Of all the base metals, copper probably benefited the most from the belief that the China super-cycle would never end. As ore grades deteriorated and labor and equipment problems hit mine production in South America, the Chinese were visibly scrabbling to invest huge sums of money in African mines to guarantee an assured supply of [...]
 Photo: Several newly-manufactured toys will never find an owner, due to stronger lead laws that some critics consider “overzealous.” Credit: FlickR. On February 10, children’s toys won’t find new, loving homes. Instead, the latest lead-governing legislature will cause several unsold toys, books, bikes and clothes to take a one-way trip to the scrap heap. Any [...]
Most of the precious metals appear fairly straightforward (the picture doesn’t look too pretty for 2009) with one exception, gold. Now from a jewelry perspective, I’d always short gold (I personally am not a fan) but alas, that’s not the purpose of this analysis. Many of the major investment banks and research houses are bullish [...]
As we have mentioned in previous articles on aluminum, world stock levels are an ever present burden that has been depressing the price and quickly reversing any rallies. In our aluminum predictions article this week we have pointed out that stock levels are a crucial indicator of the state of the market and an important [...]
One swallow does not make a summer, so the saying goes, and one month of increased house sales does not sound the end of the housing slump. However it is a welcome sign reported in Reuters today and the net reduction in inventories will help slow (but not halt) the continued slide in prices. The [...]
The short term future looks rather bleak for zinc. Demand for galvanized steel, the main market for zinc, has probably dropped by the same proportion as the general steel market. Most galvanized steel is used in the construction and automotive markets forcing US producers to aggressively cut production as demand has ground to a halt. [...]
Photo by Olivia Jin This is gold Mr. Bond. All my life I’ve been in love with its colour, its brilliance, its divine heaviness. I welcome any enterprise that will increase my stockwhich is considerable. That memorable line was spoken by Agent 007′s arch-villain who appeared in the third Bond film, Goldfinger, alongside Sean Connery. [...]
It would appear one set of commodities is bucking the trend of the last 6 months. As metals and energy prices have crashed, the price of cocoa and sugar, key ingredients in chocolate have increased 75% and 10% respectively. Fears over supplies from the Ivory Coast and Ghana in West Africa, two of the world’s [...]
