The U.S. markets were troubled over the Oct. 16-22 trading period as renewed credit concerns, less than impressive corporate earnings and rising oil prices rattled investors. The trading period was overcast with rising mortgage delinquencies and mostly negative results from banks struggling with difficult credit markets. Worries about a deepening housing slump were revived on Oct. 18 with a dour report showing that groundbreaking for new U.S. homes and permits for future building hit a 14-year low in September.
On Friday, Oct. 19 — the 20th anniversary of the Black Monday stock market crash — the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 366.94 points or 2.64%, to 13,522.02. (The poor showing didn’t compare, however, with Oct. 19, 1987, when the Dow crashed 23% due to concerns about interest rates and economic growth.) The markets recovered on Oct. 22, with Friday’s market retreat creating a buying opportunity for stocks that some investors felt were oversold.
During the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a total of 417.83 points to 13,566.97. The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index fell 42.38 points to close at 1,506.33.
Many of the big base metal miners posted the most dismal results. Rio Tinto’s shares fell US$30.20 to close at US$334.30. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold dropped US$7.17 to close at US$106.73, and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce saw its shares fall US$2.30 apiece to close the week at US$32.73. CVRD was also the most active stock of the week with 121.9 million shares traded. BHP Billiton, meanwhile, fell US$2.26 to US$80.94. Southern Copper struggled, too, dropping US$5.34 a share to close at US$129.80.
Alcoa, America’s largest aluminium producer, was the second most active miner during the trading session. The high flier fell US48 to US$37.73 a share, on a trading volume of 52,385.
Despite a gold market rally that saw the metal’s price soar to its highest level in 27 years, the major gold companies showed lacklustre results. Barrick Gold fell US$2.59 to close at US$40.33 and Newmont Mining dropped US$2.66 a share to end the trading week at US$44.97. Goldcorp was down US$2.17 a share to US$30.91.
The junior gold companies seemed to do a lot better. Evolving Gold scored the highest percentage change during the week, soaring 75% to close at US64.8 a share. Linux Gold shot up 29.4% to close at US22, while Patriot Gold climbed 16.6% to close at US14 a share.
U.S. most active issues
VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
CVRD* | RIO | 121932 | 35.50 | 31.00 | 32.73 | -2.30 |
Alcoa* | AA | 52385 | 38.62 | 36.68 | 37.73 | -0.48 |
Freeport McMo* | FCX | 48770 | 114.10 | 103.35 | 106.73 | -7.17 |
Newmont Mng* | NEM | 43652 | 47.65 | 44.46 | 44.97 | -2.66 |
StreetTr Gold* | GLD | 39337 | 76.29 | 73.78 | 74.60 | -0.54 |
Barrick Gold* | ABX | 36342 | 43.06 | 39.85 | 40.33 | -2.59 |
Goldcorp* | GG | 34416 | 33.20 | 29.50 | 30.91 | -2.17 |
Coeur d Alene* | CDE | 28854 | 3.90 | 3.54 | 3.62 | -0.28 |
Golden Star* | GSS | 25975 | 4.28 | 3.70 | 3.78 | -0.46 |
BHP Billi-BHP* | BHP | 25625 | 85.69 | 78.711 | 80.94 | -2.26 |
U.S. greatest percentage change
VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
Evolving Gold* | EVOGF | 70 | 0.70 | 0.402 | 0.648 | +75.1 |
WorldStar Egy* | WSTR | 18 | 2.00 | 1.01 | 2.00 | +53.8 |
Magnus Intl R* | MGNU | 390 | 0.58 | 0.44 | 0.55 | +30.9 |
Linux Gold* | LNXGF | 2370 | 0.235 | 0.16 | 0.22 | +29.4 |
Silver Dragon* | SDRG | 1998 | 0.71 | 0.47 | 0.68 | +28.3 |
Anooraq Res* | ANO | 7047 | 4.49 | 3.42 | 4.30 | +23.2 |
Shoshone Silv* | SHSH | 371 | 0.34 | 0.24 | 0.30 | +20.0 |
Patriot Gold* | PGOL | 94 | 0.15 | 0.11 | 0.14 | +16.6 |
Douglas Lk Ml* | DLKM | 239 | 0.45 | 0.32 | 0.43 | +16.2 |
Madison Minls* | MMRSF | 246 | 0.48 | 0.34 | 0.40 | +14.2 |
Homeland Pr M* | HPMEF | 22 | 0.22 | 0.16 | 0.17 | -26.0 |
McKenzie Bay* | MKBY | 2110 | 0.045 | 0.025 | 0.039 | -20.4 |
Rubicon Mnls* | RBY | 2039 | 2.25 | 1.74 | 1.83 | -17.9 |
World Vent* | WVNTF | 107 | 0.14 | 0.115 | 0.115 | -17.8 |
Starfield Res* | SRFDF | 562 | 1.69 | 1.39 | 1.39 | -17.3 |
Crosshair E&M* | CXZ | 281 | 2.42 | 1.98 | 2.00 | -17.0 |
Birch Mountn* | BMD | 1593 | 1.92 | 1.33 | 1.58 | -16.4 |
Metalline Mng* | MMG | 129 | 3.55 | 2.85 | 2.95 | -16.1 |
Almaden Mnls* | AAU | 919 | 3.38 | 2.47 | 2.68 | -15.9 |
Raven Gold* | RVNG | 401 | 0.95 | 0.77 | 0.80 | -15.3 |
U.S. greatest value change
VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
Anooraq Res* | ANO | 7047000 | 4.30 | +0.81 |
Fording C C T* | FDG | 2480564 | 40.36 | +0.75 |
WorldStar Egy* | WSTR | 17532 | 2.00 | +0.70 |
Alcan* | AL | 21341700 | 100.91 | +0.45 |
Wealth Minls* | WMLLF | 46520 | 3.42 | +0.375 |
Minefinders* | MFN | 1234500 | 11.75 | +0.34 |
Evolving Gold* | EVOGF | 69513 | 0.648 | +0.278 |
Vista Gold* | VGZ | 2304700 | 5.05 | +0.25 |
Denison Mines* | DNN | 381900 | 11.70 | +0.23 |
Allied Nevada* | ANV | 126400 | 7.11 | +0.22 |
Rio Tinto* | RTP | 2751900 | 334.30 | -30.20 |
Soc Quim&M Ch* | SQM | 266200 | 186.00 | -11.94 |
Freeport McMo* | FCX | 48769699 | 106.73 | -7.17 |
Yanzhou Coal* | YZC | 1109400 | 101.07 | -5.71 |
Southern Copp* | PCU | 10426974 | 129.80 | -5.34 |
Cleveland-Cli* | CLF | 6824400 | 95.53 | -5.18 |
Teck Comin B* | TCK | 4445400 | 47.22 | -4.43 |
ASA (Bermuda)* | ASA | 329900 | 72.72 | -4.04 |
Royal Gold* | RGLD | 2134015 | 30.59 | -3.73 |
Buenaventura* | BVN | 2617600 | 51.02 | -3.67 |
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