U.S. Markets -February 9-12

U.S. markets were closed Feb. 15 for the Presidents Day holiday after a week of mixed economic news. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stoked anxiety with details of how the central bank will start to tone down its monetary stimulus policy, while China hiked bank reserve requirements for the second time in two months to cool its economy. The other big news: European leaders pledged to support Greece. Athens needs to borrow US$75 billion this year to cover its deficit and refinance debts. The Dow Jones industrial average moved up 40.5 points or 0.4% to close the abbreviated Feb. 9-12 reporting period at 10,099.14 points, while the S&P 500 index advanced 4.99 points or 0.47% to finish at 1,075.51.

Gold miners dominated the list of most actively traded stocks, closing at US$1,092.40 per oz. in New York on Feb. 12. Agnico-Eagle Mines gained US$5.84 to US$58.13 per share, followed by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which rose US$4.48 to US$73.68 and Barrick Gold up US$2.13 to US$36.70 per share. The Amex Gold Bugs index climbed 2.74% or 10.71 points to 401.71 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index increased 2.92% or 4.53 points to 159.60.

Strengthening iron ore prices boosted Cliffs Natural Resources, to US$45.87 per share, a gain of US$5.43, while BHP Billiton mounted US$4.23 to US$72.13. On Feb. 12, BHP Billiton’s chief, Marius Kloppers, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that rebounding demand from China could push up benchmark iron ore prices in the coming months, noting that forward prices are currently about 100% higher than benchmark prices.

Potash producers were all up on news that Canpotex, the world’s largest potash exporter, had inked an agreement with China’s Sinofert, on a spot sale of about 350,000 tonnes of Canadian potash at “competitive prices.” The product is to be shipped to China before the end of March. The deal means Canpotex is fully committed on sales through the first quarter of 2010. Canpotex is the export arm of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Agrium and Mosaic. During the reporting period Potash Corp. advanced US$10.09 to US$111.60 per share, Agrium gained US$6.49 to US$64.26 and Mosaic added US$4.29 to US$58.83.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME		WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	157117	13.65	13.00	13.28	+ 0.22
Freeport McMo*FCX	88673	74.73	69.16	73.68	+ 4.48
Goldspring* GSPG	65888	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.00
Hecla Mining* HL	54698	5.19	4.69	5.12	+ 0.55
Barrick Gold* ABX	44307	37.17	34.93	36.70	+ 2.13
Goldcorp* GG	41616	37.52	35.10	37.17	+ 2.78
Newmont Mng* NEM	40556	46.93	44.33	46.53	+ 2.12
Teck B* TCK	37533	36.05	32.84	35.88	+ 3.87
Kinross Gold* KGC	30591	18.32	16.98	18.20	+ 1.55
Gold Fields* GFI	30286	11.95	11.23	11.86	+ 0.66

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Geocom Res*	GOCM	20	0.02	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Amazon Goldsd*	AZNG	79	0.45	0.25	0.44	+ 46.6
Uranium Star*	URST	2923	0.46	0.31	0.46	+ 43.7
Quaterra Res*	QMM	284	1.81	1.32	1.72	+ 32.3
Augusta Res*	AZC	180	2.75	2.15	2.72	+ 24.7
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	731	0.29	0.17	0.27	+ 22.7
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	54	1.40	0.92	1.11	+ 21.9
Xtra-Gold Res*	XTGR	83	1.25	0.96	1.25	+ 21.3
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	382	0.07	0.06	0.06	+ 20.0
Vista Gold*	VGZ	1318	2.39	2.03	2.39	+ 16.5
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	52	0.05	0.04	0.04	-20.0
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	336	0.72	0.61	0.64	-11.1
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	120	0.09	0.08	0.09	-10.0
Goldfield*	GV	109	0.42	0.38	0.40	-9.0
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	95	0.24	0.21	0.22	-8.3
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	27	0.14	0.13	0.13	-7.1
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	168	0.15	0.12	0.14	-6.6
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	968	1.46	1.26	1.36	-4.9
Uranium Res*	URRE	1223	0.69	0.62	0.65	-4.4
Intl Royalty*	ROY	678	6.73	6.01	6.48	-2.5

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	5018963	203.05	+ 15.47
Potash C Sask* POT	27074164	111.60	+ 10.09
Agrium* AGU	2510700	64.26	+ 6.49
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	12997745	58.13	+ 5.84
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	22109616	45.87	+ 5.43
CONSOL Energy* CNX	17017803	49.36	+ 4.78
Freeport McMo* FCX	88673109	73.68	+ 4.48
Mosaic* MOS	20744025	58.83	+ 4.29
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	19985351	72.13	+ 4.23
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	28662069	44.45	+ 4.00
Intl Royalty* ROY	677870	6.48	-0.17
Puda Coal* PUDA	138400	4.90	-0.11
Argentex Mng* AGXM	336105	0.64	-0.08
Uranerz Energ* URZ	968138	1.36	-0.07
Goldfield* GV	109471	0.40	-0.04
Uranium Res* URRE	1223116	0.65	-0.03
New Jersey Mg* NJMC	95050	0.22	-0.02
Affinity Gold* AFYG	67186	1.88	-0.02
Mountain Prov* MDM	48000	2.09	-0.01
El Capitan Pr* ECPN	167736	0.14	-0.01