U.S. Markets – OCTOBER 6-12

Despite the looming risk of a double-dip recession and daily reminders — as if anyone needed them — that the road to recovery has major potholes ahead, U. S. equity markets enjoyed a relatively smooth ride in the Oct. 6-12 reporting period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 154.55 points or 1.59% to 9,885.80, the S&P 500 index jumped 21.47 points or 2.04% to 1,076.19 and the Nasdaq rose 35.57 points or 1.7% to finish at 2,139.14.

Worries about the weakness in the U. S. dollar (largely based on speculation that the flood of money supply in the U. S. will further debase the currency and spur inflation) lifted the price of gold to new highs. The yellow metal closed at US$1,056.70 per oz. in New York on Oct. 12. Gold stocks were swept up in the euphoria, with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold surging US$7.17 per share to close at US$74.48, Agnico-Eagle Mines jumping US$4.77 per share to US$71.32, and Randgold Resources up US$4.23 to US$72.51. Newmont Mining posted a US$3.28 advance to US$46.48, while Goldcorp gained US$2.93 to US$42.25. Barrick Gold, the third most actively traded stock, ascended US$2.45 per share to US$39.36. The Amex Gold Bugs index rose 6.01 points or 1.37% to close at 445.09, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index climbed 3.81 points or 2.2% to finish at 176.07.

Apart from gold hitting a new peak, the big news came on Oct. 6 with the announcement that Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines had finally signed a formal investment agreement with the Mongolian government to get their Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project going. Rio Tinto topped the charts during the reporting period with a surge of US$14.57 per share to US$181.25. The US$4-billion copper-gold mine in the Gobi Desert is slated for production in mid-to-late 2013.

Alcoa also hit the headlines when it disclosed its first profit in a year — to the surprise of most industry observers who expected the company to post a fourth consecutive loss. Alcoa reported a net third-quarter profit of US$77 billion, sending the stock up during the reporting period by US83¢ to close at US$14.25. Alcoa was the most actively trade stock with 272.1 million shares changing hands.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	272123	15.11	13.64	14.25	+ 0.83
Hecla Mining* HL	82303	5.10	4.58	4.71	+ 0.36
Barrick Gold* ABX	76649	40.21	38.15	39.36	+ 2.45
Freeport McMo*FCX	69539	76.46	68.55	74.48	+ 7.17
Silver Wheatn* SLW	47729	14.35	13.18	13.87	+ 1.32
Newmont Mng* NEM	44894	47.70	44.66	46.48	+ 3.28
Kinross Gold* KGC	42029	23.59	21.70	23.12	+ 2.04
Goldcorp* GG	41333	43.18	40.89	42.25	+ 2.93
Gold Fields* GFI	39070	15.24	14.20	14.66	+ 0.69
Teck B* TCK	38112	33.24	27.57	32.06	+ 5.11

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Beeston Ent*	BESE	20435	0.02	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	4950	0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 66.6
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	32	0.32	0.23	0.32	+ 52.3
Metalline Mng*	MMG	519	0.74	0.41	0.60	+ 50.0
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	247	0.24	0.13	0.22	+ 46.6
Tri-Valley*	TIV	4622	3.80	2.45	3.45	+ 38.0
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	4224	0.10	0.06	0.08	+ 33.3
PlatinumGpM*	PLG	226	1.72	1.15	1.69	+ 31.0
Nevsun Res*	NSU	8401	3.00	2.21	2.82	+ 29.3
Minco Gold*	MGH	975	1.13	0.90	1.08	+ 28.5
Aurelio Res*	AULO	128	0.06	0.03	0.04	-42.8
Southern Enrg*	SOCI	54	0.60	0.01	0.35	-37.5
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	285	0.04	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	53	0.17	0.07	0.07	-30.0
Amazon Goldsd*	AZNG	25	0.30	0.18	0.20	-23.0
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	228	0.20	0.14	0.14	-22.2
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	1044	0.13	0.09	0.10	-16.6
America West*	AWSR	615	0.14	0.11	0.12	-14.2
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	105	0.26	0.17	0.19	-13.6
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	768	0.10	0.08	0.08	-11.1

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	4153005	181.25	+ 14.57
Freeport McMo* FCX	69539243	74.48	+ 7.17
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	328663	78.92	+ 5.85
Teck B* TCK	38111854	32.06	+ 5.11
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	18798085	71.32	+ 4.77
Potash C Sask* POT	32713380	90.20	+ 4.41
Agrium* AGU	2023200	51.67	+ 4.31
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	25042460	40.90	+ 4.26
Randgold Res* GOLD	9530050	72.51	+ 4.23
CONSOL Energy* CNX	15174769	49.72	+ 4.20
Seabridge Gld* SA	1922235	26.90	-0.56
Ivanhoe Mines* IVN	18206128	12.49	-0.54
Entree Gold* EGI	2181639	2.75	-0.23
Southern Enrg* SOCI	54155	0.35	-0.21
General Moly* GMO	2231397	3.05	-0.06
Uranerz Energ* URZ	481448	2.14	-0.06
Amazon Goldsd* AZNG	24571	0.20	-0.06
Gold Reserve* GRZ	827982	0.90	-0.05
Strata O&G* SOIGF	657558	0.40	-0.05
Patriot Gold* PGOL	228006	0.14	-0.04