Juggling Dynamite

As we have been reporting on for many months now, the melt in Dr copper–economic barometer to global growth–continues to fresh lows this morning.  Now at 2.08 and well below the 2.75 support range (green line below as charted by my partner Cory Venable in October 2014) there is little to buoy price between here and the .95 to 1.50 area (purple band).  And that would be the top range of previous expansion cycles.  The bottom of those cycles was in the .67 a pound range.  And this latest cycle has been dominated by unprecedented manipulation, stockpiling and mal-investment in the space thanks to runaway financial intermediaries.  For a refresher watch:  Are the markets rigged?  Stay tuned.  Also see:  Taking a good long look at Dr Copper:

At the same time, price fixing and illegal manipulation by ‘market makers’ became a widespread practice across a range of asset markets.  As a result, over the past 4 years, even as global demand weakened and copper inventories piled up, copper prices– historically monitored as a global growth barometer–managed to magically levitate north of $3.00 a pound.

Further to my recent post Oil industry has made smokers of us all, North Vancouver city counsel voted unanimously Monday night, to start labeling gas pumps with warnings similar to those mandated on Canadian cigarette packs.  See:  Climate change stickers mandatory on North Vancouver gas pumps.

Along with captivating pictures (three of the samples being considered are shown below), a staff report has recommended call to action messages on the labels such as:

Electric vehicle incentives: “Get $5,000 toward a purchase of a new electric car.”
The B.C. Scrap-It program: “Trade in your clunker for a transit pass worth $1,360.”
Fuel-efficient driving tips: “Save fuel through properly inflating your tires.”
“Idling your vehicle for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than restarting your engine.”

Stockman starts his entertaining and quite informed rant at 1:22 and ends at 9:02, the preamble and afterword are the usual CNBC slapstick, “reporting from the mother ship”…funny.  More like “live from bubble-vision headquarters.”  Meanwhile viewers keep falling month after month with each implosive asset pump from the CNBC “trading experts”.  It would be pure comedy except for the damage they inflict on the unsuspecting.

Former OMB Director David Stockman, weighs in on whether a December rate hike is in play and how to trade bonds now.  Here is a direct video link.