om Polansek, Ann SaphirCHICAGO/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As the gap between short- and long-term borrowing costs hovers near its lowest in 10 years, some investors worry the so-called yield curve is flashing red: that a recession, always preceded by such a flattening, could be around the corner.Not to worry, two Federal Reserve policymakers said on Friday; the curve will likely steepen as the U.S....Read More
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian companies hit by U.S. sanctions, including aluminum giant Rusal, have asked for 100 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) in liquidity support from the government, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying on Friday.The United States on April 6 imposed sanctions against several Russian entities and individuals, including Rusal (0486.HK) and its...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard on Friday said the U.S. economy appears capable of handling further interest-rate increases in the near future.“My anticipation is that the outlook is for continued, solid growth,” she said in an interview with CNBC. “The outlook looks consistent to me for continued gradual increases in the federal funds rate.”As...Read More
Researchers at the University of Queensland have developed new nanotechnology that includes gold particles and that is aimed at monitoring the diversity of individual cancer cells circulating in the body.The groundbreaking technique was tested on blood samples from melanoma patients and was able to track critical changes in spreading tumour cells before, during and after treatment."We have develop...Read More
Apple's losses weighed on the blue-chip indexThe tech sector suffered another sell-off today, with Apple (AAPL) sending the Dow to its third straight loss. The blue-chip index ended more than 200 points in the red, despite a positive earnings reaction for General Electric (GE) stock. Elsewhere, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note surged to its highest point since 2014, while oil prices recover...Read More
Since the commodities supercycle unwound nearly 10 years ago, many investors have been waiting for the right conditions to trigger mean reversion and lift prices. I believe those conditions are either firmly in place right now or, at the very least, in their early stages. Among them are factors I've discussed at length elsewhere-a weaker U.S. dollar, a steadily flattening yield curve, heightened m...Read More
(Kitco News) - The desire for gold isthe most universal and deeply rooted commercial instinct of the human race. -Gerald M. LoebA close look at historical price returns shows that history agreeswith the age-old adage of holding gold as a hedge but what is the best way to put this inpractice?The purest way for investors to play the yellow metalwithout buying outright physical gold bullions is to...Read More
(Kitco News) - The market is paying attention to the rising U.S. dollar, which poses a big risk to gold prices going into next week, according to analysts.Gold prices ended the week on a lower note, giving up all of Wednesday’s impressive gains. June Comex gold futures were trading at $1,338.10, down 0.79% on the day, as markets are getting ready to close on Friday. Meanwhile, the U.S....Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Big U.S. banks are racing to launch websites and mobile apps to make getting a mortgage faster and easier, investments that may have modest near-term payoffs as home lending activity slows.Lenders have been spending on digital tools to cut costs, eliminate error-prone paperwork and appeal to younger home buyers. However, they are chasing a shrinking pool of refinancing busines...Read More
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. technology stocks tumbled on Friday ahead of a crucial week of quarterly reports from Alphabet, Facebook and other heavyweights as investors worried that the high-performance sector may be running out of fuel.Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) both lost more than 1 percent, while Apple (AAPL.O) tumbled 4 percent because of worries about slower-th...Read More
Margaret Georgiadis has resigned as the chief executive of embattled MATThe U.S. stock market is in the red today, but still on track for a weekly win. Among individual stocks making big moves are toymaker Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), Apple supplier Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO), and photocopy specialist Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX). Here's a quick look at what's moving shares of MAT, QRVO, and XRX.Pre-Earnings...Read More
Gold futures suffered a second consecutive session of losses on Friday, as strength in the dollar and gains in Treasury yields sent prices for the metal lower for the week. June gold GCM8, -0.24% lost $10.50, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,338.30 an ounce. Though the commodity has mostly traded in a narrow range, the contract was down about 1.6% since hitting a 2 1/2 -month high of $1,360 as recently...Read More
Call buying has nearly doubled put buying in recent weeksAfter peaking above $200 back in January, Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) fell as low $156.54 back on March 2 amid the Steve Wynn fallout. The shares have since battled back to trade at $192.68, and sentiment has only grown more bullish around the casino concern as it prepares to report earnings after the close on Tuesday, April 24. To b...Read More
WASHINGTON/JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accused OPEC on Friday of “artificially” boosting oil prices after a year-plus pact that has slashed global crude inventories, drawing rebukes from oil-producing countries as prices dipped following his remarks.“Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully...Read More
In the earlyhours on Wednesday, I alerted readers to a short squeeze which wasbeginning to take place in the silver market. Silver rallies are typically aninflation play, so the shorts began to cover when the CRB Index began to rallytowards its January high. However, while silver has risen nearly 4% this week,it has yet to ignite the gold sector which stalled yet again near strongresistance at $13...Read More
Shares of the iPhone maker have shed nearly 5% this weekStocks started the week strong, as geopolitical risk eased and earnings from heavy hitters like Netflix (NFLX) and UnitedHealth (UNH) impressed. The major market indexes were trading near levels not seen since mid-March when the closing bell rang Tuesday -- with the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) flashing this never-before-seen signal -- but qui...Read More
Credit Suisse's new target represents expected upside of 37%The shares of Snapchat parent Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) are up 3.4% to trade at $15.34, after Credit Suisse lifted its price target on the stock to $21 -- representing a roughly 37% premium to its current perch, and in territory not charted since a post-earnings bull gap in February. Against this backdrop, and with the shares set to retake the...Read More
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Half of the nations belonging to Unasur, a South American bloc set up a decade ago to counter U.S. sway in the region, have decided to suspend their membership, a Brazilian official told Reuters on Friday.The governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay believe that the bloc has been rudderless under the current rotating presidency of Bolivia, according...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday that “good progress” had been made in talks to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement and that negotiators would remain in Washington over the weekend.“We are certainly in a more intense period of the negotiations and we are making good progress,” Freeland said during the Inte...Read More
Editor's Note: This story was updated from the original posted on April 20, 2018 at 13:13 EST. (Kitco News) - Turkey joined the ranks of Germany and Hungary as the latest country which brought back its gold to home base, this according to reports from the country’s media.Reports from Turkish media outlet Yeni Safak suggest that the country brought back all of its gold stored in the U.S. Fede...Read More