WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy sits atop of the World Economic Forum’s annual global competitiveness survey for the first time since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, benefiting from a new ranking methodology this year, the Swiss body said on Tuesday.In its closely-watched annual Global Competitiveness Report, the WEF said the U.S. is the country closest to the “frontier of comp...Read More

(Kitco News) - Kitco aficionados, it is now time to have your say in where you think gold prices are heading in the short-term. Create your own user feedback survey Will gold prices go higher, lower or remain unchanged next week? Kitco readers will have until 9 a.m. EDT, Friday to cast their vote. The results will be tabulated and released after noon (12 PM EDT) along with the results from our...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will ask every cabinet secretary for proposals to cut their budgets 5 percent.As a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump pledged to slash government spending and regulation, and many fellow Republicans going into November congressional elections have picked up the theme in their own campaign promises.Reporting by Steve...Read More

(Kitco News) - Miners have to just wait out the cannabis frenzy until thebubble pops for investor capital to flow back into the metals space, thisaccording to mining executives and fund managers.Marijuana stocks are approaching pre-2001 Nasdaq levels ofovervaluation, and it's not a matter of "if," as much as it is amatter of "when" the cannabis space collapses on the same scale...Read More

(Kitco News) - Miners have to just wait out the cannabis frenzy until the bubble pops for investor capital to flow back into the metals space, this according to mining executives and fund managers.Marijuana stocks are approaching pre-2001 Nasdaq levels of overvaluation, and it's not a matter of "if," as much as it is a matter of "when" the cannabis space collapses on the same s...Read More

Netflix is bucking the broad-market downturn after upbeat earningsThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is down at midday, pressured by lackluster IBM Corp (IBM) earnings. Investors are also warily eyeing housing starts for September, which fell by a larger-than-expected margin and put added pressure on newly downgraded blue-chip Home Depot (HD). The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXI...Read More

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, a day after Wall Street’s strongest rally in seven months, as investors were disappointed with IBM’s results and remained cautious ahead of the minutes of Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.Shares of IBM dropped 6.3 percent after the company’s quarterly revenue fell more than expected, pointing to a bumpy recovery for the member of t...Read More

(Reuters) - Banks, including underwriters of SoftBank Group’s (9984.T) initial public offering of its mobile unit, are finalizing terms for a $9 billion loan to its Vision Fund, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.Reuters reported earlier this month that SoftBank had picked up five investment banks, including units of Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) and Goldm...Read More

Mr. Derek White reportsASCOT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF THE PREMIER PROPERTY Ascot Resources Ltd. has completed the previously announced purchase of the Premier property held by Boliden Ltd., which is located in Stewart, B.C.Derek White, president and chief executive officer of Ascot Resources, commented: "We are pleased to have successfully closed this transaction and look forward to the successful...Read More

Mr. Derek White reportsASCOT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF THE PREMIER PROPERTY Ascot Resources Ltd. has completed the previously announced purchase of the Premier property held by Boliden Ltd., which is located in Stewart, B.C.Derek White, president and chief executive officer of Ascot Resources, commented: "We are pleased to have successfully closed this transaction and look forward to the successful...Read More

BHP Billiton Ltd. is boosting sales of the top-quality nickel that's needed for electric vehicle batteries, another sign the world's biggest miner is targeting more opportunities in the booming sector.Sales of refined nickel, a category that includes the premium products used for battery production, jumped 18 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 from a year earlier, according to a statement Wed...Read More

Mr. Stephen Nano reports MIRASOL SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH HOCHSCHILD MINING FOR OPTION TO JOINT VENTURE ON THE INDRA PRECIOUS METALS PROJECT, CHILEMirasol Resources Ltd. has signed a binding letter agreement for the Mirasol's Indra epithermal precious metals project in Chile with Hochschild Mining PLC.As detailed in Mirasol's Aug. 29, 2018, press release, the agreement gives Hochschild the right to ac...Read More

Mr. Stephen Nano reports MIRASOL SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH HOCHSCHILD MINING FOR OPTION TO JOINT VENTURE ON THE INDRA PRECIOUS METALS PROJECT, CHILEMirasol Resources Ltd. has signed a binding letter agreement for the Mirasol's Indra epithermal precious metals project in Chile with Hochschild Mining PLC.As detailed in Mirasol's Aug. 29, 2018, press release, the agreement gives Hochschild the right to ac...Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Financial technology startups and other new entrants are making inroads in the U.S. banking market, but have yet to capture a threatening share of bank revenues, according to research published by Accenture Plc (ACN.N) on Wednesday.Around 19 percent of financial institutions in the U.S. are new entrants, such as challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech com...Read More

BERLIN (Reuters) - A hard Brexit could ground UK flights for up to three weeks but would be survivable for Ryanair (RYA.I), the Irish budget airline’s CEO Michael O’Leary said ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Wednesday.“You can ground aircraft for a week, two weeks, three weeks. It would be very painful,” O’Leary told Reuters in Berlin. &ldq...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Trade Representative’s office told Congress on Tuesday it intends to open trade talks with the European Union, the United Kingdom and Japan.Under fast-track rules, the United States cannot start talks with the EU, Japan and the United Kingdom until 90 days after notifying Congress.“We will continue to expand U.S. trade and investment by negotiating trade...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling weakened on Wednesday after data showed inflation fell more than expected in September and before a European Union summit at which Britain will try to unblock stalled negotiations for a Brexit deal.Economic data had briefly redirected traders’ attention towards the British economy and away from Brexit this week after figures on Tuesday showed the strongest wage gr...Read More

Alio Gold sells its non-core Nevada assets to Coeur Mining.Coeur gets a large land package close to its Rochester mine.The properties contain low-grade resources of 2.44 million toz gold and 36.5 million toz silver.Alio gets $19 million in Coeur's shares.Alio Gold (ALO) today announced the sale of its non-core Nevada assets to Coeur Mining (CDE). Alio will sell its Lincoln Hill Project, Wilco...Read More

Gold buyers in India, the biggest market after China, may give jewelry stores a miss in the run-up to the Diwali festival this year because of a surge in domestic prices to the highest level in more than two years. Shares of the country's biggest listed jewelers tumbled on Wednesday.Bullion has climbed in local markets because of a weak rupee, and rising prices just before the celebrations of Diwa...Read More

These Top 10 lowest cost gold mines are all below all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) $550/oz level and will prove profitable - even if the price falls 50%.Mining Intelligence looked at costs at primary gold mines and found 10 operations that would still make money, even if gold halves in value from today's levels. AISC metrics has been taken as a basis of comparison and ranking.Since the World Gold C...Read More