7 @ 7:00 « BullMarketRun.com

December 2, 2019

7 @ 7:00

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1. Gold has traded between $1,462 and $1,453 to kick off the month of December…over the past 2 decades Gold has posted gains in December nearly 60% of the time with an average return of 0.7%…as of 7:00 am Pacific, Gold is off $6 an ounce at $1,458…Silver has slipped 14 cents to $16.86…Nickel, Copper, Zinc and Cobalt are all relatively unchanged at $6.22, $2.65, $1.03 and $16.10, respectively…Nickel posted its steepest monthly loss in 8 years in November on faltering steel output from top producer China and waning impact from an Indonesian ore export ban…however, the primary bull cycle remains intact on the long-term chart…Crude Oil has jumped $1.18 a barrel to $56.35, supported by hints that OPEC and its allies may agree to deepen output cuts at meetings later this week…protesters around the world disrupted Black Friday shopping in order to draw attention to “climate change” days before a United Nations’ get-together to discuss the issue in Madrid…the retail holiday saw protests in a long list of countries, including France, Germany, the United States and Canada, with some activists entering stores and others holding mock funerals…near Paris, climate demonstrators blocked a shopping mall and gathered in front of Amazon’s headquarters to protest over-production they say is killing the planet…to many of these deranged activists, Black Friday is the symbol of capitalism run amok…“We are living in a system of endless consumerism,” the radical group Extinction Rebellion NYC tweeted on Friday…“Earth cannot sustain that, especially as we accelerate towards climate and ecological catastrophe”…President Trump said this morning that he will immediately restore tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina…“Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries,” Trump said in a tweet…he also urged the Federal Reserve to prevent countries from gaining an economic advantage by devaluing their currencies…“The Federal Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar”…the Dollar Index has fallen more than one-tenth of a point to 98.13…the ISM manufacturing PMI for November was just released and came in below expectations at 48.1, helping Gold and pushing broader equity markets lower…

2. China said today that U.S. military ships and aircraft won’t be allowed to visit Hong Kong, and also announced sanctions against several U.S. non-government organizations for encouraging protesters to “engage in extremist, violent and criminal acts”…the measures were announced by China’s Foreign Ministry in response to U.S. legislation passed last week supporting anti-government protesters…it said it had suspended taking requests for U.S. military visits indefinitely, and warned of further action to come…“We urge the U.S. to correct the mistakes and stop interfering in our internal affairs. China will take further steps if necessary to uphold Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity and China’s sovereignty,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing in Beijing…

3. Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., one of China’s biggest Gold miners, is buying out Canadian miner Continental Gold (CNL, TSX) for $1.4 billion in a friendly, all-cash offer at $5.50 per share…Continental’s 100%-owned Buritica Project in Antioquia, Colombia, is one of the largest and highest-grade Gold projects in the world and represents a complementary addition to Zijin’s international asset portfolio…Buritica is expected to produce approximately 250,000 ounces of Gold per year on average over a 14-year mine life at an LOM all-in sustaining cost of approximately $600 (U.S.) per ounce…it features a Measured resource of 1.4 million tonnes at a grade of 13.7 g/t Au and an Indicated resource of 14.6 million tonnes @ 10 g/t…“The all-cash offer at a significant premium to market is an excellent outcome for our shareholders and is a testament to the extraordinary effort of the Continental team and its stakeholders in pioneering a new and modern Gold industry in Colombia,” stated CEO Ari Sussman…“In the span of a decade, Continental has transformed the Buritica Project from a grassroots discovery into one of the world’s largest and highest-grade Gold projects. With production on the horizon in 2020, the timing is right for Continental to sell to a more experienced mine operator and therefore Continental’s Board of Directors recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction. Zijin is one of the world’s fastest growing mining companies and boasts an impressive track record of successful international acquisitions and operations. Most importantly, Zijin shares common principles with Continental on what defines modern mining and, as a result, will continue to operate in a safe, transparent and inclusive manner with the employees of the company and external stakeholders”…today’s announcement comes after Zijin said in early November it would buy partner Freeport McMoran’s (FCX, NYSE) Copper-Gold assets in Serbia for up to $390 million (U.S.) in an effort to boost its resources of both metals…

