U.S. Markets Jan. 8-14

Weak economic news continued to cause uncertainty in the financial markets and hint of a new interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s next meeting at the end of January. Despite the prevailing gloom, however, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 189.08 points to close at 12,778.15 during the Jan. 8-14 trading session, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 26.06 points to close at 1,416.25.

Gold miners reaped the rewards of record gold prices. Gold finished the trading session on Jan. 14 at US$901.90 per oz., up from its US$877.50 close on Jan. 8. The Amex Gold Bugs Index lifted 26.88 points to 480.99 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index gained 8.63 points to close at 197.23.

Shares of Toronto-based Barrick Gold rose US$4.24 to US$51.48, while Newmont Mining climbed US$4.70 to US$56.22 and Goldcorp picked up US$1.18 to US$38.38. Other winners included Kinross Gold, which increased US$3.03 to US$23.41, and Gold Fields, which was up US$1.82 to US$17.55.

With silver reaching a 27-year peak of US$16.58 per oz. on Jan. 14, shares of Coeur d’Alene Mines were up US80 to US$5.06. The company has one of the largest silver mines in the U.S., and is also a significant gold producer. Evolving Gold, meanwhile, a small-cap gold exploration company working in the southwestern United States, particularly in Nevada, jumped 31.8% to US$1.33. The company signed an exploration lease and sublease agreement with heavyweight Newmont Mining in early December on certain Carlin-trend properties in Nevada.

It was a mixed bag in the energy sector, however, with Consol Energy, a producer of coal, gas and electricity that produces high-Btu coal and gas from reserves mainly east of the Mississippi River, reversing last week’s lame performance and rising US$4.59 to US$68.92. China’s Yanzhou Coal was up US$9.85 to US$105.45. But St. Louis-Mo.-based Arch Coal slid US$1.07 to US$39.72, and Foundation Coal Holdings slipped US96 to US$50.96. Small-cap Puda Coal, meanwhile, dropped 15.8% to US73. Puda, one of the largest non-state-owned coal washing processors in Shanxi province, is a leading supplier of China’s premium grade coking coal for the steel industry.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	290	0.014	0.01	0.014	+	55.5
Beeston Ent*	BESE	290	0.26	0.17	0.26	+	36.8
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	82	1.33	0.97	1.33	+	31.8
Clifton Mng*	CFTN	205	0.42	0.32	0.395	+	31.6
Geocom Res*	GOCM	269	0.181	0.145	0.181	+	24.8
Randgold Res*	GOLD	5917	46.85	38.33	46.38	+	24.5
Orezone Res*	OZN	2116	1.66	1.28	1.57	+	23.6
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	27	0.32	0.28	0.32	+	23.0
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	2589	10.30	8.30	10.01	+	21.4
Intl Royalty*	ROY	1910	6.59	5.26	6.59	+	21.1
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	157	1.84	1.18	1.288	–	25.8
GoldMountain*	GMEX	403	0.095	0.07	0.075	–	21.0
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	870	0.61	0.496	0.497	–	17.1
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	15	0.28	0.25	0.25	–	16.6
Augusta Res*	AZC	129	4.01	3.17	3.33	–	16.3
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	653	0.73	0.60	0.62	–	16.2
Puda Coal*	PUDC	1119	0.89	0.71	0.733	–	15.8
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	77	0.46	0.30	0.38	–	15.1
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	256	0.431	0.343	0.346	–	13.5
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	182	0.12	0.08	0.10	–	13.0

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Mosaic*	MOS	41086597	109.54	+	15.54
Potash C Sask*	POT	32220917	150.12	+	10.71
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	584864	105.45	+	9.85
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	397865	174.93	+	9.65
Randgold Res*	GOLD	5917378	46.38	+	9.15
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	452900	83.51	+	5.74
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1179496	407.70	+	5.38
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	5780769	94.77	+	4.89
Newmont Mng*	NEM	55436991	56.22	+	4.70
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	14845995	68.92	+	4.59
Seabridge Gld*	SA	3567284	26.91	–	4.04
Harry Winston*	HWD	155900	28.49	–	2.57
Southern Copp*	PCU	11012863	99.27	–	1.34
Westmoreland*	WLB	263350	12.35	–	1.31
Arch Coal*	ACI	16203591	39.72	–	1.07
Cameco Corp*	CCJ	11779692	39.43	–	1.03
Agrium*	AGU	7238500	70.14	–	0.98
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	4522869	50.96	–	0.96
Gammon Gold*	GRS	4858007	8.00	–	0.80
Augusta Res*	AZC	128800	3.33	–	0.65

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Vale*	RIO	119036	33.17	30.63	32.30	+	0.77
Alcoa*	AA	98605	33.55	30.13	32.90	–	0.21
Barrick Gold*	ABX	81972	52.60	48.05	51.48	+	4.24
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	67404	5.10	4.45	5.06	+	0.80
Freeport McMo*	FCX	62284	99.04	92.18	98.11	+	3.09
Newmont Mng*	NEM	55437	57.37	51.73	56.22	+	4.70
Gold Fields*	GFI	48233	18.08	16.61	17.55	+	1.82
Kinross Gold*	KGC	45057	24.05	20.70	23.41	+	3.03
Goldcorp*	GG	45056	39.94	36.20	38.38	+	1.18
Mosaic*	MOS	41087	110.20	80.00	109.54	+	15.54