Emirates Steel, the largest steel producer in the United Arab Emirates, and Hamriyah Steel, a re-roller of rebar in the country, have reduced their rebar prices with effect from Wednesday March 25.Emirates Steel is now offering rebar at 1,690 dirhams ($460) per tonne ex-works, down from 1,853 dirhams per tonne ex-works previously....Read More
“For twelve consecutive years, gold was up every single year whether there were inflation fears, deflation fears; strong dollar, weak dollar; political stability, political instability. It didn’t matter – strong oil, weak oil. . . Gold went up for twelve years. . . When gold embarks upon its next move, I believe that you will see that long wave take gold relatively quickly, but i...Read More
Put options have been popular on the FAANG nameMost Americans are stuck inside with nothing to do, so social media and internet use has ballooned. All these extra eyeballs means increased traffic for social media powerhouse Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), which said its platform use has spiked since the virus outbreak triggered quarantines across the country. However, Facebook also noted that its ad...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
A U.S. emergency stimulus package was reached late last nightDow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are eyeing modest gains this morning following last night's wild surge, with all eyes onthe $2 trillion stimulus package negotiations that were finally agreed upon late last night. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the stimulus package "a war time level of investment in o...Read More
A look at how the COVID-19 stock market crash is affecting stocks' historical volatility What else is there to talk about but the huge swings in the stock market lately? As with most other stats I've written on recently, what we're seeing is nearly unprecedented. The 21-day historical volatility (HV) on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is at 87%. The only two times in history where this was surpassed were...Read More
Turkish carmakers Oyak Renault, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz T? 1/4 rk and Ford Otosan have all announced production stops this month because of concerns about the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)."We [will] gradually and temporarily suspend most of our operations as of March 26, 2020, in Oyak Renault automotive factories. [A] production resumption date will be shared again acc...Read More
Spot market prices for standard-grade and alloy-grade cobalt stabilized on Wednesday March 25 after weakening downstream demand continued to provide pressure earlier in the week.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam held at $16.15-16.55 per lb midweek, unchanged from Tuesday March 24 and down from $16.30-16.70 per lb on March 20. Fastmarkets' assessment fo...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
In recent days the Fed has made it plain that it is prepared TO BUY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING to prevent imminent total collapse, and you don't have to join many dots to see that this will extend to BUYING STOCKS, and it's not that hard for them - all they have to do is enter a few keystrokes, add a few 0s and it's sorted - and as Gregory Mammarino repeatedly points out, the more debt they iss...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report Today, the global gold spot markets broke down as prices varied considerably from the different exchanges. Moreover, U.S. Mint sales of Gold and Silver Eagles surged again this week. Gold Eagle sales are so strong in March; they jumped 1,700% compared to February!! At one point, the gold price was up more than $100 during early trading. I was busy earlier...Read More
Avi GilburtYesterday really did not happen. How could we have seen a 10% rally when there was nothing to cause it?Did we see an announcement about the eradication of the coronavirus? No. But, we did get more news of rising numbers of infected.Did we see the passage of the Congressional bill? No. But, we did see more dithering by our wonderful representatives in Congress.And, when the Fed announ...Read More
Why is there such a huge gap between spot price and future price in gold/silver?1. Mines are closed or closing. There will be no new supplies.2. Global lockdown is preventing physical gold and silver to be transferred from one nation to another. 3. Lack of alternate safe investment avenue and availability of free money to fund managers and large corporates has resulted in shor...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
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday March 25.Please click...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Wednesday March 25, climbing by more than 6% to breach resistance at $14,000 per tonne, while the outright lead price rallied above the $1,600 per tonne threshold. Tin's underlying price on the LME closed at $14,299 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, gaining $815 per tonne from an intraday l...Read More
Tin ingot premiums in the United States moved up in the week to March 24 on physical supply concerns, with similar fears affecting European market sentiment while Chinese premiums are flat amid ample availability.This all comes despite a near 27% decline in the London Metal Exchange tin price over a fortnightly period.European premiums hold firm but availability a concern. Supply concerns push up...Read More