U. S. MARKETS AUG. 19-25

Dipping gas prices this month have given consumers a glimmer of hope — despite weak economic growth and higher inflation generally. The Conference Board is backing that up with results from its latest consumer confidence index, which rose to 56.9, up from 51.9 in July, the largest gain since August 2006. “Consumer confidence readings suggest that the economy remains stuck in neutral, but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year,” Lynn Franco, a director at the industry group, said in a statement.

During the Aug 19-25 trading session, The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 37.7 points to close at 11,386.25, while the S&P 500 Index edged up 0.15 points to 1,266.84. The Nasdaq fell 18.77 points to 2,365.59.

Wobbly financial and equity markets remain a top concern, however, and some analysts are predicting more pain ahead.

“The Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac saga and the almost daily litany of bank writeoffs are reminders that many major financial institutions remain vulnerable,” Jeffrey Nichols, a gold analyst and managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors, wrote in a recent e-newsletter to clients. “More bank failures and writeoffs at top financial firms are coming — and there is a growing fear that federal regulators don’t know how to respond to the problems in the financial sector and minimize their impact on the real economy.”

The upside is that a worsening credit crisis will continue to boost investment and hedge demand for gold for quite some time, Nichols contends. “Gold near US$800 per oz. remains vulnerable in the near term to a stronger dollar but is underpinned by rising physical demand in key global markets,” he noted. “Shifting expectations about the European economy, Euro interest rates, and the U. S. dollar/ euro exchange rate will continue to influence gold in the short term. But this should become less important over time as market fundamentals play a more important role and more investors shun both the dollar and the euro in favour of gold.”

The Amex Gold Bugs Index was up 11.58 points to 341.02 during the trading session. Agnico-Eagle Mines jumped US$5.24 to US$56.88, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold climbed US$4.47 to US$87.81.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	122721 27.75	23.90	25.99	+ 1.18
Goldcorp* GG	51889 35.52	29.74	33.50	+ 3.14
Freeport McMo*FCX	49975 94.75	81.65	87.81	+ 4.47
Barrick Gold* ABX	49195 36.47	32.41	34.41	+ 1.40
Alcoa* AA	42614 32.37	30.82	31.42	+ 0.31
CoeurdAlene*CDE	42265 1.97	1.79	1.86	+0.03
PotashCSask* POT	39703186.44	166.31	177.54	+ 7.50
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	39134 68.60	56.54	61.74	+ 4.65
Gold Fields* GFI	37951 9.33	8.54	8.75	+ 0.13
Kinross Gold* KGC	32990 17.45	15.08	16.39	+ 0.98

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Bullion Rvr G*	BLRV	1675	0.06	0.04	0.06	+ 50.0
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	66	0.19	0.16	0.19	+ 46.1
Birch Mountn*	BMD	1273	0.22	0.12	0.20	+ 42.8
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	264	0.86	0.63	0.86	+ 30.3
America West*	AWSR	201	0.36	0.25	0.34	+ 25.9
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	317	0.11	0.07	0.10	+ 25.0
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	411	1.20	0.85	1.20	+ 23.7
Cardero Res*	CDY	150	2.05	1.60	1.98	+ 22.2
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	40	0.45	0.38	0.45	+ 21.6
Capital Gold*	CGLD	1854	0.64	0.54	0.64	+ 20.7
Buckingham Ex*	BUKX	763	0.09	0.03	0.03	-75.0
Gemini Expl*	GXPI	12100	0.04	0.02	0.02	-50.0
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	78	0.15	0.10	0.11	-38.8
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	103	0.15	0.08	0.08	-38.4
Nilam Res*	NILR	1800	0.08	0.04	0.05	-28.5
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	48	0.20	0.15	0.17	-22.7
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	875	0.81	0.63	0.67	-20.2
Sterling Mini*	SRLM	717	0.77	0.56	0.59	-15.7
Zoro Mng*	ZORO	97	0.35	0.22	0.22	-15.3
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	455	0.07	0.06	0.06	-14.2

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	1642585	379.65	+ 31.60
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	11679432	98.33	+ 7.78
Potash C Sask* POT	39703279	177.54	+ 7.50
Arch Coal* ACI	28433281	53.88	+ 6.54
CONSOL Energy* CNX	24190990	67.37	+ 6.26
Mosaic* MOS	28441067	107.05	+ 5.48
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	18326402	56.88	+ 5.24
Massey Energy* MEE	23901654	64.67	+ 5.21
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	39133836	61.74	+ 4.65
Freeport McMo* FCX	49974595	87.81	+ 4.47
Cabot Corp* CBT	1386834	26.34	-1.58
Westmoreland* WLB	194697	18.61	-1.11
General Moly* GMO	1440876	6.71	-0.73
Alumina Inc* AWC	507142	15.37	-0.71
Seabridge Gld* SA	734461	14.64	-0.60
Randgold Res* GOLD	5348455	43.35	-0.53
Banro Res* BAA	141455	3.81	-0.34
APEX Silver* SIL	4829315	2.97	-0.30
Aurizon Mines* AZK	2529585	3.15	-0.24
Minefinders* MFN	1898071	7.84	-0.24