They are up quite nicely. Especially copper and silver. Interesting to note that the major metal players (commercials) were actively buying physical assets all thru the last half of the decline. Perhaps they were selling aquired inventories in the futures markets, but it is not likely. With longer term views, they are more likely to set up a hedging program that won't push the price down too hard on themselves.

My bet is, if they are bullish, they won't hedge so much. The price action over the next few weeks should tell us a lot.

We're looking for the metals to test their highs, though probably not right away. We're long silver and copper futures. 12-13 in silver is a nice goal at the moment. Copper should see resistance at 360 area, it's ability to move thru this area should be very telling. We're not expecting the kind of moves we've had in the past 6 months. These markets are likely to chop for a while in some pretty decent money size swings. It bears noting, however, if the market does repeat it's past six month action (continuous directional move), that would suggest recent highs mark the mid-point of the trend.

One more interesting thing to note. A lot of the metal sentiment is dead. Wiped out. Watch if it doesn't come screaming back should silver touch 13-14 area in the next month or so. Should silver or gold break recent highs, fasten your seat belts...

Cheers.