As of: 2026-08-22
Each bar shows the individual value of an indicator (0--100). The percentage on the right indicates its weight in the overall score.
Red values signal fear, green values signal greed. The overall score is the weighted average of all indicators.
The chart shows the Fear & Greed Index over time. The colored zones mark the sentiment areas: Red = Fear, Yellow = Neutral, Green = Greed.
Navigation: Select the time period using the buttons (1M to Max). Hover over the chart to see the score on a specific day.
Five indicators produce the daily copper score between 0 and 100, the ratio signal being omitted for want of a meaningful reference. Copper is consumed by industry, so the reading responds to economic releases, to Chinese purchasing managers' surveys and to global stock levels. In effect, it measures confidence in the real economy.
Data sources: daily closing prices, spot prices, EUR/USD exchange rates. Updated daily on trading days. This index is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
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We put our whole heart into keeping preciousmetalprices.com fast, tidy and free — no paywalls, no clutter, just facts and live prices you can trust. If it’s any help to you, the nicest way to say thanks is to pass it along. Every share helps another investor find us and keeps the whole project ticking over. 💛
How the Index Is Calculated
Copper uses five inputs rather than six. No established reference ratio exists for it, so that signal is dropped entirely and the remaining factors are normalised onto the 0--100 scale, with momentum and volatility given the greater share of the weighting.
Calculation Formula
Score = ∑ (Indicatori × Weighti)
Each Indicatori ranges between 0 and 100, and the sum of all weights equals 1.0.
The 6 Indicators and Their Weights
Momentum
25 %Compares the current price with the 50-day moving average (SMA50). If the price is significantly above the average, greed prevails. If below, fear dominates. A distance of more than 10% from the SMA50 indicates an exaggeration.
Volatility
25 %Compares short-term volatility (10 days) with long-term volatility (60 days). A sharp increase in short-term volatility signals nervousness and fear. Stable volatility indicates composure.
Ratio Signal
15 %Analyzes the gold/silver ratio and other metal ratios. A rising ratio (gold gains relative to silver) signals a flight to safety = fear. A falling ratio shows risk appetite = greed.
Acceleration
15 %Measures whether the current price trend is accelerating or decelerating. Increasing upward acceleration signals greed -- more and more buyers are jumping in. A slowdown may indicate a trend reversal.
ATH Distance
10 %Measures the distance to the all-time high. The closer the price is to the ATH, the greedier the sentiment. A distance of over 20% indicates resignation and fear.
USD Strength
10 %Tracks the EUR/USD trend over 20 trading days. A weakening dollar is positive for precious metals (greed). A strengthening dollar depresses prices (fear).
Note: For copper, the ratio signal is omitted (weight 0%) since no meaningful reference ratio exists. The remaining indicators are weighted more heavily accordingly.
What the Values Mean
Copper's bands correspond closely to the global economic cycle. Extreme fear has historically preceded recessions, and extreme greed has accompanied investment booms and periods of vigorous Chinese demand.
Extreme Fear
When copper breaks down, the market is forecasting recession. Chinese demand is called into question, warehouse stocks accumulate, and nobody wishes to hold inventory into a contraction. "Dr. Copper" delivering a diagnosis of this kind is worth taking seriously.
Fear
Weak purchasing managers' surveys, rising inventories or a firm dollar hold the price down. Investors whose case rests on grid investment and electrification tend to regard this band as their opportunity to accumulate.
Neutral
Ordinary conditions: supply meets demand, and the economic data contain nothing remarkable. The market waits for an impulse -- Chinese stimulus, a mine disruption, an infrastructure programme -- to tell it what to do next.
Greed
Robust industrial production, an electric vehicle boom or a Chinese stimulus package lifts demand, and the story of copper as the indispensable metal of the energy transition magnifies whatever the fundamentals are doing.
Extreme Greed
Forecasts of structural shortage arising from electrification dominate the commentary, and speculative positioning on the futures exchanges reaches record levels. Phases like this can last far longer than seems reasonable. They cannot last indefinitely.
Historical Patterns
The copper index amounts to a running confidence survey for global industry. "Dr. Copper" has a long record of identifying upturns and downturns ahead of the official statistics:
When Copper Called a Downturn
Over the summer of 2022 copper fell from $10,700 to below $7,000 a tonne, the sharpest decline since the 2008 banking crisis. China's zero-Covid policy, rising interest rates and widespread recession fear pushed in the same direction, and the index registered below 10. The recovery began only when Beijing started to lift its restrictions.
