Why Metal Stocks Haven’t Peaked

Is it too late to buy into the boom in metals stocks — everything from gold to silver to copper to iron to zinc…?

Investors looking to answer questions like those should take a clue from the boom in oil prices and particularly from a theory called Peak Oil. The analogy isn’t perfect — the commodity markets for metals are much smaller and much more speculative than the market for crude oil. But applying a theory that I’m calling “Peak Metal” argues that while short-run risks have risen recently, the boom in the prices of metals and metal stocks is a long, long way from over. Over the long term, the only thing likely to derail it, in fact, is a big slowdown in the global economy — and therefore in global demand. And that doesn’t look likely in either 2006 or 2007.
Jubak’s Journal at MSN Money