LJ
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Found this on Bloomberg.....just some informative reading material. I'm still saving the pre 82's pennies....
Copper Falls in New York on Concerns Over U.S. Demand Outlook
By Halia Pavliva and Millie Munshi
March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices fell the most in a month in New York on concerns that demand from the U.S., the world's second-biggest user of the metal, will slow as home sales decline.
New-home sales in the U.S. fell in February to the lowest in almost seven years, the Commerce Department said yesterday. The supply of unsold homes at the current sales pace rose to the highest in 16 years.
``Economic news was not very encouraging,'' said John Gross, director of metals management at Scott Brass Inc. in Cranston, Rhode Island. ``New home sales in the U.S. are down very, very substantially.''
Copper futures for May delivery fell 8.10 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $3.0575 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the biggest drop since Feb. 28.
Before today, the metal had gained 14 percent this month on signs of improving demand from China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal.
Prices have fluctuated on signs of rising Chinese demand and dropping consumption in the U.S., said Jon Bergtheil, head of global metals strategy at JPMorgan Securities Ltd.
``That is the key topic of debate,'' Bergtheil said in an interview in Santiago today. ``We do not have synchronized growth between China and the U.S.''
`Worrying' Housing Data
Copper has dropped 24 percent from a record $4.04 a pound in May. Prices may fall further as a slump in the U.S. housing market deepens, Bergtheil said. Builders are the biggest consumers of the metal, putting about 400 pounds into the average U.S. home.
``The U.S. housing numbers are very worrying,'' Bergtheil said. ``What we don't want to happen is to see the negative impact that flows from the housing sector into the consumer sector. That is something that analysts will be watching very carefully.''
Prices extended declines after a report showed that confidence among U.S. consumers slid this month as home foreclosures spread.
On the LME, copper for delivery in three months fell $171, or 2.5 percent, to $6,680 a metric ton ($3.03 a pound).
A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a fixed price for delivery by a specific date.
To contact the reporter on the story: Halia Pavliva in New York at hpavliva@bloomberg.net ; Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 27, 2007 14:38 EDT
Copper Falls in New York on Concerns Over U.S. Demand Outlook
By Halia Pavliva and Millie Munshi
March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices fell the most in a month in New York on concerns that demand from the U.S., the world's second-biggest user of the metal, will slow as home sales decline.
New-home sales in the U.S. fell in February to the lowest in almost seven years, the Commerce Department said yesterday. The supply of unsold homes at the current sales pace rose to the highest in 16 years.
``Economic news was not very encouraging,'' said John Gross, director of metals management at Scott Brass Inc. in Cranston, Rhode Island. ``New home sales in the U.S. are down very, very substantially.''
Copper futures for May delivery fell 8.10 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $3.0575 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the biggest drop since Feb. 28.
Before today, the metal had gained 14 percent this month on signs of improving demand from China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal.
Prices have fluctuated on signs of rising Chinese demand and dropping consumption in the U.S., said Jon Bergtheil, head of global metals strategy at JPMorgan Securities Ltd.
``That is the key topic of debate,'' Bergtheil said in an interview in Santiago today. ``We do not have synchronized growth between China and the U.S.''
`Worrying' Housing Data
Copper has dropped 24 percent from a record $4.04 a pound in May. Prices may fall further as a slump in the U.S. housing market deepens, Bergtheil said. Builders are the biggest consumers of the metal, putting about 400 pounds into the average U.S. home.
``The U.S. housing numbers are very worrying,'' Bergtheil said. ``What we don't want to happen is to see the negative impact that flows from the housing sector into the consumer sector. That is something that analysts will be watching very carefully.''
Prices extended declines after a report showed that confidence among U.S. consumers slid this month as home foreclosures spread.
On the LME, copper for delivery in three months fell $171, or 2.5 percent, to $6,680 a metric ton ($3.03 a pound).
A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a fixed price for delivery by a specific date.
To contact the reporter on the story: Halia Pavliva in New York at hpavliva@bloomberg.net ; Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 27, 2007 14:38 EDT
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