wednesday price action, page-27

volt - having read the article below, you may yet be vindicated in your outlook - real soon.

My profile on BHP indicates a mid October LOW and the real "blood flow" might BEGIN near the 9th.
If it's "really bad", your $13 might even be breached.

Current BHP chart signals are VERY VERY NASTY.

29TH SEPTEMBER MACD SELL
30TH SEPTEMBER MACD DOWN

This combo is "out of order" and DEADLY.

Now for the news article ..........

Concerns mount on dramatic decline in Chinese demand
Article from: The Courier-Mail

By Anthony Marx

September 30, 2008 12:00am

COMMODITY prices have seen the biggest quarterly drop in more than 50 years

as fears grow that China's demand for raw materials will slow dramatically.

The global benchmark Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities yesterday suffered its largest fall since 1956 against the backdrop of the deepening world financial crisis.

The index has slid more than 23 per cent in the past three months, reversing the 29 per cent jump in the first half of the calendar year.

The bad news contributed to major falls in the share values of mining giants such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto yesterday.

Worries about China have been exacerbated by reports that coal is sitting idle in the country's eastern ports and demand from steel plants has dropped significantly. Indian iron ore exporters even claimed that their Chinese customers had defaulted on contracts.

China's steel production has been sliding for weeks, although some of the blame is attributed to temporary plant closures or slowdowns related to the Beijing Olympics.

Analysts say China had been forecast to generate more than 40 per cent of world demand next year for coal, steel, iron ore, aluminium and other commodities. Any decline would have a major knock-on effect for suppliers, including numerous Australian companies in the resources sector.

Chinese officials blame a fall-off in export demand from US and European customers for numerous products which use metals and other commodities.

Despite the slowdown, China's broader economy is considered to be on a sound footing.

As worries grow about slowing demand in China as well as Europe, coal prices in Australia continue to fall.