Wal-Mart (WMT) (CMC) (RIC) (RAIL) (HPQ) Getting New Coverage

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT), Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC), Richmont Mines Inc. (NYSE: RIC), FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAIL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) getting new coverage from analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) initiated coverage on Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). They have a "Hold" rating on the company with a price target of $40.00.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) launched coverage on Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT). They have an "Equal Weight" rating on the retail giant.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on shares of FreightCar America, Inc. (RAIL). They have a "Buy" rating on the company and a price target of $35.00.

CRT Capital started coverage on Commercial Metals (CMC). They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage on Richmont Mines Inc. (RIC). They have an "Outperform" rating on the company with a price target of $10.00 a share.

Commercial Metals closed Tuesday at $13.88, gaining $0.04, or 0.29 percent. Richmont Mines Inc. closed at $7.71, jumping $0.50, or 6.93 percent. FreightCar America, Inc. ended the session at $26.39, rising $0.45, or 1.74 percent. Wal-Mart closed the day at $53.96, up $0.09, or 0.16 percent. Hewlett-Packard closed at $35.28, down 0.01, or 0.03 percent.

Miners (JAG) (NEM) (GRS) (RIC) (AU) Trade Up

Shares of Jaguar Mining (NYSE:JAG), Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), Gammon Gold (NYSE:GRS), Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) all traded up on Wednesday as gold and silver prices climbed on the day.

Jaguar Mining soared on an earnings beat, closing up over 23 percent on the day.

June gold climbed $15.80 to $1,495.80 per troy ounce, a 1.1 percent gain on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The less traded May contract was up $15.80, or 1.1 percent, to $1,495.60 a troy ounce.

The silver contract for May delivery gained $1.61, or 4.8 percent, to $35.10 a troy ounce.

A weaker dollar was the major catalyst for gold and silver specifically, and commodities in general on Wednesday.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $3.19, or 3.3 percent, to settle at $100.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude rose $2.31 in London, or 2.1 percent, to settle at $112.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of six currencies, traded at 75.438, down a little from 75.441 late Tuesday. That was also a factor in gold and silver prices going up.

Jaguar Mining (JAG) closed at $5.31, gaining $1.00, or 23.20 percent.

Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC) Trades Down Monday

Shares of Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC) closed down Monday, as gold prices fell slightly on the trading day.

Gold for June delivery shed $3 to close at $1,490.60 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price Monday traded in a range of a low of $1,486 and a high of $1,504.30.

Silver prices ended the day down 88 cents to close at $34.13 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.43 percent to $75.38.

The euro strengthened as Monday trading went on, putting pressure on the U.S. dollar.

Richmont Mines Inc. participates in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of mineral properties in Canada.

Richmont Mines, Inc. (RIC) closed at $7.75, falling $0.13, or 1.65 percent.

Gold Fields (GFI) (AU) (MGH) (RIC) (HMY) Trade Mixed As Gold Drops

Gold and silver prices went through a reversal Friday as gold closed down and silver rebounded to close higher, putting pressure on gold miners such as Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI), AngloGold Ashanti, (NYSE:AU), Minco Gold Corporation (AMEX:MGH), Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC) and Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY) - which closed mixed - and gold ETFS.

Gold for June delivery fell $13.10 to close at $1,493.60 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The spot gold price was down by about $13 an ounce. Silver prices settled up 21 cents to $35.01 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar index was up 0.74 percent to $75.75 as the euro continued to get hammered on the sovereign debt crises in Europe. The euro plunged 1.7 percent last week as Greece was again in the spotlight for the need to probably be bailed out again, as it appears the country refuses to implement austerity measures to deal with the situation, as it, along with numerous countries, has made progressive, socialists promises they aren't able to keep.

Besides the long-term collapse of the U.S. dollar and the European sovereign debt crises, other factors offering support to gold include tightening in China, inflation, and unrest in the middle east.

Richmont Mines (RIC) closed Friday at $7.88, gaining $0.48, or 6.49 percent.

Miners (ABX) (RGLD) (JAG) (RIC) (AU) Trade Mixed as Gold, Silver Rebound

Gold miners Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), Royal Gold (Nasdaq:RGLD), Jaguar Mining (NYSE:JAG), Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) closed mixed Monday as gold prices turned around on Monday.

All the miners listed above closed up with the exception of Jaguar Mining.

Gold for June delivery increased $11.86 to settle at $1,503.20 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping 4.8 percent in a week. The gold price Monday traded in a range as high as $1,512 and as low as $1,489.

Silver prices jumped $1.82 to close at $37.11 an ounce after plunging 27 percent last week.

According to research firm Lipper, last week almost $1 billion flowed out of silver exchange traded funds (ETFs).

The U.S. dollar fell to $1.434 against the euro and dropped against the Japanese yen to 80.24 yen.

Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC) closed Monday at $8.12, gaining $0.40, or 5.18 percent.

Top AMEX Gainers (RIC) (EXK) (HDY) (MGH) (PZG) #1-5 on May 6

The top AMEX gainers (1-5) - as measured by percentages Friday on the American Stock Exchange - include Richmont Mines, Inc. (AMEX:RIC), Endeavour Silver Corporation (AMEX:EXK), HyperDynamics Corporation (AMEX:HDY), Minco Gold Corporation (AMEX:MGH) and Paramount Gold and Silver Corporation (AMEX:PZG).

Richmont Mines, Inc. (RIC) closed Friday at $7.72, up $0.57, or 7.97 percent.

Endeavour Silver Corporation (EXK) ended the day at $9.30, up $0.68, or 7.89 percent.

HyperDynamics Corporation (HDY) closed at $3.58, gaining $0.26, or 7.83 percent.

Minco Gold Corporation (AMEX:MGH) closed at $2.16, rising $0.15, or 7.51 percent.

Paramount Gold and Silver Corporation (PZG) closed Friday at $2.83, climbing $0.16, or 5.99 percent.

Richmont Mines (TSE:RIC) Earnings Increase for Quarter

Richmont Mines (TSE:RIC) reported earnings were up for their latest quarter, as the gold mining company generated $1.8 million in earnings, or 7 cents a share, an increase from last year's $1.4 million in earnings, or 5 cents a share.

Revenue also increased slightly, coming to $20 million, a small increase over $19.9 million last year during the same quarter.

The number of gold ounces sold was down, as the total came to 15,841 ounces at $1,105 an ounce, in contrast to 16,614 ounces sold last year for $990 an ounce.

That resulted in a fall in revenue from metals from $18.8 million to $18.2 million year-over-year.

Going forward the company said they're going to continue to look for acquisitions while cutting operational costs.

One move they announced was to acquire the remaining 30 percent of the shares they don't already own in Louvem Mines Inc. (TSEV:LOV) for $6.8 million in stock.