Commodity		Price 5/11/12	Price 5/4/12	% Change**	Price 3/2/12	% Change***	Source
Aluminum	pound	$0.9126	$0.9212	(0.83%)	$1.0412	(12.35%)	LME
Copper	pound	$3.6873	$3.7353	(1.23%)	$3.9059	(5.60%)	LME
Nickel	pound	$7.7496	$7.8857	(1.55%)	$8.7818	(11.75%)	LME
Tin	pound	$9.1956	$9.7953	(5.56%)	$10.7774	(14.68%)	LME
Zinc	pound	$0.8809	$0.8981	(1.82%)	$0.9469	(6.97%)	LME
Crude Oil	barrel	$97.05	$98.08	(0.97%)	$106.69	(9.04%)	DOE
Diesel	gallon	$4.047	$4.094	(1.15%)	$4.071	(0.59%)	AAA
Gasoline (unleaded)	gallon+	$3.730	$3.802	(1.92%)	$3.757	(0.72%)	AAA
Natural Gas	mbtu	$2.36	$2.29	2.86%	$2.45	(3.67%)	DOE
Gold	ounce	$1,580.40	$1,642.10	(3.61%)	$1,711.00	(7.63%)	Kitco
Silver	ounce	$28.89	$30.34	(4.18%)	$34.73	(16.82%)	Kitco
Euro	one euro =	$1.2909	$1.3076	(1.27%)	$1.3201	(2.21%)	Kitco
Yen	100 yen =	$1.2506	$1.2523	(0.14%)	$1.2224	2.31%	Kitco
Dollar	US $index =	80.30	79.49	1.02%	79.43	1.10%	Kitco
Mbtu = 1 million British thermal units. Gasoline price = national average at retail. One barrel = 42 gallons. *Natural gas prices as reported by U.S. DOE for at Henry Hub. ** Change from 5/4/12 price. *** Change from 3/2/12 using most recent price.

NOTE: TEDMAG.com provides the above prices for your information only. Do not use the above data to trade commodities. TEDMAG has made every effort to obtain accurate prices from responsible public sources, but these prices may not reflect actual transactions or prices available to you if you seek to trade.

Additional Commodities Information

Above: From kitco.com, the chart shows Gold's price--after some dizzying drops--still roughly $100 ahead of where it was one year ago. Below: From dshort.com, the graphic below shows the S&P 500 average's zigs & zags since October 2007.

Sources:

AAA = Fuel Gauge report, updated daily – www.fuelgaugereport.com; see also www.aaa.com
DOE Energy Assurance Daily: www.oe.netl.doe.gov/ead.aspx
Kitco = www.kitco.com, www.kitcometals.com
LME = London Metal Exchange = www.metalprices.com; www.metalprices.com/pl.asp
Oanda = http://www.oanda.com/currency/real-time-rates

© 2012 The Electrical Distributor. All rights reserved.

Commodities Erase Gain for Year in Worst Run Since 2008
Commodities fell for an eighth straight session, wiping out gains for the year, after data from Asia showed a further slowdown in industrial output and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) said that it had a $2 billion trading loss...

LME Receives a Number of Proposals That May Lead to Takeover
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. said April 30 that it was one of several companies looking to buy the LME. CME Group Inc., NYSE Euronext (NYX) and...

Copper posts 2nd weekly loss on China slowdown fears
Copper fell for a second-straight week on Friday, trading lower in reaction to Europe's escalating debt crisis and another round of data confirming a slowdown in top metals consumer China...

Editorial: State Senate should pass bill that would make copper sellers be paid by checks
The economic costs that thefts of copper and other metals impose on our communities and businesses have been an ongoing frustration. Recycling centers have resisted calls to police themselves and...

ArcelorMittal Profit Falls 24%, Exceeds Estimates
ArcelorMittal (MT), the world’s biggest steelmaker, posted first-quarter profit that beat estimates after a recovery in North America countered declining revenue from mining and weaker European demand...

Copper eases as investors eye China data
Copper prices eased a touch on Friday, reversing gains from the previous session ahead of the release of China industrial output data that is expected to shed light on the health of the economy as investors worry about slower growth...

LME Wants Warehouses in China as Asia Growth Lifts Demand 
The London Metal Exchange, the biggest marketplace for industrial metals that’s set to consider takeover offers next week, wants to expand its warehouse network into China, the largest user of base metals including copper...

