U.S. Markets Jan. 29 -Feb. 4

Dismal economic news continued to spook the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, which trimmed its benchmarkovernight lending rate by another half a percentage point on Jan. 30 to prevent the economy from slipping into a recession. Despite slower economic growth, credit market turmoil and housing woes, U.S. equity markets posted slightly healthier gains during the Jan. 29-Feb. 4 trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 154.86 points to close at 12,635.16 during the period, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index inched up 18.52 points to close at 1,380.82.

The most actively traded stock was Brazilian iron ore giant Vale, with more than 134 million shares changing hands and closing US$3.51 higher at US$31.31. Barrick Gold was the second, with nearly 65 million shares traded. The company saw its shares drop US$4.22 to close at US$49.35.

Barrick wasn’t the only gold company to fare poorly, however. The entire sector was hit: the Amex Gold Bugs Index dropped 26.88 points to 438.93, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index fell 7.11 points to close at 180.24, and the price of gold fell US$22 to US$904.90 per oz. Newmont Mining nose-dived US$4.31 to US$50.91; Seabridge Gold sank US$3.72 to US$23.12; Agnico-Eagle Mines dropped US$2.95 to US$60.41; and Randgold Resources gave way US$2.82 to US$44.19.

The standout performer this week was Rio Tinto, which soared US$62.21 to US$432.16. State-owned miner Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, teamed up with Alcoa to buy a US$14-billion stake in Rio Tinto, or 12% of the company. Reuters news agency reported that Chinalco described the purchase as “a strategic

investment” and that it “had no plans to interfere in Rio’s management.”

Chinalco has made Rio more expensive, however, which isn’t great news for BHP Billiton’s US$120-billion bid for the company. Chinalco paid 60 a share, a 21% premium to

Rio’s London share price on Jan. 31.

Nonetheless, BHP’s stock climbed US$7.88 to close at US$72.48. On Jan. 30, BHP announced an agreement to supply China’s leading steelmaker, Baoshan Iron & Steel, with an additional 94 million tonnes of iron ore.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	( 000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	134873 32.25	27.65	31.31	+ 3.51
Barrick Gold* ABX	64982 54.00	48.49	49.35	– 4.22
Freeport McMo* FCX	62179 93.70	83.95	91.18	+ 5.88
Alcoa* AA	58075 34.85	31.57	34.08	+ 2.61
Gold Fields* GFI	51061 15.56	13.46	13.84	– 1.21
Newmont Mng* NEM	45903 56.89	50.89	50.91	– 4.31
Goldcorp* GG	42696 39.40	35.50	36.21	– 2.17
Coeur d Alene* CDE	41351 4.71	4.40	4.42	– 0.20
Potash C Sask* POT	38404 145.44	129.50	145.00	+ 5.46
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	38188 60.00	48.47	55.22	– 4.08

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		( 000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Apolo Gold*	APLL	4165	0.085	0.037	0.072	+ 94.5
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	28628	0.20	0.11	0.19	+ 84.4
Pac Gold*	PCFG	4311	0.10	0.046	0.087	+ 74.0
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	1189	0.018	0.01	0.018	+ 63.6
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	134	1.75	1.062	1.55	+ 62.9
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	39	0.32	0.21	0.32	+ 39.1
Stillwater Mg*	SWC	11134	13.60	9.84	13.44	+ 31.6
Westmoreland*	WLB	272	15.306	11.19	14.65	+ 29.7
Little Squaw*	LITS	111	0.84	0.70	0.81	+ 19.1
Intl Tower Hi*	THM	193	2.40	1.70	2.11	+ 17.8
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	250	0.38	0.24	0.25	– 37.5
Uranium Star*	URST	586	0.19	0.12	0.12	– 36.8
FinMetal Mng*	FNMM	675	0.20	0.115	0.115	– 32.3
HE- 5 Res*	HRRN	276	0.08	0.045	0.06	– 29.4
Tara Gold*	TRGD	1003	0.48	0.35	0.37	– 19.5
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	207	0.17	0.12	0.13	– 18.7
GoldMountain*	GMEX	72	0.075	0.06	0.065	– 18.7
Puda Coal*	PUDC	1316	0.74	0.55	0.58	– 17.7
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	558	0.03	0.027	0.027	– 15.6
Gemini Expl*	GXPI	1232	0.109	0.075	0.093	– 14.6

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	2753468	432.16	+ 62.21
Southern Copp* PCU	12628684	98.44	+ 12.35
Soc Quim& M Ch* SQM	340477	177.43	+ 12.20
BHP Billi- BHP* BHP	26528413	72.48	+ 7.88
BHP Billi- BBL* BBL	2957193	64.15	+ 7.60
Freeport McMo* FCX	62179052	91.18	+ 5.88
Mosaic* MOS	26014822	98.45	+ 5.75
Potash C Sask* POT	38403869	145.00	+ 5.46
Fording C C T* FDG	8542999	48.54	+ 5.33
Arch Coal* ACI	26226724	48.31	+ 5.15
Newmont Mng* NEM	45903144	50.91	– 4.31
Barrick Gold* ABX	64982117	49.35	– 4.22
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	38187578	55.22	– 4.08
Seabridge Gld* SA	1709540	2 3.12	– 3.72
Gold Mnrs ETF* GDX	17488051	48.15	– 3.06
Agnico- Eagle* AEM	13958692	60.41	– 2.95
Randgold Res* GOLD	5987203	44.19	– 2.82
Royal Gold* RGLD	2680373	28.57	– 2.78
Lihir Gold* LIHR	801363	31.85	– 2.31
Goldcorp* GG	42696072	36.21	– 2.17