Government money without strings attached always sounds too good to be true but it could be the next Australian mining company share price driver, just as the big picture of the global economy darkens.

Priced to perfection or poised for a correction? That’s the question which investors should be considering as a mini-boom in commodities powers on against a background of international storm clouds.

Discovery and development news, which has been largely drowned out by the Ukraine war, made a welcome return this week on multiple fronts with a pair of oil and gas strikes joined by positive moves in gold, iron ore and titanium minerals.

“Blink and you’ll miss it” is an old quip about fast moving events which has rarely been more true than today with war, inflation, and commodity market turmoil joined this week by the first step up in U.S. interest rates just as Russia stumbled towards a sovereign debt default.

The great nickel squeeze, which is said to have cost a Chinese billionaire $US5 billion, was a lot more than a flawed punt. It was a perfect example of the theme which has returned to dominate financial and commodity markets, energy.

Thermal coal trading at an all-time high of US$435 a tonne tells you everything about the commodity boom unleashed by Russia’s war with Ukraine, and the Chinese Government’s very commercial response summed up as: “buy everything and don’t worry about the price”.

Shares down. Commodities up. At its simplest that’s what happened on markets this week as multiple conflicting signals, ranging from war in Ukraine to rising U.S. interest rates, sparked increased investor anxiety.

Ukraine is not the only “powder keg” at risk of exploding. The same is being said of two CLANC metals, nickel and aluminium, where prices are poised to blow-up.

If you have ever wondered what the early stages of a commodities boom looks like, consider three comments made this week... “We’re out of everything.” - Jeff Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs. “No stopping the commodities freight train.” - U.S. investment bank, Jefferies. “Supply chains strung like piano wire.” - Paul House, chief executive of mining technology provider, Imdex.

Rare earths and other critical metals moved back into focus this week thanks to Australian Government project funding offers but it was gold which really caught the eye of investors as reports surfaced of a “whale” soaking up bullion every time the price slipped far below US$1800 an ounce.

Red ink ruled the stock market this week, as every investor knows, but there was a solitary flash of green which could be a pointer to what comes after the volatile shake-out underway across all financial sectors as central banks crank up interest rates.

Records tumbled across the resources sector this week led by higher prices for nickel, tin, lithium, oil, and coal, but the most significant financial event occurred in Germany where the all-important 10-year government bond turned positive for the first time in almost three years.