Start Buying! Prices look set to rise...

[weckl-x]

Sabian, Paiste and Istanbul Agop have raised their prices in the US market already, it's not going to be long before we feel the effects over here... :?

Start hoarding everyone! :lol:

TheAge.com.au
Copper and gold prices 'to stay high'
February 27, 2007 - 10:04AM

Newcrest Mining's chief executive Ian Smith says copper and gold prices will remain strong over the next 18 months.

The spot gold price is currently trading around $US685.50 an ounce while copper is fetching about $US6,000 per tonne ($US2.70 per pound) on the London Metals Exchange.

"I think that the dip that we saw this year in the copper price was a bit of a function of what was going on in the Chinese market and some internal moves going on in China," Mr Smith said.

"The fundamentals for the copper market are strong going forward. I think the build-up in inventory that has occurred ... is really based on fairly close fundamentals of supply and demand.

"So if there are any hiccups from any major supply point, that would translate through to an increase in price very quickly."

Newcrest is expected to increase its exposure to the copper price when it clears its copper hedging at the end of June.

Mr Smith said the outlook for the gold price also was robust with the drivers remaining strong over the next twelve to 18 months at least.

"Some of the issues around the US dollar, some of the issues around the oil price, some of the issues around the Middle East all conspire to put a base under the gold price at the moment," he said.

"Most pundits are talking about an upside to the gold price even from its heady heights that it sits at the moment.

"I'd suggest that over the next 18 months the price or the upside for copper and gold is more positive than the downside for copper and gold."
Newcrest on Tuesday posted a net profit for the six months ended December 31 of $37 million, down from $74.2 million in the corresponding period last year.

The company added that profit after tax before a hedging restructure lifted five per cent to $84 million.

© 2007 AAP

Original URL: http://www.theage.com.au/news/Busin...es-to-stay-high/2007/02/27/1172338588990.html

Slate.com
Obscure Economic Indicator: The Price of Copper
The metal tells us almost everything we need to know about the global economy.

By Daniel Gross

The price of copper generally represents a pretty accurate barometer of the demand for it in the real world, rather than an irrational bet on its future value. Why? As Howard Simons, a strategist for Chicago-based Bianco Research, notes, copper is cheap, heavy, and plentiful. "So you don't stockpile it, you use it as needed." Nobody bothers to hoard it. (You'd need a massive warehouse to store any meaningful amount of copper.) And while some hedge funds are doubtlessly speculating on copper, "nobody goes out and takes a flyer on it, the way you would with more expensive metals like gold and silver," says Simons.

When commodities vault into highly speculative mode, or when there's a short-term mismatch in supply and demand, the price for delivery this month (the spot price) can get way ahead of the price for delivery in future months (the futures price). That tends not to happen with copper. If the price for near-term delivery gets way ahead of the future price, then companies that are sitting on some inventory will sell it.

So the charts and the data from CDA tell a story of steadily rising demand, steadily rising production, and steadily rising prices. Like reasonably efficient markets, the copper market responds nicely to trends in supply and demand.

So, as long as the price of copper remains high, it means that companies the world over are buying plenty of copper to turn into wiring, plumbing, and coils. When the price tapers off, it means that some core sectors are probably cooling.

Right now, copper is sending a message that is being transmitted by plenty of other data, but that many analysts find difficult to digest: Despite all the tensions, despite the huge imbalances in trade and capital flows, despite all the world's apparent economic troubles, the global economy continues to grow at a steady and impressive pace.

http://www.slate.com/id/2130034/

 

[drum_hobbyist]

I am going to buy the remaining desired Bosphorus series by July before the GST increase and can call it a day until UFIP or Orion or Krest comes to Singapore... :wink:

 

[weckl-x]

Good point.. forgot about the GST increase!

 

[joshie]

Weckl do you use msn? Would like to found out if you know how to go about ordering the K's.

 

[weckl-x]

Weckl do you use msn? Would like to found out if you know how to go about ordering the K's.

Yo Joshie, seldom nowadays, distracts me from my work :wink:

I actually got my K's when I was in the US, so I'm not sure about dealing with Music Plaza here. But isn't it a simple thing of calling them, or going there and ordering?

I remember chatting with Nigel (DRMP), and he mentioned he could order from Music Plaza too, if anyone wanted to get Zs from him.

 

[joshie]

Music Plaza? As in Yamaha? Nope they dont have much in stock. I'll have to wait three to six months. Wondering if i can bring it in myself.

 

[weckl-x]

three to six months??! 8O That's absurb man.

I guess you could order direct from a US store, but gotta factor in shipping + 5% GST... Not sure if it's worth it by then.

Let's see, 14"s cost US$344.95 from musician's friend

Approx S$550 + S$50 (shipping) + 5% = We're looking at S$630..

 

[joshie]

it says free shipping leh. Massmusic has the hihats going for 310. and free shipping. so what will it add up to? Is there actually free shipping?

 

[jEva]

free shipping with in the 48 states, right?....

coz if its free shipping internationally, I would have bought myself a few cymbals already.. hehehe

 

[weckl-x]

yeah, free shipping within the lower 48 US states.

I estimate vpost to be between S$30-S$60, depending on how it's packed.