U.S. Markets May 15-21

Stock markets advanced strongly in the United States during the May 15-21 trading period, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rising 1.5%, and the Dow touching record highs each trading day.

Among U.S.-listed mining stocks, there were 92 gainers and 75 losers over the week, with the base metal producers almost all rising and the golds mixed. That was mirrored in the gold indexes, where the broader Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index rose a point to 138.36, while the Amex Gold Bugs Index, confined to the non-hedgers, was nearly unchanged at 330.77 points.

Newmont Mining took a US$1.05 hit to finish at US$39.45, with a new 52-week low at US$38.81. Moody’s Investor Services announced it had maintained the same debt ratings for Newmont but was revising its outlook on the company from stable to negative, saying the gold miner was looking at higher capital expenditures and operating costs.

Another 52-week low on the precious metal side was in Coeur d’Alene Mines, which touched US$3.55 before rebounding to US$3.70, a gain of US7. Coeur had no news during the period, but at presstime, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had just issued its reasons for a late March decision to remove Coeur’s permit for the Kensington gold mine in Alaska. The court ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has regulatory authority over tailings disposal into Federal waters, had violated the Clean Water Act by issuing a permit to Coeur.

The Canadian interlisted golds were mostly higher, as were AngloGold Ashanti, up US35 at US$43.22, Gold Fields, up US37 at US$17.35, and Randgold Resources, up US37 at US$24.16. On the Amex, Apex Silver Mines was up US$3.14 at US$21.44, with a 52-week high at US$21.75.

Rio Tinto was up another US$2.00 at US$282.05, although speculation that the company was a takeover target has died down. BHP Billiton, the supposed predator, was back up US33 at US$51.59, while Companhia Vale do Rio Doce rose US$1.36 to US$45.08 and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold clawed US71 higher to US$72.38.

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
CVRD*	RIO	48251	45.58	43.68	45.08	+	1.36
Freeport McMo*	FCX	47810	73.24	69.10	72.38	+	0.71
Newmont Mng*	NEM	46842	40.73	38.81	39.45	–	1.05
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	45962	3.77	3.55	3.70	+	0.07
Alcoa*	AA	43510	39.87	38.29	38.99	+	0.64
Goldcorp*	GG	37590	24.25	22.87	23.94	+	0.39
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	32649	66.73	64.72	65.67	–	0.61
Crystallex In*	KRY	31564	5.12	4.21	5.08	+	0.54
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	26584	55.22	49.36	54.24	+	3.54
Barrick Gold*	ABX	25161	30.47	29.35	30.27	+	0.56

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	330	0.095	0.075	0.09	+	20.0
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	164	0.31	0.25	0.30	+	20.0
World Vent*	WVNTF	90	0.23	0.18	0.20	+	17.6
APEX Silver*	SIL	10120	21.75	17.78	21.44	+	17.1
Silverado*	SLGLF	16680	0.12	0.092	0.118	+	15.6
Crosshair E&M*	CXZ	152	3.15	2.65	2.98	+	12.0
Crystallex In*	KRY	31564	5.12	4.21	5.08	+	11.8
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	5058	13.22	11.95	13.11	+	11.6
Fording C C T*	FDG	6381	29.56	25.71	28.80	+	11.5
Taseko Mines*	TGB	8504	3.48	2.77	3.39	+	11.1
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	400	0.06	0.04	0.04	–	36.5
Homeland Pr M*	HPMEF	205	0.53	0.35	0.37	–	30.1
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	85	0.58	0.43	0.50	–	23.0
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	616	0.01	0.006	0.008	–	20.0
Goldfield*	GV	991	1.23	0.95	1.01	–	17.8
Cusac Gold Mn*	CUSIF	884	0.21	0.151	0.165	–	17.0
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	858	0.61	0.471	0.50	–	15.2
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	382	0.08	0.068	0.068	–	15.0
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	5233	0.161	0.125	0.135	–	14.5
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	1297	0.21	0.175	0.18	–	14.2

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Potash C Sask*	POT	6026390	206.61	+	12.75
OM Group*	OMG	4515784	62.54	+	4.89
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	26583615	54.24	+	3.54
APEX Silver*	SIL	10119800	21.44	+	3.14
Fording C C T*	FDG	6380968	28.80	+	2.99
Arch Coal*	ACI	14420855	40.94	+	2.31
Silver Std Re*	SSRI	3073037	38.38	+	2.17
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2780530	282.05	+	2.00
Mosaic*	MOS	8387444	31.94	+	1.83
Alcan*	AL	16822999	81.10	+	1.76
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	398600	61.77	–	1.64
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	121700	164.32	–	1.39
Newmont Mng*	NEM	46842206	39.45	–	1.05
Arizona Star*	AZS	43300	11.50	–	0.699
Minefinders*	MFN	760100	11.63	–	0.61
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	32648700	65.67	–	0.61
Alumina Inc*	AWC	1945200	24.98	–	0.61
US Energy*	USEG	841834	6.21	–	0.54
Southern Copp*	PCU	10926248	86.10	–	0.54
Vista Gold*	VGZ	1442700	6.00	–	0.52