4. A number of foreign companies are circling around Canada’s mining assets and companies, creating opportunities for savvy investors…collectively, Canadian industrial metals and mining sectors have attracted $20 billion from the Asia Pacific alone over the past 15 years, according to a new report by Asia Pacific Foundation…the region has emerged as a major investment source for Canada over the years, and has diversified away from Oil and gas resources…“Canada needs to continue to leverage its strengths and build stronger ties with the region in the future in order to improve market access and position itself as an important investor in and investment recipient from the diverse economies that make up the Asia Pacific,” the APF said in a recent report…

5. U.S. consumers, who account for two-thirds of GDP, clearly weren’t waiting until Cyber Monday to shop online this holiday season…spending online on Black Friday hit a record of $5.4 billion, up 22.3% from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics data last night…the data measures transactions from 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers…this comes as foot traffic appeared to be lighter at shopping malls across the U.S. on Friday, a day that traditionally has been reserved for people to line up outside of big-box retailers and department stores to score doorbuster deals…total spending online on Black Friday is still forecast by Adobe to hit $7.6 billion, which would make the day the 2nd-biggest e-commerce day ever, after Cyber Monday 2018′s $7.9 billion…

6. The Dow is down 48 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…2019 has turned out to be a very good year for the broader equity markets, with the January 1 to Thanksgiving Day period the 14th best for the S&P 500 since 1928, according to Bespoke…the 25.5% gain in the S&P 500 was the best for the period since 2013, and now the market enters a typically strong period through to year-end…on average, the S&P is up 1.6% in December…it also has the highest frequency of advances, up 76% of the time…in Toronto, the TSX is off 25 points as of 7:00 am Pacific…this shouldn’t be happening in resource-rich Canada but we can thank Trudeau for it – Canadian Oil and gas producer Husky Energy (HSE, TSX) announced this morning that it’s lowering its capital spending by half a billion dollars over the next 2 years when compared to its 2019 outlook in a bid to increase free cash flow…the Venture, which stabilized in November, has officially entered its best 3-month period on the calendar…over the past 2 decades, December, January and February have produced a combined return on the Venture of more than 11%…since the heavy lifting comes from less than 20% of the market, gains in certain stocks during this period can be quite spectacular…the Venture is up 1 point at 533 in early trading…DynaCERT (DYA, TSX-V), one of Friday’s movers, is up another penny at 51 cents…Ascot Resources (AOT, TSX-V) has released another set of high-grade drill results from its Silver Coin deposit, 5 km north of its Premier mill near Stewart…highlights include 3.6 m grading 52.7 g/t Au (P19–2079), including 1 m @ 184 g/t, and 4 m @ 16.6 g/t Au in P19–2081…Silver Coin, acquired last year, is one of several deposits at the Premier Project…it was mined in 1991, producing 102,500 tonnes at a grade of 8.9 g/t Au with an average Gold recovery of 93%…to the north in the Eskay Camp, Pretium Resources (PVG, TSX) announced this morning that it has paid the final $20 million (U.S.) tranche under an off-take repurchase agreement…with the 100% repurchase of the off-take agreement, all components of the company’s 2015 construction financing package are now extinguished…

7. Yamana Gold (YRI, TSX; AUY, NYSE) is considering a further increase in dividends of between 50% and 100%, its executive chairman told Reuters, after doubling the payout this year…Yamana, which completed the sale of its Chapada Copper-Gold mine to Lundin Mining (LUN, TSX) over the summer for $1 billion (U.S.), doubled its dividend to 4 U.S. cents per share in its 3rd quarter…“We are considering another dividend increase and believe that we can support an increase that is at least 50% higher than our current dividend and potentially 100% higher,” executive chairman Peter Marrone said…“We are in the process of creating a reserve cash balance that would help ensure that our dividend remains sustainable even if the price of Gold declines”…Yamana has been trading within a bull flag since August and is on the cusp of a breakout above key resistance at $5.00…