>I believe you are attempting to use strings in a math expression. Just use the cell reference where the numbers are located. i.e.
>cell(2,2).value =cell(1,2) * cell(1,3)
>I'm not sure of the subscripts but I think you understand the reference.
>John\


This will work to put a value in a particular cell, but I think the point was to fill a cell with a formula, and let Excel do the evaluation.