While the rest of the world is grappling with the global slowdown, China is figuring out ways to exploit it.

The base metals were nearly all in positive territory on Tuesday. Copper prolonged its rally, with buying coming in on dips through the day, and finishing at its intraday high of $1.9204/lb., up more than 7 2/3 cents. Nickel soared in the afternoon hours, before easing a bit late to close at $5.2435/lb., up 23 1/3 cents.

There’s more bad news for those of you who are worrying about the United States’ global geo-strategic position. According to a recent report, starting next year, Chinese manufacturing output will exceed that of the United States.

You may have heard about Brazil’s Tupi and Carioca, which may be the two biggest oil fields discovered in the last 30 years. What makes these discoveries particularly remarkable, in addition to their size, is where they are. They lie underwater, hundreds of miles off the coast of Brazil. Call it “blue water energy.”

The base metals all moved higher on Monday. Copper peaked during the pre-dawn hours and, though it declined to mid-morning, staged a later day rally to finish at $3.7938/lb., up more than 3 cents.

Nickel fell off its peak around the noon hour, but remained in positive territory at $9.2238/lb., up 4 2/3 cents. Zinc bottomed at mid-morning, but took off strongly from there, ending at its intraday high of $0.8371/lb., up nearly 2½ cents. Aluminum traded very jaggedly, to little eventual effect, closing at $1.3615/lb., up three-quarters of a cent, while lead was up straight through the day, just coming off its intraday high at $0.9295/lb., up 4 1/3 cents.

Copper was strong on the rise in crude, and the associated…

The recent buyout of Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) by Cleveland Cliffs Inc. (CLF) could ignite more than $50 billion worth of M&A deals in the U.S. coal industry over the next few years as Mainland China rushes to solve a major energy shortfall.

The base metals were nearly all in the black on Thursday. Copper started up in the pre-dawn hours and climbed until the late morning, but then ran into a determined selloff that sank it back into negative territory at $3.7929/lb., down a penny and a third.

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There has been little said about BHP Billiton Ltd.’s (BHP) attempted takeover of Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) in recent months, but the proposal is far from dead.

The People’s Republic of China: When Asia expert Keith Fitz-Gerald first returned to this country a week ago, he was overwhelmed by a single impression.