We have deviated, these past several weeks, from matters monetary. We have written a lot about a nonmonetary driver of higher prices mandatory useless ingredients. The government forces businesses to put ingredients into their products that consumers don't know about, and don't want. These useless ingredients, such as ADA-compliant bathrooms and supply chain tracking, add a lot to the price of e...Read More
StrengthsThe best performing precious metal this week was gold, down 0.65 percent. Gold bulls regained the upper hand this week in the Bloomberg survey of traders and analysts, as investors weigh U.S.-China trade tensions and the outlook for global growth. Bloomberg reports that open interest, a tally of outstanding futures contracts in bullion, surged the most since mid-2016 on Monday to the hi...Read More
By: Dave KranzlerTesla has been "done" for awhile but many of the Wall Street and investor "uber" bulls are finally starting to see this reality. Amusingly, Wedbush's Dan Ives issued a report in which he lowered his price target on Tesla stock from $270 to $235. He refers to Tesla's situation as a "code red situation." Quite frankly, a "code red situation" with regard to a company and it...Read More
Is it okay for Tesla bulls to come out of their bomb shelters? Perhaps, but only with caution. The stock bounced sharply on Monday from a low that was close to the 193.31 Hidden Pivot support we were using as a minimum downside target. On the hourly chart the selloff looks to have reversed an inch from where we'd expected. But I hesitate to declare the target achieved, since the tiny-lookin...Read More
Full Article: If It Weren't For "Fraud", Gold Prices Should Be SoaringBy: Frank HolmesRead More
The recent round of tariffs on Chinese importswill hit the Chinese economy hard. The repercussions of this will not befavorable for anyone.Volatility has skyrocketed amidst the backdropof increasing geopolitical tensions worldwide.The march toward US invasions of Iran andVenezuela signals a potential surge in geopolitical risks in 2019. The Impact of Tariffs on China's EconomyTo begin, one of the...Read More
Top miners are really struggling as they sell silver at a loss. Something doesn't compute as we are essentially getting paid $2 per ounce to buy silver...Editor's Note: We hit on this "cost of production" topic in a recent Silver Doctors Live, which we live-stream on Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. EST. Specifically, we discuss the question of "what is a reason a person would want to invest in gold or si...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' sales fell to their lowest level in more than ayear and a half, as a slowdown in the Indian manufacturing sector hit roughdemand. Revenue dropped 25% to $415 million for the fourth salescycle of the year, which included last week's May sight in Botswana, thecompany reported Tuesday. Proceeds haven't been that low since October 2017, when De Beers garnered just $376 million am...Read More
RAPAPORT... A private collection of more than 800 luxury watches will gounder the hammer at four Sotheby's auctions in London, Geneva, New York andHong Kong over the coming year and a half. The Masterworks of Time sale series comprises pieces from the last500 years that have been out of the public eye for a long time, Sotheby's saidrecently. The collection also encompasses clocks from the past 400...Read More
RAPAPORT... Round diamonds have long been the most popular in the US, but fancy shapes also have a following in certain cities, according to a study by Blue Nile. Round-cut diamonds continue to be the most popular shape inmost states, accounting for 66% of nationwide orders, the jeweler said lastweek. However, when it comes to fancies, Blue Nile receives the most orders foremerald and princes...Read More
JCK announced that His Excellency Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana, will open the JCK Las Vegas Show as a keynote speaker on Friday, May 31, 2019 at 7:30 am in the Palazzo Ballroom, Venetian Level 5. This "historic conversation will focus on the special connection between the Americans and the people of Botswana as His Excellency, the President of the Rep...Read More
Since the beginning of the year, the news releases issued by the De Beers Group regarding their periodical rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales) keep getting shorter and shorter. That was also valid for the report concerning De Beers' news on for the fourth sales cycle - or sight - of 2019. The moment these releases will get longer again, it will be to announc...Read More
Aaron Shum Jewelry of Hong Kong and designer Reena Ahluwalia partnership is set to add more dazzle to JCK this year. The brand will be exhibiting Coronet's ninth Guinness World Record and their Alyssum by Reena collection at JCK Las Vegas, booth 57096. The Mudan diamond watch was awarded the Guinness World Record at Baselworld for most diamonds set on a watch. The watch is set with 15,858 di...Read More
Broader tensions masking still-constructive fundamentals With the US-China trade dispute escalating again and now geopolitical tensions between the US Iran rising, there is less and less appetite for risk in financial markets. Base metals continue to feel the fallout, despite plenty of signs of tightness in the fundamentals. Aluminium: Base-building amid cross currents There are many cross-current...Read More
Midwest premium to retreat after Section 232 tariffs removed from Canada and Mexico President Trump announced last week the United States has reached an agreement to remove Section 232 tariffs from Canada and Mexico. Following the removal, we believe the US Midwest premium should drop from the current elevated levels. Prior to the implementation of 232 tariff, the US Midwest premium was trading at...Read More
Aluminium LME aluminium’s May 2019 low at $1,784 per tonne remains under threat and a negative break below this level could encourage more technical selling to emerge in the short term. Its daily RSI and stochastic lines have slid lower too, threatening more downside for prices. Given its bearish technical configuration, the LME aluminium price needs to quickly regain confidence by tradi...Read More
Poor macro dynamics Although LME copper prices found some support at $6,000 per tonne last week, a break below this key level is likely imminently due to the macro negativity stemming from tense US-China relations. The re-escalation in the US-China trade and technology dispute has resulted in a confluence of macro headwinds for copper including a stronger dollar, a weaker yuan, and a reduction in...Read More
China puts tariff on concentrate imports from USA China is keeping a 10% tariff on US lead concentrates imports. Last year, China imported 71,000 tonnes of lead in lead concentrates from the US, some 10% of its total lead concentrate imports, which was down from an average of around 150,000 tonnes over the 2015-2017 period. While this is affecting the already beleaguered Chinese smelting industry,...Read More
Q1 results add to list of supportive fundamental factors We noted in our nickel analysis last week that outside of the broader macro and geopolitical issues weighing on the base metals at the moment, the nickel market’s own fundamentals are contributing to price sentiment via a combination of both positive and negative factors. The positives include strong EV sales data, environmental inspect...Read More
LME tin relatively resilient amid the US-China trade/tech dispute LME tin has proven relatively more resilient than most of the other base metals in the face of the re-escalation in the US-China trade spat earlier this month. Although tin is usually less sensitive to the macro backdrop and more responsive to its fundamental dynamics, it can occasionally have a high systemic risk, as was the case i...Read More