U. S. MARKETS – DECEMBER 2-8

U. S. markets were up sharply during the Dec. 2-8 trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 785 points, or 9.6%, to 8,934; the S&P 500 index rose 93 points, or 11.4%, to 910; and the Nasdaq climbed 174 points, or 12.4%, to 1,572. Precious metal indices were also up, with the Amex Gold Bugs index adding 17 points, or 8%, to 229, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index moving up 6 points, or 7.1%, to 95.

The trading session delivered generally bad economic news — in particular, a nonfarm payroll report showing a loss of 533,000 U. S. jobs in November. Despite the grim news, investors bid up stocks for a number of reasons. Firstly, a bailout package for the big three U. S. automakers looked more likely, propping up a pivotal part of U. S. industry. Another positive was plans by president-elect Barack Obama to stimulate the economy by boosting spending on public works.

Investors also bid up precious metal stocks because extensive, and expensive, public works programs could only mean wider government deficits, a weaker greenback and higher inflation, all positives for gold. For example, National Bank economist Stfane Marion forecasts that the 2009 U. S. budget deficit could reach 7% of GDP.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold lost US90¢ to US$20.01 after axing its dividend and cutting production and capital spending. According to TD Economics, copper prices fell 7% on the week because of a manufacturing slowdown in major economies and a pullback in construction in China.

Aluminum major Alcoa managed to rise US27¢ to US$9.58 even as aluminum prices plummeted to a five-year low after analysts reported that demand for the metal in China — the world’s largest consumer of the metal — will fall by more than half in 2009.

As with the rest of the market, the coal sector was generally up, led by heavyweights Peabody Energy, US$2.46 higher at US$22.01, and Arch Coal, which climbed US$2.10 to US$15.08.

The potash and fertilizer sectors also rebounded, but Agrium bucked the trend, dropping US88¢ to US$26.65.

Rio Tinto continued its descent from last week, falling US$8.61 to US$72.44.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Freeport McMo*FCX	174660	22.54	15.70	20.01	-0.90
Vale* RIO	172265	10.94	8.81	10.67	+ 0.21
Alcoa* AA	170543	10.01	7.46	9.58	+ 0.27
Goldcorp* GG	68224	24.99	19.67	24.09	+ 0.88
PotashCSask* POT	67989	61.84	47.54	61.33	+ 4.86
Barrick Gold* ABX	62280	28.09	22.66	27.25	+ 0.94
Kinross Gold* KGC	55558	15.14	12.13	14.95	+ 1.34
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	51972	22.67	16.65	22.01	+ 2.46
Silver Wheatn* SLW	48816	3.79	2.97	3.54	+ 0.58
Newmont Mng* NEM	47759	32.46	26.80	31.38	+ 1.29

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Raven Gold*	RVNG	21	0.04	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	3170	0.03	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Allied Nevada*	ANV	172	3.39	2.12	3.30	+ 58.6
Westmoreland*	WLB	223	10.07	7.15	9.93	+ 37.9
Stillwater Mg*	SWC	3183	3.23	2.31	2.97	+ 35.0
Harmony Gold*	HMY	14914	9.88	7.56	9.72	+ 34.0
Aurelio Res*	AULO	301	0.04	0.02	0.04	+ 33.3
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	104	0.04	0.01	0.04	+ 33.3
Aurizon Mines*	AZK	1881	2.75	1.87	2.71	+ 32.8
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	3892	6.46	5.13	6.46	+ 31.3
HuntMountain*	HNTM	25	0.51	0.26	0.26	-49.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	162	0.15	0.08	0.11	-45.0
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	36	0.07	0.05	0.05	-44.4
Zoro Mng*	ZORO	246	0.09	0.03	0.05	-44.4
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	253	0.07	0.03	0.05	-37.5
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	363	0.12	0.08	0.08	-33.3
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	205	0.06	0.05	0.05	-28.5
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	15	0.38	0.25	0.25	-28.5
Anooraq Res*	ANO	419	0.31	0.14	0.22	-26.6
Alexco Res*	AXU	269	0.63	0.43	0.44	-25.4

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	20631154	23.90	+ 5.12
Potash C Sask* POT	67988621	61.33	+ 4.86
Mosaic* MOS	46848098	30.05	+ 4.65
AngloGold Ash* AU	17925308	24.02	+ 4.45
Randgold Res* GOLD	5525093	36.14	+ 3.92
Soc Quim&M Ch*SQM	5935050	23.70	+ 3.48
CONSOL Energy* CNX	26293297	27.34	+ 3.32
MDU Res* MDU	7700913	21.00	+ 3.04
Westmoreland* WLB	223384	9.93	+ 2.73
Foundatn Coal* FCL	9885064	14.39	+ 2.64
Rio Tinto* RTP	14460431	72.44	-8.61
Freeport McMo* FCX	174660308	20.01	-0.90
Agrium* AGU	4441100	26.65	-0.88
Minefinders* MFN	2268815	2.77	-0.83
Harry Winston* HWD	390500	3.44	-0.80
Seabridge Gld* SA	925299	9.23	-0.73
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	23030723	31.38	-0.68
Teck B* TCK	21526947	3.40	-0.53
Pan Am Silver* PAAS	5712847	11.61	-0.39
Intl Coal Gp* ICO	20773871	1.95	-0.34