(Kitco News) - 2018 Halloween candy prices in the U.S. are expected to rise 0.5% compared to last year, after two past consecutive years of price deflation, according to British data provider IHS Markit. Halloween candy spending is expected to increase 4.2% year-on-year, up from last year's 2.4% growth. Candy spending is projected to total $2.5 billion, translating to around $20 per household in...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold’s tight negative correlation with the U.S. dollar will help prices go higher within the next 12 months, according to Wells Fargo, which forecasts weaker greenback to come.“We see higher gold prices ahead as we expect commodity prices in general to increase and the U.S. dollar to weaken. Our rolling 12-month target price for gold remains $1,250 - $1,350 per ounce,&rd...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday October 31 pricing session in Europe.Key driversTrades and assessments indicate the European ferro-titanium market continued the downtrend that began on September 12, when the market was assessed at $5.80-6.05 per kg. Ample supply of material, as well as traders looking to sell-off inventories before year-end were cited...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are lower and have hit three-week and four-week lows, respectively, in early-afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday. Improving trader and investor risk appetite in the marketplace at mid-week is bearish for the safe-haven metals. Also, a stronger U.S. dollar index that scored a new for-the-move high today is pressuring the precious metals markets this week. December...Read More
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin, the world’s first and most famous cryptocurrency, celebrates its tenth birthday on Wednesday.Its emergence has spawned a multitude of other digital currencies, brought blockchain technology to global attention, and vexed regulators worried about its crime misuse and weakness to hacking.The following are some major milestones in bitcoin’s first decad...Read More
(Kitco News) - Kitco aficionados, it is now time to have your say in where you think gold prices are heading in the short-term. Create your own user feedback survey Will gold prices go higher, lower or remain unchanged next week? Kitco readers will have until 9 a.m. EDT, Friday to cast their vote. The results will be tabulated and released after noon (12 PM EDT) along with the results from our m...Read More
The following Fastmarkets noble alloys and ores prices changed on Wednesday October 31:Noble alloysMolybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $12.00-12.15 per lb from $12.00-12.20Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $28.80-29.30 per kg from...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 26 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved higher following release of the October ADP Employment report at 8:15 AM EDT. Consensus was 195,000 versus a revised 218,000 in September. Actual was 227,000Facebook gained $7.32 to $153.55 after reporting higher third quarter revenues. General Motors gained $2.61 to $...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices have become fairly stable in the United States, but could show further weakening through year-end and likely into early next year."With all the tumultuous events of the past week, we can look to the stainless steel [scrap] market for some tranquility," one US scrap dealer said, referring to the turbulence caused by the shootings in a Pittsburgh synagogue over the weeke...Read More
The United States' bulk ferrous scrap export price continued to trek upward in a fresh cargo sale to Turkey, while a drop in flows forced East Coast exporters to reverse some recent dock buying price reductions. An East Coast cargo was sold to Turkey at $334 per tonne cfr for an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap (HMS), $339 per tonne cfr for shredded scrap and $344 per tonne cfr for bon...Read More
CME Group's Midwest busheling futures contract continues to enjoy activity on a daily basis with a modest 12-lot sale conducted transacted on Tuesday October 30.Of that, four lots (80 gross tons) are set to expire in December, while the remaining eight lots will expire in January 2019, according to the...Read More
The Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia, has dismissed rail freight operator Aurizon's legal challenge to the Queensland Competition Authority's (QCA) draft decision to limit its potential revenues for the 2017-2021 period.The draft decision entailed limiting Aurizon's maximum allowable revenue to A$3.893 billion over the four-year period - A$1 billion below the company's project...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, Global Ore, 50,000 tonnes of 62.5% Fe Pilbara Blend lumps, sold at the November average of a 62% Fe index, adjusted for Fe content, plus a lump premium of $0.3390 per dry metric tonne unit, laycan November 15-24.Glob...Read More
It's a good thing October is coming to an end. It's been a particularly lousy month for the markets. October has seen about $5 trillion in value erased from global markets.Reasons for that sell-off range from fear over Fed rate hikes, trade wars, elections and buyback "blackout" periods during earnings.Buyback blackouts are ending, which should provide markets some needed lift over the next month....Read More
Prices for iron ore fines weakened on Wednesday October 31 in a cautious market, while lump premiums traded higher.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $75.71 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $74.74 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $80.13 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.04 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $67.42 pe...Read More
Chinese end users appear to still have interest for premium low-vol hard coking coal, with a cargo of such materials changing hands at a price above the previously traded level on Wednesday October 31.A trader source told Fastmarkets that the shipment was traded at just above last week's transaction price of $220 per tonne cfr China. But this deal aside, an air of caution continued to pervade in t...Read More
Most people know they should invest, just as most people know they should watch their diet and exercise. Nonetheless, millions of people don’t invest at all. Barely one-third of families in the bottom 50% of earners own stocks, according to the Fed-they aren't active investors.An active investor is someone who actually lives off their investments as opposed to wages from a job. My investment...Read More
“If only I could go back and invest at the start of this 10-year bull market...”It seems like every week I hear some variation of this statement. People are frustrated that they didn’t invest when the market was on sale in the wake of the financial crisis ten years ago.Missing out on a 10-year bull market is a tragedy, especially for my friends who promised themselves they would...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Wednesday October 31.Base metals on the London Metal Exchange consolidated lower during morning trading on Wednesday October 31, with downward pressure emerging from broad corrections in key indices such as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average, while dollar strength continues to hamper investment.Here...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Wednesday October 31* Copper -$103.74 (-724.61 yuan) Aluminium -$436.45 (-3,048.53 yuan) Zinc -$47.26 (-330.08 yuan) Nickel $586.71 (4,098.08 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month prices at 3pm...Read More