U.S. Markets October 9-15

Uncertainty dominated equity markets in the U.S. during the period Oct. 9-15, with several items of good earnings news countered by rising crude oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average did touch a record high of 14,198.10 on Oct. 11, but fell back to 13,984.80 by the close on Oct. 15 for a loss of 58.93 points, or 0.4%, over the five trading days. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was off 0.2%, at 1,548.71.

Not so the resource stocks, which all gained in harmony with rising commodity prices. Both the Amex Gold Bugs Index and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index made large gains, the Amex rising 30.54 points to 418.77, a gain of nearly 8%, and the XAU 11.26 points to 179.82, a gain of 6.7%. The StreetTracks Gold exchange-traded fund was up to a 52-week high of US$75.20, closing at US$75.14, up US$2.61, and the Amex Gold Miners fund touched a 52-week high of US$49.74 on the way to a US$48.02 close, up US$3.40.

Canadian interlisted golds caught two waves, both the rising gold price and the strong Canadian dollar, which showed up in year-long high trades on both Toronto and New York. Agnico-Eagle Mines was up US$4.30 to US$55.41, with a top trade at US$57.34; Barrick Gold touched US$43.24 and closed at US$42.92, up US$2.37; and Kinross Gold rose US$2.12 to a 52-week high of US$17.16.

The big producers were subdued by comparison. Newmont Mining was US$2.80 better at US$47.63, having arranged a $1.4-billion takeover of Toronto-listed Miramar Mining. AngloGold Ashanti tacked on US29 to finish at US$44.40, and Gold Fields, which sold its Venezuelan operations to Canadian-listed Rusoro Mining, was US97 better at US$18.84.

The base metal producers were, if anything, stronger than the golds, with most of the large producers touching or approaching their best prices of the last year. Rio Tinto was up US$24.44 at US$364.50, with a high of US$375.79; BHP Billiton rose US$4.76 to US$83.20, with a new high at US$86.95; and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold traded up to US$120.20, finishing US$6.08 higher at US$113.90.

Among the other big miners, Teck Cominco was up US$2.28 to US$51.65, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce US$1.93 to US$35.20, and Southern Copper US$10.64 to US$135.14.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	230	0.13	0.05	0.13	+	116.6
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	79	0.058	0.02	0.045	+	50.0
NT Holding*	NTHH	14	0.05	0.035	0.05	+	42.8
Halo Res*	HLOSF	45	0.615	0.559	0.57	+	42.5
Uranium Star*	URST	987	0.47	0.38	0.43	+	40.9
Rubicon Mnls*	RBY	2599	2.26	1.66	2.23	+	34.3
Seabridge Gld*	SA	2741	38.73	29.75	38.72	+	28.6
Platinum Gp M*	PLG	30	4.55	3.50	4.50	+	28.5
Glencairn Gld*	GLE	3800	0.28	0.18	0.23	+	27.7
Almaden Mnls*	AAU	988	3.20	2.56	3.19	+	27.0
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	70	0.18	0.11	0.12	–	33.3
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	4942	0.06	0.035	0.05	–	28.5
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	882	0.70	0.525	0.53	–	20.9
GoldMountain*	GMEX	4000	0.29	0.20	0.21	–	19.2
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	3762	3.35	1.521	1.60	–	18.3
US Gold*	UXG	909	5.70	4.57	4.68	–	16.7
Gemini Expl*	GXPI	7177	0.153	0.09	0.12	–	16.6
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	389	0.38	0.317	0.35	–	12.5
US Antimony*	UAMY	13	0.65	0.55	0.55	–	11.2
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1098	0.92	0.801	0.85	–	9.5

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Rio Tinto*	RTP	3058800	364.50	+	24.44
Southern Copp*	PCU	12430437	135.14	+	10.64
Mosaic*	MOS	27139249	60.50	+	9.12
Seabridge Gld*	SA	2740900	38.72	+	8.62
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	8233900	100.71	+	7.86
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	392000	197.94	+	7.70
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	1249600	106.78	+	6.49
Freeport McMo*	FCX	56908980	113.90	+	6.08
Buenaventura*	BVN	2813300	54.69	+	5.80
Potash C Sask*	POT	20042825	109.42	+	5.76
Alumina Inc*	AWC	414200	23.55	–	1.56
OM Group*	OMG	2230450	54.45	–	1.07
US Gold*	UXG	909400	4.68	–	0.94
Harmony Gold*	HMY	17819220	9.91	–	0.48
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	3761830	1.60	–	0.36
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	35500	3.045	–	0.275
Gammon Gold*	GRS	2920500	10.764	–	0.206
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	2091100	3.83	–	0.17
Intl Royalty*	ROY	732700	6.76	–	0.17
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	281000	4.82	–	0.15

U.S. most active issues

4.38

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
CVRD*	RIO	117388	36.05	33.20	35.20	+	1.93
Alcoa*	AA	75004	40.04	37.25	38.21	–	0.09
Freeport McMo*	FCX	56909	120.20	108.18	113.90	+	6.08
Barrick Gold*	ABX	44074	43.24	40.42	42.92	+	2.37
Miramar Mng*	MNG	43472	6.59	6.19	6.50	+	1.35
Gold Fields*	GFI	37422	19.25	17.81	18.84	+	0.97
Newmont Mng*	NEM	37090	48.25	44.80	47.63	+	2.80
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	36984	4.05	3.74	3.90	+	0.15
Goldcorp*	GG	36341	33.48	30.06	33.10	+	2.67
Golden Star*	GSS	34263	3.95	4.24	+	0.26