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Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has traded between $1,331 and $1,342 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $6 an ounce at $1,333…Silver has slipped 27 cents to $17.06…Silver has Fib. resistance at $17.28 on the short-term chart (followed by resistance at the October $17.59 high) but the overall technical pattern is constructive with the 200-day moving average (SMA) acting as support around $17…Copper is off 7 cents at $3.18 while Nickel has retreated 18 cents to $5.66…Crude Oil is off 22 cents at $64.08 while the U.S. Dollar Index has rallied one-third of a point to 90.77 but still looks technically weak…downside momentum favors the Dollar Index pushing below 90 toward an uptrend line around 87 from 2011…while many commodity analysts are bullish on Gold in a weaker U.S. dollar environment, it’s important to note that bullion has outperformed most major currencies in the last month…the metal has appreciated 8% against the greenback, 5% against the yen and yuan, 4.5% against the pound and 4% against the euro…

2. Reacting to Crude Oil’s 3-year high, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak says the Oil market is not yet balanced and that the global deal to cut output should continue as the price rise could be due to cold weather (“climate change” gets blamed for everything)…Goldman Sachs seems to have changed its tune, however, saying the jump in Oil prices “has been driven first by robust fundamentals, with strong demand growth and high OPEC compliance accelerating…we see increasing upside risks to our $62 per barrel Brent and $57.5 per barrel WTI forecast for the coming months.”  Goldman is doing some backtracking, but at BMR we’ve maintained since last year that WTI is headed into the $70’s based on highly favorable technical patterns in addition to improving fundamentals…

3. As U.S. equity markets continue their best ever start to a year, respondents to the January Bank of America Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey are showing that optimism has not dimmed, even after 2017’s big 20% gain…hedge fund managers say their own equity exposure – 49% net long – is at the highest since 2006 as the level dedicated to hedging strategies against a possible market downturn falls to its lowest since 2013…at some point this party will end, but momentum in corporate earnings, accelerating economic growth, large tax cuts, deregulation and very high consumer confidence levels have all combined to make the perfect recipe for a buoyant stock market…any significant dips will be quickly embraced…

4. A sign of the times – online shopping sales hit a record $108.2 billion during the U.S. holiday season, a whopping 14.7% increase from last year, according to Adobe Analytics…the National Retail Federation previously said total sales for November and December were $691.9 billion, a 5.5% jump from last year…

5. U.S. equity markets are surging in early trading after yesterday’s holiday…the Dow is up 269 points as of 7:00 am Pacific, pushing above the 26,000 level for the first time…it took the Dow just 12 calendar days to move from 25,000 to 26,000, making it the fastest 1,000-point move on record for the index…in Toronto, the TSX is not faring so well with commodities a little soft this morning…the TSX is down 26 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…the Venture, meanwhile, has climbed 5 points to 891…the 885 area could be forming as nearest support, but a very strong band of secondary support exists from 870 to the key 850 breakout point…Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V) has hit another new multi-year high of 55 cents as the company expands its underground Cobalt program at the Castle mine in northern Ontario…Fission Uranium (FCU, TSX) has started preparations for a $9.4-million winter work program at its Patterson Lake South Project in Canada’s Athabasca basin…the 31-hole program will focus on expanding the recently discovered, high-grade R1515W zone and accelerating progress toward the prefeasibility study, a key milestone for potential eventual production at PLS…FCU has rallied strongly since the end of October…Golden Predator Mining (GPY, TSX-V) has released results of 43 grade control drill holes at its 3 Aces Project in southeastern Yukon, including the highest Gold assays returned to date such as 81.3 g/t over 4.6 m from a depth of 0.76 m 3A17–208…

6. eCobalt Solutions (ECS, TSX) says it has made significant progress in identifying strategic off-take partners for its clean Cobalt concentrate from its Idaho Cobalt Project…due diligence is currently in progress as the company works towards negotiating definitive terms in parallel with continued advancement of the project, the only environmentally permitted, near-term primary Cobalt deposit in the United States…“Marketing of the ICP and clean Cobalt concentrate during the past few months has been successful and has culminated in the receipt of multiple proposals for off-take arrangements,” stated Paul Farquharson, President and CEO of eCobalt. “This demonstrates the increasing demand for ethically-sourced Cobalt in a supply deficit market. These LOIs present many options with various potential off-take partners. Our goal is to form a long-term partnership with a strong off-take partner who can provide support and flexibility, and deliver value for the ICP. Not only is this a critical component of project financing, but it is also critical for the long-term success of the project.”

