U. S. Markets – Feb. 24 -Mar. 2

U. S. markets were down during the Feb. 24-Mar. 2 trading period. The catalyst for the sell-off was a staggering quarterly loss of US$62 billion, the highest in corporate history, at troubled insurer American International Group, triggering a capital injection of US$30 billion by the U. S. government. Meanwhile, Uncle Sam also increased his stake in banking giant Citigroup to 36% from 8% by converting US$25 billion worth of preferred shares to common shares.

Investors dumped shares, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 351 points, or 4.9%, to 6,763, the first time since October 1997 that the Dow average fell below 7,000. The S&P 500 index lost 43 points or 5.7% to 701, and the Nasdaq fell 65 points or 4.7% to 1,323.

Precious metals indices fared even worse. This sector, which has been the standout performer in recent weeks, was dragged down during the trading period by tumbling gold and silver prices, with the Amex Gold Bugs index down 48 points or 15.2% to 268, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index falling 18 points or 14.3% to 110.

Stocks of gold and silver miners lost ground across the board. Shares in platinum miners were also down, with Stillwater Mining dropping US$1.05 to US$2.79, and Platinum Group Metals losing US39¢ to US$1.05.

Mega-miner Vale lost 6¢ to US$11.94. After the trading period, the company announced it was cutting 900 jobs worldwide.

The coal sector lost altitude as coal prices fell 14% on softening demand and excess supply. Cliffs Natural Resources, which mines both iron ore and metallurgical coal, crashed US$7.75 to US$12.01 after reporting net income of US$54 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, a 42% decline from the same period a year earlier. Other coal stocks also fell, including Peabody Energy, Consol Energy, Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal. But International Coal Group rose a penny to US$1.50, and Patriot Coal gained US4¢ to US$3.13.

Copper prices added 2.8% on the week, with copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rising US15¢ to US$26.49.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Gemini Expl* GXPI	299091	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Vale* RIO	217807	13.58	11.82	11.94	-0.06
Alcoa* AA	152834	7.15	5.43	5.49	-0.32
Freeport McMo*FCX	129759	31.91	26.08	26.49	+ 0.15
Barrick Gold* ABX	108365	35.59	27.74	27.98	-7.62
Goldcorp* GG	79460	30.63	26.73	26.94	-3.84
PotashCSask*POT	75317	87.65	74.23	74.64	– 1.60
Newmont Mng* NEM	68267	42.65	37.62	37.88	-4.51
Mosaic* MOS	66205	43.72	36.47	37.72	+ 1.83
Kinross Gold* KGC	57598	18.33	14.66	15.06	-3.27

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
AmMex Gold*	AMXG	49	0.04	0.02	0.04	+ 33.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	1829	0.05	0.02	0.04	+ 33.3
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	62	0.07	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
Zoro Mng*	ZORO	195	0.06	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	140	0.06	0.05	0.06	+ 20.0
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	127	0.06	0.06	0.06	+ 20.0
Geovic Mng*	GVCM	371	0.52	0.44	0.51	+ 13.3
Aspire Intl*	APIT	10	0.10	0.10	0.10	+ 11.1
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	67	0.14	0.10	0.10	+ 11.1
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	13212	4.82	3.85	4.55	+ 7.8
Cliffs Nat Rs*	CLF	37114	21.70	11.84	12.01	-39.2
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	21	0.08	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Uranium Star*	URST	290	0.06	0.04	0.04	-33.3
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	1670	0.15	0.08	0.09	-30.7
America West*	AWSR	234	0.16	0.09	0.12	-29.4
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	344	0.36	0.26	0.27	-28.9
Stillwater Mg*	SWC	4439	3.91	2.79	2.79	-27.3
Vista Gold*	VGZ	1546	2.50	1.75	1.85	-27.1
PlatinumGpM*	PLG	44	1.41	1.05	1.05	-27.0
New Gold*	NGD	6114	2.42	1.75	1.75	-26.4

-8.53

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Mosaic*	MOS	66204538	37.72	+ 1.83
Cameco Corp*	CCJ	26600340	13.64	+ 0.69
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	13211606	4.55	+ 0.33
Freeport McMo*	FCX	129759007	26.49	+ 0.15
Geovic Mng*	GVCM	370742	0.51	+ 0.06
Patriot Coal*	PCX	4657900	3.13	+ 0.04
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	717546	0.65	+ 0.02
Keegan Res*	KGN	176800	2.03	+ 0.02
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	126500	0.06	+ 0.01
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	9333784	1.50	+ 0.01
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	36510557	46.22
Rio Tinto*	RTP	4179325	91.91	-8.49
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	364055	45.43	-8.22
Cliffs Nat Rs*	CLF	37114186	12.01	-7.75
Barrick Gold*	ABX	108365229	27.98	-7.62
Agrium*	AGU	4820800	29.79	-6.94
Royal Gold*	RGLD	4697042	38.00	-6.85
Randgold Res*	GOLD	7059756	43.47	-5.47
Silver Std Re*	SSRI	9331905	13.88	-4.94
Newmont Mng*	NEM	68267398	37.88	-4.51