Following copper, as one Wall Street wag several years ago reported, was supposed to be the equivalent of a Ph'd in economics. It was a statement about the metal's economic sensitivity.
Now, however, the precious industrial metal seems to have joined the unpopular club after a decade of being in the commodity limelight, according to today's WSJ. Demand is waning on a global scale while more supply hits the market. For a while labor problems hit the industry crimping production.
No longer. According to some, supply between now and 2015 should easily outstrip demand. Copper is quoted in dollars and over the past several years tends to correlate to US dollar movement more so than other industrial metals.
The housing market is inextricably connected to copper. So what
happens there with rising interest rates is also a consideration, though higher interest rates could lend support to a stronger dollar.
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