China tensions?

The president of the U.S. was in Australia to announce the placing of a U.S. Marine contingent on the continent. This is seen as a counterbalance to China in the region. This can't do anything good for China relations in the medium term. China is the type to twist arms when they can. I remember their moves in restricting the export of rare earth minerals last year and what they did to the prices of those commodities, prompting the re-opening of the only U.S. mine for the rare earths, the MolyCorp mine in So. California. I can see China continueing to tighten the grip on the rare earth metals since they are critical in the solar and computer industry. With that in mind I initiated a small long position in MCP. The price of this stock continue to decline, but there doesn't seem to be much urgency in the selling.

The volume in the S&P is not urgent so far today as well. I would expect more panic given the percent declines.....

Control your risk.