U.S. MARKETS MAY 25-28

U.S. financial markets were closed on May 31 for the Memorial Day holiday but opened slightly higher on June 1 despite more negative news out of Europe. A report published on May 31 from the European Central Bank noted that banks in Europe face a second wave of potential write-downs through the end of 2011 to the tune of US$239 billion. Fears about slowing growth in China were also not enough to dampen U.S. markets. During the abbreviated May 25-28 trading period, the Dow Jones industrial average added 92.88 points or 0.93% to finish at 10,136.63, while the S&P 500 index gained 15.38 points or 1.43% to reach 1,089.41. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 46.09 points or 2.09% to close at 2,257.04.

Gold prices held fairly steady, rising from US$1,201.20 per oz. in New York on May 25 to US$1,214.30 per oz. on May 28. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index edged up 1.6% or 2.7 points to 173.93. Randgold Resources topped the value chart with a gain of US$5.65 to US$87.45 per share on no news, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold added US$4.49 to US$70.05 and AngloGold Ashanti rose US$2.96 to US$41.92 per share. Goldcorp rose US$2.05 to US$43.09 per share.

Cliffs Natural Resources was up US$5.60 per share to US$55.86 as its takeover battle for control over the Big Daddy chromite deposit in northwestern Ontario heats up. The U.S. coal miner announced friendly takeover bids for one or both of KWG Resources and Spider Resources. (KWG and Spider share a rotating operatorship and each hold 26.5% of the project with an option to earn up to 30% each and Cliffs holds a 47% stake.) The two juniors have since started talks about a merger in an attempt to defeat a hostile takeover offer.

Rio Tinto rose US$4.02 per share to US$46.10 on no news. With worries about the government of Australia’s proposed mining super tax, however, the mining giant issued a press release on June 1 noting that it is one of the country’s biggest taxpayers and a major contributor to the economy. Over the last 10 years, Rio Tinto said, it has paid more than A$20 billion in corporate taxes and royalties alone, taking its effective tax rate to an average of more than 35% over the last decade. About three quarters of those taxes were paid in the last five years, the company specified.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME		WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	129469	11.84	10.56	11.64	+ 0.55
Freeport McMo* FCX	66782	71.35	62.77	70.05	+ 4.49
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	46858	57.93	46.64	55.86	+ 5.60
Vale* VALE	43740	27.80	23.66	27.19	+ 2.02
Barrick Gold* ABX	39497	43.10	40.60	42.08	+ 1.16
Hecla Mining* HL	39394	5.54	4.91	5.38	+ 0.22
Goldcorp* GG	37625	44.00	40.62	43.09	+ 2.05
Newmont Mng* NEM	34900	55.18	51.40	53.82	+ 1.48
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	31932	40.38	34.89	38.96	+ 2.71
Teck B* TCK	30601	35.42	28.67	34.02	+ 3.03

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
America West*	AWSR	44	0.15	0.10	0.15	+ 50.0
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	84	0.43	0.34	0.43	+ 26.4
SinoCoking Cl*	SCOK	204	15.26	11.24	14.63	+ 24.5
Crystallex In*	KRY	6463	0.63	0.48	0.63	+ 21.1
Constittn Mng*	CMIN	993	0.84	0.60	0.75	+ 19.0
Uranerz Energ*	URZ	1088	1.58	1.20	1.56	+ 17.2
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	503	0.80	0.61	0.80	+ 14.2
PlatinumGpM*	PLG	568	2.26	1.90	2.14	+ 13.8
National Coal*	NCOC	328	0.44	0.37	0.43	+ 13.1
Tara Gold*	TRGD	52	0.45	0.40	0.45	+ 12.5
NWT Uranium*	NWURF	30	0.20	0.12	0.14	-26.3
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	11	0.06	0.06	0.06	-25.0
Golden Phoen*	GPXM	793	0.05	0.04	0.04	-20.0
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	186	0.32	0.25	0.25	-19.3
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	41	0.27	0.22	0.22	-18.5
Affinity Gold*	AFYG	162	0.05	0.05	0.05	-16.6
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	82	0.05	0.05	0.05	-16.6
Lake Vict Mng*	LVCA	2140	0.64	0.34	0.44	-15.3
Metalline Mng*	MMG	280	0.69	0.60	0.62	-8.8
US Antimony*	UAMY	13	0.45	0.41	0.41	-8.8

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Randgold Res* GOLD	4119857	87.45	+ 5.65
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	46857901	55.86	+ 5.60
Freeport McMo* FCX	66782227	70.05	+ 4.49
Rio Tinto* RTP	20701516	46.10	+ 4.02
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	16665681	38.37	+ 3.65
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	25720130	64.84	+ 3.34
Teck B* TCK	30601390	34.02	+ 3.03
AngloGold Ash* AU	11251181	41.92	+ 2.96
Alliance Rs P* ARLP	396687	45.45	+ 2.93
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	14067831	54.89	+ 2.88
Agrium* AGU	2877300	54.89	-0.39
Mines Managem* MGN	368352	2.14	-0.15
Keegan Res* KGN	20600	5.62	-0.09
Contintl Mnls* KMKCF	419359	2.02	-0.08
PolyMet Mng* PLM	959449	1.83	-0.08
Lake Vict Mng* LVCA	2140215	0.44	-0.08
Aurizon Mines* AZK	1960649	4.87	-0.08
Quaterra Res* QMM	111100	1.28	-0.07
Paramount Gld* PZG	2549921	1.55	-0.06
Metalline Mng* MMG	280100	0.62	-0.06