7. The price of Bitcoin plunged by as much as 20% today amid concerns about tighter regulation, with the volatile virtual-currency dipping below $12,000 for the first time since early December…Bitcoin prices surged to record highs late last year as traders prepared for the launch of futures contracts on the Cboe and CME…contracts trading on the Cboe are scheduled to expire tomorrow for the first time since they launched, a process that can lead to more volatile trading, and “backwardation” has also occurred which can be a bearish sign for an asset..today’s fall also comes in the wake of attempts by various governments to tighten control over cryptocurrency trading, such as in South Korea where trading of Bitcoin has been particularly popular…last week Chinese authorities ordered some large Bitcoin mining operations to close…

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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold, coming off its 5th straight weekly gain, has hit a fresh 4-month high, trading between $1,338 and $1,345 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $3 an ounce at $1,340…Silver has added 12 cents to $17.32…Copper is 5 cents higher at $3.25 while Nickel continues to look strong, up another 6 cents to $5.85…Palladium has hit a new record high of $1,140 amid a supply deficit and high demand from the auto industry…Crude Oil has gained 23 cents to $64.23 while the struggling U.S. Dollar Index has tumbled another half point to 90.46 as it approaches key support at 90…downside momentum favors the Dollar Index pushing below 90 toward an uptrend line around 87 from 2011…

2. The promise of accelerating economic growth overseas is propelling investor funds into the yen, euro and many emerging-market currencies, intensifying a year-long siege on the greenback…compounding the dollar’s woes is the fact the U.S. budget deficit continues to trend higher (positive for Gold)…historically, the dollar tends to fall when the deficit expands, reflecting in part the rising need for the nation to sell bonds to close its funding gap…recently approved widespread U.S. tax cuts will likely drive the U.S. deficit even higher this year, and trillion dollar annual deficits could easily return if Congress can’t get spending under better control…

3. U.S. Crude futures are approaching $65, up more than 6% this year for the strongest first 2 weeks of a year since 2005…this push higher has come despite the U.S. Energy Information Administration saying it expects domestic producers will pump 10.3 million barrels a day in 2018, shattering the previous record of 9.6 million bpd in 1970…meanwhile, the number of rigs drilling Oil wells in the U.S. rose by 10 last week to 752, a 4-month high…expectations surrounding shale haven’t changed dramatically…what has changed is a roaring global economy that has fueled demand for Crude at a faster clip than many had anticipated, stoking demand for fuel in industrial machinery and transportation….thanks to that, and following more than a year of production cuts from some of the world’s largest exporters, the world is no longer awash in Oil…

4. Royal Nickel (RNX, TSX) has firmed up this morning on news that it expects to undertake a “series of initiatives” during 2018 to position the company to make a decision to begin construction of the Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project in northwest Quebec…Dumont contains the world’s largest undeveloped reserves of both Cobalt and Nickel, though at very low grades…with many market participants expecting explosive growth in Nickel and Cobalt demand from the electric vehicle market over the coming decade, Royal Nickel says it “continues to be approached by a number of potential strategic investors, off-take partners and financiers who could provide the financing required to begin construction,” which only underscores the incredible opportunity at Nickel Mountain in the Eskay Camp where Nickel grades in massive sulphides range from 5% to more than 8% with intervals in the top 1% of global deposits…Royal Nickel’s Dumont deposit contains approximately 6.9 billion pounds of Nickel in the Proven and Probable reserve categories (1.2 billion tonnes) but at a grade of 0.27% Nickel…an economic analysis in June 2013 showed an after-tax IRR of only 15.2% and a 6-year payback period…moving a lot of dirt isn’t very profitable…Grade is always King…

5. U.S. equity markets are closed today for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday…the S&P 500 just completed its best 10-day start to a year in 15 years…meanwhile, the Dow has already posted three 200-point gains this year (there were only six of them in all of 2017)…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the TSX is up 35 points while the Venture has added 6 points to 884…Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V), soon expected to announce its proposed new name to better reflect its Cobalt focus, has touched a new multi-year high of 53 cents in early trading…the company closed a $1 million financing Friday to expand its underground Cobalt program…CSR is the only company in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp with underground access…Wolfden Resources (WLF, TSX-V) has completed the first 2 holes of a 10,000-m drill program at Pickett Mountain in northern Maine, one of the highest-grade undeveloped VMS projects in North America…both holes intersected massive sulphide mineralization in the West Lens, above and below historical drill hole intersections…assays are pending…the project has not been explored in 30 years and remains open at depth and along strike…Calyx Bio-Ventures (CYX, TSX-V) is up on news that its wholly-owned Canada Blockchain Holdings has recognized revenues of approximately $50,000 (U.S.) in its first full month of operation (December), utilizing one-quarter of its owned capacity…

