absolutely pathetic, page-44

depthtrader,

Not sure what you meant by "confused bull" ... me? you? China?

Stimulus from US or China acting alone would have small effect. But both have kicked in motion stimulus packages and at some points down the line the effects of stimulus backed projects from both of them will superimpose on each other.

China's metal demand will continue for a long while. With its densed population there is a great need for urbanisation and modernisation. The amount of steel required to continue to build apartment blocks for a few more decades means lots of mining & drillings.

If the long term demand for metal has deminished BHP and RIO wouldn't be so tough on their iron ore price negotiation and would quickly agree to the Chinese demand for price drop. Neither RIO nor BHP have agreed to the 40%-50% price drop when steel prices have dropped so much. Yet RIO has shut down one of the plant recently for 12 months care and maintenance.

If the metal demand has deteriorated for the long term, the right thing for RIO to do would be to shut down the excess plants for good (& save $$$) and to agree to the price drop to pick up business. The fact that RIO & BHP are still playing brinkmanship despite the downturn points to a very bullish medium to long term future for the industry.