Rare earth elements (REEs) have been the mystery metals of the mining world for years. Now, suddenly, everyone’s heard about them.

There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

1928, New York…Workers heave great hunks of iron and steel up vast construction cables… great machine-age pulleys send building parts up storey after storey… ever closer to the sweltering sun.

One clever mining company owns the lot… and it’s positioned next door to its biggest customer. Broker Cannacord Adams says this firm’s shares should be DOUBLE what they trade for today. But that’s not the half of it! China is DESPERATE for concrete and steel.

But that was not the only thing that was causing mayhem with the Mogambo Economic Alarm System (MEAS), as the Federal Reserve itself sold off another $11 billion of its government debt last week! Yikes!

The base metals were all mired in the red again on Wednesday. Copper nosedived from the pre-dawn hours to the open of the New York session, bottoming at $3.69 before cutting about half its losses to finish at $3.7464/lb., down 5 1/3 cents.

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.

Riding a bicycle in Melbourne’s autumn is like playing with fire, reader. The weather changes a lot quicker than we can ride.

Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs made the term “BRICs” famous in a 2003 research report.

Asset-based investments now dominate the ASX in market value. The mining sector is worth $406 billion in market cap. Financials have fallen to $403 billion. The king is dead. Long live the king.