HOUSTON—Four weeks ago, copper was still going for $3.50 a pound.

Today, it’s going for $1.30.

That’s almost a two-thirds drop in price from this summer.

And that means trouble for people like Brian Alvis.

Alvis is one of the guys who is trying to sell copper.

“With the prices dropping the way they did, it really hurts, you know? I’m basically just getting my money back from what I put in taking it out,” Alvis said.

It’s a local indicator of a worldwide economic slowdown.

The Chinese aren’t buying.  Supplies are building.  Prices are dropping.

Scrap dealer Don Buntin predicts dozens of folks in his business may go under.

“I think they’ll be gone. I think they’ll shut down before Christmas. I think we’ll lose 30 of them,” he said.

But there is a flipside to all the bad news in the scrap metal business.

HPD said metal theft is on its way down, too.

Police are reporting a drastic decrease in copper theft.  A year ago, entire air conditioners were being stolen and carted off by criminals.

Lower prices make that kind of crime not worth the effort.

“I love that,” Alvis said. “I don’t want my air conditioner gone. It’s hot enough in Houston.”

But now that the hot market is gone for recycled metals, legitimate businesses are left to wait out the recycling recession.