Last week was a strong one for gold, which managed to eke out its fourth straight week of positive gains. The price of the yellow metal broke above $1,350 an ounce last Friday, while gold miners, as measured by the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, tested their 52-week high.Investors sought safe haven investments on a number of geopolitical risks, including protests in Hong Kong over the now-delayed...Read More
- Stefan GleasonUncle Sam is going broke. That's not exactly news - at least not to anyone who has been paying attention to the sorry state of federal finances.Yet to most Americans, the ballooning national debt ($22.3 trillion and counting) isn't a problem that impacts their daily lives. They won't directly perceive the cost of another trillion dollars in borrowing in the government's next fi...Read More
By Avi GilburtThe amount of discussion I am seeing on television, as well as in print, regarding what the Fed is going to do just amazes me. Are people this oblivious to the realities around them?I really have a hard time understanding this. So, maybe you good people can help me. The Fed was clearly going to continue raising rates this past winter. No one even questioned that. Well, almost no on...Read More
By: Robert LambourneThe statement of account for May 2019 of the Bank for International Settlements, published this week, indicates that the bank is still trading gold swaps, which the bank uses to gain access to gold held by commercial banks. But the statement indicates that bank's recent activity in the gold market is much reduced from its activity during the second half of 2018.There is not e...Read More
- Stewart Thomson, Graceland Updates 1. It's my firm belief that most Americans are living in a fantasy world where a superhero named President Trump is going to negotiate fabulous "America-first" trade deals with cowering governments around the world... and Americans will then magically relive the 1950s with massive GDP growth, even while QE to infinity becomes as American as apple p...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold in an overbought market challenging the high...Read More
Fastmarkets MB will launch a weekly assessment of the South America Galvalume steel coil import price, reported on a US-dollar-per-tonne cfr South America basis.Following the original consultation period for this proposed launch, which ended on May 31 before it was extended by two weeks to June 7, Fastmarkets has decided to launch its Galvalume steel coil import, cfr main ports South America, $ pe...Read More
The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Wilbur Ross said the US Midwest aluminium premium is at inflated levels that do not justify the cost of transportation and logistical handling costs that it was originally designed to reflect. His view is being echoed by a number of...Read More
Prices paid for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe were unchanged this week amid heavily subdued activity while buyers await an expected influx of imports in July, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 19.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe was ?,?495-515 ($555-577) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, unchanged week on week."It's completely ca...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 19 that are worth another look.The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Chinese nickel premiums jumped to record highs, creating expectations that global premiums will follow them higher while metal is d...Read More
The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Wilbur Ross said the US Midwest aluminium premium is at inflated levels that do not justify the cost of transportation and logistical handling costs that it was originally designed to reflect. His view is being echoed by a number of...Read More
A decade ago, the Shanghai Futures Exchange launched its steel rebar futures contract. In the years that followed it has become the gold standard for steel derivatives, achieving a success that other exchanges aspire to emulate. And they are definitely trying, with a total of 11 steel derivatives contracts launched by the main trading exchanges since. SHFE, which launched a wire rod futures contra...Read More
Largo Resources has appointed Paul Vollant as its director of sales and trading, the vanadium producer said on Wednesday June 19.Starting from September 2019, Vollant will lead the development of Largo's sales and trading business, the Toronto-based producer said.Vollant's experience includes the position of general manager of sales and marketing at TNG Limited, Shanghai, where his responsibilitie...Read More
My perspective on the direction of the broader stock markets for the rest of 2019 and 2020 can be summed up as "volatile and unpredictable", a short-term trader's market.The potential news catalysts for the stock market are equally volatile and unpredictable, from Fed rate cut decisions to the twists and turns in the US-China trade dispute.For my money, gold is not only a better but...Read More
The European Commission (EC) imposed definitive safeguard measures on 28 imported steel products in February, replacing the provisional measures that had been in place since July 2018.The EC opened the safeguard case in an attempt to prevent steel shipments being redirected to the EU after the United States imposed import tariffs as part of its Section 232 investigation. Almost one year after the...Read More
Gold rally has attracted far too many bulls for comfort.Gold long positions have dramatically risen while shorts have declined.A pullback or "pause that refreshes" is needed to cool the enthusiasm.Gold has stolen the investment spotlight after a stellar rally which took the continuous contract price to a new 12-month high last week. Consequently, gold is receiving the front-page headline...Read More
Silver miners have been struggling with low prices, and falling ore grades aren't helping. Matt explains...by Matt from Silver Fortune via Silver FortuneSilver miners have been struggling with low prices, and falling ore grades aren't helping...Read More
Zinc's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was subdued at the close of trading on Wednesday June 19, drifting below the nearby $2,500-per-tonne support level after steady inflows and dwindling demand continue to pressure the galvanizing metal's outright price.Additionally, the metal's cash/three-month spread remains in a sizable backwardation - recently at $116.50 per tonne - placing th...Read More
Global demand for corn and soybeans is largely a function of the number of mouths to feed and what those mouths are fed.Corn came close enough to hit our first technical price target of $4.60 per bushel for us to consider our first target reached.Because they require a shorter growing season than corn, soybeans are lagging as farmers plant beans in acres they were unable to plant corn.Gold is maki...Read More
Physical iron ore prices continued to advance on Wednesday June 19 amid big gains in the futures markets following amelioration of trade tensions between China and the United States.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $114.08 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $1.80 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $112.88 per tonne cfr Qingdao,up $1.80 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $115.81 per tonn...Read More