U.S. MARKETS -November 1-5

Gold, commodities and equities surged after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Nov. 3 that it will buy US$600 billion in government bonds to help buoy the economy. The U.S. central bank will buy about US$75 billion in longer-term Treasury bonds per month through the end of June 2011. Concerns about the greenback and inflation pushed gold prices to within a few dollars of US$1,400 per oz. before closing in New York on Nov. 5 at US$1,394.10 per oz. Gold gained 2.52% or US$34.30 per oz. over the Nov. 1-5 trading week. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 2.93% or 325.59 points to close at 11,444.08, while the S&P 500 index jumped 3.60% or 42.59 points to 1,225.85.

Twenty-six companies on the New York Stock Exchange reached new 52-week highs.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold led the way in value gains, climbing US$10.05 to US$104.84. Freeport was the third most-actively traded stock, on no news. In late October, the Democratic Republic of the Congo government completed a review of its Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt project and confirmed its contracts are in good standing.

With silver prices tracking gold prices and reaching a 30-year high of US$26.89 per oz., Silver Wheaton shares jumped US$4.20 to US$32.95, hitting a new high.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, the second most-actively traded stock, slipped US$4.03 per share to US$141.06 following the Canadian government’s rejection of BHP Billiton’s US$39-billion hostile takeover of the company. Industry Minister Tony Clement said the deal did not represent a net benefit to Canada but left open the possibility of an improved bid from BHP, saying a final decision would not be made for another 30 days.

By contrast, BHP Billiton shares climbed US$9.56 to US$92.14, the second-largest value gain of the week.

Taseko Mines shares lost US$1.64 to close at US$4.67 apiece. The Canadian government blocked the company from developing an open-pit mine at its Prosperity copper-gold project in central British Columbia. The federal ruling, citing “concerns about significant adverse environmental effects,” overruled the provincial government’s support for the $815-million project.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	117812 14.08	12.95	14.00	+ 0.89
Potash C Sask* POT	72250 148.78	139.37	141.06	-4.03
Freeport McMo* FCX	61913 107.07	95.01	104.84	+ 10.05
Hecla Mining* HL	59203 8.20	6.68	7.93	+ 1.04
Taseko Mines* TGB	56591 6.62	4.31	4.67	-1.64
Silverado* SLGLF	55464 0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Barrick Gold* ABX	48653 50.07	47.63	49.21	+ 1.12
Silver Wheatn* SLW	48584 33.63	28.70	32.95	+ 4.20
Newmont Mng* NEM	39663 61.95	57.90	61.62	+ 0.76
NovaGold Res* NG	37345 13.48	11.20	13.36	+ 2.14

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	2005	0.08	0.05	0.06	+ 50.0
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	9521	3.36	2.26	3.21	+ 43.3
Puda Coal*	PUDA	207	11.99	8.60	11.99	+ 36.1
Uranium Res*	URRE	21712	1.90	1.25	1.75	+ 34.6
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	3173	1.22	0.82	1.07	+ 28.9
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	1346	0.65	0.45	0.63	+ 28.5
Silvercorp Mt*	SVM	2617	12.34	9.46	11.89	+ 27.1
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	665	2.92	2.13	2.82	+ 25.3
Minco Gold*	MGH	2860	1.56	1.17	1.46	+ 23.7
Endeavr Silvr*	EXK	870	6.00	4.63	5.87	+ 20.0
Elray Res*	ELRA	3079	0.03	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	40	0.03	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Taseko Mines*	TGB	56591	6.62	4.31	4.67	-25.9
Habanero Res*	HBNRF	84	0.10	0.08	0.08	-20.0
Tri-Valley*	TIV	530	0.78	0.62	0.66	-10.8
Lake Vict Mng*	LVCA	506	0.46	0.36	0.40	-9.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	1674	0.32	0.20	0.21	-8.7
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	660	0.50	0.42	0.44	-8.3
Constittn Mng*	CMIN	1510	0.30	0.26	0.27	-6.9
Rare Elemt Re*	REE	20232	11.43	9.67	10.69	-5.9

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Freeport McMo*	FCX	61913352	104.84	+ 10.05
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	18087129	92.14	+ 9.56
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	9396379	79.94	+ 9.14
Cliffs Nat Rs*	CLF	18045792	71.10	+ 5.90
OM Group*	OMG	1313732	38.40	+ 5.13
Teck B*	TCK	16347911	49.72	+ 4.98
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	23671612	57.75	+ 4.93
Massey Energy*	MEE	36544361	46.94	+ 4.87
Silver Wheatn*	SLW	48583838	32.95	+ 4.20
Arch Coal*	ACI	25650126	28.30	+ 3.71
Potash C Sask*	POT	72250352	141.06	-4.03
Agrium*	AGU	2475704	85.15	-3.36
Mosaic*	MOS	19356861	70.78	-2.33
Intrepid Pots*	IPI	1922501	32.38	-1.95
Taseko Mines*	TGB	56590699	4.67	-1.64
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	21261574	44.45	-0.72
Rare Elemt Re*	REE	20232197	10.69	-0.67
Tri-Valley*	TIV	530353	0.66	-0.08
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	659983	0.44	-0.04
Lake Vict Mng*	LVCA	505781	0.40	-0.04