North American stocks may recovery Monday after the sharp selloff on Friday, with an upgrade for General Motors helping investor sentiment.

GM was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs amid expectations of sizeable concessions from union talks.

More data on the state of the U.S. housing market are due this week. A report on May existing-home sales is expected shortly after the opening bell. Economists expect existing sales in May to fall to 5.9 million from 5.99 million.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s imports and exports of culture goods declined in 2006. The trade deficit widened to its largest level since 1999, as imports, especially from Canada’s largest trading partners — the United States and China — continued to surpass exports.

Canada imported $3.9 billion worth of culture goods from the world, a 3.2% decline from 2005. At the same time, exports fell 12.7% to $2.1 billion, the third consecutive decline.

The Canadian dollar opened at US93.34¢, down 0.15 of a cent.

In today’s M&A news, U.S.-based TreeHouse Foods is offering $217 million to acquire Canadian jam and sauces maker E.D. Smith Income Fund.

Compton Petroleum is offering $91 million, or $2.70 a share, for Stylus Energy, which owns natural gas properties near Compton’s holdings in Alberta.

United Kingdom hedge-fund giant GLG Partners agreed to merge with Freedom Acquisition Holdings, a blank-check company, in a deal that will give it a U.S. listing. GLG plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

Crude-oil futures dropped US$1.11 to US$68.03 a barrel.

Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds were 5.13%, and gold futures slipped US$3 to US$653.80 an ounce.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.2% in London while the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.6% in Tokyo.

North American stocks dropped Friday, as investor nervousness over rising interest rates globally led to losses across the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 109.70, or 0.78%, to 13,986.03.

After a see-saw week of losses and gains, the benchmark index lost 151 points.

The S&P TSX Venture Exchange lost 16.27, or 0.50%, to 3,235.09.

In New York, wrapped up their worst week since February amid fears that trouble at two Bear Stearns hedge funds may signal worse problems lie ahead for credit markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 185.58, or 1.37%, to 13,360.26, the Nasdaq composite index fell 28.00, or 1.07%, to 2,588.96, and the S&P 00 declined 19.63, or 1.29%, to 1,502.56.

For the week, the Dow lost 2.1%, the S&P shed 2% and the Nasdaq slipped 1.4%.