"Recent weakness in commodities is just a pause to breathe , not the beginning of the end," says Yiannis Mostrous in Vital Resource Investor. His favorite copper play? Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX).

"Most investors aren't able to grasp this commodities cycle's massive potential. The main reason is that few investors are willing to accept the big transformation that's taking place in several emerging market economies, led by China and India.

"We've been advocating this change for quite some time. And after several years of doing so, investors are more receptive. However, they're not totally convinced yet.

"This is the main reason this bull market in emerging markets and commodities has another strong leg up before it reaches all-time highs. But we're far from that point. Meanwhile, copper remains one of our favorite metals.

"Our long-standing recommendation to take advantage of copper's strength is Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Copper suffered from supply challenges along with investors' underestimation of its potential early in the year.

"There's no doubt about it: vital resources are in a bull market of gigantic proportions," note Yiannis Mostrous and Roger Conrad.

"The co-editors of Vital Resource Investor caution that "no market moves in a straight line, and in commodities, the action is often extremely violent." However, for long-term investors, they offer some favorites in iron ore, aluminum and copper.

"All commodity bull markets are ultimately gored by demand destruction, alternatives and new supply. But it will almost certainly be years before that happens to this one. And that means plenty of money will be made along the way.

"We're still extremely bullish on iron ore as the market remains in deficit and prices continue to rise. Chinese domestic supply has been falling and, if this continues, imports will make up the difference, thereby helping the miners.

"China consumes 51% of the world's iron supply. Portfolio holding Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO), the world's largest iron ore producer, will benefit from the shortage in iron ore supply.

"We favor aluminum in the industrial metals sector. We've been advocating aluminum for some time, and the market's finally going our way. Aluminum prices have been impacted by lack of available power in China and South Africa and higher alumina and bauxite prices.

This article is part of a 20 article special report on "Metals, miners and money".

Dan Sullivan, a specialist in relative strength rankings, maintains a position in Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (NYSE: FCX) in his model portfolio. The editor of The Chartist explains, "The world's largest publicly traded copper company, Freeport-McMoRan operates large, long-lived and geographically diverse assets around the world.

"The company owns significant proven and probably reserves of copper, gold, and molybdenum and has an extensive portfolio of expansion and growth projects.

"The company conducts its operations primarily through its principal operating subsidiaries, PT Freeport Indonesia, Phelps Dodge, and Atlantic Copper. PT Freeport Indonesia's principal asset is the world-class Grasberg mine which was discovered in 1988.

"This mine contains the world's largest single copper reserve and the world's largest single gold reserve. It is also a 25% owner of PT Smelting, which operates a copper smelter and refinery in Gresik, Indonesia.

"Phelps Dodge is a fully integrated producer of copper and molybdenum, with mines and processing facilities in North and South America and Europe. Atlantic Copper operates a copper smelter and refinery in Huelva, Spain.

"The company's second-quarter profit surged year-over-year due to the acquisition of Phelps Dodge and increased metal pricing. Net income rose to $1.10 billion, up from $367 million in the year-ago period. Revenue also surged to $5.81 billion, from $1.43 billion last year."

This article is part of a 20 article special report on "Metals, miners and money".

"The Fed's bailout of the mortgage markets has reignited fears of inflation and of a slow-motion meltdown of the dollar," says Mark Skousen, editor of Forecasts & Strategies.

"That makes now a good time to own mining stocks, particularly Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), which made a very smart move in March when it bought Phelps Dodge for $26 billion. The purchase made Freeport the world's largest publicly-traded copper company.

"It now has a huge, long-lived, geographically diverse portfolio of mining assets. And the acquisition of Phelps is producing tens of millions of dollars in unexpected savings. The buy will result in an immediate 30% spike in Freeport's annual sales.

"With Freeport opening a new copper mine in Arizona ahead of schedule this year -- one that will produce at least 240 million pounds of copper per annum -- and the new company enjoying huge new economies of scale, expect this stock to continue its rapid run."

This article is part of a special 20 article report on "Metals, miners and money".

"It wasn't that long ago -- in late 2003, to be exact -- when we were bumping up against the $400 ceiling in gold; and now we've barreled through $800," says Brien Lundin, editor of The Gold Newsletter, and host and opening speaker at the recent New Orleans Investment Conference.

