What about Aluminum?

Icollecteverything

I know it's not precious but............it used to be rare not too many years ago. You may have heard the Ford is switching it's F-150 truck to aluminum from steel. It will save a lot on weight and therefore much better gas mileage. And no rust!

By itself that may not be a big deal for aluminum but if it's a success than other truck manufacturers will follow, then maybe all cars and anything else that can be improved with less weight.

I'm not going to start hoarding chunks of aluminum but I am going to buy some Alcoa.

Ahrensdad

I heard the same thing and wondered the same thing. The article I read said that gov't fuel efficiency requirements are going to push change in this direction. Any one have aluminium round/bars for sale?

roadrunner

<< <i>I know it's not precious but............it used to be rare not too many years ago. You may have heard the Ford is switching it's F-150 truck to aluminum from steel. It will save a lot on weight and therefore much better gas mileage. And no rust!

By itself that may not be a big deal for aluminum but if it's a success than other truck manufacturers will follow, then maybe all cars and anything else that can be improved with less weight.

I'm not going to start hoarding chunks of aluminum but I am going to buy some Alcoa. >>




Aluminum was never rare. It's the 3rd most abundant element in the earth's crust after oxygen and silicon. It's the most abundant metal in the crust (8% by weight of the earth's solid surface). What was rare up to the mid-19th century was a workable process to separate out the elemental aluminum from the numerous other elements it was combined with (bauxite being the chief ore). Once that was perfected, aluminum started becoming much more abundant and available to industry.

Overdate

Be careful when investing in aluminum, it's very easy to be foiled.

cohodk

Should we start to hoard aluminum coins?

Icollecteverything

<< <i>Should we start to hoard aluminum coins? >>



Not me, I never was much of a fan for aluminum coins. I do have some interesting ones from occupied countries during WWII.

I'm mostly thinking LONG term, got some Alcoa for the wife's IRA. The world economy seems to be picking up and I think a lot of things will be built with aluminum.

bronco2078

I pull apart a lot of Ford trucks to feed my ebay business .

In trucks from the 70's you find very little aluminum maybe 20 pounds in a whole truck excluding the auto transmission case if it has one. That runs about 40 pounds

Around 1985 with the rise of fuel injection you start to see intakes and complex accessory brackets made of cast aluminum maybe 75 or 80 pounds . By this time Manual transmissions are now aluminum also as well as the transfer case. Later on the transfer cases were made out of magnesium . ( A fact I discovered first hand one day with a cutting torch )

By 1998 you get cylinder heads added to the mix and some stuff under the dash gets you up near 200 . The big overdrive transmission cases can add another 60 or 70 pounds.

If Ford tries to make body panels out of aluminum that would be a huge increase in cost for very little mileage improvement. You could get that mileage bump just by getting rid of ethanol in gasoline . Ethanol has been the worst thing to happen to fuel mileage in our lifetimes.

derryb

<< <i>Ethanol has been the worst thing to happen to fuel mileage in our lifetimes. >>


It's also had a bad affect on corn and beef prices.

roadrunner

Auto mechanics don't mind the ethanol as increasing concentrations have caused fuel system and engine failures. Steady work for them and more car sales for dealerships.

There are studies showing an increase in smog with ethanol fuels.

jmski52

Aluminum doesn't rust, but lemme tell you one thing - HCL eats it up fast. Probably the other strong acids do as well.

Icollecteverything

I read that this will take as much as 700 pounds of a 5,000 pound truck which is pretty significant. Should help out mileage pretty good and it's even good for tires, shocks and the roads themselves. Then multiply that by millions of trucks and millions of miles.

Gambinotdx

<< <i>I read that this will take as much as 700 pounds of a 5,000 pound truck which is pretty significant. Should help out mileage pretty good and it's even good for tires, shocks and the roads themselves. Then multiply that by millions of trucks and millions of miles. >>



you are absolutely correct. It will make a big difference. believe me, I wish I could make my Lightning 700 lbs lighter! what a difference that would make!

tneig

I actually have a buffalo aluminum bar, but I wouldn't collect them for investment.

Recycling aluminum for money may be worth it. But investing in stocks could be interesting.
At this time, aluminum is widely used and lots of it already produced and recycled. I had a subaru with an aluminum hood 5 years ago, and aluminum engines
have been made for decades, so not sure this would create a new leap in usage or price. Likely an ok stock though, but could also go down if the economy
goes down when the interest rates jump. Use stops and sell points.

I remember just a year ago, people were saying how much silver is used in industry and for coins and bullion and that it just had to go up in value...

element159

<< <i>Aluminum doesn't rust, but lemme tell you one thing - HCL eats it up fast. Probably the other strong acids do as well. >>


And strong bases eat it up even faster!

Aluminum is actually a very reactive metal. But it gets coated with a thin layer of oxide, which is what rubies and sapphires are made up, very hard and tough stuff. So it behaves most of the time

I like collecting aluminum coins, I like collecting all the metals, the precious ones are just a few of many more metals to me! But I don't see how to invest in physical/bullion. When you recycle aluminum, it is really electricity you are saving, as it takes a huge amount of electricity to separate it from the ore.

Icollecteverything

Usually when I buy a stock it goes down the next day. But Alcoa went up over 4% today and hit a new 12 month high.

rawteam1

<< <i>Should we start to hoard aluminum coins? >>


Nah, Billy Beer...

kevinstang

<< <i>Usually when I buy a stock it goes down the next day. But Alcoa went up over 4% today and hit a new 12 month high. >>



Alcoa announced the other day that are closing their Massena NY east plant (located down the road from me- they employ around 400+ workers at that plant and I believe another 600 at their West plant down the road), this after last year reaching a new deal for a cheap power contract thru the NY State Power Authority that guaranteed them keeping that plant going and workers employed. NY State isn't happy with them now either.

Icollecteverything

<< <i>

<< <i>Usually when I buy a stock it goes down the next day. But Alcoa went up over 4% today and hit a new 12 month high. >>



Alcoa announced the other day that are closing their Massena NY east plant (located down the road from me- they employ around 400+ workers at that plant and I believe another 600 at their West plant down the road), this after last year reaching a new deal for a cheap power contract thru the NY State Power Authority that guaranteed them keeping that plant going and workers employed. NY State isn't happy with them now either. >>



I really hate when states make these unfair deals. I am sure there is a lot of money under the table for the politicians and they usually end up like this one in the end anyway. They actually brag about these deals where they bring in a new company to the state but they don't have to pay taxes for ten years or some other perks.

I should buy a Lotto ticket today because AA is up another 3.5% now.

LogPotato

<< <i>Be careful when investing in aluminum, it's very easy to be foiled. >>



I don't know why, but that had me cracking up!

johnny9434

i dont think it would hurt to put some cash into aluminum stocks for the short term ( just wondering is all )