WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that he had told President Donald Trump that the United States should give Saudi Arabia a few more days to wrap up its investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.“I told President Trump this morning that we ought to give them a few more days ... so that we too have a complete understanding of...Read More
MEXICO CITY, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Hawkish Mexican central bank board member Manuel Ramos-Francia voted for 25 basis point rate hike at the Oct. 4 monetary policy meeting due to the “high degree of persistence” of core inflation, minutes of that meeting showed on Thursday.The other four members of the Bank of Mexico’s board voted to keep the benchmark interest rate steady at 7.75 pe...Read More
NEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP, the world's largest manager of alternative assets, on Thursday posted third-quarter economic net income (ENI) per unit of 76 cents, slightly ahead of analysts' expectations.The mean forecast was for 74 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. A year earlier, Blackstone reported ENI per share of 68 cents.Blackstone owns financial data provider R...Read More
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy’s prime minister on Thursday denied any division between the two parties in his governing coalition, after reports of a spat over tax revenues, and insisted Rome will move ahead with planned expansionary budgetary measures.His remarks came as European Union leaders raised concerns about Rome’s extravagant budgetary plans that could further increase Italy&rsqu...Read More
LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The European Union defended proposed new derivatives clearing rules on Thursday after criticism from the United States, saying the bloc has every right to supervise foreign financial firms that serve EU customers.The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Christopher Giancarlo threatened retaliation on Wednesday unless the EU watered down the draft rules,...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell $1 a barrel to below $80 on Thursday as the fourth weekly increase in U.S. crude inventories suggested ample supply, while Saudi-U.S. tension and falling Iranian exports lent support.U.S. crude inventories rose 6.5 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, the fourth straight weekly increase and almost three times what analysts...Read More
Prices for US domestic rebar remained flat despite a modest gain in Chicago shredded scrap prices, while imported prices remain static due to a lack of confirmed market activity. Fastmarkets AMM's assessment for domestic rebar held at $35-36 per hundredweight ($700-720 per short ton) fob Midwest mill on Wednesday October 17, while imported rebar remained at $676-700 per ton cfr Port of Houston. No...Read More
VIENNA (Reuters) - Germany should push Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann as a successor to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and the government is making a grave mistake in not pushing harder, ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny said on Thursday.Draghi’s job will become available at the end of next October. By that time Nowotny - the head of the Austrian National Bank and a moderate policy...Read More
TOKYO (Reuters) - Many Japanese companies have avoided a direct hit from escalating trade frictions so far, but they increasingly worry their business will be impacted, central bank officials said on Thursday.The comments are a sign the rising tide of protectionism and warnings about global growth slowing are casting a shadow over Japan’s otherwise healthy economic recovery.In a report scrut...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for rebar and wire rod continued to slide in the week ended Thursday October 18. But this time the drop was spurred not only by modest demand but also by the strengthening of the local currency against the US dollar.The country's domestic long steel prices are strongly connected to the lira-dollar exchange rate and move in line with that, because mills buy their raw materia...Read More
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders will discuss on Thursday how to make the euro zone more resilient to crises, with the bloc’s third biggest economy, Italy, putting new urgency into the talks by challenging EU budget rules that underpin the single currency.Leaders of all EU countries except Britain are to take stock of progress in completing the euro zone’s banking union and...Read More
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Chambers of Industry and Commerce DIHK on Thursday cut its 2018 growth forecast to 1.8 percent from 2.2 percent and predicted a slowdown to 1.7 percent next year as Europe’s largest economy faces mounting risks at home and abroad.The forecasts are based on the assumption that global trade disputes do not escalate and Britain does not crash out of the Europe...Read More
Imported steel billet prices in Egypt decreased in the week ended Thursday October 18, with demand in the country remaining weak.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $480-485 per tonne cfr on Thursday, falling from...Read More
CloseGain/LossGold $1225.10+$1.30Silver$14.57-$0.06XAU70.05+0.28%HUI155.48+0.16%GDM556.39+0.27%JSE Gold1198.81+8.42USD95.97+0.39Euro114.59-0.46Yen89.37+0.02Oil$68.65-$1.1010-Year3.182%-0.009T-Bond138.00+0.09375Dow25379.45-1.27%Nasdaq7485.14-2.06%S&P2768.78-1.44% The Metals: Gold dipped $5.10 to $1218.70 in Asia, but it then chopped back higher in London and New York and e...Read More
By Ira EpsteinGold shines while other metals break. https://www.iraepstein.com/ Read More
Source: Michael J. Ballanger for Streetwise Reports 10/17/2018 Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger discusses the bullish set-up for gold and why he believes this time is different. -->For the first time in months, Fido the Wonder Dog has been in my office and at the foot of my bed 24/7 for the past few days giving me great solace that the current advance in precious metals prices is he...Read More
Miles Franklin sponsored this article by Gary Christenson. The opinions are his.Predicting the end of the world, physical or financial, is seldom helpful. If the prediction is correct, how do you profit from the insight? If the prediction is wrong and the "end of the world" is delayed (typical), you lose credibility.An estimate of risk versus reward based on an analysis of current information is...Read More
"Policy would need to become modestly restrictive for a time." This is the key quote from the recent FOMC minutes. This is not a reason for gold's joy. Fed Is Becoming More Hawkish Yesterday, the Fed released minutes from the recent FOMC meeting. As everyone knows, the Committee hiked interest rates by another 25 basis points in September. But what about the future stance? Well, the minutes si...Read More
By Avi GilburtFor many years, I have been a staunch bull. In fact, many commenters and contributors on Seeking Alpha and MarketWatch were quite vocal regarding how they thought I was crazy back in 2016 for expecting the market to go from 1800 to over 2600SPX, and potentially up through 3000. Needless to say, many of them remained bearish throughout that rally. When many were extremely bearish i...Read More
- Do you own gold in the safest way possible?- Do you own gold via an exchange traded fund, a digital gold provider or another form of pooled gold?- Have you ever thought about how you would sell or access your gold if the internet went down or if your gold provider became compromised or un-contactable?- In this episode of the Goldnomics Podcast, we discuss how Direct Access Gold ensures liqu...Read More