U. S. MARKETS JULY 29-AUG. 4

The main U. S. stock indices were up during the July 29-Aug. 4 trading session, buoyed by a falling oil price. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153 points, or 1.4%, to 11,284; the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index added 15 points, or 1.2%, to 1,249; and the NASDAQ moved up 21 points, or 0.9%, to 2,286. Precious metal indices were sharply lower as the gold price lost altitude: the Amex Gold Bugs Index dropped 32 points, or 7.8%, to 378; and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index crashed 19 points, or 11%, to 155.

National Bank economist Yanick Desnoyers believes that the U. S. is in recession, based on sluggish economic growth, weak growth in real imports, recession in the labour and housing markets, and weakness in other sectors. Meanwhile, in late July, Morgan Stanley analyst Wiktor Bielski, covering European miners, issued a bullish research report entitled “Time to buy the miners again — take two.”

Bielski argues that the emphasis of economic policy in China has shifted to growth from inflation fighting, so metals should turn from de-stocking to re-stocking in the fourth quarter. As well, supply problems such as lower copper production at Escondida next year and zinc mine closures (such as the Lennard Shelf mine in Australia) are supportive. Bielski also points to the current low valuation of the mining sector, the narrowing gap between equity and commodity performance, and argues that the market is focusing on demand destruction, while the emphasis should be on supply because inventories are low.

The coal sector was generally down during the trading session. However, two coal companies that have received takeover offers, were up: Alpha Natural Resources added US$8.99 to US$97.90, and Fording Canadian Coal Trust rose US$3.25 to US$85.74.

Teck Cominco, which is bidding to acquire the metallurgical coal assets of Fording, rose US57 to US$40. However, other base metal producers fared worse, with copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold losing US$15.23 to US$80.35, and aluminum producer Alcoa falling US$1.62 to US$31.04. The base metal sector was weighed down by U. S. recession fears, coupled with lower growth in China.

The fertilizer sector was also down, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan dropping US$18.51 to US$180.14 and Mosaic Co. losing US$13.37 to US$109.29.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	164508 30.79	26.10	26.36	-1.53
Alcoa* AA	64296 34.84	30.74	31.04	-1.62
Freeport McMo*FCX	62972 101.39	78.73	80.35	-15.23
Goldcorp* GG	58722 40.90	34.59	35.25	-5.70
CoeurdAlene*CDE	58178 2.97	2.44	2.58	+0.09
Barrick Gold* ABX	53051 44.36	39.06	40.02	-4.18
Consol Energy* CNX	47641 88.85	61.51	63.44	-18.94
PotashCSask* POT	44646214.83	176.82	180.14	-18.51
Gold Fields* GFI	44055 12.35	9.43	9.78	-2.28
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	40359 71.25	59.03	59.60	-6.98

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Buckingham Ex*	BUKX	189 0.12	0.07	0.12	+200.0
World Vent*	WVNTF	45 0.08	0.07	0.07	+ 40.0
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	131 0.09	0.08	0.09	+ 28.5
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	203 0.05	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	45 0.25	0.15	0.25	+ 25.0
Gemini Expl*	GXPI	1028 0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 25.0
Apollo Gold*	AGT	1784 0.47	0.37	0.47	+ 23.6
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	117 0.06	0.05	0.06	+ 20.0
Quest Capital*	QCC	2260 1.90	1.54	1.86	+ 18.4
Miranda Gold*	MRDDF	142 0.50	0.36	0.49	+ 16.6
Aspire Intl*	APIT	32 0.15	0.11	0.13	-51.8
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	27 0.18	0.11	0.17	-51.4
Raven Gold*	RVNG	236 0.14	0.06	0.08	-46.6
Apolo Gold*	APLL	54 0.03	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Birch Mountn*	BMD	633 0.31	0.23	0.23	-25.8
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	47641 88.85	61.51	63.44	-22.9
Stillwater Mg*	SWC	8553 10.58	7.76	7.90	-21.7
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	652 0.60	0.22	0.40	-21.5
Patriot Coal*	PCX	2167132.03	101.53	106.01	-21.3
Buenaventura*	BVN	9624 30.00	23.61	24.25	-18.9

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	25502148	97.90	+ 8.99
Fording C C T* FDG	40301536	85.74	+ 3.25
Teck Comin B* TCK	22534959	40.00	+ 0.57
APEX Silver* SIL	4129295	6.10	+ 0.55
Eldorado Gold* EGO	9894317	8.31	+ 0.39
Cabot Corp* CBT	3088944	25.52	+ 0.39
MDU Res* MDU	6628120	31.45	+ 0.36
General Moly* GMO	1289311	6.90	+ 0.32
Quest Capital* QCC	2260385	1.86	+ 0.29
Gammon Gold* GRS	2989957	9.38	+ 0.19
Rio Tinto* RTP	1664039	372.06	-30.62
Patriot Coal* PCX	2166800	106.01	-28.69
CONSOL Energy* CNX	47640605	63.44	-18.94
Potash C Sask* POT	44646048	180.14	-18.51
Freeport McMo* FCX	62972440	80.35	-15.23
Mosaic* MOS	32894652	109.29	-13.37
Foundatn Coal* FCL	10641474	52.69	-7.84
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	40359312	59.60	-6.98
Arch Coal* ACI	36168746	48.51	-6.96
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	22214325	52.15	-6.71