Freeport McMoran Copper (FCX) is a miner of copper, gold and molybdenum. It has operations in North and South America, Indonesia and Africa, and competes with other miners such as the Southern Copper (SCCO), Codelco and Newmont Mining (NEM).

Over the years there have been some strange goings on in the commodity markets. One episode that comes to mind is the attempt by the Hunt brothers of Texas to corner the silver market in the 1970s.

Now we have another strange occurrence. The Financial Times reported that one trader holds 80% to 90% of the copper in the London Metals Exchange (LME) warehouses, valued at about $3 billion. We do know that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is a big player in the copper market. Whether JPMorgan increased its holdings is not known.

First off we should distinguish between precious metals and base metals. Copper and zinc fall in the category of base metals. Base metals are used in construction and products. So copper and zinc are more a supply-and-demand play than precious metals. The prices of base metals move almost in lock-step to basic supply.

Goldman Sachs Group (GS) has an international division that specializes in commodities. Much of the data comes from London, which is a hub for commodities trading. The London Metals Exchange (LME) is where this trading takes place. Traders like Goldman can monitor trading and inventories at the LME and run estimates of supply and demand based on trading activity, both on and off exchanges.

Here's an interesting dynamic. Copper prices in Shanghai were higher than those on the LME. This allows traders to import copper at a profit. This helps to explain why there was such strong buying on the LME.

Copper was able to ignore the settlement of a strike at a Chilean copper mine.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM) is a Canada-based gold producer with mining operations located in northwestern Quebec, mine construction projects in northwestern Quebec and northern Finland, and exploration and development activities in Canada, Finland, northern Mexico and the western United States.

Analysts like the fact that Agnico produces about 270,000 ounces of gold annually, and has about five million ounces of gold in proved and provable reserves.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Credit Suisse initiated coverage of the U.S. media sector with a Market Weight rating, shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) with an Outperform rating and shares of Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) and Viacom Inc (NYSE: VIA.B) with Neutral ratings.
  
• Bernstein initiated coverage of the oil services sector with a Positive Bias rating. The firm initiated Weatherford International Ltd (NYSE: WFT) with an Outperform rating and $84 target and Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) with Market Perform ratings and a $44 target, $103 target and $96 target, respectively.
  
• MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ: MELI) was initiated by American Technology with a Buy rating and $45 target, as the firm believes the e-commerce growth opportunity in Latin America is still in its infancy. Shares were also started at Pacific Crest with an Outperform rating and $37 target, as the firm believes the company should benefit from strong secular growth and company-specific drivers. MercadoLibre was also initiated at JP Morgan with an Overweight rating and at Merrill Lynch with a Buy rating and $35 target.
  
• Friedman Billings expects Horsehead Holding Corp's (NASDAQ: ZINC) EBITDA to increase even in a declining commodity environment and believes the company is well positioned to gain market share. Shares were started with an Outperform rating and $27 target also added to the firm's Top Pick List.

• Citigroup started shares of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO) with a Buy rating and shares of StealthGas Inc (NASDAQ: GASS) with a Hold rating and $20 target.
  
• Roth Capital started shares of Internap Network Services Corporation (NASDAQ: INAP) with a Buy rating and $19 target.
  
• Raymond James initiated Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) with an Outperform rating and Argo Group Internaional Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: AGII) with a Strong Buy rating.

Pan American Silver Corporation (NASDAQ: PAAS) demonstrates some of the problems with precious metals mining company stocks. No matter the location of operations, all precious metals mining companies are governed by the same set of rules that affect profitability: mining-operations costs, including production costs which can vary widely from mine to mine; grade quality of ore mined, including how much usable by-product is also produced; economy of scale, although sometimes in mining bigger is not of necessity better; and prices of precious metals on the worldwide spot market. A recent PAAS quarterly earnings release illustrates these factors and the damage they can inflict even on well-run mining operations.

The good news for PAAS 1Q 2007 net income is that there was, in fact, income during the quarter: $20.4 million or $0.27 per share compared to a 1Q 2006 loss of $2.8 million or $0.04 loss per share. $10.25 million or $0.13 per share of net income was derived from the decision to sell a portion of mining operations in Russia. 1Q 2007 sales increased 5% to just over $48 million. FY 2007 total production is forecast to increase 31% to 17 million ounces.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• DA Davidson raised Intel Corp's (NASDAQ: INTC) rating to Buy from Neutral based on market share gains and unexpected PC growth.

• American Technology upgraded Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) to Buy from Neutral as the firm expects shares to trade higher near-term with data not likely to get worse over the next six months. The firm suspects AMD could win a notebook platform at Toshiba Corp (TOSBF) and expects further offerings at Dell Inc (DELL).

• Banc of America upgraded shares of Post Properties Inc (NYSE: PPS) to Neutral from Sell and raised their target to $53 from $42 after REIT Wrap, a real estate industry newsletter, reported the company may have already received several unsolicited bids.

• Stanford upgraded Analogic Corp (NASDAQ: ALOG) to Buy from Hold based on improving fundamentals in the security and medical businesses.

• Goldman upgraded the base metals sector to Attractive from Neutral as the firm believes above-consensus metal prices for 2008-2009 are sustainable. The firm favors copper fundamentals over nickel, zinc and aluminum and views Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX) as its top pick.

• Lehman upgraded Alon USA Energy, Inc (NYSE: ALJ) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

• Bear Stearns upgraded Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd (NASDAQ: SNDA) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• Wesco International, Inc (NYSE: WCC) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.

• BMO Capital raised ResMed Inc (NYSE: RMD) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

Who ever heard of a backup generator being run indoors? All that diesel exhaust would be sure to suffocate someone, wouldn't it? You bet it would! Place a diesel fired backup generator in the basement of any hospital and you could be in for some serious respiratory troubles, not to mention the fact that the local Fire Marshall would probably have something to say about it . A recent report by Green Progress adds a whole new angle to this scenario.

Enter the next generation of backup power systems. Power Air Corporation (OTC:PWAC) has developed and holds many exclusive rights to Zinc Air indoor power generating systems. Revealed for the first time beyond the confines of nondisclosure agreements, a Zinc Air Fuel Cell (ZAFC) prototype generator was run indoors at Fuel Cell Expo 2007 in Tokyo, Japan, as a center stage demonstration and testament to the viability of the technology. A joint venture by Power Air Corp. and it's current Asian Joint Venture partner, H-Plus Eco Ltd, has brought Zinc Air Fuel Cell technology to the point where further investment and involvement is being solicited from additional prospective Asian venture capitalists and manufacturers.

Mr. Remy Kozak, President and CEO of Power Air states: "ZAFC based generators have the potential to revolutionize the back-up power industry " At present, ZAFC technology is mainly being considered as a constructive adjunct to current electrical generation systems. Although unable to determine a comparison of actual operating costs, I gained by inference that those costs shall, for the time being, restrict ZAFC technology to mainly backup status. Not to worry though, as you know new technologies have always languished in the background for a time before genuinely taking hold. However, given the ever tightening EPA air quality standards, ZAFC generators have the potential to move ahead somewhat faster than the average development curve.

It pleases me greatly to know that yet another potentially hydro carbon-free option has emerged. This could be just one more chink in big oil's armor. The gap is closing between those who have their thinking caps on and those who are just sitting on their big fat ... wallets. I'd put my money with the thinking cap gang any day. Those fat wallet folks stand a mighty good chance of seeing those wallets thinned a bit or else just falling off of them .