Moon Iron and Steel (Misco) started production of billet at its facility in Sohar, Oman in the week starting March 30, sources close to the company told Fastmarkets.Misco has an electric arc furnace, ladle furnace and a five-strand continuous billet caster with a production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year.The company will also...Read More

Prices in the major global steel billet markets continued to soften in the week to Friday April 3 due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.Lack of demand for finished steel products, together with continuing uncertainty about how long the disruptions will last, were the major reasons for the negative sentiment.Even in China, which has been one of the main billet buyers recently, demand was expe...Read More

Southern Silver Exploration Corp. has agreed to purchase the El Sol mineral claim in Durango for US$300,000. In a news release, Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (SSV:TSX.V; SSVFF:OTCQB; SEG1:FSE) announced that "it has entered into an agreement with Monarca Minerals Inc. (MMN:TSX.V) to purchase the El Sol mineral claim in Durango, Mexico."The company advised that the claim is situated contiguous...Read More

With his portfolio "solidly anchored" in silver and gold, sector expert Michael Ballanger opines on how bankers and politicians can manipulate markets. As a child, I used to get quite excited at the prospect of having my English "Gran" read me the Hans Christian Andersen book "The Emperor's New Clothes." I found the tale fiendishly amusing, as the charlatan tailor uses lethal doses of flattery an...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 6 that are worth another look.Italian stainless steelmaker Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) has resumed production, following a week of downtime in response to the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on April 6.The Covid-19 pandemic may have just sealed the fate of already-struggling aluminium smelting capacity.Chile's s...Read More

The European high-carbon ferro-chrome market cemented its recovery over the past week, with industry sources reporting higher spot prices amid supply worries from South Africa and India, both of which are on multi-week lockdowns. The low-phosphorous price also ticked up week on week, as did Turkish lumpy chrome ore, while the UG2 index to China remained flat. Sources attributed the price rises to...Read More

The Dow finished the day more than 1,600 higherThe Dow, with help from Boeing (BA), continued its rally to start the week, closing up over 1,600 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both closed at 7% or above with utilities, materials, and tech sectors surging. Investors were encouraged by the appearance of slowing coronavirus rates in New York and Europe as well as the Trump Administration's announcem...Read More

Overall options volume is pacing in the 99th annual percentile todayThe20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest weekly options volume during the past 10 trading days, with data courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Stocks highlighted in yellow are new to the list. One name that sticks out is Luckin Coffee Inc (NASDAQ:LK), with the recent volatile s...Read More

Huya's 80-day moving average has had bearish implications in the past Shares of the Chinese gaming platform HUYA Inc (NYSE:HUYA) are making another attempt to close their early March bear gap today, up 3.1% at $16.46 at last check. This comes right on the heels of Friday's failed rally, sparked by news that Tencent (TME) moved forward with an option, making it the majority shareholder in HUYA. Whi...Read More

GM puts are all the rage latelyAs many experts estimate the COVID-19 pandemic will reach its peak in the U.S. this week, General Motors (NYSE: GM) asked its 600 suppliers to help manufacture medical masks by offering to share its manufacturing plans for producing personal protective equipment. GM is expected to produce 20,000 masks which will be ready to deliver by April 8. Plus, a Reuters report...Read More

J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded JBLU to "neutral" from "overweight"JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ: JBLU) is up 7% to trade at $8.05 at last check. This comes amid a slew of skepticism and downgrades throughout the airline sector. J.P. Morgan Securities is increasingly convinced that the airline industry's road to recovery back to 2019 levels of output will be a multi-year affair. The analyst subse...Read More

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are also up big at middayThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is beginning the new week with fantastic strength, currently up over 1,000 points at midday. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are soaring as well, as investors remain hopeful amid reports of stabilizing hospital rates in the U.S. Building off this silver lining are reports from New York...Read More

Guggenheim upgraded EBAY from "neutral" to "buy"Ebay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) is joining in on the broad market rally today, up 4.5% to trade at $30.70 at last check. This comes after Guggenheim upgraded the "increasingly defensive" EBAY stock from "neutral" to "buy," citing the company's valuation and minimal inventory risk.Since mid-February highs just below $40, Ebay has careened to an annual low on...Read More

Kraft Heinz said it will slow restaurant supply production, while ramping up output in its packaged food units Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) announced that it has significantly decreased restaurant supply production at three plants, two in the U.S. and one in the U.K., in response to dwindling consumer demand, specifically in Europe. Meanwhile, Kraft said its packaged food units are working in three...Read More

Gilead said it plans on producing 1 million treatment courses of its experimental coronavirus drug by the end of 2020Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is up 1% to trade at $79 this morning after the drugmaker said it plans on ramping up production on its experimental coronavirus treatment remdesivir, to 1 million treatment courses by the end of the year. Currently 1.5 million doses of the drug,...Read More

Vehicle production in Brazil fell by 21.1% year on year in March due to lockdowns introduced to contain the Covid-19 pandemic in the last 15 days of the month, car manufacturer association Anfavea said on Monday April 6. Output was 189,958 units during the month, compared with 240,763 units a year before. Production also fell by 7% in comparison with February data, which was 204,200 units. Over th...Read More

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value." Alan Greenspan, American economist, Former Chair of the Federal Reserve 1987-2006, firm Greenspan Associates LLC; b. 1926 "Gold is a currency. It is still, by all evidence, a premier currency, where no fiat currency, including the dollar, can match it...Read More

The recent range trade in gold and silver will be broken soon and a new range will be formed. Physical gold supplies are expected to rise with Swiss gold refiners opening. I am doubtful whether they will be able to meet the current demand. Gold mines supplies are less. Russia has said that it's central bank will not buying gold at the moment. Russia will sell it mined gold in the market. Russia'...Read More

Gold miners’ stocks haveendured epic volatility in this past month, literally crashing before blasting backhigher in a violent V-bounce.  That precedingwicked capitulation flush savagely forced the weak hands out, paving the wayfor gold stocks’ next major upleg.  The resultingfierce rebound signals it is already underway, with plenty of speculators andinvestors now chasing th...Read More

Oil prices are signaling a pullback today Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures look ready to kick off the week with a flourish, sitting over 700 points above fair value.Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also sharply higher before the open,as investors are encouraged by somewhat upbeat coronavirus rhetoric coming from the White House yesterday that touted s...Read More