U.S. markets up and down on mixed news

The theme for the period was competing forces as an upbeat report on U.S. jobless claims was weighed against no progress in budget negotiations connected to the coming fiscal cliff. The tension between the two made for mixed results over the Dec. 3-7 period as the Dow Jones Industrial Average made decent gains of 128 points to 13,155.13 points, the S&P 500 Index made almost no gains and was up just two points to finish the period at 1,418.07, while the Nasdaq was off 22 points to 2,978.04 points.

Investors were reluctant to accept a new move by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. The copper and gold producing senior saw its share price sink on word that it was entering the oil and gas space. The miner plans to acquire both Plains Exploration and McMoRan Exploration in deals that are worth a total of $20 billion. The moves mark a shift of focus into U.S. based oil and gas plays and will offer significant diversification considering the company’s main assets up until now have been its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the Cerro Verde and El Abra mines in South America and Tenke Fungurume in the Congo. Freeport’s share price was off 31% to $30.54 for the period.

Uranium Energy moved in the opposite direction to Freeport, as its share price was up 13% to $2.55 after releasing quarterly results along with some important permitting news. The company said its Goliad project is fully permitted for production and set to help boost production at its Hobson plant in Texas. The quarterly results were less impressive than the permitting news, as the company announced it sold 50,000 lbs. of U3O8 at US$43 per pound and generated revenues of US$2.2 million. Cash costs per pound came in at US$26 excluding royalties. Uranium Energy did, however, finish the quarter with its balance sheet in good shape, as it showed $17.2 million in cash and an inventory of 34,000 lbs of U3O8 available for sale.

Almaden Minerals relied on the drill to get a gain in its market cap. The company saw its stock price makes gains ahead of news that it found a new high grade area at its Tuligtic project in Mexico. The intercept came from an area outside the resource shell on its Main Ixtaca zone and returned 134.2 metres grading 4.1 grams per tonne of gold. Almaden shares were up 12% to $3.09 for the period.

And Gold Reserve didn’t feel any investor love for a debt restructuring. The company announced it will restructure $101.3 million of its $102.3 million total Notes for $33.8 million in cash, $42.2 million in equity and $25.3 million in new two-year Modified Notes. The company’s shares were off 18% to $2.70 for the period.