Gold surged sharply over this past week or so, nearing a major bull-market breakout! Nearly everyone was surprised by this violent awakening, which erupted suddenly as gold languished around year-to-date lows. If this dramatic rally has staying power, gold has good odds of achieving decisive new bull-market highs. That would change everything psychologically, ushering gold and its miners...Read More
By Avi GilburtIn my last article, I outlined how the same news event can "cause" the market to rally 9% at one time, and drop 5% another time. And, then I noted how I am quite certain there will be some of you that will try to explain away this clear lack of consistency with some form of convoluted "logic."And, true to form, some of you did. One such commenter noted:For about eight months, the m...Read More
Trump needn't have wheedled the Fed about juicing the money supply, since the banksters, ever eager to ride to the rescue -- of themselves -- would have done it anyway. The alchemists at the central bank have once again begun to "manage" our "expectations" with all the subtlety of a carnival barker about to spin a Big Six wheel. Their loyal spinmeisters at The Wall Street Journal gave this lat...Read More
- Hubert MoolmanPreviously, I have shown how we could be close to major financial/monetary crisis. The following 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. Louis Adjusted Monetary Base back to 1918. That is the gold price in US dollars divided by the St. Louis Adjusted Monetary Base in billions of US dollars. (from...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Prices for alloy steel scrap in Europe and the UK were largely stable this week in a slow market where poor demand has been matched by limited supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 7."Demand has fallen off a cliff, but there's also really not a lot of supply - it has been very slow coming in. And the mills just don't need much [scrap]," a UK trader said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices moved downward during the week ended Friday June 7, notably in India and Taiwan, but prices in Turkey, the United States and Vietnam remaining unchanged on a lack of trading. Turkish market pauses for public holiday US export prices unchanged on lack of sales Vietnam prices flat on limited trading Taiwan prices dip on unconfirmed Turkish deal rumors Indian prices contin...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India moved down week on week following poor demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 7.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $324 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, down from $330.40 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva one week previous.Offer prices for shredded this week ranged from $320-327 per tonne...Read More
The Friday Market Minute US stocks hold gains after weaker-than-expected May jobs report boosts bets on multiple Fed rate cuts.US employers added 75,000 net jobs last month, while average hourly wage growth slowed to 0.2% and the headline unemployment rate held at 3.6%.Vice President Mike Pence calls negotiations with Mexico "encouraging" and says they will continue as investors hope fresh tarif...Read More
Despite the world of trade and economic weakness still very much in focus, markets have generally managed to do some consolidating, although with the gold price holding above $1,230 per oz, haven assets remain in demand.We still see the global economy as wounded and it will need a US-China trade deal to see it recover. US President Donald Trump said he would decide whether to extend tariffs on US...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
I love capitalism.That's not just my preference. The right to privately own the means of production and politically participate has proven time and time again to be the most successful ideology for human development throughout history.So when I say this, I want you to know this is not something I'm particularly excited about... but I don't see it happening any other way.The rise of socialism in Am...Read More
The price in China's domestic market for battery-grade lithium carbonate moved down week on week on slow demand because of the forthcoming Dragon Boat Festival on June 7-9; prices in the rest of the world were stable.Ex-works China battery-grade lithium carbonate price edges lower on weak demand Lithium hydroxide prices rangebound in China Rest of the world's prices unchanged. The battery-grade li...Read More
Shorts continue to press their bets against Paramount Resources (POU) and High Liner Foods (HLF) which remain the two top favourite short targets in Canada based on the May 31st IIROC short report released today. Although short positions fell as a percentage of float in both names since the May 15th IIROC short report, the reductions were not enough to move the two stocks down the list of the mos...Read More
Fastmarkets MB is delaying the launch of a weekly price assessment of South America import aluminium-zinc alloy coated steel coil reported on a US-dollar-per-tonne cfr South America basis.Market participants have been reporting significant liquidity in this market, with steady volumes being traded weekly.Based on the most widely traded product specification, the weekly price assessm...Read More
European steelmakers increased their exports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in April-May 2019 to try to compensate for poor domestic demand, market sources have told Fastmarkets.During those two months, prices for EU-produced HRC were lower than usual compared with prices in other main steel-supplying regions, driven downward primarily by sluggish trading activity.HRC is mainly exported by European mill...Read More
European steelmakers have called for the European Commission (EC) to review its decision to liberalize its import safeguard measures by increasing quota volumes by 5% each year, Fastmarkets has learned.The current safeguard mechanism will increase the level of tariff-free quotas for each product category by 5% after each year. The first liberalization will take place on July 1, 2019 - the end of t...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Brazil fell during May as leading steelmakers battle with new participants for market share amid low domestic demand, retreating from announced price increases.Fastmarkets' domestic rebar price assessment was 2,450-2,600 Reais per tonne delivered on June 7, down from 2,600-2,720 Reais per tonne a month prior. The bottom of the price range is at its lowest for this year.Lon...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet fell by at least 800 rupees ($12) per tonne this week on account of reduced inquiries and minimal buying by finished product makers, Fastmarkets heard on Friday June 7.The domestic secondary billet price was assessed by Fastmarkets on Friday down by 800 rupees per tonne to 30,500-30,700 rupees ($440-443) per tonne ex-mill, compared with last week's...Read More