Electrification and the Supercycle
Copper passed $11,000 a tonne in early 2024, lifted by electric vehicle demand, solar installation and infrastructure programmes across several continents. The index entered extreme greed and the "green supercycle" narrative attracted speculative money onto the futures exchanges. Interim corrections came and went without the underlying optimism giving way.
Copper as Economic Barometer
Copper and gold routinely diverge, and for straightforward reasons: crisis lifts one and depresses the other. The configuration worth watching is copper turning up ahead of gold, which has served as a reasonable indication of economic recovery -- and its reverse, copper weakening as gold strengthens, which has warned of contraction.
Conclusion: Copper listens to factories rather than to central banks. Its index functions less as a timing tool for investors than as an early warning system for the economy.
Contrarian Investing
Copper offers the contrarian something the precious metals cannot: a reading anchored to an identifiable cycle. Extreme fear in copper has generally coincided with a cyclical trough rather than a permanent decline in the metal's usefulness.
Buy When There Is Fear
Copper beneath 20 has aligned with global recession troughs with notable regularity. Buyers at the extremes of autumn 2008, March 2020 and summer 2022 saw gains of 40 to 80 % over the subsequent twelve months. The difficulty is timing: a recession can carry copper lower for some time before the turn arrives.
Be Cautious When There Is Greed
Copper above 80 usually comes with an infrastructure story attached: Chinese stimulus, an electric vehicle boom, a global investment programme. The thing to monitor is the futures market, where speculative length routinely runs well ahead of physical trade. That gap is the warning signal.
Conclusion: Copper rewards contrarians who keep an eye on the business cycle. As a timing instrument it suits long-horizon reallocation considerably better than short-term trading.
Limitations & Pitfalls
Copper is an industrial commodity with no real investment constituency, and that shapes what its index can tell you:
- ◆ No ratio signal exists — Copper has no counterpart to the gold-silver ratio, so that indicator is omitted and the remaining five carry proportionally more weight. The signal therefore rests on a narrower base than the precious metals versions.
- ◆ Chinese dominance — Better than half of world consumption takes place in China. A single announcement concerning stimulus or property regulation can move the price 5 to 10 %, and the index only registers it the following day.
- ◆ Inventory cycles — Stock levels at the LME and SHFE exert considerable influence on the price. Strategic accumulation or release of inventory distorts both price and reading without any change in actual consumption.
- ◆ A story about demand still to come — Future demand from electric vehicles, solar installations and grid investment is frequently priced in long before it materialises. The index cannot separate demand that exists from demand that is merely anticipated.
Conclusion: Regard the copper index principally as an economic indicator. For investment purposes it belongs alongside PMI figures, industrial production data and LME stock levels rather than standing on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Fear & Greed Index
How often is the copper score recalculated?
Daily, from spot prices. Copper has no fix, so the London Metal Exchange closing price serves as the reference instead. Weekends and holidays retain the previous trading day's value.
What happened to the ratio component in copper?
The ratio component sets one metal against another, as gold-silver or gold-platinum do. Copper has no established counterpart producing meaningful sentiment information, so the indicator is dropped and the remaining five are weighted more heavily -- momentum and volatility at 30 % each.
Does the copper score work as an economic signal?
That is arguably its principal use. "Dr. Copper" holds one of the better records among early economic warning signals: a reading dropping into extreme fear has frequently preceded a downturn, and a reading turning up before the official statistics has frequently preceded a recovery.
What weight does Chinese demand carry in the score?
Enormously, since China accounts for more than half of world consumption. Chinese PMI data, property market conditions and infrastructure spending all pass straight through to the price. One stimulus announcement out of Beijing is enough to shift the reading by 10 to 15 points.
Can the copper score inform share portfolio decisions?
Indirectly. Copper sentiment tracks global industrial conditions closely, so extreme fear in copper generally amounts to a warning about industrial equities as well. Some investors run it beside conventional risk gauges such as the VIX as a second opinion.
How does the energy transition show up in the score?
Over the long run, electric vehicles, solar installations and grid renewal all point demand upwards. Over the short run, the "green copper" narrative also produces speculative excess capable of carrying the index into extreme greed whilst actual consumption lags well behind.