Previously, I have shown how we could beclose to major financial crisis with the monetary system at the center. Thefollowing chart that shows the ratio of gold to the monetary base was used:The chart shows the ratio of the gold price to the St. LouisAdjusted Monetary Base back to 1918. That is the gold price in US dollarsdivided by the St. Louis Adjusted Monetary Base in billions of US dollars.(fr...Read More
Commonwealth of Independent States export rebar and wire rod prices dropped $10-20 per tonne in the week ended Monday December 17 due to a lack of demand and increased pressure from Turkish suppliers.The volume of the global rebar market has shrunk this year due to the snowball effect from tariffs imposed by the United States. This forced Turkish suppliers to increase their presence in the Middle...Read More
Andy Schectman of Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments discusses with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable some benefits of holding precious metals in IRAs as well as some other tax advantages of precious metals. Maurice Jackson: Welcome to Proven and Probable. Joining us is Andy Schectman, the president of Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments. In our previous interview, we addressed...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States export slab price slumped on Monday December 17 after fresh sales were heard done at lower levels and a pessimistic mood in the finished flat steel segment drove down customers' expectations down.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS export slab was at $415-420 per tonne fob Black Sea on December 17, down from $430-435 per tonne fob Black Sea last...Read More
Tonight I would like to show you some charts from the PM complex we haven’t looked at in a long time. Some of these charts will look familiar to some of our long term members as they were very helpful in the past to help us figure out what the PM complex was up to. This first chart is a ratio combo chart which has the GOLD:XAU on top and the XAU on the bottom. When the ratio is rising gold i...Read More
The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remains weak because of low demand ahead of the end of the year, with buyers fearing further price falls early in 2019. Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for CIS-origin HRC exports was $450-470 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday December 17, down from $460-475 per tonne fob a week ago."Suppliers [of H...Read More
The precious metals sector has just one standoutperformer this year, and that is palladium. Lately the market for that metalhas gotten more than just hot. Developments there could have implications forthe LBMA and the rickety fractional reserve system of inventory underpinning allof the physical precious metals markets. Craig Hemke of the TF Metals Report was MoneyMetals’ podcast guest this...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday December 18.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Monday December 17, capped by broad strength in the US dollar index while investors remain cautious ahead of the the forthcoming Federal Reserve meeting in the United States. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how pric...Read More
Whisky is for Drinking; Water is for Fighting OverThe problemof severe water stress in the United States - and elsewhere - is serious andgetting worse. Water stress is what happens when the demand for water exceedsthe amount available, or when poor quality restricts its use. It most commonlyoccurs in areas where available water supplies have been over-exploited, oftendue to agriculture or urban de...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday December 17. Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading, with most metals broadly rangebound during the low-volume morning session, while looming US-China trade tensions keep investors cautious.The three-month aluminium price consolidated lower and continues to trade...Read More
As we are watching the US and global markets rotate dramatically lower over the past few days, we have been advising our members that we believe this rotation is an over-reaction to economic impetuses and trade issues – not a massive downside price break. Overall, some of our longer-term technical indicators are currently bearish, as one would think technical indicators would react to...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday December 17.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly higher during Asian morning trading on Monday, with zinc and nickel registering the biggest gains. Tin and lead bucked the trend to weaken slightly.There was a slightly firmer tone across the SHFE base metals c...Read More
Listen to what gold is saying. It’s not deflation that we have to worry about. We’re about to enter a multi year period of rising inflation. Seriously did you think years of QE weren’t going to have consequences at some point?For a long time I’ve maintained several key macro views.Gold started a new bull market in late 2015.The dollar started a secular bear market in early...Read More
Bix did the grunt work, and he found the secret silver hoard that has been supplying the physical market for all of these decades. Here are the details...by Bix Weir from Road to RootaSILVER SECRET: Why doesn't the world know about this 2.75B oz secret silver hoard. Why doesn't every silver mining company talk about it? Why don't they teach it in school? Why? Why? Why? Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Monday December 17, capped by broad strength in the US dollar index while investors remain cautious ahead of the the forthcoming Federal Reserve meeting in the United States. At this week's Fed meeting, a decision on further interest-rate rises is expected. Volumes traded over the day are moderately low, w...Read More
The Comex copper price fell in morning trading on Monday December 17 amid quiet trading conditions and uncertainty surrounding the future of American monetary policy. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.70 cents to $2.7355 per lb. US market participants are awaiting the Federal Reserve's Wednesday decision on another rate hike. Glo...Read More
Physical iron ore prices were mixed on Monday December 17 after a jump above $70 per tonne cfr China last Friday.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $70.74 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.27 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $70.27 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.27 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $72.04 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.13 per tonne.MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $63.67 p...Read More
As China goes, so goes industrial metals.That's the message from anxious investors rolling out of a rough 2018, when Trump trade tensions, Federal Reserve rate hikes, a strong dollar and an economic slowdown in China all combined to push the London Metal Exchange Index to its first annual loss since 2015. Five metals fell by 13 percent or more, led by zinc, which lost more than 20 percent.Bulls ar...Read More
Glencore Plc's Congolese copper and cobalt unit has agreed to settle with Canada's Ontario Securities Commission over an investigation into its accounting, the two sides said, without disclosing the terms of the settlement.The settlement would also cover several current and former executives and directors at the unit, Katanga Mining Ltd., including Glencore's head of copper trading Aristotelis Mis...Read More
The Bedford Consulting Group released its annual survey of executive and board compensation in the mining industry and revealed that, within the nearly 200 companies in their sample, only 13% of board members are women.Even lower, when it came to analyzing named executive officers in mining firms, only 8% were women. The most common executive role held by these women is CFO.Looking at compensation...Read More