U.S. Markets – July 14-20

As results of the second-quarter earnings season rolled in, and with the news so far at least not terrible, especially in the case of big miners, investors reacted positively to help buoy markets over the July 14-20 reporting period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 16.6 points during the week to 8,858.15, while the S&P 500 climbed 45.29 points to 951.13.

It didn’t hurt, either, that during the five-day period commodity prices were resurgent. The price of gold gained about US$25 to top US$950 per oz.; silver notched its way up to US$13.75 per oz. from below US$13; and copper rose about a nickel and a dime to US$2.44 per lb.

Rio Tinto continued its push upwards, gaining US$22.91 to US$151.71 per share during a week that saw it release solid quarterly production figures. Among highlights that helped it gain on the news were an 8% increase in global iron production and a 23% increase in refined copper production over last year’s second quarter. Copper mining was down about 1%. Rio Tinto also reiterated it has made US$3.7 billion in divestments and completed a US$15.2-billion rights issue to slim down its debt load.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was up US$9.09 to US$57 on news of financial and production figures that saw it post net income of US$588 million. That compares with US$947 million during the second quarter a year previous. Freeport largely credited high grades mined at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia — and concomitant lower cash costs — for driving its profits. Overall, its cash cost per lb. copper, net of byproduct credits, was US43¢, about a third of what it was in the second quarter of 2008.

Other majors that saw solid gains were BHP Billiton, up US$7.77 to US$59.40; Agnico-Eagle Mines, up US$7.37 to US$57.75; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, up US$6.80 to US$91.43; and Alcoa, up US94¢ to US$10.60.

Likewise, coal companies were happy as the markets appeared to treat them as undervalued. Patriot Coal, for example, was up 43.1% to US$8.03 with the assistance of a buy rating and a share price target of US$8.50 from UBS.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	149958	10.68	9.54	10.60	+ 0.94
Freeport McMo*FCX	107607	57.85	47.77	57.00	+ 9.09
Golden Eagle* MYNG	78935	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Mosaic* MOS	72201	54.36	42.44	49.12	+ 6.66
Teck B* TCK	61298	23.07	16.59	21.98	+ 5.51
PotashCSask*POT	47667	93.93	82.27	91.43	+ 6.80
Massey Energy* MEE	37785	22.41	17.56	22.35	+ 4.72
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	33398	35.30	29.18	34.83	+ 5.01
Hecla Mining* HL	32888	3.19	2.56	3.18	+ 0.60
Goldcorp* GG	32651	38.53	33.53	38.00	+ 4.49

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Nevsun Res*	NSU	4827	1.87	1.23	1.69	+ 48.2
Patriot Coal*	PCX	6021	8.09	5.63	8.03	+ 43.1
Global Gold*	GBGD	179	0.20	0.08	0.14	+ 40.0
Augusta Res*	AZC	259	1.95	1.41	1.95	+ 39.2
China Shen Zh*	SHZ	64	1.95	1.27	1.78	+ 39.0
Puda Coal*	PUDC	2071	0.65	0.45	0.65	+ 38.3
Banro Res*	BAA	1057	2.20	1.60	2.08	+ 34.1
Teck B*	TCK	61298	23.07	16.59	21.98	+ 33.4
Mechel*	MTL	6364	9.79	7.48	9.54	+ 29.6
Alumina Inc*	AWC	1447	5.35	4.15	5.35	+ 28.9
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	176	0.04	0.03	0.03	-25.0
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	115	0.04	0.03	0.03	-25.0
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	22	0.10	0.06	0.08	-20.0
Elray Res*	ELRA	86	0.28	0.20	0.23	-17.8
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	44	0.18	0.14	0.15	-16.6
Entree Gold*	EGI	1272	1.60	1.15	1.23	-15.1
Mesabi Trust*	MSB	905	10.98	8.00	8.89	-14.6
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	613	0.37	0.28	0.32	-13.5
Aurelio Res*	AULO	44	0.08	0.06	0.07	-12.5
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	356	0.07	0.06	0.07	-12.5

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	5277978	151.71	+ 22.91
Freeport McMo* FCX	107607048	57.00	+ 9.09
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	17415784	59.40	+ 7.77
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	10146828	57.75	+ 7.37
Potash C Sask* POT	47666719	91.43	+ 6.80
Randgold Res* GOLD	4648131	66.74	+ 6.66
Mosaic* MOS	72201106	49.12	+ 6.66
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	5260895	49.98	+ 6.04
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	145892	64.30	+ 5.66
Teck B* TCK	61298418	21.98	+ 5.51
Mesabi Trust* MSB	905407	8.89	-1.53
Ivanhoe Mines* IVN	25036097	7.86	-0.60
Soc Quim&M Ch*SQM	6873477	36.22	-0.34
Entree Gold* EGI	1272303	1.23	-0.22
Elray Res* ELRA	86216	0.23	-0.05
DouglasLkMl* DLKM	613375	0.32	-0.05
Strata O&G* SOIGF	2066058	0.70	-0.04
Contintl Mnls* KMKCF	56850	0.85	-0.04
Samex Mng* SMXMF	43525	0.15	-0.03
Madison Minls* MMRSF	21570	0.08	-0.02