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Ma Yellen’s testimony on Capitol Hill earlier this week and the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates only briefly held Gold back as the yellow metal is showing great resilience, aided by political uncertainties across the globe and increasing ETF inflows.  Holdings of SPDR Gold, the world’s largest Gold-backed ETF, have risen 5.6% so far this month, the most since June 2016.

Bullion, on track for its 3rd straight weekly gain, will take the path of least resistance which clearly appears to be “up” based on John’s latest 9-month daily chart.  The Venture’s behavior supports that analysis.

Since the beginning of February Gold has been maneuvering mostly within a Fib. band of resistance between $1,215 and $1,235.  With steady buy pressure (CMF) and an entrenched bullish trend (ADX indicator), it’s really just a matter of time (perhaps imminent) before bullion confirms a breakout above $1,235 and mounts a challenge of its 200-day moving average, currently in the $1,260’s.  Then things could really get interesting!

As of 7:45 am Eastern, Gold is up $3 an ounce at $1,242.

Today is BMR’s first full day on the ground in the burgeoning northern Ontario Cobalt Camp as we prepare for some fascinating coverage of this exciting area in the days ahead.  ”This is a bona fide Cobalt rush,” one respected and independent veteran observer told us last night.  “We’ve never seen this kind of ‘buzz’ in this district for at least 30 years.” 

As of 6:45 am Eastern, Gold is up $3 an ounce at $1,236 – watch for the possibility of an important near-term breakout above a resistance band that has been keeping bullion constrained recently between $1,215 and $1,235.

The Venture scored its 10th winning session out of 12 yesterday, adding 3 more points to close at 838 as the Index draws closer to reaching last year’s 848 high set August 11 prior to the start of a 4-and-a-half month correction.

This time, given seasonality and other bullish factors, there appears to be little to prevent the Venture from pushing beyond 848 to levels not seen since October 2014 and taking a quick run toward the beginning of a resistance band around 900.

Note how the EMA(8), currently at about 830, has been the Venture’s supporting moving average since this fresh uptrend started in late December (typical during periods of a strong bull market).  Buy pressure is solid while RSI(14) can remain in technically overbought conditions (70% or higher) for a while yet based on historical patterns.

Meanwhile, the backdrop for the Venture couldn’t be better with firmness across the broad commodity sector while global stocks have pushed to new highs, outdoing previous records set in 2015.  Wall Street has scored its longest record-making streak since George H. W. Bush held the White House.

The 3 most popular BMR posts the past week:

Capitalizing on Cobalt (Part 3) – Overlooked Opportunities!

Eskay Heart of Gold Camp Update and the “Q” vs. the “Ovoid”

Venture ALERT:  Ready To Conquer Last Year’s High

Check back this evening and tomorrow morning for fresh updates at BMR.

Gold has traded between $1,224 and $1,228 so far today…as of 2:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $2 an ounce at $1,226…Silver is off slightly at $17.84…Copper and Nickel are flat at $2.73 and $4.88, respectively…Crude Oil is 34 cents lower at $52.86 while the U.S. Dollar Index has rallied another one-fifth of a point to 101.42…

Any dips in Gold are being bought into by safe-haven investors who see a more chaotic world unfolding in 2017 including fresh troubles in the euro zone…

Holdings of the largest Gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York’s SPDR Gold Trust, rose another 0.50% yesterday…SPDR says it has been certified as “sharia compliant’, its latest effort to spur demand for bullion from investors in majority-Muslim countries…

Searching for any fresh catalysts, investors are eyeing a batch of U.S. economic data due out later today including the consumer price index (CPI) and retail sales…

Ma Yellen is back on Capitol Hill this morning for her 2nd and final day of testimony before Congress…yesterday, the Fed Chair played the part of both dove and hawk in her remarks, reiterating that rate hikes would be gradual but pointing out that it would be “unwise” to wait too long to hike again…Yellen also pointed to a number of uncertainties, including changes in U.S. policy and productivity growth, that could alter the Fed’s timeline…however, on balance, Yellen’s remarks were interpreted to be somewhat more hawkish than expected…she said “incoming data” backs up that inflation is trending toward 2% and the job market is retaining its soundness…

Wall Street saw no reason to panic over anything Yellen said yesterday and smashed records yet again, closing at all-time highs for the 4th session in a row…

The 3 most popular BMR articles the past several days…

Capitalizing on Cobalt (Part 3) – Overlooked Opportunities!

Eskay Heart of Gold Camp Update and the “Q” vs. the “Ovoid”

Venture ALERT:  Ready To Conquer Last Year’s High

On The Road To Cobalt, Ontario!

This is an early edition of Morning Market Musings as part of the BMR team is now making its way to Cobalt, Ontario, for special reports over the next week from the burgeoning northern Ontario Cobalt Camp…while this important and timely visit is being carried out, we’re also advancing our coverage of the amazing Eskay “Heart of Gold Camp” in northwest British Columbia – a separate section at BMR will soon be dedicated specifically to that Camp where the hunt is on for the next Eskay Creek as well as Voisey’s Bay West and much more…stay tuned!…

Meanwhile, Daniel continues to closely follow the Valentine Gold Camp in central Newfoundland where Marathon Gold (MOZ, TSX) is leading the charge with exciting new drill results and a potential multi-million ounce deposit…

Capitalizing On Cobalt

The Cobalt train is picking up speed – we prepared subscribers for this moment last year – but it’s still not too late for investors to hop on that train now for the exciting ride ahead (use BMR as your tour guide)…

