U.S. Markets – Oct. 20-26

Worries that the stock market rally has gotten ahead of itself in terms of valuations, sinking consumer confidence, and fears that regulatory officials will start to ease stimulus measures, sent U. S. equity markets down during the Oct. 20-26 reporting period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 173.52 points or 1.73% to 9,867.96, while the S&P 500 index lost 24.11 points or 2.21% to close at 1,066.95. The Nasdaq fell 1% or 21.62 points to finish at 2,141.85. Gold prices also fell from US$1,054.70 per oz. on Oct. 20 to US$1,038 per oz. on Oct. 26. That helped push the Amex Goldbugs index down 6.1% or 26.62 points to 411.38 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index down 8.76 points or 5.03% to 165.47.

Randgold Resources suffered the biggest decline in value, sinking US$6.28 per share to close the reporting period at US$70.11, while Agnico-Eagle Mines lost US$5.65 to close at US$65.73, and AngloGold Ashanti fell US$4.27 to finish at US$41.18 per share. There was some good news on the gold front, however. Entree Gold was up US3¢ to US$2.57 on news the Mongolian government had approved mining licences for its Shivee Tolgoi and Javhlant exploration concessions, which completely surround the Oyu Tolgoi mining licence.

On a brighter note, Cabot Corp. topped the list of value gains with a US64¢ rise to US$24 per share, after announcing on Oct. 23 that it had commissioned 150,000 tons of manufacturing capacity at its carbon black facility in Tianjin, China. The plant’s annual production capacity is now nearly 300,000 tons. The Boston-based company’s product line includes carbon black, metal oxides, metals such as tantalum, niobium and their alloys, and specialty fluids.

Yanzhou Coal advanced on news that Australia has granted it conditional approval for a US$3.3-billion takeover of coal miner Felix Resources. The largest Chinese takeover of an Australian company comes with stringent government conditions, however, including that Yanzhou must operate its Australian mines through an Australianbased company, Yancoal Australia. Yanzhou closed the reporting period up US63¢ at US$16.45 per share.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	152484 14.23	13.21	13.28	-0.79
Freeport McMo*FCX	87025 84.28	77.33	79.48	+ 0.48
Barrick Gold* ABX	67566 39.37	36.05	36.20	-2.78
Hecla Mining* HL	62697 5.05	4.28	4.33	-0.57
Kinross Gold* KGC	47309 23.33	20.13	20.34	-2.98
PotashCSask*POT	44087105.88	97.15	98.61	– 5.10
Silver Wheatn* SLW	43045 14.88	12.86	13.01	-1.30
Goldcorp* GG	42723 42.69	38.16	38.41	-4.18
Newmont Mng* NEM	35071 47.05	42.97	43.34	-3.63
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	34752 46.58	42.25	42.43	-0.94

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	18	0.10	0.06	0.10	+ 66.6
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	7859	0.07	0.04	0.06	+ 50.0
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	202	0.04	0.02	0.04	+ 33.3
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	317	0.06	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	250	0.28	0.17	0.19	+ 18.7
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	69	0.18	0.12	0.17	+ 13.3
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	990	0.33	0.20	0.29	+ 11.5
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	12	0.33	0.26	0.33	+ 10.0
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1298	0.18	0.12	0.14	+ 7.6
Amazon Goldsd*	AZNG	963	0.20	0.17	0.18	+ 5.8
World Vent*	WVNTF	18	0.07	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	1948	0.33	0.20	0.22	-31.2
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	103	0.04	0.02	0.03	-25.0
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	1473	7.38	5.88	5.93	-21.2
US Gold*	UXG	1175	3.37	2.68	2.69	-20.1
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	4381	3.25	2.66	2.67	-18.6
NovaGold Res*	NG	14165	5.61	4.47	4.58	-17.6
Patriot Coal*	PCX	6795	13.88	11.03	11.19	-17.4
Keegan Res*	KGN	110	5.08	4.15	4.19	-16.8
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	175	1.46	1.11	1.20	-16.6

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Cabot Corp* CBT	3434246	24.00	+ 0.64
Yanzhou Coal* YZC	2818326	16.45	+ 0.63
Freeport McMo* FCX	87025079	79.48	+ 0.48
OM Group* OMG	2194214	29.35	+ 0.40
Cameco Corp* CCJ	16648815	29.98	+ 0.36
Taseko Mines* TGB	13649269	2.92	+ 0.15
L&L Intl Hldg* LLFH	454354	5.93	+ 0.13
Gold Reserve* GRZ	1558223	1.10	+ 0.06
Commerce Grp* CGCO	17869	0.10	+ 0.04
Entree Gold* EGI	1092043	2.57	+ 0.03
Agrium* AGU	4309400	49.73	-7.69
Randgold Res* GOLD	7905458	70.11	-6.28
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	15887391	65.73	-5.65
Potash C Sask* POT	44087442	98.61	-5.10
CONSOL Energy* CNX	21505683	46.43	-4.65
AngloGold Ash* AU	11850014	41.18	-4.27
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	217526	75.90	-4.20
Goldcorp* GG	42722571	38.41	-4.18
Rio Tinto* RTP	4424161	192.12	-4.16
Mosaic* MOS	30965118	49.88	-3.75