Gold has traded between $1,169 and $1,184 so far today, but Gold stocks are generally ignoring the dip…as of 9:15 am Pacific, bullion is down $12 an ounce at $1,172…Silver is off 16 cents at $15.94…Copper is up slightly at $2.88…Crude Oil has slipped 83 cents a barrel to $58.80 after hitting a 2015 high, while the U.S. Dollar Index has added half a point to 95.31…
A slew of U.S. economic data this morning…the pace of manufacturing growth held at its slowest in almost 2 years in April, as a rebound in new orders was offset by employment shrinking to its lowest level in more than 5 years…the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity was 51.5 in April, matching the March reading, which had been the lowest since May 2013…the reading fell shy of expectations of 52.0, according to a Reuters poll of economists…
Meanwhile, consumer sentiment rose last month in line with expectations…the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final April reading on the index was 95.9, up from the previous month’s reading of 93.0…it’s the second highest level since 2007…
Copper Prices Hit Yearly High
Copper, on pace for its 7th straight winning session, rose to its highest level of the year today as Chinese data suggested continued expansion and market expectations rose for new forms of economic stimulus there…the April reading on China’s official PMI came in at 50.1, unchanged from March and slightly above market expectations of 50.0, according to data released today…
Major Gold Discovery By Barrick?
Mineweb’s Kip Kean, in an article Wednesday (www.Mineweb.com), says initial drilling results from Barrick Gold Corp.’s (ABX, TSX) Alturas Project in Chile suggests this is “clearly shaping up to be one of the larger Gold discoveries in recent years…let’s take a closer look. Coming out of the gates Barrick reports broad, oxide Gold mineralization over intercepts generally between about 50 to 150 metres long in a 1-kilometre-square area at grades largely in the 1–2 g/t range, but with lots of notable exceptions including an impressive 97 meters @ 4.4 g/t Au. The deposit appears to outcrop on the side of a bluff, or nearly so, and then pass under fairly substantial cover in the 100-to 300-metre thick range…over at Haywood Securities analyst Kerry Smith did a back of the envelope guess-timate of potential ounces: between 3 million to 7 million ounces Gold in the 1 to 1.5 g/t Au range.”
Gold 20-Year Monthly Chart – Reasons For Encouragement
Gold continues to “hug” an uptrend support line that goes back to the start of its bull market cycle in 2001, based on the 20-year monthly chart below…interestingly, despite a record run by the greenback since last summer, bullion has held up amazingly well in U.S. dollars and has not fallen below its uptrend line…
Meanwhile, RSI(14) broke above a downtrend last year that formed following the 2011 all-time high into 2012…what we’ve also been seeing in the RSI(14) since 2013 is a series of slightly higher lows and highs, a bullish divergence with price given Gold’s multi-year low last November…the SS indicator has also broken above its downtrend line…
On a monthly basis, Gold has been holding critical support so don’t let the daily “noise” distract you from the “Big Picture”…also keep in mind the 2.5-year weekly chart we’ve posted regularly (last Sunday was the most recent version as part of Our Week In Review And A Look Ahead) that shows how Gold has been trading within a downsloping flag since 2013, repeatedly testing the top (resistance) and bottom (support) of that flag…
Gold 34-Year Monthly Chart
This 34-year chart shows how Gold has been in a “Wave 4” correction since late 2011…one cannot rule out the possibility that “Wave 4” could deepen to the Fib. 50% level, just above $1,000, but this would likely be followed by a powerful “Wave 5” move to the upside that would ultimately lead to a new all-time high…
Gold Seasonality Chart
Gold was essentially unchanged for the month of April, adding just $1 an ounce…as you see in this seasonality chart, Gold has risen 53% of the time during May (over April) but has posted an average gain of just less than one-tenth of a percent…
CRB Index 10-Year Monthly Chart
Commodities continue to push higher after a recent breakout…what’s particularly encouraging about this 10-year monthly CRB Index chart is the very definitive bullish “W” that has formed in the RSI(14)…meanwhile, if you look at the bottom of this chart, you’ll notice how the -DI appears to have topped out at an extreme level…the long-awaited turnaround in commodities could be in its early stages…
Today’s Equity Markets
Asia
China’s Shanghai Composite was closed for a holiday there, though Japan’s Nikkei edged slightly higher overnight as it closed up 12 points to finish the week at 19532…
Europe
U.K. equities closed higher today but the majority of European markets were closed for the Labor Day holiday…
North America
The Dow has jumped 96 points as of 9:15 am Pacific…in Toronto, the TSX is up 80 points while the Venture is 1 point higher at 697 as of 9:15 am Pacific…
Venture 10-Year Monthly Chart
The Venture actually posted its best April since 2010 with a gain of 2.3%…importantly, it again confirmed strong support at the 680 level on a monthly basis as it has done for 5 months in a row…
Just like with the CRB Index, this long-term chart points to a recovery in its early stages…
Abcourt Mines Inc. (ABI, TSX-V) Update
If Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V) can break out above a long-term downtrend line – in this case going back nearly a decade – you know that something is beginning to stir in the junior resource market…this is a very revealing chart…
Abcourt has done an admirable job developing its Elder Mine near Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, during challenging market conditions, and recently announced a proposed acquisition of a processing plant and the Beacon mine located close to Val d’Or…the existing capacity of the mill would enable Abcourt to treat all the extracted mineralization at the Elder mine during the mine development program and when full production of 12,500 tonnes per month will be reached…
ABI is unchanged at 6.5 cents as of 9:00 am Pacific…
Note: John, Terry and Jon do not hold share positions in ABI.
