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Nickel-And-Dimed-And-Coppered
The conundra continue to mount up around the world as central planning efforts dislocate asset-values from reality wherever one looks. Nowhere is the juxtaposition of hope-and-fear more evident than in the industrial metals. We have discussed the reality of Iron Ore, and the unreality of China stimulus (funded or unfunded) bringing the excess inventory back from the edge ad nauseum but, as the WSJ notes, the stacks of copper slabs inside the warehouses of Shanghai last month grew by 20% since July. In fact, so much copper has been sent into storage that it is being lined up outside some buildings as "there's much more metal than we'd expected," and some would see this huge inventory growth as a signal of "people's uneasiness about Chinese growth." However, sure enough, copper prices are soaring - on the back of expectations that inventories are so high that the PBoC will step in with some stimulus and all will be well in the world again. While Deutsche Bank opines "any rally in copper prices based on expectations will likely not be sustainable," the alternate perspective, based on hope and dreams is that "just a couple of months of better demand - it will quickly change the perception of surplus to tightness." Meanwhile, the effervescence of central-bank-driven exuberance in prices has driven the 'value' of a good-old-US-Nickel up to 5.2 cents (its highest in four months).
Inventories soaring... and prices soaring... makes perfect sense...
Meanwhile, the central-planners' exuberance has 'helped' the value of base metals so that the 'melt-down' value of a Nickel is back above 5c...
It's all good - the mal-investment will continue until morale improves
Charts: WSJ and Bloomberg
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A penny nickel for your thoughts?
<Damn that non-existent inflation. Damit to hell.>
OK Ben. You're good to go. Let'r rip.
[I can't wait to see how this movie ends. I bet it ends with a bang instead of a whimper.]
Yes please, go ahead Ben, my metals portfolio (at the bottom of the lake, of course) will thank you.
Bloody sheep.
'melt-down' value of a Nickel is back above 5c...
Welcome to commodity backed currencies where a nickel is still worth a nickel. Unfortunately the new $1 gold coin is going to be this size > .
Shrinkage.
Jerry tell her about Shrinkage!
Let's see, what will we be forging in our backyards in 2014? Perhaps FMJs out of PBRs?
Got it wrong CD, the value of the dollar is down 96%. It's now a QUARTER for your thoughts.
...The current melt value of a pre-1982 Lincoln Cent stands at $0.024, with Cu trading at $3.64/lb.
I <heart> my $6 silver quarters.
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1932-1964-Silver-Washington-Quarter-Value.html
<The 10% copper just makes it that much nicer.>
That's a 24 fold gain in melt value alone.
Buuuuuuuut....war nickels give you more bang for the buck: 38 fold melt value gain.
How much is that doggie in the window?
<Denominated in PMs of course.>
Don't bet on that price for copper.
I think it will go sub $2 per pound next year.
Still worth storinhg for long term though.
Especially when you can get 2 cents worth, for only a penny.
Especially denominated in 180 grain units...
"Not sustainable" says Deutschebank?
Yeesh. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! The noive...
I think all of us with the ability to reason realize that the only way out of this world wide debt problem is the destruction of fiat currencies. So why the surprise that real things with real utility and value get more expensive versus those fiat currencies, equities included to the extent that they represent ownership of factories and intellectual property rights that will be used to produce products that will be re-priced to capture a great part of the comming inflation.
Copper is useful for making bullets I suppose
I was thinking the same thing......
China has 25 million more men than women. Have to find a use for these guys, and they do get anxious as they have no hope for finding a woman and raising a family. So much angst, so little time.
I was teaching in China in 2000 and 2001 ... To see the pampered little boys made me ill ... There is a whole generation of 'Little Boys' that will reap the whirlwind and probably take the whole world with them
Bill Gates has a vaccination for that.
Shorted copper way back, my brother asked why? I said you can always count on idiots, its pays off every time
Better to have all that copper stacked on the ground then $ bill stacked in some vault. Or thirty year treasuries yielding less than 3%
Gresham's Law bytchez!
So much funny credit money sloshing around sending shockwaves throughout the entire world as everyone and anyone chases return.
Now copper in over supply leads to the hope that another CB will inject even more funny money to use up that misallocation.
Yeah, this is going to end up well.
pods
Well if there is a nuclear exchange between east and west. Both can come up out of their tunnels afterwards. China can live in the uninhabited cities and the US globalists can live in Detroit.
I think I'll save my nickels. Great thing about buying nickels (at the current composition of 75%Cu/25%Ni): there are no transaction costs! What other investment can you say that about? Simply buy a roll and, if you decide it wasn't that great of an investment, just sell it back to the bank at face value. This is a great investment opportunity for kids (if someone has enough money to buy LOTS of nickels, I'd have to think they're better off buying Ag or Au).
But as we'll soon have nickels made of some less valuable material(s), I don't think one can go wrong buying a roll or so, here or there.
"A society will remain as free or as enslaved as the conscious dispositions of individuals determine it shall be. Just as the roots of oppression are found in passivity, the foundations of our liberty reside in highly energized and focused minds that insist upon their independence. There are no shortcuts, no structures or doctrines that can be erected, no hallowed documents to be revered, to save us the effort of continually challenging those who would presume to exercise authority over our lives." - Butler Shaffer
Damn good shrapnel too.
i love trading the metals. i usualy use CFD's for that. It's the perfect instrument!
Hmmm, so that's where all the copper being stolen from construction sites / substation transformers is ending up.
I wonder if this will be the last year for the same composition of the nickel..talk is getting louder Treasury is looking for ideas for replacing composition...i agree adding to stack with addition of nickels cant hurt
coming soon, junk copper , nickle coins
Breaking news! Melt value of politicians, federal reserve, and bankers worth more than same.
I wouldnt have thought they would have been even the value of the matchstick used to start the fire. But oh well, gotta
take a loss sometimes.
Nickels: change you can believe in. (Until they start making them out of zinc.)
http://machinedesign.com/article/industry-could-take-a-shine-to-copper-r...