U. S. Markets – Dec. 23-Jan. 5

U. S. stock markets were up during the Dec. 23-Jan. 5. trading session, driven chiefly by the end of the tax-loss selling season and by bargain-hunters scooping up beaten-down issues. There was not much good news in the economy. Automakers reported the third straight month of sales declines in December, with sales falling an average 36% from December 2007.

U. S. stock indices moved higher across the board, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 433 points, or 5.1%, to 8,953; the S&P 500 adding 56 points, or 6.4%, to 927; and the Nasdaq rising 96 points, or 6.2%, to 1,628.

Precious metal indices also participated in the updraft, as markets anticipated a weakening greenback from a rapidly expanding U. S. government deficit, forecast to reach US$1 trillion or more this year. This could mean good things for gold, which often moves opposite to the U. S. dollar. Investors flocked to precious metal issues, lifting the Amex Gold Bugs index 19 points, or 7.1%, to 287, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index 9 points, or 8.1%, to 119.

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, gained US$5.97 to US$45.56, and fellow mega-miner Rio Tinto added US$21.93 to US$101.55.

UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock forecasts that coking coal prices will drop 53% to US$85 per tonne this year on poor demand for steel, according to a Bloomberg report. He predicts that BHP’s profit will decline to US$13.3 billion for the year to June 30, while Rio Tinto’s profit will drop to US$6 billion in the year to Dec. 31.

Copper major Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold moved up US$6.90 to US$28.22 as copper prices rebounded to over US$1.50 per lb. after trading at US$1.30 a few weeks ago.

Aluminum leader Alcoa added US$2.63 to US$11.86 as the price of aluminum rose to US75¢ from US68¢ per lb.

Most of the uranium sector was also up, with Cameco US$3.95 higher at US$19.50, although spot uranium oxide prices are stuck at US$53 per lb.

Along with gold stocks, silver issues also moved up, with Coeur d’Alene Mines adding US5¢ to US94¢, and Silver Wheaton gaining US70¢ to US$6.25. Platinum Miner Stillwater Mining rose US$1.19 to US$5.49 despite a weak automotive sector, which uses platinum for catalytic converters.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	160639	14.78	10.91	14.10	+ 2.76
Alcoa* AA	157426	12.44	9.26	11.86	+ 2.63
Freeport McMo*FCX	93217	29.34	21.18	28.22	+ 6.90
Barrick Gold* ABX	83177	37.67	32.18	34.35	+ 1.74
Goldcorp* GG	74665	32.23	27.55	29.23	+ 1.30
PotashCSask* POT	60242	84.12	66.24	82.62	+16.83
CoeurdAlene*CDE	55097	1.07	0.82	0.94	+0.05
Silver Wheatn* SLW	52239	6.87	5.32	6.25	+ 0.70
Kinross Gold* KGC	48561	19.01	16.35	17.73	+ 1.11
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	45989	27.87	20.06	26.84	+ 5.77

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	193	0.06	0.03	0.06	+200.0
NWT Uranium*	NWURF	557	0.09	0.03	0.08	+166.6
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	1610	0.35	0.09	0.30	+150.0
Crystallex In*	KRY	22880	0.37	0.11	0.30	+150.0
Crosshair E&M*	CXZ	1024	0.27	0.09	0.24	+140.0
Denison Mines*	DNN	2225	1.86	0.61	1.55	+134.8
Uranium Star*	URST	1952	0.09	0.03	0.07	+133.3
Midway Gold*	MDW	283	0.71	0.25	0.59	+126.9
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1588	0.18	0.07	0.18	+125.0
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	35	0.10	0.05	0.09	+125.0
Aurelio Res*	AULO	546	0.04	0.01	0.02	-33.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	1457	0.02	0.01	0.02	-33.3
APEX Silver*	SIL	19299	1.56	0.55	0.79	-31.9
Silver Res*	SLVV	365	0.27	0.15	0.15	-28.5
Seabridge Gld*	SA	2396	14.55	12.13	12.35	-14.3
Vista Gold*	VGZ	2624	1.43	1.03	1.24	-8.1
America West*	AWSR	603	0.30	0.21	0.26	-7.1
Bullion Monar*	BULM	88	0.20	0.13	0.13	-7.1
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	1118	0.38	0.20	0.29	-6.4
HuntMountain*	HNTM	37	0.58	0.25	0.48	-5.8

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	6926740	101.55	+ 21.93
Potash C Sask* POT	60241916	82.62	+ 16.83
CONSOL Energy* CNX	23456463	34.87	+ 9.06
Agrium* AGU	3634700	37.40	+ 8.49
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	19558253	30.70	+ 7.13
Freeport McMo* FCX	93217038	28.22	+ 6.90
Mosaic* MOS	39964355	37.67	+ 6.58
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	23343583	45.56	+ 5.97
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	45989416	26.84	+ 5.77
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	28821969	49.65	+ 4.96
Seabridge Gld* SA	2396319	12.35	-2.07
Randgold Res* GOLD	5665688	40.87	-0.49
APEX Silver* SIL	19299458	0.79	-0.37
Tanz Roy Exp* TRE	1579197	3.90	-0.20
Aurizon Mines* AZK	2260605	2.95	-0.16
Allied Nevada* ANV	210100	4.77	-0.13
Vista Gold* VGZ	2624199	1.24	-0.11
Solitario Res* XPL	65503	1.40	-0.08
Silver Res* SLVV	364907	0.15	-0.06
HuntMountain* HNTM	36641	0.48	-0.03