At 01:26 PM 11/16/2006, Keith Dutson wrote:
>[snip]
>And now you can see why aluminum might not be such a bad alternative.
>Prices on aluminum haven't gone up as much as for copper (in proportion).
>Granted, it's a bit trickier to bond than copper (I don't think thermite
>will work with aluminum like it does with copper <grin>).
>
>Some may not realize what you are grinning about. To illustrate, consider
>the solid rocket boosters used on the space shuttle are fueled with a
>mixture of ammonium perchlorate and powdered aluminum suspended in an epoxy
>resin.
or, that CadWeld powder is a mixture of copper oxide and aluminum
powder (thermite)
>[snip]
>There is *speculation* that copper prices will fall next year, so you might
>be able to do some options trading to get tomorrows price today (plus a
>premium). (aluminum prices also fell yesterday) But hey..
>are we commodity speculators or antenna builders.
>
>That speculation has a lot to do with reduction in troops in Iraq. Right
>now it's a crap shoot IMO.
Not entirely.. Copper is a pretty classic cyclical commodity. When
the price goes up, it becomes worthwhile to open up more mining,
which takes some time (9-12 months, as I recall from an former
commodity trader girlfriend). The supply then increases, driving
down the equilibrium price. Most of the fluctuations are due to
mismatch in instantaneous demand (which is driven by things like
consumer spending on stuff that has wires in it: houses, motors,
appliances) and the production lag. Industrial demand is slower
(i.e. someone building a new factory with 1000 electric motors knows
they're doing it a year in advance, and places orders, etc.)
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|