Aluminum Is the Market to Watch Closely in 2019
The metal has become a better gauge of economic growth than copper, partly because demand is more broadly distributed.
Aluminum may be the most important asset in 2019.
Photographer: STR/AFPOn the long list of leading indicators that market participants attempt to use to figure out where the economy may be headed, don’t overlook aluminum.
Despite the many market-soothing words uttered by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and former chairs Janet Yellen and Ben S. Bernanke at the American Economic Association’s annual meeting in Atlanta on Friday, economic and market risks have not vanished. In fact, the risks for 2019 and 2020 look a lot like those in 2015 and 2016, when a Chinese manufacturing recession, depressed euro-zone manufacturing activity, and a U.S. business investment recession held back markets and growth.