The world’s highest Cobalt grades are found at and around Cobalt, Ontario, and much was left behind in the aggressive pursuit for Silver riches a century ago…miners often followed massive Cobalt to get to the Silver as Cobalt wasn’t in such high demand back then…

How things have suddenly changed!…Cobalt of course is now used in Lithium-ion batteries, and its ability to withstand intense temperatures and conditions makes it perfect for high performance alloys in permanent magnets, prosthetics, turbine blades, gas turbines and jet engines…it has many other uses as well…

Cobalt prices keep pushing higher with analysts forecasting steady increases in demand over the next several years while more than 50% of world supply is dependent on the politically unstable Congo, and that’s a major story in itself that we’ll be covering (a travesty, actually, when one considers how many thousands of children are being abused and killed each year in the Congo in the desperate push to recover lower grade Cobalt)…

Our exclusive coverage from northern Ontario will be unmatched in the industry, educating investors about both the enormous opportunities and the risks involved in what’s shaping up as a Cobalt “boom” in a part of the country that was once world famous – far exceeding Klondike Gold towns – for its incredibly high-grade Silver with vast quantities produced historically beginning shortly after the first big find in 1903…

Cobalt in the early 1900’s rapidly grew from a relatively remote wilderness area with a few prospector tents to a thriving town with a population of more than 10,000 featuring a dozen hotels, a hospital, 4 banks, 9 restaurants, a National Hockey Association team (forerunner of the NHL), even an opera house, and of course a mill and a shaft in the heart of downtown…

The history of this district is remarkable, yet Canadians know little about it…therein lies the opportunity for astute investors who quickly learn about this area and apply that knowledge to their market decisions before the masses begin stepping in when the mainstream media starts pushing the story…

Information is power – BMR will separate fact from fiction and give subscribers no-nonsense material on the companies with the best chance at success in this rapidly re-emerging district prior to upcoming exploration and drill programs…

As we head to northern Ontario to prepare for our coverage, there will be no Morning Musings or 7 @ 7:00 tomorrow or Friday…however, check back for possible separate posts as market conditions warrant…

In Today’s Morning Musings…

1. MMS and CUZ combine for more than 37 million shares traded yesterday!…

2. The 2 most undervalued plays in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp…

3. Daniel’s Den – Benton Resources update plus that little gem called Candente!…

Profit from our upcoming exclusive coverage of the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp, the Eskay Heart of Gold Camp and the Valentine Gold Camp!…

SAVE 25% on a BMR subscription with our Winter Special, extended for a few more days to accommodate reader requests…subscribe risk-free to a BMR Basic, Gold or Pro Subscription TODAY – and we’ll show you our proprietary strategies that have delivered unbeatable documented triple-digit returns…

New subscribers receive an industry-leading 100% money back satisfaction guarantee, so try us out and super-charge your portfolio with the best speculative picks and commodity analysis you’ll find anywhere!…

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Gold has traded between $1,222 and $1,236 so far today…as of 11:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,225…Silver has jumped 14 cents to $17.93…Copper is off a few pennies to $2.73…Nickel is 4 cents higher at $4.87…Crude Oil has gained nearly 40 cents a barrel to $53.31 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up one-quarter of a point to 101.25…

Gold eased off from its morning high, the greenback firmed, bonds sold off and their yields jumped as traders reacted to Ma Yellen’s comment in Congressional testimony this morning that the Fed will likely need to raise rates at an upcoming meeting and that “waiting too long for accommodation would be unwise”…Yellen struck a somewhat more hawkish tone than many traders had anticipated but she did stress that she remains reluctant to base current monetary policy on speculation around tax, regulatory, infrastructure and health care policies that could boost the growth rate under the new Trump administration…Yellen’s testimony continues through tomorrow…Gold remains “boxed in” between Fib. levels $1,215 and $1,235 but the metal’s overall technical posture has to be considered very bullish…

Note to readers:  Our tech team completed the last major fix-up this morning from Friday’s server crash, so the site is now 99% back to normal…we appreciate everyone’s patience…smooth sailing from here with a few minor fix-ups over the next 24–48 hours but no further service interruptions…

Fiasco In The Philippines

The unprecedented attack on the mining industry in the Philippines continues as projects worth billions of dollars are being nixed…Regina Lopez, the country’s radical environment minister, stepped up her crackdown today, cancelling almost a third of the country’s contracts for undeveloped mines and rejecting any challenges to earlier orders to shut over half of all operating pits…the move turns up the heat in her battle with the mining sector after she ordered the closure of 23 of the country’s 41 mines earlier this month on environmental grounds, causing an outcry from the industry and threats of legal action…

The latest 75 contracts, which cover projects in the exploration stage or otherwise not yet in production, are all in watershed zones and would threaten water supply if they went ahead, Lopez stated…

A long-time staunch environmentalist, Lopez ordered the closure of the 23 mines on February 3 for allegedly damaging watersheds and for siltation of coastal waters and farmlands…5 more mines were suspended…the industry says the orders will affect 1.2 million people…

The contracts cancelled today, known as mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs), include the $1.2 billion Copper-Gold project of Philex Mining Corp., one of the country’s biggest miners, in the southern Philippines…

Also scrapped was the permit for the $5.9 billion Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in South Cotabato province on Mindanao island, the biggest stalled mining venture in the Southeast Asian country…

Oil Update

Just how foolish and naïve are the climate change fanatics who are opposed to new pipelines being built in Canada?…incredibly foolish and naïve – about as bright as the politicians across all parties who have not made the construction of more pipelines a matter of urgent national importance!!!…

