U.S. Markets october 3-9

Stock markets in the United States enjoyed a slow but steady climb between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 187.46 points to 11,857.81 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up 19.34 points to 1,350.66. Crude oil prices, with Brent Oil at US$58.80 and West Texas at US$59.97 per barrel, and the prospect of interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve, both supported a bullish view of the U.S. economy.

That, of course, was bearish news for gold and for gold stocks. The bullion price went as low as US$560.75 in the London fix during the same period, and finished at US$575.25 per oz. on the Monday afternoon. The two major U.S. gold indexes each lost over 4% of value, the Philadelphia XAU sliding 5.60 points to 123.58 and the Amex Gold Bugs index 12.66 points to 290.21. In another measure of the hit the gold stocks took, the Gold Miners ETF on the Amex was down US$1.66 at US$34.10.

AngloGold Ashanti touched a 52-week low of US$35.58 on the way to a close of US$37.01, down US$1.14. Newmont Mining slid US$1.95 to US$41.26 and was only a penny away from its lowest trade of the last year.

Minas Buenaventura fell US$1.82 to US$24.46. The company announced its board had given final approval to acquire the 22% it does not already own of its subsidiary Inversiones Mineras del Sur, which owns the Antapite and Ishihuinca gold mines. The going-private transaction still needs Buenaventura’s shareholders to approve it.

Base metal producers weren’t as badly off as the precious metal companies, but the rising U.S. dollar was unkind to the offshore shares. Rio Tinto fell US$2.43 to US$189.75, Anglo American fell US44 to US$21.17 on the NASDAQ, and BHP Billiton was US37 lighter at US$38.00. The exception among the Big Four was Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), which rose US99 to US$22.82; possibly the rising nickel price — up US$1,400 per tonne to US$32,800 — and CVRD’s pending buyout of Inco polished its image for the punters.

Southern Copper was down US6 to US$46.91 while the other copper-sensitive stock, Phelps Dodge, picked up US52 to close at US$85.65.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	156	1.35	0.90	1.35	+51.6
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	190	0.125	0.08	0.10	+33.3
Tara Gold*	TRGD	2773	0.56	0.425	0.50	+21.9
Westmoreland*	WLB	38	21.81	18.80	21.81	+14.9
OM Group*	OMG	3884	53.12	44.40	52.64	+14.5
Northw Min Vt*	NWTMF	745	0.31	0.25	0.31	+13.9
Richmont Mine*	RIC	48	2.90	2.18	2.72	+13.8
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	1550	6.17	5.10	6.02	+13.5
Almaden Mnls*	AAU	221	2.60	2.25	2.55	+13.3
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	29	0.18	0.15	0.17	+13.3
Goldspring*	GSPG	8147	0.005	0.004	0.004	-33.3
Konigsberg*	KGBC	2408	0.28	0.18	0.185	-28.8
Lafayette Mng*	LYMGF	77	0.07	0.05	0.05	-28.5
Wealth Minls*	WMLLF	60	1.36	1.12	1.17	-19.3
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	626	0.45	0.36	0.38	-17.3
Liberty Star*	LBTS	711	0.51	0.43	0.438	-15.6
US Gold*	USGL	1254	4.83	4.16	4.22	-14.7
World Vent*	WVNTF	32	0.13	0.105	0.12	-14.2
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	885	3.02	2.49	2.63	-14.0
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	88	0.43	0.37	0.371	-13.7

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
OM Group*	OMG	3884300	52.64	+6.69
Potash C Sask*	POT	2808200	109.50	+6.01
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	137300	120.78	+4.05
Westmoreland*	WLB	38100	21.81	+2.83
Teck Comin B*	TCK	194900	64.53	+2.08
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	3951600	40.60	+1.83
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	24249400	37.77	+1.41
CVRD*	RIO	28438900	22.82	+0.99
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	1550200	6.02	+0.72
Cabot Corp*	CBT	1016300	37.65	+0.62
Glamis Gold*	GLG	6603900	35.61	-2.94
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2208900	189.75	-2.43
APEX Silver*	SIL	1926600	14.44	-2.16
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	7217000	29.35	-2.11
Fording C C T*	FDG	4139000	23.77	-1.97
Newmont Mng*	NEM	29742500	41.26	-1.95
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	6124800	57.20	-1.95
Buenaventura*	BVN	3685300	24.46	-1.82
Goldcorp*	GG	23667300	21.39	-1.71
Gold Mnrs ETF*	GDX	1015000	34.10	-1.66

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
AuGrid*	AUGC	1020342	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Newmont Mng*	NEM	29743	42.70	39.85	41.26	-1.95
CVRD*	RIO	28439	23.17	20.68	22.82	+0.99
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	24249	39.17	34.05	37.77	+1.41
Phelps Dodge*	PD	23953	87.50	76.32	85.65	+0.52
Goldcorp*	GG	23667	22.35	20.35	21.39	-1.71
Alcoa*	AA	21982	28.48	26.66	27.99	+0.37
Freeport McMo*	FCX	19405	54.76	47.60	53.75	+0.28
Barrick Gold*	ABX	17184	29.92	27.64	29.27	-1.61
Equitable Mng*	EQBM	13813	0.009	0.006	0.009	0.00