By: Gary SavageThe bullion banks are in jeopardy of being short-squeezed out of their huge short-position, like last year when they lost billions..Gary Savagehttps://blog.smartmoneytrackerpremium.com/Disclaimer:Investing in the financial markets can involve considerable risk. Past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance. The information included in The Smart Money Trac...Read More

"The impacts of the war and the pandemic are hard to disentangle in market and economy charts, but it looks like positive developments in the war...were overshadowed by the pandemic, marking the end of an equity rally..." Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, speaking at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2020 "Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching gra...Read More

By Avi GilburtIn late October and again in November, I began preparing my subscribers for the last rally phase we experienced in the metals complex. I even penned a number of public articles outlining my expectations for the same. In fact, on November 11, I published an article entitled "Gold Is Likely Approaching A Local Bottom." As we now know, gold actually struck its bottom at the time with...Read More

Index futures were getting drubbed Monday night on news that Apple's Q1 revenues will take a hit from coronavirus-related work slowdowns and lower iPhone sales in China. However, it remained to be seen whether this so-far controlled selloff will become an avalanche when stocks open Monday morning. If it were a Sunday night, the FAANG/lunatic stocks would be moving lower in tandem with the E-Mini...Read More

Ability/inability of spot gold to trade over $1600 will decide the trend for gold for the next three week's. Right now the trend is bullish. Silver will break free from $1740-$1810 trading range and form a new range. Copper, crude oil and nickel, boom or bust two days ahead. Right now trend is bullish for copper and nickel. Japan, Eurozone, Singapore, are among the various nations (apart from Ch...Read More

Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 5.3% year on year in January, with the country's steel consumption rising amid price increases, according to national flat steel distributors' association Inda. Shipments amounted to 279,400 tonnes last month, against 265,300 tonnes a year before, Inda said on Tuesday February 18."The market is improving slowly," Inda president Carlos Loure...Read More

Mexican ferrous scrap prices were little changed in the week ended Friday February 14, with most buyers refraining from making any changes after several price cuts in the preceding two weeks.In the country's northern Monterrey region, prices remained stable for four grades, while the price of HMS 1-grade scrap decreased. In the central Baj?-o region, three grades had lower prices, with one remaini...Read More

A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday February 18.Click on...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 18 that are worth another look.Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil fell during the week to February 18 amid a slowdown in domestic trading while downstream sectors gradually return to work.Increasing aluminium inventories pressured China's aluminium price amid, generally, uninterrupted...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices, with the exception of lead, traded down at the close on Tuesday February 18, with any residual optimism capped by negative movements in global equities markets and restrictions in Chinese markets due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.LME nickel futures were the worst hit, trading down 2.2% to close at $12,815 per tonne on the previo...Read More

News of Australian miner Rio Tinto's production cuts amid continued bearish sentiment among Chinese buyers on downstream demand prevented any significant movement in seaborne iron ore prices on Tuesday February 18.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.18 per tonne, down $0.30 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.51 per tonne, down $0.30 per tonne.62% Fe low-a...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were up on Tuesday February 18 with tight seaborne supply driving sentiment, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $155.43 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.58 per tonne, up $3.30 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.01 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $146.95 per tonne, up $4.35 per...Read More

CIS producers of steel billet remained bullish in the week to Tuesday February 18 because of the continuing rise in scrap import prices into Turkey, despite the lack of trading activity.Offers of billet from Ukrainian and Russian mills were mainly heard within the range of $400-405 per tonne fob Black Sea at the beginning of this week, against $395-400 per tonne fob late last week.Meanwhile, offer...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices, with the exception of lead, traded down at the close on Tuesday February 18, with any residual optimism capped by negative movements in global equities markets and restrictions in Chinese markets due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.LME nickel futures were the worst hit, trading down 2.2% to close at $12,815 per tonne on the previo...Read More

Peking Founder, owner of Chinese trader Founder Commodities, has been ordered to restructure just shortly before its bond due date this coming Friday, February 21.The conglomerate said on Tuesday February 18 that one of its creditors, Bank of Beijing, had filed a request to the Beijing No1 Intermediate People's Court for an asset restructure.The bank cited in its application the inability of Pekin...Read More

Indonesia will reduce its nickel ore production by 52% year on year to 25 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) in 2020, according to the Indonesian Nickel Mining Association, while introducing four new domestic smelters to produce ferro-nickel and nickel pig iron (NPI) ahead of the domestic mineral ore export ban this year.Indonesian authorities expect four new smelters to come into production in 2020...Read More

Increasing aluminium inventories pressured China's aluminium price amid, generally, uninterrupted production from aluminium smelters and declining downstream demand as a result of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, several sources told Fastmarkets on Monday February 17.The aluminium price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell to 13,570 yuan ($1,943) per tonne on Monday February 17, down b...Read More

The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was little moved during morning trading on Tuesday February 18, with the largest single inflow in two months having a muted effect on price action, while nickel futures slipped below $13,000 per tonne. The underlying tin price on the LME was recently seen at $16,595 per tonne, while turnover was high at some 215 lots traded as of 9:15am London...Read More

Broader markets, mainly equity indices, have been fairly complacent about the potential negative economic impacts of the coronavirus (2019-nCov). But this morning, Tuesday February 18, that may be changing with Asian equities down across the board as more companies and countries get jittery.Apple warns it will miss its sales target, South Korea warns it is in an emergency situation and calls for "...Read More

Special bar quality (SBQ) steel spot prices in the United States have been weighed down by declining ferrous scrap costs, with demand across most major end markets flat to slightly weak, market participants said.On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US was at $34.50...Read More