Oil down slightly (expectations for continued recession...)
Gold steady
BUT, copper, after months of rambling and slight up trend, now tumbling... -16 cents
Yeah, copper is a critical commodity if you think you are in a recovering market. Noticed both FCX and VALE are both down 5%, so there is no currency angle to it, just nobody wants copper all of a sudden. Given the Greek thingy and strengthing dollar you would expect VALE to be down more than FCX. Strange.
I’m not certain copper is the reliable indicator it used to be. Five years or so ago, aggressive Chinese stockpiling of copper (among other commodities) drove demand for copper higher than it would normally have been given the business cycle. That (one of the largest players in the market behaving differently than traditional buyers of copper) and the boom in construction fueled by the housing bubble seemed to decouple the price of copper from the business cycle.
I’m sure things have changed in the last couple years, but I’m not sure they’ve changed in such a way as to return the copper market to its traditional behavior. Could be something to look into.