U.S. Markets Oct. 16-22

The U.S. markets were troubled over the Oct. 16-22 trading period as renewed credit concerns, less than impressive corporate earnings and rising oil prices rattled investors. The trading period was overcast with rising mortgage delinquencies and mostly negative results from banks struggling with difficult credit markets. Worries about a deepening housing slump were revived on Oct. 18 with a dour report showing that groundbreaking for new U.S. homes and permits for future building hit a 14-year low in September.

On Friday, Oct. 19 — the 20th anniversary of the Black Monday stock market crash — the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 366.94 points or 2.64%, to 13,522.02. (The poor showing didn’t compare, however, with Oct. 19, 1987, when the Dow crashed 23% due to concerns about interest rates and economic growth.) The markets recovered on Oct. 22, with Friday’s market retreat creating a buying opportunity for stocks that some investors felt were oversold.

During the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a total of 417.83 points to 13,566.97. The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index fell 42.38 points to close at 1,506.33.

Many of the big base metal miners posted the most dismal results. Rio Tinto’s shares fell US$30.20 to close at US$334.30. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold dropped US$7.17 to close at US$106.73, and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce saw its shares fall US$2.30 apiece to close the week at US$32.73. CVRD was also the most active stock of the week with 121.9 million shares traded. BHP Billiton, meanwhile, fell US$2.26 to US$80.94. Southern Copper struggled, too, dropping US$5.34 a share to close at US$129.80.

Alcoa, America’s largest aluminium producer, was the second most active miner during the trading session. The high flier fell US48 to US$37.73 a share, on a trading volume of 52,385.

Despite a gold market rally that saw the metal’s price soar to its highest level in 27 years, the major gold companies showed lacklustre results. Barrick Gold fell US$2.59 to close at US$40.33 and Newmont Mining dropped US$2.66 a share to end the trading week at US$44.97. Goldcorp was down US$2.17 a share to US$30.91.

The junior gold companies seemed to do a lot better. Evolving Gold scored the highest percentage change during the week, soaring 75% to close at US64.8 a share. Linux Gold shot up 29.4% to close at US22, while Patriot Gold climbed 16.6% to close at US14 a share.

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
CVRD*	RIO	121932	35.50	31.00	32.73	-2.30
Alcoa*	AA	52385	38.62	36.68	37.73	-0.48
Freeport McMo*	FCX	48770	114.10	103.35	106.73	-7.17
Newmont Mng*	NEM	43652	47.65	44.46	44.97	-2.66
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	39337	76.29	73.78	74.60	-0.54
Barrick Gold*	ABX	36342	43.06	39.85	40.33	-2.59
Goldcorp*	GG	34416	33.20	29.50	30.91	-2.17
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	28854	3.90	3.54	3.62	-0.28
Golden Star*	GSS	25975	4.28	3.70	3.78	-0.46
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	25625	85.69	78.711	80.94	-2.26

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	70	0.70	0.402	0.648	+75.1
WorldStar Egy*	WSTR	18	2.00	1.01	2.00	+53.8
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	390	0.58	0.44	0.55	+30.9
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	2370	0.235	0.16	0.22	+29.4
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	1998	0.71	0.47	0.68	+28.3
Anooraq Res*	ANO	7047	4.49	3.42	4.30	+23.2
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	371	0.34	0.24	0.30	+20.0
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	94	0.15	0.11	0.14	+16.6
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	239	0.45	0.32	0.43	+16.2
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	246	0.48	0.34	0.40	+14.2
Homeland Pr M*	HPMEF	22	0.22	0.16	0.17	-26.0
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	2110	0.045	0.025	0.039	-20.4
Rubicon Mnls*	RBY	2039	2.25	1.74	1.83	-17.9
World Vent*	WVNTF	107	0.14	0.115	0.115	-17.8
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	562	1.69	1.39	1.39	-17.3
Crosshair E&M*	CXZ	281	2.42	1.98	2.00	-17.0
Birch Mountn*	BMD	1593	1.92	1.33	1.58	-16.4
Metalline Mng*	MMG	129	3.55	2.85	2.95	-16.1
Almaden Mnls*	AAU	919	3.38	2.47	2.68	-15.9
Raven Gold*	RVNG	401	0.95	0.77	0.80	-15.3

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Anooraq Res*	ANO	7047000	4.30	+0.81
Fording C C T*	FDG	2480564	40.36	+0.75
WorldStar Egy*	WSTR	17532	2.00	+0.70
Alcan*	AL	21341700	100.91	+0.45
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	46520	3.42	+0.375
Minefinders*	MFN	1234500	11.75	+0.34
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	69513	0.648	+0.278
Vista Gold*	VGZ	2304700	5.05	+0.25
Denison Mines*	DNN	381900	11.70	+0.23
Allied Nevada*	ANV	126400	7.11	+0.22
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2751900	334.30	-30.20
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	266200	186.00	-11.94
Freeport McMo*	FCX	48769699	106.73	-7.17
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	1109400	101.07	-5.71
Southern Copp*	PCU	10426974	129.80	-5.34
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	6824400	95.53	-5.18
Teck Comin B*	TCK	4445400	47.22	-4.43
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	329900	72.72	-4.04
Royal Gold*	RGLD	2134015	30.59	-3.73
Buenaventura*	BVN	2617600	51.02	-3.67