Yesterday, the minutes of the FOMC December meeting were released. What do they say about the Fed's stance and what do they mean for the gold market?The Fed is divided over number of hikes in 2018At the December meeting, the U.S. central bank increased the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to a range 1.25-1.50 percent. The move was widely expected by investors, but there was no unan...Read More

(Kitco News)- Mining companies need to embrace “disruptive” technologyto make the sector more compelling to younger investors and attract newcapital, according to one mining executive.LuisCanepari, vice-president of technology at Goldcorp (NYSE:GG, TSX:G, saidin a recent interview with Kitco News, that there are a lot of companies doingamazing things with technology that can be ad...Read More

(Kitco News) - Mining companies need to embrace “disruptive” technology to make the sector more compelling to younger investors and attract new capital, according to one mining executive.Luis Canepari, vice-president of technology at Goldcorp (NYSE: GG, TSX: G, said in a recent interview with Kitco News, that there are a lot of companies doing amazing things with technology that c...Read More

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called potential talks between North and South Korea “a good thing” and the South Korean presidency said he had agreed there would be no military drills with South Korea during next month’s Winter Olympics.South Korea’s Presidential Blue House said Trump told South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in in a...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices have erased early losses to trade modestly upon the day, in late-morning action Thursday. Given the bullish technicalposture of the gold market, at present, traders stepped in to buy the dip inprices, while reckoning there is more on the upside for the yellow metal in thenear term. The outside markets are also in a bullish daily posturefor the precious metals today, as t...Read More

JEFF DESJARDINS on January 4, 2018Courtesy of: Visual CapitalistIn 1989, the idea for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) was born.Initially marketed to investors as Index Participation Shares, this innovative new product was meant to be a proxy for the S&P 500 that also traded on an exchange like a stock. After being launched, this early ETF prototype was immediately targeted by lawyers of the Chicag...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices have erased early losses to trade modestly up on the day, in late-morning action Thursday. Given the bullish technical posture of the gold market, at present, traders stepped in to buy the dip in prices, while reckoning there is more on the upside for the yellow metal in the near term. The outside markets are also in a bullish daily posture for the precious metals today,...Read More

JEFF DESJARDINS on January 4, 2018Courtesy of: Visual CapitalistIn 1989, the idea for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) was born.Initially marketed to investors as Index Participation Shares, this innovative new product was meant to be a proxy for the S&P 500 that also traded on an exchange like a stock. After being launched, this early ETF prototype was immediately targeted by lawyers of the Chicag...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday will rescind a marijuana policy begun under Democratic former President Barack Obama that eased enforcement of federal laws as a growing number of states and localities legalized the drug, a source familiar with the matter said.The Obama-era policy, outlined in 2013 by then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole, recognized marijuana as a...Read More

(Adds details throughout on stocks and sectors; updates prices)TORONTO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was little changed on Thursday as the financial and industrial groups climbed, while shares of energy and marijuana producers pared some recent gains.* At 10:46 a.m. EST (1546 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 0.1 of a point to 16,371.65. It touched...Read More

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - High winds and heavy snow barreled into the U.S. Northeast on Thursday, closing schools and government offices and disrupting travel as work crews scrambled to clear roads before plummeting temperatures turn snow into treacherous ice.Thousands of flights were canceled, snow plows and salt trucks were omnipresent on roads and highways, and commuters who braved the storm...Read More

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey on Thursday condemned the U.S. conviction of a Turkish banker for evading Iran sanctions as unprecedented meddling in its internal affairs, pushing back against a case that President Tayyip Erdogan has cast as a political attack.Wednesday’s court decision capped a trial that had strained diplomatic relations between the two countries and is likely to further aggrava...Read More

Steven ScheerJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel may ban from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange companies whose main business revolves around bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), the country’s markets regulator, said on Thursday.The regulator has proposed an amendment to exchange rules that would prohibit it from listing shares issued by companies that mai...Read More

Retail stocks are in focus today, as a number of companies release holiday sales numbers. The results aren't earning any accolades on Wall Street, though, with department store names J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) and Macy's Inc (NYSE:M), as well as Victoria's Secret parent L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) all slumping in early trading. Here's a closer look at how shares of JCP, M, and LB are performing...Read More

(Kitco News) - Kitco aficionados, it isnow time to have your say in where you think gold prices are heading in theshort-term.Will gold prices go higher, lower or remain unchanged nextweek? Kitco readers will have until 9 a.m. EDT, Friday to cast their vote. The results will be tabulated and released after noon (12PM EDT) along with the results fromour market professional survey.Readers can also se...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.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 market professional survey.Readers can al...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar dipped on Thursday, unable to hold onto gains made the previous day on the back of upbeat U.S. data and minutes from the Federal Reserve, as the euro resumed a rally that has taken it close to its highest levels in three years.The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six major rivals .DXY, had slipped to its lowest since Sept. 20 on Tuesday, a...Read More

Source: BullionStarThroughout gold rush and gold mining history, the discovery of a large gold nugget is a phenomenon which always causes excitement throughout a mining community as well as capturing the wider public's imagination. It has probably something to do with so much gold being found at the same time, often with relative ease.Gold nuggets can be found in alluvial deposits (sediments for...Read More

Drug concern Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE:TEVA) stock is on the rise, after receiving an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral"from brokerage firm Citigroup. TEVA stock also scored a price-target hike to $24 from $16 -- a 50% increase -- as analysts continue to wax optimistic on Teva's job cuts and and dividend suspension plans. In notes to clients, Citigroup said it prefers "to move off the...Read More

Cowen and Company this morning weighed in on social media stocks Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). While the update for SNAP shares was a bearish one, FB and TWTR both saw their price targets hiked. We'll take a closer look at the analyst attention and how the stocks are reacting below. Cowen Downgrades SNAP StockSnap is trading 4.4% lower out of the gate...Read More