U. S. MARKETS (March 10, 2008)

Stocks fell sharply during the Feb. 26-March 3 trading session after a slew of worrying economic and corporate reports, coupled with soaring oil prices — crude gushed to US$103 per barrel on March 2 — fuelled concerns about the health of the U. S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 426.02 points to 12,258.90, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 49.95 points to 1,331.34.

But galloping commodity prices saw investors pouring money into metals and mining companies. Gold hit US$983.50 per oz. on March 3, up from US$948.70 on Feb. 26. The Amex Gold Bugs Index advanced 35.28 points to 501.65, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index mounted 12.63 points to close at 202.98.

Agnico-Eagle Mines vaulted US$5.43 a share to US$71.51; Randgold Resources followed with a US$4.95 jump to US$53.92 per share; Lihir Gold gained US$4.01 to close the trading session at US$39.95; while Barrick Gold climbed US$3.90 to US$53.55. Goldcorp shares rose US$2.61 to US$43.75, and Kinross Gold added US$2.33 to close at US$26.20 a share.

Newmont Mining climbed US$2.70 to close at US$52.38 per share. The company announced that its Indonesian affiliate and the Indonesian government had filed for international arbitration in relation to its divestiture obligations at the Batu Hijau gold project.

The rejuvenation in farming and all-time record prices for products such as potash and fertilizers failed to buoy Mosaic Co., one of the world’s leading producers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients, or Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. The latter shed US$6.92 a share to close at US$157.36, while Mosaic was down US$5.13 a share to US$111.93.

The stock that gained the most value during the trading session was Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, soaring US$9.03 to close at US$198.53. The company is an inte- grated producer of potassium nitrate, iodine and lithium carbonate, as well as specialty plant nutrition products, and certain industrial chemicals, including industrial nitrates.

As a group, America’s coal producers all suffered losses.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME		WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	118911	37.54 33.93 35.00		-0.72
Alcoa* AA	76472	39.62 36.94 38.32		-0.53
CoeurdAlene* CDE	72653	5.18 4.75 5.16		+ 0.28
Freeport McMo*FCX	56266 107.37 98.22 103.45		+ 2.89
Goldcorp* GG	50351	44.869 40.68	43.75	+ 2.61
Gold Fields* GFI	50038	14.96 13.67 14.85		+ 0.58
Barrick Gold* ABX	42120	53.99 49.00 53.55		+ 3.90
PotashCSask* POT	36184 166.40 153.95 157.36		-6.92
Newmont Mng* NEM	35343	53.06 49.08	52.38	+ 2.70
Kinross Gold* KGC	35083	26.20 23.68 26.20		+ 2.33

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	265	0.07	0.055	0.064	+ 42.2
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	316	0.011	0.006	0.011	+ 37.5
Gemini Expl*	GXPI	3093	0.084	0.052	0.07	+ 32.0
Campbell Res*	CBLRF	910	0.14	0.113	0.14	+ 30.8
Pac Gold*	PCFG	3927	0.05	0.035	0.05	+ 28.2
Uranium Star*	URST	414	0.15	0.12	0.15	+ 25.0
Crystallex In*	KRY	18450	2.34	1.65	2.05	+ 22.7
NT Holding*	NTHH	32	0.055	0.052	0.055	+ 22.2
Apollo Gold*	AGT	5804	0.74	0.605	0.74	+ 21.9
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	315	0.39	0.33	0.39	+ 21.8
McKenzie Bay*	MKBY	3018	0.03	0.014	0.015	-50.0
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	216	2.50	1.552	1.66	-33.3
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	664	0.07	0.05	0.05	-28.5
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	199	0.03	0.015	0.015	-25.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	16	0.55	0.40	0.40	-24.5
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	1344	0.28	0.18	0.20	-24.5
US Mine Maker*	USMM	96	0.24	0.20	0.20	-20.0
Magnus Intl R*	MGNU	75	0.38	0.30	0.30	-14.2
Little Squaw*	LITS	57	0.77	0.68	0.68	-11.6
Crosshair E&M*	CXZ	146	1.70	1.39	1.39	-10.3

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U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Soc Quim&M Ch*SQM	412425	198.53	+ 9.03
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	11908484	71.51	+ 5.43
Randgold Res* GOLD	3181917	53.92	+ 4.95
Silver Std Re* SSRI	7355155	38.46	+ 4.71
Buenaventura* BVN	3957671	76.88	+ 4.08
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	339788	88.56	+ 4.08
Teck Comin B* TCK	10409585	41.59	+ 4.07
Lihir Gold* LIHR	863216	39.95	+ 4.01
Barrick Gold* ABX	42120208	53.55	+ 3.90
Gold Mnrs ETF* GDX	28640143	54.62	+ 3.683
Rio Tinto* RTP	1230336	454.00	-7.75
Potash C Sask* POT	36183581	157.36	-6.92
Mosaic* MOS	33651904	111.93	-5.13
CONSOL Energy* CNX	15204032	76.30	-5.02
Cleveland-Cli* CLF	7721656	121.91	-4.20
Seabridge Gld* SA	1378267	25.701	-2.899
Yanzhou Coal* YZC	648173	83.56	-2.77
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	26415439	56.99	-2.72
Arch Coal* ACI	23363197	52.11	-2.72
Massey Energy* MEE	16654140	41.60	-1.88