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

(Kitco News) - Gold prices are modestly lower in early-afternoon U.S. trading Monday. Early gains in the safe-haven metal were lost when the U.S. dollar index rebounded from solid losses 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. A solid rally in the...Read More

Source: James Kwantes for Streetwise Reports 06/04/2018James Kwantes, editor of Resource Opportunities, speaks with Ken Armstrong, the CEO of one of the more active diamond companies globally.Vancouver-based North Arrow Minerals Inc. (NAR:TSX.V) is one of the more active diamond exploration companies globally, with a portfolio of projects focused on Canada. Its most advanced-stage project is t...Read More

Source: James Kwantes for Streetwise Reports 06/04/2018James Kwantes, editor of Resource Opportunities, speaks with Ken Armstrong, the CEO of one of the more active diamond companies globally.Vancouver-based North Arrow Minerals Inc. (NAR:TSX.V) is one of the more active diamond exploration companies globally, with a portfolio of projects focused on Canada. Its most advanced-stage project is t...Read More

NEW YORK/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Monday that it has sold an 80 percent stake in its Brazilian operations to private equity firm Advent International, exiting an underperforming business in its third major international deal since April.The world’s biggest retailer has been looking to jumpstart its overseas business by retreating from lower-growth markets and investi...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May told President Donald Trump on Monday that U.S. tariffs imposed on European Union steel and aluminum imports were “unjustified and deeply disappointing” during a phone call.The leaders spoke for the first time since the announcement in a 30-minute call and agreed to discuss the issue further at the G7 summit in Canada later this wee...Read More

BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) - Daimler said planned launches of battery-powered luxury cars were on schedule on Monday following a report in Germany's Handelsblatt that they were facing delays because of battery shortages and other technical problems.The German business daily said that Daimler's new "EQC" electric midsize sport-utility vehicle will not hit dealerships until June 2019, several months a...Read More

Stocks were gaining on Wednesday following lower opening of the trading session. Is this an upward reversal or just another move up within two-week-long consolidation? Bulls are happier today, but there are still two possible medium-term scenarios.The U.S. stock market indexes gained between 0.9% and 1.7% on Friday, as investors reacted to monthly jobs data release, among other factors. The S&...Read More