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Copper got hit hard during the past couple of weeks.

480 lbs light iron @ 150/GT
19 lbs #1 steel @ 245/GT
16 lbs Cat5 wire @ 0.90
2 lbs mixed wire @ 0.55
79 lbs transformers 0.33
17 lbs adapters 0.23
219 lbs power supplies 0.24
5 lbs electric motor 0.15
9 lbs clean ACR 0.95
5 lbs #2 copper 2.00
67 lbs stainless steel 0.35
4 lbs brass 1.55
27 lbs compressor 0.12
29 lbs irony aluminum 0.12
32 lbs mixed aluminum 0.41
2 lbs extruded aluminum 0.47
5 lbs batteries 0.32

cwgii wrote:batteries 25 lb at .33
green mother board 60 lb at .15
#2 copper 8 lb at 2.19
sheet iron 25 lb at 125/t
heavy melt 55 lb at 175
#2 wire 25 % 30 lb at .40
al clean sheet 21 lb at .46
al cans 128 lb at .95
ballasts 25 lb at .16

this is with the .10 bonus

Nice that you get 16 cents for ballasts- I only get 3 cents- less than steel.

that punch card makes a huge payoff on the cheap stuff

tis morning
44 lb no1 plastic and 14 lbs cans
they were nice and gave me the .45/.85 i was getting. they dropped prices this week to .30/.70
and since that is all i do now, it hurts

07/10/2018
Tin/light Iron $175.00 GT 1450#
AL Old Sheet $0.41 lb 13 lb
Brass Yellow $1.54 lb 17 lb
#2 Copper $1.98 lb 6 lb
#2 CU Insulated 40% $0.16 lb 15 lb
Batteries $0.28 lb 16 lb
Total $158.30
07/10/2018
Tin/light Iron $175.00 GT 340#
AL Old Sheet $0.41 lb 74#
#1 CU Insulated 65% $0.95 lb 40 lb
Second Load Total $86.00

It helps a little that gas has come down some. Still I’d rather pay more for gas and get more for my metals— I think. I have to factor in that I have three vehicles to gas up and when I consider all I spend on gas (not just for recycling), I could potentially be better off getting lower prices.

10 lbs. #1 plastic @ $.30 lb.
51 lbs. prepared steel @ $.0925 lb.
6 lbs. alum cans $.85 lb.

Always interesting to see plastic listed. Could never get anything for plastic or glass around here

Monday 7/16/2018
Tin/light Iron $170.00 960#
AL Old Sheet $0.41 lb 8 lb
Al Cu Radiator $0.89 lb 80 lb
#1 CU Insulated 50% $0.77 lb 17 lb
Total $149.40

Tin/light down $5
Guy says all wire down across the board.
#2 copper down, keeping my 10 lbs or so.
everything down a bit also.
glad I have very little hoarded.

3700 pounds of copper aluminum rads which are a-coils with the ends and pans still attached
$.64 a pound on those

For all those who say why didn’t I cut them up, I probably had 500 of them or more and it would have taken a week to do and 1,000 sawzall blades. Time is money

The slide in prices continues...

220 lbs light iron $140/GT
31 lbs #1 steel 240/GT
60 lbs #2 copper 1.90
16 lbs #1 copper 2.10
9 lbs aluminum .43
49 lbs irony aluminum .12
17 lbs brass 1.50
7 lbs clean ACR .90
20 lbs copper wire .50
1 lb THHN 1.45
29 lbs romex 1.10
28 lbs electric motor .15

300 lb ''heavy melt'' at 165/t
motors 40 lb at .13

Scrapping from two days ago...

WEIGHT/PRICE/TOTAL
Stainless steel (clean) 30 0.25 lb. $7.50
Clean aluminum 32 0.35 lb. $11.20
Aluminum (MLC) 18 0.35 lb. $6.30
Compressors* 98 0.06 lb. $5.88
Aluminum cans 5 0.8 lb. $4.00
Steel 191 0.05 lb. $9.55
#2 insulated copper 13 0.42 lb. $5.46
Round up $0.11
Extra (he said he made a mistake) $2.00
TOTALS 387# $52.00

*NOTE: On the so-called compressors they were really fan motors and I should have gotten 15 cents/lb. instead of .06. I'll get this worked out next time.

Was bored I guess. Stopped by a dumpster today.
Sheet Iron 174 lbs. 125/NT $10.88

new one on me
ltoday i turned in angle iron , parts from a grill and parts from an ab lounger......called it ''torch'' paid 145/t

07/27/2018
Tin/light Iron $160.00 1040#
#1 HMS Prepared $230.00 85 lb
AL Truck Rim $0.51 lb 65 lb
Al Cu Radiator $0.79 lb 43 lb
Brass Yellow $1.45 lb 8 lb
#2 Copper $1.90 lb 19 lb
#2 CU Insulated 40% $0.13 lb 12 lb
#2 CU Insulated 50% $0.31 lb 5 lb
Batteries $0.28 lb 24 lb
$188.80
07/27/2018 2nd trip
#1 HMS Prepared $230.00 280#
Tin/light Iron $160.00 820#
$87.35
day total 276.15

prices going down , HMS is holding Tin/Light down another $10 over 11 days everything else, mostly, is sinking

There may be a delay with spot prices for metals and what is seen as the scrap yards, just like there is with the price of a barrel of oil and what you pay at the gas pump.

