So I departed and was free from imprisonment.
From the ship all things were taken out, so that the clothes which I took with me on my back I only had.
Therefore I do pray and entreat you in the name of Jesus Christ to do so much as to make my being here in Japan known to my poor wife, in a manner a widow and my two children fatherless; which thing only is my greatest grief of heart and conscience.
Not only I lost what I had in the ship, but from the captain and the company generally what was good or worth the taking was carried away; all which was done unknown to the emperor.
Now being in such grace and favor by reason I learned him some points of geometry and understanding of the art of mathematics with other things, I pleased him so that what I said he would not contrary.
At which time came to us many boats and we suffered them to come aboard, being not able to resist them, which people did us no harm, neither of us understanding the one the other.
In the end of five years I made supplication to the king to go out of this land, desiring to see my poor wife and children according to conscience and nature.
So in process of four or five years the emperor called me, as divers times he had done before.
So that between the Cape of St. Maria and Japan we were four months and twenty-two days; at which time there were no more than six besides myself that could stand upon his feet.
If our countries had war the one with the other, that was no cause that he should put us to death; with which they were out of heart that their cruel pretense failed them. For which God be forever-more praised.
With the physical trade still quiet because of the summer slowdown, the markets seem to be at the whim of the funds, so more exogenous issues such as the equities, oil, bonds and the dollar, or any other event that impacts the funds, needs to be watched closely.
Should the global economy suffer a period of slower demand, which is a distinct possibility given rising interest rates, a slowing housing market and high debt, then the demand profile on the metals could suffer. In turn, these lofty metal prices would then look out of place.
Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be.
Needless to say copper continues to defy gravity.
Given the extent of the rise the level of the pull-back seems to be fairly minimal and after consolidating the up trends are likely to push prices higher still.
I wouldn't be surprised if they consolidate for a while. Something else needs to happen before this turns into a rout on the downside.
Overall the sentiment in the metals is still very bullish and it is hard to see this changing in the near term.
On the surface, the base metals look strong, but there is a danger the rug could get pulled from underneath the market.
Plastics are being used instead of copper tube, aluminum is replacing copper conductors, steel/tin, plastics and glass are being used instead of aluminum packaging and plastics and different types of coated steel are being used instead of galvanized steel.
My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.
Without any fresh bullish news, one has to assume that it is the funds and the weight of money that is once again pushing these prices higher.
With China now back in the market after the New Year, there was some catching up in early trading on Monday.
At some stage the fundamentals will become influential again, but while the funds are willing and able to buy commodities, you have to accept that their patronage is the most influential aspect in the market and will remain so until something knocks them from their current thinking.
The ripple effect from Hurricane Katrina may be far reaching, ... already sent fuel prices soaring which are going to hurt the U.S. consumer and therefore the economy.
The threat of supply disruptions has reminded investors just how tight the copper market is, even though stocks may have risen in recent months.
As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
This, and ongoing concerns over supply are likely to underpin prices, so unless some external event upsets the funds, the upward trends are likely to keep prices on the rise.
Although there is little doubt that fundamentals are tight, there seems an awful lot of hype in the market and with prices knocking on $6,000 a ton, the whole complex looks over cooked and in need of a reality check.
There's a lot of capital flowing into 'information-age' companies. These are 25 companies that are leading the charge in building the bandwidth for the world economy.
For a while I was anti working outside of the Peas, because I wanted to save all the good stuff for us.
Stocks are generally low by historic standards and the threat of supply disruptions hangs over the market.
The reversal...puts copper prices right back into the earlier consolidation zone, which undoes much of the rebound from last week.
The metals are looking nervous, the sell-offs are providing the dip-buyers with good opportunities but for a change the follow-on buying seems to be reluctant to join in.
If the outlook does deteriorate then the prospects for a correction in copper increases.
The jury is therefore still out as to whether this was just another mini correction or whether more selling will follow. The wider markets are showing some strength, equities are heading higher, mining stocks are showing some strength.
This is no doubt a bullish factor. Copper, lead and zinc are the three metals that are suffering supply disruption from strike action.
The combination of a sharp rebound in US equities, a slightly weaker dollar and strong Chinese data seems to have been enough to underpin the metals.
