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Market review

It was a tough day for the markets overall today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite Index were all down for the day. Reuters and Richard Russell of the Dow Theory Letters note that the year to date gains in each of those indexes were erased following today's declines.

It was a rough day for commodities as well. Gold continued its correction as the August gold contract fell $44.50, or 7.3%, to close at $566.80. Silver, platinum, and copper also had notable declines. While the recent correction has been rough, one investor quoted in a Bloomberg article took a longer term view:


Some investors say the price decline offers a buying opportunity for some metals.

HSBC Holdings Plc estimated last month about $100 billion will be invested in commodity indexes by the end of 2006, compared with $10 billion at the end of 2003.

``This is not the end of the commodities rally,'' said Michael Widmer, an analyst at Macquarie Bank Ltd. in London. ``The fundamentals for most commodities, such as gold, are strong.''

Moore of Dunvegan, who sold some shares of the StreetTracks Gold Trust exchange-traded fund as the metal was rising to a 26- year high, said he's considering buying metals.

``We're more interested in gold and metals generally,'' Moore said. ``There's still a bull run in gold, and the money will be back.''

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