The charts that matter: China stimulus drives copper demand

Welcome back. 

In this week’s issue of MoneyWeek, my colleague Cris looks at Southeast Asia. It was all the rage among investors a decade ago, but it has been hit hard by Covid-19, a series of “dreadful elections” in the region, and years of bad returns. But for the bold investor, it’s now got cheap enough to be worth a look. Cris picks some of the best bets in the region – and in a separate article picks a couple of emerging-market funds that cover other areas of the globe too. If you’re not already a subscriber, get your first six issues free here now.  

No new podcast this week, I’m afraid, but we do have a new “Too Embarrassed To Ask” video. This week, we discuss what a “p/e ratio” is, and what it’s used for. Check it out here.   

Here are the links for this week’s editions of Money Morning and other web stories you may have missed.

• Monday: This indicator can help you decide when to buy and sell silver
• Tuesday: Inflation feels good at first – which is why politicians will pursue it
• Wednesday: When will stockmarkets face reality?
• Thursday: What is value investing?
• Friday: A very basic guide to valuing individual companies

Now a swift look at what’s been going on in the charts this week. 

The charts that matter

Gold’s bull run has paused for now. But don’t think that’s the end of it. Not by a long chalk.

(Gold: three months)

In the US dollar index (DXY – a measure of the strength of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of its major trading partners), the greenback still faces a few headwinds, but many observers are pencilling in a potential bounce.

(DXY: three months)

The yield on the ten-year US government bond picked up this week after slipping last week

(Ten-year US Treasury yield: three months)

The ten-year Japanese government bond yield continued its erratic journey

(Ten-year Japanese government bond yield: three months)

And the ten-year German bund yield picked up a little too

(Ten-year Bund yield: three months)

Copper continued its rise – China recently said it would be building a load more infrastructure including new railways, power lines and electric car charging points.

(Copper: nine months)

The Aussie dollar continues to appreciate against its US counterpart

(Aussie dollar vs US dollar exchange rate: three months)

Bitcoin slipped further from its recent highs, but is holding on to most of its recent big gains

(Bitcoin: three months)

The oil price (Brent crude) continues its slow recovery

(Brent crude oil: three months)

In common with many other tech shares, Amazon’s rise continues, topping $3,400

(Amazon: three months)

And Tesla did a stock split this week, jumping on the bandwagon with the likes of Apple, handing shareholders four additional shares for each one they held at the end of last week. It shouldn’t have affected the share price too much – but it did. The post-split shares will start trading on Monday.

(Tesla: three months)

Have a great weekend.