Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States held steady while market participants gauged the impact of North American automakers resuming production and the pace of rebound in other steel-dependent manufacturing.Two sheet mill sources said the recent round of price increases has mostly been accepted even though some distributors were slow to restock. For that reason, Jun...Read More
Yum! stock just received an upgrade to "buy" from StifelThe shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) are down 0.9% to trade at $82.51, after the fast food corporation's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 47 cents per share of common stock, which represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis with a yield of 2.3%. The dividend is set to be distributed to shareholders on June 12...Read More
VF Corp's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue both missed analysts' estimates Apparel name VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) just announced its fiscal fourth-quarter results, with earnings and revenue coming in below analysts forecasts. The North Face parent also forecast a more than 50% drop in revenue for its current quarter, with pandemic-related store closures digging into sales, and did not provide a...Read More
The precious metals market did almost nothingyesterday, and consequently we have relatively little to comment on today.There are two subtly bearish signs that we would like to feature, nonetheless.The first subtly bearish sign is the change in theway the USD Index “topped” this month. In early April, and then in late April,the USDX reversed close to the 101 level and then moved lower i...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 277,77134,94335,158126,023404,556438,952474,657 Change from Prior Reporting Period 2,2009,376-4,8525,9782,8753,3267,399 Traders 20445825556290158 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 57,78722,082496,739 3,070-1,0036,396 non reportable positionsChange...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold is thrusting higher and now looking at prior highs, watch these key resistance and breakout levels. Read More
U.S.-China trade tensions are flaring up again tooYesterday's huge comeback is already in the rear-view mirror, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures pointed sharply lower this morning after retail sales plunged to a new record-low of 16.4%, handily worse than the estimated 12.3% drop. Futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also set to open below fair va...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Falling demand, cheaper imports to put pressure on US domestic prices Prices at the start of May were essentially unchanged from April in the seamless OCTG and linepipe markets in the United States, amid minimal market activity. Mills were cutting output rather than prices. Demand, however, was deteriorating faster than supp...Read More
Technical expert Clive Maund explains why he believes gold and silver are powering up for a stratospheric advance.The deflation and depression is right here, right now, and if you don't believe that, try asking some of the 30 million people who just lost their jobs in the U.S., or those who (used to) work in the catering and tourism industries.The Federal Reserve is reacting to this situation by w...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will try to apply price increases to flat steel products next month, to compensate for the recent loss of value of the local currency."With the current value of the dollar [versus the Brazilian Real], a price increase is unavoidable; it is a matter of survival," commercial director Luis Martinez said during the company's first-quarter earn...Read More
A summary of production figures and financial results from Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) for the first quarter of 2020, as stated in its earnings report published on Thursday May 14.In brief CSN's hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and galvanized domestic steel sales fell year on year in the first quarter of 2020, but tinplate and long steel sales were up in the sa...Read More
China's crude steel output was largely flat in April, but finished steel production significantly increased to exceed 100 million tonnes, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday May 15.Steel outputAprilCrude steel: 85.03 million tonnes, up by 0.2% from a year earlier and up by 7.7% month on monthHot metal: 72.02 million tonnes, down 1.2%...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will try to apply price increases to flat steel products next month, to compensate for the recent loss of value of the local currency."With the current value of the dollar [versus the Brazilian Real], a price increase is unavoidable; it is a matter of survival," commercial director Luis Martinez said during the company's first-quarter earn...Read More
By Mike GleasonGold and silver markets are inching closer to achieving major upside breakouts.On Thursday, gold rallied above a near-term consolidation pattern to close at $1,747 an ounce. That put the monetary metal about $30 away from making new highs for the year. As of this Friday recording, gold prices are marching higher again and come in at $1,761, up 2.5% for the week.Turning to silver,...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 277,77134,94335,158126,023404,556438,952474,657 Change from Prior Reporting Period 2,2009,376-4,8525,9782,8753,3267,399 Traders 20445825556290158 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 57,78722,082496,739 3,070-1,0036,396 non reportable positionsChange...Read More
By Gary TanashianSo here we are, with the sector leading the recovery out of the March crash during still-deflationary times. Inflation? It is not yet anywhere to be found, and that probably has a lot of inflation-centric would-be gold boosters on the sidelines. Someday, when these ladies are in full cheer with inflation signals rising, it will be time for caution.Meanwhile, for years we have st...Read More
No Place to Hide: How Market Manipulation in the Age of Pandemic is Destroying Traditional Safe HavensBy Neil VowlesUniversity of Sussex, Brighton, England, UKThursday, May 14, 2020http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/52005The coronavirus pandemic has created enormous volatility in global financial markets but prices of safe-haven assets such as gold and bitcoin are not surging as one might ex...Read More
The major gold miners' stocks have rallied dramatically out of mid-March's stock-panic lows, soaring to new bull-market highs. Their just-reported Q1'20 operational and financial results reveal whether today's higher gold-stock prices are fundamentally justified. They also illuminate whether this gold-stock upleg is likely to continue powering higher, despite the catastrophic economic damage...Read More
By: Ira EpsteinGold is thrusting higher and now looking at prior highs, watch these key resistance and breakout levels. Read More
A diversified portfolio may well prove to be a winning ticket for metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto. This is in stark contrast to the global financial crisis of 2008-09, when an across-the-board hit to demand broadly left diversified miners in the same position as pure-play operators, Tom Albanese said. "When the...Read More