U. S. Markets December 9-15

Broad U. S. equity indices were down during the Dec. 9-15 trading session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 370 points, or 4.1%, to 8,565; the S&P 500 index losing 41 points, or 4.5%, to 869, and the Nasdaq falling 63 points, or 4%, to 1,508. The falling stock markets reflected a weak economic environment, with U. S. exports down for the third consecutive month, and a decline in U. S. housing starts to a level 47% below last year’s number.

Conversely, precious metal issues proved to be a tower of strength in the markets, as the prices of gold and silver rose on fears that the monetary easing is going to lead to inflation down the road. Precious metal issues jumped, with the Amex Gold Bugs index rising 45 points, or 19.6%, to 274, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index adding 17 points, or 18.2%, to 113.

TD Bank economist Dina Cover has lowered her outlook for commodity prices, saying that the weak demand will affect oil and base metals most severely. Global economic growth will be a mere 0.5% next year, and commodity prices will bottom in the first half of 2009, before starting to rebound. Global growth will accelerate to 3.2% in 2010, sustaining a rebound in commodity prices.

Mega-miner Rio Tinto gained US$16.55 to US$88.99 after slashing capital spending by half and cutting 14,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce. Despite a drop of 7.7% in copper prices, copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold added US$2.50 to US$22.51 after axing its dividend and cutting production. Aluminum miner Alcoa rose US33¢ to US$9.91 despite a 6.7% drop in aluminum prices. In October and November, Alcoa announced production cuts of 615,000 tonnes aluminum per year, or 15% of capacity.

Gold companies were mostly up. Nova-Gold Resources jumped US87¢ to US$1.34. The company is seeking financing to repay a bridge loan due at the end of December. Most silver companies were also up on a strengthening silver price, with Silver Wheaton gaining US$1.53 to US$5.07, and Coeur d’Alene Mines moving up US8¢ to US$70¢. But silver miner Hecla Mining lost altitude, falling US28¢ to US$1.81.

Platinum miner Stillwater Mining gained US$1.01 to US$3.98 despite slowing demand for platinum from a weak auto sector.

Molybdenum miner Thompson Creek Metals rebounded somewhat from its recent drop, adding US52¢ to US$3.57.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	186606	12.95	10.26	11.99	+ 1.32
Freeport McMo*FCX	132317	25.20	19.04	22.51	+ 2.50
Alcoa* AA	121010	10.58	9.22	9.91	+ 0.33
Goldcorp* GG	78825	30.61	23.41	29.34	+ 5.27
Barrick Gold* ABX	77278	33.72	26.55	32.92	+ 5.67
PotashCSask*POT	68938	70.83	59.05	69.25	+ 7.92
CoeurdAlene*CDE	62162	0.74	0.57	0.70	+0.08
Kinross Gold* KGC	60897	17.48	14.33	16.74	+ 1.79
Newmont Mng* NEM	50121	38.75	30.59	37.70	+ 6.32
Silver Wheatn* SLW	48587	5.15	3.33	5.07	+ 1.53

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Orezone Res*	OZN	15326	0.46	0.10	0.42	+281.8
NovaGold Res*	NG	14526	1.65	0.44	1.34	+185.1
Gold Reserve*	GRZ	5448	0.63	0.24	0.58	+114.8
Silver Res*	SLVV	64	0.21	0.12	0.21	+110.0
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	2010	0.03	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	2664	0.03	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	171	0.15	0.06	0.14	+100.0
HuntMountain*	HNTM	17	0.50	0.26	0.49	+ 88.4
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	1660	0.69	0.34	0.65	+ 85.7
Apollo Gold*	AGT	11615	0.31	0.12	0.24	+ 84.6
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	170	0.08	0.02	0.02	-50.0
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	52	0.05	0.03	0.03	-40.0
Canarc Res*	CRCUF	107	0.05	0.02	0.03	-40.0
Buckingham Ex*	BUKX	525	0.05	0.01	0.02	-33.3
Bullion Monar*	BULM	150	0.18	0.13	0.14	-30.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	74	0.11	0.08	0.08	-27.2
Elray Res*	ELRA	203	0.27	0.18	0.26	-25.7
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	427	0.09	0.07	0.07	-22.2
Cabot Corp*	CBT	4876	20.87	15.14	15.63	-21.1
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	357	0.14	0.07	0.10	-16.6

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto*	RTP	10243702	88.99	+ 16.55
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	26993389	42.31	+ 10.93
Potash C Sask*	POT	68938163	69.25	+ 7.92
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	588921	46.75	+ 7.41
Randgold Res*	GOLD	6049141	43.00	+ 6.86
Newmont Mng*	NEM	50120785	37.70	+ 6.32
Barrick Gold*	ABX	77277590	32.92	+ 5.67
Goldcorp*	GG	78825186	29.34	+ 5.27
Agrium*	AGU	3773900	30.77	+ 4.12
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	6636315	37.51	+ 4.06
Cabot Corp*	CBT	4876298	15.63	-4.20
Patriot Coal*	PCX	3361200	6.59	-1.24
Foundatn Coal*	FCL	7403711	13.91	-0.48
Westmoreland*	WLB	178122	9.61	-0.32
Hecla Mining*	HL	41013682	1.81	-0.28
AlumCpChina*	ACH	2297700	13.59	-0.28
Massey Energy*	MEE	21750939	13.97	-0.20
North Am En P*	NOA	1648500	2.88	-0.14
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	7033752	2.29	-0.12
General Moly*	GMO	3162330	0.84	-0.12