There are several components of demand. There’s real economic demand (you need the stuff to make other stuff). There is investment demand (you’re buying it in order to make a profit from what you think the price trend is. There is also pure speculation, and it’s possible that some middle-men were flat-out speculating by buying alongside China’s State Reserve Bureau (sort of like the banks and brokers in the U.S. buying Treasuries ahead of the Fed late last year to improve Q4 earnings).
July 1st, 2009 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "Copper"
Chinese Surge in Construction Explains Pickup in Base Metals Stocks
The dragon is breathing fire and building roads. “By the end of April, China had built 20,000 kilometres (12,430 miles) of rural roads, 214,000 low-rent homes, 445 kilometres of highway, and 100,000 square meters (1.08 million square feet) of airport buildings under the stimulus plan,” reported China’s National Development and Reform Commission on May 21.
June 2nd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 3 comments | Continued
Is China Trying to Back its Currency With Metal?
A smattering of articles in recent weeks has highlighted the stockpiling of metals by the China State Reserves Bureau. The Bureau scarfed up 329,000 tonnes of copper in February and 375,000 tonnes in March.
April 22nd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 13 comments | Continued
Profiting From the Copper Indecision
Copper has fallen 22 percent from the peak of $8,775 posted on June 30, as increasing stockpiles signalled weaker demand. Imports of copper and copper products by China fell 4% in August compared with July. Another element that has an impact globally on commodities markets is the recovery of the US Dollar. Remember that despite the exchange being based in London, copper is priced in US Dollars.
September 12th, 2008 | Gabriel Andre | 1 comment | Continued
U.S. Stock Prices are Down about 9% so far this Year
Still, the most important thing is to stay out of the crossfire. In any given month, the battle could go either way. Any day now, we could have a buoyant rally in stocks…and a breathtaking correction…
February 12th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 5 comments | Continued
