U.S. Markets April 28 -May 4

Easing fears about a swine flu pandemic and moderating housing data helped buoy U. S. markets during the April 28-May 4 reporting period. The National Association of Realtors reported that its Pending Homes Sales Index, based on contracts signed in March, rose 3.2%. And according to Reuters news agency, a Federal Reserve survey of loan officers demonstrated that demand for prime mortgages rose in the first quarter for the first time since early 2007. Other positive signs included news from the U. S. Commerce Department that construction spending increased 0.3% in March, the first increase in six months. And on April 29, the U. S. Federal Reserve concluded after a two-day meeting that the outlook for the U. S. economy had improved slightly in recent weeks, but that low interest rates would be required for quite some time.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 409.79 points or 5.11% to close the reporting period at 8,426.74. The S&P 500 index rose 52.08 points to finish at 907.24.

Coal companies enjoyed some of the trading session’s biggest gains after Goldman Sachs upgraded its outlook on the sector to “attractive” from “neutral.” Goldman analysts said there were a number of good reasons to buy coal stocks, including rosier expectations about China’s economic growth, less coal-to-gas substitution during the summer, and rising natural gas prices.

The upgrade sent Massey Energy’s shares up US$8.88 to US$21.89, while Consol Energy, the largest producer of high-BTU bituminous coal in the U. S., climbed US$8.20 to US$37.70 per share. Cliffs Natural Resources, which produces iron ore pellets and metallurgical coal, advanced US$7.91 to close at US$28.29 per share — despite reporting that consolidated revenues in the seasonally slow first quarter were down 6% to US$464.8 million. Peabody Energy mounted US$6.39 to US$32.18 per share. The coal miner reported its first-quarter profit tripled to US$170 million, or US63¢ a share, up from US$57 million, or US21¢ per share, in the year-ago quarter. Peabody attributed the increase to higher, locked-in prices for its contract sales, which offset slumping spot coal prices.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	155388	10.48	8.47	10.36	+ 1.57
Vale* RIO	127175	17.68	15.30	17.42	+ 1.70
Freeport McMo*FCX	89686	48.68	38.18	48.64	+ 8.96
Massey Energy* MEE	69454	22.29	12.27	21.89	+ 8.88
CoeurdAlene*CDE	57126	1.68	1.19	1.67	+0.36
Arch Coal* ACI	49712	17.70	12.52	17.44	+ 4.42
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	42214	32.30	25.01	32.18	+ 6.39
Teck B* TCK	40633	13.37	9.08	13.36	+ 3.80
Barrick Gold* ABX	38027	30.95	28.54	30.89	+ 0.71
Goldcorp* GG	35682	29.33	27.20	29.19	+ 0.44

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	538	0.02	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Patriot Coal*	PCX	8762	9.73	4.60	9.44	+ 94.6
Uranium Res*	URRE	12131	1.66	0.80	1.51	+ 93.5
Puda Coal*	PUDC	1993	0.49	0.26	0.47	+ 74.0
Denison Mines*	DNN	1591	2.47	1.36	2.45	+ 73.7
Massey Energy*	MEE	69454	22.29	12.27	21.89	+ 68.2
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	22981	3.13	1.78	3.11	+ 65.4
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	241	0.75	0.46	0.72	+ 63.6
HuntMountain*	HNTM	14	0.26	0.20	0.26	+ 62.5
Crosshair E&M*	CXZ	645	0.31	0.15	0.23	+ 53.3
Firstgold*	FGOC	6669	0.09	0.03	0.06	-25.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	15	0.20	0.05	0.15	-25.0
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	112	0.04	0.03	0.03	-25.0
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	236	0.13	0.10	0.10	-23.0
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	348	0.09	0.08	0.09	-18.1
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	33	0.06	0.05	0.05	-16.6
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	52	0.17	0.04	0.06	-14.2
Banro Res*	BAA	546	1.71	1.41	1.51	-11.1
Bullion Monar*	BULM	70	0.29	0.22	0.25	-10.7
Gold Coast Mg*	GCMG	10	0.09	0.09	0.09	-10.0

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	4183962	181.39	+ 25.53
Potash C Sask* POT	32253249	96.27	+ 14.59
Freeport McMo* FCX	89685511	48.64	+ 8.96
Massey Energy* MEE	69453788	21.89	+ 8.88
CONSOL Energy* CNX	23971686	37.70	+ 8.20
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	28840583	28.29	+ 7.91
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	20861154	25.67	+ 6.90
Agrium* AGU	3105600	46.96	+ 6.59
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	42213697	32.18	+ 6.39
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	27103563	51.70	+ 5.77
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	19898447	46.34	-1.20
Newmont Mng* NEM	278039 21	40.95	-0.73
DRDGOLD* DROOY	676456	8.07	-0.31
Alumina Inc* AWC	1348331	4.25	-0.29
Harmony Gold* HMY	14955272	9.40	-0.20
Banro Res* BAA	545654	1.51	-0.19
Vista Gold* VGZ	766032	2.09	-0.18
Mines Managem* MGN	153651	1.55	-0.13
Tanz Roy Exp* TRE	1553964	2.98	-0.08
Aurizon Mines* AZK	2000300	4.14	-0.06