Ex-Date            Record Date        Payable Date
-----------        -----------        ------------
May 1, 2008        May 5, 2008        May 7, 2008

FUND                                 Distribution  Distribution Amount
                             Ticker   Frequency         Per Share
---------------------------  -----------------------------------------
Market Vectors-Lehman
 Brothers
AMT-Free Intermediate
 Municipal Index ETF          ITM      Monthly         $0.188

Market Vectors-Lehman
 Brothers
AMT-Free Long Municipal
 Index ETF                    MLN      Monthly         $0.278

Market Vectors-Lehman
 Brothers
AMT-Free Short Municipal
 Index ETF                    SMB      Monthly         $0.030

The majority, and possibly all, of this distribution will be paid out of net investment income earned by the Fund. A portion of this distribution may come from net short-term realized capital gains or return of capital.

*Currently, only three ETFs, the Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Intermediate Municipal Index ETF, Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Long Municipal Index ETF and the Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Short Municipal Index ETF are being offered to the public.

The amount of dividends paid by each fund may vary from time to time. Past amounts of dividends are no guarantee of future dividend payment amounts.

Van Eck does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice. Any statement contained in this communication concerning U.S. tax matters is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties imposed on the relevant taxpayer. Shareholders or potential shareholders of the Market Vectors ETFs should obtain their own independent tax advice based on their particular circumstances.

For more complete information about the Market Vectors ETFs, contact your investment representative and request a prospectus or visit www.vaneck.com/etf. Please consider a Fund's objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.

About Van Eck Global

Founded in 1955, Van Eck Associates Corporation was among the first U.S. money managers helping investors achieve greater diversification through global investing. Today, the firm continues the 50+ year tradition by offering global investment choices in hard assets, emerging markets, precious metals including gold, and other specialized asset classes.

Van Eck mutual funds are sold nationwide through retail brokers, financial planners and investment advisors. Designed for investors seeking innovative choices for portfolio diversification, they are often categorized in asset classes having returns with low correlations to those of more traditional U.S. equity and fixed income investments.

Van Eck also offers exchange-traded funds, separate accounts and alternative investments. In addition, it offers the Worldwide Insurance Trust Funds, a series of investment choices within the variable annuity contracts and variable life policies of widely known and highly regarded insurers.

Please call 1.888.MKT.VCTR or visit www.vaneck.com/etf for the most recent month-end performance of Market Vectors ETFs. This information will be available no later than seven business days after the most recent month end.

Principal Risk Factors: Municipal bonds are subject to risks related to litigation, legislation, political changes, local business or economic conditions, conditions in underlying sectors, bankruptcy or other changes in the financial condition of the issuer, and/or the discontinuance of the taxation supporting the project or assets or the inability to collect revenues for the project or from the assets. Municipal bonds are also subject to credit risk, interest rate risk, call risk, lease obligations and tax risk. The market for municipal bonds may be less liquid than for taxable bonds. There is no guarantee that a fund's income will be exempt from federal or state income taxes or the alternative minimum tax. Federal or state changes in income or alternative minimum tax rates or in the tax treatment of municipal bonds may make them less attractive as investments and cause them to lose value. Capital gains, if any, are subject to capital gains tax. For a more complete description of these and other risks, please refer to each fund's prospectus.

Fund shares are not individually redeemable and will be issued and redeemed at their NAV only through certain authorized broker-dealers in large, specified blocks of shares called "creation units" and otherwise can be bought and sold only through exchange trading. Creation units are issued and redeemed principally in kind.

Investors may call 1.888.MKT.VCTR or visit www.vaneck.com/etf for a free prospectus. They should consider the investment objective, risks, and charges and expenses of Market Vectors ETFs carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor, 99 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016

SOURCE: Van Eck Global

MacMillan Communications
Mike MacMillan or Lindsey Wetmiller, 212-473-4442
mike@macmillancom.com

Darden Restaurants, Inc., (NYSE: DRI) headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is the world's largest full-service restaurant company with almost $6.7 billion in annual sales and approximately 170,000 employees. The Company owns and operates nearly 1,700 restaurants including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52. For more information, please visit www.Darden.com .

SOURCE Darden Restaurants, Inc.

http://www.darden.com

Rich Goudis, Chief Financial Officer

Misc Releated Info:** Original Confirmation** Conference Information:Lehman Brothers Eleventh Annual Retail and Restaurant Conference

Conference Dates: 04/29/2008-04/30/2008

St. Regis Hotel

New York, NY

GET KNOBIAS IN REAL-TIME: Delivery of this proprietary Knobias alert has been delayed by at least 10 minutes. To get all Knobias alerts in real-time daily, visit http://www.knobias.com/cmtx

ABOUT KNOBIAS: Knobias is a premier financial information provider of trading and investing data covering all U.S. equities for investors and security professionals. Knobias is best described by its three major components: Real-time desktop applications providing quotes, charts, level 2, analysis etc.; Knobias RAiDAR providing thousands of real-time news stories, alerts and documents daily; Knobias fundamentals providing a comprehensive database of fundamental research information.

Knobias.com, LLC
601-978-3399
601-978-3675
info@knobias.com
www.knobias.com/cmtx

In anticipation of its presentation at the Lehman Brothers conference, the Company also today updated its sales expectations for the first fiscal quarter ending May 3, 2008. Based on sales trends quarter to date and the forecast for the remaining 5 days of the quarter, the Company now expects comparable store sales to increase in the low to mid three percent range. This compares to the Company's original expectations which called for an increase in comparable store sales in the range of 1% to 2% against a 4.9% comp increase last year.

From a merchandising perspective, the best performing categories during the first quarter have been furniture and consumables. After a slow start to the first quarter, sales of seasonal merchandise, particularly the lawn and garden and summer departments, accelerated and were above last year as weather conditions improved across the country. As anticipated, first quarter results have also been positively impacted by two large closeout deals: one from a major furniture manufacturer and one from a national drugstore chain. The Company estimates these two deals have benefited comparable store sales comps by approximately 1.5% to 2%.

Big Lots is the nation's largest broadline closeout retailer. The Company currently operates 1,353 BIG LOTS stores in 47 states. Wholesale operations are conducted through BIG LOTS WHOLESALE, CONSOLIDATED INTERNATIONAL, WISCONSIN TOY and with online sales at www.biglotswholesale.com. The Company's website is located at www.biglots.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and such statements are intended to qualify for the protection of the safe harbor provided by the Act. The words "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "objective," "goal," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "target," "forecast" and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, descriptions of our objectives, strategies, plans, goals or targets are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to the expectations of management as to future occurrences and trends, including statements expressing optimism or pessimism about future operating results or events and projected sales, earnings, capital expenditures and business strategy. Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be inaccurate. Forward-looking statements are and will be based upon management's then-current views and assumptions regarding future events and operating performance, and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. Although we believe the expectations expressed in forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of our knowledge, forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, any one or a combination of which could materially affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

Forward-looking statements that we make herein and in other reports and releases are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the cost of goods, our inability to successfully execute strategic initiatives, competitive pressures, economic pressures on our customers and us, the availability of brand name closeout merchandise, trade restrictions, freight costs, the risks discussed in the Risk Factors section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other factors discussed from time to time in our other filings with the SEC, including Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. This release should be read in conjunction with such filings, and you should consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking statements.

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and SEC filings.

SOURCE Big Lots, Inc.

http://www.biglots.com