3M and Facebook both announced impressive quarterly earningsDow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are clinging to slim gains, following yesterday's wild trading -- which included a loss for the Dow and record highs for the Nasdaq and S&P. On the earnings front, Dow component 3M (MMM) unveiled earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates, while FAANG name Facebook (FB) also announced w...Read More

The brokerage firm targeted 20% upside for the video game stockBofA-Merrill Lynch upgraded Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) stock to "buy" from "neutral," and boosted its price target to $56 from $54 -- a nearly 20% premium to last night's close at $46.86. The brokerage firm said ATVI stock is on the "verge of inflection," and noted its bullish outlook is for the "longer-duration investor."...Read More

Yesterday we wrote about Draghi, so today Powell is our hero. Only one week separates us from the pivotal FOMC meeting. What should gold investors expect?First Fed Cut Since 2008In a week, the Fed may deliver its first interest rate cut since 2008. Given the market odds, the move is practically a foregone conclusion. Futures traders assign a 100-percent probability of a cut. The bone of contention...Read More

Even after US President Donald Trump reduced the Section 232 tariff applied to US imports of Turkish steel back to 25%, rebar shipments from that country are unlikely to make a splash in the US market, given declining domestic prices and ongoing geopolitical tensions, Fastmarkets understands. When the decision to cut the previously doubled tariffs in half was announced in late May, sources anticip...Read More

The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange continued its descent at the close of trading on Thursday July 25, falling by some 3.4% to close just above the $14,000 per tonne threshold, while lead futures climbed by 1.5% to breach nearby resistance levels.Three-month nickel futures closed at $14,075 per tonne in the afternoon, tumbling from an intraday high of $14,545 per tonne des...Read More

Turkish steel producers stayed out of the deep-sea scrap market on Thursday July 25 and are expected to remain absent until the end of the week, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants reported "silence" in the market since a steel mill in the Marmara region of Turkey, bought a mixed cargo from the United States...Read More

Last week was a good week for gold.As of last week's close, GLD's five-year cumulative return of 6.4% has edged out the 4.1% gain earned by GDX.GDX has the capacity to make a 32% jump in the months ahead.A mining stock ETF with the best potential. No doubt about it. Last week was a good week for gold. Well, gold stocks really. The VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDXJ) was u...Read More

The CIS export billet market has softened through the past week amid a lack of interest among customers in the major outlet regions, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday July 25.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $415 per tonne on July 25, down by $2 per tonne day on day.Offers of CIS-origin billet from mills and traders were heard around $415-425 per tonne fob Black S...Read More

Stefan Gleason, Money MetalsHow low will they go?With the Federal Reserve all but certain to cut interest rates multiple times in the months ahead, central bankers are engaged in a race to the bottom.As negative interest rates expand in Japan and across Europe, as long-term bond yields in the U.S. plummet, and as President Donald Trump continues to talk tough on trade, the Fed has little choice...Read More

* Download MP3RecapIn Part II of the discussion with the founder of Corona Capital Management John Scurci, continues with his perspective on the financial markets. This is not a time for financial complacency notes, amid mountains of national debt on a global basis and central banking intervention on an epic scale. The scope and scale of the impending financial deluge will be incomparable...Read More

Add to stock market bulls' wall of worry a drop in West Coast home prices for the first time in seven years. This is part of a larger trend that saw U.S. home sales down 2.2% compared to a year ago. That's the 16th straight month of annual sales declines, even as mortgage rates have fallen since last October from 4.95% to 3.75%. Some observers profess to be mystified, since the economy appears t...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 25 that are worth another look.The United States' non-ferrous scrap export market was mixed through May, with year-to-date shipments of aluminium scrap rising while those of copper scrap fell versus the same period last year. Even after US President Donald Trump reduced the Section 232 tariff applied to US imports of Turki...Read More

Each asset class performs better than others only for a duration.It is timely to denominate all our financial assets in gold instead of currencies.Many reasons behind gold's ascent since last August are strengthening.Miners enjoy improved profitability because of rising gold prices.Hypothesis: Data processing can transform the complex data set to a format in charts that are easier to view and unde...Read More

The dream of building a new world-class copper-gold mine in Pakistan in an area bordering Afghanistan and Iran has been dashed, for now at least. The saga of Tethyan Copper Co's (TCC) efforts to develop the Reko Diq mine found resolution last week with an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruling in favor of TCC following a dispute that has rumbled on for years.TCC,...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has just finished its trial to calculate nickel prices using a volume weighted average price (VWAP) method on the exchange's electronic trading platform. If early indications are anything to go by, metals market participants did not embrace this method of price discovery in the way some had anticipated. For three months since Monday March 18, closing prices for nickel car...Read More

The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Wilbur Ross said the US Midwest aluminium premium is at inflated levels that do not justify the cost of transportation and logistical handling costs that it was originally designed to reflect.  His view is being echoed by a number of...Read More

In June 2019, the HUI stood at 145 and since then has managed to regain some of its value by rallying to 210 for a gain of 45% in less than 2 months.The European Central Bank will 'talk' rate cuts and possibly implement one when they meet this Thursday, July 25, 2019.Keeping the bigger picture in mind, there is the constant shadow of yet another head fake which will deter some investors.Gold and S...Read More

Gold is threatening to break out out of its lateral trading range again.A rally while the dollar is strong is not ideal for gold's long-term health.Evidence shows that increased fear is the driving force behind gold.For the second time this year we're seeing a market condition in which the gold price is being driven almost exclusively by fear. And while this condition can be quite profitable f...Read More

The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange continued its descent at the close of trading on Thursday July 25, falling by some 3.4% to close just above the $14,000 per tonne threshold, while lead futures climbed by 1.5% to breach nearby resistance levels.Three-month nickel futures closed at $14,075 per tonne in the afternoon, tumbling from an intraday high of $14,545 per tonne des...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has launched a consultation process on warehousing reforms that aims to attract higher stock levels, Matthew Chamberlain, LME chief executive, announced on Thursday July 25. The consultation began on Thursday and is open until September 2019. It includes changes to evergreen rent deals and the controversial queue-based rent capping (QBRC) rule as well as the introduction...Read More