U. S. Markets – March 3-9

In a CNBC television interview on March 9, Warren Buffet said the U. S. economy had “fallen off a cliff” and argued Washington needed to wage an “economic war” to fix it and restore confidence in the banking system. The billionaire’s grim description of the U. S. economy followed more bad news during the March 3-9 reporting period: The U. S. unemployment rate climbed to a 25-year high of 8.1% in February after employers cut a total of 651,000 jobs, and the lengthening recession saw auto sales plunge more than 40% in the same month to a near 30-year low. According to a new study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank, the global financial crisis slashed the value of financial assets worldwide last year by US$50 trillion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 178.97 points, or 2.7%, to close the March 3-9 reporting period at 6,547.05, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 19.8 points, or 2.8%, to 676.53 points.

Precious metals indices fared slightly better than in the previous reporting period, however. The Amex Gold Bugs index rose 1.12 points, or 0.4%, to close at 275.82 points, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index gained 2.04 points or 1.8% to close at 115.5 points. The spot price for gold advanced from US$915.80 per oz. to US$921.50 per oz. The best-performing gold companies included Randgold Resources, which rose US$3.35 to US$46.82 per share, Agnico-Eagle Mines, which increased US$2.04 to $48.26 per share, and AngloGold Ashanti, which gained US$1.87 to US$30.36 per share.

Rio Tinto rose US$4.23 to close at $96.14 per share with the announcement of yet another asset sale. On March 9, the mining giant said it was selling its Jacobs Ranch coal mine in Wyoming’s Powder River basin to U. S. coal giant Arch Coal for US$761 million in cash. The sale follows a recent US$19-billion cash infusion from Chinese state-owned Aluminum Corp. of China.

The world’s largest publicly traded copper company, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, also experienced an upturn, gaining US$5.83 per share to US$32.32 on no news, while BHP Billiton vaulted US$3.45 to US$32.04 per share, also on no news.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	231821	14.06	11.86	12.52	+ 0.58
Alcoa* AA	178981	6.40	4.97	5.39	-0.10
Freeport McMo*FCX	160260	34.42	27.15	32.32	+ 5.83
PotashCSask*POT	91441	81.49	63.65	69.31	– 5.33
Barrick Gold* ABX	81467	30.06	26.83	27.96	-0.02
Goldcorp* GG	67053	30.85	26.17	28.23	+ 1.29
Mosaic* MOS	54236	44.40	37.75	40.35	+ 2.63
Gold Fields* GFI	52647	11.53	8.91	11.05	+ 1.76
Newmont Mng* NEM	51728	41.08	37.14	37.79	+ 0.01

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Paramount Gld*	PZG	781	0.93	0.50	0.88	+ 60.0
Lundin Mng*	LMC	3256	0.89	0.56	0.88	+ 54.3
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	47	0.15	0.10	0.15	+ 50.0
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	100	0.10	0.08	0.10	+ 42.8
Freeport McMo*	FCX	160260	34.42	27.15	32.32	+ 22.0
Capital Gold*	CGLD	3625	0.64	0.50	0.64	+ 20.7
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	52	0.06	0.04	0.06	+ 20.0
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	2321	0.38	0.19	0.24	+ 20.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	315	0.15	0.10	0.12	+ 20.0
Gold Fields*	GFI	52647	11.53	8.91	11.05	+ 18.9
Apolo Gold*	APLL	54	0.02	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Elray Res*	ELRA	50	0.15	0.05	0.10	-37.5
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	8520	1.67	1.09	1.11	-26.0
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	104	0.07	0.06	0.06	-25.0
Harry Winston*	HWD	184	2.43	1.71	1.72	-22.8
Intrepid Pots*	IPI	2776	21.10	14.00	15.44	-22.0
Alumina Inc*	AWC	6228	2.93	2.20	2.26	-20.4
AmMex Gold*	AMXG	72	0.04	0.02	0.04	-20.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	60	0.25	0.20	0.20	-20.0
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	60	0.12	0.08	0.09	-18.1

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Freeport McMo* FCX	160260407	32.32	+ 5.83
Rio Tinto* RTP	4772075	96.14	+ 4.23
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	9796593	32.04	+ 3.45
Randgold Res* GOLD	6083369	46.82	+ 3.35
Agrium* AGU	4118400	32.58	+ 2.79
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	37263632	36.35	+ 2.79
Mosaic* MOS	54236211	40.35	+ 2.63
CONSOL Energy* CNX	29525053	24.88	+ 2.30
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	25106712	48.26	+ 2.04
AngloGold Ash* AU	15054124	30.36	+ 1.87
Potash C Sask* POT	91440928	69.31	-5.33
Intrepid Pots* IPI	2776400	15.44	-4.37
Soc Quim&M Ch*SQM	6838477	23.84	-2.92
Lihir Gold* LIHR	1702853	19.15	-1.76
Cabot Corp* CBT	2721683	8.04	-1.52
Silver Std Re* SSRI	6218083	12.68	-1.20
MDU Res* MDU	7324872	13.04	-0.95
Mesabi Trust* MSB	900423	5.30	-0.95
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	581912	44.64	-0.79
Alumina Inc* AWC	6228276	2.26	-0.58