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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US stocks registered their first decline in five weeks as investors assessed the outcome of Obama Administration's plans for an overhaul of financial regulations.  A fall in crude prices resulted in a sell off in energy stocks, hurting investor sentiments.  The S&P 500, which jumped to a high of 946.21 the previous week, lost almost 25 points during the week to close at 921.23 on Friday.  However, Nasdaq ended the day with a 1.1% gain after Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was viewed positively by some brokers.  On a weekly basis, Nasdaq lost 1.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which slipped 0.2% on Friday, closed the week 2.95% lower.  With the quadruple witching of options expirations on Friday, volume on the NYSE jumped to 2.1 billion shares.

Investors this week are likely to take leads from data on housing, durable orders, and final GDP numbers for the first quarter.  Also,

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For quite some time I was interested in recommending that my readers invest in Russia. I still had concerns about some political issues and organized crime in the country.  Most experts out there tell people to stay away from Russia, so I knew I had to do further research myself.

One day I told my lovely wife to get her passport ready because we were going to Moscow.  She was quite excited because Moscow is a shopping mecca with many historical sites to see.  But, I assure you—I was there for business.

We traveled to Russia in December of last year and I saw firsthand how the country operates.  I observed that the Russians are a hard working and productive people that just want the best for their families.  Russians are striving for a better quality of life just like anyone else.  I knew right away that the country offers investor’s high

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Asian markets jumped to eight-month highs Monday on expectations of a global economic recovery even as General Motors prepared to file for a historic bankruptcy protection.  A third successive rise in Chinese manufacturing also raised hopes that the worst of the economic crisis is over.  The Shanghai Composite Index in Mainland China jumped 3.4% as the country's official purchasing managers' index for May fell to 53.1 from 53.5 in April.  Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 4% and the Nikkei added 1.6%.

Following the overseas gains, US stock futures suggest Wall Street is headed for a higher open.  Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 1.2% to 8,586. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures jumped 1.4% to 930.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures gained 1.1% to 1,451.50.       

On Friday, a late-session rally pushed U.S. stocks to their biggest three-month run since 2007, as commodities recorded their highest monthly advance

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Highlights include Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold, Inc. (FCX) and Southern Copper Corp. (PCU).A specter is stalking the continent -- the specter of deflation. OK, maybe that's a little melodramatic, but today's PPI report does raise concerns that deflation could still prove to be a serious problem.Total producer prices at the finished goods level declined 1.2% in March. This reverses the increases in January (0.8%) and February (0.1%). Those increases had followed five straight months where the headline PPI fell.On a year-over-year basis, the headline PPI was down 3.5%, its steepest fall since 1950. This is a dramatic turnaround from what we were seeing last year, when the year-over-year change in PPI peaked at up 9.9% in July.However, like the five declines from August through December, the cause was mostly falling energy prices. Stripping out food and ...

George Topping, a research analyst specializing in the mining sector at Blackmont Capital, pays closer attention to uranium and copper than he does gold and silver, but in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, he shares what he foresees: gold flat at $950 per ounce (in real terms) through 2011, copper at $1.80 per pound in two years, and uranium nudging up $100 per pound within five years.

The Gold Report: Let’s begin with some of your thoughts about uranium. Almost two years ago, spot prices hit a record $137 per pound. A year ago—well before the bottom fell out of virtually all the markets—the spot price dropped by nearly half, to the neighborhood of $70. You focus a lot of your attention on uranium. How do you see its future shaping up?

George Topping: The situation right now is you’ve got the spot price down at about $43 a pound …

Pack your bags, folks - “There’s no more Wall Street.” That’s the damning verdict from Alan Greenberg, former CEO of The Bear Stearns Cos. Speaking on Bloomberg TV’s “Money and Politics” show, Greenberg declared that the existing Wall Street investment-banking model is dead.

I’m not sure about death, but the broader U.S. economy is like a 2:00 A.M. drunk, continuing to stumble towards the end of a mind-altering 2008, with little long-term relief in sight. Will it ever find its way home again?

One of President-elect Barack Obama’s most ambitious and large-scale plans quite literally seeks to dig America out of this mess – and here’s how you can profit, too. But you’d better act fast. Some of Wall Street’s big boys are already placing their bets.

The Eisenhower Model

Obama will take the oath as 44th president of the United States on Jan. 20.

Since his Nov. 4 victory, the

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Our outlook for the machinery sector is increasingly one of caution. We are beginning to see U.S economic weakness and the credit crunch negatively impact international markets.

Japan's machine orders have fallen for two consecutive months, with a huge 14.5% decline in August. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec (SNP) plans to cut its oil imports for the fourth quarter of 2008, which portends of slower manufacturing activity ahead.

As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. Equipment orders are decelerating in almost every end market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, agriculture and base metal projects.

Over the next 6-12 months, we believe the biggest potential problem area is global construction spending. Investors should realize the conditions that created the U.S. housing crisis existed in various markets outside the U.S. Excess liquidity and easy money played

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- Goldman Sachs downgrades First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) to Sell and adds to their Conviction Sell ListNC: The stock will get hit today in a major way. There is little support for FSLR in this mkt. I would not be surprised to see the stock hit par in the coming months. Note that SPWR gets the boot from GSCO as well. Piper lowers FSLR tgt to $250 from $350.- Morgan Stanley reits Overweight and $175 tgt on Monsanto (NYSE:MON) noting soft commodity price bearsare lurking around the wrong stock. While they do not foresee a $3 bushel of corn, the firm notes they have always modeled Monsanto's pricing power as if the farmer was only going to realize $3 corn (and $8 soybeans). The market appears to have a dispositive view (i.e., expecting $3 corn and for it to result in demand destruction for Monsanto’s products)...

Track Goldman’s additions to Conviction Buy list at: http://trackthepros.com/stocks/category/930 Goldman Sachs Removed Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) from its Conviction Buy ListOct 2, 2008 09:37AM

Goldman Sachs removed Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) from its Conviction Buy …

Goldman Sachs Removed Citrix Systems (CTXS) from its Conviction Buy ListOct 2, 2008 07:49AM

Goldman Sachs removed Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq …

Goldman Sachs Added Suncor Energy (SU) to its Conviction Buy ListOct 2, 2008 07:44AM

Goldman Sachs added Suncor Energy Inc …

Goldman Sachs Removed Community Health Systems (CYH) from its Conviction Buy ListOct 2, 2008 07:41AM

Goldman Sachs removed Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) …

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