WRR – big bidders this morning and very thin in the top side. If everyone wants a stock that is about to pop then get WRR before the news next week. You might be able to get some at 4 cents and if not then 4 1/2 cents. They have some cash and are about to get some exploration work done on there high grade gold property in Nevada.
Comment by Ed — May 1, 2015 @ 8:34 am
NPH was halted this morning. They had their AGM yesterday. I understand this news to be significant. Probably will be released after market for the people to absorb for the weekend. I expect it to open strong and continue its next leg to $1.40ish.
Comment by dave — May 1, 2015 @ 8:46 am
WRR – she has high volume for a Friday and the bids are building again. Yes Ed, we could be close to drilling news.
I am long NAR – WRR – NPH – VID – MZI – and NSP.
Look for a possible breakout on NSP Monday. Resistance is at .72
I believe WRR and NAR will provide doubles from this level.
NPH and NSP are multi $ potential.
Comment by dave — May 1, 2015 @ 9:32 am
Ooops, forgot one. Long on IN.c too
Comment by dave — May 1, 2015 @ 9:35 am
No matter how you slice it, GGI has been touting Grizzly for 2 years and every presentation made investors believe they were gearing up to drilling the Grizzly. Now lets see, the money was allocated for the Grizzly before 2014 ended and finally we said drilling imminent now. We are now into May and what do ya know, still no drilling. I would feel a little more comfortable if the company put out regular news releases at least updating shareholders what stage they are at. We don’t even know if the targets are prioritized, or even if they have targets. No samples, nothing. Even if they did not have the money to drill until now, 2 years is plenty of time to have your targets identified, especially given there was prior exploration on their property. Yes, I know their land package is huge compared to Doubleview and even Prosper Gold’s but at least update your shareholders.
Rodadero, well I will give them a little leaway there as it is relatively new discovery and many targets to check, but an update would be nice as well. You could say, why give shareholders an update when there is nothing significant to report? Well, take one look at the share price. It can’t hurt it much more, can it?
Yes, a little ticked this weekend, but hold many shares of GGI, under water right now though. 🙁
Comment by Dan — May 1, 2015 @ 2:42 pm
Stock trading 5 to 7 million shares a day for the last two days
Pilot testing of CO2 Solutions Inc.’s enzyme-enabled carbon capture process, completed in January 2015, showed ground-breaking initial results: A conservative cost estimate of $39/tonne of CO2 based on 90% CO2 capture from flue gases of a typical coal-fired power plant at full scale, including CO2 compression to 2250 psi. This surpasses the DOE’s target of $40/tonne by the year 2025 for new carbon capture processes.
Read more at StockHouse site… CO2 Solutions Inc
Comment by Don — May 1, 2015 @ 9:31 pm
CO2 Solutions BNN interview
watch at BNN web site (May 1, 2015).
Comment by Don — May 1, 2015 @ 9:47 pm
I agree Dan, the promise of a strong news flow has not (yet) materialised. They definitely raised the cash, so that is not a problem. Hopefully May will bring some updates on the 3 fronts that should be progressing.
Comment by Tom UK — May 2, 2015 @ 12:04 am
DON – I have one better than CST that has had huge volume the last 2 days. The difference between CST and mine is that it was huge mutual fund buying at the yearly low. I will take a position in it Monday. Possibly mention it here, but I mention a lot that are not BMR picks and I am not sure that I am suppose too. I will keep an eye on CST too. Good Luck with CST.
WRR hopefully announces something soon. My excitement has not left on this one although I don’t own as much.
GGI, I don’t know man, this thing can drift further down as summer doldrums kick in.
Comment by dave — May 2, 2015 @ 9:50 am
Bmr members stock picks down 23 ..04 percent bmr stocking stuffers down 32.83 percent
Comment by Gil — May 2, 2015 @ 1:02 pm
Dave
I’m interested in your pic that you think holdsore promise then CST, I’ll watch for you’re posting it.
