Copper has long been called the "metal with the PhD" or the "smart" metal because of its apparent ability to predict changes in the economy based on metal demand and pricing. Copper is used in many industrial capacities, but especially in piping in residential and commercial construction.

On Mar 6, we discussed the signals copper was sending about the status of the global economic recovery as metal prices were soaring but the stock market was not in a blog post called Dr. Copper Sends Signals.

Back in March, copper and copper stocks were behaving differently from the rest of the market. Copper mining stocks hit their lows in November and then roared from there. They were not hitting new lows in March like the rest of the overall stock market.

Copper was also on a tear at that time, hitting a 3-month high on Mar 6.

Copper prices and

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