Stainless steel prices in China have plunged over the past week on growing inventory levels, although market participants were optimistic that domestic demand showed signs of improvement."It's likely that Chinese prices are close to bottoming out because most companies have already resumed operations," a trader in northern China said.The lack of significant declines in raw material costs could als...Read More

Broadcom is expected to reveal its fourth-quarter report after the close tonightChip stocks have not been immune to the broad market sell-off that has sent the Dow into bear market territory earlier today. That puts the companies' earnings reports in the crosshairs, and options traders are responding in kind. For example, Apple supplier Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) will report fourth-quarter earnin...Read More

The S&P 500 Index also followed Dow into bear-market territoryAs coronavirus fears spread within the U.S. and the Trump Administration struggles to provide a tangible fiscal response, the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX) jumped to higher than 69.26, its highest mark since the 2008 market crash. Trading paused with yet another "circuit breaker" as well, after U.S. President Donald Trump initiated...Read More

President Trump's temporary ban on travel from Europe is spooking investors this morning Today marks the second time this week that the major exchanges were stopped, after stock futures reach a "limit down" loss of over 5% before the open. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures, once again, are pointing toward a loss of over 1,000 just one day after ending its longest bull market on record,...Read More

CME Group closed its Chicago trading floor due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) is down 7.16% to trade at $180.74 this morning on news that the exchange operator is planning on closing its Chicago trading floor on Friday evening, due to the spread of coronavirus, with a reopening date dependent upon further news of the pandemic. The market will remain ava...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold 18 week moving average near $1,542, trying to hold the lows here but now need to see what the market does..Read More

Dave KranzlerMake no mistake, the financial system is collapsing under one giant margin call being issued to banks and hedge funds. How big? No one knows. The Fed obviously was preparing for something when it commenced its money printing in September. But it had no idea of the scale of the underlying systemic problems. Coronavirus is not the cause of what's unfolding in the markets - it mere...Read More

Today, after another devastating day in the markets we are going to stand back and take a "big picture" view of what is going on.This is not some ordinary run-of-the mill bearmarket that is starting here - it is the beginning of a devastating collapse that is necessary to clear the system of all the accumulated dross that has built over many years. A "reset" is an apt word to describe it.The rot...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold breaking below the 18-DMA with support coming in below at..Read More

On Sunday, Italy registered a huge jump in new casesof the COVID-19, the stock market plunged,while the oil market crashed. Tuesday morning, and Italy is on lockdown. Meanwhile,gold jumped above $1,700. What’s next for the yellow metal? Gold Jumps Above $1,700Last week, I wrote that: from thefundamental point of view, the environment of fear, ultra low interest rates,weak equity markets...Read More

Gold is testing itsprevious 2020 highs, but silver plunged anyway, which created a very specialsituation. Namely, the goldto silver ratio just jumped to the 100 level.This may not seem like abig deal, because ultimately people buy metals, not their ratio, but itactually is a huge deal. This ratio is observed by investors and traders alike,as it tends to peak at the market extremes. Moving to the 1...Read More

Boeing stock is plummeting on its first downgrade from JPM in yearsAs the airline sector continues to reel in the face of the spreading coronavirus, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) is no exception. BA was last seen trading down at 14.1% at $162.36, earlier touching a nearly three-year bottom of $155.55. Boeing announced it would be halting hiring and restricting overtime and work-related travel, while also re...Read More

Last week I talked about unrealistic expectations for the price of silver (see Silver Loses Its Mettle). My comments were centered on two specific factors: 1) silver’s primary role as an industrial commodity and 2) the fallacy of the gold-to-silver ratio.Both of these items have their root in fundamentals, or lack of them.In addition, I pointed out the fact that the price of silver has decli...Read More

The retailer's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue reports fell well below analysts' expectationIt looks like the fun may be over for Party City Holdco (NYSE:PRTY) as it heads deeper into penny stock territory today, down 48.6% at $0.66 and earlier opened at a new record low of $0.54. This deepening spiral comes after the firm reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 51 cents per share, well b...Read More

Extreme volatility in the equity markets has investors wonderingwhat to expect. Even the hardiest of stock market bulls are finally asking someserious questions about whether the top is in.Stocks have long been priced for perfection and suddenlyconditions are looking far from perfect. The coronavirus may be the pin whichpricks the latest Fed-blown bubble.Precious metals investors have been prepari...Read More

The baseline case for gold 320 ADWe sometimes forget that inflation is a process rather than an event. One of the better-known examples of that axiom is the nearly two centuries-long debasement of Rome’s silver denarius – an inflationary episode Jack Whyte, a writer of historical fiction, skillfully addresses in his latest novel, The Burning Stone.Set in Great Britain in the fourth cen...Read More

I promised you on Friday that I would take an in-depth look at the energy complex in the Weekend Report. If there is one sector to define the possible deflationary event we’ve been discussing for the last several months or so oil is probably the most important commodity of all. Eventually we’ll know the cause in no uncertain terms, but the charts have been suggesting for a long time no...Read More

Over the past few weeks and months, our research team has continued to sing the praises of precious metals – particularly Gold and Silver.  After last week’s dramatic selloff in precious metals (attributed mostly to margin call sales), both Gold and Silver rallied almost 3% on Tuesday, March 3 – the day the US Fed issued an emergency 0.50% rate cut.We believe this move by th...Read More

Another tumultuous week inequity and interest rate markets has helped fuel a big pop in safe-haven demandfor gold and silver. The major market moving eventwas, of course, the Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut on Tuesday. The Fedslashed its overnight funds rate by 50 basis points. But even before the Fedacted, the bond market had already forced its hand as yields on the 10-yearTreasury not...Read More

Yesterday, the Fed cut interest rates by 50 basis points. Not during a regular monetary policy meeting, but in a surprising move. But what are the implications for the gold market specifically?Fed Cuts Interest Rates in Emergency MoveLast week, I wrote that the spread of the new coronavirus to Europe and the inversion of the yield curve make “the Fed more likely to step in and cut the federa...Read More