Industrial metals are bouncing

I noted recently that copper prices were up about 70% from their lows of late last year. Copper has had one of the biggest bounces in commodity land, but the list of commodities that are rising in price has become impressive. This chart shows one of my favorite indicators, since it includes seven basic industrial metals prices. It is now up 24% from its December lows. Maybe it's just strong demand from China, but even so, it can't be dismissed; what's good for China is good for the global economy. Maybe it's the return of the speculators, but even if it is, it reflects a return of animal spirits and suggests that monetary policy is easy enough for people to start releveraging. Where there's smoke, there's fire.