U.S. Markets – April 14-20

In recent days, a number of public officials in the United States have expressed optimism that the economy may be starting to turn the corner, or at least that the rate of the economy’s decline is set to slow. But no one is optimistic that the “Great Recession” will come to an end anytime soon. During the April 14-20 reporting period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 78.45 points or 1% to close at 7,841.73 points, while the S&P 500 index dropped 9.11 points or 1.1% to 832.39.

Alcoa, the most actively traded stock, slipped US79¢ to close at US$8.36 per share. The company is still reeling from the economic downturn and a historic drop in aluminum prices. Alcoa reported first-quarter revenues were US$4.1 billion, down from US$5.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 and 36% lower than the US$6.5 billion in revenues in the first quarter of 2008.

Vale was the second most actively traded stock, losing US$1.21 to close at US$14.92 per share. The world’s largest iron ore miner has confirmed that provisional sales prices are currently 20% below the 2008 benchmark prices but said it would adjust prices once its 2009 benchmark price negotiations have been concluded.

The Brazilian mining giant also said it is making its long-term iron ore commercial contract conditions “flexible” and is currently receiving 80% of sales in cash with the remaining 20% due at a later date.

Uncertainty over the outcome of Rio Tinto’s controversial US$19.5-billion deal with Chinalco was partly responsible for its shares plummeting US$15 to close at US$130.01 per share. Institutional shareholders have warned that their votes on the deal depend on commodity and credit markets, which seem to be rising from recent lows and therefore make the deal less attractive. New Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis said on April 20 that he would meet major shareholders in London next month to discuss the Chinalco proposal and that it would be scrapped if it is not likely to attract shareholder support.

On the gold front, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold crashed US$6.48 to US$39.11 per share on no news. Barrick Gold inched up US36¢ to US$29.07 per share, while Goldcorp fell US$1.76 to US$28.20.

The Amex Gold Bugs index dropped 12.86 points or 4.5% to 286.19, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index retreated 5.96 points or 5.1% to 117.79. The price of gold closed at US$877 per oz. on April 20 in London, down a few dollars from its week-earlier close.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	169614	9.37	8.34	8.36	-0.79
Vale* RIO	148414	16.77	14.92	14.92	-1.21
Golden Eagle* MYNG	93778	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Freeport McMo*FCX	83874	46.22	38.87	39.11	-6.48
Barrick Gold* ABX	58010	29.93	27.09	29.07	+ 0.36
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	50635	30.20	23.88	24.43	-4.58
Goldcorp* GG	48047	30.75	26.84	28.20	-1.76
Teck B* TCK	47387	9.48	7.32	7.41	-1.58
CoeurdAlene* CDE	41159	1.21	1.03	1.05	-0.11
Kinross Gold* KGC	36950	15.05	13.62	14.60	-0.18

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	10	0.05	0.04	0.04	+100.0
Elray Res*	ELRA	222	0.50	0.28	0.50	+ 66.6
Beeston Ent*	BESE	3378	0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 66.6
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	103	0.10	0.07	0.09	+ 50.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	105	0.45	0.30	0.40	+ 33.3
L&L Intl Hldg*	LLFH	26	1.30	0.70	1.30	+ 31.3
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	144	0.21	0.11	0.18	+ 28.5
US Energy*	USEG	348	2.47	1.91	2.46	+ 27.4
Paramount Gld*	PZG	3732	1.25	0.74	0.95	+ 20.2
Mountain Prov*	MDM	84	1.05	0.75	0.90	+ 20.0
Dominion Mnls*	DMNM	186	0.21	0.09	0.10	-44.4
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	11	0.05	0.04	0.04	-42.8
Aspire Intl*	APIT	82	0.09	0.04	0.06	-33.3
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	439	0.04	0.01	0.02	-33.3
Banro Res*	BAA	1097	2.19	1.58	1.60	-22.7
Taseko Mines*	TGB	9083	1.68	1.28	1.29	-22.7
NovaGold Res*	NG	5593	2.84	2.21	2.23	-21.2
Uranium Res*	URRE	1690	0.65	0.52	0.52	-18.7
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	382	0.11	0.09	0.09	-18.1
Teck B*	TCK	47387	9.48	7.32	7.41	-17.5

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U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
OM Group* OMG	2959189	25.84	+ 1.47
Mesabi Trust* MSB	429351	8.40	+ 0.93
Yanzhou Coal* YZC	4284058	9.69	+ 0.60
US Energy* USEG	348171	2.46	+ 0.53
Cabot Corp* CBT	2002828	12.94	+ 0.52
Alumina Inc* AWC	1968543	4.56	+ 0.46
Harry Winston* HWD	891700	4.00	+ 0.40
Barrick Gold* ABX	58010421	29.07	+ 0.36
L&L Intl Hldg* LLFH	1.30	+ 0.31
Elray Res* ELRA	222034	0.50	+ 0.20
Rio Tinto* RTP	4736482	130.01	-15.00
Freeport McMo* FCX	83874030	39.11	-6.48
Mosaic* MOS	26016924	39.33	-4.92
Potash C Sask* POT	24078369	83.40	-4.61
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	50634943	24.43	-4.58
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	5718816	39.01	-4.29
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	21678050	44.38	-4.16
Newmont Mng* NEM	35987522	39.06	-3.02
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	18544904	16.24	-2.95
CONSOL Energy* CNX	19261543	24.57	-2.76