Although he remains cautious on the near-term outlook -- and indeed, forecasts a correction from current levels -- he suggests, "Perhaps the reasons behind gold's rally don't matter -- and we need only consider the fact that it is rallying."

From a long-term perspective, he suggests, "The very fact that gold is rallying so strongly is telling us something about the geopolitical, economic, and/or investing scene. Does gold know something we don't?"

The gold and resource investing expert suggests, "Perhaps it's telling us that global liquidity is far deeper than we can yet understand. Maybe it's telling us that the worldwide move away from the dollar as a reserve currency is accelerating behind the scenes.

"Perhaps it's indicating that economic growth in Asia will continue, and is capable of thriving without the support of Western consumer demand.... Maybe gold is foreshadowing a geopolitical blow-up.

"Perhaps the metal is whispering that the housing crunch, with peaks in adjustable rate mortgage resets coming at the end of the year, will become worse than anyone yet fears. Or perhaps that there is some still unseen derivative or other economic crisis about to erupt.

If you could buy only one commodity stock, what should it be? Mary Anne and Pamela Aden, long-standing experts in the natural resources sector, think that one stock should be BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP).

The editors of The Aden Forecast explain, "The hot Asian markets are keeping demand strong for commodities. Indeed, the commodity move has been gearing up, one by one. Some markets will be stronger than others at times, but they are all in a major rise with demand being the driving force, which makes this mega move even more powerful."

The advisors continue, "China and Asia in general have been booming for many years now. The slowing economy in the U.S. caused concern that the fiery growth in Asia would cool down. It certainly could with time, but so far there are no signs of this at all."

Meanwhile, they notes, demand for raw materials remains and 2007 may end up seeing China's economy expand at the fastest pace in 12 years. To benefit from this trend, the sisters says, "BHP Billiton has long been one of our favorites because it's the best way to stay invested in the whole raw materials sector."

They notes that Billiton is the world's largest mining organization, stating, "It's a leader in steel making, it's the world's third largest producer of copper and nickel, second largest exporter of coal, fourth largest producer of uranium... and the list goes on." They conclude, "So if you have to buy just one natural resource company, let it be BHP."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.

Resources expert Larry Edelson has just completed a six week tour of Asia; from his final stop in Dubai, he writes, "Gold is being gobbled up like it's going out of style."

The editor of Real Wealth notes, "In my 30 years in the gold market I have never seen the volume of gold trading and the lust for the precious yellow metal like I saw in Dubai." Here's his latest buys in the sector.

He explains, "The major fundamental forces behind high gold prices haven't changed. The U.S. dollar is very weak in the knees and inflation is rampant, despite what the government's numbers say."

He notes that the U.S. dollar continues to lose value against other major currencies. He points to both private and public debt problems as the root cause, along with troubles in the real estate sector and "political infighting" that is maaking foreign investors "think twice" about putting their money in the U.S.

He forecasts that the dollar's decline will continue, which in turn, will push up inflation. He notes, "All you have to do is look at your monthly bills and regular purchases."

To protect against inflation, he believes the best strategy is to invest in gold. And in this sector, he offers two new mining recommendations.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Taseko Mines Ltd. (ASE: TGB) is the favorite speculative play for 2007 from Tom Bishop, editor of BI Research. He notes, "After living hand to mouth for five or six years during lean copper and gold prices, Taseko bought the Gibraltar mine, which it picked up for a song when copper was down in the low $0.60/lb range.

"Today copper is around $3/lb, the mine is back into production and now its cash stash, including proceeds from a $30 million convertible, is steaming towards C$100 million. The company just added about 38% to its mineral reserves, which now stand at 256 million tons (equating to a 15-year mine life) grading 0.32% copper and 0.01% molybdenum.

Note the molybdenum alone adds over $20 million to revenues annually. The company is upgrading and expanding its Gibraltar mill/production facility, and will be moving to a higher grade softer ore part of the ore body in 2007. Therefore, with mill improvements I expect production to increase 20 to 30% this year and generate about $0.65 to $0.70 of cash flow, which is not bad for a company trading at $2.60.