U.S. Markets – Sept. 1 – 4

The Sept. 1-4 trading period — shortened by the Labour Day holiday — was all about gold, as the U. S. dollar’s weakness, concerns about the sustainability of the global economic recovery and fears about future inflation all conspired to push up the stock of U. S.-listed gold miners. The spot price for gold moved from a close of US$957.20 per oz. on Sept. 1 to US$994.50 per oz. on Sept. 4, before moving above the US$1,000 per oz. threshold — the highest level since March — in mid-morning trading on Sept. 8 when markets reopened after the long-weekend break.

Agnico-Eagle Mines posted the biggest value gain, bolting US$9.83 to US$67.23. Randgold Resources posted the second-largest gain during period, vaulting US$9.49 to US$68.30. ASA (Bermuda), a closed-end investment company invested in gold, silver, platinum, diamonds and other precious minerals, ranked third on the value list, rising US$7.83 to close at US$73.33.

The Amex Gold Bugs index advanced 16.55%, or 58.08 points, to close at 409.06, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index climbed 15.04%, or 21.73 points, to finish at 166.25.

Equity markets seemed to be on the uptick generally, however, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average ascended 130.67 points, or 1.40%, to close at 9,441.27 during the abbreviated period; the S&P 500 index gained 18.36 points, or 1.84%, to finish at 1,016.40; and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 49.89 points, or 2.53%, to 2,018.78.

Rio Tinto jumped US$4.69 to US$159.85 on no news, while aluminum giant Alcoa was up 13¢ to US$12.18 on a trading volume of roughly 101 million shares — making it the most actively traded stock for the period. Some of that activity could have stemmed from investors on the lookout for tangible commodities as a hedge against inflation. But China demand is also buoying base metals, particularly in the automotive, property, power equipment and home appliance sectors. Aluminum (along with nickel) has outperformed in the last month and is likely to continue to perform well, according to an August research report by Standard Chartered.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	101642	12.24	11.29	12.18	+ 0.13
Golden Eagle* MYNG	78373	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Barrick Gold* ABX	64813	40.51	34.42	40.04	+ 5.34
Freeport McMo*FCX	57203	66.10	59.75	66.00	+ 3.02
Hecla Mining* HL	53564	3.47	2.85	3.45	+ 0.47
Kinross Gold* KGC	52640	22.26	18.42	21.88	+ 2.93
Goldcorp* GG	50731	41.99	35.80	41.55	+ 5.09
Newmont Mng* NEM	46692	46.93	39.70	46.23	+ 6.14
Gold Fields* GFI	38520	14.21	11.65	13.63	+ 1.56
Silver Wheatn* SLW	37637	11.68	9.67	11.59	+ 1.23

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Apolo Gold*	APLL	481	0.02	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	2077	0.20	0.12	0.20	+ 53.8
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	263	0.17	0.10	0.16	+ 45.4
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	228	0.25	0.19	0.25	+ 38.8
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	990	0.09	0.06	0.08	+ 33.3
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	11	0.12	0.09	0.12	+ 33.3
Metalline Mng*	MMG	154	0.46	0.30	0.41	+ 32.2
Vista Gold*	VGZ	3612	2.53	1.77	2.42	+ 32.2
Gold Reserve*	GRZ	1633	0.73	0.50	0.66	+ 32.0
Mines Managem*	MGN	558	2.48	1.72	2.30	+ 28.4
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	456	0.04	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Tornado Gold*	TOGI	168	0.02	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	490	0.09	0.06	0.07	-22.2
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	50	0.12	0.10	0.10	-16.6
Global Gold*	GBGD	268	0.14	0.08	0.12	-14.2
America West*	AWSR	92	0.09	0.08	0.08	-11.1
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	1285	0.08	0.06	0.08	-11.1
Goldfield*	GV	96	0.48	0.40	0.41	-8.8
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	306	0.46	0.35	0.42	-6.6
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	37	0.33	0.30	0.31	-6.0

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	23961339	67.23	+ 9.83
Randgold Res* GOLD	10411127	68.30	+ 9.49
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	308537	73.33	+ 7.83
Royal Gold* RGLD	5206554	45.98	+ 6.30
Newmont Mng* NEM	46691718	46.23	+ 6.14
Barrick Gold* ABX	64812533	40.04	+ 5.34
Goldcorp* GG	50730737	41.55	+ 5.09
Rio Tinto* RTP	3165473	159.85	+ 4.69
AngloGold Ash* AU	20823765	42.49	+ 4.07
Buenaventura* BVN	6385162	28.81	+ 3.54
Soc Quim&M Ch*SQM	3462604	34.25	-0.58
Cabot Corp* CBT	2410680	19.29	-0.50
MDU Res* MDU	2892600	19.15	-0.26
Mesabi Trust* MSB	256300	8.85	-0.25
Westmoreland* WLB	124978	8.44	-0.06
Corriente Rs* ETQ	327178	5.99	-0.05
Goldfield* GV	95682	0.41	-0.04
Contintl Mnls* KMKCF	208007	1.10	-0.04
Santa Fe Gold* SFEG	172429	1.00	-0.03
Petaquilla Mn* PTQMF	305570	0.42	-0.03