BMO Capital Markets looks for investors to include some gold intheir portfolios during the remainder of 2018. Analysts note that holdings inglobal gold exchange-traded funds, which trade like a stock but track the priceof the commodity, have risen to a three-month high following recent weakness inequity markets. “With macroeconomic risk now being supplemented by concernsover systemic financi...Read More
The SPDR Gold ETF (GLD) has seen a surge in assets over the last month, even though gold has been a poor performer among investment asset classes this year.Volatility in stocks, a weakening U.S. dollar and any consistent signs of inflation picking up in the US economy could send gold prices back above $1,300. Mike Schnitzel, special to CNBC.com Published 8 Hours AgoUpdated7 Hours AgoCNB...Read More
David LawderWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twelve U.S. Republican Senators on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump to submit the deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement to Congress for passage by year-end, before Democrats assume control of the House of Representatives.“We are concerned that if the administration waits until next year to send to Congress a draft implementing bill, p...Read More
(Kitco News) - Recent record-high palladium prices won’t necessarilymean increased supply since the bulk of the metal is mined alongside othermetals, meaning limited reaction to its own price picture, says Metals Focus.The consultancy said Tuesday that it looks for globalpalladium production to decline by 2% to 6.7 million ounces next year.There is an old commodity market adage saying tha...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is expanding at a 2.5 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter, based on data on durable goods orders and home resales in October, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Wednesday.This matched the pace for fourth-quarter gross domestic product that the Atlanta Fed’s GDP program calculated on Tuesday.Following the release...Read More
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada posted a budget surplus of C$1.21 billion in the first six months of the 2018-19 fiscal year compared with a C$6.18 billion deficit in the same period a year earlier, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.Revenues jumped by 8.8 percent in the April-September period, helped by a greater intake from taxes and employment insurance premiums. Program expenses were up 2.8 per...Read More
Base metals price changes on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Wednesday November 21, with positive moves in copper, lead and zinc futures contrary to the continued slide in nickel, while the complex remained broadly impervious to continued strength in the US dollar index.Lead futures improved amid a nine-year low in total LME inventory, rising by 2.2% over the day's...Read More
A recent MarketWatch article notes that:GE was one of Wall Street's major share buyback operators between 2015 and 2017; it repurchased $40 billion of shares at prices between $20 and $32. The share price is now $8.60, so the company has liquidated between $23 billion and $29 billion of its shareholders' money on this utterly futile activity alone. Since the highest net income recorded by the comp...Read More
Gold has virtually done nothingfor weeks, yet investors seem to be getting very nervous. There is no reasonfor gold investors to be concerned at these levels as gold continues toconsolidate.Based on the emails I receive andthe people I talk to, gold is looking more like a buy every day. We know thatwhen a market is consolidating, it creates the biggest challenge for bittraders and investors who al...Read More
Zinc premiums narrowed in Southeast Asia but were stable elsewhere in the week ended Tuesday November 20 after zinc forward price spreads became the most widely backwardated since at least 2004. Lead premiums dropped in Taiwan, with lower offers moving levels down. Zinc cash/three-month price spread backwardation soars to $98 per tonne Taiwan lead premium falls pressed by increase in I...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock markets climbed on Wednesday, with earnings and gains in tech stocks lifting shares on Wall Street, and oil rebounded from a steep sell-off as U.S. government data pointed to strong demand.The recovery in U.S. tech and other momentum stocks boosted the benchmark S&P 500 stock index after it fell 3.5 percent over the previous two sessions. Shares of Amazon.com I...Read More
Chris VermeulenPosted Nov 21, 2018Are the metals markets ending a price correction in unison and preparing for a massive price advance? This is the question we asked our research team to investigate and their findings may help skilled traders identify great opportunities in the future.This multi-part research article will share our most recent opinion about the metals markets as well as share some...Read More
China continues to rely heavily on imported bauxite, with imports set to reach a five-year high of 70 million tonnes this year, Pi Jianqing, deputy manager of the non-ferrous department of Hanzhou Jinjiang Group, said last week. "China is expecting to import 70 million tonnes of bauxite in 2018. This [is the highest] since 2013, when the market stockpiled large quantities of bauxite on tightness c...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new normal is taking root in U.S. stock markets, and the word that best sums it up starts with a “V”.For the second time this year, volatility has returned with a vengeance, and traders in the equity options market are betting ongoing market gyrations are not about to let up any time soon.This year’s regular bouts of volatility mark a sharp departure from 2...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell on Wednesday as risk appetite improved, bolstered by higher stocks and a stronger euro on hopes for a resolution of Italy’s budget.Wall Street shares recovered after a steep two-day sell-off, led by a rebound in Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and other major technology stocks. For two days, U.S. equity losses had bolstered safe-haven currencies such as the dollar, Ja...Read More
Albemarle Corp has entered into an exclusive deal with Australian miner Mineral Resources (MRL) that may lead to the development of new battery-grade lithium hydroxide plant in Western Australia.The companies have agreed to consider the creation of a joint venture that would own and operate the Wodgina hard rock lithium mine and ultimately develop an integrated lithium hydroxide operation at the s...Read More
(Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday strongly defended the federal judiciary a day after President Donald Trump referred to a judge who ruled against his policy barring asylum for certain immigrants as an “Obama judge.”The remarks marked the first public response by Roberts to Trump over the Republican president’s frequent criticism of the federal judiciary. O...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banking regulators said on Wednesday that they will seek public comment on a proposed rule that introduce a small-bank capital leverage ratio of 9 percent.The Federal Reserve said that the new leverage ratio, which would apply to banks with $10 billion in assets, aims to simplify capital requirements for small banks.The proposal, which was issued in conjunction with the...Read More
The European ferro-molybdenum market has dropped this week because of slow demand from consumers in the steel sector and from traders, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 21.Moreover, more price losses can be expected in the near term if consumer demand does not pick up, they added, while suppliers typically try to clear out most of their inventories ahead of the new calendar year.Fastm...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that a joint military exercise with South Korea called “Foal Eagle” would be reduced in scope next year so it does not harm diplomatic efforts with North Korea.“Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy,” Mattis told reporters.The Foal Eagle fie...Read More