U.S. Markets – JULY 28-AUG. 3

U. S. markets enjoyed another buoyant week during the July 28-Aug. 3 reporting period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 189.84 points or 2.09% to close at 9,286.56. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 23.01 points or 2.35% to finish at 1,002.63, while the Nasdaq mounted 33.1 points or 1.68% to 2,008.61.

Surging demand for iron ore in China (imports totalled 56.5 million tons in July — a 35% year-on-year increase) helped drive up the shares of mining behemoths Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale. Rio Tinto racked up the biggest gain, surging US$15.86 to US$178.32. BHP Billiton followed with a US$4.48 advance to US$66.31 per share and Vale ascended US$1.17 to US$20.77.

Vale’s performance was particularly impressive given news of its lacklustre second-quarter results (net earnings fell to US$790 million from US$1.36 billion in the first quarter) and ongoing labour problems across Canada. Union workers at Vale Inco’s Voisey’s Bay nickel mine started a planned strike action Aug. 1. At issue is Vale’s wish to get rid of a bonus linked to the nickel price and to close the company’s defined-benefit pension plan to new employees. The mine, in Labrador, had started a one-month shutdown on July 1 and was supposed to have resumed operations on Aug 1. The strike affects 120 employees at Voisey’s Bay, which makes up about 28% of Vale’s total nickel production. Vale is also experiencing strikes at its mine in Sudbury, Ont., and at its nickel refinery in Port Colborne, Ont.

Meanwhile, news that Teck will return its Trail operations in British Columbia to full refined zinc production from Sept. 1 (after operating at a reduced rate since December 2008) and that it has reached agreement with some of its coal customers on 2009 coal year deliveries at a benchmark settlement price of US$128 per tonne, boosted the company’s stock. Teck shares jumped US$4.04 to US$28.39 apiece.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold bounced US$5.19 to US$65.14 per share, while Barrick Gold edged up US$1.13 to US$36.11. Barrick posted adjusted earnings in the second quarter of US$431 million, down from US$442 million a year earlier.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	169673	12.70	10.85	12.60	+ 1.30
Freeport McMo*FCX	95659	65.45	54.45	65.14	+ 5.19
Arch Coal* ACI	57522	18.50	16.67	18.38	+ 0.22
Massey Energy* MEE	45274	28.50	21.91	28.17	+ 4.67
Teck B* TCK	44480	28.80	23.05	28.39	+ 4.04
Barrick Gold* ABX	42005	36.61	32.51	36.11	+ 1.13
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	38746	35.80	32.00	35.57	+ 1.29
Hecla Mining* HL	38419	3.31	2.76	3.26	+ 0.10
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	36798	34.73	30.38	33.81	+ 1.37
PotashCSask*POT	33890	96.80	91.24	95.14	0.00

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Cream Mnrls*	CRMXF	63	0.11	0.08	0.11	+266.6
Dominion Mnls*	DMNM	26	0.19	0.06	0.14	+ 55.5
Quaterra Res*	QMM	278	0.78	0.54	0.78	+ 44.4
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	52	0.04	0.04	0.04	+ 33.3
North Am Pall*	PAL	10070	3.68	2.37	3.51	+ 31.4
Puda Coal*	PUDC	4413	1.00	0.71	0.89	+ 28.9
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	1291	1.77	1.35	1.67	+ 21.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	235	0.44	0.30	0.35	+ 20.6
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	691	0.13	0.09	0.12	+ 20.0
Massey Energy*	MEE	45274	28.50	21.91	28.17	+ 19.8
Oromin Expl*	OLEPF	1027	1.01	0.60	0.75	-33.0
Elray Res*	ELRA	43	0.25	0.18	0.18	-28.0
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	10	0.25	0.24	0.24	-17.2
Miranda Gold*	MRDDF	192	0.37	0.29	0.31	-16.2
Richmont Mine*	RIC	538	3.62	2.85	3.06	-14.2
Pac Rim Minin*	PMU	1344	0.24	0.20	0.22	-12.0
Pediment Gold*	PEZGF	135	0.81	0.67	0.67	-11.8
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	734	0.70	0.51	0.60	-11.7
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	237	0.32	0.28	0.28	-9.6
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	42	0.25	0.22	0.22	-8.3

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	4625996	178.32	+ 15.86
Freeport McMo* FCX	95658864	65.14	+ 5.19
Agrium* AGU	2924600	49.34	+ 4.94
Massey Energy* MEE	45273620	28.17	+ 4.67
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	26517492	66.31	+ 4.48
Teck B* TCK	44479833	28.39	+ 4.04
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	7965246	55.47	+ 3.38
CONSOL Energy* CNX	20733757	37.38	+ 2.56
Cabot Corp* CBT	4649896	18.62	+ 2.52
Mosaic* MOS	28321472	55.13	+ 2.41
Intrepid Pots* IPI	1570700	25.87	-1.84
Randgold Res* GOLD	7530087	64.9 9	-0.68
Richmont Mine* RIC	538340	3.06	-0.51
Oromin Expl* OLEPF	1026866	0.75	-0.37
Kinross Gold* KGC	29970551	20.00	-0.22
Tanz Roy Exp* TRE	1003717	3.00	-0.16
Uranerz Energ* URZ	625467	1.89	-0.13
Mag Silver* MVG	104300	5.05	-0.11
Pediment Gold* PEZGF	135063	0.67	-0.09
Santa Fe Gold* SFEG	112162	0.99	-0.08