Nick Hodge,
Publisher
May 19, 2026
Commodities are continuing their bull run with records being broken.
Such is the case for copper, which has now doubled since 2022 as it stretches toward US$7.00 per pound.
Maybe it’s the tariffs, with COMEX prices once again separating themselves to the upside with Section 232 reports due out from the Commerce Department next month. Maybe it’s the strong Chinese demand. Maybe it’s the looming sulphuric acid shortages because of closed Straits and protective trade policies, and what that portends for global production, especially out of Chile, which imports more than a million tonnes of acid annually from China with none delivered since March. Maybe it’s the AI and cleantech demand. Maybe it’s the delayed restart of Grasberg. Maybe it’s inflation. Hard to put your finger on it. Ockham would say more demand than supply, and the International Copper Study Group agrees, now reversing their forecast of a 178,000 metric ton copper supply surplus in 2026 to a 150,000 tonne deficit.
Or take lithium, which is emerging from a three-year hibernation alongside Saskatchewan bears that are killing uranium miners. Lithium carbonate prices have now tripled in less than a year, moving from their June 2025 bottom at ~US$8,500 per tonne to above US$29,500 per tonne as my fingers tap away.
Maybe it’s the rising demand for utility-scale energy storage systems. Maybe it’s the export controls being implemented by Zimbabwe. Maybe it’s China’s increasing scrutiny of lepidolite mining permits, particularly in Yichun, Jiangxi province, to enforce compliance with new environmental and resource management regulations that have now seen 27 revoked licenses. Maybe it’s inflation. Maybe it’s more buyers than sellers.
Whatever it is, industrial metals are outperforming their precious counterparts for now, with gold actually down over the past three months as interest rates have risen and silver widening its lead once again as we saw in late 2025 and earlier this year.
Maybe that will reverse later this year as inflation slows growth and investor lust for industrial inputs. Maybe Kevin Warsh is a lapdog who will cut rates despite 4% inflation. Maybe he’s born with that sycophantic nature. Maybe it’s Maybelline.
Maybe you’ll get this Underground Alpha memo from Rick Rule and I in time.
Because the stocks involved here are already moving fast.
Stocks like PMET Resources (TSX: PMET)(OTC: PMETF), which I bought into at just $0.34...
Before the stock soared to nearly $18. That's a 5,135% move…
Rick and I were also early co-investors in Headwater Gold (TSX-V: HWG)((OTC: HWAUF)... and the stock jumped 317% in under 5 months…
I have a shortlist of similar stocks you can access here.
And as Rick says in this briefing, it could be only a matter of time before the next stock on this shortlist goes up 100%, 200%, or even 1,000%.
Given the conditions we’re seeing now, it could literally be any day.
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Publisher, Bizarro World