More and more Crude in Canada is now being transported by rail, a less safe option, due to a lack of pipeline capacity…looming pipeline shortages will force even more barrels of Canadian Oil onto rail cars over the next few years as Oilsands companies look for alternative shipping options amid a gradual rise in production…

In one sense, the Oil industry’s pipeline woes have eased in recent months after Prime Minister Trudeau approved 2 major pipeline proposals, and after President Trump – a friend of ethical Canadian Oil – invited TransCanada Corp. to resubmit the Keystone XL pipeline permit…

However, the earliest date of completion for any new pipeline project is around the end of 2019 – IF there are no further delays, and that’s a Big IF…with Oilsands production expected to rise over the next 5 years, and with Canada’s pipeline system near capacity, Oil firms are tapping Crude-by rail once again (thanks to radical environmentalists!)…

Volumes of Crude moving by rail rose steadily throughout 2016…just-released stats for November show that Canadian Crude Oil exports by rail surpassed 120,000 bpd, the highest in 13 months…

Recent volumes are nearing their peak of 172,000 bpd in March 2014 when several deadly accidents involving Crude-laden trains turned Oil-by-rail transportation into a contentious topic…Oilsands operator Cenovus Energy Inc. moved an average 15,000 bpd by rail in the 3rd quarter of 2016, up from 6,600 barrels in the 3rd quarter of 2015…

There are multiple reasons, including environmental, to be much more concerned about Crude by rail than Crude by pipeline…most climate change fanatics, though, are simply ideologically opposed to Oil no matter how it’s transported – pipelines are just a more convenient political target…

In Today’s Morning Musings…

1. Cruz Capital ignites, on pace for a 10 million share day…

2. The Uranium “head fake” fooled nervous nellies…

3. Swinging the bat with Benton…

4. Daniel’s Den – stay bullish on Oil!…

Stay tuned for an important announcement from BMR…

Plus…coming soon…specific permanent section (24/7) for Eskay “Heart of Gold Camp” coverage!…

Copper Update

Copper is breaking out powerfully which must make one wonder – what the heck is around the corner?…

John’s charts are seldom wrong and they’ve been giving us a very bullish picture of the Copper market since early last year…the trend continues to strengthen, so much so that we’d be shocked if Copper doesn’t leap past the $3 level at some point over the next 4 to 5 months…

That means China won’t crash, as some pundits are predicting, and inflation is likely to gain momentum…

Note the breakout above the long-term downloping flag, the RSI(14) breakout above 50%, the increasing buy pressure (CMF) and the +DI/-DI bullish cross on this 20-year monthly chart…

Wow…at a minimum we expect a test this year of Fib. resistance in the $3.20’s…

Today’s Equity Markets

Asia

Asian markets were mostly lower overnight though China’s Shanghai held steady around 3,220…

Europe

European markets were little changed today…

North America

The Dow is 62 points higher as of 11:00 am Pacific…in Toronto, the TSX has added 38 points while the Venture has retraced 3 points to 834 after climbing as high as 842 in early trading…

Macarthur Minerals (MMS, TSX-V) has had a great day, surging as high as 16 cents on massive volume after announcing it has entered into a non-exclusive mandate with the Tulshyan Group to raise up to $200 million (Australian) with an initial tranche of $50 million (Australian) to develop the company’s Ularring Hematite Iron Ore Project located in Western Australia…this is a stock we’ve been urging accumulation of under a dime and patience finally paid off…

Many investors, and that includes some BMR readers, are still “behind the curve” – they have yet to fully transition to a very different mindset compared to the one they’ve had much of the past half decade…in a bear market, rallies are selling opportunities…in a major bull market, like the Venture is in now, any pullbacks are buying opportunities…take advantage of any weakness in the best plays…

Cruz Capital Corp. (CUZ, TSX-V) Update

Cruz Capital (CUZ, TSX-V) is one of multiple juniors active in the burgeoning northern Ontario Cobalt district…the individuals behind this deal – soon to be renamed Cruz Cobalt – were wise and quick to anticipate the 2017 boom in Cobalt early last year when we initially made subscribers aware of this company…with “first mover” advantage they assembled a promotable property portfolio mostly based around Cobalt, Ontario, with properties picked up in British Columbia and Idaho as well…

Exploration programs will be carried out soon…CUZ is possibly the “loudest” of the Cobalt juniors and has aggressively pushed the historical high grades at some of its properties including 13% Co on the Coleman prospect and 10.5% Co on the Johnson prospect in Ontario…executing on the ground will be critical for Cruz in terms of maximizing share price potential over the coming months…

Technically, the stock has plenty of momentum at the moment after critical breakouts above Fib. resistance at 15 cents and 21 cents…note the next measured Fib. resistance on John’s 1-year weekly chart…with about 47 million shares outstanding after last year’s 3-for-1 split, Cruz’s current market cap of $11.5 million has room to grow in the context of how hot this Cobalt sector could yet become (the masses aren’t in yet)…

RSI(14), currently 62%, has plenty of room to move higher while the ADX indicator confirms a strong bullish trend…

CUZ is up 3.5 cents at 24.5 cents as of 11:00 am Pacific…

Capitalizing on Cobalt

Other situations to watch closely in the Cobalt space – some plays with exceptional exploration opportunities – include Castle Silver Mines (CSR, TSX), Cobalt Power Group (CPO, TSX-V), CobalTech (CSK, TSX-V), LiCo Energy Metals (LIC, TSX-V) and First Cobalt (FCC, TSX-V)…the lowest market caps among those 6 are CSR and CPO and both have competitive advantages that we believe will drive them much, much higher…

Capitalizing on Cobalt (Part 3) – Overlooked Opportunities!

