U. S. MARKETS JULY 1-7

The surging oil price continued to weigh on equities during the July 1-7 trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 118 points, or 1%, to 11,232; the S&P 500 Index fell 28 points, or 2.2%, to 1,252; and the NASDAQ lost 50 points, or 2.2%, to 2,243. Precious metal issues were not spared: the Amex Gold Bugs index declined 25 points, or 5.5%, to 425, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index dropped 9 points, or 4.8%, to 186.

The coal sector, which has been on a long rally, lost ground during the trading session, on a drop in the spot price of thermal coal in Europe. Peabody Energy moved down US$10.90 to US$77.15; Arch Coal fell US$11.73 to US$63.30; and Consol Energy lost US$16.79 to US$95.58. However, some analysts are still bullish on coal: Citigroup analyst John Hill, believing that the coal bull market has a few more years to run, has upgraded both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal to a “buy” rating from “hold.”

The potash/fertilizer sector has also dropped after a long upswing. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan declined US$18.59 to US$209.98; Mosaic Co. moved down US$15.27 to US$129.43; and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile lost US$7.37 to US$39.23. Putting things in perspective, Potash One CEO Paul Matysek projected that potash prices may jump to US$900 per tonne over the next two to three years, after an already large gain to US$567, because there are no new potash mines in the pipeline for the next five years, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, BHP Billiton is conducting a potash exploration campaign in Manitoba and Saskatchewan; evidently, the world’s largest miner is also bullish on the mineral.

Anooraq Resources, with platinum group metal interests in South Africa, fell US11 to US$2.70 following a drop in platinum prices.

Ux Consulting Co. reported that the spot price for uranium oxide rose US$2 to US$59 per lb.

However, a number of uranium-related issues moved in the opposite direction: industry heavyweight Cameco lost US$2.25 to US$40.62; Denison Mines fell US66 to US$8.12; and Uranium Resources dropped US$1.14 to US$2.55.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	139505 35.01	31.38	32.27	-3.55
Alcoa* AA	72295 35.52	31.64	33.39	-2.23
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	50380 88.39	73.01	77.15	-10.90
CoeurdAlene*CDE	47281 2.96	2.46	2.54	-0.36
Freeport McMo*FCX	44888 117.11	103.55	109.59	-7.60
PotashCSask* POT	42809226.81	201.66	209.98	-18.59
Barrick Gold* ABX	40508 47.00	43.66	44.69	-0.81
Arch Coal* ACI	37949 75.41	60.50	63.30	-11.73
Goldcorp* GG	33464 49.10	43.32	44.37	-1.80
Newmont Mng* NEM	31973 53.77	48.71	48.96	-3.20

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
NT Holding*	NTHH	16	0.39	0.15	0.35	+ 75.0
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	54	0.24	0.11	0.24	+ 33.3
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	67	0.30	0.23	0.30	+ 25.0
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	127	0.25	0.20	0.25	+ 19.0
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	26	0.47	0.37	0.47	+ 17.5
Vista Gold*	VGZ	947	4.60	3.67	4.28	+ 17.2
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	240	0.14	0.12	0.14	+ 16.6
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	75	0.45	0.21	0.30	+ 11.1
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	10	0.20	0.20	0.20	+ 11.1
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	838	0.78	0.65	0.74	+ 10.4
Raven Gold*	RVNG	794	0.14	0.08	0.08	-46.6
Pac Rim Minin*	PMU	1699	0.82	0.46	0.52	-36.5
Uranium Res*	URRE	3246	3.68	2.45	2.55	-30.8
Zoro Mng*	ZORO	12	0.65	0.55	0.55	-23.6
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	334	0.09	0.06	0.07	-22.2
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	120	0.75	0.59	0.59	-21.3
Fording C C T*	FDG	17711	94.93	73.84	76.65	-19.8
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	21600	13.37	9.23	10.46	-19.8
Massey Energy*	MEE	26430	94.09	71.73	75.22	-19.7
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	33	0.56	0.45	0.45	-19.6

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Royal Gold* RGLD	2265790	32.08	+ 0.79
Vista Gold* VGZ	947388	4.28	+ 0.63
Minefinders* MFN	1308608	10.97	+ 0.57
Central Fund* CEF	2420219	13.18	+ 0.23
Tanz Roy Exp* TRE	1085671	4.89	+ 0.16
NT Holding* NTHH	15823	0.35	+ 0.15
Almaden Mnls* AAU	333863	1.95	+ 0.15
Sterling Mini* SRLM	506327	1.07	+ 0.10
New Jersey Mg* NJMC	25500	0.47	+ 0.07
DouglasLkMl* DLKM	837568	0.74	+ 0.07
Rio Tinto* RTP	1486932	429.41	-65.59
Patriot Coal* PCX	2022700	128.91	-24.38
Cleveland-Cli* CLF	21504607	98.35	-20.84
Fording C C T* FDG	17710633	76.65	-18.96
Potash C Sask* POT	42809030	209.98	-18.59
Massey Energy* MEE	26430058	75.22	-18.53
CONSOL Energy* CNX	29743802	95.58	-16.79
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	28655085	87.74	-16.55
Mosaic* MOS	27078372	129.43	-15.27
Foundatn Coal* FCL	8887962	74.80	-13.78