U.S. Markets August 28-31

The U.S. markets were finally given some good news last week following the worst global credit and liquidity squeeze in a decade. Wall Street stocks surged on Friday, Aug. 31, after President George W. Bush announced reforms of the Federal Housing Administration geared to helping subprime borrowers against foreclosure.

The new guidelines should assist 240,000 homeowners secure more affordable terms for their loans next year. Borrowers who have missed several months of mortgage payments, for instance, will still be able to qualify for an FHA loan if those missed payments were due to a jump in the existing adjustable-rate mortgage.

Investors were also reassured Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech in Kansas that he would do what was needed to help protect the economy from market turmoil. His comments reinforced the view that the Fed is likely to cut interest rates when it meets on Sept. 18.

Stocks also lifted after the U.S. market holiday following the release of data showing U.S. manufacturing expansion slowed in August from the previous month. The news signalled that softer growth may ease inflation and raised investors’ hopes for an interest rate cut that would bring more money into Wall Street.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index finished the Aug. 28-31 trading session up just 7.2 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.6 points to finish at 13,357.74.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was the volume leader with 59 million shares trading hands; its share price rose US$1.01 to US$49.33. Newmont Mining held the no. 2 spot, with its stock climbing US$1.81 to US$42.26 per share on 34 million shares traded. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold came in at third place with 29 million shares traded and a closing share price of US$87.42, up US$1.70.

Value changes were seen most dramatically in the shares of OM Group, which rose US$6.60 to close at US$49.40 per share, Cleveland-Cliffs, up US$3.58 per share to US$76.27, and Rio Tinto, which climbed US$2.81 to US$274.80 a share.

Some of the worst performers in terms of percentage decline included penny stocks Brookmount Explorations, which plummeted 50% to close at US0.04 per share, and Homeland Precious Metals Corp., which sank 35% to close at US0.13 per share.

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
CVRD*	RIO	59402	50.00	44.75	49.33	+1.01
Newmont Mng*	NEM	34811	42.69	40.06	42.26	+1.81
Freeport McMo*	FCX	29307	88.50	81.10	87.42	+1.70
Alcoa*	AA	29122	36.93	35.28	36.53	-0.45
Goldcorp*	GG	19908	23.79	22.42	23.57	+0.64
Barrick Gold*	ABX	18568	32.64	30.68	32.52	+0.39
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	15208	3.44	3.25	3.42	+0.08
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	15059	66.77	65.48	66.52	+0.54
Golden Star*	GSS	13158	3.16	2.98	3.09	+0.01
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	12868	43.39	40.46	42.51	+1.08

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	61	0.24	0.13	0.24	+84.6
Global Gold*	GBGD	36	0.85	0.60	0.85	+42.8
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	264	2.23	1.58	2.19	+38.6
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	180	0.085	0.05	0.06	+27.6
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	526	0.145	0.115	0.145	+20.8
New Gold*	NGD	120	5.85	4.49	5.68	+20.0
Minera Andes*	MNEAF	913	1.65	1.31	1.64	+17.1
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	176	0.43	0.34	0.43	+16.2
Geocom Res*	GOCM	39	0.20	0.172	0.20	+16.2
OM Group*	OMG	3751	49.81	41.08	49.40	+15.4
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	634	0.09	0.035	0.04	-50.0
Homeland Pr M*	HPMEF	85	0.20	0.11	0.13	-35.0
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	814	0.038	0.025	0.025	-34.2
US Antimony*	UAMY	174	0.63	0.47	0.47	-25.4
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	878	0.014	0.007	0.009	-25.0
Uranium Star*	URST	195	0.39	0.29	0.31	-22.5
Augusta Res*	AZC	190	2.88	2.35	2.35	-18.9
Sao Luis Mng*	SAOL	54	0.38	0.30	0.31	-11.4
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	30	0.047	0.04	0.04	-11.1
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	1157	0.75	0.53	0.63	-10.0

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
OM Group*	OMG	3751300	49.40	+6.60
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	4042700	76.27	+3.58
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1595700	274.80	+2.81
Potash C Sask*	POT	6846300	88.56	+2.79
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	108600	159.39	+2.57
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	6465300	44.45	+2.53
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	675500	58.60	+2.08
Newmont Mng*	NEM	34811132	42.26	+1.81
Meridian Gold*	MDG	2465600	27.77	+1.75
Freeport McMo*	FCX	29307300	87.42	+1.70
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	368200	88.26	-4.74
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	1773400	7.62	-0.75
Gammon Gold*	GRS	2752100	7.90	-0.70
Augusta Res*	AZC	190100	2.35	-0.55
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	6681608	39.88	-0.51
Northern Dyn*	NAK	1138000	10.05	-0.50
Westmoreland*	WLB	29900	20.69	-0.50
Denison Mines*	DNN	516500	8.68	-0.46
Alcoa*	AA	29121700	36.53	-0.45
Arch Coal*	ACI	9417500	29.49	-0.34