The narrow trading range in stocks continues, and theshallow sideways correction will eventually resolve itself with another upleg.The signs are countless, and the riskier part of the credit market spectrumagrees. As money flows from the Tresury markets, and sizable cash balances aresitting on many a balance sheet, there is plenty of fuel to power the S&P500 advance. With volatility in the tam...Read More

This boulder could be an indication of anexciting development in the lithium market.Why?Processed, that boulder is an importantingredient to power rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles like Teslas,BMWs, Mercedes, Volvos, Cadillacs, Hummers and a lineup of new entrants to theEV frenzy.And with demand for lithium in Europeprojected to rise 60X in the coming decade... This find couldn’t...Read More

Import prices for flat-rolled steel in South America soared in the week to Friday February 26, boosted by a swift increase in bulk freight rates and higher offers from Chinese mills, returning to the market after the Lunar New Year holiday.By the end of the week, some of offers previously presented to the continent were pulled, due to uncertainties regarding delivery. Reduced availability of cargo...Read More

Gold continues to wallow near its recent low price level, near $1765.  Silver has continued to trend moderately higher – but still has not broken out to the upside.  Many analysts have continued to estimate when and how metals will begin the next wave higher.  My research team and I believe we’ve found some answers to these questions and want to share our research.Silver...Read More

Pakistan's government has said that Fastmarkets' import index for ferrous scrap will be used for customs valuations of ferrous scrap, according to an official ruling published on February 25.The decision came after meetings to determine customs values, held on January 14 and February 3 with key industry stakeholders - including the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCC&I), t...Read More

Just kidding. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway may or may not own copper stocks. I did not dig deep enough to find out. For the purposes of this post it does not matter.With the Buffett Buys a Gold Stock! hysterics last summer, the subsequent (and inevitable) fallout and the Buffett Pukes a Gold Stock! resolution, you never know. It’s worth asking the question about what sort of inv...Read More

Indian secondary steel billet prices have risen by 900 rupees ($12) per tonne in the current week on higher costs for basic raw materials such as direct-reduced iron (DRI), coupled with increased buying of semi-finished steel by makers of long products.The price of steel billet, domestic, exw India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on Friday February 26 at 38,300-38,500 rupees ($527-530) per tonne comp...Read More

Lithium-ionis about to take on a lot more significance. This is not about your iPhone anymore. It’s not even just about your electricvehicle. Lithium-ion batteries will power a large part ofour world in the future and are now an important aspect of amulti-trillion-dollar energy transition. That makes the world’s handful of lithium producersnow finally a hot item to...Read More

Metalsmarkets continue to diverge this week, with copper and platinum adding torecent breakout gains while gold struggles to find footing.Duringthis week’s selloff, gold revisited its lows from last November. A supportlevel exists at $1,750, but momentum selling could take prices down a bitfurther before technical gauges flash deeply oversold signals. Turningto silver, the white metal contin...Read More

Stocks are predictably staging a continued recovery fromthe mostly sideways correction – a shallow one not strong enough to break thebulls‘ back. Credit markets are largely behaving – with the exception oflong-term Treasuries, which I see as highly likely to draw the Fed‘s attention – just as I discussed in detail yesterday. The S&P 500 keeps doing fine, and so do...Read More

Under the Biden administration the economy could overheat, thereby increasing inflation and the price of gold.In January, Biden unveiled his plan for stimulating the economy, which is struggling as the epidemic in the U.S. continues to unfold. Pundits welcomed the bold proposal of spending almost $2 trillion. Some expenditures, especially on vaccines and healthcare, sound pretty reasonable. Howeve...Read More

Lets start with the daily bar combo chart for the PM complex which shows the August trading range still under construction making lower lows and lower highs for the most part. Below is the daily bar PM combo chart showing the possible H&S tops. Over the last couple of weeks most of the PM stock indexes have formed a small blue consolidation pattern right around the neckline with most of them b...Read More

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution isgaining serious momentum.According to experts’ projections, demand for electric vehicles should rise at a 21.1%Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) until 2026.The extraordinary demand that is forecast forEVs over the next five years has now begun to trigger a massive disruption inthe global energy markets. As demand for EVs continues to move higher,the d...Read More

With the yellow metal just posting itslowest close since June and a bearish pattern forming, how vulnerable is goldto a further decline?Gold and mining stocks just broke to newyearly lows – as I warned you in my previous analyses. And that’s only thebeginning.Let’s jump right into the charts,starting with gold. Figure1 - COMEX Gold FuturesIn early February, gold broke below theri...Read More

In 2019, 97-year-old John B. Goodenough receivedthe Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work on developing lithium-ionbatteries His discovery more than 40 years ago led to amassive breakthrough, giving us the rechargeable batteries hidden insidedevices we use every day... From smartphones and computers to power tools andmedical equipment.  But today, it’s led to a boom that’s signa...Read More

There has been quite a bit of chatter related to precious metals lately.  The rally in Cryptos, particularly Bitcoin, and various other stocks have raised expectations that Gold and Silver have been overlooked as a true hedging instrument. As these rallies continue in various other stocks and sectors, Gold and Silver have continued to trade sideways over the past 6+ months – when and ho...Read More

Peter Krauth, editor of Gold Resource Investor, delves into the movement among some companies to hold Bitcoin and gold rather than cash.Imagine your favorite company getting sued for holding too much cash.I know, that's a big statement. But hear me out.Corporations, pension funds and insurance companies—anyone responsible to stakeholders—could one day face class action lawsuits if they...Read More

The spread between prices for 65% Fe iron ore and 62% Fe products will likely remain wide in the near term due to tight supply of high-grade Carajas fines, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.The supply of Carajas fines to Chinese steel mills has been lower than expected in 2021, and this situation could continue to worsen in the second quarter, sources said.Furthermore, sintering restrictio...Read More

Palladium was manipulated for years. It had the largest short position relative to itssize, while physical demand rose inversely to decreasing supply.In 2018, demand became so large that itoverwhelmed the shorts.Physical palladium could not meet the market'sneeds and prices exploded. Shorts eventually decreased their positions untilthey got to a more sustainable level.For many years, the platinum/...Read More

Fastmarkets will publish its first low-carbon aluminium differentials for primary aluminium (P1020A) and value-added products in Europe on Friday March 5.A "green" supply chain has been a key focus for the aluminium market over the past few years. One main point of discussion has been whether low-carbon aluminium can fetch a premium due to its "green" status.Fastmarkets aims to bring transparency...Read More