Late last week, I posted a handful of some of the better posts from MetalMiner. If you have not already checked it out, Metal Miner is a new, Spend Matters Affiliate Blog with extensive insights for those in the global metals trading and sourcing communities. MetalMiner is co-edited by metals sourcing experts Lisa Reisman (my wife) and Stuart Burns (my London source for contraband cigars) of Aptium Global, Inc. Without further adieu, let's take a quick look at a few more of the best posts from Metal Miner thus far.

6. The Environment, The World's Cheapest Car and the Price of Copper. This piece offers a multi-faceted look at several different avenues in the metals industry.

7. Buy 'Em, Hold 'Em, Sell 'Em, Hedge 'Em. Both Lisa and Stuart share opinions on different sourcing strategies used in various markets.

8. Playing the (Price Arbitrage) Game. Can the price arbitrage game work for buyers and sellers of all sizes? Yes, it can, this article says.

9. How Green Is My Supply Chain? Stuart Burns offers an insightful discussion and advice on the topic of carbon foot printing and the importance of "green". In fact, there is also a second part to this article. In addition, Amy Edwards recently added another green piece to MetalMiner's repertoire, with a post on green innovations in the metals industry.

10. Finally, I would like to share a post on the latest feature of MetalMiner: MetalMiner Launches Free Saving Tool. The new tool, MetalSaver, is a clever little self-assessment tool designed to help companies identify metals savings opportunities and to benchmark how their metals sourcing strategies stack up.

Check MetalMiner each weekday for updates every morning.

- Jason Busch

Last December, I introduced Spend matters readers to Metal Miner, a blog that offers sourcing and trading intelligence for the global metals markets -- and, most recently, a free self-scoring tool called Metal Saver for those folks in manufacturing looking for creative ideas to help reduce their metals spend.

Although MetalMiner is new to the blogosphere, the site has already offered a wealth of information to its readers. If you take the time to explore the site, you'll find more than a few golden nuggets. But to save you time, I thought that I should offer up a list of some of MetalMiner's best posts. Or at least those that I would humbly suggest deserve a few minutes of your attention (as much as the better posts on this blog do). In full disclosure, my wife, Lisa Reisman, is one of the two founders behind Metal Miner. But at least this insures some level of quality, considering that I could not sleep next to someone who penned the RSS equivalent of plonk.

Enough! Here's the first five (stay tuned for five more next week):

1. Our Metals Predictions for 2008. Stuart Burns and Lisa Reisman, co-editors of the blog, take advantage of their years of experience in the metals industry to analyze and understand metals trends and possible future developments. Over time, MetalMiner has also taken individualized looks at steel, copper, aluminum, iron-ore, and cobalt.

2. Power Shortages Affect Gold, Platinum and Aluminum. A breaking-news piece, MetalMiner was quick to report the supplier disruption that could be "alive and well" in 2008.

3. The China Price: Up, Up and Away ... Both Part One and Part Two of this piece are worth a read. The articles focus on interests in China that do -- and will continue to -- matter.

4. No Luxury Ride for Rolls-Royce. MetalMiner looks at some of the many reasons Rolls-Royce cited for recent lay-offs. In particular, the effect of raw material prices is analyzed.

5. Hot Metals: The New Crime. With an uncertain economy and lay-offs (see article above), metals theft is becoming infamous as a "hot" crime. Lisa Reisman discusses the theft of metals in this interesting piece.

Stay tuned for more of Metal Miner's "best" posts!

- Jason Busch

What Will 2008 Bring in the Metals Markets? Earlier today, Lisa Reisman and Stuart Burns penned a thoughtful and lengthy post over on Metal Miner offering up their predictions for the metals markets in 2008. Among the metals categories they take their crystal ball to, the two examine where steel, stainless, nickel, aluminum, copper and zinc prices might be headed to on a global basis. In the same article, they also tackle the impact of a falling dollar and rising oil prices on global metals sourcing. What are some the assumptions driving the forecasts they present in their post? According to the metals blogging dynamic duo, “In the face of a slowing US economy, a mixed position for the European economies and a still strong Asian market, it is a particularly tough call this year to judge where prices will go. Our call is the US will teeter on recession. Europe though restricted by high ECB interest rates will still enjoy some (if reduced) growth providing the Euro/US Dollar exchange rate does not strangle exports. Asia in general and China in particular are still enjoying robust growth. China may well drop from the double digit growth of the last 5 years to high single digit figures but that is still a very significant driver for the world economy and particularly the world metal markets.”

Reading Stuart and Lisa reminds me about how much domain knowledge really counts in analyzing and covering specific commodities markets. Call me biased -- yes, I am married to one of the authors -- but relative to the price alerts and regurgitated crap that only mildly passes for journalism that the trades put out on metals, there's no substitute for the type of coverage that only true industry experience can bring to the table. Seriously, do we really want to know that the sky is falling and copper is up today, or do we care about why and where it might go tomorrow -- and what to do about it from a sourcing and trading perspective?

- Jason Busch

It's always nice to have an outside opinion, and the following posts from guest bloggers are considered some of the "best" Spend Matters posts of 2007. Thanks to all of our guest bloggers this year. I hope to include more from each of you!

China, Paris Hilton, and Tales from Tony Poshek

Further LCCS and CPO Insights from Philippe Courrègelongue

Brian Sommer Discusses Win-Win Sourcing -- And Booty Calls?

