Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger discusses silver's mercurial aspects. When I was a young lad, there was a classmate (let's call him "Frankie") in the very early years of my education whose behavior was quite often deemed as "peculiar" and while I found him immensely entertaining, the teaching staff and my fellow students did not entirely agree. Frankie was the kind of kid who would bang...Read More

Sentiment in the CIS billet export market improved on Thursday June 7 after the resumption in scrap and rebar trading between Turkey and the United States earlier in the week.Some market participants said the improvement had yet to be backed up by deals at higher prices, but Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index has pushed up by $8 per tonne since Tuesday to reach $506 per t...Read More

Ron Struthers of Struthers Resource Stock Report discusses commodities and the markets, as well as a handful of companies that are on his radar screen. For sure there is a definite shift and turning point in the markets. There is little doubt now, commodities have started a new bull market. The BLS Raw Industrial Index is now up 31% from the 2015 low and will soon be testing long term resistance...Read More

Drilling at KSM has begun and several more rigs are expected to come online as well. Seabridge Gold Inc. (SEA:TSX; SA:NYSE.MKT) announced recently that two drilling rigs have been dispatched to KSM and drilling has begun. When snow conditions are more favorable, three more will be added.The company stated that a $19.7 million is budgeted for approximately 28,000 meters of drilling and surface wor...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward trend on Thursday June 7, with support coming from the billet and futures markets.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,060-4,090 yuan ($635-640) per tonne, up 80-90 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,930-3,970 yuan per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonne Buyers procured at a slower pace during the day in comparison with Wednesday due to the...Read More

The European ferro-vanadium market surged earlier this week, amid a flurry of spot purchasing interest and renewed supply concerns.Spot prices for European ferro-vanadium increased to $69-71.20 per kg on June 6, delivered duty-paid in Europe, up 4.82% from $66.25-67.50 per kg on June 1, according to Metal Bulletin's mid-week assessment.Spot market buying interest picked up considerably this week f...Read More

Prices for stainless steel in East Asia, particularly those for hot-rolled products, rose further over the past week amid low inventory levels in China and the sustained upward momentum in the nickel market.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,260-2,350 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday June 6, up $30 per tonne...Read More

 CloseGain/LossGold $1296.90-$0.20Silver$16.69+$0.01XAU82.99-0.47%HUI178.64-0.13%GDM625.19-0.45%JSE Gold1045.86+14.66USD93.45-0.21Euro118.00+0.28Yen91.18+0.38Oil$65.95+$1.2210-Year2.919%-0.053T-Bond144.375+1.125Dow25241.41+0.38%Nasdaq7635.07-0.70%S&P2770.37-0.07%  The Metals: Gold gained $6 to $1303.10 at about 8:30AM EST before it fell back to $1294.90 by midmorning, but i...Read More

The Brazilian steel industry spent 2017 trying to recover from its worst crisis ever in 2016, when several mills cut production levels to adapt themselves to weak market demand. Last year's crude steel output, local sales and apparent consumption figures improved, but on a poor basis of comparison. Consumption in Brazil, for instance, increased by 5.30% year on year in 2017, to 19.18 million tonne...Read More

Onthe macroeconomic front, the rapid strengthening of the U.S. dollar has beenthe most important development since the latest edition of the Market Overview.Let’s mull over the reasons behind it and its potential effects on the goldmarket.Asone can see in the chart below, the U.S. dollar appreciated 6 percent against the broad basket of currencies since its bottomfrom the early February. But...Read More

For almost 7 years now, I have been actively engaged in the online community relating to investing opportunities.In fact, my first public article about a specific asset was when I called for a top in gold back in the summer of 2011, when most were certain we were about to easily eclipse the $2,000 mark.However, my expectation was that the $1,915 region would likely put a cap to this rally, despite...Read More

The European Union (EU) and Canada have requested dispute consultations with the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding US duties on certain imported steel and aluminium products, the WTO said late on June 6.The US interpretation of Section 232 of its 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which allows for the US president or the US commerce secretary to impose import duties or similar m...Read More

Metal Bulletin's Top Steelmakers 2018 list shows ArcelorMittal retaining the crown as the world's largest steel producer, but the mills of China, Japan, South Korea and India occupy positions 2-10. Nucor in the United States, with an output of over 21 million tonnes in 2017, is the highest-ranking steelmaker from outside the region, in 12th spot. Since China has about half of the world's global st...Read More

 CloseGain/LossGold $1296.90-$0.20Silver$16.69+$0.01XAU82.99-0.47%HUI178.64-0.13%GDM625.19-0.45%JSE Gold1045.86+14.66USD93.45-0.21Euro118.00+0.28Yen91.18+0.38Oil$65.95+$1.2210-Year2.919%-0.053T-Bond144.375+1.125Dow25241.41+0.38%Nasdaq7635.07-0.70%S&P2770.37-0.07%  The Metals: Gold gained $6 to $1303.10 at about 8:30AM EST before it fell back to $1294.90 by midmorning, but i...Read More

By David HaggithEurope's many fault lines are spreading once again, bringing the endless euro crisis saga back in 3-D realism. Italy gained a new anti-establishment government last week, even as Spain elected a new Socialista government that could crack Catalonia off from the rest of Spain. All of Europe fell under Trumpian trade-war sanctions and threatened their own retaliation. And Germany'...Read More

The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States was silent on Thursday June 7 because only a few producers have small tonnages from July production available and key consumers restocked in the second part of May.Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS region was unchanged on June 7 at $385-390 per tonne fob Black Sea."The price...Read More

By Alasdair MacleodThe EU as a political construction is in a state of terminal decay. We know this for one reason and one reason alone: its core principal is the state is superior to its people. A system of government can only work over the longer term if it recognises that it is the servant of the people, not its master. It matters not what electoral system is in place, so long as this princip...Read More

By Dave KranzlerAnd just like that, the VIX index crashes right back to where it was before the late-January 10% drop in the stock market - a reflection that the remaining stock market speculators and hedge fund bots have been completely cleansed of any fear impulse that hit daytrader keyboards in the first quarter of 2018:Hedge funds went from insanely short VIX futures to long VIX futures...Read More

By Jordan Roy-Byrne CMT, MFTA The fundamental drivers for Gold and the US Dollar are similar and that is why they typically trend together. Negative and/or falling real rates drive Gold and the same drives the greenback though with respect to differentials between the other competing currencies. When real rates are rising or strong in the US that is bearish for Gold and bullish for the US Dolla...Read More

By Avi GilburtFor almost 7 years now, I have been actively engaged in the online community relating to investing opportunities. In fact, my first public article about a specific asset was when I called for a top in gold back in the summer of 2011, when most were certain we were about to easily eclipse the $2,000 mark. However, my expectation was that the $1,915 region would likely put a cap...Read More