Sector expert Michael Ballanger looks at how economic forces are pulling markets in contradictory directions. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, w...Read More

Rudi Fronk and Jim Anthony, cofounders of Seabridge Gold, discuss the potential ramifications of current U.S. fiscal and monetary policy. The U.S. monetary and fiscal authorities are shoveling trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy to prevent a collapse of the economy and the financial system. Will this money be repaid or otherwise withdrawn from the system? If not, what consequences can we a...Read More

Technical analyst John Newell looks back at the gold to silver ratio through history. When we don't understand the present, we can turn to the past. It is believed the natural ratio in the earth's crust is ~10 ounces of silver for one ounce of gold.Back in 3000 BC in Mesopotamia (modern day Turkey, Iraq, Iran), silver and gold were used to enable trade at a rate of 5 ounces of silver to 1 ounce o...Read More

In discussion with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable, the Mercenary Geologist offers his take on the coronavirus pandemic, its impacts on economic policy and what he's buying (or not buying) right now. Maurice: Today we will find out if we are at risk of losing our liberty to the coronavirus, along with buying opportunities for your investment portfolio. Joining us for a conversation is Mick...Read More

James Kwantes of Resource Opportunities profiles a company that is financed to drill the Griffon project this year in the southern Cortez Trend. Nevada is known as "The Silver State," a nod to the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode. That rich silver endowment led to Nevada's statehood, and profits from silver mining helped the North come out on top in the American Civil War.But the discovery of...Read More

The company transacted two major sales of properties in 2019. Liberty's Goldstrike ProjectIn a news release, Liberty Gold Corp. (LGD:TSX; LGDTF:OTCQB) recapped its 2019 financial transactions and exploration results. For the full-year 2019, Liberty Gold posted a loss of $11.583 million, or $0.05 per share. As of March 26, 2020, it has $15 million in cash and anticipates being fully funded for its...Read More

Technical analyst Clive Maund charts silver and explains why he is bearish in the short to medium term. Whichever way you cut it, silver's chart looks bearish for the short to medium term, but against this we must set its rapidly improving COT structure and the mega-bullish silver to gold ratio (by all past standards).Silver's 7-month chart is a rather grim picture. On it we see that key support...Read More

Swedish steelmaker SSAB plans temporary worker layoffs at its operations in Finland, and consequently a reduction in output, in response to the downturn in the flat steel market resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Monday March 30.SSAB has initiated negotiations with its employees on the proposed layoffs at its Finnish assets, the company said. The decision followed a drastic...Read More

Several Turkish carmakers - Honda, Karsan, MAN, Anadolu Isuzu, Temsa, T? 1/4 rk Trakt??r, Hyndai Assan and Otokar - announced production stoppages this week because of concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Oyak Renault, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz T? 1/4 rk and Ford Otosan all announced production stops earlier this month because of virus concerns.Honda Turke...Read More

Oil dropped to an 18-year low as global demand fellThe Dow kicked off the week with an almost 700-point surge, roaring to its session highs in the last minute of trading. Measures to combat the coronavirus are in focus today, after President Donald Trump extended social distancing measures in the U.S. until April 30, and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced an encouraging COVID-19 vaccine update. The...Read More

Zoom and Carnival are on opposite sides of the spectrum right now The20 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. Two names that stick out are Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ZM) and Carnival Corp...Read More

European Metal Recycling (EMR) has shut down part of its operations in the UK due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, the company said on its website on Friday March 27.The closures took effect from Friday evening, the company said, but no dateline was given for the move. Many scrap suppliers in the UK are cutting production, with almost all scrap processing shuttered in Scotland and much of it in Eng...Read More

AMZN is facing off with a key trendline todayLast week, we profiled the best performing stocks since 2009, based on annualized returns. It's no surprise FAANG stock Amazon Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) found itself on that list, boasting a return of 36.8%. Looking towards the future now heading into a new month, Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White broke down the best S&P 500 stocks to own in A...Read More

Dramatic swings in sentiment have caused indicators to flip-flop from bearish slanting to bullishly alignedIn the December 2019 edition of The Option Advisor, published on November 22, 2019, we at Schaeffer's highlighted option indicators that were flashy warning signs for the broad market.Inserted below is the concluding paragraph of that article:As always, we must consider these indicators in...Read More

The Dow is up over 440 pointsThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is continuing its surge after a triple-digit open, expanding on Friday's weekly win for indexes. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also in the black, after social distancing measures were extended to April 30 by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday. Bracing for another volatile week, sentiment was also boos...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

Last week's wild surge isn't over yet, it would seem Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are looking at a triple-digit open this morning, right on the heels of one of Wall Street's wildest trading weeks ever. Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are also higher before the bell. More volatility on Wall Street could be in the cards this week, with investors looki...Read More

Ulta has closed all of its stores until further notice Cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) is in the spotlight today after announcing the temporary closure of all its stores until further notice. The company said that its employees will continue to receive benefits, and will be paid until mid-April. Ulta added that it will continue to operate online and plans on giving its distributio...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

The China Association of Metalscrap Utilization (Camu) is urging the Chinese government to reopen the country to ferrous scrap imports to meet rising demand and reduce steelmaking costs.The association last week made two suggestions aimed at keeping low-grade scrap at bay in the event that the government heeds its call.The first proposal is for China to adopt international standards of classificat...Read More