Ready for inflation?Just days after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reassured markets that a trade war between the U.S. and China was "on hold," the Trump administration announced that it would be moving forward with plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on as much as $50 billion worth of Chinese exports to the U.S. Beijing has already suggested that it will retaliate in kind.The White House also r...Read More

DCPH gapped to a record high earlier todayStocks are trading higher this afternoon, with blue chips Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) headlining the action by hitting fresh record highs. The drug sector is also making noteworthy moves today, as the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)'s annual conference continues, where companies have released updates on cancer treatments. Three other n...Read More

Oil prices are plunging ahead of an upcoming OPEC meetingOil prices plunged today, pressured by global supply concerns. July-dated crude futures closed down 1.6% at $64.75, and have now lost more than 4% since rumors first began circulating last week that the the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia are considering lifting the cap on crude output. This negative pric...Read More

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Monday unveiled the latest version of its operating system for the iPhone and iPad, iOS 12, saying it would make older devices such as the iPhone 6 work better.At its annual developers conference in San Jose, Apple said that iOS 12 could carry out simple tasks, such as opening apps, up to twice as fast as its predecessor, iOS 11. The company said the oper...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Preparations for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are going well and the two are tentatively scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Singapore time on June 12, the White House said on Monday.Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by David Alexander Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect th...Read More

(Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) led a rally in technology stocks on Monday, driving U.S. stocks higher, after the iPhone maker kicked off its annual developers conference and the Windows software maker snagged a popular coding website.Apple unveiled its latest operating system iOS 12 at the conference. Its stock gained as much as 1.7 percent, providing the biggest boost to S&...Read More

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's central bank in April paid $172 million to U.S. bank Citigroup (C.N) to recover part of the gold it had put up as guarantee in a swap operation, according to two sources familiar with the situation.Sanctions levied by U.S. President Donald Trump last year bar U.S. banks from carrying out financing operations with Venezuela, meaning such swaps cannot be renewed."...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - British business minister Greg Clark said on Monday the government was considering direct investment to help a unit of Japan’s Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) to build nuclear reactors in North Wales.“For this project, the government will be considering direct investment alongside Hitachi and the Japanese government agencies and other partners,” Clark told parliament.Repo...Read More

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's central bank in April paid $172 million to U.S. bank Citigroup (C.N) to recover part of the gold it had put up as guarantee in a swap operation, according to two sources familiar with the situation.Sanctions levied by U.S. President Donald Trump last year bar U.S. banks from carrying out financing operations with Venezuela, meaning such swaps cannot be renewed."...Read More

Some of today's most noteworthy options activityShares of social media issue Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and athletic apparel concern Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UAA) are roaring higher today, while alternative energy stock First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) is sliding. However, all three names are seeing heavy options trading. We'll take a look at the recent options activity on TWTR, UAA, and FSLR below. TWT...Read More

(Reuters) - Heavy discounts of up to $16,000 per vehicle are fueling a “truck war” among full-size pickups sold in the United States by the Detroit Three, a Reuters analysis shows.Strong U.S. sales this year of the highly profitable big trucks have helped offset lagging passenger car sales.But it is not clear how much of the truck demand is linked directly to ample factory incentives a...Read More

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Monday said he endorsed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s vision for a European fund for investments in weaker member states in the euro zone.“This is one government”, Scholz said after a meeting with Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra in The Hague. Scholz is a member of the Social Democrats, junior partner in Merkel...Read More

ROME (Reuters) - Italy will no longer be “Europe’s refugee camp”, newly installed interior minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday as he promised tough action to reduce migrant arrivals and send back those who have already come.Salvini, head of the right-wing League and a deputy prime minister in the eurosceptic coalition, has made curbing immigration a clarion call of his party w...Read More

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will do whatever it can to protect its steel and aluminum sectors from U.S. tariffs, with officials in “intense” talks with industry leaders, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said on Monday.President Donald Trump’s administration last week imposed new U.S. tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from Canada - the No. 1 steel exporter t...Read More

PARIS (Reuters) - Societe Generale SOCG.PA said on Monday it had agreed to pay around $1.3 billion in penalties to authorities in the United States and in France to resolve investigations into its transactions in Libya and its handling of money market rates.The French bank said the fines were covered by existing provisions and would have no impact on its results, adding that the money set aside fo...Read More

(Kitco News)- Major Canadian asset managers are turning to gold at an unprecedented pace as an essential portfolio diversifier and hedge against growing market risk and volatility, according to an executive at State Street Global Advisors.In a recent presentation in Montreal, Bobby Eng, head of SPRD ETF business development Canada said that his firm has seen Canadian investment demand grow by appr...Read More

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany’s Bayer (BAYGn.DE) will wrap up the $63 billion takeover of Monsanto (MON.N) on Thursday and also retire the U.S. seeds maker’s 117 year-old name.The German drugmaker had received all required approvals from regulatory authorities, it said in a statement on Monday.“Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acq...Read More

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday ordered French bank Soci?(C)t?(C) G?(C)n?(C)rale SA to pay a $475 million penalty to resolve charges it manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate, or Euribor.The action was part of a larger $860 million settlement to resolve criminal charges in the United States...Read More

Shares of the drug developers tend to rally in the June-August periodDrug stocks are making waves today, as traders digest cancer treatment updates from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference. The shares of Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) partner bluebird bio (BLUE) are higher after the company's myeloma treatment update -- and history suggests CELG stock could rebound over...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices aremodestly lower in early-afternoon U.S. trading Monday. Early gains in thesafe-haven metal were lost when the U.S. dollar index rebounded from solidlosses overnight and was trading just slightly lower at midday today. August Comex gold futures were last down $2.00 an ounce at $1,297.30. July Comex silver was last down $0.001 at $16.44 an ounce. Asolid rally in the U.S....Read More