U.S. Markets Jan. 15-18

U.S. markets were closed on Jan. 21 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, sparing the country’s equity markets from the massive global stock sell-off that roiled the world’s financial markets that day. In an emergency move the next day, the U.S. central bank responded with a steep rate cut of three quarters of a percentage point. Fed policy-makers had been scheduled to meet on Jan. 29-30, but the global equity carnage prompted the timelier move on Jan. 22. Severe problems in the U.S. housing sector and the tightening of credit markets are fanning fears around the world that the U.S. economy is headed towards a recession.

U.S. equity markets certainly hit the wall during the shortened Jan. 15-18 trading session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 678.85 points to close at 12,099.30 during the period, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plummeted 91.06 points to close at 1,325.19. The rout saw most if not all sectors in the red.

The base metals camp was among the hardest hit. Rio Tinto crashed US$40.20 to US$367.50, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold plummeted US$13.98 to US$84.13. BHP Billiton sank US$9.77 to US$60.72, Southern Copper lost US$15.35 to close at US$83.92, and Vale, the most actively traded stock during the trading session, fell US$3.47 to US$28.83.

The energy sector suffered too. China’s Yanzhou Coal dropped US$16.99 to US$88.46. Small-cap Puda Coal tumbled 34.5% to US48 per share. Puda is a leading supplier of China’s premium-grade coking coal.

Other poor performances included Mosaic Co., one of the largest fertilizer producers in the U.S., which nosedived US$29.52 to US$80.02. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, meanwhile, collapsed US$27.24 to US$122.78. Fertilizer giant Agrium sank US$12.16 to US$57.98. Cleveland, Ohio-based OM Group a leading producer of metal-based specialty chemicals, slid US$10.41 to US$55.32, while industrial chemicals producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile fell US$22.99 to US$151.94.

The losses weren’t quite so heavy in the precious metals sector. Shares of Toronto-based Barrick Gold fell US$4.75 to US$46.73, while Newmont Mining dipped US$3.34 to US$52.88 and Goldcorp fell US$3.88 to US$34.48. Kinross Gold shares slid US$3.01 to US$20.40.

The Amex Gold Bugs Index dropped 44.19 points to 436.80 during the period and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index fell 19.93 points to 177.30. On Jan. 21, gold finished at US$856.30 per oz., down from its US$907.60-per-oz. perch on Jan. 14.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	315	0.008	0.005	0.008	+	60.0
NT Holding*	NTHH	18	0.06	0.045	0.06	+	50.0
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	860	1.24	0.79	1.13	+	36.1
Beeston Ent*	BESE	173	0.35	0.25	0.35	+	34.6
World Vent*	WVNTF	20	0.09	0.09	0.09	+	28.5
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	217	0.40	0.25	0.39	+	21.8
Raven Gold*	RVNG	820	0.87	0.65	0.825	+	16.2
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	82	0.30	0.21	0.28	+	12.0
Bullion Rvr G*	BLRV	436	0.257	0.22	0.257	+	11.7
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	2707	0.017	0.01	0.01	+	11.1
Puda Coal*	PUDC	3951	0.635	0.43	0.48	–	34.5
Mosaic*	MOS	46652	108.39	78.00	80.02	–	26.9
Clifton Mng*	CFTN	243	0.40	0.30	0.30	–	25.9
Idaho Gen Mn*	GMO	4233	11.48	8.31	8.87	–	22.3
Allied Nevada*	ANV	114	6.40	4.95	5.05	–	21.7
Miranda Gold*	MRDDF	337	1.03	0.735	0.785	–	21.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	259	1.135	0.822	0.90	–	21.2
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	626	0.516	0.394	0.394	–	20.7
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	116	0.10	0.07	0.08	–	20.0
Tara Gold*	TRGD	1073	0.465	0.32	0.36	–	20.0

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	859512	1.13	+	0.30
Raven Gold*	RVNG	819884	0.825	+	0.115
Beeston Ent*	BESE	173000	0.35	+	0.09
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	216750	0.39	+	0.07
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	19015	1.35	+	0.062
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	82198	0.28	+	0.03
Bullion Rvr G*	BLRV	435554	0.257	+	0.027
World Vent*	WVNTF	20100	0.09	+	0.02
NT Holding*	NTHH	17700	0.06	+	0.02
HuntMountain*	HNTM	26780	0.53	+	0.01
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2059992	367.50	–	40.20
Mosaic*	MOS	46651869	80.02	–	29.52
Potash C Sask*	POT	42897198	122.78	–	27.24
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	364237	151.94	–	22.99
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	619160	88.46	–	16.99
Southern Copp*	PCU	12069969	83.92	–	15.35
Freeport McMo*	FCX	74870466	84.13	–	13.98
Agrium*	AGU	7372700	57.98	–	12.16
OM Group*	OMG	5294612	55.32	–	10.41
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	31553438	60.72	–	9.77

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Vale*	RIO	157975	32.02	27.70	28.83	–	3.47
Alcoa*	AA	78018	32.55	28.68	29.10	–	3.80
Freeport McMo*	FCX	74870	97.21	80.00	84.13	–	13.98
Barrick Gold*	ABX	61310	52.18	45.14	46.73	–	4.75
Newmont Mng*	NEM	56656	57.55	51.70	52.88	–	3.34
Goldcorp*	GG	50969	38.51	33.12	34.48	–	3.88
Mosaic*	MOS	46652	108.39	78.00	80.02	–	29.52
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	44898	5.00	4.42	4.61	–	0.45
Potash C Sask*	POT	42897	152.44	114.65	122.78	–	27.24
Kinross Gold*	KGC	40506	23.53	19.38	20.40	–	3.01