Copper prices face a curious outlook in 2011.

Despite a record hit in February, the metal has fallen by around 8%, while oil, gold and silver (other speculators' favourites) have hit new all time or recent highs.

A combination of investor hesitation, fears about Chinese economic growth and worries about what high oil prices might do to global growth, seem to be factors behind this variance to the general direction of commodity prices.

Why copper's price movement matters for a lot of investors is because the metal has a gained a reputation of being a forward indicator for the global and especially Chinese economies.

While the world economy is going well,