Idrees Ali, Mike StoneWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has failed what is being called its first-ever comprehensive audit, a senior official said on Thursday, finding U.S. Defense Department accounting discrepancies that could take years to resolve.Results of the inspection - conducted by some 1,200 auditors and examining financial accounting on a wide range of spending including on weapons sys...Read More
"From a 50,000-feet viewpoint, we're probably in a global debt bubble," says Paul Tudor Jones, who is famous for making big macro calls. "Global debt to GDP is at an all-time high."The investor added that some "scary" moments may come in the corporate bond market.Jones also said the Trump administration's corporate tax cut from late last year could hurt investors down the road as the Federal Reser...Read More
Imani Moise(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday it notified about 1,000 employees in its Consumer Lending and Payments, Virtual Solutions and Innovations groups of plans to eliminate their positions.The layoffs are consistent with the bank’s previously announced plans to reduce headcount by up to 10 percent by 2020, spokesman Tom Goyda said. Wells Fargo, the No. 4 U.S. bank by a...Read More
Zinc futures on the London Metal Exchange rallied 3% at the close on Thursday November 15, ending a weeklong downtrend and supported by a decade-low downdraft in total LME inventories.Across the entire base metals asset class, volumes traded on the exchange were moderately high, with the trading of zinc's 15,062 lots the most since Thursday August 16 and second on the day to copper's 16,465 lots."...Read More
David LawderWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. automakers and parts suppliers on Thursday urged the Trump administration to end steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada and warned that potential U.S. national security tariffs on automotive imports would lead to widespread job losses.In testimony at a U.S. International Trade Commission hearing on the deal to replace the North American Free Trade A...Read More
Jonathan SpicerNEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve, under pressure from a critical White House even while it largely hits its targets of stable inflation and maximum employment, will conduct an extensive review next year of how it guides the world’s largest economy.The U.S. central bank said on Thursday it will hold a series of forums across the country to hear from a “wide range&...Read More
Swiss multinational investment bank, UBS Group, has applied for Category II membership on the London Metal Exchange, according to a note released by the exchange on Thursday November 15. The LME currently has 32 Category II members and the Swiss bank's London subsidiary, UBS Ltd, is already a member. Last month, Chinese broker Nanhua Futures similarly took steps...Read More
[updating with detail and comment throughout]Jiangxi Copper and Antofagasta agreed terms on 2019 copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at $80.80 per tonne/8.08 cents per lb on Thursday November 15, sources from both companies told Fastmarkets.The deal is in line with market expectations and is 1.8% lower than the benchmark of $82.25/8.225 cents agreed in 2018 between Freeport...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has told some industry executives that another round of tariffs on Chinese imports has been put on hold as the two nations pursue talks, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the situation.U.S. President Donald Trump has already imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports into the U...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday November 14 pricing session in Europe. Key driversThe recent downward trend in the ferro-titanium price has created more losses in the European alloy market. The trend started on September 12, when the market was assessed at $5.80-6.05 per kg.Trading activity was slower this week, with many market participants at Fastmarkets MB' International Ferro-alloys conference in...Read More
Expansions in chrome capacity over the next five years will lead to a global oversupply in the short term, Fastmarkets learned at the 2018 International Chromium Development Association (ICDA) Conference in Baotou, China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 6-8. There will be an increasing oversupply in the chrome industry over the next five years though it is difficult to gauge whether...Read More
I perused Tesla's Q3 10-Q and scrutinized the footnotes to figure out, to the extent possible, where Tesla manipulated GAAP accounting standards and outright "cooked" its numbers. Before I had a chance to analyze the 10-Q, others had already posted their findings on Twitter or in Seeking Alpha articles. In the analysis below, I've double-checked and confirmed the findings presented by others. In a...Read More
Planned investment by China in high-pressure acid-leaching (HPAL) projects for nickel mining will materialize, but the projected production timeframes are very likely to be pushed back, and development costs are liable to increase, market participants have told Fastmarkets."[The Chinese are] looking to take advantage of the expected growth [in nickel demand for battery uses]. All of us are skeptic...Read More
[updating with detail and comment throughout]Jiangxi Copper and Antofagasta agreed terms on 2019 copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at $80.80 per tonne/8.08 cents per lb on Thursday November 15, sources from both companies told Fastmarkets.The deal is in line with market expectations and is 1.8% lower than the benchmark of $82.25/8.225 cents agreed in 2018 between Freeport...Read More
Liquidity in the Pacific alumina market picked up on Thursday November 15 with prices on a fob Australia basis hitting a fresh eight-month low. Fastmarkets MB's benchmark daily fob Australia index stands at $410.98 per tonne on Thursday, down from $423.33 per tonne the day before. The index is now at levels not seen since March 2018 before Hydro declared force majeure at the Alunorte refinery...Read More
* LME zinc stocks at lowest in a decade * Shanghai zinc stocks near decade lows* Aluminium hits lowest since last August (Adds closing prices, details)By Maytaal AngelLONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Zinc rallied on Thursday,supported by sliding stockpiles and signs China may be takingsteps to de-escalate its trade dispute with the United States.London Metal Exchange (LME) zinc stocks fellto a decade lo...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday November 14 pricing session in Europe. Key driversThe recent downward trend in the ferro-titanium price has created more losses in the European alloy market. The trend started on September 12, when the market was assessed at $5.80-6.05 per kg.Trading activity was slower this week, with many market participants at Fastmarkets MB' International Ferro-alloys conference in...Read More
CloseGain/LossGold $1213.30+$1.40Silver$14.29+$0.14XAU64.99+2.30%HUI146.41+2.06%GDM532.07+1.79%JSE Gold1108.65+27.91USD97.05+0.13Euro113.34+0.14Yen88.24+0.09Oil$56.46+$0.2110-Year3.113%-0.009T-Bond138.90625+0.03125Dow25289.27+0.83%Nasdaq7259.03+1.72%S&P2730.20+1.06% The Metals: Gold gained $4.30 to $1216.20 in Asia before it fell back to $1208.10 in London, but it then chopped back higher...Read More
The pound plunged against the euro, the dollar, gold and all leading currencies today as Theresa May's UK government appeared vulnerable to collapsing and political turmoil risked creating a hard Brexit.Gold in GBP (24 Hours)The pound has fallen 2.6% against gold in less than twenty four hours seeing gold rise from ?923 to ?947 per ounce in sterling terms.The pound slumped the most in more than...Read More
The cobalt metal price in China edged lower mid-week, pressured by the overall bearish sentiment toward the cobalt market's outlook following an industry event last week.Fastmarkets assessed the Chinese cobalt metal price at 410,000-430,000 yuan per tonne ($23.10-24.22) per lb, China VAT-free, on Wednesday November 14, down 4.5% from 430,000-450,000 yuan per tonne previously. "Following the event...Read More