U. S. MARKETS MAY 20-23

Markets were closed in the U. S. on May 26 for Memorial Day, following the May 20-23 trading session — one of the worst trading weeks in months. Anxiety about the impact of higher oil prices dominated market sentiment throughout the abbreviated four-day trading session, after the price of crude oil crossed a record US$135 a barrel on May 22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 349.05 points, or 2.7%, to close at 12,479.63. The S&P 500 Index fell 37.47 points, or 2.6%, to close at 1,375.93.

Rio Tinto took the greatest hit, falling US$41.60 per share to close at US$505. The major hit the headlines May 23 with the announcement that it would form a partnership with Imperial College London to set up a multimillion-dollar research centre to advance mining technologies. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold suffered the second-largest fall (on no news), sliding US$7.64 per share to US$117.19.

The best performer during the session was Fording Canadian Coal Trust, an open-ended mutual fund trust and one of the largest royalty trusts in Canada. It holds a 60% stake in the metallurgical coal operations of the Elk Valley Coal Partnership, the world’s second-largest exporter of seaborne metallurgical coal. Earlier this month, Elk Valley Coal completed negotiations for about 90% of its anticipated coal sales for the 2008 coal year. If the rest of the 2008 contracts are settled on similar terms, the average price for the 2008 coal year is forecast to be about US$275 per tonne for all coal products, compared with an average price of US$93 per tonne for the 2007 coal year.

Despite indexes such as the Amex Gold Bugs Index shedding 7.8 points to close at 441.20, many gold stocks performed well. Agnico-Eagle Mines jumped US$2.72 a share to US$72.03 during the trading session. The company announced in May that initial ore had been fed into the mill at its 100%-owned Goldex mine in northwestern Quebec, and commissioning is under way.

Meanwhile, Barrick Gold shares climbed US$1.15 per share to close at US$42.07. On May 6, Barrick’s board of directors increased its June dividend by 33% to US20 per share from US15 citing continuing strong cash flow.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Vale* RIO	88149 43.50	40.50	41.01	-2.45
Alcoa* AA	53247 44.09	39.78	40.25	-4.34
CoeurdAlene* CDE	51327 3.48	3.30	3.36	-0.01
Freeport McMo*FCX	40222 127.24	115.01	117.19	-7.64
PotashCSask* POT	36827 204.60	191.53	196.33	-2.03
Barrick Gold* ABX	35590 43.87	41.20	42.07	+ 1.15
Goldcorp* GG	31266 44.35	41.45	42.10	+ 0.84
Newmont Mng* NEM	26195 50.89	48.49	48.74	-0.32
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	25118 80.65	72.04	73.20	-5.09
Gold Fields* GFI	23243 14.35	13.89	14.01	-0.16

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	91	0.92	0.62	0.92	+ 22.6
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	1190	1.17	0.85	1.09	+ 22.4
Little Squaw*	LITS	63	0.55	0.43	0.51	+ 21.4
Crosshair E&M*	CXZ	140	1.00	0.71	0.94	+ 20.5
AmMex Gold*	AMXG	407	0.14	0.10	0.12	+ 20.0
FinMetal Mng*	FNMM	91	0.07	0.05	0.07	+ 16.6
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	2889	6.03	4.53	5.30	+ 15.9
Sterling Mini*	SRLM	337	2.12	1.82	2.12	+ 15.8
Geocom Res*	GOCM	63	0.15	0.10	0.15	+ 15.3
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	19	0.09	0.08	0.09	+ 12.5
GoldMountain*	GMEX	60	0.06	0.05	0.05	-28.5
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	734	0.18	0.13	0.13	-27.7
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	58	0.34	0.26	0.28	-20.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	19	0.57	0.46	0.46	-19.3
World Vent*	WVNTF	48	0.18	0.12	0.15	-16.6
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	1465	0.19	0.13	0.15	-16.6
Buckingham Ex*	BUKX	126	0.75	0.35	0.50	-16.6
Cardero Res*	CDY	565	3.65	2.87	2.95	-13.7
Puda Coal*	PUDC	1608	0.60	0.49	0.50	-13.7
Kimber Res*	KBX	769	1.78	1.42	1.45	-13.6

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Fording C C T* FDG	7620748	79.03	+ 6.52
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	17498415	73.27	+ 4.85
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	8398168	72.03	+ 2.72
Soc Quim&M Ch*SQM	3766799	33.59	+ 1.46
Barrick Gold* ABX	35590403	42.07	+ 1.15
North Am En P* NOA	209600	18.96	+ 1.11
Lihir Gold* LIHR	365311	31.86	+ 1.04
Gammon Gold* GRS	3152625	10.40	+ 0.99
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	255543	86.58	+ 0.96
Stillwater Mg* SWC	8452003	15.56	+ 0.90
Rio Tinto* RTP	1404438	505.00	-41.60
Freeport McMo* FCX	40221821	117.19	-7.64
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	25118257	73.20	-5.09
OM Group* OMG	5400436	41.23	-4.57
Southern Copp* PCU	8746959	108.20	-4.36
Alcoa* AA	53247230	40.25	-4.34
Mosaic* MOS	19788886	119.86	-4.02
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	20261212	89.50	-3.99
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	2675539	80.75	-3.71
Foundatn Coal* FCL	4356170	62.89	-2.63