Eric Hiller Asks What's the Language of Your Business

Comments on Copper from MetalMiner's Stuart Burns

Lisa Reisman and the Recipe for Your Middle Market Sourcing "A" Team

- Jason Busch

Instead of looking ahead to the future of Spend Management, this seems like a good time to look behind to the best posts of 2007. The list continues with the best Spend Matters posts from August through December. China played a key role in posts from these months, as tension over toy recall continued to develop and I traveled to the country and shared my own thoughts with Spend Matters readers.

China Investing in Inland Infrastructure

LIVE from China: First Dispatch

LIVE from China: Second Dispatch

LIVE from China: Third Dispatch

LIVE from China: Fourth Dispatch

LIVE from China: Fifth Dispatch

LIVE from China: Sixth Dispatch

Interview Approaches to Consider

Africa is Not the New Asia When it Comes to Global Sourcing

Preparing for an Economic Slowdown (Part One)

Preparing for an Economic Slowdown (Part Two)

Preparing for an Economic Slowdown (Part Three)

Preparing for an Economic Slowdown (Part Four)

- Jason Busch

It's been a busy year for Spend Matters. In part two of our four-part "Best Of 2007" series, we'll look at the best posts from April through July this year. April showers bring May flowers, but what do May flowers bring? More insight into Spend Management, of course!

Pierre Mitchell's Chicago Fly-By (Part One)

Pierre Mitchell's Chicago Fly-By (Part Two)

A Look at Good Marketing Spending

Creating Supply Risk -- For Your Competitors

Not Loco for Research and Banking Walls

Don't Fall for Just Any Old Dashboard

Procurement Outsourcing Staying in the Headlines

Developing and Positioning Yourself for Career Growth

- Jason Busch

As we approach the new year, it's time to remember some of the best posts of 2007. This week, we'll cover the best posts from January through March, April through July, August through December, and then take a look at some of the best guest posts of 2007. With no further ado ...

Best posts from January through March:

Making Sense of the Spend Management Technology Landscape

A Quick Look at the Chinese Environment

Hey Congressional Big Spenders

Why 80 Isn't Enough

Is Aberdeen Relevant Anymore?

The Post That Generated 175 Comments

Reaching the Middle Market via Blogs

Selling the Value of Procurement to the Business

Spend Management Adoption: Where Are Middle Market Companies?

China Sourcing -- In the Logistical Trenches

Fair Trade: Say What?

- Jason Busch

I admit that I derive a bit of satisfaction looking at some of my earlier efforts on Spend Matters. In retrospect, some were actually worth the virtual paper they were written on. Below is a link to two posts that list a number of entries that I believe are worth keeping:

The first post links to the following Spend Matters entries: Barney, The Big Five, and LCCS, The US Auto Industry: Why to Invest in Supply Risk Management, Viva La Exchange, India: Slums and Sourcing, "I Pay China Price", and China Maglev Metaphors..

The second post links to these posts: A Rural Chinese Plant Tour, A Spend Management Fireside Chat (Parts 1 and 2) Tips for the Spend Management Lifestyle, LCCS is Alive and Well in the Middle Market, Start Buying the Canned Goods and Bottled Water? and From the Trenches: A Middle Markets Perspective.

Enjoy! Eventually, I'll get around to updating the "best of list" to include some of Spend Matters more recent entries as well.

- Jason Busch

Given the fast pace of the blogosphere, it can be easy to forget the better posts of the past. That's because individual blog entries can get buried nearly as fast as they crop up. But as a tribute to the early days on Spend Matters and some of the more useful -- and fun -- insights from yesteryear, I'd suggest you check out some of the earlier posts. Below are two links to use as a jumping off point.

The first post links to the following Spend Matters entries: Spend Management Family Values, What is the Spend Manager Made Of, Are Spend Management and Supply Chain Becoming One, Spend Management Lessons George Will Take to Siebel, Booz Misses the Boat, and A little Fun ... Spend Management Tips for Wine Collecting.

The second post links to these posts: The Dollar, Euro and Yuan: A Spend Management Perspective, SAP, Ariba and Applistructure, When a Supplier is Really a Partner, Spend Management: The Future of M&A?, An Essay: Is Spend Management Strategic, and Spend Management: Technology or Strategy.

Later this week, I'll post a link to some additional older posts worth revisting as well. Enjoy!

- Jason Busch

I admit that I derive a bit of satisfaction looking at some of my earlier efforts on Spend Matters. In retrospect, some were actually worth the virtual paper they were written on. Below is a link to two posts that list a number of entries that I believe are worth keeping:

The first post links to the following Spend Matters entries: Barney, The Big Five, and LCCS, The US Auto Industry: Why to Invest in Supply Risk Management, Viva La Exchange, India: Slums and Sourcing, "I Pay China Price", and China Maglev Metaphors..

The second post links to these posts: A Rural Chinese Plant Tour, A Spend Management Fireside Chat (Parts 1 and 2) Tips for the Spend Management Lifestyle, LCCS is Alive and Well in the Middle Market, Start Buying the Canned Goods and Bottled Water? and From the Trenches: A Middle Markets Perspective.

Enjoy! Eventually, I'll get around to updating the "best of list" to include some of Spend Matters more recent entries as well.

- Jason Busch