That said, copper is up about 4% or so in the past six days, going from $2.73/lb. to $2.84/lb. per kitcometals.com historical charts. I'm zooming in on the 30-day chart to get this info.

Although I don't have a crystal ball by any means, it appears that copper has a lot more upside than downside right now. If it were to go below $2.50ish, that would be really surprising to me (even with the fear of a tariff war with China). I remember hearing (from a stock trader that I really respected) that the best time to buy something is on a pullback after a breakout. Isn't that precisely what has happened to copper in the past 6 months or so? Copper was at a roughly 3-year high. And then we got a nice 15-20%ish pullback on most base metals. Blame it on Trump and China, if you will, but this smells to me like a buying opportunity. If I could afford to sit on a bunch of copper for several months, I would. Unfortunately, I've gotta keep the yard somewhat clean.

Recyclersteve wrote:If I could afford to sit on a bunch of copper for several months, I would. Unfortunately, I've gotta keep the yard somewhat clean.

Mr. Steve, which do you think is more likely, copper prices will double or the price of silver will double? Probably different dynamics involved in the large-scale movement of those metals, but I've been reading that silver is also an industrial metal so it is similar to copper in that way. I was just thinking that even if copper doubled, you'd have to have a lot on hand to make a substantial difference to your wealth. However, if silver could double in a short time frame, you can benefit without filling up your backyard with metal. I can see how having some of both is probably the best idea.

4,750 pounds of compressors out of outside units $.08 a pound

440 pounds of shred at $120 a ton

160 lbs. Sheet iron @ $.0575 lb

Contradiction wrote:

Recyclersteve wrote:If I could afford to sit on a bunch of copper for several months, I would. Unfortunately, I've gotta keep the yard somewhat clean.

Mr. Steve, which do you think is more likely, copper prices will double or the price of silver will double? Probably different dynamics involved in the large-scale movement of those metals, but I've been reading that silver is also an industrial metal so it is similar to copper in that way. I was just thinking that even if copper doubled, you'd have to have a lot on hand to make a substantial difference to your wealth. However, if silver could double in a short time frame, you can benefit without filling up your backyard with metal. I can see how having some of both is probably the best idea.

Easy answer for me, as you haven't specified a timeframe. If copper were to double, it would blow way past the all-time high. Silver could even triple and still be below where it was in 1980 and 2011. So I think it would be easier for silver to double. That said, I don't expect it to happen for at least several years and perhaps much longer than that.

Now if you asked which would be more likely to go up, say, 25%, I'd say copper. And that could happen in perhaps just 1-2 years.

Just my own guess. I agree that it is good to have both. That way, if one goes up and the other doesn't, you are still able to make a profit on something that you own.

In terms of calculating how much space something takes, let me relay the story about a wealthy hedge fund guy named Kyle Bass. You can Google this to find more info. But one day (probably around 2011) he called his bank and said "I want to buy a million dollars worth of nickels." They asked why and he simply acknowledged that he liked nickels. So he had the nickels transported by armored car to a vault somewhere in the downtown Dallas, TX area. I did some quick calculations and found that these weighed OVER 200,000 POUNDS. You might even have to reinforce the concrete slab you are on to handle that kind of weight!

Of course he was buying U.S. nickels, which have only 25% nickel in them. I've been much more bullish on the 99.9% nickels made through 1981 in Canada. But for anyone to get a million dollars of those would be a pipe dream!

Scrapping activity from 7/30/18 (Tues.):

Clean brass 3 1.50/lb. $4.50
Dirty brass 5 0.70/lb. $3.50
Clean aluminum 7 0.38/lb. $2.66
Cat. 5/6 wire 6 0.60/lb. $3.60
#2 Insulated wire 5 0.42/lb. $2.10
Aluminum cans 6 0.70/lb. $4.20
Brass , clean 1 1.50/lb. $1.50
Steel 341 0.04/lb. $13.64
Pewter 2 1.00/lb. $2.00
Round up $0.30
TOTALS 376 $38.00

Recyclersteve wrote:

Contradiction wrote:

Recyclersteve wrote:If I could afford to sit on a bunch of copper for several months, I would. Unfortunately, I've gotta keep the yard somewhat clean.

Mr. Steve, which do you think is more likely, copper prices will double or the price of silver will double? Probably different dynamics involved in the large-scale movement of those metals, but I've been reading that silver is also an industrial metal so it is similar to copper in that way. I was just thinking that even if copper doubled, you'd have to have a lot on hand to make a substantial difference to your wealth. However, if silver could double in a short time frame, you can benefit without filling up your backyard with metal. I can see how having some of both is probably the best idea.

