Welcome to Lord Copper

Opinions about lots of things - mostly related to the worlds' metal markets

When will the Bell ring again?

01 April 2020

The ring falls silent…..but for how long? What do David King, Simon Heale, Martin Abbott, Garry Jones and Matt Chamberlain all have in common?

Viral Ponderings

25 March 2020

'Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked’. There are surely few in business who have not heard of Warren Buffet's maxim. But is there a chance that its author might be found wanting now in, shall we say, the Speedo department?

Do you remember Hamanaka?

18 March 2020

It’s only 25 years since the closing chapters of the Yasuo Hamanaka story were being written, yet it’s surprising how many people in copper trading today admit to having a less than perfect grasp of the story. It’s one that is well worth the re-telling.

Censorship?

11 March 2020

Censorship comes in many forms. Perhaps the burning of books that don’t fit the regime’s world view, as in Nazi Germany, or maybe the simple banning of the book and imprisonment of the author, as in the Russia of the Soviet era. Or the refusal to permit stage performances that were regarded by the authority as likely to subvert public morals, as in the UK in the era before the abolition of the Lord Chamberlain’s responsibility for public performance in 1968.

Fear and Greed

04 March 2020

Ah, fear and greed; those two drivers of market behaviour. As Kipling almost said, “If You can meet with Fear and Greed, And treat those two imposters just the same….. You’ll be a man, my son!” Or at least, you’ll be a successful financial trader. (Apologies for the clearly irreverent misquotation.)

Carbon and Hypocrisy

26 February 2020

Something has been bothering me for a while. Of course, I’m no climate scientist, so I have to accept that, if I were, the answer to my point may actually be easily explained. First, let’s just be clear that the “the science is all settled” argument is not necessarily correct; there are potentially differing views and interpretations of data, which may rationally indicate differing outcomes.

Time Pieces

19 February 2020

Time may be a great healer, but it’s also the dimension that gives perspective to lives. It’s divisive, in that the ‘when’ largely dictates the ‘what’. In other words, when we live determines what is significant to us and what is merely of passing, historical interest. I know that’s not a particularly original statement, but a couple of recent conversations brought it home.