Goldman in aluminum market manipulation?

Stumbled over this reuters report this morning. It seems to suggest that Goldman is reaping millions on leasing warehouse space to third parties who are stockpiling aluminum in Detroit. Goldman is gaming the London Metals Exchange rules to its advantage. The side effect is choking back supply of aluminum to domestic industrial consumers.

London Metals Exchange Aluminum price per tonne, time period 12 Months to today

This graph straight from the LME website would suggest that there is quite a lot of volatility in aluminium trading. If houses like Goldman are the first order buyers of commodities, could all kinds of futures contract games be played with these assets in storage?

I'm surprised industrial metals are holding up so well in the face of flagging industrial output in Europe, Asia and to a lesser extent America. This big scam may go part way to explaining what is going on with commodities while the world is still limping out of recession, after the GFC.

China's High Speed Rail

Wow did no western, mainstream news outlet catch this one? link. Thirty die in high-speed train derailment, inland China. Terrorism, and a celebrity suicide seem to take precedence. This is a big deal for a country headlong into the future of transport. Hopefully not a setback to the already weak patronage.

I'm an avid watcher of the miracle that is high-speed rail in China. Already the fastest, longest and least utilized fast rail in the world. Chinese authorities are forcing the nationalised banking system, to lend trillions to build thousands of kilometers of track. China's skill in building rail are winning it lucrative contracts in the middle east. China is even considering laying track beyond her borders eastward toward Europe!

The flagship Shanghai to Beijing high speed rail line has just opened to the public. Ridership is expected to be diswaded from the plane or the bus due to a quicker and cheaper service. But the reality is more disappointing for the larger high-speed rail network. Ridership figures which are lower than expected. This is likely because bus services have replaced the old slow rail, as the average Chinese citizen will not pay the premium ticket price to travel at 350kph.

However recent speed decreases have been ordered with safety concerns having been sighted. But in reality a fast train wears both track and wheel much quicker, so most new rail services travel well below 300kph.

China is in very good company. It too, along with most of the western world, has mortgaged itself with a loss-making passenger rail system. The only high-speed rail service in the world, that is economically viable is the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka. This being a 35 million person population density corridor (link economist), from which to draw a near capacity ridership that travel between these points. 

With all the rumors of kick backs, sub-standard construction, and ill conceived routes/destinations. I truly hope the Chinese can benefit from the gleaming stimulus fueled infrastructure. Its a shame our governments can't seem to even consider building infrastructure like this. Instead they stimulate the banking system, with a vague hope that private industry will invest in mega-projects.