You can run but you can’t hide. The defeat of a US$700-billion bailout plan in Congress on Monday Sept. 29 sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a tailspin — down 777.68 points to 10,365.45 — as panicked investors ran for the exits. In just one day, the Dow lost US$1.2 trillion in market value as the House of Representatives voted 228-205 against the bailout plan. Republicans made up more than two-thirds of the nay vote, along with four out of every 10 Democrats.
U. S. President George Bush said he was “disappointed in the vote” and economists warned that now-frozen bank lending will cripple business and the economy. For the full Sept. 23-29 trading session, the DJIA plummeted 488.72 points, or 4.5%, to 10,365.45; the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 81.8 points, or 6.88%, to 1,106.42; and the Nasdaq fell 169.6 points, or 7.87%, to 1,983.73.
News of the defeated legislation on Monday drove oil down 10% to US$96.37 a barrel. By contrast, the gold price surged US$23.40 per oz. to US$903.20, up from Friday’s close of US$877.80 per oz. But that wasn’t enough to buoy the gold indexes. The Amex Gold Bugs Index fell 23.35 points, or 6.78%, to 321.1, while the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index lost 12.03 points, or 8.29%, to 133.02.
The pain was felt across the gold space. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold lost US$19.11 to close the session at US$53.22 per share, while Goldcorp fell US$2.90 to US$33.39 and Kinross Gold slid US$1.22 to US$16.40 per share. With a few exceptions among the juniors, the only gold companies to go up rather than down were Eastern Goldfields, which climbed US$1 to US$4 per share and Barrick Gold, which inched up US54 to US$38.68.
It was a bloodbath for pretty much everyone else. Rio Tinto plunged 27.6% to US$226.50 per share. Vale, the most actively traded stock, with 220.2 million shares changing hands, slid US$6.83 to close at US$16.70.
Despair was also felt among shareholders in the iron and coal sectors. Iron ore miner Cleveland-Cliffs crashed 37.1% or US$28.39 to US$48.13. Alpha Natural Resources, a leading Central Appalachian coal producer, dropped US$21.94, or 33.5%, to close at US$43.41.
| U. S. most active issues | ||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||
| (000s) HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
| Vale* RIO | 220265 23.10 | 16.50 | 16.70 | -6.83 |
| Barrick Gold* ABX | 100502 39.59 | 35.93 | 38.68 | + 0.54 |
| Alcoa* AA | 95803 27.21 | 20.93 | 21.38 | -5.42 |
| Goldcorp* GG | 86636 37.10 | 31.57 | 33.39 | -2.90 |
| Freeport McMo*FCX | 80949 74.80 | 51.21 | 53.22 | -19.11 |
| PotashCSask* POT | 74464179.56 | 126.49 | 131.71 | -47.87 |
| Peabody Enrgy* BTU | 53166 57.77 | 39.06 | 41.05 | -16.25 |
| CoeurdAlene*CDE | 51470 1.98 | 1.48 | 1.48 | -0.43 |
| Kinross Gold* KGC | 49006 17.76 | 16.04 | 16.40 | -1.22 |
| U. S. greatest percentage change | |||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | ||||
| (000s) HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Intl Tower Hi* | THM | 72 2.29 | 1.50 | 2.15 | + 54.6 |
| Firstgold* | FGOC | 713 0.42 | 0.24 | 0.38 | + 52.0 |
| Global Gold* | GBGD | 48 0.51 | 0.11 | 0.30 | + 50.0 |
| Nilam Res* | NILR | 488 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.03 | + 50.0 |
| America West* | AWSR | 259 0.31 | 0.20 | 0.28 | + 47.3 |
| World Vent* | WVNTF | 16 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.07 | + 40.0 |
| Yellowcake Mg* | YCKM | 41 0.20 | 0.15 | 0.20 | + 33.3 |
| Industrl Mnls* | IDSM | 900 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.04 | + 33.3 |
| Eastern Goldf* | EGDD | 34 4.50 | 3.85 | 4.00 | + 33.3 |
| Geocom Res* | GOCM | 35 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.08 | + 33.3 |
| Orezone Res* | OZN | 3461 0.98 | 0.47 | 0.51 | -46.3 |
| Raven Gold* | RVNG | 394 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.05 | -37.5 |
| Cleveland-Cli* | CLF | 22143 77.00 | 42.16 | 48.13 | -37.1 |
| Agrium* | AGU | 5885 84.62 | 51.73 | 54.11 | -36.0 |
| Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 20015 67.04 | 42.68 | 43.41 | -33.5 |
| Campbell Res* | CBLRF | 3417 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.02 | -33.3 |
| CONSOL Energy* | CNX | 40901 61.49 | 31.50 | 41.47 | -33.2 |
| Mosaic* | MOS | 46010 94.30 | 62.21 | 63.75 | -33.0 |
| Rio Tinto* | RTP | 3094305.08 | 208.08 | 226.50 | -31.7 |
| Ur-Energy* | URG | 199 0.95 | 0.55 | 0.55 | -31.2 |
| U. S. greatest value change | |||
| WEEK | |||
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
| Eastern Goldf* EGDD | 34200 | 4.00 | + 1.00 |
| Intl Tower Hi* THM | 72200 | 2.15 | + 0.76 |
| Barrick Gold* ABX | 100501923 | 38.68 | + 0.54 |
| Argentex Mng* AGXM | 161177 | 0.76 | + 0.18 |
| APEX Silver* SIL | 30828762 | 1.97 | + 0.15 |
| Nevsun Res* NSU | 1418845 | 1.13 | + 0.13 |
| Firstgold* FGOC | 712689 | 0.38 | + 0.13 |
| Global Gold* GBGD | 48100 | 0.30 | + 0.10 |
| America West* AWSR | 259294 | 0.28 | + 0.09 |
| Santa Fe Gold* SFEG | 146620 | 0.69 | + 0.09 |
| Rio Tinto* RTP | 3093841 | 226.50 | -105.50 |
| Potash C Sask* POT | 74464125 | 131.71 | -47.87 |
| Mosaic* MOS | 46009522 | 63.75 | -31.53 |
| Agrium* AGU | 5885300 | 54.11 | -30.48 |
| Cleveland-Cli* CLF | 22142982 | 48.13 | -28.39 |
| Alpha Nat Res* ANR | 20015008 | 43.41 | -21.94 |
| CONSOL Energy* CNX | 40900571 | 41.47 | -20.69 |
| Freeport McMo* FCX | 80948703 | 53.22 | -19.11 |
| Peabody Enrgy* BTU | 53166175 | 41.05 | -16.25 |
| BHP Billi-BHP* BHP | 20309898 | 50.50 | -14.68 |
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