Is nickel the Canary?

[WhatsUpDoc1958]

Nickel up to $8.1169 per pound (peaking at $8.15 today), according to Kitco.

Apparently, this is a high for the year, maybe for the last 15 months.

[Westerner]

Ha, great minds and all that we posted at the same time! From the post just before yours.....

Well nickel was slaughtered yesterday along with the PMs. But already this AM nickel has regained and then some of that loss. Hmmmmm.. almost like a loud stinking canary when one puts a sheet over the cage to shut them up. However the winds of war must have blown that sheet to Asia?

[WhatsUpDoc1958]

Nickel at $8.2383 per pound now, according to Kitco. With nickel spiking above its highs within the last 12-15 months, nickel may be representing the inflationary forces in the economy.

Copper is barely holding above $3 per pound, according to Kitco. (With Kitco down 10% within the last 3 months, copper is indicating deflationary forces).

So, it looks like a knock-down drag-out fight between inflationary and deflationary forces in the economy.

[Westerner]

I have been reading a bit about the stockpiles of copper the Asians have been stacking for the last couple of years. It seems the low copper price could be that there is just so much of it in above stocks that the market is just too fat?

Here is a piece that touches on that...

https://agmetalminer.com/2014/04/chi...s-consumption/

IIRC, I read a piece not long ago that a whole country that has there own currency could of backed there currency with there copper stocks? Can't find that piece but I may be wrong, or read it wrong.

[Silver and Gold]

I have been reading a bit about the stockpiles of copper the Asians have been stacking for the last couple of years. It seems the low copper price could be that there is just so much of it in above stocks that the market is just too fat?

Here is a piece that touches on that...

https://agmetalminer.com/2014/04/chi...s-consumption/

IIRC, I read a piece not long ago that a whole country that has there own currency could of backed there currency with there copper stocks? Can't find that piece but I may be wrong, or read it wrong.

Copper has less demand as all new homes are using plastic for the plumbing.

[Westerner]

Copper has less demand as all new homes are using plastic for the plumbing.

Your right, but fact is the new homes are really in a slump too, compared to the 1990s-early 2000s.

Of note the brass fittings used to connect the PEX are not being made no more, come to find out they have a trace of heavy metals (lead, mercury) in them, and the plastic fittings are crap, so now the fittings being produced are 100% copper. Plus electrical wires are still mostly copper. For just 50 feet of 10 gauge wire is around $70 bucks, about $8 + bucks a pound.

[WhatsUpDoc1958]

Nickel up to $8.3069 per pound this morning, according to Kitco.

Copper down to $2.99 per pound in the early morning and back up above $3 per pound to $3.0144 per pound, according to Kitco.

[Silver Piranha]

Copper has less demand as all new homes are using plastic for the plumbing.

There is a lot of problems with bacteria growing inside the PEX plastic piping. Copper contains something that naturally kills that bacteria. Not sure if going back to copper piping is going to happen, but PEX is likely on its way out.

[Westerner]

Looking at this 25 year chart and rough guessing that if nickel had stayed up with inflation conservatively from 1989 compared to gas, it should be about $24 a pound today.

http://www.infomine.com/investment/m...es/nickel/all/

Oil is to dang flammable....

http://www.wtrg.com/oil_graphs/oilprice1947.gif

[WhatsUpDoc1958]

Nickel up to $8.3069 per pound this morning, according to Kitco.

Nickel up to $8.3769, according to Kitco.