U.S. Markets January 23-29

Even though Jan. 25 produced a record high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stock markets in the United States were directionless during the trading period Jan. 23-29. The Dow finished at 12,490.78, up 13.62 points or about a tenth of a per cent, after five trading days, and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell slightly.

The mining stocks, however, bounced back after a couple of dismal weeks. Gold equity indexes rose strongly — the Amex Gold Bugs index was up 3.2% at 325.09 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index up 3% at 136.10 — and the base metal producers made gains, too.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was the most actively traded of the big miners, and rose US$1.83 to US$32.45 on a volume of 33 million shares. London nickel prices have spiked to US$40,995 per tonne (US$18.60 per lb.) on fears of a strike at Xstrata’s Falconbridge operation in Sudbury, Ont. CVRD also announced that Inco’s chief executive Scott Hand and chief financial officer Robert Davies were stepping down; CVRD Inco’s new president is Murilo Ferreira and the new keeper of the beans is Leonardo Moretzsohn.

Freeport-McMoRan was US$2.34 higher at US$55.09, while Phelps Dodge rose US$2.77 to US$121.45. That brought the implied price of Freeport’s offer for Phelps Dodge to US$124.91, a difference of US$3.46.

Newmont Mining was up US82 to US$43.88 and AngloGold Ashanti US89 to US$46.17, while Gold Fields fell US67 to US$16.22, touching a 52-week low at US$15.96. Gold Fields announced a US$1.2-billion financing with South African institutional investors to clear off debt and to pay for a US$528-million cancellation of the hedge book it inherited in its takeover of Western Areas. That hedge position, which was US$383 million under water and which also entailed foregone premiums of US$157 million, was a “crippling liability” for the South Deeps mine, where Gold Fields is now the sole owner.

Even though the white metals weren’t showing particular price strength, both Anglo American Platinum and Stillwater Mining made nice gains. Amplats rose US20 to US$124.40, with a 52-week high of US$126 during the period, and Stillwater added US$1.37 to finish at US$12.54.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	15592	0.009	0.006	0.009	+50.0
Tornado Gold*	TOGI	835	0.32	0.22	0.32	+39.1
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	87	0.10	0.08	0.10	+25.0
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	741	3.59	3.00	3.55	+19.5
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	310	0.40	0.255	0.33	+17.8
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	1738	0.115	0.075	0.104	+16.8
Trend Mng*	TRDM	552	0.11	0.095	0.105	+16.6
US Antimony*	UAMY	140	0.51	0.44	0.51	+15.9
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	1691	1.385	1.20	1.38	+15.0
Rubicon Mnls*	RBY	88	0.62	0.55	0.62	+14.8
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	191	0.295	0.135	0.135	-54.2
Michigan Gold*	MGGV	2196	0.004	0.002	0.003	-25.0
Homeland Pr M*	HPMEF	73	0.82	0.64	0.67	-16.2
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	153	0.04	0.035	0.035	-14.6
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	379	3.10	2.41	2.59	-13.9
Halo Res*	HLOSF	30	0.42	0.33	0.33	-12.9
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	150	2.199	1.887	1.94	-12.8
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	46	1.25	1.05	1.12	-10.4
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	128	0.51	0.46	0.46	-9.8
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	130	0.797	0.64	0.682	-9.6

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Potash C Sask*	POT	4557700	154.71	+16.39
NACCO Ind*	NC	71500	139.63	+6.63
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1482800	210.31	+6.41
Southern Peru*	PCU	8589300	60.58	+4.70
OM Group*	OMG	1416700	48.21	+4.08
Silver Std Re*	SSRI	2235224	32.92	+3.13
Phelps Dodge*	PD	11283900	121.45	+2.77
Aber Diamond*	ABER	66348	37.29	+2.76
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	110400	132.00	+2.65
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	1932300	52.84	+2.63
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	206200	45.90	-2.94
Cabot Corp*	CBT	1749000	43.61	-1.96
Gold Fields*	GFI	13118500	16.22	-0.67
Westmoreland*	WLB	60300	21.47	-0.59
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	17911200	40.05	-0.57
Seabridge Gld*	SA	232600	11.24	-0.49
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	378500	2.59	-0.42
Alumina Inc*	AWC	246200	19.99	-0.38
Mosaic*	MOS	10692200	20.81	-0.36
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	150490	1.94	-0.285

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Silverado*	SLGLF	33526	0.109	0.095	0.10	+0.005
CVRD*	RIO	32930	33.88	31.11	32.45	+1.83
Freeport McMo*	FCX	24415	58.56	53.11	55.09	+2.34
Goldcorp*	GG	21890	28.16	25.81	26.91	+1.68
Alcoa*	AA	20553	32.28	31.17	31.80	+0.63
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	17911	41.96	38.56	40.05	-0.57
Newmont Mng*	NEM	16847	45.03	43.69	43.88	+0.82
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	15592	0.009	0.006	0.009	+0.003
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	15455	4.59	4.29	4.31	+0.02
Barrick Gold*	ABX	15004	30.10	28.72	29.02	+0.67