Another Uranium U-Turn!

We had a strong suspicion the recent pullback in Uranium stocks was nothing more than a head fake to shake out the NERVOUS NELLIES, of which there are plenty!…in this kind of a market, astute investors can make a lot of money off NERVOUS NELLIES!…

Below is the updated chart for Purepoint Uranium (PTU, TSX-V) which was a “steal” as expected on a pullback at the beginning of this month to exceptionally strong support between 12 and 13 cents…an aggressive drill program continues at PTU’s Hook Lake JV on trend with NexGen Energy’s (NXE, TSX-V) world class Arrow zone deposit…

PTU is off half a penny at 15 cents as of 11:00 am Pacific…we very much like the chances for a huge breakout in this play at some point during the 1st half of this year…that’s what the chart is certainly saying and we all know how prospective the area is where PTU is drilling…

Benton Resources Inc. (BEX, TSX-V) Update

We’ve written extensively about Benton Resources (BEX, TSX-V) at BMR since Daniel came on board with us around the middle of last year, and patient subscribers who jumped in early have more than doubled their money…

Daniel will provide a fresh update on the fundamentals driving BEX shortly…in the meantime, below is John’s latest chart…we were anticipating a breakout above measured Fib. resistance at 13 cents on this 3-year weekly, and such an event has finally occurred…any weakness, like this morning, has to be viewed in the context of a continuing bullish trend that is interpreted to be in the process of taking BEX to the next measured Fib. resistance at 19 cents…

BEX is off a penny at 14 cents as of 11:00 am Pacific…

 

Daniel’s Den by Daniel T. Cook

Done Deal…

Last Friday, TransGlobe Energy (TGA, NASDAQ and TGL, TSX) announced the execution of a prepayment and marketing contract with Mercuria Energy Trading SA (“Mercuria”) of Geneva, Switzerland. We had been waiting for the news that TransGlobe would refinance $75 million of existing 6% convertible debentures that were due March 31 (this was that news).

In somewhat of a relief rally, TGA jumped from $1.65 to $1.85 (U.S.) on the news.

Analysts around the world are beginning to come around to BMR‘s way of thinking, that Oil prices have bottomed and are headed higher (slowly but surely). After stripping away heightened geopolitical tensions and OPEC’s jaw boning, I’m betting Oil continues creeping higher but mainly because the vast majority of market participants don’t think it will (Mr. Market can be funny like that). Additionally, regarding Oil, we’ve noted a number of bearish news pieces over the past few months that just couldn’t take it down – another bullish indicator.

In addition to TGA, I’m still invested into TAG Oil (TAO, TSX) and if I didn’t have so many other great opportunities competing for my dollars, I’d buy more TAO in a heartbeat.

I like the well-defined trading range and expect the next breakout won’t be to the downside.

No one else is talking about this upcoming catalyst for TAO!…

As we know, TAG Oil has attracted new talent over the past year, one person being Henrik Lundin, its Chief Operating Officer. Long story short, within the next few months there should be an announcement related to TAG Oil’s Cardiff deep Gas well that was drilled years ago (but never produced due to mechanical failures). The market has little to no expectation this Cardiff well (potentially wells, plural) could become commercial producers; therefore there’s no optimism baked into the stock price.

I’d suggest buying a bit of TAO in advance of the news.  If the Cardiff well proves to flow at commercial rates, that would be a big catalyst. Assuming it doesn’t, I can’t imagine much of a negative reaction.

New Zealand’s Oil and gas business was built on deep, tight-sand reservoirs much like the deep, condensate-rich Kapuni play TAG Oil is exploring now. In fact, Shell’s 1.4 TCF Gas and 65 mmbls condensate Kapuni Field is on trend with TAG Oil’s prospects, and the 4.5 TCF Maui Field is the same Eocene-aged Kapuni group formation.

Thinking big…

Yesterday RNC Minerals (RNX, TSX) announced an option agreement with Westgold Resources Ltd. to buy its South Kalgoorlie operations (“SKO”).

According to the news release:

The agreement provides RNC with a lower cost toll milling alternative and the option to significantly expand its Kalgoorlie footprint through a potential acquisition of the SKO mining assets and milling infrastructure located approximately 30 km from RNC‘s Beta Hunt mine.

Mark Selby, President and CEO of RNC, commented: “The option to acquire Westgold’s SKO operations, if exercised, provides significant synergies with our Beta Hunt mine. It would transform RNC’s Gold operation in Western Australia to a multi-mine operation with a 1.2 Mtpa mill generating significantly in excess of 100koz of Gold annually, anchored by a 4 million ounce resource base and nearly 1,000 square kilometer land position in the highly prolific Kalgoorlie Gold region. This is a transaction that can generate real operational synergies for our shareholders. The option structure allows RNC to realize the value from the ramp-up of Beta Hunt and look for opportunities to finance the exercise of the option in a way that maximizes value for our shareholders.”

The new processing agreement could shave $7 million off RNC’s operating costs.

Shares jumped 3 cents on the news but have given the gains back today.

Given SKO’s $80 million (Australian) price tag, it will be interesting to see if RNC can come up with any clever ways of paying for it (besides stock). It’s hard to not see Eric Sprott’s hands pushing for this deal.  He’s a large shareholder of RNC and obviously a guy that isn’t guilty of thinking small.

