For the last two years everyone's been calling the peak, and everyone's been calling it down, but it just continues to go on.
Such an outcome would result in base metal prices falling well below our forecast levels.
While we continue to assess the damage from Katrina, the threat to production of new storms is attracting everybody's attention and could drive prices right back up.
Copper is often perceived to be the barometer for market conditions and therefore a significant fall in copper prices could remove speculative support from other metals.
The market is not really factoring in the true impact of military action but the mere mention of it sends prices higher.
There is a bit of a time-lag in all this, but a prolonged cool spell should see a real impact on heating oil stocks, which until now have been robust.
Then there's Nigeria, also bubbling along, and no short-term view that things there will resolve themselves.
It's not surprising crude fell after such a strong rise in gasoline stocks. Once again it highlights that the fundamentals are really pretty weak.
It's not out of the question that 80 dollars could be the next barrier if there's long-term damage.
Natural gas production in the U.S is still not back up to 100 percent, and gas is the most commonly used heating fuel in the U.S,
