U.S. Markets March 7-13

With the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index finishing the trading period March 7-13 up 0.6% at 1,284.13, stock markets in the United States struggled slowly upward, hardly having time to wave goodbye as the resource stocks sped downward. Much of the story was in the strength of the greenback, which had risen sharply against other main reserve currencies the week before.

The trading period opened with a nosedive for gold prices, which fell US$10 overnight on March 7, then finished US$21.75 lower at US$543.50 per oz. in the London afternoon fix on March 13. Except for platinum, which was down US$41 at US$1,108 per oz. in the same period, most metals didn’t share the same misery, but the move out of commodity-related stocks was widespread.

The big golds were all losers, with Newmont Mining down US$2.05 at US$48.78, AngloGold Ashanti down US$1.18 at US$48.53, and Gold Fields down US39 at US$19.26.

Mid-tiers were mainly lower; Minas Buenaventura fell US65 to US$23.71, Randgold Resources backed off US85 to US$16.79, and Hecla Mining was down US42 to US$5.03. Coeur d’Alene Mines was an exception, as silver prices firmed slightly; it rose a dime to US$5.85, and Lihir Gold went its own way, buoyed by rosier earnings and production forecasts, closing at US$34.12, up US27.

Even though the base metals didn’t get the same mauling in commodity markets, the base metal equities did worse than the golds. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was down US$3.24 at US$43.32, posting one of the largest value losses on the board. Phelps Dodge backed up US$2.28 to US$67.44 while Southern Peru Copper was down US$1.95 at US$79.76. Anglo American had the sharpest fall in proportion to its share price among the Big Three, sliding US82 to US$17.11, while Rio Tinto slipped US$1.77 to US$183.75 and BHP Billiton dipped US74 to US$34.91.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	384	0.77	0.56	0.765	+31.9
Kimber Res*	KBX	492	3.05	2.37	2.97	+16.0
Nord Res*	NRDS	62	0.55	0.46	0.55	+12.2
Great China M*	GCHA	104	0.19	0.16	0.19	+11.7
World Vent*	WVNTF	214	0.49	0.35	0.40	+11.1
Northw Min Vt*	NWTMF	2391	0.846	0.66	0.82	+10.9
Trend Mng*	TRDM	1190	0.18	0.14	0.17	+9.6
HuntMountain*	HNTM	26	0.42	0.38	0.42	+9.0
Savoy Res*	SVYR	564	0.069	0.05	0.065	+8.3
Aurizon Mines*	AZK	978	2.20	1.84	2.18	+7.9
Halo Res*	HLOSF	17	0.52	0.36	0.36	-34.5
Lafayette Mng*	LYMGF	86	0.07	0.06	0.07	-30.0
Peru Copper w*	CUP.WS	34	1.19	0.86	0.98	-18.3
Peru Copper*	CUP	2017	3.20	2.65	2.69	-16.4
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	205	0.65	0.45	0.55	-15.3
Clifton Mng*	CFTN	422	1.13	0.97	0.99	-13.9
Entree Gold*	EGI	355	1.99	1.67	1.72	-13.1
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	63	3.15	2.76	2.80	-12.5
IMA Expl*	IMR	333	2.95	2.72	2.82	-11.8
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1177	1.58	1.26	1.35	-11.7

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Kimber Res*	KBX	491700	2.97	+0.41
Kerr McGee*	KMG	8140800	95.84	+0.30
Lihir Gold*	LIHRY	237491	34.12	+0.27
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	384294	0.765	+0.185
Aurizon Mines*	AZK	978100	2.18	+0.16
Crystallex In*	KRY	3404600	2.98	+0.16
Vista Gold*	VGZ	257200	5.04	+0.10
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	20455100	5.85	+0.10
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	368169	2.95	+0.10
US Energy*	USEG	364992	5.65	+0.10
Potash C Sask*	POT	3598600	86.71	-6.68
Soc Quim&M*	SQM	169100	114.75	-3.83
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	5028400	35.75	-3.27
CVRD*	RIO	23760100	43.32	-3.24
Inco Ltd*	N	10961000	46.14	-3.19
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	6763200	24.27	-2.94
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	2855100	83.80	-2.62
Phelps Dodge*	PD	13571100	67.44	-2.28
Cameco Corp*	CCJ	9058400	35.69	-2.23
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	15264900	46.78	-2.07

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
UNICO Inc*	UNCN	874737	0.003	0.001	0.002	0.00
Goldspring*	GSPG	495986	0.043	0.018	0.019	-0.001
Newmont Mg*	NEM	35696	50.75	46.65	48.78	-2.05
CVRD*	RIO	23760	45.37	41.90	43.32	-3.24
Silverado*	SLGLF	21818	0.121	0.10	0.11	-0.01
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	20455	5.95	5.21	5.85	+0.10
Barrick Gold*	ABX	18048	27.31	25.13	26.30	-1.20
Alcoa*	AA	17542	29.80	28.39	29.09	-0.71
Freeport McM*	FCX	16476	52.05	47.11	49.77	-1.80
Goldcorp*	GG	15649	28.14	24.74	27.15	-0.94