U.S. Markets Jan. 30-Feb. 5

Equity markets south of the line found some strength in macroeconomic news during the reporting period Jan. 30-Feb. 5. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 26.37 points to 1,446.99, for a gain of 1.8%, with the Dow Jones not far behind; reports of 3.5% annualized growth in the United States economy during the last quarter of 2006, and an announcement from the Federal Reserve that it would be standing pat on interest rates both bolstered stock prices.

Both the golds and the base metals stocks had good weeks. The measure in the gold equity market was the Amex Gold Bugs index, which was up 2.6%, or 8.45 points, to 333.54. Newmont Mining rose US83 to US$44.71, AngloGold Ashanti was up US66 to US$46.83, and Gold Fields shook off dilution blues to rise US65 to US$16.87, even though the week’s trading saw a 52-week low of US$15.85. The company’s financing was fully subscribed and the book runners took up an over-allotment option. Gold Fields will issue almost 91 million shares to raise US$1.4 billion and take out at least US$670 million in debt.

There was plenty of strength on the base metals side, even as metal prices were correcting. Spot London copper was down US$291 during the period, to US$5,290 per tonne (US$2.40 per lb.), but that didn’t prevent Southern Copper from trading at a new high of US$64.95, and closing US$3.17 higher at US$63.75. The offshore giants all gained: Rio Tinto was up US$2.44 at US$212.75, BHP Billiton US$1.07 at US$41.18, and Anglo American US34 at US$23.42.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce picked up US$1.57 to finish at US$34.02, as nickel prices rose to US$41,400 per tonne (US$18.78 per lb.) — though one of the main drivers of the nickel price fell away as workers at the Falconbridge operations of Xstrata reached a contract agreement.

Crude oil prices rose — West Texas was at US$58.75 a barrel, up US$4.73 — and that translated into strength in the coal group. The leaders were Consol Energy, up US$2.63 at US$35.95, Arch Coal, up US$2.21 at US$31.22, and Foundation Coal, up US$2.01 at US$33.81.

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
CVRD*	RIO	21929	34.67	32.06	34.02	+1.57
Freeport McMo*	FCX	19719	58.05	54.23	54.56	-0.53
Silverado*	SLGLF	19156	0.104	0.088	0.093	-0.007
Goldcorp*	GG	18803	28.48	26.88	27.38	+0.47
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	18384	0.01	0.006	0.007	-0.002
Alcoa*	AA	17892	32.92	31.89	32.56	+0.93
Gold Fields*	GFI	16210	17.20	15.85	16.87	+0.65
Newmont Mng*	NEM	15979	45.89	44.05	44.71	+0.83
Golden Eagle*	MYNG	14907	0.009	0.007	0.009	0.00
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	12581	42.50	39.94	41.57	+1.58

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Gold Reserve*	GRZ	396	5.18	3.41	5.01	+44.8
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	518	0.565	0.388	0.565	+41.2
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	6380	0.142	0.094	0.142	+36.5
Halo Res*	HLOSF	75	0.50	0.401	0.45	+36.3
Michigan Gold*	MGGV	372	0.004	0.002	0.004	+33.3
Apollo Gold*	AGT	357	0.62	0.47	0.61	+27.0
IMA Expl*	IMR	59	0.68	0.55	0.68	+21.4
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	37	0.451	0.389	0.445	+19.6
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	19	0.119	0.10	0.119	+19.0
Liberty Star*	LBTS	816	0.64	0.50	0.64	+16.7
Global Gold*	GBGD	29	0.82	0.60	0.65	-27.7
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	18384	0.01	0.006	0.007	-22.2
Sao Luis Mng*	SAOL	428	0.63	0.46	0.50	-17.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	1352	1.38	1.08	1.16	-15.9
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	930	0.007	0.005	0.006	-14.2
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	460	1.49	1.33	1.33	-10.7
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	479	0.28	0.25	0.25	-10.3
Queenstake Rs*	QEE	1131	0.21	0.18	0.18	-10.0
HuntMountain*	HNTM	13	0.66	0.60	0.60	-9.7
Pac Gold*	PCFG	1030	0.21	0.18	0.19	-9.5

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	136600	138.25	+6.25
NACCO Ind*	NC	74800	143.25	+3.62
Southern Peru*	PCU	9211400	63.75	+3.17
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	9057700	35.95	+2.63
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1492400	212.75	+2.44
Arch Coal*	ACI	11801600	31.22	+2.21
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	3538100	33.81	+2.01
Cabot Corp*	CBT	1161200	45.55	+1.94
Seabridge Gld*	SA	343100	13.10	+1.86
Meridian Gold*	MDG	2639500	29.37	+1.77
Potash C Sask*	POT	5074400	150.06	-4.65
Lundin Mng*	LMC	350200	31.81	-2.60
Mesabi Trust*	MSB	356000	22.83	-1.60
Mosaic*	MOS	9084100	20.14	-0.67
Freeport McMo*	FCX	19719300	54.56	-0.53
Tanz Roy Exp*	TRE	841700	5.15	-0.44
Global Gold*	GBGD	29250	0.65	-0.25
Peru Copper*	CUP	688600	4.03	-0.24
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	1352424	1.16	-0.22
Harmony Gold*	HMY	6981900	13.05	-0.21