If this bullish chart pattern plays out, it could take skittish fund managers by surprise"A full-fledged V-rally would push the SPX back to highs in the 2,950 area, but during the next two weeks -- up until June standard options expiration -- the SPY must first overcome peak call open interest at the 290 strike, which is equivalent to SPX 2,900. Many of the SPY 290-strike calls were bought to open...Read More

MMK Metallurgy, subsidiary of Russia's Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) postponed the start of its hot-rolled coil production until at least 2021, Pavel Shilyaev, ceo of MMK told Russian news agencies last week.MMK stopped operations at its melt shop and compact strip mill - which have a capacity of 2.3 million tonnes per year - in late 2012 because HRC prices had fallen...Read More

Zinc's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up by more than 2% at the close of trading on Monday June 24, settling at just under $2,500 per tonne. Just under 10,000 lots were exchanged.Despite a slight uptick in zinc's three-month price, storage and financing costs for the metal remain sizable. Zinc's forward spreads on the LME remain tight, with the cash/three-month spread recently...Read More

June 21st, 2019(S14-E701)Featured GuestsDr. Chris Martenson& Bob HoyePlease Listen HereInterview RecapIn Part II of the discussion with Dr. Chris Martenson of PeakProsperity.com, author of Prosper! returns.Our guest thinks silver which market price is below the cost of production, an extremely apealing bargain.Robert Ian stops by with an impromptu, must-hear editorial.Dr. Martenson is a str...Read More

- Michael J. Kosares"For twelve consecutive years, gold was up every single year whether there were inflation fears, deflation fears; strong dollar, weak dollar; political stability, political instability. It didn't matter - strong oil, weak oil. . . Gold went up for twelve years. . . When gold embarks upon its next move, I believe that you will see that long wave take gold relatively quickly, b...Read More

- Keith Weiner, Monetary MetalsLet's start with Frederic Bastiat's 170-year old parable of the broken window. A shopkeeper has a broken window. The shopkeeper is, of course, upset at the loss of six francs (0.06oz gold, or about $75). Bastiat discusses a then-popular facile argument: the glass guy is making money (to which all we can say is, "plus ?a change, plus c'est la m?me chose"). Basti...Read More

StrengthsThe best performing metal this week was gold, up 4.26 percent. Gold traders and analysts were surprisingly neutral on their price outlook for the yellow metal after it hit a five-year high this week and broke above $1,400 per ounce. Bullion got a huge boost after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday...Read More

By Avi GilburtBack on May 24, I authored my first article on gold in quite some time. As I noted in that article, there was not much for me to say until that time, as gold was clearly within the consolidation/pullback phase I had expected months before that.Within the May 24 article, I highlighted that gold was at a potential bottoming phase, but that it was at an inflection point. If it were a...Read More

- SRSrocco What happens to the gold price this week will likely set the trend for the foreseeable future. While many precious metals investors disregard technical analysis and key chart formations, you can bet your bottom dollar that large traders and institutions are watching the price action of the yellow metal quite carefully. And if you think that these large traders and institutions...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinUS Dollar took a beating, FOMC leaning on cutting interest rates. One of the board members wants a 50bps cut already. If China and US get together at the G20 then things can change:Read More

Here are three numbers to jot down to get an accurate and potentially useful 'read' on the aging bull market: 27,436, 28,738 and 33,161. These are 'Hidden Pivot' resistance targets for the Dow Industrials, and any one of them could stop the bull in its tracks. Each is a good place to attempt getting short with a tight stop-loss, but if the stop gets pulped, assume that the next-higher target...Read More

MMK Metallurgy, subsidiary of Russia's Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) postponed the start of its hot-rolled coil production until at least 2021, Pavel Shilyaev, ceo of MMK told Russian news agencies last week.MMK stopped operations at its melt shop and compact strip mill - which have a capacity of 2.3 million tonnes per year - in late 2012 because HRC prices had fallen...Read More

Fastmarkets MB's World DRI and Pellet conference, held in Dubai last week, took place against a backdrop of challenging circumstances for the steel industry.Finished steel prices, both in the Middle East region and beyond, have trended down over recent months, while certain raw materials prices - such as for iron ore-derived products - continue to soar, heaping pressure on margins.The best way to...Read More

Gold just made a new multi-year high in U.S. dollar and all-time highs in several other currencies.We are seeing a record amount of debt with negative nominal rates.U.S. interest rates have declined significantly in 2019, the 10-year real rate is just barely positive.Central Banks bought a record amount of gold in 2018 and many have continued to buy into 2019.Investment Thesis I have been writing...Read More

CIS export slab prices slumped in the week to Monday June 24 pressured by increased competition from Brazilian suppliers as well as by the slowdown of activity in the finished steel end-user market. A cargo of Ukrainian slab was sold to Italy at $430 per tonne cfr, equivalent to around $410 per tonnes fob Black Sea. Meanwhile, Russia-origin slab was booked in Turkey at $430-435 per tonne cfr, or $...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday June 24 that are worth another look.Koniambo Nickel SAS, 49%-owned by commodity firm Glencore, has evacuated and temporarily ceased production at its North Plant in New Caledonia following a leak at 6.22am local time on Monday June 24. The United States Supreme Court has denied a request by the American Institute for In...Read More

With the FED holding rates steady and saying they will do whatever is necessary to keep the economy expanding, forecasts quickly flipped from expectations of more rate hikes ahead to near certainty of a rate cut this year. This move was inevitable given the underlying fragility of the stock market recovery. This turning point in FED policy is very significant and has lit the fuse on the next major...Read More

Gold has broken through five-year resistance in USD terms, but is already at new highs in AUD and SEK and near all-time highs in CAD and JPY.Gold's next move in dollar terms depends on the Euro this summer.The UK staying in the EU would send the euro higher along with gold.A no-deal Brexit could send the euro flying in either direction.If the euro gets a bid after Brexit, gold will continue to...Read More

J? 1/4 rgen Schalamon will retire from his role as chief executive officer of Samancor Chrome at the end of June after nearly 15 years in the position, Fastmarkets understands. Samancor chief operating officer Desmond McManus will succeed Schalamon as CEO...Read More

We are nearing an important trendline break to the upside in silver.The gold to silver ratio indicates silver has plenty of room to run higher in the coming years.Sentiment remains quite bearish and supportive of a multi-year upmove well beyond $20 an ounce.The math says we can challenge all-time highs around $50 in 3-5 years, and possibly reach triple-digit $100+ territory in 7-10 years.Record gl...Read More