Private sector employment in the U.S. increases 250K in December. Wall Street opens higher on Thursday. USD struggles to find demand. Following yesterday's technical slide, the XAU/USD pair gained traction on Thursday and recently rose above the $1315 mark as the broad-based selling pressure on the greenback remained unchanged despite the upbeat employment figures from the United States...Read More

Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) have been under pressure in recent days, after researchers found security flaws in many of the company's microprocessors. INTC stock fell 3.4% yesterday on the news -- while AMD stock rallied -- and is down another 2.4% today to trade at $44.17, even though the company said it is "rapidly issuing updates" that will be "mitigated over time." But while put o...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Gregg Harper, chairman of the House Administration Committee, said on Thursday he would not seek re-election in November, becoming the latest Republican to announce plans to leave Congress after 2018.Harper, 61, took office in 2009 as congressman from Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District and is serving his fifth term. He said in a statement he h...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. derivatives regulator will hold two meetings to discuss the procedure and operational controls for listing and trading digital currency futures, it said on Thursday, amid rising concerns over the risks bitcoin poses to the financial system.The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said it would convene its technology and risk advisory committees this month to...Read More

HAVANA (Reuters) - The European Union’s top diplomat met with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Thursday, saying a landmark accord ratified in November had opened the door to broader economic ties between the Communist-ruled island and 28-nation bloc.Rodriguez and the EU’s Federica Mogherini called the provisional Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement a new chapter in th...Read More

Two tankers can turn off their transmitters, rendezvous in secret and transfer the cargo.Read full newsRead More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Emboldened by his victory in the passage of the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in decades, President Donald Trump now wants to rein in social welfare programs even though some Republicans are wary of tackling the volatile issue in a congressional election year.A White House-led drive to downsize government aid programs such as food stamps and housing subsidies would energize cons...Read More

LIMA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Peru’s finance minister warned on Thursday that the political crisis that roiled Peru in the last days of 2017 was not over yet but said it should not have any major impact on the economy as long as it is resolved “in a civilized way.”In a rare press conference, Claudia Cooper maintained the ministry’s previous forecasts and said that while public in...Read More

The major U.S. stock indexes closed out 2017 with impressive gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) notching 71 record closes for the first time ever, and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) stringing together its longest monthly win streak in 30 years. And while stocks took a breather in the last week of trading, market players adjusted their trading positions for the new year, based on the U.S....Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday rescinded an Obama administration policy that had eased enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized the drug, instead giving federal prosecutors wide latitude on pursuing criminal charges.Attorney General Jeff Sessions, known as a strong opponent of legalizing marijuana, overturned the policy but stopped short o...Read More

Mr. Nelson Baker reports MINERAL MOUNTAIN LTD. JOINS OTCQXMineral Mountain Resources Ltd. has been called to trade on the OTC Market's prestigious tier, OTCQX International. The company trades in the United States on OTCQX under the symbol MNRLF.Mineral Mountain Resources began trading on OTCQX International on Jan. 2, 2018. Investors can find current financial disclosure and realtime Level 2 quot...Read More

Mr. Nelson Baker reports MINERAL MOUNTAIN LTD. JOINS OTCQXMineral Mountain Resources Ltd. has been called to trade on the OTC Market's prestigious tier, OTCQX International. The company trades in the United States on OTCQX under the symbol MNRLF.Mineral Mountain Resources began trading on OTCQX International on Jan. 2, 2018. Investors can find current financial disclosure and realtime Level 2 quot...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices are ending the U.S. day session modestly up and were poised to close ata more-than-three-month-high close Thursday. Silver prices were ending nearsteady and hit a six-week high today. Some early profit-taking pressure wasviewed as a bargain buying opportunity by the precious metals bulls. February Comex gold was last up $2.20 an ounce at $1,320.70. March Comex silver was...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices are ending the U.S. day session modestly up and were poised to close at a more-than-three-month-high close Thursday. Silver prices were ending near steady and hit a six-week high today. Some early profit-taking pressure was viewed as a bargain buying opportunity by the precious metals bulls. February Comex gold was last up $2.20 an ounce at $1,320.70. March Comex silver...Read More

Palladium futures on Thursday climbed past $1,100 an ounce for the first time on record, leaving some traders to wonder whether palladium has the ability to continue its rally and surpass the value of gold. On Thursday, March palladium PAH8, -0.67% traded up $11.20, or 1%, at $1,094.55 an ounce after touching a high of $1,101.70. Futures prices hit an intraday record and were poised for the high...Read More

(Reuters) - The global private equity industry raised a record $453 billion from investors in 2017, leaving it with more than $1 trillion to pour into companies and new business ventures, data from industry tracker Preqin showed on Thursday.The figures underscore the extent to which large institutional investors, as well as family offices, are placing a growing portion of their money with leverage...Read More

A brewing rivalry between gold and bitcoin for hot investment choices.Bitcoins may not be a good option as medium of exchange/divisibility.Gold has better intrinsic value and lower price volatility than bitcoins. Source: Gainesville News. Investment Thesis Over the past few years, an increasingly wide range of cryptocurrencies have come into existence. Bitcoin is a very recent innovation of crypto...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in have agreed “to de-conflict the Olympics and our military exercises” to ensure the security of the upcoming Winter Games, the White House said in a statement on Thursday.Trump, in a telephone call, also told Moon that the United States would send a “high-level delegation” to the...Read More

KABUL (Reuters) - At least 20 people were killed and wounded in a suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.Officials said the bomber blew himself up after approaching a group of security personnel who had been conducting an operation against illegal drugs and alcohol sales in an area of Kabul not far from the U.S. embassy.Reporting by Mi...Read More

Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage (Kitco News) - As bitcoin’s recognition grows around the world, here is what top central bankers think about popular digital currencies.Federal ReserveFed Chair Janet Yellen was asked about bitcoin during the central bank’s last monetary policy meeting of the year in December.Yellen referred to the digital currency as a “...Read More