Micron posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations Semiconductor specialist Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is brushing off this morning's broad-market selloff after stepping into the earnings confessional. The equity is up 4.7% at $44.50 in pre-market trading after the firm posted fiscal-second quarter profits of 45 cents per share, and $4.80 billion in revenue, exceed...Read More

Weekly jobless claims surged to a record 3.28 million last weekFutures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are looking at triple-digit losses at the open, while Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are also swimming in red ink ahead of the bell. The record-setting surge in weekly jobless claims to 3.28 million is sending stock futures lower, right on the heels of an i...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday March 26 that are worth another look.China's electric-arc furnace mills have gradually raised production rates in the past three weeks following stronger demand for steel products.A major aluminium producer has concluded multiple deals with Japanese consumers for April-June delivery to main Japanese ports (MJP) at a premium on a c...Read More

The Chinese domestic portside manganese ore market has fallen into stasis this week with many ore traders refraining from making offers following the news that all miners in South Africa were required to shut down operations from Thursday March 26.The shutdown order was part of the country's efforts to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the region.South Africa will enter a 21-day nationw...Read More

Gary Christenson, The Deviant InvestorBreaking news: The Wall Street casino created another all-time high for the Dow during the week ending February 14. Then it fell 35% in March.The "pickle" description is explained below. Stay tuned.The Federal Reserve is monetizing bonds directly funding the federal deficit because congress and the administration spend more than their revenues. The coming re...Read More

David Haggith The soup lines hadn't formed yet. Jobs had not even noticeably started to dry up, but they weren't as easy to find anymore. You had to be angry to quit without having a better job firmly in hand. Stocks were climbing furiously above an economy that had been slowly ebbing away since summer. Sales were down for months, so revenues were down for months, and profits were down. Funding...Read More

Rick Ackerman, Rick's PicksThe U.S. dollar took a massive hit in stride following last week's announcement of a $6 trillion bailout package. The news caused the greenback as measured by the Dollar Index (DXY) to fall by just a few points from recent highs. The dollar's seemingly inexplicable strength is a harbinger of the catastrophic debt deflation I've been warning about for many years, since...Read More

Keith Weiner, Monetary MetalsHeadline's gone wild today. For example, one public gold company CEO tweeted:"Today, some banks failed to deliver physical in the COMEX bar EFP. As a result, these banks suffered large losses...There remains a big shortage in physical in the COMEX denomination. So, rumors are, the COMEX will announce a force majeure..."Ignoring his sloppy understanding of the market...Read More

There is an old saying in Hindi "Jab tak hai sona roona kaabhi nahi roona". This is means that if you and your family own lots and lots physical gold (sona), they will never face any financial hardship in life. Forget the dash for cash. It is now the dash for physical gold. It is the dash for physical silver. You cannot buy gold. You can buy physical silver. Indians can buy silver July futures....Read More

The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was much reduced in the week to Thursday March 26, sources told Fastmarkets, despite a resumption of sales to China."Industrial activity has rebounded rapidly there and pig iron demand has been boosted," one exporter from the CIS said. "The price [in dollars] has reduced, but the devaluation of the Russian rouble has...Read More

The ferro-tungsten market in Europe fell by 9.9% to a two-month low in the first half of this week, with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to reduce demand for tungsten products.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for ferro-tungsten, basis 75% W, in-whs dup Rotterdam, dropped to $31.50-32.50 per kg on Wednesday March 25, down from the previous week's assessment at $35-36 per kg. The...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday March 26 that are worth another look.China's electric-arc furnace mills have gradually raised production rates in the past three weeks following stronger demand for steel products.A major aluminium producer has concluded multiple deals with Japanese consumers for April-June delivery to main Japanese ports (MJP) at a premium on a c...Read More

Metals, mining and alloy producers have been scenario-planning in response to the novel coronavirus. The South African government appears to have just removed all but one option.President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the country's mineral resources industry to shut underground mines and furnaces from Thursday March 26, unless they can be operated remotely. The shutdown will last for three weeks an...Read More

The 2019-nCoV pandemic is definitely a black swan event, one which nobody saw coming. Global business sentiment has taken a massive hit, with major industries grinding to a halt on travel bans, quarantine orders and border controls. Major airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways have grounded their fleets, stock markets have collapsed with exchanges closing and tourism is taking a pun...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has closed its open outcry trading floor and is using its electronic trading platform for price discovery as a precautionary measure amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic.The only other time the 143-year-old metals exchange temporarily closed was during World War II, when - in the absence of electronic trade - the venue was forced to shut entirely. The move to c...Read More

China's electric-arc furnace (EAF) mills have gradually raised their production rates in the past three weeks following stronger demand for steel products.But this higher output is unlikely to lower billet imports into the country, according to market sources. They expect this trade flow to persist as long as the arbitrage window stays open.Production rates for EAFs - which largely produce long st...Read More

The three-month price of lead on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Thursday March 26, climbing by just over 3% to close at its highest level since March 16, while copper futures found support above the $4,800 per tonne threshold.Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,685 per tonne, an increase of more than 3% from its intraday low of $1,635.50...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has developed procedures to manage the temporary unavailability of one of its approved warehouses or delivery points that might stem from the Covid-19 outbreak.These measures, which are in line with the exchange's Warehouse Agreement, address potential issues around delivery obligations, warranting and rent payments, it said. "These procedures have been discussed wit...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market cooled down on Thursday March 26 after gaining ground for two consecutive days, with the lower prices in line with a softer futures curve for rebar. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.77 per tonne, down $0.57 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.64 per tonne, down $1.18 per tone58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:&...Read More

The new issue of Aluminium Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers key insights and forecasts into aluminium markets around the world.Aluminium price down 2.3% week-on-week amid stock market sell-offGlobal markets remain rattled by the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) across Europe and the United States. Panic-sellin...Read More