TIE News: Harold Simmons Buys Another 325,800 Shares

Harold Simmons Stock Filing - Reported On Edgar Yesterday

Filing states....The 6-3/4% series A convertible preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share ("Series A Preferred Stock"), of the issuer is convertible into shares of the issuer's common stock at any time at the rate of thirteen and one-third shares of the issuer's common stock for each share of the Series A Preferred Stock. Accordingly, on December 20, 2006, the reporting person converted 24,435 shares of Series A Preferred Stock into 325,800 shares of the issuer's common stock.

Alcoa Still A Huge Takeover Candidate

We would continue to keep accumulating Alcoa shares. One day we will wake up and the stock will trade between $43 - $45. A recent Barron's article points AA shares between $45 - $50! Regardless of any takeover the stock is being upgraded by Wall Street to the $42 level. The option trading today was literally insane...trading 6,000 MAR 32.50 calls, 11,000 MAR 35 calls, and almost 3,000 MAR 37.50 calls. Someone must know more than we do??? Time will tell!
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China's demand for copper remains strong
Robust appetite for metals points to unshaken industrial base, analysts say
Last Update: 6:23 PM ET Feb 28, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- So much for the Shanghai shudders. China is still likely to expand its consumption of copper and aluminum by at least 9% this year, said Citigroup Wednesday, a day after worries about a possible slowdown in the world's largest consumer of the metals triggered a global market rout -- with mining stocks hit particularly hard.
Analyst John Hill forecast Chinese copper demand will increase 9.2% this year, reversing a drop last year when Chinese copper users worked down domestic stockpiles.

Growth will likely speed up again in 2008, increasing 15%, as the country's demand for the conductive metal used in building pipes and wiring continues to expand, Hill predicted.

Likewise, China's aluminum consumption should expand by 15.5% this year, lighter than last year's growth rate, but still putting it firmly ahead of all other global users.
"We remain ardent adherents of the commodity supercycle," Hill wrote in a research report, referring to far-reaching, multi-year trends in the commodities market.
He added: "[we] do not believe that metals are artificially-inflated, supply-threatened, or cyclically 'cooked.'"

Still, he qualified that optimistic outlook by saying commodities are entering "a more mature phase" that places a premium on metals companies that show internal growth.

The Markets Will Soon Be Back On Track

Looks like Greenspan's comments over the weekend have spooked the market following a drop in the Chineese market. Testifying the day after the market's 416-point plunge, Bernanke told the House Budget Committee that the Fed was monitoring market developments but had seen nothing that would cause it to change its positive outlook for the economy.

Discussing market operations, he said, "They seem to be working well, normally."

In what might have been a reference to Greenspan, Bernanke said there did not appear to be just one cause for Tuesday's sell-off.

The possible causes suggested by analysts ranged from a record drop in China's Shanghai index, a surprisingly weak U.S. manufacturing report and weekend comments by Greenspan that raised the possibility of a U.S. recession by year's end.

Alcoa Upgraded Today - BUY

Credit Suisse said it also raised its price targets on aluminum companies Alcoa Inc.

The brokerage, in a research note, raised its price target on Alcoa to $42 from $35.

Block Trade of 462,900 Shares Of Alcoa (NYSE - AA) At The Close

This 462,900 shares of Alcoa - AA was a $16,368,144 trade! Something is definitely in the works!