Realcent.org

First let's get this out of the way. I am not looking to profit on anyone else's misery. I have a brother and a number of friends who live in affected areas of TX and am genuinely concerned about their situation.

That said, I'm hearing lots of news about pipes that have burst because of the cold weather. I'd think that when necessary repairs and infrastructure improvements are made, this could result in lots of demand for copper. This is especially true because it isn't just a single town of 50,000 people that is affected, but rather the metro areas of Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. That is a LOT of people.

Yet, in spite of all these people needing work done pretty quickly, I haven't heard a thing on kitco.com (or kitcometals.com) about it. Has anyone else seen any mainstream media or otherwise commentary on what is about to happen?

I imagine the demand for plumbers and construction people will be so high that you will have people going to TX from other states because there should be LOTS of money to be made and overtime premiums to be earned.

If someone on this site is a plumber or in construction in Texas, I'd be VERY interested to hear what you think. Really, I'd be curious to here all kinds of opinions on this.

P.S. As a side note, for those of you in the stock market, what about the thought of buying Freeport-McMoRan stock (Ticker: FCX)?

Copper pipes in new home construction is rare, even in central Texas. My daughter, who lives near Austin, moved into a new home about a year ago and has PEX from the water meter and through the entire house. Their previous home, a few miles away, is about 20 years old, and also had PEX as part of the original construction.

By the way, PEX is an abbreviation for polyethylene piping. PEX is illegal to use in CA because of the danger of poisonous chemicals leaching out and into the drinking water supply.

Recyclersteve wrote:By the way, PEX is an abbreviation for polyethylene piping. PEX is illegal to use in CA because of the danger of poisonous chemicals leaching out and into the drinking water supply.

The concern was resolved and PEX has been legal and highly used in CA since 2009.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-lin ... _approvals

I would think that replacing copper pipe with PEX / PVC would result in more copper going to the scrap yard.

I would imagine that while there will be some increasing demand for copper. I don't think it will move the gauge too much as most burst pipes will probably be small burst as opposed to whole systems. I could see an increase in use of pex to replace the burst section.
Pex manufacturers might be a good stock to add to the portfolio.

Definitely good thoughts, Steve, but like others have said, PEX is sadly more common these days.

In regard to FCX, I personally don't see myself buying it at this time, especially when its dividend is .05/quarter.

thecrazyone wrote:... like others have said, PEX is sadly more common these days. ...

[Fletch]It's all ball bearings nowadays.[/Fletch]