I know one thing, when CST completes their much larger scale pilot test at Husky’s refinery by years end and it garners the same results, just watch the pace of fund buying taking it into the dollars before being taken out by a GE or Mitshibushi.
PS
Still waiting for Jon or John to comment on V.PTR’s news
PPS
Hoping for great news from DBV & XME next week
Comment by Don — May 2, 2015 @ 4:16 pm
Some sad news to report – one of our longtime readers and regular posters, Bert Coish, has passed away at the age of 78. His contributions here were frequent and appreciated, and sometimes he would inject some much-needed humor. Of course not everyone would always agree with Bert, and on a few rare occasions we would even have to delete one of his posts that was a little too offside, but he certainly did add some flavor to the forum and sparked some lively debate. He’ll be missed. Our condolences to his wife of 57 years, Bertha, and his family.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 2, 2015 @ 4:53 pm
This is the part of TWE’s agreement that leaves one wondering.’The PSC references a five year exploration period which will be extended under certain terms and conditions and a twenty year production period.’
There has been a lot of corruption in PetroChina and CNPC that is being cleaned out.Was this part of the corruption?Or could PetroChina just not renew the extension of its own volition?I don’t think this is so cut and dried in PTR’s favour.Jmo.
Comment by Jim Niles — May 2, 2015 @ 7:42 pm
Rest in peace,Bert.
Comment by Jim Niles — May 2, 2015 @ 7:43 pm
RIP Bert. Looks like that flurry of posts he made a few weeks ago were his Swansong.
Comment by Tom UK — May 3, 2015 @ 1:38 am
My condolences to the loved ones of Bert and those whose lives he touched.
Comment by Don — May 3, 2015 @ 3:48 am
Rip Bert 🙁
Comment by tony t — May 3, 2015 @ 4:42 am
Hi Jim
Thanks for engaging with me about PTR and their ongoing arbitration through TWE.
Actually the case is quite cut and dried, otherwise if there was caveats that existed & could later be leveraged against TWE to worm out of the PSC by PetroChina & CNPC, a prestigious law firm like Winston & Strawn that specializes in arbitration would never have taken in the case, especially on a contingency basis.
So in regards to the PSC, TWE met all its obligations with the technical staff of PTR.
Under the exploration clause, TWE was supposed to demonstrate economic viability for gas production on the concession, and they did that by drilling 7 wells and the gas flaring from those wells today provides that demonstration.
Because drilling in winter time exceeds the abilities of Chinese drilling companies and this work could only take place during summer plus obtaining approvals and cooperative engagement from PetroChina in relation to using their affiliate drilling companies proved to be a relentless challenge and created many delays and is why the extension was required and granted.
It wasn’t till PTR’s specialty Frac team arrived the following summer in preparation of Fracking these well and to put these wells into production, did they discover (all the illegal coal mining activities) were now occurring in large scale smack dab in the middle of their concession.
Rumour has it that not only is the PetroChina official that was charged with overseeing this concession and took a bribe to let a large coal miner conduct illegal mining activities and for this action is now in jail, but it has been learned that not only is he in jail but the official that signed the original PSC is also in jail.
So you can now see why Winston & Strawn wanted to litigate this case and why the chances of a reasonable and expeditious non-arbitrated settlement is the more likely scenario for the shareholders of PTR, likely somewhere around the halfway mark of the $1.8 Billion statement of claim.
The school of thought with this is the risk of losing this case and having to pay a arbitrated settlement for the full amount would be too great and much too public for the Chinese Government.
This isn’t Mongolia that doesn’t care about how the world sees them on the global stage, this is China who wants to lure North American know how and technical expertise in fracturing to assist them with unlocking their vast shale gas reserves that exceed in size what all of North America has in total, and also is a country that wants to take centre stage on the world platform as the next financial super-power, this can be seen in many ways such as their current mandate as part of their 12th five year plan to eliminate corruption and clean up the environment.
Their emerging unconventional gas industry is front and centre in this policy directive.
Comment by Don — May 3, 2015 @ 4:51 am
My condolences to Bertha and her family, Bert and his comments will be surely missed,in honor of Bert, I hope bmr and all readers would join us and pause for a moment at the opening bell Monday morning in memory of Bert.
Comment by Tombc — May 3, 2015 @ 5:55 am
My thoughts are with Berts family on their loss. I have really enjoyed Berts postings. I think he was the only one of us that made any money on RBW. That changed my method of buying stocks. Richard l
Comment by richard l — May 3, 2015 @ 7:59 am
My condolences to Bertha and her family. RIP Bert. I am going to miss you buddy.
Comment by chris — May 3, 2015 @ 8:43 am
A sad day it is!!
