U. S. MARKETS SEPT. 9-15

The sentiment on Wall Street was decidedly bearish during the Sept. 9-15 trading session. Investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, while broker Merrill Lynch agreed to be taken over by Bank of America in a US$50-billion all-stock deal. Meanwhile, regulators have allowed mega-insurer American International Group to swap US$20-billion worth of assets with its subsidiaries in order to shore up its balance sheet, but it may need to raise even more capital. Mortgage lender Washington Mutual sold off, dropping US$2.12 to US$2.

The negative news from the financial sector weighed on stock indices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved down 593 points, or 5.2%, to 10,918; the S&P 500 Index lost 75 points, or 5.9%, to 1,193; and the Nasdaq fell 90 points, or 4%, to 2,180. Precious metal indices did not escape the downdraft, with the Amex Gold Bugs Index dropping 10 points, or 3.4%, to 277, and the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index sliding 5 points, or 4%, to 119.

National Bank economist Stfane Marion forecasts a 1.5% contraction in U. S. domestic demand in the second half of the year, based on inventory drawdown trends. In China, Marion saysthatindustrial production growth was lower than expected in August, at 12.8% on a year-on-year basis, a six-year low. This was led bylower vehicle production, and Marion concludes that China’s domestic economy is unlikely to accelerate enough to offset the downshift in exports.

In the potash sector, there was news of two civil anti-trust lawsuits alleging that fertilizer makers have been involved with price fixing. After a slide in the sector in recent weeks, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan added US77 to US$154.10, and Agrium rose US43 to US$74.02. Moving in the opposite direction were Mosaic Co., which lost US$3.19 to US$84.20, and Intrepid Potash, dropping US$5.63 to US$32.05.

The coal sector continued to lose altitude as economies around the world slowed down. Alpha Natural Resources moved down US$18.16 to US$55.34, while Cleveland-Cliffs, which is taking over Alpha, fell US$3.75 to US$73.10.

The uranium sector was down, with major Cameco sliding US$1.67 to US$24.13, and small producer Uranium Resources dropping US50 to US$2.02. Molybdenum miner Thompson Creek Metals gained US27 to US$12.91.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	224475 24.26	20.84	21.53	-1.20
Barrick Gold* ABX	106736 29.85	26.02	27.94	-1.47
Freeport McMo*FCX	100894 74.39	63.30	65.84	-6.22
Goldcorp* GG	94082 29.63	24.72	27.14	-0.45
PotashCSask* POT	86697163.69	137.07	154.10	+ 0.77
Alcoa* AA	80755 28.88	25.93	26.93	-0.61
Quest M&M* QMNM	72947 0.01	0.01	0.01	0.00
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	69261 54.96	45.04	48.15	-1.77
CoeurdAlene*CDE	64763 1.63	1.37	1.48	-0.08
Arch Coal* ACI	61155 41.83	34.21	35.71	-2.04

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Global Gold*	GBGD	210	0.15	0.12	0.15	+ 25.0
Aurelio Res*	AULO	209	0.06	0.04	0.06	+ 20.0
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	42	0.15	0.13	0.15	+ 15.3
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	644	0.19	0.14	0.19	+ 11.7
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	323	0.14	0.10	0.13	+ 8.3
Seabridge Gld*	SA	1739	14.42	12.01	14.35	+ 8.3
Tanz Roy Exp*	TRE	3821	3.12	1.93	2.96	+ 7.6
Santa Fe Gold*	SFEG	151	0.64	0.50	0.60	+ 7.1
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	32734	54.81	43.30	51.15	+ 6.1
Royal Gold*	RGLD	3901	32.46	26.88	31.16	+ 4.7
Raven Gold*	RVNG	349	0.05	0.02	0.03	-57.1
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	299	0.26	0.14	0.14	-46.1
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	2455	0.05	0.02	0.03	-40.0
World Vent*	WVNTF	16	0.05	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Geocom Res*	GOCM	100	0.10	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Ur-Energy*	URG	173	1.24	0.84	0.87	-35.5
Mag Silver*	MVG	65	6.12	3.30	4.15	-34.1
Uranium Ener*	UEC	482	1.58	0.95	1.05	-33.5
Apolo Gold*	APLL	178	0.03	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Paramount Gld*	PZG	324	0.93	0.55	0.65	-31.5

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	32733908	51.15	+ 2.96
Royal Gold*	RGLD	3901327	31.16	+ 1.42
Seabridge Gld*	SA	1739080	14.35	+ 1.10
Potash C Sask*	POT	86697163	154.10	+ 0.77
Agrium*	AGU	5811400	74.02	+ 0.43
Harmony Gold*	HMY	17748704	7.73	+ 0.29
Thompson Crk*	TC	601200	12.91	+ 0.27
Tanz Roy Exp*	TRE	3820810	2.96	+ 0.21
Aurizon Mines*	AZK	3293515	2.35	+ 0.10
Cabot Corp*	CBT	3921762	31.10	+ 0.08
Rio Tinto*	RTP	3078999	290.64	-23.23
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	34382779	55.34	-18.16
Massey Energy*	MEE	55783349	37.35	-10.90
Patriot Coal*	PCX	4116800	31.09	-9.19
Fording C C T*	FDG	18245475	78.00	-7.88
Freeport McMo*	FCX	100893585	65.84	-6.22
Intrepid Pots*	IPI	3461600	32.05	-5.63
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	17308492	41.59	-4.22
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	27382879	73.10	-3.75
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	37587591	55.99	-3.64