Keith Weiner, Monetary MetalsThe basic idea behind the Quantity Theory of Money could be stated as: too much money supply is chasing too little goods supply, so prices rise. We have debunked this from several angles. For example, we can use a technique that every first year student in physics is expected to know. Dimensional analysis looks at the units on both sides of an equation.Money supply...Read More

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:Our friend J.D. writes today:"I write regarding the interesting response you received from Shawn Elizabeth Phillips, corporate secretary at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, by e-mail dated November 13, 2019:http://www.gata.org/node/19583"The New York Fed's response points to purported Dodd-Frank law rules prohibiting disclosing for two years of the identities of...Read More

The next two weeks are big global economic data days and central banks meetings (including FOMC). Eastern European central banks have started increasing gold reserves. Those central banks whose gold have been stored in vaults in UK have started to repatriate their gold or have given their intention to take back their gold. But bank of England is not giving gold to South American nations. This wi...Read More

The 62% Fe iron ore market trended lower in November, with prices falling 5.5% month on month, while the 65% price fell 1% from October. Traded volumes in the 65% Fe derivatives contract on the Singapore Exchange, which is settled against Fastmarkets' daily 65% Fe iron ore index, were 2.27 million tonnes in November, the second-highest total since its launch in December 2018. Open interest on Nove...Read More

United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2. "Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the tariffs on all steel and aluminium that is ship...Read More

David Becker5 hours ago (Dec 02, 2019 7:50 PM GMT)Gold prices whipsawed and formed a doji day with a long tail as prices initially moved lower but rebounded following a softer than anticipated US ISM manufacturing report. The data helped put pressure on the US yields which weighed on the US dollar paving the way for gold to remain buoyed. Traders will now focus on the US employment report which is...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 2 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2.A major Japanese steel mill plans to raise its hot-rolled coil offers to Asian buyers by $50 per tonne on a cfr b...Read More

Christopher Lewis8 hours ago (Dec 02, 2019 5:11 PM GMT)Gold markets initially pulled back during the trading session on Monday, but then bounced in order to form a bit of a hammer. At this point in time it looks as if the $1450 level continues to be a massive support of level, as we have seen the market bounce from there a couple of different times. This is also the top of an ascending triangle th...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States went up slightly on consistently and firmly higher offer prices at mills, but the market was largely unchanged compared with the short working week before the national Thanksgiving holiday, celebrated Thursday November 28.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.79 per hundredweight ($555.80 per short ton) on...Read More

Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas will increase domestic steel prices by an additional 5% in January 2020, following a previous notification of a 5% hike to be implemented in the fourth quarter this year.The company saw the opportunity to raise its flat-steel prices amid the unfavorable currency exchange for imports in the country and the current global uptrend, commercial vice president Miguel Homes...Read More

From Monday February 3, 2020, Fastmarkets will publish its price assessments for standard and alloy-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, on a daily basis.Here, Fastmarkets summarizes the feedback received as part of an extensive market consultation and details how that feedback informed the conclusion to increase the publication frequency of its benchmark price assessments.Purely in number, responses s...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 2 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2.A major Japanese steel mill plans to raise its hot-rolled coil offers to Asian buyers by $50 per tonne on a cfr b...Read More

Michael Seery10 hours ago (Dec 02, 2019 2:41 PM GMT)I had been recommending a bearish position in the December contract from around the 1,460 level as it is time to exit due to expiration as prices are right near 1,457 while rolling over into the February contract at 1,464 and if you took that trade continue to place the stop loss above the 10 day high standing at the November 20th high of 1,486 a...Read More

Base metals' three-month prices on the London Metal Exchange were buoyed by a weaker US dollar index, despite negative macro sentiment brought on by weaker-than-expected US data at the close on Monday December 2.The US dollar index traded down 0.46% at 97.42 this afternoon, exacerbating already negative macro sentiment from poor data in the region.The United States purchasing managers index (PMI)...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were somewhat subdued during morning trading on Monday December 2 while a strong US dollar index, trading up by 0.08% at 98.35 at the same time, had a dampening effect on trading volumes.This despite the release of better-than-expected data from China this morning that showed the country's manufacturing sector was in expansionary territory in No...Read More

The demand outlook for the metals has improved now that two of China's manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMI) showed manufacturing was in expansion mode. The state PMI moved back above 50 for the first time in seven months in November and the Caixin manufacturing PMI has now shown month-on-month gains for four consecutive months.Asian equities are showing gains this morning, led by a 1.0...Read More

Slab prices in the CIS region continued to increase over the past week supported by the positive mood in finished flat steel products both inside the region and in some of the outlet customers' markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $380-385 per tonne on Monday December 2, up from $370-375 per tonne on Monday last week.In Turkey, offers of CIS-...Read More

Fastmarkets will publish its price assessments for standard and alloy-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, on a daily basis from Monday February 3, 2020.Join members of Fastmarkets' editorial and pricing team for a discussion on the results from its recent consultation on cobalt pricing frequency, insights from Fastmarkets' pricing database and details on the practicalities of daily cobalt pricing. Cli...Read More

Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) increased at the end of November, with the market busy discussing annual contracts and deals.The Fastmarkets copper concentrates TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific ports was $53.5 per tonne/5.35 cents per lb on November 29, up from $52.2/5.22 cents on November 22.Although some miners and smelters are yet to conclude annual contra...Read More

Base metals' three-month prices on the London Metal Exchange were buoyed by a weaker US dollar index, despite negative macro sentiment brought on by weaker-than-expected US data at the close on Monday December 2.The US dollar index traded down 0.46% at 97.42 this afternoon, exacerbating already negative macro sentiment from poor data in the region.The United States purchasing managers index (PMI)...Read More