The base metals were mostly in the red on Tuesday. Copper tumbled during the early part of the New York session, but rallied strongly from there to regain most of the lost ground and finish at $3.7999/lb., down a penny from Friday.

The base metals were mostly in the black on Friday. Copper bottomed out at $3.72 in the pre-dawn hours, but rallied straight through from there to finish at its intraday high of $3.8099/lb., up 6 cents.

Commodities are governed by supply and demand – more than any other variable. Just take a look at the precious metals bull market we’ve enjoyed since 2001.

The base metals took a severe beating on Thursday. Copper was down from the pre-dawn hours straight through the day, only coming off its lows near the noon hour and finishing at $3.497/lb., down 6 cents.

The base metals were mostly in the red on Wednesday. Copper was erratic, bouncing all over during the day, but ended up sliding somewhat, finishing at $3.8102/lb., down 3 cents.

The base metals were all mired in the red on Monday. Copper peaked during the pre-dawn hours and slid from there until the late morning, when it rallied slightly off its intraday lows to finish at $3.8245/lb., down 4¼ cents.

Outside of nickel, the base metals were all on fire on Friday. Copper rose straight from the pre-dawn hours until the late morning, only then coming off its intraday highs to finish at $3.866/lb., up nearly 8 cents.

The base metals were mixed on Thursday. Copper rose straight from the pre-dawn hours until about noon, then eased slightly off its intraday high to finish at $3.7867/lb., up 6½ cents.

The base metals were nearly all in the red on Wednesday. Copper tumbled from the pre-dawn hours until about mid-morning, then traded with a slight upward bias to finish at $3.7215/lb., down more than 6¾ cents.

The base metals were mostly higher on Tuesday. Copper pushed higher in the pre-dawn hours, but then dropped in New York, rallying slightly at the end to finish at $3.7897/lb., down a bit less than a penny.