Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell sharply in the week to Monday March 30 amid the lack of demand in almost all markets due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the recent dramatic drop in scrap costs."Buying interest is limited. There are almost no bids," one market source said."There are not many buyers today," another source said. "...Read More

The lockdown in India has caused a variety of logistical issues resulting in imported scrap material becoming stranded at ports and leading to potentially large charges at a time when trading has come to a sudden halt, market sources have told Fastmarkets. On March 24, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the country would begin a 21-day lockdown period effective from midnight until...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell sharply for the third time in two weeks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought steel trade to a halt and led to closures or production cuts, sources said on Monday March 30.A steel mill in northern Turkey was heard booking a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 9,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), 14,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at an averag...Read More

Global ferrous scrap prices continued to fall sharply in major markets during the working week from Monday March 23 to Friday March 27, because of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.Turkish import prices slump furtherBuying prices down at US East Coast docksTaiwan import price at three-year lowIndian market collapses on lockdown order; price drops $44 per tonne.TurkeyPrices in the world's largest scr...Read More

Most of the world's markets for steel billet have been affected by the negative sentiment generated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the strong decreases in prices for ferrous scrap. Buyers in China, however, continued to import material.Import prices of ferrous scrap in Turkey continued to fall last week.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, w...Read More

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin, writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, diplomat, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States; 1706-1790 "These are the times that try men's souls." Thomas Pa...Read More

RambusThere are just a handful of events in ones lifetime that are truly history making in their magnitude. For instance the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, the 1929 stock market crash, Pear Harbor, the 1987 stock market crash and 911 to name a few. When all of those historical events took place it felt like the end of the world for those that were living in that time period. How could our world ever...Read More

Dave Kranzler, Mining Stock JournalI found it amusing that Zerohedge tried to take credit for reporting the problem of a physical gold shortage on the LBMA and Comex earlier last week. Several of we "gold bugs" have been discussing and reporting on this issue since before the virus crisis exploded. The Comex has been settling contracts that stand for deliver through EFT and PNT transactions by w...Read More

Strengths? ? The best performing metal this week was palladium, up 37.90 percent, essentially regaining all the losses from the prior two weeks. Platinum and silver also rebounded strongly. Gold headed for its biggest weekly gain since 2008 while platinum and palladium were on track for their biggest weekly increases on record. It was a smashing week for precious metals due to supply...Read More

September 17, 2019 was a significant day in American economic history. On that day, the New York Federal Reserve began emergency cash infusions into the repurchasing (repo) market. This is the market banks use to make short-term loans to each other. The New York Fed acted after interest rates in the repo market rose to almost 10 percent, well above the Fed's target rate.The New York Fed claime...Read More

By Avi GilburtOn Thursday, we saw the worst jobless claims number in history (and by far). Yet, the S&P500 futures rallied over 200 points from their overnight lows. So, are we to believe that the "cause" of that rally was the jobless claims?I can assure you that if the market dropped 200 points there would be no question in your mind that the drop was certainly caused by the jobless claim's ann...Read More

Major Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel is facing the prospect of recording zero profit for the year ending March 2020 for the first time in its history due to global economic tensions and rising raw materials prices, it warned on Friday March 27.This has led the company to plan to shut one blast furnace in its East Japan Works and restructure its remaining operations in Japan, it said.In brief JFE St...Read More

China domestic rebar prices fell on Monday March 30 on pessimism over the recovery of demand in the country after its central bank cut the rate on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by 20 basis points - the largest in nearly five years.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,460 yuan ($483-488) per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,350-3,370 yuan per tonne, down 30 yuan per t...Read More

Jim Grant, founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, joins "Squawk Box" by phone to discuss the Fed's moves in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.James "Jim" Grant is an American writer and publisher and the founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, a twice-monthly journal of the financial markets. He is the author , most recently, of The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That C...Read More

Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, joins "Squawk Box" by phone to discuss the markets as well as the Fed action to try to lift the economy amid the coronavirus-driven slowdown.Mohamed El-Erian is the Chief Economic Adviser of Allianz, a multinational financial services company. He is the former CEO and co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO, a global investment firm and one of the...Read More

Harley Schlanger's work can be found at LaRouchePAC.com.Lior Gantz has been called a thrill-seeking entrepreneur by his team, and as such, he built and runs numerous successful businesses, and has traveled to over 30 countries in the past decade in pursuit of thrills and opportunities, gaining valuable knowledge and experience. With Wealth Research Group, Lior allows readers access into the world...Read More

The moves in the gold market during the past month have been insane. We've seen a false breakout, a crash and then a false breakdown. It all comes down to where you close the period. The fact that gold rallied back to its pre-crash peak is quite encouraging. It recovered all of its losses and got back to its previous point. Therefore, that's reason for great optimism. While the volatility has made...Read More

"His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk...as well as put thousands of residents who may interact with them in danger."Continue...Read More

People should not be expect the coronavirus crisis to blow over soon. "If we stop then all of our efforts will be wasted and we could potentially see a second peak. So over time, probably over the next six months, we will have a three-week review."Continue...Read More

"The economy? We have no economy. There is no economy...and yet stocks rally?!"Gregory Mannarino started his financial career working for the securities and trading arm of the now defunct Bear Stearns before the dot-com bubble. He is an active trader of the capital markets and has published several books pertaining to finance, global economics, and equity trading; His most recent book is titled Ul...Read More