* Retail sales inch up 0.1 pct month/month in January* Surge in gym wear spending cancelled out by falling food sales* Weakest 3 months for retail sales since April 2017 (Adds reaction)By Andy Bruce and David MillikenLONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - British shoppers' New Year resolutions to get fit proved less healthy for retailers last month, as sales rose much less than expected and a longer-term back...Read More
(Kitco News) - Goldpricesare modestly up and have hit a three-week high in early U.S. tradingFriday. Gold prices have gained over $40.00 an ounce this week, with bullspoised to push prices still higher next week. April Comex gold futures werelast up $3.80 an ounce at $1,359.10. March Comex silver was last down $0.006 at$16.79 an ounce.Globalstock markets were mostly higher overnight. U.S. stock in...Read More
Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 * World shares snap 2-wk losing streak* Dollar hits lowest since 2014* VIX hovers below 20* Oil nears one-week high By Ritvik CarvalhoLONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - World shares were set for their best week of gains in six years on Friday after two consecutive weeks in the red, shrugging off a rise in global borrowing costs while the dollar hit its lowest since 2014....Read More
* Liberal billionaire strongly backs EU, eurozone* Meeting with ECB's Coeure rattles some lawmakers* Germany opposed to common budget By Francesco CanepaFRANKFURT, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor and activist George Soros has met a European Central Bank director to argue for closer euro zone integration, prompting criticism from some EU lawmakers who fear he is exerting undue influence on...Read More
STOCKHOLM, Feb 16 (Reuters) - One of the Swedish central bank's most hawkish rate-setters, Deputy Governor Martin Floden, has had his mandate extended for another six years, the Riksbank's General Council said on Friday.Economics professor Floden joined the six-member board in 2013 and his mandate is now extended until May 21, 2024."Martin Floden has contributed a high level of competence wit...Read More
Gold has recovered smartly, after falling to a recent low of around USD1240/oz in early December 2017, following the interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve, explains the analysis team at NAB. Key Quotes “US dollar weakness and doubts around alternatives (such as crytocurrencies) are generally supportive of gold, and we expect it to remain in the USD1300/oz range. NAB forecasts th...Read More
By Rajendra Jadhav and Sethuraman N RBENGALURU/MUMBAI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Physical gold was sold at a discount in India this week for the first time in three weeks as demand for the metal slumped due to a jump in local rates, while the Lunar New Year holiday cappedbuying at the end of the week elsewhere in Asia.Demand was down to a quarter its usual levels as buyers were deterred by a recent price...Read More
Investors are shunning the mining sector, data from Thomson Reuters shows, as they struggle to forget the string of multi-billion dollar takeovers and expensive development projects that left them empty handed.A decade-long commodity boom coincided with years of economic growth when China took off, but when the global economy slowed, so did the market for commodities from oil to copper.Data shows...Read More
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 By Ritvik CarvalhoLONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - World shares were set to post their best week of gains in six years on Friday after two consecutive weeks spent in the red, shrugging off a rise in global borrowing costs while the dollar hit its lowest level since 2014.The MSCI world index of stocks, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was up 0.4 percent after Europea...Read More
* Dollar index on track for worst weekly fall since Feb 2016* Swiss franc strongest vs dollar since June 2015* Japanese govt reappoints Kuroda as BOJ governor as expected* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 By Jemima KellyLONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped to its lowest levels in more than three years against a basket of currencies on Friday, headed for its biggest weekly loss in two years...Read More
New York, Philadelphia Fed price indexes surged this monthProducer price index increased in January on energy costsMarket Is Sniffing Some Inflationary Pressure, Says GkionakisThree measures of price pressures for American businesses showed they’re facing higher production costs, adding to evidence that inflation is creeping up in the U.S. economy.The Empire State Manufacturing prices-...Read More
Paulson owned 4.36 million shares in bullion-backed ETFBridgewater Associates added to its stake in SPDR GoldBillionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson maintained his holding last quarter in SPDR Gold Shares, before prices of the metal capped the biggest annual gain in seven years.John PaulsonPhotographer: Rick Maiman/BloombergAs of Dec. 31, New York-based Paulson & Co. kept his sta...Read More
Here Are 3 Hot Things to Know About Stocks Right Now The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have now risen for five straight sessions. The Dow last closed above 25,000 on Feb. 2. The blue-chip index remained more than 1,400 points below its all-time closing high of 26,616 set on Jan. 26, 2018.Wall Street Overview Stocks closed higher on Thursday, Feb. 15, posti...Read More
As the Dow Jones industrial average fell over 2,600 points between Feb. 2 and Feb. 8, 2018, a decline of over 10% from the all-time high of 26,616 on Jan. 25, and officially a market "correction" as defined by Wall Street, one question kept repeating in investors' minds: Where is the "Powell Put?"A bit of explanation may be in order.The name "Powell" is a reference to Jay Powell, the newly install...Read More
The “most-watched data point in history” came out yesterday.January's Consumer Price Index (CPI) would inform markets if inflation was at last slipping its leash.Inflationary murmurs - and the aggressive rate hikes they might portend - were at least partly responsible for last week's "correction."Further inflation omens meant the Fed could tug hard on the leash... and choke off the sto...Read More
Today I want to pull back the curtain and explain how I use a little known Federal Drug Administration secret to identify the best biotech stocks that could trigger big profits in months.One that tells me exactly when drug companies expect to receive approval from the FDA.This information is an incredibly valuable first step when I begin researching a biotech stock.Because if a company's drug gets...Read More
The latest diet fad in America is the social media detox.Some folks go cold turkey, wiping their accounts clean. Other dieters delete apps like Instagram from their phone so they won't compulsively check for new posts every ten minutes.The goal is simple: to break the increasing stranglehold social media has on our lives."It consumed too much of my time, and I had stopped doing other things I love...Read More
I was in Hawaii that day - the day the ballistic missile threat scared the living daylights out of every single person on the islands.My first thought was what have I done?How could I have brought my kids to Hawaii when I knew it was possible a crazy man could drop a nuke on one of the beautiful islands?My second thought was whether we needed to be more worried about our building coming down or th...Read More
Headline EPS grew 55% but basic EPS fell 40%.Production increased 5% and ore grades improved.The dividend yield is over 3%.Harmony has one of the strongest balance sheets in the gold mining industry.Harmony Gold (HMY) experienced a good first half with increased gold production and better ore grades. This South African miner is a great way for the American investor to buy into a company with a nic...Read More