Are you bullish or bearish on copper exchange traded funds (ETFs)? If you can’t decide, don’t feel bad: it seems like some analysts are similarly mixed on its direction these days.
On the one hand, BlackRock is feeling bullish on resources like coal, iron ore and yes, copper. [Gold ETFs: After a Run, Now What?]
According to Reuters, BlackRock notes that “the fundamentals are so clear.” Copper will also be in on major demand, as emerging markets begin to build up again. [Copper ETFs Inspire Bullish Predictions.]
On the other hand, some believe that copper could hit a price ceiling, and that would cause Chinese demand to dip, says Commodity Online. But that aside, the analyst still projects gains for the metal, though they be more tempered.
But right now, copper prices are declining. Yesterday, they fell the most in three weeks on speculation that record prices will slow demand. Stockpiles are large, and this is supporting the drop in price, Claudia Carpenter for Bloomberg reports.
There’s no physically-backed play on copper…yet, but you can get exposure to miners who do well in a high-price environment. First Trust ISE Global Copper (NASDAQ: CU) gives the bulk of its exposure to the United States and Canada, while Global X Copper Miners (NYSEArca: COPX) has Canada, Britain and Australia as its top-weighted countries.
Further, you can get your copper futures contract fix via PowerShares DB Base Metals (NYSEArca: DBB), which also owns futures on aluminum and zinc. All three metals each make up one-third of the ETF.
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.