Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More

The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More

Society is pretending its actions don't have consequences. It's badly mistaken. History teaches us that there is no free lunch, reminds Dr. Ben Hunt, publisher of EpsilonTheory.com. And science informs us that even the most simple systems become nearly impossible to predict or control with 100% precision as time and variables change.But our society today is ignoring these lessons. It's betting tha...Read More

"While the unemployment rate is low by historical standards, there is little evidence that low unemployment poses a significant inflation risk in the current environment."Continue...Read More

The NY Fed said it would purchase up to $75 billion of debt between 8:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Securities eligible to be sold to the Fed include Treasuries, government-sponsored Continue...Read More

Our good friend Nick Santiago is still very bullish on the yellow metal and the shiny metal too. He sees a period of consolidation followed by more gains, likely before year's end. He's also seeing an end to Fed easing, no more rate cuts, for better or worse. Interest rates have bottomed and should see some increases ahead. Oil is right around where it should be and will probably stay close to its...Read More

A 7.5% year-on-year fall in apparent steel consumption in Brazil in August was largely due to declining domestic sales, particularly in the long-steel sector. Consumption totaled 1.81 million tonnes in August, down from 1.95 million tonnes in the same month of 2018, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday September 19. Demand for flat-rolled products of 1.06 million tonne...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in Poland have decreased over the past week due to declines in monthly ferrous scrap contracts, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,070-2,090 zloty ($527-532) per tonne on September 20, down by 10-40 zloty per tonne from 2,080-2,130 zloty per tonne one week earlier....Read More

China's domestic rebar prices continued maintained their downward trend on Friday September 20 amid high selling interest. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,620-3,650 yuan ($511-515) per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,560-3,600 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneStockists were actively selling rebar to draw down their inventories on expectations of higher production...Read More

Export prices for pig iron from Brazil have gone down on the influence of weak global scrap pricing and fading demand, sources told Fastmarkets during the week ended Friday September 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil, was $285-300 per tonne on Friday, down from $305-310 per tonne last week.Suppliers were heard to cut their prices, but were not re...Read More

In this interview with Craig Taylor, CEO of Defense Metals Corp., Peter Epstein of Epstein Research delves into the complexities and potential of rare earth metals markets, and discusses the company's REE projects. Rare earth elements (REEs) have been in the geopolitical spotlight for much of the year. Many, myself included, are surprised that the combination of severe trade tensions between the...Read More

Global scrap prices continued to fall in all major markets during the week ended Friday September 20, under pressure from persistent negative sentiment and with market participants seeing no prospect of relief. Turkey import prices fall further; suppliers accept lower prices US export prices down for cargoes sold off both coasts Asian import prices decline on oversupply Indian import prices down i...Read More

The import market for pig iron in the United States fell in the week ended Friday September 20, with buyers still not ready to resume purchases and expecting lower prices because of the weak scrap sector and planned maintenance outages in December.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $320-325 per tonne on September 20, down from $330-340 per tonne the wee...Read More

Brazilian slab export prices remained unchanged in the week ended Friday September 20, with no deals agreed while buyers and sellers battled to establish a new price.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, was $420-435 per tonne on September 20, unchanged week-on-week.The price corresponded to the most recent deals closed, to the West Coast of the United...Read More

CIS producers of steel billet have kept their offer prices stable despite mounting downward pressure from the poor international scrap trading environment and limited demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 20.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $357 per tonne on September 20, compared with $356 per tonne a day earlier.Steelmakers have been of...Read More

All three benchmarks logged their first weekly loss in a monthThe Dow traded in a 268-point range on quadruple-witching expiration, eventually slumping to a triple-digit loss. U.S.-China trade headlines drove today's price action, with stocks initially rising after President Donald Trump revealed a lengthy list of Chinese goods exempt from tariffs. However, the Dow pivoted sharply lower in afterno...Read More

Reports the company could explore a sale are driving FIT higherFitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT) call options are flying across the tape today, with roughly 19,000 contracts exchanged so far -- already almost doubling the stock's average full-day volume of 9,991 contracts, per Trade-Alert. Front-month options expiration is just hours away, and traders are keying in on FIT's soon-to-expire September 4 call, wh...Read More

Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market fell on Friday September 20 on expectations that prices could soon sink below the psychological floor of $400 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia, a level not breached since May 2017.Bearish sentiment has been exacerbated by the decline in the price of ferrous scrap in the bellwether Turkish market - a major indicator because the country is th...Read More

Oil had its best day in over a decade on MondayThe week started off with a bang, as oil prices staged their biggest one-day surge in a decade following airstrikes on Saudi Arabian crude production facilities. The stock market's reaction was negative, though, with the Dow snapping its eight-day winning streak. The blue-chip index continued to struggle as the week wore on, and appears on pace to log...Read More

Bofa-Merrill Lynch downgraded Xilinx, while Etsy was upgraded at RBCStocks are mixed at midday, as investors eye the latest U.S.-China trade updates. Three specific stocks on the move are tech issue Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX), laser manufacturer II-VI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IIVI), and e-tail name Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY). Below, we'll look at what's driving the shares of XLNX, IIVI, and ETSY. CFO Resignatio...Read More

Stainless steel prices in Europe were stable this week amid expectations of dramatically increased alloy surcharges for October, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 20.October alloy surcharges will be based on nickel prices between August 21 and September 20. During this time, the average price for nickel, 3-months, London Metal Exchange Daily Official, was $17,178 per tonne, up by $2,183...Read More

The White House ordered sanctions against the Central Bank of IranThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is slightly higher at midday, propped up by encouraging U.S.-China trade rhetoric. In addition to releasing a list of exempted Chinese goods, President Donald Trump told reporters that the U.S. is "making a lot of progress" on a trade deal -- with these moves suggesting to some that the adminis...Read More