The base metals were mostly higher on Friday. Copper rose during the pre-dawn hours, peaking at $3.73 near the New York open, then slid for most of the rest of the day, finishing at $3.6965/lb., up 9 cents.

Yesterday I wrote to you about the pessimism within the Argentine business community. However, Argentine businessmen are not the only ones in a bad mood… The Chilean businessmen are also more than a little bit worried about the situation the Chilean economy is going through.

A new community in South America is born with a variety of diverse and complex objectives spanning cultural, social and economic realms… another aim is the social inclusion, the civic participation, the strengthening of democracy for all.

People are starting to question the readings of consumer price indices.

Gold flat-lined throughout Far East trading and only showed life when London opened. Virtually all the gains in the gold price were in by the time the traders in New York showed up for work.

The Canadian Markets marched ever higher during Friday trading.

The base metals were mostly higher on Tuesday. Copper pushed higher in the pre-dawn hours, but then dropped in New York, rallying slightly at the end to finish at $3.7897/lb., down a bit less than a penny.

The base metals were all in the red on Thursday. Copper backed down for a second straight day, dropping from the pre-dawn hours to late morning, after which it recovered slightly to finish at $3.844/lb., down 4¾ cents.

The base metals were all in the red on Tuesday. Copper held up until New York opened, then dipped sharply and never regained the lost ground, finishing at $3.9253/lb., down 4¼ cents.

The base metals were mixed on Monday. Copper came off its pre-dawn lows to move mostly upward and, though it couldn’t dent the $4 mark, finished with a modest gain at $3.9678/lb., up 2 2/3 cents from Friday.