Lead Prices At Historically High Levels

Concerns about the U.S. economy couldn't keep many commodities down in the second quarter.

Lead jumped 37% to $2,645 a ton on the London Metal Exchange. One factor is continued strong demand in Asia for lead-acid batteries for cars and industrial equipment. Prices also jumped in the wake of shipment delays from a major Australian port and a change in China's tax policy that could decrease its lead exports.

With historically low metal inventories, when a supply shock comes, "prices don't know much of a limit," said Catherine Virga, a CPM senior research analyst.

Lead consumption slowed in the 1980s and 1990s amid links to health risks and substitution of other ingredients for it in paints and pipes. "Lead consumers that are left, especially the battery producers, which account for 80% of all lead consumption, have very few alternatives," according to a report by the Barclays Capital unit of Barclays PLC.

-Wall Street Journal

Copper Rises While the US Dollar Falls

According to Bloomberg, Copper rose in New York to the highest in six weeks on speculation a decline in the value of the dollar will boost demand for the metal used in wiring and plumbing as inventories dwindle.

Copper stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange fell 1.8 percent to an eight-month low of 112,600 metric tons. Copper has risen 22 percent this year as inventories fell 38 percent and the U.S. currency fell 2.6 percent against a basket of six major world currencies. Meanwhile, the dollar today touched the lowest level in more than a month against the euro.

Investors in FCX and PCU have done very well in the past year. Too bad I sold my FCX early and missed out on a 50% runnup less than 2 months later!

Anyone Know A Good Saudi Construction Company

All trends point to massive investments in Saudi Arabia's construction sector, with billions of dollars of investment still to come in real estate, industry and the hydrocarbons sector.

Oil revenue surpluses are boosting the government budget and overall spending. In 2007, the Saudi government allocated more than $42 billion for various projects and programs in its 2007 budget.

In the private sector, investments in the industrial sector, especially in petrochemicals, will require construction investments reaching more than $500 billion over the next 10 years depending on the project and construction time frame. Like the rest of the Gulf, the kingdom's construction boom has reached unprecedented levels in 2006 and expected to gain more momentum in 2007 and beyond.

-Export.gov

Anyone know a Saudi construction company that trades on the US stock exchage?