U.S. Markets Dec. 4-10

It was a relatively buoyant week for U.S. equity markets ahead of a widely expected interest rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 478.3 points to close at 13,727.03 over the Dec. 4-10 trading period, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 53.17 points to close at 1,515.96. (Stocks fell on Dec. 11, however, on news that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by only a quarter of a percentage point, disappointing many who had wanted a more sizable reduction.)

Gold finished the trading session at US$808.30 per oz., up slightly from the US$798.10 per oz. recorded on Dec. 4 — but still down from the peaks of over US$820 reached in late November. The Amex Gold Bugs Index was up 10.32 points to 416.180 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index rose 5.94 points to 176.53. StreetTracks Gold, an exchange-traded fund, rose US$1.72 to US$80.

Newmont Mining edged up US93 to US$50.83. But most major gold stocks recorded bland performances. Barrick Gold fell US41 to US$40.67 and AngloGold Ashanti dropped US$3.60 to US$44.79. Mid-tier gold and silver producer Coeur d’Alene Mines held steady at US$4.39.

Rio Tinto was the mover among the base metal stocks, soaring US$28.32 to US$477.71. The most active base metal stock was Vale on media reports that the company had hired bankers to consider a potential takeover offer for Xstrata. Vale saw 85.6 million of its shares trade hands and closed at US$36.18.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold jumped US$11.33 to US$108.18, on news that it plans to restart its Climax molybdenum mine in Colorado. The initial US$500-million project involves the restart of open-pit mining and the construction of new, state-of-the-art milling facilities. Annual production is expected at around 30 million lbs. molybdenum beginning in 2010.

While many copper participants in the market remained concerned about fallout from the subprime housing and lending crisis, copper producers like Southern Copper fared well. Its stock increased US$7.11 to US$116.43. Copper prices during the trading session hovered between US$2.99 and US$3.02 per lb.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Puda Coal*	PUDC	1770	1.29	0.85	1.15	+	37.7
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	276	0.25	0.145	0.20	+	33.3
Raven Gold*	RVNG	377	0.92	0.57	0.83	+	31.7
Mosaic*	MOS	19906	84.52	70.60	84.40	+	16.9
Entree Gold*	EGI	354	2.80	2.24	2.69	+	15.9
Anooraq Res*	ANO	936	4.35	3.76	4.30	+	14.6
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	8426	32.53	27.54	31.87	+	14.2
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	14019	66.02	56.38	65.31	+	13.8
Quest Capital*	QCC	4721	2.89	2.21	2.78	+	13.4
Northern Dyn*	NAK	2061	13.01	10.93	12.82	+	13.2
World Vent*	WVNTF	118	0.12	0.06	0.06	–	50.0
NT Holding*	NTHH	50	0.05	0.04	0.04	–	42.8
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	3637	0.029	0.013	0.016	–	40.7
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	291	0.055	0.03	0.04	–	33.3
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1974	0.56	0.42	0.42	–	25.0
North Am Pall*	PAL	5593	5.05	3.95	4.04	–	19.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	254	0.52	0.40	0.425	–	18.2
Sao Luis Mng*	SAOL	133	0.17	0.15	0.15	–	16.6
AmMex Gold*	AMXG	617	0.18	0.13	0.16	–	15.7
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	130	0.10	0.075	0.09	–	14.2

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1742971	477.71	+	28.32
Mosaic*	MOS	19905647	84.40	+	12.20
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	152500	185.35	+	11.35
Freeport McMo*	FCX	49696511	108.18	+	11.33
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	6532134	98.46	+	8.96
Potash C Sask*	POT	16289590	132.30	+	8.46
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	14018634	65.31	+	7.96
Southern Copp*	PCU	8482202	116.43	+	7.11
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	18510455	59.45	+	4.42
Fording C C T*	FDG	7790080	38.36	+	4.00
AngloGold Ash*	AU	9994068	44.79	–	3.60
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	319925	99.09	–	2.40
North Am Pall*	PAL	5593055	4.04	–	0.95
Banro Res*	BAA	52100	11.21	–	0.79
Gammon Gold*	GRS	4949905	8.12	–	0.64
Westmoreland*	WLB	194900	15.387	–	0.623
Gold Fields*	GFI	27379130	15.99	–	0.53
Alexco Res*	AXU	329350	4.45	–	0.53
Mesabi Trust*	MSB	110300	21.59	–	0.46
Allied Nevada*	ANV	50500	6.23	–	0.42

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Vale*	RIO	85630	36.84	34.00	36.18	+	1.28
Freeport McMo*	FCX	49697	109.87	93.78	108.18	+	11.33
Alcoa*	AA	40514	37.97	34.86	37.85	+	2.36
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	35381	80.30	77.80	80.00	+	1.72
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	33576	4.47	4.06	4.39		-0.00
Barrick Gold*	ABX	29523	41.26	38.90	40.67	–	0.41
Goldcorp*	GG	28794	34.48	31.93	33.95	+	1.37
Newmont Mng*	NEM	27504	51.34	49.07	50.83	+	0.93
Gold Fields*	GFI	27379	16.98	15.25	15.99	–	0.53
Golden Star*	GSS	24149	3.20	2.78	3.15	+	0.17