Charts of the day are...........

.........the LME futures curves for Copper, Zinc, Lead and Nickel.

Oh these charts are so much fun.

........and are a big difference to the story of just just a few weeks ago...........

.....when the annualized discount was running at 6% to 8%.........

....because now you can get your lump of metal significantly cheaper at cash spot than for 2011 delivery.

Semi OT: There are lots of things I like about inflation, because if you understand how it works it can work for you and not against you. Perhaps the nicest thing about inflation is that due to its very chequered history in fighting the beast over the last four decades, Latin America understands it better than virtually any other place in the world. Compared to the knowledge pool I've been lucky enough to tap into on the subject, you guys up there are greenhorns.

I'm really beginning to look forward to 2009.