Greetings with question at the end

Hello to all,
I have been lurking and enjoying the forum wit and wisdom for several weeks now learning and soaking in the knowledge as I get my feet wet in the scraping world. I got started thanks to my sons who have collected cans for years. Well I had a bunch of scrap chain link fence left over from fencing my yard so I decided to take and and the boys with their cans directly to the yard instead of the trailer down the road. The boys were bugged eyed and impressed seeing all the scrappers turning in their weeks work and walking away with cash. It quickly turned into a summer job for the boys and a lot of fun as we have spent all of our spare time this summer collecting, breaking down, and sorting scrap metal. For the summer we have collected roughly a 700lbs of cast iron, 1,500lbs of steel. (still don't think I know the diff between stainless and steel, so just calling it all steel for now) 90lbs of #1 and #2 copper, 45lbs of brass, and 35lbs of cast and sheet Aluminum. Thanks for all the insight.

OK now I have a question: I just called around to several of the local yards to compare prices as we plan to turn it all in tomorrow. According the the first yard steal and Iron seams to be holding OK but the price of #1 copper has drop from over $4lb to $3.39lb in the last week. I'm wondering if I should wait to turn my copper in.
I'm sure it is like timing the stock market but any and all thoughts are welcome.

In case your eyes aren't crossed from reading mrdew's tome (we're used to it...and love it...always learn a lot when he gets on that soap box of his. And it's too early for beer....somewhere)...anyway, I wanted to welcome you and your sons to the forum. It sounded to me like it was just a summer project and at some point the "light bulb" went on. I hope it was a good "bonding thing" and now I hope it will be a very profitable thing ! Best of luck at the yard.

ps. there are different grades of stainless, but the best doesn't stick to your magnet and you can differentiate from metal by putting your grinder on it and if it sparks it's s/s. Someone else will advise you about the diff. grades I'm sure.

one more tip...On 7/8/11 my price for #2 copper was $3.71 and on 7/22 it was $3.62...then on 8/4 it was back to $3.71...you never know and so I don't call...I just go...when I have a bucket full.

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And it's too early for beer....somewhere)

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It's after 5pm somewhere in the world,,LOL
and copper did take a big hit on the London exchange when the stock market took a hit. I'm going to wait a week or two for it to regain it's strength.

Thanks for the perspective Kris Kringle. The pile has differently gotten too big and cumbersome so a more frequent schedule of turn in would also make the wife and neighbors happy as the Sanford and sons reference has been dropped several times already.

Dee, You are correct. It started off as a nice way for the boys to learn about working for a living and doing more with the Summer than video games and has quickly turned into a nice bonding time that might help make ends meet in these hard times. We are all hooked and I hope to turn it into a profitable side job for now, but I have already had visions of how nice it would be to ditch to full time 7-4 job and work for myself. Thanks

I agree it doesn't make sense to sit on it and try to time the market but I was wondering if this steep drop was unusual because of current debt limit/downgrade of US credit rating thing and it would rebound.

Like the article says, think about what you're doing - recycling or investing. Regardless, use this economic downturn to your advantage. Buy scrap at less than you would have offered a couple days ago. Even if you keep turning the stuff over, eventually you'll buy low and sell higher than you expected. That'll even out the lesser profit percentage you're getting with this load. You might even do what I do - keep turning over some (ie: I turn over the iron) and invest some (I hold back on Copper and Brass). That way, I'll hit with one or both. But - you can't be depending on the investment part for anything (be willing to lose on the investment - like I did trying to invest some aluminum. I'm finally, after two years of holding, just taking whatever I can get for it.)

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Originally Posted by fwoolston

I agree it doesn't make sense to sit on it and try to time the market but I was wondering if this steep drop was unusual because of current debt limit/downgrade of US credit rating thing and it would rebound.

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Partly, but there is MUCH more to it. It could take a long time to come back around.

We couldn't be that lucky,,