Right now the only instrument that directly tracks the price of copper is the futures based iPath DJ-UBS Copper ETN – JJC. This contract has good liquidity trading about the same daily volume as COPX.   JJC seeks to replicate the performance of the Dow Jones-UBS Copper Total Return Sub-Index minus fees and expenses.  This is accomplished by investing in copper futures on an non-leveraged basis using short term treasury securities as collateral.


The annual expense ratio for JJC is .75% (75 basis points) and the ETN has been trading since October 23, 2007 so it has been through a series of volatile ups and downs in it’s short existence.

As you can see from the weekly chart below it followed the same volatile path as physical copper through the boom, bust and rebirth of copper prices the past 3 years.

Weekly Chart Since Inception Of JJC Copper ETN
Comparing JJC to the leading copper stock ETF COPX you can see that since COPX started trading it underperformed while copper was weak but outperformed during the fall rally.  This is typically how the relationship should work as copper stocks earnings are more heavily leveraged to the price of copper.

COPX Copper Stock ETF - JJC Copper ETN Comparison

Both charts are through 1/18/2011