U.S. Markets April 25-May 1

Robust prices for most metals and commodities gave a boost to gold and copper companies on U.S. markets over the report period April 25-May 1, but coal companies didn’t fare as well, with price contracts down slightly from the previous coal year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index held steady over the session, off a mere 2.83 points at 1,305.18.

The most active traders were once again itsy-bitsy juniors, with Unico topping the list at below a penny a share. The company holds three historic mines in Utah. Penny stock AuGrid trades in the same range. The company was developing an “Internet audio device” last year, but is now involved in an exploration joint venture at the Hill of Gold and New Era gold projects in Nevada. Third place Goldspring was up a fraction of a cent to US1.2. The company holds a historic gold-silver mine in the Comstock region of Nevada.

In the major leagues, Newmont Mining moved up US$1.31 to US$57.98 over the session. The company has never hedged its gold production, a strategy ridiculed years ago by some analysts. Newmont’s diehard gold-bug shareholders are now laughing all the way to the bank.

Strong metal prices pushed Glamis Gold up US$3.00 to US$39.16. The company recently completed its merger with Western Silver, which owns the advanced Penasquito silver-gold-zinc-lead project in central Mexico, the Carmacks copper project in the Yukon, and an interest in the San Nicolas zinc-copper project in Mexico. The Glamis-Western Silver transaction is valued at US$1 billion.

Robust copper prices gave Phelps Dodge a boost of US$3.47 to US$89.80. In a recent conference call with analysts, management of the copper giant described current prices as “uncharted territory” in the sense of not knowing where they’ll go in the months ahead.

Coal companies didn’t fare as well over the trading session, with Fording Canadian Coal Trust off US$1.92 at US$37.51. China’s Yanzhou Coal slipped US59 to US$10.14. Energy producer Kerr-McGee also lost ground, off US$2.50 at US$102.33.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Puda Coal*	PUDC	594	5.78	3.50	5.72	+60.6
Apolo Gold*	APLL	4590	0.17	0.105	0.151	+43.8
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	1168	2.50	1.80	2.485	+39.6
Trend Mng*	TRDM	1375	0.25	0.16	0.215	+34.3
Goldspring*	GSPG	90581	0.013	0.01	0.012	+33.3
Nord Res*	NRDS	362	1.30	0.95	1.18	+31.1
Silverado*	SLGLF	25882	0.18	0.131	0.17	+27.8
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	695	2.23	1.725	2.20	+26.0
Great China M*	GCHA	1910	0.25	0.16	0.25	+25.0
Newgold*	NGLD	692	0.245	0.175	0.23	+24.3
World Vent*	WVNTF	215	0.40	0.30	0.32	-15.7
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	302	0.81	0.62	0.67	-12.9
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	144	0.39	0.30	0.34	-12.8
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	2324	0.036	0.021	0.027	-12.9
Birch Mountn*	BMD	1440	8.40	7.27	7.37	-11.7
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	825	2.58	2.25	2.27	-10.9
Halo Res*	HLOSF	77	0.70	0.54	0.54	-10.0
Cumberland Rs*	CLG	630	4.18	3.58	3.82	-8.1
Rio Narcea Gd*	RNO	462	2.36	2.03	2.09	-7.5
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	3481	11.24	9.90	10.14	-6.7

U.S. greatest value change

		Volume	Close	Change
Potash C Sask*	POT	5627600	94.99	+3.79
Lihir Gold*	LIHRY	250900	50.41	+3.64
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	14922700	68.01	+3.63
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	9548500	65.14	+3.49
Phelps Dodge*	PD	22446000	89.80	+3.47
Central Gld-T*	CLGLF	18343	26.06	+3.42
Glamis Gold*	GLG	7140700	39.16	+3.00
Goldcorp*	GG	14179200	36.04	+2.92
Buenaventura*	BVN	3878300	29.95	+2.75
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	106500	116.03	+2.50
Kerr McGee*	KMG	5988800	102.33	-2.50
Fording C C T*	FDG	3320500	37.51	-1.92
Alcoa*	AA	22835000	34.07	-1.46
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	4312900	24.80	-1.39
Aber Diamond*	ABER	64171	38.88	-1.219
APEX Silver*	SIL	8502400	21.00	-1.18
Birch Mountn*	BMD	1440300	7.37	-0.98
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	307500	43.45	-0.94
Intl Coal Gp*	ICO	3480700	10.14	-0.73
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	3738500	88.17	-0.59

U.S. most active issues

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
UNICO Inc*	UNCN	1596549	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.00
AuGrid*	AUGC	112581	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.00
Goldspring*	GSPG	90581	0.013	0.01	0.012	+0.003
Silverado*	SLGLF	25882	0.18	0.131	0.17	+0.037
Newmont Mng*	NEM	24157	59.33	56.56	57.98	+1.31
Alcoa*	AA	22835	35.95	33.26	34.07	-1.46
Phelps Dodge*	PD	22446	90.89	81.05	89.80	+3.47
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	21796	7.16	6.59	6.88	-0.03
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	21022	1.65	1.48	1.61	+0.09
Freeport McMo*	FCX	17488	68.36	61.65	65.37	-.53