BullMarketRun.com

1. Gold has traded between $1,458 and $1,472 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is at its high of the day at $1,472…Gold slid to a near 2-month low in earlier trading but rebounded immediately after the release of disappointing U.S. manufacturing activity…the Institute for Supply Management confirmed that manufacturing contracted to its worst level since June 2009…President Trump quickly that tweeted that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the central bank “have allowed the Dollar to get so strong, especially relative to ALL other currencies, that our manufacturers are being negatively affected…They are their own worst enemies, they don’t have a clue…Pathetic!”…the September consolidation/correction in Gold did not represent a major change in positioning with technical charts still pointing to long Gold signals, according to TD Securities…“A marginal chart signal prompted extremely skewed positioning to liquidate some length, but our positioning analytics suggest that this move is more likely to be tied to a minor shakeout in length than to a major change in positioning.  However, the combination of some 75 technical analysis trading signals suggests that 43% of signals are still tilted towards the long side in Gold.  In fact, chart signals in old present the most compelling case in a cross-asset basket of securities, with the yellow metal holding the crown for the highest absolute percentage of signals pointing long on a 60d moving average basis”…Silver has rebounded 21 cents to $17.16…Nickel is 11 cents higher at $7.87…Copper has slid 5 cents to $2.54 while Zinc is off 2 pennies at $1.07…Cobalt has retreated 23 cents to $16.78…Oil prices have recovered modestly, up 47 cents at $54.54, on reports that output from the world’s largest Oil producers fell during the 3rd quarter, although a resumption in Saudi supply and demand concerns has kept a lid on gains…the Dollar Index has jumped another quarter point to 99.61…European stocks and the euro both suffered shaky mornings after euro zone manufacturing data showed the sharpest contraction in almost 7 years…Australia’s dollar tumbled after its central bank cut interest rates for the 3rd time this year…that also dragged the neighboring New Zealand dollar to a 4-year low…emerging markets are also in the firing line as the South African, Turkish, Russian, Indian and Mexican currencies all sink lower…The Globe and Mail reports that senior Canadian officials involved in economic and security issues have been meeting since July to discuss how Ottawa and Washington can secure access to minerals and metals such as Uranium, Lithium, Cesium and Cobalt in the context of cutting dependence on China…why it would have taken until July to have those discussions is a good question…

2. How can we allow this to happen given that Canada is a country so rich in natural resources?…Canada’s mining, quarrying and Oil and gas extraction sector, under relentless attack, dropped by 3.5% in July, the largest decrease seen since May 2016, according to new Statistics Canada data released this morning…support activities for those same industries slumped by 11.5%, the largest decline since December 2018…Oil and gas extraction (except Oil sands) fell 4.7%, the biggest monthly drop in a decade…as a result, Canada’s economy was unchanged in July, badly underperforming its neighbor to the south…Canada is setting itself up for major economic problems if it doesn’t get its act together with regard to the resource sector plus general productivity, investment, taxation and government spending issues…

3. World trade flows are set to increase at the weakest pace this year since the global financial crisis as tariffs rise and the global economy cools, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said today…the slowdown in exports has hit factories around the world…surveys of purchasing managers in Europe and Asia that were also released this morning pointed to deepening declines in manufacturing activity during September…in Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic, factories were operating at levels last seen in 2009…slowing growth has made it more difficult for central banks to reach their inflation targets and have inspired a wave of new stimulus measures from policy makers around the world…in the euro zone, figures showed the annual rate of inflation fell to its lowest level in almost 3 years in September – at 0.9%, inflation there is less than halfway to the ECB’s goal…

4. The Dow is up 55 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the TSX has added 21 points…the Gold Index is up 1 point at 237 as it tries to snap a 4-session losing skid…a strong support band exists between 240 and 227…it was a disappointing last half of September for the Venture which has lost ground in 10 out of the last 11 sessions after a monthly high of 594 September 13…this has led to the most oversold conditions on the Index since late December…slumping cannabis stocks have been a major contributor to Venture weakness with the Canadian Marijuana Index losing a whopping 16% of its value last month…Strategic Metals (SMD, TSX-V), on a steady rise since the beginning of June, has hit a new 2-year high of 55 cents…a sign of the growing interest in Nickel – Noble Mineral Exploration (NOB, TSX-V) is the Venture’s early volume leader this morning after announcing the creation of “Canada Nickel Company” which will become a new public entity…Canada Nickel will own a 100% interest in the Crawford Nickel-Cobalt sulphide project in northern Ontario and will be led by Mark Selby who will be appointed Chairman & CEO…Noble Mineral, a major shareholder in MacDonald Mines (BMK, TSX-V), also announced a plan to complete a fully-subscribed $5 million private placement into Canada Nickel, subject to regulatory approval, to fund the cost of the Crawford Project consolidation and continue exploration and mineralogical work…

