U.S. Markets – June 16-22

While there is some evidence that the U. S. economy’s rate of deterioration may be slowing and multibillionaire financier George Soros boldly declared on Father’s Day that the worst of the crisis “is already behind us,” nervousness about the prospects for a healthy economic recovery prevailed during the June 16-22 reporting period, casting a pall over the markets. As skeptics questioned “green shoots” theories, arguing a recovery will be anemic at best, the World Bank released its global growth forecast on June 22, asserting the world economy will contract 2.9% this year. Spirits and markets fell in tandem. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 165.66 points or 1.95% to 8,339.01, while the S&P 500 index lost 18.93 points or 2.1% to close at 893.04.

Gold closed at US$922.60 per oz. on June 22, down from US$934.80 on June 16. The Amex Gold Bugs index declined 19.87 points or 5.88% to 318.27, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index lost 9.5 points or 6.76% to close at 131.06. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, the second most actively traded stock after Alcoa, plunged US$9.96 to close at US$45.18 per share. Goldcorp lost US$1.13 to US$32.58 per share, while Barrick Gold slid US$1.03 to US$31.87 per share.

It was nevertheless a gold company that topped the value rankings. Rubicon Minerals jumped 23¢ to US$3.03 per share. The stock has been climbing steadily since June 8, when the company announced it had started underground drilling in the F2 zone at its Phoenix gold project in Red Lake, Ont. Underground drilling has already struck gold mineralization with an intercept at a depth of 1,437 metres grading 3.3 grams gold per tonne over 5 metres. The Phoenix project is 7 km northwest of Goldcorp’s Red Lake mine complex, and Goldcorp’s former head, Rob McEwen, owns 23.8% of Rubicon.

Energy and fertilizer stocks populated the negative side of the ledger. Heavyweight Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan lost US$24.07 to US$87.27, Mosaic Co. slid US$10.85 to US$42.27 and Agrium fell US$9.31 to US$38.89. Energy plays weren’t far behind. Consolidated Energy dropped US$6.19 to US$33.02 and Peabody Energy fell US$5.18 to US$28.31.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	204889 11.62	10.02	10.02	-1.19
Freeport McMo*FCX	109635 56.40	45.09	45.18	-9.96
Golden Eagle* MYNG	94976 0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Hecla Mining* HL	67699 3.02	2.36	2.40	-0.47
PotashCSask* POT	65723113.49	87.20	87.27	-24.07
Teck B* TCK	53173 17.91	14.48	14.57	-2.61
Barrick Gold* ABX	44877 34.30	31.82	31.87	-1.03
Goldcorp* GG	44350 35.31	32.56	32.58	-1.13
Silver Wheatn* SLW	43095 9.76	7.97	7.97	-1.28
Massey Energy* MEE	40813 23.34	17.19	17.26	-5.04

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Grandview Gld*	GVGDF	48	0.10	0.07	0.10	+ 25.0
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	976	0.08	0.07	0.07	+ 16.6
America West*	AWSR	132	0.10	0.08	0.10	+ 11.1
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	520	0.10	0.09	0.10	+ 11.1
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	18	0.11	0.07	0.10	+ 11.1
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	859	0.13	0.11	0.12	+ 9.0
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	18	0.29	0.23	0.25	+ 8.7
Rubicon Mnls*	RBY	3718	3.25	2.65	3.03	+ 8.2
Uranium Star*	URST	516	0.18	0.12	0.14	+ 7.6
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	1213	1.61	1.32	1.57	+ 6.0
Dominion Mnls*	DMNM	226	0.80	0.11	0.15	-82.3
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	3050	0.04	0.03	0.03	-40.0
Patriot Coal*	PCX	14817	8.82	5.74	5.74	-35.6
Beeston Ent*	BESE	1316	0.02	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	146	0.04	0.02	0.02	-33.3
NWT Uranium*	NWURF	74	0.15	0.10	0.12	-29.4
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	71	1.67	1.14	1.18	-28.4
Banro Res*	BAA	813	2.59	1.80	1.85	-26.0
Vista Gold*	VGZ	4685	2.19	1.50	1.53	-25.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	233	0.04	0.03	0.03	-25.0

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rubicon Mnls* RBY	3717870	3.03	+ 0.23
CoeurdAlene* CDE	23142895	11.36	+ 0.18
Fronteer Dev* FRG	2668093	3.50	+ 0.11
Uranerz Energ* URZ	1212995	1.57	+ 0.09
Gold Fields* GFI	32480647	11.33	+ 0.06
Allied Nevada* ANV	566300	8.30	+ 0.05
New Gold* NGD	15164797	2.55	+ 0.04
Midway Gold* MDW	227600	0.69	+ 0.03
New Jersey Mg* NJMC	18160	0.25	+ 0.02
Grandview Gld* GVGDF	47880	0.10	+ 0.02
Rio Tinto* RTP	7221622	152.80	-38.46
Potash C Sask* POT	65723233	87.27	-24.07
Mosaic* MOS	40037092	42.27 < /td>	-10.85
Freeport McMo* FCX	109635244	45.18	-9.96
Agrium* AGU	4627000	38.89	-9.31
CONSOL Energy* CNX	17837384	33.02	-6.19
Intrepid Pots* IPI	2791300	24.64	-5.95
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	33005069	28.31	-5.18
Massey Energy* MEE	40812746	17.26	-5.04
Foundatn Coal* FCL	7829241	24.51	-4.69