Cobalt prices have moved up again on Friday August 9 following Glencore's decision to shut its Mutanda copper-cobalt mine and cut output at its Katanga cobalt facility.The resulting supply concerns have pushed both suppliers and consumers to accept higher prices toward the end of the week starting August 5. Fastmarkets' benchmark price for cobalt, standard grade, in whs Rotterdam rose by 4.4% to $...Read More
Import prices for flat-rolled steel in South America were mostly down over the week ended Friday August 9, with Chinese mills making less expensive offers and liquidity in the region remaining low.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel cold-rolled coil, import, cfr main ports South America, at $560-570 per tonne on August 9, down from $570-585 per tonne a week before. This was the lowest level s...Read More
The long-awaited rollout of 5G is now underway.Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile have initiated 5G service in some U.S. cities. And 5G services are also already available in parts of Europe and Asia.It's expected that by the end of this year, every major mobile carrier will be offering 5G services nationwide with new phones and plans. By 2024, it's expected that 1.5 billion people around the wor...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) decreased over the week ended Friday August 9 due to the regular summer slowdown and the Eid al-Adha religious holiday next week, sources told Fastmarkets.HRC exportsTurkey's export price for HRC decreased with lower offers, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob main port Turkey, was $490-495...Read More
Here is the video summary of the August 8th INK Morning report where we look at the competition between insiders and short sellers at Encana (ECA). Where would you place your bets right now?INK Research and Canadian Insider are both subscriber-supported. We do not accept payments from issuers or promoters for stock coverage.Script:Short positions in multi-basin oil & gas operator Encana have been...Read More
Bearish signals continue to dominate our short report, with eight names having bearish setups in the top ten most-shorted list. Although our signals still point to a potential short squeeze in oil patch names Paramount Resources (POU) and Bonterra Energy (BNE), the oil price is not cooperating. As such, the shorts appear to have the wind at their backs as we head into the home stretch this summer...Read More
Reduced volumes of Chinese-produced steel have been going into the country's export markets throughout 2019 so far. So why is it that steel product prices remain under pressure in other global markets?According to China's General Administration of Customs, in July 2019 the East Asian country exported 5.57 million tonnes of steel, including both semi-finished and finished material. This was down ye...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have increased over the past week, supported by an anticipated increase in ferrous scrap costs and solid demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,150-2,170 zloty ($557-562) per tonne on August 9, compared with 2,100-2,120 zloty per tonne a week earlier.The...Read More
Reduced volumes of Chinese-produced steel have been going into the country's export markets throughout 2019 so far. So why is it that steel product prices remain under pressure in other global markets?According to China's General Administration of Customs, in July 2019 the East Asian country exported 5.57 million tonnes of steel, including both semi-finished and finished material. This was down ye...Read More
China's rebar prices dropped sharply in both the domestic and export markets on Friday August 9 amid bearish sentiment among market participants. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($518-522) per tonne, down 120 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,640-3,660 yuan per tonne, down 90-100 yuan per tonneHigh inventories, dropping raw material prices, and weakening deman...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the major trading regions other than the United States mostly moved downward during the week from Monday August 5 to Friday August 9. Limited demand for finished steel in Turkey and India, and worsening political tensions in Asia, created the conditions for prices to weaken, Fastmarkets heard. Turkish mills mostly stay out of spot markets, seeking lower prices US scrap expo...Read More
The export market for pig iron from Brazil was muted this week because suppliers were sold out for September, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil, was $325 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.Offers from mills were heard at $320-325 per tonne net to producer, or about $325-330 per tonne fob including...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK light iron scrap was stable over the week to Friday August 9, extending the steady trend into a seventh week, with prices supported by major steel scrap shredders competing for business amid relatively tight availability, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant,...Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 350,55858,01349,905137,010461,335537,473569,253 Change from Prior Reporting Period 38,3441874,206-4,15432,20438,39636,597 Traders 23566765661312185 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 62,84431,064600,317 -1,37742237,019 non reportable positionsChange...Read More
Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report After six long years, the precious metals are finally setting up for BIG MOVES higher. Even though the gold price has increased significantly over the past two months, we haven't seen anything yet. Of course, gold has already enjoyed big moves in other currencies such as the British Pound where it has reached an all-time new high. However, we have to be a...Read More
The US stock markets are becoming more unstable, fueling mounting anxiety about what's likely coming. After surging to new all-time-record highs in late July, stocks plunged in a sharp pullback as the US-China trade war escalated. Stock markets' resiliency in the face of bearish news is partially determined by how companies are faring fundamentally. The big US stocks' just-reported Q2'19 r...Read More
David StockmanCall it the monetary theater of the absurd. After all, here is what a determined currency manipulator did between September 2002 and July 2008.To wit, it pumped about $200 billion of new dollar liabilities into the world financial system, thereby expanding the Fed's balance sheet by 26%. Clearly, global traders and US trading partners didn't welcome that flood of freshly minted...Read More
Gary TanashianHave you heard the news? US Treasury bonds are sky rocketing as it turns out there is no inflation amid a global central bank NIRP-a-thon and race to the currency bottom. Going the other way, our 30yr Treasury yield Continuum is burrowing southward.If you check out yesterday's post you'll see proof that the 2018 NFTRH view that people should tune out the bond experts instructin...Read More
Dr. Stephen Leeb & Chris Waltzek Ph.D. - August 7th, 2019. .Mp3 file. RecapBest selling author and show Mentor, Dr. Stephen Leeb returns with insights on the financial markets.Dr. Leeb is especially fond of the yellow metal, which recently touched a new 6-year record.The BIS changed its stance on gold, which it now views as compared to cash, boosting demand.Ironically, gold is the true cas...Read More