U.S. MARKETS -December 6-10

The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 28.23 points to close the week at 11,410.32, while the S&P 500 rose 15.6 points to 1,240.40. The Nasdaq advanced 46.08 points to finish at 2,637.54. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index dropped 1.82 points to 223.45, and the New York spot price for gold closed at US$1,385.80 per oz. Twenty-seven companies on the New York Stock Exchange reached new 52-week highs.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was one of them, advancing US$3.92 to close at US$112.87, the week’s second-largest value gain. It was also the fourth most-actively traded stock with 56.2 million shares trading hands. On Dec. 9, Freeport announced a supplemental stock dividend of US$1 per share, an addition to the company’s regular quarterly stock dividend. Freeport said the supplemental dividend reflected the company’s strong cash position and “significant” cash flow. Freeport’s board also declared a two-for-one split of the company’s shares, a decision it says that illustrates “the strong share price performance of our shares and positive outlook for our business.”

Compass Minerals also reached a new 52-week high, rising US$2.79 to US$89.66 per share. On Dec. 7, the Kansas-based company announced that Standard & Poor’s is adding it to its S&P MidCap 400 index. The company’s market capitalization has grown from US$485 million at the time of its initial public offering in December 2003 to nearly US$3 billion today. Companies in the index must have a market capitalization in the range of US$850 million to US$3.8 billion, as well as at least four consecutive quarters of positive earnings. Compass Minerals also announced on Dec. 9 that it will raise the price of all sulphate of potash specialty fertilizer products by US$25 per ton on orders placed after Dec. 13.

Minefinders was up US$1.06 to US$11.34. On Dec. 13, the company announced a $151.5-million bought-deal financing of 13.65 million shares at $11.10 apiece. Proceeds will be used for future expansion and mill construction at Minefinders’ open-pit Dolores gold mine, about 250 km west of Chihuahua, and continued development at its La Bolsa gold-silver development project in Sonora, Mexico.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	104412 14.50	14.02	14.25	0.00
Hecla Mining* HL	92593 11.40	9.90	10.68	+ 0.18
Silver Wheatn* SLW	65976 42.34	37.04	38.51	-0.80
Freeport McMo* FCX	56147 114.24	106.70	112.87	+ 3.92
Stillwater Mg* SWC	52936 22.86	18.98	20.07	-1.73
Goldcorp* GG	47885 48.34	45.21	46.07	-0.97
Barrick Gold* ABX	42505 55.72	52.66	53.30	-0.70
Kinross Gold* KGC	37665 19.59	18.12	18.44	-0.31
NovaGold Res* NG	34717 16.90	14.68	15.10	+ 0.18
Newmont Mng* NEM	34607 64.05	59.71	61.42	-0.79

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	2012	0.34	0.03	0.24	+ 700.0
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	451	0.22	0.15	0.22	+ 46.6
Infrastrc Mat*	IFAM	331	0.30	0.17	0.26	+ 44.4
Paramount Gld*	PZG	11364	2.62	1.69	2.59	+ 43.8
DouglasLkMl*	DLKM	1041	0.43	0.28	0.42	+ 35.4
Northern Dyn*	NAK	5280	13.56	9.75	13.41	+ 33.7
Am Engy Field*	AEFI	225	0.82	0.67	0.78	+ 30.0
Tara Gold*	TRGD	307	0.39	0.30	0.39	+ 25.8
America West*	AWSR	152	1.80	1.23	1.72	+ 24.6
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	872	4.12	3.15	3.78	+ 22.7
Affinity Gold*	AFYG	95	0.05	0.04	0.05	-28.5
Constittn Mng*	CMIN	4035	0.22	0.12	0.16	-27.2
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	4691	0.17	0.11	0.11	-26.6
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	55	0.17	0.12	0.12	-25.0
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	602	0.14	0.10	0.11	-21.4
Puda Coal*	PUDA	1840	16.20	11.66	12.25	-20.5
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	590	0.87	0.71	0.75	-13.7
Global Gold*	GBGD	308	0.24	0.20	0.20	-13.0
Vista Gold*	VGZ	2954	3.17	2.67	2.70	-11.4
Uranium Ener*	UEC	2326	6.64	5.71	5.94	-11.3

Puda Coal*

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Mesabi Trust*	MSB	2577587	54.60	+ 4.78
Freeport McMo*	FCX	56146960	112.87	+ 3.92
Northern Dyn*	NAK	5280471	13.41	+ 3.38
Compass Mnls*	CMP	2840730	89.66	+ 2.79
Teck B*	TCK	19926725	57.32	+ 2.59
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	7267348	78.27	+ 1.66
Massey Energy*	MEE	22482015	51.98	+ 1.56
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	14387169	89.80	+ 1.13
Minefinders*	MFN	4747743	11.34	+ 1.06
Royal Gold*	RGLD	2245082	53.70	+ 1.00
Potash C Sask*	POT	11621476	139.87	-4.29
Randgold Res*	GOLD	4554624	89.57	-4.02
Buenaventura*	BVN	4852528	49.98	-3.19
PUDA	1839742	12.25	-3.16
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	29586369	23.94	-3.03
Agrium*	AGU	1703024	81.87	-2.44
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	10163544	82.93	-2.10
Allied Nevada*	ANV	731694	26.52	-1.98
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	323864	33.67	-1.89
Stillwater Mg*	SWC	52935620	20.07	-1.73