Business and Finance

Overseas stock markets are continuing to tumble and Wall Street index futures point to an extension of the past two days' steep losses provoked by recession fears.

Canadian resource companies are reporting big third-quarter earnings, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (TSX: POT) earning $1.24 billion in the July-September period – more than in all of 2007, which was its best full year to date. And EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA) booked third-quarter net earnings of US$3.55 billion, up from $934 million a year ago. But that was largely thanks to a $2-billion unrealized hedging gain caused by declining natural gas prices.

But the resource-industry bonanza of recent years is widely seen as over, with commodity prices pulling back in the face of shaky worldwide demand and global financial turmoil.

Crude oil was up $1.35 at US$68.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, bouncing modestly from the previous day's sharp decline. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets tomorrow to discuss what most observers expect will be a hefty production quota cut in an effort to prop up prices nevada payday loans.

Gold is continuing its steep fall, down $24.20 at US$711.00 an ounce on the Nymex, and copper is down 6.8 cents at US$1.7975 a pound.

The Canadian dollar opened at 78.80 cents, losing another 0.90 cent after plunging yesterday to under 80 cents US for the first time since the summer of 2005.

In global equity markets, mixed corporate earnings are stirring intense anxiety about the economy.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 2.5 per cent overnight, and the gloom continued in European trading.

London's FTSE 100 index is down 2.3 per cent, the German DAX by 3.9 per cent and the Paris CAC-40 by 3.2 per cent.

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