U.S. Markets, March 4-8

U.S. stocks ended in positive territory during the trading week, helped by strong jobs data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a historic week, closing at a record high of 14,397.07, up 2.2%, or 307.41 points. The broader S&P 500 Index advanced 2.2%, or 32.98 points to 1,551.18, approaching the 1,565-point high it reached in October 2007. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.4%, or 74.63 points, to 3,244.37. The spot price of gold tacked on US$2.40 per oz. to US$1,579.20, off 5% from last year’s close.

For the year to date, the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq jumped 9.9%, 8.8% and 7.5%.

The U.S. Department of Labor showed that employers created 236,000 jobs in February, sailing past expectations, while the unemployment rate fell from 7.9% to 7.7% — the lowest since December 2008.

Rare Element Resources, one of the week’s top percentage gainers, climbed 21% to US$2.57 per share after announcing that bench-scale metallurgical tests improved recoveries of rare earth elements and concentrate grades from 45% to over 90%. The junior is advancing the Bear Lodge rare-earth property in Wyoming, where final results from the new metallurgical process will be incorporated into an upcoming feasibility study.

Vista Gold rose 20% to US$2.17 following a positive preliminary economic assessment for the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold-silver project in Sinaloa, Mexico. The project is envisioned as a 1,500-tonne-per-day open-pit mine, generating a total payable production of 327,681 oz. gold and 4.39 million oz. silver over an 11-year mine life. Initial costs are estimated at US$89 million. The project has an after-tax net present value of US$57.3 million and a 21% internal rate of return at an 8% discount rate. Payback is expected in 3.6 years.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was the most actively traded stock, with 82.6 million shares changing hands. It recently sold US$6.5 billion of senior notes, generating net proceeds of US$6.4 billion. This will be used along with net proceeds of the company’s US$4-billion term loan to fund the acquisitions of Plains Exploration and Production and McMoRan Exploration , expected to close in the second quarter. The stock added US$1.79 to US$33.28.

U.S. most active issues

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Freeport McMo*	FCX	82620	33.49	30.72	33.28	+	1.79
Alcoa*	AA	79624	8.7	8.3	8.61	+	0.17
Hecla Mining*	HL	59713	4.39	3.99	4.25	–	0.39
Kinross Gold*	KGC	57757	8.04	7.48	7.92	+	0.25
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	57073	8.77	7.37	8.58	+	0.9
Barrick Gold*	ABX	56766	30.1	28.31	28.91	–	0.49
Arch Coal*	ACI	52604	5.5	4.89	5.34	+	0.44
Cliffs Nat Rs*	CLF	48031	25.38	23.56	24.73	–	0.52
Newmont Mng*	NEM	45687	40.88	38.5	39.25	–	0.37
Goldcorp*	GG	38794	33.74	31.85	32.62	+	0.1

U.S. greatest percentage change

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Goldfield*	GV	7081	4.43	3.53	4.39	+	21.6
Rare Elemt Re*	REE	2908	2.85	2	2.57	+	20.6
Vista Gold*	VGZ	3006	2.2	1.65	2.17	+	19.8
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	226	0.22	0.16	0.21	+	19.3
Tanz Roy Exp*	TRX	2146	3.77	3.11	3.77	+	17
Timmins Gold*	TGD	1224	2.75	2.09	2.57	+	15.7
Midway Gold*	MDW	341	1.28	1.05	1.28	+	15.3
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	35	0.36	0.3	0.36	+	14.5
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	57073	8.77	7.37	8.58	+	11.7
Molycorp*	MCP	37415	6.61	5.73	6.49	+	11.7
Kimber Res*	KBX	1130	0.25	0.19	0.2	–	21.6
Intl Tower Hi*	THM	532	1.6	1.31	1.39	–	12.5
Banro Res*	BAA	4200	2.25	1.69	1.88	–	12.1
Loncor Res*	LON	12	0.58	0.46	0.5	–	9.2
Cardero Res*	CDY	527	0.3	0.26	0.26	–	8.7
Hecla Mining*	HL	59713	4.39	3.99	4.25	–	8.4
Western Coppr*	WRN	327	0.96	0.82	0.89	–	8.2
Solitario Ex&*	XPL	193	1.62	1.42	1.47	–	8.1
Northern Dyn*	NAK	1743	3.12	2.67	2.94	–	5.1
Entree Gold*	EGI	1018	0.42	0.38	0.39	–	4.8

U.S. greatest value change

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Compass Mnls*	CMP	255659	77.34	+	3.84
Freeport McMo*	FCX	82619755	33.28	+	1.79
Mosaic*	MOS	13838221	60.22	+	1.75
Walter Energy*	WLT	2361059	31.66	+	1.52
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	2262544	62.65	+	1.51
Agrium*	AGU	512091	105.88	+	1.49
Consol Energy*	CNX	15754589	32.12	+	1.48
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	34785972	22	+	1.44
Royal Gold*	RGLD	4759595	66.44	+	1.36
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	57072601	8.58	+	0.9
Silver Wheatn*	SLW	26557845	30.84	–	0.91
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	9945045	39.22	–	0.87
Buenaventura*	BVN	7197842	24.85	–	0.65
Cliffs Nat Rs*	CLF	48030576	24.73	–	0.52
Yamana Gold*	AUY	8494564	14.28	–	0.5
Barrick Gold*	ABX	56766193	28.91	–	0.49
Randgold Res*	GOLD	4253822	80.94	–	0.48
Eldorado Gold*	EGO	4618084	9.51	–	0.46
Alliance Rs P*	ARLP	477455	62.38	–	0.42
Hecla Mining*	HL	59712553	4.25	–	0.39