO	565	2.44	1.92	2.35	+20.5
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	665	0.77	0.619	0.739	+17.3
World Vent*	WVNTF	20	0.15	0.13	0.13	-23.5
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	1253	0.20	0.10	0.14	-22.2
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	32	0.08	0.06	0.08	-20.0
Newgold*	NGLD	474	0.38	0.30	0.312	-17.8
Northw Min Vt*	NWTMF	719	0.52	0.41	0.41	-17.1
US Antimony*	UAMY	252	0.48	0.38	0.40	-16.6
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	642	0.21	0.14	0.17	-15.0
HuntMountain*	HNTM	26	0.55	0.50	0.55	-14.0
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	231	0.61	0.40	0.52	-13.3
Goldspring*	GSPG	68043	0.009	0.005	0.007	-12.5

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1225900	209.91	+6.50
Freeport McMo*	FCX	10595100	57.15	+4.04
Lihir Gold*	LIHRY	108209	46.24	+3.69
OM Group*	OMG	2325200	38.98	+3.65
Southern Peru*	PCU	2993600	91.35	+3.60
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	14425900	47.98	+3.56
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	2615200	39.26	+2.98
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	3041800	36.56	+2.79
Teck Comin B*	TCK	377700	72.69	+2.73
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	396400	40.16	+2.72
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	128800	35.76	-1.65
Inco Ltd*	N	5789600	77.37	-1.36
Gammon Lk Res*	GRS	589100	12.30	-0.48
Richmont Mine*	RIC	59200	3.16	-0.23
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	1131597	1.60	-0.19
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	112600	2.40	-0.15
Global Gold*	GBGD	27200	1.65	-0.10
Cardero Res*	CDY	143300	1.60	-0.10
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	106400	1.548	-0.092
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	476097	0.849	-0.091

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
AuGrid*	AUGC	258015	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Goldspring*	GSPG	68043	0.009	0.005	0.007	-0.001
CVRD*	RIO	33430	22.93	21.76	22.26	+0.25
Newmont Mng*	NEM	19620	52.96	49.76	52.55	+1.70
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	18591	0.012	0.007	0.01	-0.001
Alcoa*	AA	17366	28.98	27.91	28.77	+0.84
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	14426	48.74	43.61	47.98	+3.56
Phelps Dodge*	PD	14092	93.50	88.72	91.16	+1.82
Barrick Gold*	ABX	10836	33.00	30.53	33.00	+2.49
Freeport McMo*	FCX	10595	57.46	52.91	57.15	+4.04