By David HaggithBefore Trump was even inaugurated, I said he was clearly draining the swamp directly into the White House. That was obvious as soon as he nominated a Goldman-Sachs roster to fill all the financial cabinet positions. Some wishfully said he was playing 4-D chess by keeping his enemies close. I called baloney. He was simply being Sached. One of those from the Goldman roster was Stev...Read More
By Gary TanashianBelow are the Opening Notes and Bond Market segments from last Sunday's edition of Notes From the Rabbit Hole, NFTRH 530. Jerome Powell was actually more firm than I expected. Atta boy Jay! Aside from my prognostication the more important stuff (IMO) begins at the 4th paragraph. That is where I put on my tin foil hat and tell what I think. It does seem to dovetail with what we s...Read More
As part of Merk's in-house research we regularly evaluate a consistent set of charts covering the economy, equities, fixed income, commodities and currencies. The aim is to keep our eyes open and to look through the noise of the headlines, avoiding the distractions of sensationalized click-bait. In sharing this content, we offer a cross-check to your own thinking and aim to add value to your own...Read More
December as usual. Another Fed hike is behind us. Will we now see a rally in gold in January? Fed Hiked But It Will Monitor Risks Yesterday, the FOMC published the monetary policy statement from its latest meeting that took place on December 18th-19th. In line with the expectations, the US central bank raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to the target range of 2.25 to 2.50 percent...Read More
Fed monetary policy inched toward suicide Wednesday with a 25-basis-point rate hike and a feint toward bumping up interest rates two more times next year. Are they trying to make certain that Trump doesn't get re-elected? This interpretation is sounding less farfetched each day as the banksters continue to flout a global economic storm that is gaining strength by the week. It is manifest in the...Read More
Jingle bells have not rung for any investment class towards the close of the year. We all read about heaven and hell on our religious books. In the "Kaalyug" (technological age as per Hindu scriptures), most of the people go to hell as they perform more bad deeds than good deeds. In financial language heaven is profit and hell are investment and trading losses. Most of us go to hell as we incur...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the US dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes.Closing at a fresh 2018 low of $1,912 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price fell to its lowest level since August 2017 at $1,905.50 per tonne amid announcement of the US Tre...Read More
The lack of trading activity in the second half of December continued to put pressure on Turkish long steel exporters, and on rebar in particular, which has forced suppliers to further decrease offers.The European Commission's decision to extend safeguard regulations until February 1, 2019 has added more uncertainty into the market, leaving the question of how much rebar will be allowed to be supp...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday December 21.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the United States dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:It...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday December 20.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher during morning trading, with a weaker dollar index sustaining buying momentum while the potential removal of US sanctions against UC Rusal pressured aluminium to a fresh 2018 low.Reaching an intraday low of $1,905.50 per ton...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday December 20. Most base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rebounded during Asian morning trading on Thursday as relations between Washington and Beijing appear to improve, thus ushering risk-on sentiment back into the market.Check Fastmarkets MB's live futures report here....Read More
Years ago, the idea that machines would replace humans on the trading floor seemed far-fetched and the suggestion that algorithms might replace humans entirely ridiculous.But both have happened in some shape or form, making the advent of blockchain - now being vaunted as the next game-changer in technology - a lot more realistic than naysayers might initially think.Dozens of trials and projec...Read More
Since its merger with Xstrata, Glencore - previously a trading and marketing firm - has become a mining firm whose earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is dominated by earnings from its industrial activities. The recent appointment of Peter Freyberg as head of the company's industrial mining assets, a newly created position with oversight and responsibility for all Glenco...Read More
US - China trade tensions weighed on copper miners in 2018 as fears of a global economic slowdown overshadowed other fundamentals. Meanwhile gold producers struggled as bullion lost its safe-haven luster until late in the year.What's ahead in 2019?We asked four top executives from companies including Newmont Mining Corp. and Teck Resources Ltd. for their outlooks. From dealing with debt to dividen...Read More
Fastmarkets MB looks back at a year of changes in the ores and alloys markets.Manganese ore market stabilityManganese ore prices were relatively stable in2018, following two years of unprecedented volatility. This was the first yearsince 2016 that did not end in a sharp rally, resulting in a dull year fortraders, but a lucrative time for producers. The market has been underpinned bystrong demand f...Read More
A requirement for a higher energy density for new EV battery projects has been removed from the official regulations on automobile industry investment published by the country's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on its website. The energy density threshold was removed from the final version of the regulations on Tuesday December 18 owing to the fact that current technology is not d...Read More
Harvey says JP Morgan was adding silver for most of 2017, and now the bullion bank has added nearly every single day this year. Here's an update...by Harvey Organ of Harvey Organ BlogDEC 19/THE FED CONTINUES TO BE RECKLESS AS THEY RAISE INTEREST RATES 1/4% IN A DECLINING ECONOMY AND ARE HAWKISH GOING INTO 2019//USA RATES ARE INVERTING INDICATING RECESSION/ DOW JONES FALTERS OVER 350 POINTS/GOLD CL...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the US dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes.Closing at a fresh 2018 low of $1,912 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price fell to its lowest level since August 2017 at $1,905.50 per tonne amid announcement of the US Tre...Read More
The Comex copper price failed to maintain momentum after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates and signalled a hawkish monetary policy strategy for 2019.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 2.00 cents to $2.69 per lb."Both the Fed's policy statement and Jay Powell's news conference came across as more hawkish than...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has initiated a process of market feedback following the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) intention to remove sanctions against UC Rusal and En+ Group, issuing both a member note and press statement on Wednesday December 19. In accordance with OFAC's decision to notify Congress of its plans to terminate sanctions - inclusive of...Read More