L: Doug, last time we spoke, you said quite a bit about debt, in the context of your expectation that the euro is on its way out. At the end of that conversation, you mentioned, of course, that the problem is not limited to Greece, nor the eurozone. America as a country has become a world-class debtor, and many Americans seem to think a maxed-out credit card is a reason to get a higher credit limit, not to economize. It’s like a global epidemic. Let’s talk about debt.

We've been keeping a close eye on copper of late. [Feb 2, 2010: Trader Who Called 1996 Crash in Copper Says Prepare for Another - "Catastrophe" Awaits]   Funny thing, is despite rampant inventory build the earthquake in Chile (one of the world's largest producers of copper) allowed an opportunity for speculators to run in and ramp up the price Monday, even though the mines where copper is sourced were not near the earthquake zone, and were only offline for a day or two.  B

Copper "weekly" chart analysis ;
1) Yes, the situation in Chile caused the latest gap up.
2) The long term chart is still the same ; that trendline is "still" broken since we have not made a higher close yet ....
3) Pattern still suggest a double top, and a probable return to a "channel pattern".
Chart can be found @ finviz.com

A Wave of Steel: If China isn't using as much steel as we thought, what's happening to stockpiles of copper, coal and iron ore?

A lot of mixed message coming out of China on the commodity front... a potential excess of copper [Feb 9, 2010: China Copper Imports to Halve] and steel [Feb 10, 2010: China to Curb "Maverick" Steelmaking as Costs Rise], but lacking in coal.  Of course coking coal being one of the components that go into steel...hmm.