RNC hosted a conference call yesterday to discuss the proposed acquisition. After I give it a listen I’ll report back to you with any information worth reporting on (I’m assuming Selby has more people listening now).

The old O’Brien Mine has plenty of life left in it…

Radisson Mining Resources (RDS, TSX-V) isn’t a high flyer, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more steady stock that’s locked in an uptrend. At 17 cents RDS is only about 10% above its long-term support of 15 cents, what was the higher end of about a decade long trading range.

The company released a few drill intersections this morning. Nothing to write home about, but the holes (one being 5 g/t Gold over 6 m outside the existing resource) do indicate the old O’Brien Mine has life left in it.

Mario Bouchard, President and CEO commented:  “We are very excited with the results obtained in the current exploration program, as we continue to encounter mineralization outside of the existing resource, as for example, in the “F” Zone.  The synergies derived from the ongoing historical data compilation exercise combined with insights gleaned from the ongoing drilling program will help drive our exploration program. The upside has never looked better on this property which was mined from 1926 to 1957; finding Gold in multiple host rock types – to the west, north, and south of the existing resource – is a potential game changer.

Also of significance, looking toward the future, Radisson is expanding its drill program to 20,000 m.

About the writer:  Daniel T. Cook, the newest member of the BMR team, is from the great state of Texas and now resides in beautiful Arizona.  Daniel has a strong passion for the junior resource sector and has followed the Venture and broader markets with great interest since he bought his first stock 18 years ago at the age of 12.  He’s also a licensed investment professional who was a Bright Future’s Scholar at the University of Central Florida, graduating in 2010 with a major in Finance.  We know our readers will enjoy his material and benefit from his wisdom and insight.  We welcome him aboard!

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in CSR and CPO.  Jon also holds share positions in CSK, CUZ, LIC and PTU.  Daniel holds share positions in BEX, TAO and TGL.

Note to readers:  The “look” of the site is somewhat off this morning due to final technical issues related to last Friday’s server problem being addressed today.  We appreciate your patience and understanding as we fully restore all site functions.

1. Gold is off its highs of the morning but up $3 an ounce at $1,228 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Gold holdings in global exchange-traded funds have risen by 51 tonnes in the last 2 weeks…any retreats in prices are being viewed as buying opportunities, according to Commerzbank…Silver is up slightly to $17.84 while Nickel is 6 cents higher at $4.89 after the Philippines’ radical environment minister stepped up a crackdown on mining today, cancelling almost a third of the country’s contracts for undeveloped mines and rejecting any challenges to earlier orders to shut over half of all operating pits…

2. U.S. producer prices for finished goods rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in January, double what was anticipated which is keeping a firm bid under Gold…market participants monitor the data as a gauge for inflation at the wholesale level…traders get the index for inflation at the consumer level tomorrow, along with January retail sales…meanwhile, Fed Chair Ma Yellen has just started 2 days of testimony on Capitol Hill…she is now before the Senate Banking Committee, delivering her monetary policy report and prepared remarks…she will present the same report and remarks to the House Financial Services Committee tomorrow morning…on both days, she will take lawmakers’ questions, which are likely to focus on the economy, the path of interest rates, the labor market, financial regulation and the potential impact of the Trump administration’s economic policies…

3. The Venture has jumped 4 points to 841 after just 30 minutes of trading as it rapidly closes in on last year’s 848 high set August 11…the volume leader this morning is Cruz Capital (CUZ, TSX-V) which has broken out technically, the latest Cobalt stock in the emerging red-hot northern Ontario Cobalt Camp to catch fire…CUZ is up 4 cents to 25 cents with more than 5 million shares changing hands as of 7:00 am Pacific…other situations to watch closely include Castle Silver Mines (CSR, TSX), Cobalt Power Group (CPO, TSX-V), CobalTech (CSK, TSX-V), LiCo Energy Metals (LIC, TSX-V) and First Cobalt (FCC, TSX-V)…

4. Macarthur Minerals (MMS, TSX-V) is one of the most active Venture stocks in early trading, up 2 cents to 10 cents on more than 2.8 million shares (all exchanges), after announcing it has entered into a non-exclusive mandate with the Tulshyan Group to raise up to $200–million (Australian) with an initial tranche of $50–million (Australian) to develop the company’s Ularring Hematite Iron Ore Project located in Western Australia…

5. Arizona Mining (AZ, TSX) has intersected 402 feet assaying 12.8% Zinc, 7.2% lead and 2.3 ounces per ton Silver (true width not known) in fresh results reported this morning from ongoing drilling at its Taylor Zinc-Lead-Silver sulphide deposit in Santa Cruz county…that intersection from angled hole HDS-413 included an 87-foot zone which assayed 31.7% Zn, 15.4% Pb and 5 opt Ag…HDS-413 was drilled to infill an area southwest of the previously reported resource…it cut 7 distinct mineralized sulfide horizons which when added together have a total cumulative mineralized thickness of 716 feet…AZ is up 14 cents at $3.07 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

6. Lion One Metals (LIO, TSX-V) has intersected 13.5 g/t Au over 9 m near-surface (32.8 m to 41.9 m), including 5.5 m @ 21 g/t Au, in the first diamond drill hole of 2017 at its 100%-owned Tuvato Gold Project in Fiji, fully permitted for production…that hole also hit high-grade Gold in targeting a series of relatively flat lying “SKL” lodes at slightly deeper levels with 1.4 m grading 19.6 g/t Au (71.4 m to 72.8 m) and 2.1 m @ 14.2 g/t Au (83.7 m to 85.8 m)…

7. Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX) continues to show bottom line momentum…the company this morning released financial results for the 3rd quarter of fiscal year 2017 (ended December 31) and reported net income of $3 million vs. a net loss of $3.3 million in the prior year period…Q3 revenue was $9.8 million, a 15% increase over Q2 2017 and a 180% increase over the prior year period…year-to-date, WEED has recorded net income of $4.5 million compared to net income of $1.6 million for the first 9 months of fiscal 2016…the company had over 29,000 registered patients at December 31, 2016, compared to over 8,000 at December 31, 2015, representing a greater than 260% increase…at December 31, 2016, Canopy Growth’s cash and cash equivalent totaled $92.5 million…WEED opened higher this morning before succumbing to profit-taking and “sell on news” pressures… 

The 3 most popular BMR articles the past several days…

Capitalizing on Cobalt (Part 3) – Overlooked Opportunities!

Eskay Heart of Gold Camp Update and the “Q” vs. the “Ovoid”

Venture ALERT:  Ready To Conquer Last Year’s High

Gold has traded between $1,219 and $1,233 so far today…as of 10:45 am Pacific, bullion is down $7 an ounce at $1,226…Silver is off 11 cents at $17.82…Copper is up slightly at $2.77…Nickel is flat at $4.82…Crude Oil has slipped $1 a barrel to $52.86 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 101…

Analysts say global Gold ETF inflows have surged over 40 tonnes so far this month after a plateau in January, with large daily builds of around 10.5 tonnes on February 1 and 7.  “In light of recent ETF builds, we suspect a similar positive trend in U.S. Gold Eagle coins could also emerge this month,” Citi says. “However…we caution that further Gold price increases could accelerate scrap rates. This in turn could dent fabricator demand for ‘new’ doré in the coming months, especially in Western and Middle Eastern markets.”

Gold traders await key testimony from Fed Chair Janet Yellen before Congress this week…Ma Yellen is slated to testify before Senate and House committees on the state of the U.S. economy and traders will be watching closely for clues on the timing of the next interest rate increase…the market is pricing in expectations for a June 14 interest rate hike, with odds seen at 48% for a 25 basis point increase at that time, according to the CME Group FedWatch tool…currently, the market is only pricing in an 18% chance of a rate hike at the March 15 meeting…

Oil Update

The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday that global Crude supply dropped by 1.5 million barrels a day in January month-on-month and 730,000 a day year-over-year…if the nearly 1 million-barrel decline by OPEC is confirmed later today by the cartel in its February bulletin, it would mean a 90% compliance with the production cut pact agreed last year…OPEC’s January production fell to 32.06 million bpd according to the IEA…

However, burgeoning production from non-cartel players could impede the rate of decline…collective production from Canada, the U.S. and Brazil is expected to grow by 750,000 barrels a day in 2017 and the net change for non-OPEC producers next year is close to a growth of 400,000 barrels a day, the IEA said…

Analysts say that even though the pace of growth in U.S. production is currently not fast enough to offset the declining rate elsewhere, a rapid improvement in drilling technology and increased investment in innovation means production from the U.S. remains a threat that ultimately could derail OPEC’s plan to move the market into a deficit…American oil drillers activated 8 more Oil rigs in the week ended February 10, bringing the total U.S. count to 591, the highest number since October 2015 according to Baker Hughes…

John’s Oil charts are calling for significantly higher prices this year, so expect some “surprises” like a major international (Middle East) incident to disrupt the market…

In Today’s Morning Musings…

1. Eskay Mining (ESK, TSX-V) teams up with Silver Standard Resources (SSO, TSX)…

2. Doubleview Capital (DBV, TSX-V) hits a new 18-month high…

3. A Gold junior under a nickel that deserves some love…

4. Silver update…

5. Daniel’s Den – investing in stocks as a business…

Stay tuned for an important announcement from BMR…

Plus…coming soon…specific permanent section (24/7) for Eskay “Heart of Gold Camp” coverage!…

Silver Short-Term Chart

Silver faces a couple of important tests now on its short-term chart…

• RSI(14) is brushing up against overbought territory and potential resistance at 70%
• The metal’s price has touched the 200-day moving average (SMA) at $17.95 which can also be expected to provide resistance, at least temporarily

Buy pressure (CMF) remains steady while the ADX indicator confirms a strong bullish trend…it wouldn’t be unusual at this point for Silver to back off a little and consolidate for a brief period before ultimately pushing to new 2017 highs…

On any pullback, look for strong support between the now-rising 50-day SMA, currently $16.85, and the $17.25 level…

Today’s Equity Markets

Asia

Asian markets were up modestly overnight…China’s Shanghai Composite jumped 21 points to close at 3217…

Europe

European markets were strongly higher today, aided by broad strength in the base metals sector…

North America

The S&P 500 has reached $20 trillion in market cap for the first time ever…it needed to break above 2,324.22 to reach the milestone…the Dow has jumped 166 points to a new record high, the TSX has added 27 points while the Venture is flat at 836 as of 10:45 am Pacific…

Certain Cobalt stocks are extremely attractive, particularly on any weakness…

Capitalizing On Cobalt (Part 3) – Overlooked Opportunities!

