FSJG Index™ Review
by Frank Barbera
August 28, 2006

General Comments

Increasing tension in the Middle East centered upon the forthcoming UN deadline with Iran helped boost precious metals last week with nearby Gold gaining 6.80 to close at $630.80, which in turn boosted share values. For the week ended August 25^th, the XAU gained 5.70 to close at 146.39, up 4.05% for the week with the HUI up 5.15% to close at 344.58. The positive performance by Gold and the larger cap Gold Stocks sent share prices for smaller cap mining companies sharply higher.

Financial Sense Junior Gold Index

For the week, the Financial Sense Junior Gold Mining Index (FSJG) ended with a gain of 10.15 index points to close at 257.57, up from 247.42 the prior week. For the week ended August 25^th, the FSJG Index finished with a gain of 4.10%, ending above the 50-day average at 245.84 and the longer-term 200-day average at 236.27.

Among the Sub-Indices, the Junior Producer Index ended at 279.04, up 6.91 index points to close at 272.13, yielding a net gain of 2.53%. On Friday, the 50-day average for the Junior Producers ended at 272.84 with the 200-day average at 258.07.

Among Development companies, the Junior Development Index gained 3.37% to finish at 652.57, up from 631.24 with the 50-day average ending at 640.73 and the 200-day average ending at 649.22.

Finally, among Exploration Companies, the gains were even more impressive with the Junior Exploration Index ending 8/25 at 135.25, up 9.41 index points for the week to finish with a healthy percentage gain of 7.47%.

Finally, it is useful to note that over the last few weeks, Smaller Cap Mining stocks have been gaining relative strength versus their higher-cap cousins, with the Relative Strength Ratio of Small Cap miners to Large Cap miners moving higher off the 200-day moving average – this is usually a good sign.

That’s all for now,

Frank

*Please note that the individual companies in this index are proprietary and will not be disclosed due to compliance and regulatory issues resulting from the relationship of FinancialSense.com, Puplava Financial Services, Inc., Registered Investment Advisor and Puplava Securities, Inc. Member Firm FINRA/SIPC.