Source: Clive Maund for Streetwise Reports 03/28/2019Clive Maund sees some rough waters with gold and discusses how to play it.Note: This article was published on CliveMaund.com on March 27.I have not been happy about the pattern that has been forming in gold since it plunged rather rudely and sharply around the end of February. The concern that was engendered by that plunge and the accompanyi...Read More
Contrary to traditional opinion, there is no stable, long-term correlation between gold and the VIX index or the S&P 500 index.Gold is in a strong, long-term relationship with the value of the dollar and the level of the U.S. real interest rate.Neither the dollar nor the real interest rate has dropped so much that this could explain the current price of gold. Investment Thesis The analysis of...Read More
In contrast to the clear skies outside, a cloud hung over discussions among Indian scrap traders attending the opening session of the annual conference of the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) earlier this month in Kochi, southern India.Secretary-general Amar Singh praised the superior air quality in the host city, compared with the metropolises of New Delhi and Mumbai. But delegates...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has announced new warehouse reform proposals - the friendliest to warehousers in seven years - that aim to make LME warehousing attractive again and encourage more metal onto the exchange.In a discussion paper sent to members on Friday March 29, the exchange proposed relaxing queue-based rent capping (QBRC) to 80 days, lower rent and Free On Truck (FOT) fees, as well as m...Read More
More than three years after two treasure hunters claimed to have found a Nazi train laden with gold and gems in the Polish city of Walbrzych, one of the men looking for it has unearthed another kind of treasure: two dozen priceless Renaissance portraits.Piotr Koper, who spent years hunting for the elusive train rumoured to be laden with gold and gems, has found two dozen priceless Renaissance p...Read More
EURUSD The euro for a week remains under pressure on global markets, due to weak economic indicators. As a result, the pair declined from the EURUSD high near 1.1450 to 1.1220 - the lows area since June 2017. An attempt to break the downtrend failed with the help of Draghi. ECB President Mario Draghi warned of a possible extension of the extremely low rates period. Additionally, the EUR decline on...Read More
Prior to the FOMC meeting last week, I forecast that the Fed would be dovish on both interest rates and the balance sheet reduction program.But this would mean that all of the dovish "speak" since their verbal 180 in January that contributed to the rally in stocks is now priced in.I believe that is now the case and there is little more the Fed can say that will push stocks higher.By Davi...Read More
Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday March 29, with copper and zinc outperforming.Despite continued strength in the US dollar, risk appetite has improved.The three-month copper price closed almost 2% higher while volumes exceeded 20,000 lots. The metal's on-warrant stock count has recovered slightly over March after reaching its l...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More
Published 19 Hours AgoUpdated6 Hours AgoReuters Getty ImagesGold gained on Friday en route to its second quarterly rise as the dollar eased on tepid U.S. economic data, while palladium snapped three straight sessions of sharp losses, ending the quarter on a positive note.Spot goldwas up 0.20 percent at $1,292.67 per ounce as of 3:00 p.m. EST. Prices struggled to break past resistance around $1,30...Read More
Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More
Chilean state miner Codelco produced slightly less copper in 2018 than the year before, the company reported on Friday, as it continued to contend with declining ore grades and rising costs at its aging mines.Chief Executive Nelson Pizarro said the company produced 1.678 million tonnes of copper at its own mines in 2018, down 3.3 percent from the previous year, and a total of 1.806 million tonnes,...Read More
Stainless steel transaction prices in Europe increased in the week ended Friday March 29 while mills continued to incrementally apply higher alloy surcharges to their sales prices.This week, many mills announced alloy surcharges for a range of stainless steel products for April, at levels increased from those in March. This was the second consecutive such increase.The increases were largely a reac...Read More
Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday March 29, with copper and zinc outperforming.Despite continued strength in the US dollar, risk appetite has improved.The three-month copper price closed almost 2% higher while volumes exceeded 20,000 lots. The metal's on-warrant stock count has recovered slightly over March after reaching its l...Read More
The aluminium P1020 Midwest premium in the United States declined to its lowest level in 11 weeks on Friday March 29, with narrowed contango spreads on the London Metal Exchange prompting some traders to discount amid waning spot demand from consumers. Fastmarkets AMM assessed the P1020 Midwest premium at 19-19.25 cents per lb on March 29, after holding the range at 19.25-19.5 cents per lb since t...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale reported reduced nickel production of 244,600 tonnes in 2018, down 15.1% from 2017's 288,200 tonnes.The depressed year-on-year figures come despite the company increasing its fourth-quarter nickel production by 14.9% to 64,000 tonnes, up from 55,700 tonnes in the third quarter of 2018.The figures were published in Vale's fourth-quarter production results on Wedn...Read More
The copper market in the United States jumped in morning trading on Friday March 29 amid optimism that the global trade war will soon be resolved, boosting metals prospects.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 6.85 cents per lb to $2.9410 per lb.Trade talks between the US and China continued to show little progress in their attempts...Read More
A cargo of 30,000 tonnes of Chinese-origin alumina has been sold at 2,810 yuan ($417.10) per tonne fob Yantai port to Glencore in recent days, a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29. The price is equivalent to around 2,560 yuan per tonne ex-works, taking into account nearly 250 yuan per tonne for freight to Yantai port and other costs. This is 3.8% or 100 yuan per to...Read More
Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More