With economic growth still deteriorating - the United States' second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) came in at 2.1%, compared with 3.1% in the first quarter - the markets have little to cheer about this morning, Monday July 29.Economic headwinds, geopolitical tension in the Middle East and in Hong Kong, combined with some record equity levels make for an unstable market platform.A likely US...Read More
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns:* Cash zinc at premium over three-month contract* Focus on U.S. Federal Reserve meeting (Adds closing prices, comment)By Pratima DesaiLONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on Mondaybefore planned U.S.-China trade talks and a flood of economicdata, while shrinking profits at Chinese industrial firmshighlighted the headwinds facing demand in the top consumingcou...Read More
Spot cobalt prices continued to grind lower in the international market in the week ending July 26, with traders showing a limited appetite to restock despite prices sitting at multi-year lows. Fastmarkets assessed the alloy-grade cobalt price, in-whs Rotterdam, at $12.45-13 per lb on Friday July 26, a fall of 0.8% from the previous assessment. Fastmarkets assessed the price for standard-grade cob...Read More
The Monday Market Minute Global stocks mixed ahead of a hectic week on Wall Street that includes more than 150 corporate earnings reports, a key reading of the domestic jobs market and a crucial Fed rate decision.Asia shares drift lower after a weaker-than-expected reading for China' industrial profits and reduced expectations for trade talks between Washington and Beijing.European shares gain a...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil sellers cut prices on Monday July 29 amid weak demand, while the news that the government will exempt some companies from winter production cuts also weighed on market sentiment.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,830-3,840 yuan ($557-558) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,820 yuan per tonneSpot prices nationwide dropped following lo...Read More
Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, The Economist, The Financial Times... all have proclaimed: 5G is the new standard.The next generation of mobile communications promises far greater connectivity, with data transfer speeds 100 times greater than today's fastest networks.That means much faster mobile access to... well, everything.Waiting for mobile downloads will be...Read More
Abitibi Royalties Inc. (TSX-V: RZZ, OTC-Nasdaq: ATBYF) owns various royalty interests at the Canadian Malartic Mine near Val-d'Or Qu?(C)bec. We learned from Ian Ball, who is President and CEO of Abitibi Royalties, that one of the most important things about the Company is that it is debt free and, at any given day, $40 to $45 million of its value is in securities and cash on the balance sheet. The...Read More
Merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel prices in the United States remained flat month over month, although some sources reported seeing improved market activity in certain regions of the country.Fastmarkets monthly assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US, remained at a 16-month low of $33.80 per hundredweight ($676 per short ton) on Friday July 26 after falling...Read More
Thank you for joining us in a weekly technical look at the mid-cap-oriented INK Canadian Insider (CIN) Index. Last week, the INK Canadian Insider Index made a bid to break through 1130 resistance but could not close above 1125 and in the end dipped 6.39 points to close at 1116.39 for a nominal 0.56% loss. MACD dropped 0.37 points to -0.77. RSI fell 8.15 points to 49.56.Support is now at 1120.30...Read More
The Saudi Arabian government is planning to impose a new export duty on steel rebar, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday July 29.No official announcement about a new duty had been made before the story was published in a local newspaper, which quoted a spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce & Investment saying that the government will impose the duty soon.The...Read More
Slower buying activity and lower bids from customers have forced CIS wire rod suppliers to reduce their export offer prices at the end of this month, Fastmarkets learnt on Monday July 29.Russia-origin wire rod was available to foreign customers at $490 per tonne fob Black Sea, down by $10 per tonne week on week. A European trader was bidding around $485 per tonne fob. But this price was rejected b...Read More
Turkish steel mills have reported no bookings in the deep-sea scrap markets at the start of this week although they were still need to buy more material for August, sources said on Monday July 29.After booking four deep-sea cargoes last week, the mills stepped out of the deep-sea markets because of weak demand for finished long steel, those sources added."I believe the mills will need to buy few m...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have remained unchanged over the past week because of the slowness of the finished steel markets in summer, sources said on Monday July 29.Almost all of the mills kept their buy prices for local scrap unchanged from the previous week.Only ID??, the long steel mill in the Izmir region,...Read More
Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivative contract hit a monthly-traded volume of 2.0397 million tonnes as on Monday July 29, the highest since the contract's launch on December 3, 2018.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.99 per tonne, down $0.32 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $1117.91 per t...Read More
- Clint SiegnerFirst, a bank's commodities trading department takes metals investors for a ride like unwitting victims in the back of Jeffrey Epstein's "Lolita Express."Now federal prosecutors have extended the same sort of cozy non-prosecution agreement to shield the bank itself from a criminal indictment.Federal prosecutors signed a non-prosecution agreement in June with Merrill Lynch Comm...Read More
StrengthsThe best performing metal this week was platinum, up 2.24 percent on hedge funds cutting short positions and flipped the futures composite to a net long. Gold traders and analysts in the weekly Bloomberg survey are split between a bullish and a neutral outlook on the yellow metal ahead of the Fed's meeting next week. Gold gained on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) signaled...Read More
Keith Weiner, Monetary MetalsWe have spilled many electrons on the topic of capital consumption. Still, this is a very abstract topic and we think many people still struggle to picture what it means. Thus, the inspiration for this week's essay.Enterprise Car ServiceSuppose a young man, Early Enterprise, inherits a car from his grandfather. Early decides to drive for Uber to earn a living. Being...Read More
By: Gary Savagehttp://blog.smartmoneytrackerpremium.com/Read More
Prices for UG2 chrome ore in China rose strongly for the second consecutive week over the seven days ended Friday July 26, but weak profitability for smelters raised questions about the durability of this recovery. UG2 ore market in China increases by $7 per tonne Domestic spot alloy price rises in China, imported alloy stable High carbon alloy prices in Europe, US stableThe chrome ore price conti...Read More
Danielle DiMartino Booth spent nine years as an advisor to Richard W. Fisher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Danielle left the Fed in 2015 to found Money Strong, LLC, an economic consulting firm and launched a weekly economic newsletter She is the author of Fed Up: An Insider's Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America. DiMartino Booth began her career in New York at Donaldson, Luf...Read More