5. Kinross Gold (K, TSX) is putting future deals in Russia on hold after snapping up a development project in a country hit by Western sanctions…in July, Kinross acquired the undeveloped Chulbatkan asset from closely held N-Mining for $283 million (U.S.) in cash and shares…the acquisition will add 3.9 million Indicated ounces of Gold to Kinross’s books…foreign investment in new mining projects in Russia has grown scarce due to Western sanctions levelled after the 2014 annexation by Russia of Crimea from Ukraine…the deal with N-Mining does not breach any sanctions but still requires Russian approval…this follows a multi-year effort by Kinross boss Paul Rollinson to cultivate ties in Russia even as diplomatic relations with the West, including Canada, have soured…“If you own our stock, by definition you’re comfortable with Russia, but that doesn’t mean we want to go overboard,” said Rollinson…Russian operations accounted for one-fifth of 2018 revenue for Kinross…the miner has poured more than $3.5 billion (U.S.) into Russia since 1995, making it the biggest foreign investor in the country’s Gold sector…

6. Sign of the times: Over the 3rd quarter of this year, the Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Index reached its highest level in 2 decades…the uncertainty index is now substantially higher than it was during the global financial crisis a decade ago…that lofty level of doubt reflects how U.S.-China trade tensions, Brexit and other considerations (including climate change alarmism) are crippling the ability of companies and investors to feel much certitude about what lies ahead…it also offers one explanation for the prevailing lack of conviction in markets…most major stock indexes finished the 3rd quarter close to where they started…in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite is 3.7% higher than it was one year ago…meanwhile, the S&P 500 benchmark has gained 5.7% while in London, the FTSE 100 has fallen 3.9%…the Venture, while it’s mostly flat for 2019, has fallen 21% from where it was a year ago…investors would love to find a place to run to, and Gold and certain precious metal stocks could be that place….Gold was the strongest performing major asset during the quarter despite a late September mini-correction…

7. As Canadian petroleum producers face capacity limits on export pipelines and legal challenges to build more, a Calgary-based company is testing a new way to transport Oil sands by rail and sea in shipping containers that gets around the contentious Oil tanker ban…Calgary-based Melius Energy melts pure bitumen, as the Oil sands are known, and pours it into shipping containers after removing diluting agents…when cool, the intermodal containers can be stacked on ships and trains and hauled to market…the company just completed its first test shipment of 130 barrels from Edmonton to Prince Rupert to China…“This is the first shipment – but Melius is prepared to commercialize today.  Currently they are working towards finalizing partnerships with several producers in Canada,” according to an emailed statement on behalf of the company…now Melius intends to scale up the technology of its Calgary-based partner BitCrude and develop supply contracts with Asian refineries…Melius President Nicole Zhang, a former pro golfer on the LPGA circuit, commented, “Establishing a transportation solution for Canadian energy that delivers tremendous value for local producers while satisfying the demand for our energy internationally is our priority”…adding to the industry’s woes, the Trudeau government passed a law earlier this year banning Oil tankers from carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes along the north B.C. coast…Alberta and petroleum producers have attacked the measure as blocking Canadian Oil from reaching international markets if a pipeline was built to the area (of course the Trudeau government also killed the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, hampering Canada’s ability to ship Oil and gas products to Asia)…

Most Popular Recent BMR Posts

Video: How This Innovative Junior Is Winning The “Battery Arms Race” In Northern Ontario

“The Enemies Of Progress, The Radical Environmentalists, Are Ramping Up For A War In The Woods”

Why Are These People Smiling? – Their Stock Has Tanked 80%!

Turbocharged Nickel

Commodity Check!

The Template For The Next 10% Stake In Garibaldi Resources

Thunder In The Corridor!

The Nickel Mountain Magma Highway

Two Big Plays Emerge in B.C., Setting The Stage For A Summer To Remember

How To Bring A Junior Resource Market To Life!

The Dramatic New Chase For A Nickel-Copper-Rich Massive Sulphide Deposit In The Heart Of A Famous Gold Camp

Northern Ontario Cobalt Junior Attracts Interest From Metal Trading Companies

The Most Important Venture Development Since The New Bull Market Began