Base metals were up on Wednesday. Copper climbed 6.44 cents to close at $2.5018/lb. Nickel gained more than 15 cents to finish at $7.2885/lb. Zinc added nearly two pennies, ending at $0.7529/lb. Aluminum rose half a cent, closing at $0.7685/lb., while lead moved to $0.7666/lb., up a penny and three-quarters from the previous session.

Investors bailed out of the equity markets in a big way during Monday’s session on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange plunged 4.41%, while the TSX Gold Index dropped 5.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 3.59% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 632 to 213 margin on a lower than normal 156 million shares traded.

After an off day on Monday, with the LME closed for holiday, the base metals were mixed on Tuesday. Copper pushed as high as $2.15 early in the pre-dawn hours, but that was it as it sank pretty much straight through the day from there, just coming off its intraday lows to finish at $2.0468/lb., down nearly 4 cents from Friday.

The base metals were all gushing red on Thursday. Copper was in the green until New York opened, then down it went, falling especially steeply in late morning, and barely coming off its intraday lows to finish at $1.9542/lb., down nearly 6 cents.

The buying of equities continued during Thursday’s session on the Canadian Markets with gains seen across the board. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange surged 3.39%, while the TSX Gold Index added 3.2% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gained 2.37% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 392 to 319 margin on 119 million shares traded.

FTSEurofirst 300 up 1.1 pct on the day, up 13 pct on week… Index lost 7 pct in Nov, ninth month of losses in 2008… Cyclicals hammered; defensive pharmas surge

Copper prices have fallen off a cliff since June, and not even China’s massive stimulus has bucked the trend. But Sara Nunnally says one Chilean mining firm is still planning a major expansion in production over the coming years. This could mean big profits for the company’s three major financial backers (AAUK, XTA, MITSY)… provided they survive the current commodity slump.

Lonmin’s CEO shocked the world by stepping down three days before the Xstrata (XTA) deadline. But the exit of Brad Mill leaves investors wondering not whether Lonmin (LMI) will accept the offer but if Xstrata will back out before it can.

The base metals mostly posted slight gains on Wednesday. Copper was at the low end of a 4-cent range for most of the day, until a late morning rally pushed it into the black, with a finish at $3.1402/lb., up more than 2¾ cents.

The base metals were mixed on Thursday. Copper held in positive territory until mid-morning in New York, but then hit the skids, finishing just off its intraday low at $3.3037/lb., down 4¾ cents.