Commodity		Price 5/4/12	Price 4/27/12	% Change**	Price 2/3/12	% Change***	Source
Aluminum	pound	$0.9212	$0.9353	(1.35%)	$1.0412	(11.53%)	LME
Copper	pound	$3.7353	$3.8809	(3.73%)	$3.9059	(4.37%)	LME
Nickel	pound	$7.8857	$8.2803	(4.49%)	$8.7818	(10.20%)	LME
Tin	pound	$9.7953	$10.1627	(3.41%)	$10.7774	(9.11%)	LME
Zinc	pound	$0.8981	$0.9217	(2.49%)	$0.9469	(5.15%)	LME
Crude Oil	barrel	$98.08	$104.37	(5.90%)	$106.69	(8.07%)	DOE
Diesel	gallon	$4.094	$4.098	(0.10%)	$4.071	0.56%	AAA
Gasoline (unleaded)	gallon+	$3.802	$3.825	(0.61%)	$3.757	1.20%	AAA
Natural Gas	mbtu	$2.29	$2.10	7.76%	$2.45	(6.53%)	DOE
Gold	ounce	$1,642.10	$1,662.80	(1.21%)	$1,711.00	(4.03%)	Kitco
Silver	ounce	$30.34	$31.27	(2.68%)	$34.73	(12.64%)	Kitco
Euro	one euro =	$1.3076	$1.3262	(1.41%)	$1.3201	(0.95%)	Kitco
Yen	100 yen =	$1.2523	$1.2458	0.53%	$1.2224	2.45%	Kitco
Dollar	US $index =	79.49	78.78	0.89%	79.43	0.08%	Kitco
Mbtu = 1 million British thermal units. Gasoline price = national average at retail. One barrel = 42 gallons. *Natural gas prices as reported by U.S. DOE for at Henry Hub. ** Change from 4/27/12 price. *** Change from 3/2/12 using most recent price.

NOTE: TEDMAG.com provides the above prices for your information only. Do not use the above data to trade commodities. TEDMAG has made every effort to obtain accurate prices from responsible public sources, but these prices may not reflect actual transactions or prices available to you if you seek to trade.

Additional Commodities Information

Above: A trading-oriented look at crude oil's fall last week, from Dshort & AdvisorPerspectives. Below, from Yahoo! Finance, a one-year price chart of Freeport McMoRan copper & gold (common stock, symbol FCX).

Sources:

AAA = Fuel Gauge report, updated daily – www.fuelgaugereport.com; see also www.aaa.com
DOE Energy Assurance Daily: www.oe.netl.doe.gov/ead.aspx
Kitco = www.kitco.com, www.kitcometals.com
LME = London Metal Exchange = www.metalprices.com; www.metalprices.com/pl.asp
Oanda = http://www.oanda.com/currency/real-time-rates

© 2012 The Electrical Distributor. All rights reserved.

Commodity		Price 4/27/12	Price 4/20/12	% Change**	Price 2/3/12	% Change***	Source
Aluminum	pound	$0.9353	$0.9265	0.88%	$1.0024	(6.69%)	LME
Copper	pound	$3.8809	$3.7292	3.93%	$3.8564	0.64%	LME
Nickel	pound	$8.2803	$8.0966	1.91%	$9.6230	(13.95%)	LME
Tin	pound	$10.1627	$9.8089	3.21%	$11.0246	(7.82%)	LME
Zinc	pound	$0.9217	$0.9129	0.92%	$0.9609	(4.08%)	LME
Crude Oil	barrel	$104.37	$103.81	0.58%	$97.26	5.67%	DOE
Diesel	gallon	$4.098	$4.119	(0.54%)	$3.878	6.21%	AAA
Gasoline (unleaded)	gallon+	$3.825	$3.863	(1.09%)	$3.475	10.07%	AAA
Natural Gas	mbtu	$2.10	$1.85	10.87%	$2.30	(8.70%)	DOE
Gold	ounce	$1,662.80	$1,642.40	1.18%	$1,725.90	(3.66%)	Kitco
Silver	ounce	$31.27	$31.70	(1.28%)	$33.67	(7.13%)	Kitco
Euro	one euro =	$1.3262	$1.3230	0.24%	$1.3157	0.80%	Kitco
Yen	100 yen =	$1.2458	$1.2262	1.50%	$1.3057	(4.59%)	Kitco
Dollar	US $index =	78.78	79.13	(0.44%)	78.95	(0.22%)	Kitco
Mbtu = 1 million British thermal units. Gasoline price = national average at retail. One barrel = 42 gallons. *Natural gas prices as reported by U.S. DOE for at Henry Hub. ** Change from 4/20/12 price. *** Change from 2/3/12 using most recent price.

NOTE: TEDMAG.com provides the above prices for your information only. Do not use the above data to trade commodities. TEDMAG has made every effort to obtain accurate prices from responsible public sources, but these prices may not reflect actual transactions or prices available to you if you seek to trade.

Additional Commodities Information

Is there a "ceiling" above Copper (at about $4.00/pound)? Is there a "floor" (at about 90 cents/pound) beneath Aluminum prices? These one-year spot-market charts (from www.kitcometals.com) seem to be posing questions...to be answered in the fullness of time? 

