What's the diagnosis of Dr. Copper?It's not a good one at the moment as the industrial metal sinks today. The price action in copper and other assets today suggests a shift away from an inflationary price shock and towards the risk of central banks raising rates and causing a global recession, or at least contributing to one.The strikes on Middle East energy infrastructure were the cause of the shift along with comments from the Fed, ECB and BOE in the past 24 hours. All of them said that risks to inflation have gone up and risks to growth have worsened. Neither of those things is good for copper itself, but the energy side can be problematic for miners as well, as massive amounts of diesel are needed for crushing and hauling rock.US copper giant Freeport-McMoran fell nearly 8% today before paring that decline to 4.8% last. You can see how it's been in steady retreat this month.The company had a disastrous accident at Grasberg in August of last year but is on track of a phased restart for Q2 with guidance 35% lower than last year. Despite that, it had a big rally since November and is retesting the 50% retracement of that move.Ivanhoe has struggled terribly in the past two months, with shares nearly cut in half. They fell more than 10% early today but have pared that to 2.6% and are closing in on Liberation Day lows. The company had a seismic event last year and is engaging in dewatering efforts in Kukula, which is its high-grade mine in the DRC. Investors are waiting for a report later this month on a new mine plan and that could be part of the reason this company has been battered so badly, despite a moderate dip in copper prices. Notably, IVN is slated to use about 70% of its energy this year via renewable resources (hydro and solar) at Kukula, which should insulate it from a fuel price spike.Regarding copper prices, if we look at the May contract we can see the weakness arriving. The chart is starting ot look like a huge head-and-shoulders top with a target near $4.80. Today copper was down more than 5% but has pared that to 2.8%.But even at $4.80, there are still good margins for miners as copper prices were rarely above those levels before mid-2025.Overall, I see the worries and get the sentiment but I think it reflects more of a panic in general markets hat could quickly reverse post- war. This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.