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
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
Turkish steel producers made more bookings of deep-sea scrap for March shipment, with prices strengthening further on firm demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 18.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10) at $282.50 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $285 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $290 per tonne cfr.This com...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
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
Ukraine's largest producer of long steel, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR), is currently bringing its new continuous casting machine No3 (CCM No3) to designed capacity, the company announced on Monday February 17."We already produce 150mm billet at CCM No3 and will start production of 130mm billet soon, " a company source told Fastmarkets.The equipment addition is part of a company project to repla...Read More
Prices for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates were stable in the week to Tuesday February 18, with demand remaining weak because buyers wanted to wait and see the direction of prices, market sources said.Scrap prices have been increasing recently following steep falls since mid-January, so some buyers believe billet and rebar prices may also recover, if demand picks up.Fastmarkets'...Read More
Matt Geiger of MJG Capital examines the investment thesis for royalty companies during the current precious metals market upswing. Gold barsPerhaps the most significant development in the mining industry over the past twenty years has been the rise of the royalty business model. For those unfamiliar, a royalty is the right to receive a percentage of production from a given mining operation most o...Read More
Technical analyst Clive Maund takes a hard look at various charts and sees an impending breakdown of commodity and tech markets. In this update we are going to review a small but important range of commodities and lead indicators that strongly suggest the seemingly endless bull market in U.S. equities is living on borrowed time and will end sooner rather than later. Given how long it has lasted a...Read More
Gold futures logged their highest settlement in nearly seven yearsThe Dow kicked off the holiday-shortened week with a third-straight loss. The blue-chip index finished down triple digits, gripped by Apple (AAPL) and the dire coronavirus warning against its guidance. The S&P 500closed in the red as well, while theNasdaq pared its losses to finish in the black, although tech stocks and Apple suppl...Read More
Domino's Pizza is expected to report earnings ahead of the bell this ThursdayRestaurant name Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) has been on a tear in recent weeks. Since staging a sharp bounce off its 100-day moving average in early February, the equity has added almost 10%. Today, the stock is climbing even higher, up 1.1% to trade at $294.80, on pace for its fifth straight win and just within strik...Read More
Tailwind-inducing upgrades may be aheadBack in October Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) stock gapped higher, and for months the shares traded in a tight sideways pattern. That was until earlier this month when the equity broke out to fresh highs, potentially foreshadowing an even stronger move higher -- which would only add to FAST's nearly 23% gain over the past year. It also helps that heavy call...Read More
Options traders may be selling to open their calls todayOne stock bucking the broad market trend today is Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND), up 3.7% to trade at $120.50, although the catalyst is unknown. With the faux meat concern now up a whopping 61% in 2020, options traders are getting in on the action today. At last check, 47,000 calls have changed hands, 1.2 times the average intraday amount a...Read More
Apple's revenue warning is slamming the semiconductor spaceThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is extending this morning's losses, and is now eyeing its third straight skid as Apple's (AAPL) coronavirus-related quarterly revenue warning continues to spook Wall Street. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) is taking a hit, with the semiconductor sector badly shaken by Apple's announcem...Read More
WMT is up 19% year-over-yearBlue chip Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) stepped into the earnings confessional this morning, and the results left a lot to be desired. The retail giant reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $1.38 per share on $141.67 billion in revenue, both of which fell short of estimates. Walmart's full-year forecast also missed the mark, citing an upcoming stagnation of e-commerce...Read More
Portfolio insurance through options could help during market confusionThe last time I wrote in this space, I mentioned we could see a buyable pullback, and we got such a pullback a week later after January OPEX. If you remember, I mentioned there was a considerable gap between implied volatility and historical volatility spread, which is usually a precursor to volatility events. But it can be extr...Read More
Disappointing earnings are shattering MDT todayMedical equipment name Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) is moving lower this morning, suffering on the heels of a disappointing third-quarter revenue in response to the heightened impact of the coronavirus. Outbreak-based headwinds is nothing new for stocks, as just this morning Apple (AAPL) sent the Dow spiraling on its own revenue warning. In response, MDT...Read More
Demand for passenger cars in the EU dropped by 7.50% year-on-year in January 2020, following four consecutive months of recovery.New car sales in Europe totalled 956,779 vehicles in Janaury 2020, compared with 1,034,407 units sold in the corresponding month of 2019, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Tuesday February 18.The...Read More
Keybanc downgraded Tencent to "sector weight" from "overweight"The shares of China-based streaming specialist Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) are down 3% to trade at $12.75 following a downgrade from Keybanc to "sector weight" from "overweight." The analyst pointed to regulatory headwinds surrounding its lucky draw feature, and ongoing competition from the short video sector. The bea...Read More