U.S. Markets April 3-9

Markets on the Hudson rose steadily but gently during the reporting period April 3-9, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 186.84 points, or 1.5%, to 12,569.14. There was little surprise in any of the period’s economic news, except for a general easing in crude oil prices. At the same time, both base and precious metal prices were shooting up, which provided a boost for mining stocks.

Some of the better gains, in fact, came in the coal sector; a U.S. Federal Court decision reversing mining permits in the Appalachian coal belt set speculation in motion about higher coal prices. Peabody Energy vaulted US$5.08 to US$45.87, Arch Coal jumped US$4.15 to US$35.13, and Consol Energy added US$3.01 to finish at US$42.48.

The base metal stocks, riding on increased metal prices, were buoyant. Proportionately, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce posted the best gain, a US$2.69 rise to US$40.06. Southern Copper touched a new high at US$77.32, finishing the period at US$76.03, up US$3.39, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, the most actively traded of the large miners with 43 million shares moving, was US$2.25 better at US$68.98. Freeport denied rumours that it planned to sell some of the assets it acquired in the Phelps Dodge takeover it concluded in March.

Gold indexes outpaced the broader market, as the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index added 3.4 points to finish at 142.70, a gain of 2.5%, and the unhedged Amex index was 2.6% higher. Harmony Gold Mining posted the largest percentage gain, rising US$1.18, or 7.6%, to US$15.49. Newmont Mining was up US$1.24 to US$43.57, and AngloGold Ashanti US46 to US$45.76.

In the mid-tier golds, there was some profit-taking out of Hecla Mining, which finished US14 lower at US$9.20 after reaching a 52-week high of US$9.44.

Among U.S.-listed juniors, Uranerz Energy touched a high of US$6.83 and finished at US$6.82, up US$1.57. It is drilling several targets in the Powder River basin in Wyoming. The company noted that almost all the outstanding warrants for Uranerz stock had been exercised in recent weeks.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	2990	0.019	0.009	0.015	+	66.6
Sao Luis Mng*	SAOL	761	0.65	0.40	0.63	+	43.1
Anooraq Res*	ANO	6568	2.08	1.48	1.97	+	30.5
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	3851	6.83	5.02	6.82	+	29.9
Minco Gold*	MGH	429	1.88	1.34	1.84	+	28.6
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	90	0.30	0.16	0.30	+	27.6
Sterling Mini*	SRLM	519	4.22	3.19	4.05	+	26.9
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	2105	3.94	3.09	3.90	+	26.2
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	477	0.825	0.676	0.825	+	19.5
Birch Mountn*	BMD	5952	3.96	3.06	3.79	+	19.1
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	20	0.11	0.098	0.11	–	21.4
Paramount Gld*	PGDP	285	3.04	2.61	2.63	–	13.4
New Gold*	NGD	517	7.92	6.90	7.01	–	10.8
Apollo Gold*	AGT	2386	0.51	0.43	0.44	–	10.5
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1632	1.88	1.60	1.61	–	10.1
Geocom Res*	GOCM	203	0.45	0.35	0.36	–	10.0
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	1024	0.48	0.41	0.466	–	8.6
Tara Gold*	TRGD	1560	1.15	1.02	1.05	–	7.0
NT Holding*	NTHH	33	0.15	0.12	0.14	–	6.6
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	12437	0.70	0.65	0.65	–	5.8

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2067400	240.56	+	9.96
Potash C Sask*	POT	4699500	169.33	+	9.31
Cameco Corp*	CCJ	19951500	46.88	+	5.16
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	38332364	45.87	+	5.08
Arch Coal*	ACI	22809038	35.13	+	4.15
Southern Copp*	PCU	7773906	76.03	+	3.39
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	17120045	42.48	+	3.01
Teck Comin B*	TCK	1277300	73.75	+	2.93
CVRD*	RIO	39635285	40.06	+	2.69
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	6824900	37.17	+	2.68
New Gold*	NGD	517200	7.01	–	0.85
Royal Gold*	RGLD	3570774	29.56	–	0.71
Northern Dyn*	NAK	1419700	10.72	–	0.41
Paramount Gld*	PGDP	285244	2.63	–	0.41
Tanz Roy Exp*	TRE	1314600	5.01	–	0.21
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1632487	1.61	–	0.182
Vista Gold*	VGZ	853300	7.37	–	0.18
NovaGold Res*	NG	1585254	16.98	–	0.18
Hecla Mining*	HL	9098535	9.20	–	0.14
Minefinders*	MFN	1124700	11.63	–	0.13

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Freeport McMo*	FCX	43383	69.25	66.54	68.98	+	2.25
CVRD*	RIO	39635	40.49	37.80	40.06	+	2.69
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	38332	46.81	40.18	45.87	+	5.08
Goldcorp*	GG	32778	26.16	24.55	25.51	+	0.74
Alcoa*	AA	28903	35.13	33.97	34.87	+	0.95
Silverado*	SLGLF	26197	0.161	0.131	0.157	+	0.021
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	24603	4.43	4.19	4.20	–	0.10
Crystallex In*	KRY	24417	4.34	3.95	4.27	+	0.23
Arch Coal*	ACI	22809	35.78	30.33	35.13	+	4.15
Newmont Mng*	NEM	22382	43.90	42.10	43.57	+	1.24