Why Shale wasonce Viable at $45WTI but it’s not anymore. That’s why OPEC can dictate theprice again.Some shale operators now saythey can’t make money at $55; so they are cutting-back. But in 2017 when WTI averaged$50; output-growth was 60% higher than today. How come?In 2015, five-hundred frac-spreads,bought and paid for; some from profits, many at fire-sale; were idle; so day-ra...Read More

Teaser: Let’s face it, we live in a world of radical uncertainty. Yet we’re supposed to make perfectly rational decisions – so, how do we cope with the unknown? We tell narratives, and form our decisions around them! Let’s explore the narratives in the financial markets for it reveals their importance to the gold market. Let’s face it, we live in a world of radical un...Read More

In the 1986 classic ‘Platoon’, Charlie Sheen’s character Chris Taylor tells everyone that he dropped out of college to serve in the Vietnam War. This sets him apart from the other grunts and makes Taylor seem noble and patriotic, giving up school to go fight in a war. But his credo is soon shot down by a black soldier nick-named King, played by Keith David, who tells him:  &...Read More

The Fed has published thismonth the newest edition of its Financial Stability Report. Generally speaking, the level of vulnerabilities in the financialsystem has moved little since the publication of the May edition of the report.The most of the US central banks’ observations are reassuring: investorappetite for risk generally appears to have returned to a level in the middleof its historica...Read More

Money manager Adrian Day looks at three junior resource companies whose stocks are down significantly in the past few months, and attributes some of this to tax-loss selling. He also lists a handful of companies he believes are best buys right now. Vista Gold Corp. (VGZ:NYSE.MKT; VGZ:TSX, US$0.59) has published an updated prefeasibility study (PFS) on its Mt Todd project in the Northern Territorie...Read More

Central banks’ purchases and repatriations of goldhave caught our attention once again. In October, Serbia’s central bank bought 9 tons of gold, following in thefootsteps of many other central banks that have been adding to their goldreserves recently, including Russia, Hungary, and Poland. Nine tons may seem to be a modest purchase, but thetransaction was worth $438 million at $1,503...Read More

Goldreversed yesterday, and so did the rest of the precious metal sector.Mining stocks and – what’s important – silver showed strength relative to goldand rallied even more than gold. Silver’s strength is important because itindicates that we are already in the second half of the short-term upswing inthe precious metals market. If there only was a tool that would provide us...Read More

The precious metals sector remains in a correction. The miners have shown some positive signs but are not ready to move yet because the metals likely have more correction ahead. Technical support levels can provide us with low risk buy opportunities but combine that with sentiment data and we increase our odds of success. One reason why the sector is stuck in a correction is because the net specul...Read More

Low prices fix low prices, and eventually the shorts will be forced to cover and buy back their shares and force prices higher. This sector is 'this close' to such and event.Both Hurst cycles and Wyckoff supply and demand action are warming up to the bullish side for the energy sector (XLE). This is on the back of growing inflation fears. Inflation sourced from wage growth in the US and world...Read More

This analysis continues from part 1 (Silver Trend Forecast 2019 Update ).Gold Silver RatioThe Gold / Silver ratio has continued to trend lower, currently standing at 83.8, which implies to expect the Silver price to continue to out perform Gold over the coming months. So whilst Silver is no longer the SCREAMING BUY it was when trading at a ratio of 95, nevertheless is still CHEAP! Whilst we can d...Read More

The spread between the 65% and 62% Fe iron ore markets widened last month amid improved profits among Chinese steelmakers and supply issues for Iron Ore Carajas fines.The gap between Fastmarkets' 65% and 62% Fe iron ore indices has held above $10 per tonne since November 8, reclaiming the mark after largely hovering below that since late June. The gap had earlier been above $10 per tonne beginning...Read More

Tin ended higher on the London Metal Exchange on Friday December 6, closing above $17,000 per tonne for the first time since September.Copper also closed positively, ending just below $6,000 per tonne. The three-month tin price finished at $17,075 per tonne, up by 1.7% on Thursday's close. Turnover was high at around 475 lots by the close, the most since November 21.The metal ignored LME tin stock...Read More

Stability remained the theme of the seaborne coking coal market at the end of the week, with little interest in buying activity outside of China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $136.21 per tonne, down $0.58 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $147.22 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.33 per tonne, up $0.50 per tonne ...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange continued the previous day's momentum during morning trading on Friday December 6, bolstered by a fresh cancellation of 3,642 tonnes, while the zinc price rose slightly from Thursday's close but remains broadly rangebound. The LME three-month nickel price was recently at $13,425 per tonne, climbing more than 1% against Thursday's closing pr...Read More

SD Friday Wrap: Despite the "good for gold" jobs report, and despite copper & crude oil break-outs, the bottom has fallen out of silver...Editor's Note -This shootout thing in Florida is bothering me for some reason.A couple questions come to mind, for now, though I'm really trying to not think about it, or spend any more time on it:Did the "bad guys" even fire any shots?How many rounds did the po...Read More

The price of grade-304 stainless steel flat products in Europe fell significantly over the past week on substantially lower monthly alloy surcharges for December, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 6.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade-304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?2,130-2,150 ($2,363-2,385) per tonne on Friday...Read More

The price of austenitic alloy steel scrap fell this week after further losses in the nickel market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 6. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, ?720-780 ($946-1,025) per tonne on Friday, down ?,?20-30 per tonne week on...Read More

The spot premium for copper rod in the United States has risen for the first time since January, driven by a higher copper cathode premium for 2020 annual contracts.Fastmarkets assessed the copper rod premium, ddp Midwest US, at 16-18 cents per lb on Thursday December 5, up by 1 cent from 15-17 cents per lb previously and the first increase since January 3.The gain is due to the increase...Read More

Mining company AfriTin Mining has raised ?3.8 million ($5 million) through the establishment of an unsecured convertible loan note agreement with Switzerland-based trading house AfriMet Resources, the company said on November 26.The agreement was made for a total amount of ?3.8 million, in which the notes are allocated at a value of ?100,000 each under 18-month terms, and will hold an interest...Read More

Tin ended higher on the London Metal Exchange on Friday December 6, closing above $17,000 per tonne for the first time since September.Copper also closed positively, ending just below $6,000 per tonne. The three-month tin price finished at $17,075 per tonne, up by 1.7% on Thursday's close. Turnover was high at around 475 lots by the close, the most since November 21.The metal ignored LME tin stock...Read More