U.S. Markets December 5-11

Amidst talk of a slowing, but still growing U.S. economy, the markets were fairly stable during the Dec. 5-11 trading session, showing slight drops across the board after larger gains the previous week.

The NASDAQ dropped 5.53 points to 2,442.86 and angered some companies when it announced plans to raise listing fees to US$30,000-US$95,000 from US$24,500-US$75,000. Public relations newswire companies also raised antitrust concerns because the proposal includes increasing PR services for its 3,200 listed companies. The proposal is being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Dow Jones increased by 44.63 points to 12,328.48 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 3.92 points to 1,413.04.

After seeing increases of more than a dollar in the previous week, big gold companies in the U.S. were steady. Shares in Newmont Mining grew 12 to US$47.31; AngloGold Ashanti lost US$1.10, closing at US$46.81; and Gold Fields dropped US$1.26, bringing the stock’s price to US$18.16.

Juniors dropped as well, with Apex Silver down US78 at US$16.57, Metalline Mining off US14 at US$4.21 and Liberty Star Gold giving up US14.9 to close at US61.1 per share.

The big metals companies all saw losses except Phelps Dodge, which climbed US72 to US$122.87. Anglo American inched down US3 closing at US$23.79, Rio Tinto slid US$4.98 to US$214.80 and BHP Billiton closed US$1.62 lower at US$37.14.

Fording Canadian Coal Trust got a US$2.26 boost to US$23.22 per share, while Peabody Energy lost US18, closing at US$46.87 and Massey Energy fell US51 to US$27.14.

Equitable Mining topped the most-active list with 25.7 million shares changing hands, the penny stock dipping by more than half a penny to close at US1.1. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was second with 22.7 million shares traded, adding a heftier US89 to close at US$29.47. Goldcorp also saw some action with 18.8 shares traded, though it lost US$1.62 to close at US$29.56.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Centrl Minera*	CENMF	16	0.10	0.05	0.10	+100.0
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	1573	1.98	1.39	1.87	+30.2
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	59	0.19	0.11	0.19	+26.6
Great China M*	GCHA	588	0.20	0.145	0.19	+18.7
Miranda Gold*	MRDDF	357	1.65	1.38	1.60	+18.5
Grand Cen Sil*	GSLM	72	1.30	1.12	1.30	+18.1
Capital Gold*	CGLD	1758	0.365	0.31	0.36	+15.3
Canyon Res*	CAU	877	1.02	0.87	1.01	+13.4
Konigsberg*	KGBC	395	0.40	0.33	0.35	+12.9
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	53	0.62	0.55	0.62	+12.7
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	25713	0.018	0.008	0.011	-35.2
World Vent*	WVNTF	187	0.13	0.11	0.11	-31.2
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	502	0.68	0.45	0.56	-22.2
Trend Mng*	TRDM	1270	0.17	0.11	0.125	-21.8
Gemco Mnls*	GMML	126	0.173	0.13	0.173	-21.0
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	907	0.053	0.035	0.04	-20.0
Liberty Star*	LBTS	1150	0.77	0.61	0.611	-19.6
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	2470	0.113	0.083	0.099	-18.8
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	16411	1.04	0.84	0.89	-18.3
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	398	4.75	3.85	3.89	-16.8

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Fording C C T*	FDG	5435000	23.22	+2.26
Southern Peru*	PCU	4627900	57.65	+2.15
OM Group*	OMG	3428300	48.55	+1.05
Mosaic*	MOS	5740100	22.63	+1.00
NACCO Ind*	NC	34900	149.50	+0.90
CVRD*	RIO	22737300	29.47	+0.89
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	5060700	10.44	+0.85
Gammon Lk Res*	GRS	626100	16.57	+0.75
Phelps Dodge*	PD	12311800	122.87	+0.72
Alcan*	AL	4349400	50.39	+0.57
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1523800	214.80	-4.98
Potash C Sask*	POT	1577500	140.59	-3.31
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	8143600	42.44	-2.55
Goldcorp*	GG	18812300	29.56	-1.62
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	176800	37.14	-1.62
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	263800	63.16	-1.59
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	5380700	62.57	-1.55
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	9623700	40.40	-1.44
Gold Mnrs ETF*	GDX	916600	40.81	-1.28
Gold Fields*	GFI	6925200	18.16	-1.26

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	25713	0.018	0.008	0.011	-0.006
CVRD*	RIO	22737	29.80	28.65	29.47	+0.89
Goldcorp*	GG	18812	31.47	28.95	29.56	-1.62
Newmont Mng*	NEM	17161	47.80	46.43	47.31	+0.12
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	16411	1.04	0.84	0.89	-0.20
Alcoa*	AA	15138	31.30	30.55	31.05	-0.13
Freeport McMo*	FCX	14639	62.62	60.98	61.35	+0.42
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	13173	48.59	46.09	46.87	-0.18
Silverado*	SLGLF	12877	0.074	0.067	0.068	-0.003
Phelps Dodge*	PD	12312	124.75	121.20	122.87	+0.72