The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Not everyone is convinced that commodity prices will flatline or continue dropping; from today’s WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577419880216993306.html

The mood for the moment among some leading players is still bullish. Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore International's chief executive, said this month that while he expects Chinese economic growth to slow, supply will still struggle to keep pace with demand growth. "We are going to struggle to feed China," he declared.

A biased view, of course, but not necessarily an incorrect one.

…BHP and Rio [despite plans to reduce cap-ex to some degree (#msg-75631369)] are still likely to approve about $50 billion worth of projects in the next nine months, Credit Suisse said. "While stock prices may not react positively when these projects are announced, we would see any resultant share price weakness as an opportunity" to buy Rio Tinto and BHP, Credit Suisse analysts wrote in research note.

Disclosure: I have a position in BHP, but not RIO.