Sources:

AAA = Fuel Gauge report, updated daily – www.fuelgaugereport.com; see also www.aaa.com
DOE Energy Assurance Daily: www.oe.netl.doe.gov/ead.aspx
Kitco = www.kitco.com, www.kitcometals.com
LME = London Metal Exchange = www.metalprices.com; www.metalprices.com/pl.asp
Oanda = http://www.oanda.com/currency/real-time-rates

© 2012 The Electrical Distributor. All rights reserved.

Copper slips ahead of Fed; China demand weighs
London copper edged lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, while soft copper demand growth in top consumer China weighed on prices...

Copper sheds 0.13% on global cues
Tracking weak global trends, copper futures prices slipped by 0.13% to Rs 428.60 per kg today. Sluggish demand at spot markets also put pressure on the futures trade... 

Copper Gains on U.S. Homes Sales: Commodities at Close
Copper rose for the second time in three sessions as reports showed the housing market is mending in the U.S., the world’s top metals consumer after China...

Copper surges to highest in more than 2-weeks
Copper rallied on Thursday to its highest in more than two weeks, fueled by a more optimistic economic outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve and by strong technical momentum that may drive prices back toward their 2012 highs...

US Steel posts 1Q loss on plant sale
BY THE NUMBERS: United States Steel Corp. reported a net loss of $219 million, or $1.52 per share, for the first quarter, which included a $399 million loss on the sale of its plant in Serbia. Revenue rose 6.3 percent to $5.17 billion...

US steel industry in slow recovery from recession
Recovery in the U.S. steel industry still has a ways to go. Steel makers, particularly United States Steel Corp., bounced back in the first quarter from a slump in the last three months of 2011. But shipments and sales continue to lag pre-recession levels...

China Steel To Buy 2.5% Indirect Interest In Roy Hill From Posco 
China Steel to buy 2.5% interest in Roy Hill from Posco. -- Self sufficiency will be raised to 7.5% from 2% -- Company looking for more iron-ore and coking coal mines in Australia...

China Steel Has Second Quarterly Loss on Weak Demand, Price Cuts 
China Steel Corp. (2002), Taiwan’s largest producer of the alloy, posted its second consecutive quarterly loss after cutting prices because of waning demand...

 

Commodity		Price 4/20/12	Price 4/13/12	% Change**	Price 2/3/12	% Change***	Source
Aluminum	pound	$0.9265	$0.9249	0.16%	$1.0024	(7.57%)	LME
Copper	pound	$3.7292	$3.6705	1.52%	$3.8564	(3.30%)	LME
Nickel	pound	$8.0966	$8.3847	(2.99%)	$9.6230	(15.86%)	LME
Tin	pound	$9.8089	$10.2081	(3.62%)	$11.0246	(11.03%)	LME
Zinc	pound	$0.9129	$0.9154	(0.26%)	$0.9609	(5.00%)	LME
Crude Oil	barrel	$103.81	$103.00	0.83%	$97.26	6.73%	DOE
Diesel	gallon	$4.119	$4.149	(0.77%)	$3.878	6.21%	AAA
Gasoline (unleaded)	gallon+	$3.863	$3.904	(1.18%)	$3.475	11.17%	AAA
Natural Gas	mbtu	$1.85	$1.87	(0.87%)	$2.30	(19.57%)	DOE
Gold	ounce	$1,642.40	$1,658.50	(0.93%)	$1,725.90	(4.84%)	Kitco
Silver	ounce	$31.70	$31.50	0.59%	$33.67	(5.85%)	Kitco
Euro	one euro =	$1.3230	$1.3085	1.10%	$1.3157	0.55%	Kitco
Yen	100 yen =	$1.2262	$1.2356	(0.72%)	$1.3057	(6.09%)	Kitco
Dollar	US $index =	79.13	79.87	(0.94%)	78.95	0.23%	Kitco
Mbtu = 1 million British thermal units. Gasoline price = national average at retail. One barrel = 42 gallons. *Natural gas prices as reported by U.S. DOE for at Henry Hub. ** Change from 4/13/12 price. *** Change from 2/3/12 using most recent price.

NOTE: TEDMAG.com provides the above prices for your information only. Do not use the above data to trade commodities. TEDMAG has made every effort to obtain accurate prices from responsible public sources, but these prices may not reflect actual transactions or prices available to you if you seek to trade.

Additional Commodities Information

Above: A 5-year price chart of the U.S. dollar’s value vs. “all” other currencies. Below, the 5-year chart of the euro vs. the U.S. dollar. Both charts created at www.barchart.com.

Sources:

AAA = Fuel Gauge report, updated daily – www.fuelgaugereport.com; see also www.aaa.com
DOE Energy Assurance Daily: www.oe.netl.doe.gov/ead.aspx
Kitco = www.kitco.com, www.kitcometals.com
LME = London Metal Exchange = www.metalprices.com; www.metalprices.com/pl.asp
Oanda = http://www.oanda.com/currency/real-time-rates

© 2012 The Electrical Distributor. All rights reserved.

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