U.S.-China trade officials will meet in Washington, D.C., later this weekThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is trading just below breakeven at midday, but has pared sharper losses from the morning. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) have climbedinto the black, though, after earlier being down on reports of China's reluctance to hammer out a trade dealin Washington, D.C., la...Read More

After a September earnings disappointment, Adobe stock just met up with a key supportive trendlineShares of technology powerhouse Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) are just about flat in today's session, trading fractionally higher at $277.21. The stock is down about 10.9% from its July 26 closing high of $311.27, with the pullback exacerbated by a negative earnings reaction in mid-September. However, ADBE...Read More

The markets for ferro-chrome with both high carbon and low carbon (0.10% C) content ticked upward in the week ended Friday October 4, with support from low supply volumes coming into the spot market. High- and low-carbon alloy prices rise in Europe Imported alloy price in China increases Domestic alloy price rolled over in China US alloy market stable.Prices for high and low carbon (0.10% C) ferro...Read More

Both NVDA and AAPL could be sensitive to the U.S.-China trade talks this weekThe shares of Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are trading up 2.5% this morning at $186.61 after RBC's price-target hike to $217 from $190, which was based off the firm's bullish view of NVDA's gaming and data center businesses. The chip stock has now jumped more than 18% in the past three months and is pacing for its hig...Read More

J.P. Morgan Securities and Cowen both like 10X Genomics Wall Street newbie 10X Genomics Inc (NASDAQ:TXG) is in focus after not one, but two analysts initiated coverage on the biotech this morning. Specifically, Cowen started following TXG with a "buy" rating, and a $55 price target, while J.P. Morgan Securities began coverage with an "overweight" rating, also giving the equity a $55 price target....Read More

UBER has recently seen resistance from its 30-dayRide-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) is up 1.5% this morning at $30.11,after receiving an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at Citigroup. The brokerage firm waxed optimistic on third-quarter results and growth for the second half of 2019, despite legal troubles the company has endured.Though it's still early, today's gains puts Uber...Read More

GE said it would freeze pensions of around 20,000 employeesGeneral Electric Company (NYSE:GE) stock is down 0.4% at $8.54, after the industrial conglomerate said it would freeze pension plans for around 20,000 salaried U.S. employees. The move comes as part of the company's broader plan to lower its pension deficit by up to $8 billion.It's been a rough stretch for GE since a late-September rejecti...Read More

The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday October 7, topping a broadly lackluster base metals complex amid low turnover, while zinc's benchmark cash/three-month spread narrowed over the afternoon.Aluminium futures closed at $1,746 per tonne in the afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $1,714 per tonne, while some 10,100 lots wer...Read More

Asa technical trader, one has to really learn to appreciate when a trade“reloads” for another move higher.  Much like the Gold base/bottom inApril 2019 below $1300 that we called back in October 2018.  When a trendconfirms and we can see the potential for upside profits, but price performs a“deep pullback” withing that initial trend setup – it is almost like...Read More

The CIS export billet market became firmer early in the week following a stabilization of prices in the scrap market as well as fresh billet bookings agreed at higher prices, Fastmarkets heard on Monday October 7.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $352 per tonne on October 7, up by $1 per tonne from Friday.A 50,000-tonnes cargo of Ukraine-origin billet was repor...Read More

The European ferro-silicon market was unchanged despite a lower fourth-quarter deal being done in the week ended Friday October 4 because suppliers are waiting for further quarterly deals for delivery up to January before making any decision on their offer prices for prompt shipment. European suppliers hold offer prices European demand slower than usual, more Q4 business expected US mar...Read More

XENT has now shed 45% in 2019Near the bottom of the Nasdaq this morning sits Intersect ENT Inc (NASDAQ:XENT), down 11.3% to trade at $15.06. This comes after the medical device maker's drug-coated balloon treatment for sinus dilation failed its main goals in a study. This is pacing to be XENT's worst single-session drop since an earnings-induced bear gap on Aug. 2. The shares bounced from their...Read More

There are a number of analyst notes worth monitoring this morningU.S. stock futures are pointing to a modestly lower open for equities today. There's little on the trading schedule as far as earnings and economic updates go, leaving traders to focus on the U.S.-China trade talks scheduled for later in the week. Over the weekend, a Bloomberg report indicated Beijing may not agree to a broad trade d...Read More

A VIX close above 20 could enhance the odds of a volatility spike"A VIX breakout above 18.00 coincident with the SPX closing below 2,950 could set up a retest of the August lows in the 2,850 area. A worst-case scenario for bulls would be the SPX again retesting its year-over-year breakeven level, which has been the theme of many pullbacks during 2019. The October 2018 closing low was at 2,641, whi...Read More

By now, everyone and their brother has heard aboutthe yield curve inversion. How come it has inverted and how much should we readinto it? Is it really such a reliable indicator of an upcoming recession? Let’sdig into the true causes behind the inversion and find out what its meaning forthe gold market. Is the yield curve inverted? Well, it depends. Although the spreadbetween the U.S. 10-year...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 7 that are worth another look.Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia were stable over the past week due to sluggish trading activity amid a week-long holiday in China to mark the country's 70th anniversary.Chinese cobalt producer GEM Co Ltd has signed a cobalt supply contract with Switzerland-based m...Read More

The gold miners’ stocksare correcting.  They’ve been sliding anddrifting lower on balance since their powerful recent upleg peaked a month ago.  Corrections are normal and healthy in ongoingbull markets, rebalancing sentiment to pave the way for the next upleg.  They also offer the best buy-low opportunitiesseen inside secular uptrends.  Deployingcapital in gold sto...Read More

"It came with a speed and ferocity that left men dazed. The bottom, simply fell out of the market... The streets were crammed with a mixed crowd agonized little speculators, sold-out traders... inquisitive individuals and tourists seeking ... a closer view of the national catastrophe...Where was it going to end?" account of stock market crash in the New York Times, October 1929 "In this age...Read More

Dave KranzlerOn October 4th, as I expected would happen, the Fed announced that it was extending its overnight and term repo operations out to November 26th (the November 12th two-week term repo matures on the 26th).The Fed added 7 more 2-week "term repos, " plus a 6-day "term repo," with the next three operations upped to $45 billion. It extended the overnight repos until at least November...Read More

StrengthsThe best performing metal this week was gold, up 0.51 percent. Gold traders and investors are positive on future gold prices in this weeks' Bloomberg survey. For the first time in a month the gold bulls outnumbered the combined bearish and neutral responses. ETFs added 39,919 troy ounces of gold to their holdings on Thursday, marking the 14th straight day of inflows, according to Bloomb...Read More