McEwen Mining (MUX, TSX) is acquiring Lexam VG Gold (LEX, TSX) at 31 cents per share in all-share transaction…Lexam’s assets include multiple advanced exploration projects located in the prolific Timmins Gold Camp and will add Measured and Indicated resources of 1.5 million ounces and Inferred resources of 954,000 ounces to McEwen Mining’s resource base…

Columbus Gold (CGT, TSX) has started a 5,500-m drill program at its 100%-owned multi-million ounce Montagne d’Or Gold deposit in French Guiana…in anticipation of the forthcoming completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study on the deposit, an exploration focused drill program will assess expansion potential…36 core holes, for a total 5,500 m, are designed as a first pass investigation of exploration targets on strike and in very close proximity to the currently defined mineral resources…3 separate targets will be tested outside of the deposit envelope…

Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V) Update

Doubleview Capital (DBV, TSX-V) continues to firm ahead of drill results from the Hat…again, DBV is yet another example of how astute technical analysis can produce some terrific gains in the market…

What John was closely monitoring was the anticipated breakout above the downsloping channel that stretched all the way back to late 2014…after multiple attempts to overcome that stiff resistance over a period of more than 2 years, the stock finally conquered that wall early last week and DBV quickly gained momentum as a result…

DBV, up a penny at 18 cents as of 10:45 am Pacific, is now attempting to overcome Fib. resistance at 17 cents with the next resistance levels indicated on this updated 3-year weekly chart…

Eskay Mining (ESK, TSX-V) Partners With Silver Standard Resources (SSO, TSX-V) For SIB Exploration-Development

Big news this morning in the Heart of Gold Camp (it’ll be talked about a lot at PDAC!) as Silver Standard Resources (SSO, TSX) is returning robustly to the district to pursue a major discovery at Eskay Mining’s (ESK, TSX-V) highly prospective SIB Property contiguous to the prolific past producing Eskay Creek mine…it was confirmed this morning that Silver Standard is the “mystery” senior mining company ESK referred to in its January 26 news release when it revealed that it had signed an LOI to option a majority interest in the SIB for $12 million in exploration expenditures over 3 years, including as much as nearly $4 million this summer…that’s a game-changer for ESK and the stock has responded accordingly…

ESK and SSO will now proceed to convert an LOI into a formal agreement for SSO to acquire an option to earn up to a 60% undivided interest in the SIB with Eskay Mining and St. Andrew Goldfields, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kirkland Lake Gold (KL, TSX), holding the balance (KL has waived its first right of refusal on the SSO deal with ESK)…

The SIB is very much a jewel of British Columbia’s entire Golden Triangle – if there’s another Eskay Creek in B.C., it’s likely at the SIB for multiple sound geological reasons…we’re convinced, and so are some highly respected geologists, that there is another Eskay Creek (perhaps more than one) at SIB given all that’s now understood about this amazing property after more than $30 million in exploration expenditures since the 1980’s…the rocks and stratigraphy at SIB match Eskay Creek and there’s now a solid theory on where to find the “motherlode”…that’s clearly why Silver Standard has stepped in…

As exciting as the SIB is, that property represents just under 10% of ESK’s entire land package in the district…parts of that are also prospective for another Eskay Creek discovery in addition to other deposit types…overall, this is PRIME REAL ESTATE strategically positioned in one of the richest mineralized areas of the planet…

The ESK–SSO SIB deal is yet another lucky break for Garibaldi Resources (GGI, TSX-V)…GGI acted aggressively last year to acquire the largest land position of any junior surrounding ESK when it assembled its sprawling Palm Springs Project (PSP)…worked was carried out over the summer at PSP and we wouldn’t be surprised if GGI has made some interesting surface discoveries that will carry much more importance now that Silver Standard has stepped into the area and will be drilling aggressively by late Q2…GGI’s prime focus, of course, will be its E&L project to the southwest – the first Ni-Cu-rich massive sulphide system in the district – which Silver Standard holds an NSR on…

Eskay “Heart of Gold Camp” Update & The “Q” vs. The “Ovoid”

Candente Gold Corp. (CDG, TSX-V) Update

Continue to keep a close eye on Candente Gold (CDG, TSX-V), an inexpensive Mexican Gold play that Daniel uncovered in his column February 6 when the stock was trading at 3.5 cents (just over 100 million shares outstanding)…CDG’s flagship asset is the El Oro Project, a district-scale Gold project encompassing a well-known and prolific high-grade Gold-Silver epithermal vein system in Mexico…El Oro covers 20 veins with past production and more than 57 veins in total, from which approximately 6.4 million ounces of Gold and 74 million ounces of Silver were reported to have been produced from just 2 of those veins…

Daniel covered CDG’s fundamentals exceptionally well…

Technically, the stock has been under steady accumulation since early 2015 and momentum is starting to pick up with CDG now threatening to push above its 200-day SMA at 4.5 cents…expect some additional resistance at a nickel but after that the coast is clear until the 7 to 7.5-cent area…

CDG closed at 4.5 cents Friday on higher than usual volume…we’ve added the stock to our “Pure Gold play” list at 4 cents…

 

Daniel’s Den by Daniel T. Cook

Investing in stocks as a business…

Is it riskier than any other type of business?

From my perspective, the conventional wisdom among the general public is that stocks are risky. Investing into stocks for them is akin to gambling at a casino. Yet at the same time many of these same people wouldn’t think twice about investing into real estate with little or no money down. Or investing nearly all of their time and money into building a business.

Surely, there are vast sums of money to be made with all three – stocks, real estate, and private corporations. I’m just thinking for many people there’s an illusion of safety when investing into real estate or a private corporation because they are more tangible.

Of course, stocks (or equity) are also tangible.  There is a business underlying every stock (surely, not all businesses are created equal, but you get the point). That was Warren Buffett’s epiphany and it is inevitably one of the most important epiphanies every extremely successful investor must have, in my opinion.

