The significance of copper and gold pricing:

Here is what I have been hearing over the past two weeks that might be of significance to you, the investor:

First, gold has declined some $200 or more in the past several weeks. You know that. But discussions on CNBC tell us to look for gold to go no lower than $1590. According to the folks "in the know," the time to buy is now. Time will tell.

Secondly, a thought about copper prices. Copper stocks have declined some 40%. The significance of this is found in the fact that copper is the single most used industrial metal. The finest cooking supplies have copper bases; copper wiring is everywhere. The point? A declining stock price with copper is a fairly accurate predictor of tough times for industry. There really are a lot of encouraging signs for this economy, but declining copper prices may be that predictor that tells us the "recession" will last well into 2012.