Ok to all you dogs, ducks, frog want ta be's, whip cracking ladies, roller coaster dudes.....sitting this am drinking coffee and reading morning papers (Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily) and there is a long article in Money & Investing section of WSJ (B-1) so if you can get it you might want to read it. I can't post it as only had a hard copy. However, since I found it to be such a good article with insights into how China so quietly and stealthly moves I thought I would post some hi lights in case you are interested:

*A boatload of sandy muck ships from Alaska a week ago bound for China and buried inside were tiny flecks of gold that China National Gold Group plans to extract.

*The Alaskan gold won't appear in China's official imports report or in trade data from major commodity exchanges or buillon markets. China's purchases of copper scrap and investments in oilsands projects in Canada also fly under the radar, publically disclosed but not widely watched.

*The low grade ore making its way to China is evidence that Chinese demand for raw materials is greater than many investors realize.

*While in the 1st half of this year China's refined copper imports fell 13.5% indicating weaker demand, China also raised imports of copper scrap and concentrade which needs further processing. The 362,000 tons of this was enough to turn China's imports into a net gain according to Barclays.

*Processing gold concentrates isn't easy and many smelters were closed down in North America. Hoever in China smelting capacities are growing. China has the capacity to process 600 metric tons of gold exceeding the gold it produces at home.

*China's strategy is to protect itself from price spikes driven by its own rising demand. Word that China is buying tons of buillon would send prices skyrocketing but deals to acquire gold concentrate unlikely won't spark the same reaction. "China wants more gold, and buying the concentrate could be an easier way to acquire it without disturbing the finished market price" said Rob McEwen, chief executive of US Gold Corp.

*Article also mentions china's deal with CDE where it plans to extract 25 tons over the 12 year pact with them.

*China's gold imports have been climbing steadily but are hard for investors to see because China doesn't disclose imports of gold buillion. Gold concentrate imports which also aren't dsiclosed are more difficult to find.

*China has also been buying oilsands....China Petroleum & Chemical bought a 9% stake in Syncrude Canada and PetroChina took a stake in Athabasca Oilsands and China Investment Corp entered a joint venture with PennWest.