U. S. Markets Dec. 19-22

U. S. stock markets drifted down during the shortened Dec. 19-22 trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85 points, or 1%, to 8,520; the S&P 500 index lost 14 points, or 1.5%, to 872; and the Nasdaq dropped 20 points, or 1.3%, to 1,532. Precious metal indices gave up some of their recent gains, with the Amex Gold Bugs index falling 6 points, or 2.3%, to 268, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index dropping 1 point, or 0.9%, to 110. One reason for the declines in equities is tax-loss selling, which should subside shortly.

Patricia Mohr, vice-president economics and commodity market specialist at Scotiabank, projects that a number of commodities should outperform if investors are prepared to take a two-year view, including gold, which should be underpinned by a U. S. deficit as large as US$1.25 trillion, and potash, still at record prices. Mohr says curtailed capital spending in new oil-field development will set the stage for a tight oil market and a big price rebound early in the next decade and spot prices for uranium oxide should rise to US$70 per lb. in the medium term as India starts buying uranium again. Within the base metals, copper should outperform.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold fell US$2 to US$21.32 as copper prices fell 5.4% during the session owing to lower demand and higher inventories.

Small gold companies were up on the week, led by Royal Gold, up US$2.99 to US$45.01, with Seabridge Gold, Lihir Gold, and Allied Nevada Gold also moving up. Investors might be anticipating a wave of consolidation in the gold sector, as larger companies look to prime their project pipelines.

Coal heavyweight Peabody Energy fell US$1.68 to US$21.07. Other coal companies followed suit, including Cliffs Natural Resources, Consol Energy, and Alpha Natural Resources.

The fertilizer sector declined after rebounding in recent weeks, with leader Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan falling US$8.43 to US$65.79, and smaller rivals Agrium and Intrepid Potash also losing ground.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	51574	10.13	8.95	9.23	-0.54
Vale* RIO	46267	12.53	11.06	11.34	-0.64
CoeurdAlene*CDE	44799	0.97	0.79	0.89	-0.09
Freeport McMo*FCX	34263	23.84	20.61	21.32	-2.00
Barrick Gold* ABX	28212	34.96	31.67	32.61	-0.70
Golden Star* GSS	27429	1.05	0.53	0.88	-0.17
Silver Wheatn* SLW	24025	6.10	5.06	5.55	+ 0.15
Goldcorp* GG	23352	30.20	27.30	27.93	-0.52
PotashCSask*POT	21239	73.55	64.88	65.79	– 8.43
Hecla Mining* HL	18333	2.43	2.09	2.25	0.00

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	1368	0.11	0.07	0.11	+ 57.1
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	2599	0.14	0.09	0.14	+ 55.5
NWT Uranium*	NWURF	102	0.03	0.03	0.03	+ 50.0
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	22	0.10	0.06	0.10	+ 42.8
Pac Rim Minin*	PMU	696	0.15	0.11	0.15	+ 15.3
Seabridge Gld*	SA	1923	15.72	11.72	14.42	+ 13.9
Paramount Gld*	PZG	87	0.45	0.36	0.42	+ 13.5
Allied Nevada*	ANV	259	4.90	4.15	4.90	+ 11.8
Lihir Gold*	LIHR	880	20.25	18.53	18.82	+ 8.5
America West*	AWSR	80	0.28	0.20	0.28	+ 7.6
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	558	0.56	0.29	0.31	-44.6
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	22	0.03	0.02	0.03	-40.0
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	43	0.06	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	186	0.12	0.08	0.08	-33.3
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	1920	2.65	1.70	1.78	-29.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	136	0.28	0.18	0.18	-28.0
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	257	0.31	0.20	0.21	-27.5
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	62	0.18	0.11	0.11	-26.6
Minera Andes*	MNEAF	320	0.45	0.35	0.37	-26.0
Uranium Star*	URST	198	0.03	0.03	0.03	-25.0

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Royal Gold* RGLD	2290694	45.01	+ 2.99
Seabridge Gld* SA	1923165	14.42	+ 1.77
Lihir Gold* LIHR	879846	18.82	+ 1.48
Randgold Res* GOLD	2811813	41.36	+ 1.20
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	10576462	44.69	+ 1.02
AngloGold Ash* AU	5649590	25.17	+ 0.70
Buenaventura* BVN	3256559	18.47	+ 0.67
Allied Nevada* ANV	258700	4.90	+ 0.52
Kinross Gold* KGC	17942042	16.62	+ 0.28
Silver Wheatn* SLW	24025092	5.55	+ 0.15
Rio Tinto* RTP	2844018	79.62	-9.77
Potash C Sask* POT	21239230	65.79	-8.43
Mosaic* MOS	11574811	31.09	-3 .66
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	5016081	23.57	-3.53
Agrium* AGU	1217600	28.96	-3.23
CONSOL Energy* CNX	8014769	25.81	-3.22
Intrepid Pots* IPI	836700	17.41	-2.80
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	6149131	15.76	-2.64
Freeport McMo* FCX	34262836	21.32	-2.00
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	13129331	21.07	-1.68