What gives with the price of copper?

[tomexxtra]

My friend Bob asks
"Mr. Exxtra, What gives with the price of copper?

I'll have Jim Sinclair answer this one:

It doesn’t look as if the Lumber market was particularly impressed with the headline Housing Starts number – it rather appears it is focused on the Permits number instead.

As mentioned before – two of the best indicators for the overall strength or weakness in the economy are the Lumber and the Copper markets.

Both are evidently not sending off bullish signals at the present and appear to be more concerned with the possibility of the credit contagion in Europe worsening and eventually moving over here. When and if BOTH of these markets move higher in tandem and establish clear bull trends, then we can give credence to the improving economy scenario.

Only if “risk trades� come back in force will these two markets be able to improve their current technical picture on the charts and what determines whether or not the risk trades will revive is how the hedge funds view the unfolding of the debt crisis in Europe.

[tomexxtra]

Jim asks
Mr. Exxtra what about palladium and platinum?

What do I see? Summer Dull Drums. Cars are not hot sellers. Platinum & Palladium should drift lower.
Industrial Silver should drift lower. Gold at new highs will drift lower. The Dow with nothing giving it legs
will drift lower.Than what I see in August........out of the blue comes "The Black Swan".....
Everybody knows it's coming, but nobody wants to believe it. INFLATION, with the first sign shown in
School Taxes. Not 2% higher, but 8% to 10% higher. Sticker Shock. Welcome to USA 2010. States
have no other way out, but to raise taxes.

Nobody else is talking about it, only my gut is telling me.
I'm sticking my neck out and betting on it happening.
Tom Exxtra