Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Metal is in
It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized the insane gains that have been made in the metals industry and our dependence on the metals in everyday life. I’ve been scoping some sources for further information about the materials, what they’re used in, what caused the recent rise in prices among other things.
I found this to be extremely interesting way to hold the USD with little risk.
The US nickel is comprised of 3.75 grams of copper and 1.25 grams of nickel. This coin is worth 5 cents in everyday purchases, but on the spot market, your nickels are worth 6.6 cents! What a great way to make 34% in just seconds. Convert all of your money to nickels, melt them down, then sell the metals to companies who produce things like copper wiring, or refrigerators which use a lot of the metal!
Unfortunately the cost of another substance needed in this equation has gone up quite a bit. Natural gas, needed to heat the nickel and copper to melting points, is also at all time highs. I’m certain you’ve noticed the prices in your heating bills or even in gasoline at the pumps. Gas prices are high, no one is questioning that.
This is a year for metals, and it seems as though this will be the decade for metals. I’ve found that the supply of metals across the board is down. Copper for example is only stored at a quantity equal to a three days production. If 10% of production is lost due to re-evaluation of the shaft or other problems that restrict processing of the metal, it would take only a month for the world to be demanding more copper than can be produced. In comparison oil has a daily surplus equal to a much higher percentage than copper and it has also ran just as high as copper. All of the high priced metals are in extreme demand and reports have indicated that they will be that way for years to come.