Considering the broad macroeconomic forces in play and the way the individual stocks are trading, miners of base metals are in an interesting spot. During the past several years, base metal miners have been heavily correlated with emerging markets, and specifically to China’s economic growth. This is because China has provided an incredible amount of demand for construction metals, such as copper and iron ore. The more China invests in its infrastructure, the better the business… Read More

Considering the broad macroeconomic forces in play and the way the individual stocks are trading, miners of base metals are in an interesting spot. During the past several years, base metal miners have been heavily correlated with emerging markets, and specifically to China’s economic growth. This is because China has provided an incredible amount of demand for construction metals, such as copper and iron ore. The more China invests in its infrastructure, the better the business environment for these miners. So it comes as no surprise that as investors have lost faith in China’s economic growth, stock prices for miners such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Vale (NYSE: VALE) have been under pressure.#-ad_banner-# But in recent weeks, these stocks have begun to trade higher. Last week, Bloomberg reported an uptick in Chinese manufacturing, with the country’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index rising to 50.1 from 47.7 in July. Keep in mind,… Read More