What's New in Copper this Week?

Copper lost some 26% of its price in 2015 and bounced back early this year. But what does that mean for copper right now, and what’s the latest in copper investing this week? Here are some quick briefs:

U.S. Geological Survey Releases New Copper Data

According to the USGS, copper production increased some 200,000 tonnes in 2015. The influx of supply might have impacted the global prices, even though there had been reports of production cuts from copper miners themselves. Now that we know the supply increased, it may explain some of the low prices from 2015.

The top copper miners in the world included the United States, Australia, Chile, China, Peru, and Mexico.

You can find a PDF of their report here.

Copper Is Looking at a Mini-Rally

This week, copper hit the price of 2.20, which is a level not seen since 2015. That helps back up the reports of a mini copper rally early this year. Some positive news in the U.S. jobs data helped influence a rally with the stock market as well, and copper seemed to come along for the ride.

Earlier this week, Nasdaq noted that copper has been rising along with stocks and oil as of late, which suggests that any good news on the economic front might also mean an uptick for copper. And when you add copper’s 2% increase in price from last week, it’s clear that 2016 might be a very different year for copper than was 2016.

Looking for Opportunities in Copper

If copper continues its upward trend, how might investors be expected to capitalize on these gains and acquire equities that will take advantage? CNBC Pro (subscription required) noted some stocks that seemed to move with last week’s gains. If you have a “watch list” with your local brokerage, it may be time to add these stocks and watch for yourself how copper prices affect their overall valuation.

How else could investors interested in copper this week be expected to put money in copper? Investopedia has some interesting tips—and you’ll notice that they seem to view the current copper prices as being far off of copper’s general average, which suggests that, despite the latest mini-rally, copper may be in for some gains.

What to Watch for Next Week

• Add some copper stocks to your watchlist and observe how they correlated to copper prices. This is a great way to introduce yourself to some new companies and see how reliant they really are on the market prices.
• Don’t abandon other investments. Copper might be a wise investment at the moment, considering its current value, but that doesn’t mean that your total market strategy necessarily has to include copper. Diversify across precious metals and equities as well.
• Watch China. China is not only a leading copper producer but is one of the world’s largest economies. As China moves, so do many markets—and that includes copper. Set a Google Alert for any Chinese market news so you can be ready for anything.