Precious metals and producer stocks moved strongly higher yesterday. Base metals were down, and exploration stocks seemed pretty flat.

These effects in the last couple of days are largely Terrorism-related, I would think, and the pressures on markets from these events will continue as the war expands exponentially, IMO.

History suggests, however, that we can not have a long period of rising prices for precious metal, without that spilling into the related areas. Silver is the most classic example as it is largely a by-product of copper mining. That is, rising demand for silver puts pressure on copper mining companies who will find it more profitable to produce copper at lower prices, if prices happen to stay low or go lower. That said, other economic factors could at the same time drive up copper prices.

Anyway, these events are just a small parts of the picture, of course, but add to the increasing evidence that mining stocks are off the bottom, and that change will eventually draw up explorers as well.

VP