The calendar year 2017 was a remarkable one for the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) in more than one regard. VIX registered an all-time low of 8.56, and rose only as high as 17.28 -- its lowest annual high of the past 20 years. It also marked the fourth consecutive year where VIX declined, which last occurred during the stretch from January 2003 to December 2006.The average daily VIX reading last year...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on Wednesday called for U.S. regulators to raise capital requirements for the largest U.S. banks, saying they are still ‘too big to fail’ despite a slew of reforms introduced following the 2008 financial crisis.The academic study estimates there is still a 67 percent chance of a tax-payer funded bail out over the next 100 y...Read More
The U.S. stock rally may have finally hit a wall, with futures trading below fair value this morning. The bond market is in focus today, with 10-year Treasury yields climbing north of the key 2.5% level after Bloomberg reported China may slow or stop the purchase of U.S. bonds. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) appear ready to retreat aft...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Crude oil prices hit new multi-year highs on Wednesday as OPEC-led production cuts and healthy demand helped to balance the market, but analysts warned of possible overheating.A broad, global market rally, including stocks, has also been fuelling investment into crude oil futures. [MKTS/GLOB]U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.60 a barrel, up 64 cen...Read More
Getty ImagesThe cost of goods imported into the U.S. rose 3% in 2017, up sharply from the year before. The numbers: The cost of goods imported into the U.S. rose slightly in December and finished the year with a 3% increase - the biggest gain in six years. Although that's much higher than the 1.9% gain in 2016, it still reflects a generally low level of inflation. In December, import prices edged...Read More
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Officials reviewing China's foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.China has the world's biggest currency reserves and is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. government debt.According to the Bloomberg report, the sources said the market for U.S...Read More
Klondex Mines Ltd.(TSX: KDX; NYSE American: KLDX) says it is scaling backoperations at its True North mine in Manitoba, with plans to eventually haltmining. After study, Klondex says it will limit underground mining to areasalready developed, and once these are depleted, underground mining will besuspended. Officials say the decision was largely based on the site’s inabilityto achieve p...Read More
Gold regains bid tone in Europe. Equities drop in early trade. Gold is mildly bid in Europe, possibly due to moderate losses in the European equities. As of writing, the metal (XAU/USD) is trading at $1314/Oz levels; up 0.23 percent on the day. Prices hit a one-week low of $1308.22 in Asia, tracking the rise in the US 10-year treasury yield to 2.57 percent (highest level since March). The recove...Read More
Bears thought they had control of the gold markets onTuesday, taking the precious metal down over $10 before a late-day rally cutthose losses in half. In overnight trading, the bears were once again incontrol until 1:30 a.m. EST. Out of nowhere, the bulls showed up and goldrallied $18 from the lows, putting in a new three-month high. Once again, the bears got run over by the bulls on heavyvolume....Read More
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The class action brought by thousands of mineworkers who contracted lung diseases while working for South African gold miners has been postponed because the parties are close to a settlement, lawyers for the companies said on Wednesday.A High Court in 2016 set the stage for protracted proceedings on cases dating back decades in the largest class action suit yet in...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are solidly higher and hit a 3.5-month high in early U.S. trading Wednesday.Safe-haven demand is in play for the gold and silver markets at mid-week, amida sharp sell-off in world government bond markets. A lower U.S. dollar index onthis day is also providing a boost to the precious metals. February Comex gold was last down $9.30 an ounce at $1,323.10. March Comex silver...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar slumped on Wednesday after a report that China was ready to slow or halt its U.S. treasury purchases, with the greenback posting its biggest single-day drop against the Japanese yen in nearly eight months.Officials reviewing China’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries, Bloomberg News reported, citing pe...Read More
Mr. Jeffrey Pontius reportsCORVUS GOLD DRILLS 96 METRES @ 1.35 G/T GOLD, EXTENDS MOTHER LODE DEPOSIT TO THE WEST, NORTHWEST AND AT DEPTH, COMMENCES PHASE 2, 10,000 METRE DRILL PROGRAMCorvus Gold Inc. has received further assay results from 10 new drill holes from its 2017 phase 1 drill program at the Mother Lode project in southern Nevada. The latest results include northwest and deep in-pit drill...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
(Kitco News) - Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) reported Wednesday that outputfell in the fourth quarter and 2017, yet full-year silver output was thesecond-highest in the country’s 126-year history.In particular, output was down sharply at the company’sLucky Friday Mine in Idaho due to a strike. Limited production is being carriedout by salaried staff.Company-wide silver output in the four...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Fitch reiterated its warning on Wednesday that the United States could lose its prized triple-A credit rating if the country’s debt ceiling is not raised in the coming months.The U.S. Treasury Department will exhaust all of its borrowing options and run dry of cash to pay its bills by late March or early April if Congress does not raise its borrowing limit, the Congression...Read More
Mr. Matthew Hornor reportsMAPLE GOLD FINALIZES DRILLING PLANS AND PREPARES TO COMMENCE WINTER DRILLING CAMPAIGNMaple Gold Mines Ltd. has provided an update on exploration activities and the upcoming winter drilling campaign. The company'seight geologists have now relogged over 18,000 metres from selected higher-grade sections throughout the resource areas, and are preparing for the 25,000-to-30,00...Read More
The market seems to only go up anymore. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) hasn't suffered a down day yet in 2018, and when things are going this well, it's an appropriate time to examine some sentiment indicators. The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) sentiment survey has displayed some interesting behavior lately. The survey polls individual investors on whether they are bullish, bearish,...Read More
Mr. Christian Milau reportsEQUINOX GOLD CONTINUES TO INTERSECT SIGNIFICANT GOLD MINERALIZATION AT PIABA WESTEquinox Gold Corp. has released positive results from an additional 24 shallow stepout and infill drill holes totalling 4,200 metres that were drilled below the shallow, westernmost Piaba reserve pit and west along strike from existing reserves at the company's 100-per-cent-owned Aurizona go...Read More
Vitaliy Katsenelson emailed an article about the Bitcoin bubble. Let's compare to the "Something Else Entirely" belief. Bitcoin – Millennials Fake Gold by Vitaliy Katsenelson Originally posted on the Contrarian Edge. I’ve been asked about Bitcoin a lot lately. I’ haven’t written anything about it because I find myself in an uncomfortable place in agreeing with...Read More