When buying a stock for investment purposes we’re buying a piece of a business, so regardless of whether we own 1 share or 1,000,000 shares, we are part owners.

So comparing stocks to gambling is not exactly a good one.  Perhaps comparing the options market to gambling would be more appropriate, because each has an expiration date, whereas common stocks do not.

On the other side of the spectrum you have real estate and private corporations…

It’s easy to forget that leverage is involved with most real estate investments, major leverage. In fact, for most home buyers this is the most levered purchase they’ll make in their lives. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever.  We’ve all got to live somewhere. Point being, real estate is a big commitment and it’s difficult to just dip your toe in and test the water like you can with stocks.

With a private corporation the leverage doesn’t have to be as significant, compared to real estate, but the time commitment often does. And time is valuable, is it not?

Many small corporations aren’t even corporations at all, they are jobs. If a corporation does not operate on its own while the owner is sun bathing in Maui, it is more job than corporation.

That last statement may sound a bit harsh, but I can say this because I’m a small business owner and the business would not exist without me (it’s a job, I just happen to be the boss). Point being, the business world is extremely competitive and building a successful business consumes a phenomenal amount of time. Wouldn’t you agree?

Here’s what’s so great about investing in stocks for a living!

Bullet point style…

• Inventory can be stored for free
• No office or facilities are required, so no rental fees
• Freedom to work your own hours
• Freedom to work from any location
• No employees needed
• Shipping costs are next to nothing if trading online
• Little to no liability risk
• Scaling up the business is quite simple

Obviously, trading stocks and investing in stocks for a living isn’t easy or everyone would be doing it. Does it require lots of time and effort?  Of course it does. Are there risks involved?  Of course, but if one is willing to accept those risks the market can be very rewarding.

Bottom line, trading and investing in stocks for a living requires effort, time, and strategic thinking, but the work can be done from anywhere in the world and the schedule is flexible.

6 stocks that put food on the table…

As you know, I’ve consistently covered the companies below on your behalf for some time now, and that’s because these 6 stocks are among my top holdings. One of the special things about BMR is that we eat our own cooking. So when you invest alongside us our interests are aligned, therefore we feast or famine together.

If your stock portfolios looks anything like mine you’ve been eating like a King lately.

Just don’t forget to set some rations aside in the event winter sets in early.

1. Strategic Metals Ltd. (SMD, TSX-V)

Strategic Metals is a project generator at a very-large scale and currently has interests in more than 130 properties assembled by an accomplished exploration team utilizing a proprietary database. Through project farm-outs, investments, and royalty sales, the company has grown its cash and shareholdings to more than $40 million.

2. Orca Gold (ORG, TSX-V)

Orca is engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in Africa. Its primary focus is the Block 14 Project which constitutes a large landholding of 3,750 sq. km. Situated in northern Sudan near the border with Egypt, the tenement overlies the Arabian-Nubian Shield.

Despite regional pharaonic Gold mining, there has been little if any modern commercial exploration activity at the property, although the ground is considered to be highly prospective by artisanal miners.

3. K92 Mining (KNT, TSX-V)

K92 Mining has commenced Gold production from the Irumafimpa Gold deposit which, together with the Kora Gold deposit, is part of the company’s Kainantu Gold Project located in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea.  K92 is operated by an experienced team of mining company professionals who, combined, have been involved in building over 20 mines and $5 billion in buyouts.

4. Teladoc (TDOC, NYSE)

Teladoc is the nation’s leading provider of telehealth services and a pioneering force in bringing the virtual care visit into the mainstream of today’s health care ecosystem. Serving some 7,500 clients – including health plans, health systems, employers and other organizations – more than 17.5 million members can use phone, mobile devices and secure online video to connect within minutes to Teladoc’s network of more than 3,100 board-certified, state-licensed physicians and behavioral health specialists, 24/7.

5. Kopin (KOPN, NASDAQ)

Kopin is a leading developer and provider of innovative wearable technologies and solutions for integration into head-worn computing and display systems to military, industrial and consumer customers. Kopin’s technology portfolio includes ultra-small displays, optics, speech enhancement technology, system and hands-free control software, low-power ASICs, and ergonomically designed smart headset reference systems. Kopin’s proprietary components and technology are protected by more than 300 global patents and patents pending.

6. Mitek Systems (MITK, NASDAQ)

Mitek is a global leader in mobile capture and identity verification software solutions. Mitek’s ID document verification allows an enterprise to verify a user’s identity during a mobile transaction, enabling financial institutions, payments companies and other businesses operating in highly regulated markets to transact business safely while increasing revenue from the mobile channel. Mitek also reduces the friction in the mobile users experience with advanced data prefill. These innovative mobile solutions are embedded into the apps of more than 5,400 organizations and used by tens of millions of consumers daily for new account openings, insurance quoting, mobile check deposit and more.

About the writer:  Daniel T. Cook, the newest member of the BMR team, is from the great state of Texas and now resides in beautiful Arizona.  Daniel has a strong passion for the junior resource sector and has followed the Venture and broader markets with great interest since he bought his first stock 18 years ago at the age of 12.  He’s also a licensed investment professional who was a Bright Future’s Scholar at the University of Central Florida, graduating in 2010 with a major in Finance.  We know our readers will enjoy his material and benefit from his wisdom and insight.  We welcome him aboard!

Note: John, Jon and Daniel hold share positions in GGI.  Jon also holds share positions in DBV and ESK.  Daniel also holds share positions in K92, KOPN, MITK, ORG, SMD and TDOC.