Metals companies outperform in 1st quarter

You probably knew this already, but Marketwatch gives us the details ...

Shares of metals and mining companies were the big winners in the first quarter of 2007, propped up by strong prices for gold, copper, nickel and platinum among others, while shares of companies with any link to the housing sector got pummeled as subprime loan woes and the housing market's slowdown delivered a double whammy.

The Dow Jones Wilshire family of indexes shows steel, mining, nonferrous metals, aluminum, platinum and precious metals as the dominant sector gainers in the first three months of the year. The DJ Wilshire U.S. steel index gained 25% in the quarter, while the general mining index rose nearly 16%.

Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com