The S&P 500 Index rose for the seventh straight week with a small gain of 0.12% to 1,519.79. The last time the index enjoyed a seven-week run was between December 2010 and January 2011. The other indexes didn’t fare as well, however, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.08% to 13,981.76, and the Nasdaq Composite Index off 0.06% to 3,192.03. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index dropped 5.59% to 143.90.
After cutting its dividend, reporting a fourth-quarter loss and announcing plans to issue 9 million shares to raise funds to repay debt, shares of Cliffs Natural Resources plunged US$7.64, or 20.9%, to US$28.85. The company slashed its dividend to 15¢ per quarter, down 76% from 62.5¢. Cliffs reported a US$1.6-billion net loss in the fourth quarter, or US$11.36 per share, down from a profit of US$185 million, or US$1.30 per share in the same quarter last year.
News that Barrick Gold is taking a US$3.8-billion hit on its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia sent shares of the gold miner down US$1.09 to US$31.63. Barrick snapped up the property through its $7.3-billion acquisition of Equinox Minerals in 2011. A new life-of-mine model for the operation shows higher-than-expected operating and sustaining costs, which means lower-than-expected production and profitability.
Intrepid Potash shares fell US$2.59, or 11.1% to US$20.68, after the company reported net income in the fourth quarter of US$14.5 million, or US19¢ per diluted share, compared with US$24.9 million, or US33¢ per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2011.
On the positive side of the ledger, Alpha Natural Resources gained US$1.25 per share, or 15.1%, to close at US$9.48. The coal producer says that restructuring and cost-control measures have been working. Total costs and expenses during the fourth quarter of 2012 were US$1.6 billion, down from US$2.9 billion in 2011’s fourth quarter. Cost of coal sales in the quarter were US$0.9 billion, compared with US$1.6 billion in the year-ago period. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of US$128 million, or US58¢ per diluted share, compared with a net loss of US$793 million, or US$3.62 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2011.
U.S. most active issues
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Alcoa* | AA | 104192 | 9.37 | 8.85 | 9.32 | + | 0.38 |
| Cliffs Nat Rs* | CLF | 85094 | 36.9 | 28.71 | 28.85 | – | 7.64 |
| Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 79234 | 9.9 | 8.08 | 9.48 | + | 1.25 |
| Barrick Gold* | ABX | 67507 | 33.36 | 31.36 | 31.63 | – | 1.09 |
| Arch Coal* | ACI | 58483 | 6.23 | 5.68 | 5.92 | + | 0.17 |
| Freeport McMo* | FCX | 46855 | 35.93 | 34.87 | 35.04 | – | 0.6 |
| Kinross Gold* | KGC | 45276 | 8.45 | 7.88 | 7.99 | – | 0.16 |
| Newmont Mng* | NEM | 37609 | 45.48 | 42.79 | 43.27 | – | 1.66 |
| Peabody Enrgy* | BTU | 31921 | 25.13 | 23.3 | 24.4 | + | 0.67 |
| Molycorp* | MCP | 26006 | 7.74 | 7.28 | 7.31 | – | 0.15 |
U.S. greatest percentage change
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Goldfield* | GV | 9647 | 4.19 | 2.95 | 3.62 | + | 20.6 |
| Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 79234 | 9.9 | 8.08 | 9.48 | + | 15.1 |
| North Am En P* | NOA | 90 | 4.45 | 3.8 | 4.32 | + | 13.6 |
| Uranium Res* | URRE | 1924 | 3.27 | 2.55 | 3.11 | + | 8.3 |
| Consol Energy* | CNX | 18714 | 34.26 | 31.66 | 34.08 | + | 7.4 |
| Alumina Inc* | AWC | 2805 | 5.26 | 4.6 | 5 | + | 7 |
| Atlatsa Res* | ATL | 478 | 0.23 | 0.19 | 0.22 | + | 4.8 |
| Alcoa* | AA | 104192 | 9.37 | 8.85 | 9.32 | + | 4.2 |
| Alderon Irn O* | AXX | 382 | 1.68 | 1.35 | 1.53 | + | 4 |
| Tanz Roy Exp* | TRX | 1446 | 3.56 | 3.22 | 3.56 | + | 4 |
| Cliffs Nat Rs* | CLF | 85094 | 36.9 | 28.71 | 28.85 | – | 20.9 |
| Cardero Res* | CDY | 458 | 0.41 | 0.32 | 0.33 | – | 19.5 |
| Pretium Res* | PVG | 1773 | 10.78 | 8.6 | 8.9 | – | 17.9 |
| Almaden Mnls* | AAU | 1045 | 2.64 | 2.05 | 2.19 | – | 14.4 |
| McEwen Mng* | MUX | 16379 | 3.14 | 2.61 | 2.69 | – | 14.3 |
| Quest Rare Mn* | QRM | 830 | 0.98 | 0.8 | 0.83 | – | 14 |
| Lake Shore Gd* | LSG | 733 | 0.77 | 0.66 | 0.68 | – | 12.2 |
| Timmins Gold* | TGD | 690 | 2.68 | 2.31 | 2.4 | – | 11.7 |
| Ur-Energy* | URG | 180 | 0.86 | 0.77 | 0.77 | – | 11.4 |
| Intrepid Pots* | IPI | 1021 | 23.59 | 20.65 | 20.68 | – | 11.1 |
U.S. greatest value change
| Company | Symbol | Change | Close | Change | |
| Consol Energy* | CNX | 18713802 | 34.08 | + | 2.35 |
| BHP Billi-BHP* | BHP | 7384134 | 79.56 | + | 1.62 |
| Cabot Corp* | CBT | 2118620 | 38.72 | + | 1.3 |
| Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 79233715 | 9.48 | + | 1.25 |
| Walter Energy* | WLT | 1464079 | 37.92 | + | 1.12 |
| BHP Billi-BBL* | BBL | 1957321 | 69.16 | + | 1.08 |
| Mosaic* | MOS | 11163108 | 62.18 | + | 0.78 |
| Compass Mnls* | CMP | 249279 | 75.1 | + | 0.75 |
| Peabody Enrgy* | BTU | 31920542 | 24.4 | + | 0.67 |
| MDU Res* | MDU | 3542359 | 23.95 | + | 0.65 |
| Randgold Res* | GOLD | 2803372 | 85.89 | – | 8.32 |
| Cliffs Nat Rs* | CLF | 85094178 | 28.85 | – | 7.64 |
| Agrium* | AGU | 870610 | 106.91 | – | 7.48 |
| Agnico-Eagle* | AEM | 6526536 | 41.14 | – | 4.33 |
| Franco-Nevada* | FNV | 1472799 | 50.23 | – | 3.73 |
| Royal Gold* | RGLD | 3712837 | 70.1 | – | 2.7 |
| Intrepid Pots* | IPI | 1021347 | 20.68 | – | 2.59 |
| Goldcorp* | GG | 25508337 | 33.8 | – | 2.26 |
| Coeur d Alene* | CDE | 7794265 | 21.05 | – | 2.17 |
| Pretium Res* | PVG | 1773356 | 8.9 | – | 1.94 |
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