Thank you, I appreciate the response, but the formula did not work. Also the date formatting is a non-issue because I already converted it into text using the text function.

I just need a way to reference a closed external workbook, with a cell reference within that reference.

The function below works fine:
='C:\Documents and Settings\dedalus\Desktop\Excel Import Commodity Prices\[24-Mar-09.xls]Sheet1'!$D$8

I just need a function similar to this:
='C:\Documents and Settings\dedalus\Desktop\Excel Import Commodity Prices\[=E2.xls]Sheet1'!$D$8

Where cell E2 has 24-Mar-09 inputted as text .

Thanks!