Absolutely golfyeti! Anyone who thinks there is a lot of extra copper sitting around should look at the COMEX and LME graphs.

My feeling is that anyone who thinks that China is transparent with respect to their metal stocks is kidding themselves or might be delusional.

China doesn't have to be truthful, nor does it benefit them. Instead, they tell people a story from behind the iron curtain that sounds plausible. They dictate their regulations, and they tell their people what to say. Pay attention to what they're doing - continuing to accumulate cheap mining companies and cheap commodities while singing the blues that the economy is slowing. This is all in an effort to prevent a big jump in the price of these things they so desperately need.