(IDEX Online) - Sightholder Mouawad has unveiled the $5 million crown created for the Miss Universe competition. The 18-karat gold creation, called The Miss Universe Power of Unity Crown, is set with over 1,770 white diamonds. The headpiece also features three yellow diamonds from Botswana including a 62.83-carat shield-cut canary yellow stone at its center. Through its partnership with...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices regained some strength on Monday December 9 amid some supply tightness and an overall pick-up in trading activity in the ferrous market after the Dalian Commodity Exchange launched its iron ore options.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,810-3,820 yuan ($541-543) per tonne, up 50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,670 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneTradi...Read More

(IDEX Online) - David Yurman has opened its New York flagship store. The 5,000 square-foot location spans three floors on East 57th Street.The store, described by cofounder Sybil Yurmn as "an emporium," offers David Yurman products across all categories, including high jewelry, women's, men's, wedding and watches and a curated assortment of limited-edition pieces exclusive to the 57th St...Read More

Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia rose during the week to Monday December 9 despite concerns that a potential supply glut could emerge after United States President Donald Trump threatened to restore tariffs on steel imports from Argentina and Brazil.Sources told Fastmarkets that the uptrend in prices has already been disrupted by concerns that Brazilian steelmakers may...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore climbed over the past week because of slight pick-up in buying interest, reflecting continued increases in the costs of steelmaking raw materials.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore, which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis, was at $435-440 per tonne in the week to M...Read More

Suppliers raised their offers for hot-rolled coil into Vietnam over the past week but ran into thin demand from buyers.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel HRC import, cfr Vietnam, which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm re-rolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products sold into Vietnam, was $465-470 per tonne cfr Vietnam for the week ending Monday December 9, up $3-8 per tonne from $457-467 per tonn...Read More

Iron ore sales volumes from Chilean producer Compa???-a de Acero de Pac?-fico (CAP) are poised to fall by roughly 30% year on year in 2019, as shipments from Guacolda port took longer than expected to resume following an accident in November 2018.Full-year shipments are expected to total 9-10 million tonnes, down by 29-36% from 14 million tonnes in 2018, CAP said on Friday December 6. Early in 201...Read More

Turkish steel producers stayed out of the deep-sea scrap market on Friday December 6 after booking several cargoes earlier in the week to push prices up by more than $10 per tonne since Monday, sources told Fastmarkets.No new cargoes have been booked or come to light during the last two days of the working week. On Monday, it emerged that a steel mill in the Marmara region had booked a U...Read More

The mid-grade seaborne price rose above the $90-per-tonne mark on Monday December 9, for the first time since November 25, while Chinese futures saw strong gains on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.93 per tonne, up $4.87 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.02 per tonne, up $4.87 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingd...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were largely steady on Monday December 9, with buying activity from China setting the direction and pushing cfr China prices marginally higher.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $136.21 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $149 per tonne, up $1.78 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.33 per tonne, unchangedH...Read More

Pig iron export prices from Brazil increased again on continued sales to China in the week to Friday December 6, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio was $305-310 per tonne on Friday, up from $302-303 per tonne a week earlier.One cargo of around 40,000 tonnes of pig iron was sold to...Read More

A strong United States employment report at the end of last week gave most markets something to be cheerful about and that has flowed through into Asian trading on Monday December 9.Trading is likely to remain nervous this week while the manufacturing sector prepares for the holiday season and businesses focus on whether US President Donald Trump follows through with his threat to put 15% tariffs...Read More

Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets were largely steady last week, though premiums gained some strength.ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly index for iron ore 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao was at $103.99 per tonne last Friday December 6, little changed from $104.11 per tonne a week earlier.The daily Fastmarkets index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao averaged $100....Read More

China's domestic rebar prices picked up on Monday December 9 amid rising iron ore and coke futures.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,900-3,930 yuan ($554-558) per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,640-3,680 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneThe Dalian Commodity Exchange launched iron ore options during the day, which stimulated trading activity for the steelmaking raw materials' f...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 2 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at U.S.75.45 cents following release of Canada's November Housing Starts report. Consensus was an increase to 205,000 from 202,000 in October. Actual was 201,300.Carnival added $0.18 to $44.95 after JP Morgan raised its target price to $48 from...Read More

Today's environment is drastically different than it was in the late '70's and early '80s when inflation was nearly out of control. Today, disinflation is the primary challenge central banks face, not inflation.It's impossible to imagine another Volcker today. Today's markets depend on the artificially low interest rates that the Fed's been generating since 2009. Raising interest rates would dev...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe for the week ended Friday December 6.ChinaKey drivers The price of antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, dipped for the fifth consecutive week in the week ended December 6 after some suppliers adjusted their offer prices down further in an attempt to destock and generate cash amid persistently weak buying interest.Many domestic antimony...Read More

One of the most important figures in the history of U.S. monetary policy, Paul Volcker, died Sunday at the age of 92.Volcker is famous for having raised interest rates all the way to 20% in June 1981, the highest rates since the Civil War.His actions are widely credited for ending the great inflation of the 1970s and setting the stage for the Reagan economy of the '80s (although his sky-high rates...Read More

Dear Rich Lifer,It's been a few weeks since the Paradigm Shift Summit went down in New York, and I've already covered a few of the many ideas and concepts I shared at that awesome event.But there's one I haven't yet touched on... and it started with a question from one of the audience members.The Set UpI had just finished outlining how several of my favorite Social Security strategies were no long...Read More

Prices for cobalt stabilized during the first week of December, with sellers less open to accepting cheaper bids than they had been in November, although spot trade remained slow. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam settled at $15.75-16.20 per lb on Friday December 6, narrowing downward by 10 cents from $15.75-16.30 per lb on Wednesday December 4.Prices f...Read More