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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score on Friday was a weak 60-89-161 as the TSX Venture Exchange fell nine points to 761. There is good news and bad news with Paul Zimnisky's latest update to his global rough diamond price index. Yes, it was down again, ebbing 0.4 point to place it at 128.3 points, but that is 2.8 points higher than we thought it was just a week earlier. Mr. Zimnisky rejigs his index to account for tardy data and not only did a lot of it appear in the latest update, but it also rode in wearing a smile for weary investors.

And so, while still flattish, the chart looks more like a gentle incline than a flat, endless steppe drifting off to the horizon. Indeed, with some discernible air now distancing the curve from Mr. Zimnisky's horizontal dashed line, there is increasing hope among diamantaires that "the worst might be over." The fat weasel nibbling at the optimism aside, finding joy that the pummelling might be abating -- not necessarily ending -- is a sign of just how badly hammered the sector has been over the past three years.

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