Copper Bounces Back

Slumping nearly 18 percent in demand, copper prices headed towards their longest slide since May of 2009. However, the orange metal has rebounded sharply, based on increased demand from China. The Asian tiger’s economy gained 11.9 percent in last quarter and industrial production surged nearly 16.5 percent. Copper is seen a direct play on the health of world’s economies, with China being one of the largest consumers of commodities. Futures for July delivery rose 6.6 cents to $2.9285 a pound. The metal was up 3.9 percent this week, the most since April 2. Any increased growth in the Chinese economy could have copper prices continuing their march upwards. Investors have a few choices in playing the demand. Both the Global X Copper Miners ETF

and First Trust ISE Global Copper Index

allow investors to participate in physical miners of the metal. There isn’t a physical copper bullion fund yet, like the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares

for gold, but investors can use the iPath DJ-UBS Copper ETN

to bet directly on copper prices. See Money Making Trading Ideas