Easy answer for me, as you haven't specified a timeframe. If copper were to double, it would blow way past the all-time high. Silver could even triple and still be below where it was in 1980 and 2011. So I think it would be easier for silver to double. That said, I don't expect it to happen for at least several years and perhaps much longer than that.

Now if you asked which would be more likely to go up, say, 25%, I'd say copper. And that could happen in perhaps just 1-2 years.

Just my own guess. I agree that it is good to have both. That way, if one goes up and the other doesn't, you are still able to make a profit on something that you own.

In terms of calculating how much space something takes, let me relay the story about a wealthy hedge fund guy named Kyle Bass. You can Google this to find more info. But one day (probably around 2011) he called his bank and said "I want to buy a million dollars worth of nickels." They asked why and he simply acknowledged that he liked nickels. So he had the nickels transported by armored car to a vault somewhere in the downtown Dallas, TX area. I did some quick calculations and found that these weighed OVER 200,000 POUNDS. You might even have to reinforce the concrete slab you are on to handle that kind of weight!

Of course he was buying U.S. nickels, which have only 25% nickel in them. I've been much more bullish on the 99.9% nickels made through 1981 in Canada. But for anyone to get a million dollars of those would be a pipe dream!

Kyle Bass rocks! Do you think he still has those nickels? I found a very informative article ( https://lfb.org/urgent-sell-everything-buy-nickels/ ) which mentions Bass and something called Gresham's Law. They should teach that in school. Kids today have no idea how badly they are being robbed. Of course the article got one thing wrong because the writer thought pennies and nickels would be made from steel. That hasn't happened yet. I bet there are a lot of older people who wish they had saved their dimes and quarters in 1963 and 1964. Now it's 2018 and I will keep pennies and nickels and hope that pays off eventually.

I'd be shocked if Bass didn't still have the nickels. He's worth probably at least several hundred million, so he can afford to hold them the rest of his life if he's so inclined. I'm quite certain that he's actually losing money when you include the transportation costs. Two assignments for Mr. Contradiction:

1) Watch the 13-minute video you can see by typing "Kyle MacDonald red paperclip" (yes, another Kyle- not Bass). This shows a guy who started with just a paperclip and after 14 trades maneuvered into getting a free house. (very inspirational and true)
2) Get a copy (used) of the book "The Big Silver Melt" (by Henry A. Merton). It is out of print, but a true story and fascinating. Nate at CopperCave.com (who uses this site) might have some copies and be willing to sell one to you.

I notice that the legislation mentioned in the link provided by Contradiction above references three congressional representatives- all from the state of Ohio, which is a big steel producer. How convenient! I personally don't like having steel in the composition of coins because it can rust and that makes for some really ugly coins. Even zinc or tin would be much better, although tin is super lightweight.

Also, the article says "Our nickels are made from Canadian metals". I agree that the nickel likely comes from the Sudbury area of Ontario (where there is a LOT of nickel). But the copper (I would imagine) likely comes from Arizona, where 60-65% of U.S. copper production occurs. Or perhaps it could come from Utah, which also has a big copper mine. Either of those locations would make for much cheaper shipping costs to the Denver mint. For the Philadelphia mint, I'm not sure where they source their copper.

I also think it is appropriate to reiterate that I like the Canadian .999 nickels (made through 1981) far better than the U.S. (only 25% nickel) nickels. They are a bit harder to get, but worth the effort in my opinion. I will go one step further and speculate that if someone asked, "What investment is most likely to double in price in the next year or two?", my answer would likely be Canadian .999 nickels. Even if that happened, they would still be worth much less than they were at their all-time high (suggesting that there would be people who would still be interested in buying them even then).

Recyclersteve wrote:I'd be shocked if Bass didn't still have the nickels. He's worth probably at least several hundred million, so he can afford to hold them the rest of his life if he's so inclined. I'm quite certain that he's actually losing money when you include the transportation costs. Two assignments for Mr. Contradiction:

1) Watch the 13-minute video you can see by typing "Kyle MacDonald red paperclip" (yes, another Kyle- not Bass). This shows a guy who started with just a paperclip and after 14 trades maneuvered into getting a free house. (very inspirational and true)
2) Get a copy (used) of the book "The Big Silver Melt" (by Henry A. Merton). It is out of print, but a true story and fascinating. Nate at CopperCave.com (who uses this site) might have some copies and be willing to sell one to you.

Hi Mr. Steve,
I ordered the book on Barnes & Noble's website last night. It cost me about $21 with shipping and sales tax. I could have bought a nice ounce of silver with that money but I trust your judgment on the value of the book. This morning I watched Kyle's video on Youtube. Part of his secret seems to be having a website, not just Craigslist, to advertise his trading journey. Still, it was very instructive. Thanks for the tip. I need to incorporate his ideas into my outlook on life.