Comment by Greg J. — May 3, 2015 @ 12:40 pm
just came from a funeral to read this… guys and gals.. dont forget the priorities… sent a private message to berts family… he was a pleasure to read.. and at 78 .. of course he didn’t mind speaking his mind!!
Rest well Bert
Thx for letting us know Jon.. appreciated
Comment by Jeremy — May 3, 2015 @ 1:46 pm
Hi Dan, in reply to your comment late Friday regarding GGI and the Grizzly, etc., I understand your frustration, especially with the stock trading where it is at the moment, but let me shed some light on a few issues that you and others may find helpful.
First, there is no doubt that GGI management will be held accountable by investors, and I can assure you by us at BMR, in terms of how they handle the unique opportunity they have at the Grizzly over the next several months. It is obviously time for them to walk the walk. Having said that, I believe in my heart and in my head that they will excel. This is a very capable, hard-working group with integrity. They have also proven themselves to be good stewards of the financial resources they have been blessed with over the years. Now let’s get to some specifics.
Yes, GGI have kept their cards quite close to their chest regarding the Grizzly. They have guided themselves carefully, and I believe very wisely. Do they have targets? Of course they do. They could start drilling right away at Grizzly West, if they wanted to, based on the technical data that has been disclosed to date. Keep in mind, this is a 270 sq. km property – about 7 X the size of the Hat and 4 X the size of the Star. Their goal with the Grizzly is to make a discovery on the first, second or third drill hole (so millions of dollars aren’t wasted and share dilution is kept to a minimum). It’s about cost-effective exploration. That has been their successful strategy in Mexico. By being patient but persistent with the Grizzly, waiting until now to get ready to drill, they have gained the kind of knowledge necessary to achieve that first-hole “hit” like they did at Rodadero.
With Rodadero, GGI also kept their cards close to their chest and essentially said nothing about the property until the spring of last year when they announced they were drilling a “test” hole. They were far further along at Rodadero than anyone knew. And they hit. And on the first hole. And they quickly unveiled nearly a dozen separate mineralized target areas. They’ve had majors on that property in recent months and there’s no question that project has huge potential.
La Patilla – much the same strategy, and successful results.
Do u see a trend here?
GGI was first on the ground in the Sheslay district this year (in February). They will be the first in the district to come out with a comprehensive NI-43-101 technical report since the staking rush in early 2014. They have the most to spend right now than any junior in the district. When the drill bit finally goes into the ground, in the near future, watch out – because many sharp geologists are convinced they will make a discovery. It was no coincidence that Doubleview made an important discovery about 10 km southeast of the Star deposit. This entire district is pregnant. All the geological, geophysical and geochemical evidence points toward multiple deposits throughout this district. No one knows yet where the largest, richest deposit will be – right now, the Hat is in the lead and looking far better than even we first imagined. Farshad and his team have done an amazing job, and they are picking up steam. But the Sheslay is a DISTRICT discovery – for all we know, Ashburton could be sitting on a motherlode. I like Garibaldi’s position, though – they have the largest war chest at the moment, and size does matter here. They hold the largest chunk of land. The “heat engine” for this district also rests mostly on the Grizzly.
The only reason GGI is trading where it is right now is the pressure from the Dec. flow-through PP. But I suspect the stock is going into strong hands. This is the reality of the market – BLO went thru the same thing. Rather than get frustrated at a time like this, investors should open their eyes to the incredible opportunity that has opened up. With GGI, we saw it triple from 5 cents to 15 cents very quickly (2 months), 8 cents to 24 cents very quickly (2 months), and another triple from here in 2 months could easily occur. The time to get greedy in the market is when others are fearful or not paying attention, just like when DBV when it was trading lower. That GGI flow-through paper is being gobbled up and soon it will disappear. Then watch what happens.
Keep the faith. Exciting times are ahead.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 3, 2015 @ 5:58 pm
Hi Jon
Good post about GGI. How do they put out a 43-101 without any drilling?
Comment by PaulH — May 3, 2015 @ 7:14 pm
RIP Bert
Comment by D4 — May 4, 2015 @ 3:13 am
Paul, the NI-43-101 is obviously not a resource estimate, as the Grizzly has not been drilled yet, just like the Hat wasn’t drilled until just 2 years ago; but it’ll be a comprehensive technical review of the Grizzly system, the geological, geophysical and geochemical work completed to date, targets, etc., and will obviously touch on the district as a whole…without any drilling, Garibaldi has been able to accumulate a massive amount of information, and they’ve also of course had the advantage of looking at the drilling results of Doubleview and Prosper, and comparing those to the signatures they have at the Grizzly. This is a very large district with a lot of commonalities.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 4, 2015 @ 3:21 am
Looks like a breakout in NPH following news this morning…we’ll have an updated chart…key resistance is in the mid-50’s…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 4, 2015 @ 7:16 am