David LawderWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy and inflation expanded at a modest-to-moderate pace from late November through the end of 2017, while wages continued to push higher, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.“Most districts said that wages increased at a modest pace,” the U.S. central bank said in its periodic Beige Book report on the economy. “A few districts obs...Read More

(New throughout, updates prices and market activity, adds comment and details on funding bill)* Five-year, 30-year spread hits lowest point in over a decade* Two-year yields highest since 2008 By Kate DuguidNEW YORK, Jan 17 - The U.S. yield curve flattened to a decade-low spread between 5-year and 30-year yields and two-year Treasury yields hit a nine-year high on Wednesday on expectations the Fe...Read More

Tim Coughlin, president and chief executive of Royal Road Minerals Ltd (CVE:RYR), updates Proactive on their current drill programme in Nicaragua.Coughlin says they're up to hole number four with the initial two drill holes sitting in the laboratory - results on those are due in the next couple of weeks.Another six holes in the programme are yet to be drilled.  Meet Netscientific PLC, discove...Read More

(Adds Beige Book, updates markets)* Industrial production increases 0.9 percent in December* Manufacturing output gains 0.1 percent* Utilities production rises 5.6 percent; mining up 1.6 percent By Lucia MutikaniWASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. industrial production increased more than expected in December as unseasonably cold weather at the end of the month boosted demand for heating, but ma...Read More

* Tech shares lead Wall St higher but Goldman, Bank of America lag* Dollar loses steam after early gains* Oil edges up ahead of inventory data (Updates with European market close)By Chuck MikolajczakNEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - World shares inched higher on Wednesday as a rebound in technology shares lifted Wall Street, while the dollar relinquished early gains to trade lower after a report sugges...Read More

* U.S. Treasury monitoring more than 100 platforms* U.S. to push other countries for tougher rules* Bitcoin price slumps to half its December peak By Michelle PriceWASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Financial crime fighters at the U.S. Treasury are "aggressively" pursuing virtual currency platforms that lack strong internal safeguards against money laundering, a top official told a Senate p...Read More

* Altmaier: No fixed date for deposit insurance scheme* Eurogroup head Centeno rejects idea of transfer union (Adds Centeno quote)By Joseph Nasr and Michael NienaberBERLIN, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Germany said on Wednesday that euro zone members should first agree on clear parameters for reducing risks in the banking sector before progress can be made toward completing a banking union through a deposit...Read More

* Dollar index falls during mid-day trade* Gold up 8 pct since mid-December* Bets on higher prices rise at record rate (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments; adds second byline and NEW YORK dateline)By Renita D. Young and Peter HobsonNEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices hovered near four-month highs on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar slipped against a basket of curr...Read More

Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has underperformed on the charts in recent months, down 30.3% over the past year. This dismal return comes despite strong showings from a number of sector peers from our Restaurant & Bars sub-sector, including Dow component McDonald's (MCD). Out of this group of roughly two-dozen, PZZA is one of just six that's trading below its 80-day moving average,...Read More

The last we heard from Royal Mail PLC (LON:RMG) it claimed that an underlying 2% rise in revenue represented "a good start to the year".Offsetting the ongoing decline in the letters business, the group saw a 6% rise in UK parcels revenue and a 9% revenue increase in its General Logistics Systems (GLS) business in the six months to 24 September.As one might expect, however, the Christmas period is...Read More

The classic American school bus - yellow, loud and trailing diesel exhaust - may soon get an electric upgrade.Each weekday morning, buses running on nothing but battery packs shuttle students to schools in northern Sacramento and the neighboring suburbs. The vehicles - made by Lion Bus of Quebec, Trans Tech Bus of New York state and Motiv Power Systems of Hayward - are cleaner and quieter than the...Read More

Bitcoin has rebounded over $1000 off its lows, breaking back above $10,000... The question on everyone's mind, did the bubble just burst or do you BTFD?Read full newsRead More

RM Secured Direct Lending PLC's (LON:RDML) James Robson tells Proactive the portfolio has grown to 24 debt investments across 13 sectors.Robson adds three-quarters of the portfolio is in higher-yielding private bi-lateral or private club investments with the remainder in more liquid public debt transactions.The trust's investment manager, RM Capital Markets, continued to grow the portfolio of secu...Read More

(Kitco News) - Goldman Sachs’ much talked about commodities-trading team surprised the markets this week as it reported the worst annual performance in the company’s history in 2017, down 75% in net revenue. This coincided with Goldman’s bearish gold forecasts that never came to be.Commodities trading revenues dropped from $1.1 billion in 2016 to below $300 million last year, Blo...Read More

(Kitco News) - Goldman Sachs’ much talked about commodities-trading team surprised the markets this week as it reported the worst annual performance in the company’s history in 2017, down 75% in net revenue. This coincided with Goldman’s bearish gold forecasts that never came to be.Commodities trading revenues dropped from $1.1 billion in 2016 to below $300 million last year, Blo...Read More

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The dollar held its modest losses against a basket of currencies on Wednesday even as the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book showed U.S. business activity was expanding with inflation growing at a modest to moderate pace in late 2017. At 2:08 pm (1908 GMT), the index that tracks the greenback versus the euro, yen, sterling and three other currencies was last down 0.10...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold priceswere modestly up in early afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday. Some minor profit-takingearly saw gold traders then step in to buy the dip when the U.S. dollar indexcould not hold its early gains and dropped to a 3.5-year low. February Comex gold was last up $3.70 an ounce at $1,340.80. March Comex silver was last up$0.016 at $17.20 an ounce.Goldand silver market bulls are si...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices were modestly up in early afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday. Some minor profit-taking early saw gold traders then step in to buy the dip when the U.S. dollar index could not hold its early gains and dropped to a 3.5-year low. February Comex gold was last up $3.70 an ounce at $1,340.80. March Comex silver was last up $0.016 at $17.20 an ounce.Gold and silver market bulls a...Read More

Amid the wild Bitcoin ride that's wiped more than 40 percent off the cryptocurrency's price in a month, a pattern may be emerging: sellers are switching out of digital gold and into the real thing.Read full newsRead More

Anglo Asian Mining Plc's  (LON:AAZ) Bill Morgan and Steve Westhead chat to Proactive's Andrew Scott following the release of their Q4 & FY 2017 Production and operations review.The miner produced 71,461 gold equivalent ounces during 2017, a production rate which hit the uppermost level of guidance.  Meet Netscientific PLC, discoverIE Group plc, Itaconix Plc and Realm Therapeutics plc...Read More