Planet Fitness stock has shed 18% over the past six months aloneShares of fitness chain Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) are moving 1.6% higher in pre-market trading, fresh off an upgrade out of Imperial Capital. The brokerage firm upgraded to "outperform" from "in-line," calling the exercise specialist a "best in class" stock. The analyst also cited notable consumer growth.PLNT has struggled on th...Read More

China may not be ready to sign any type of trade agreementDow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading below fair value this morning. Stocks look set to cool from last week's trade-induced rally, with Bloomberg reporting that China may want more talks later this month with the U.S. before it formally commits to any type of deal. Aside from trade buzz, there's little else on the schedule...Read More

The 14 level could come into play for the VIX in the near term"Since late April, when the SPX touched 2,950 after going pretty much straight up since the December low, the action can best be described as 'messy,' with a range mostly between 2,850 and 3,000...Expect more of the same in the coming weeks - 'messy action' in equity benchmarks. A plethora of uncertainties has been thrown at market pa...Read More

As the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel imports enter the second half of their second year, ferrous markets across the globe are still reeling from their effects.The tariffs - imposed after a year-long Section 232 investigation into whether imports of steel, as well as aluminium, posed a national security risk to the US - were vaunted as policies to safeguard the country's domestic indu...Read More

Tom Bird, the head of Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), will leave his position as the chief operating officer of Chiho Environmental Group in November, Fastmarkets learned on Sunday October 13.Chiho Environmental is China's largest scrap metal recycling company. It runs 700 yards globally with extensive operations in the recycling of ferrous...Read More

The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday October 14, falling by more than 4% over the afternoon against high turnover while the majority of the base metals complex followed that downtrend.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16,600 per tonne, falling by more than 4% from an intraday high of $17,545 per tonne, while more than...Read More

Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA)."At first, no company is really aiming to charge a higher premium for 'greener' aluminium," CBA's primary aluminium director Luis Jorge Nunes told Fastmarkets in an exclusive...Read More

Pig iron export prices from the south of Brazil were stable during the week ended Friday October 11, because suppliers have sold out all the available material until mid-December.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $275-280 per tonne on October 11, stable week on week."Suppliers are sold out and have availability only for mid-December," o...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in London, New York and Shanghai for the week ended Friday October 11.EuropeKey drivers European prices for grade 4-4-1 and grade 5-5-3 silicon edged down by 1.6% and 2% respectively after deals were concluded at lower levels. The silicon market has experienced slightly more activity both in the week to October 11 and the week before, with some traders taking pos...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 14 that are worth another look.Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA).The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) will advocate for a Ch...Read More

Consolidation looms but risks loom larger.Gold continues to beat expectations.Gold's top producers showcase impressive developments.Consolidation Looms but Risks Loom Larger Since June, the gold price has enjoyed a relentless advance of over $250 per ounce, to a six-year high of $1,557 on September 4, then spent the rest of September consolidating around the $1,500 level. The gold price found...Read More

Tom Bird, the head of Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), will leave his position as the chief operating officer of Chiho Environmental Group in November, Fastmarkets learned on Sunday October 13.Chiho Environmental is China's largest scrap metal recycling company. It runs 700 yards globally with extensive operations in the recycling of ferrous...Read More

There has been a significant rise in the number of Western Australian alumina cargoes imported into China over the past few weeks due to a widening arbitrage that has made it profitable to bring overseas material into the country. Market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 14 that they have heard a number of negotiations taking place to bring cargoes of Australian alumina into China. The la...Read More

As the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel imports enter the second half of their second year, ferrous markets across the globe are still reeling from their effects.The tariffs - imposed after a year-long Section 232 investigation into whether imports of steel, as well as aluminium, posed a national security risk to the US - were vaunted as policies to safeguard the country's domestic indu...Read More

The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday October 14, falling by more than 4% over the afternoon against high turnover while the majority of the base metals complex followed that downtrend.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16,600 per tonne, falling by more than 4% from an intraday high of $17,545 per tonne, while more than...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices moved up on Monday October 14 after Chinese end users returned to the spot market for the first time after a holiday in the first week of the month to mark China's National Day.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.62 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.36 per tonne, up $4.86 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.13...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices strengthened on Monday October 14 amid steady demand, making export transactions challenging even though the country reached some form of a truce with the United States last Friday amid an ongoing trade spat.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,600 yuan ($505-508) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,550 yuan per tonne, up 30 y...Read More

Tungsten prices in Europe and China rose again last week, attributed to continued bullish sentiment following the successful auction of Fanya ammonium paratungstate stocks at the end of last month. The Chinese ammonium paratungstate export price was pushed up last week by higher offers and a rise in the upstream tungsten concentrate price in China after market participants returned from a week-lon...Read More

Deep-sea scrap import prices in the Turkish market increased in the latest bookings heard for November shipments, sources said on Monday October 14.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo on Monday, comprising 40,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $237 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region also booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20)...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 14 that are worth another look.Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA).The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) will advocate for a Ch...Read More