STOCKS AROUND THE WORLD THIS WEEK

POLAND: The Warsaw Stock Exchange's WIG index has been losing ground basically since the year began and this past week was no exception. The total return index, which includes 338 members, dropped 3 per cent over the week, but that decline still left it well above the 52-week intraday low set in mid-July.

ARGENTINA: On Tuesday, Argentina's Merval index set its lowest close in more than a year and a half. But it changed direction on Wednesday and appeared to be headed upwards. However, it then resumed its decline, leaving the index down 6 per cent on the week.

AUSTRALIA: It has been a tough year for the Australian market. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 21 per cent so far in 2008, in sharp contrast to the S&P/TSX composite, which like the Australian index is heavily weighted in resources. The TSX composite is only off 3.5 per cent. But this week saw the Australian index rally a little, buoyed by the prospect that the next rate move by the Reserve Bank of Australia will be down, not up.

RUSSIA: Investors had expected much of the Russian market this year, but it hasn't performed as expected, a development underscored by the 22-month closing low that the Micex index turned in on Tuesday. It is down 28 per cent year-to-date. Just how the view of the Russian market has changed was illustrated this week by the news that the asset management company that once was the largest foreign investor in Russia now has less than 5 per cent of its $3-billion (U.S.) in assets under management invested in that country.

INDIA: When it comes to emerging markets many investors think first of the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China. This year hasn't been kind to any of them. Brazil has fared the best of the four; the Bovespa stock index is down 11 per cent year-to-date; the others are considerably worse off. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive index, better known as the Sensex, has fallen 25 per cent. It set a 16-month low close on July 16.