U.S. Markets (March 03, 2008)

A deepening housing slump and rising consumer prices all point to more trouble ahead for equity markets in the United States. According to a UBS research report released on Feb. 20, the U.S. economy is in a mild recession. Despite all the dour news during the Feb. 19-25 trading session, however, the Dow Jones Industrial Average still managed to climb 233 points to close at 12,570.22, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index inched up 23 points to 1,371.80.

The precious metals sector and in particular, gold miners, had a pretty good week as worrying economic news continued to drive up the price of gold. The yellow metal closed at US$938.30 per oz. on Feb. 25, up from its US$927.70 close on Feb. 19. The Amex Gold Bugs Index rose 11.79 points to 466.37, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index increased 4.25 points to close at 190.35.

Goldcorp posted the biggest gain among the gold mining companies, vaulting US$4.28 per share to US$41.14. Barrick Gold followed with an advance of US$2.06 to US$49.65. Kinross Gold mounted US$1.72 to US$23.87 and Gold Fields rose US$1.05 to US$14.27.

Newmont Mining reversed last week’s losses with an upswing of US$1.79 to US$49.68 during the trading session. On Feb. 25, the company reported that the Indonesian government had agreed to extend its deadline for Newmont and its Japanese partner to collectively divest a 10% stake in their Batu Hijau gold project to a local entity. The deadline was extended 11 days to March 3.

The most actively traded stock was Vale with 125.9 million shares trading hands. Under newly negotiated 2008 iron ore contracts, Vale has nailed down price increases for its iron ore products ranging from 65% to 71% with Japanese, Korean and German steelmakers.

U.S. most active issues

The stock that gained the greatest value was Rio Tinto, which soared US$29.56 to US$461.75, as the company pushed ahead with its US$10-billion target of asset sales this year. On Feb. 21, Rio announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its interest in the Cortez mine in Nevada to a subsidiary of joint-venture

U.S. greatest percentage change

partner Barrick Gold, for US$1.695 billion, plus a retained royalty interest.

Fertilizer manufacturers made spectacular gains. Mosaic Co. posted a huge increase, bouncing US$13.69 to US$117.06, while shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan leapt US$16.40 to US$164.28.

U.S. greatest value change

	VOLUME	WEEK
	( 000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	125895 35.95	32.76	35.72	+ 3.69
Alcoa* AA	72042 38.95	35.51	38.85	+ 3.13
Freeport McMo* FCX	56252 102.82	96.02	100.56	+ 7.38
Goldcorp* GG	53846 41.21	37.53	41.14	+ 4.28
Coeur d Alene* CDE	49762 5.01	4.46	4.88	+ 0.51
Gold Fields* GFI	48446 15.58	13.65	14.27	+ 1.05
Barrick Gold* ABX	44614 51.93	48.52	49.65	+ 2.06
Newmont Mng* NEM	41407 52.00	48.42	49.68	+ 1.79
Kinross Gold* KGC	35384 24.52	22.49	23.87	+ 1.72
Potash C Sask* POT	35066 164.50	150.22	164.28	+ 16.40

		VOLUME		WEEK
		( 000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	2310	0.03	0.018	0.027	+ 80.0
Trend Mng*	TRDM	468	0.018	0.013	0.018	+ 50.0
Gammon Gold*	GRS	8843	8.85	6.24	8.75	+ 45.3
HE- 5 Res*	HRRN	22	0.07	0.05	0.07	+ 40.0
North Am Pall*	PAL	30639	9.43	7.15	9.28	+ 37.2
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	290	0.40	0.30	0.35	+ 34.6
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	213	2.55	1.85	2.49	+ 31.0
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	162	0.32	0.24	0.30	+ 30.4
Denison Mines*	DNN	389	8.72	6.59	8.70	+ 29.0
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	598	0.53	0.405	0.527	+ 26.9
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	440	0.03	0.015	0.015	– 40.0
Pac Gold*	PCFG	3228	0.069	0.039	0.039	– 35.0
US Mine Maker*	USMM	10	0.30	0.25	0.25	– 28.5
Puda Coal*	PUDC	900	0.59	0.45	0.45	– 22.4
Gemini Expl*	GXPI	3974	0.07	0.045	0.053	– 22.0
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	6394	0.015	0.006	0.008	– 20.0
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	851	0.20	0.13	0.15	– 16.6
Intl Tower Hi*	THM	54	2.15	1.79	1.81	– 14.8
Uranium Star*	URST	161	0.14	0.113	0.12	– 14.2
Fischer- W Gld*	FWGO	20	0.045	0.045	0.045	– 13.4

WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	1646232	461.75	+ 29.56
Soc Quim& M Ch* SQM	287570	189.50	+ 20.00
Potash C Sask* POT	35065622	164.28	+ 16.40
Mosaic* MOS	34947604	117.06	+ 13.69
Southern Copp* PCU	14481554	114.40	+ 13.01
Agrium* AGU	5374500	74.29	+ 8.98
Cleveland- Cli* CLF	13164258	126.11	+ 8.55
Freeport McMo* FCX	56252408	100.56	+ 7.38
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	21184613	42.27	+ 7.34
Foundatn Coal* FCL	7766286	57.62	+ 7.16
Yanzhou Coal* YZC	636109	86.33	– 2.74
Intl Tower Hi* THM	54025	1.81	– 0.316
Midway Gold* MDW	66400	2.90	– 0.20
Sterling Mini* SRLM	1038564	3.00	– 0.15
Puda Coal* PUDC	899893	0.45	– 0.13
Crystallex In* KRY	6642732	1.67	– 0.11
Mag Silver* MVG	51700	12.20	– 0.11
US Mine Maker* USMM	10410	0.25	– 0.10
Solitario Res* XPL	40800	5.60	– 0.09
Paramount Gld* PZG	208450	2.29	– 0.08