6. The law apparently means nothing in Guatemala, forcing Tahoe Resources (THO, TSX) to announce this morning that it has made a significant reduction to its workforce at its Escobal mine, one of the largest Silver operations in the world…Tahoe says it has been committed to maintaining Escobal’s full workforce since the July 5, 2017, mining license suspension…the Guatemalan Constitutional Court heard the appeals of the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate the Escobal mining license on October 25, 2017…according to Guatemalan law, the Constitutional Court must rule within 5 calendar days of the public hearing…at this time, however, the Constitutional Court has yet to rule.  Tahoe President Ron Clayton stated, “We are very disappointed to reduce our workforce at this time, but this is a natural consequence to the prolonged inaction in the legal system. We are hopeful that the Constitutional Court will honor their own legal procedures and precedents and urge them to provide a fair and transparent ruling quickly that demonstrates Guatemala remains open for responsible foreign investment. A productive Escobal is in the best interests of all of our stakeholders, including the Government of Guatemala, the local communities, our employees, our suppliers, and Tahoe’s shareholders.”

7.  Marijuana stocks have rebounded this morning after 3 straight losing sessions…Aphria (APH, TSX) has announced that it has entered into a binding letter agreement to acquire Broken Coast Cannabis Inc., a leading premium cannabis producer located in British Columbia…Aphria says Broken Coast adds award-winning premium production and a proven West Coast brand to its asset portfolio, affirming the company’s market position ahead of a legal adult recreational use market in Canada…the transaction is expected to add incremental annual production of 10,500 kgs, a portion of which is market ready today, elevating Aphria’s forecast annual production to 230,000 kgs while also providing the company with geographic diversification, a cross-Canada distribution platform, and access to over 40,000 medical patients…in combination with its low cost and scaled greenhouse platform in Leamington, Ontario, the addition of Broken Coast establishes Aphria as a Canadian leader in premium indoor cannabis production…

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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has hit a 4-month high of $1,334 as the greenback remains under pressure while physical buying in Asia intensifies ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year which begins in mid-February…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $5 an ounce at $1,327 as it prepares for its 5th straight weekly gain…Silver has added 9 cents to $17.05…Copper is steady at $3.21 while Nickel, enjoying a strong week, is up another 5 cents to $5.74…Crude Oil has retreated slightly to $63.61 while the U.S. Dollar Index has tumbled another half point to 91.33…the euro jumped against the dollar as the ECB signaled that it could begin to wind down its 2.5 trillion euro stimulus program this year…

2.  Rob McEwen in a Kitco interview regarding Gold:  “If you compared the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index to the S&P 500, commodity prices are at their lowest point since 1971.  On a risk/reward basis, there is not much more left on the downside and lots of potential on the upside.  Markets are being driven more and more by passive investment managers who are using index funds, so when the swing comes there is a tidal wave of money that could come into the mining space.”  McEwen, according to votes from Kitco readers, was the top mining CEO of the year for 2017, the second time he has earned that distinction…

3. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wants to make sure cryptocurrencies can’t be used like Swiss bank accounts.  “We want to make sure that bad people cannot use these currencies to do bad things,” he said this morning at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Washington…he added the U.S. is working with world leaders in the G20 on “making sure that this doesn’t become the Swiss numbered bank accounts.”

4. Underlying U.S. consumer prices recorded their largest increase in 11 months in December amid strong gains in the cost of rental accommodation and health care, giving some hope that stubbornly low inflation may pick up this year…the Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index excluding the volatile food and energy components rose 0.3% last month as prices for new motor vehicles, used cars and trucks and motor vehicle insurance increased…in other economic data, spending at U.S. retailers rose in December for the 4th consecutive month, capping the strongest year for sales growth since 2014…holiday sales jumped 5.5% compared to last year, marking the largest jump seen since the end of the Great Recession…overseas, China reported a record trade surplus with the U.S. in 2017, at $276 billion…China’s total December imports were up 4.5%, year-on-year, while its exports were up 10.9% in the same period…

5. The Financial Post’s Claudia Cattaneo wrote this this morning how Canada is stuck on the sidelines as the U.S. Oil boom creates jobs and even curbs emissions.  “The Canadian sector is held back by pipeline bottlenecks that are depressing both Oil and gas prices (WTI rose near $64 U.S. a barrel yesterday, while Western Canadian Select was trading just above $37 U.S), governments that are more concerned about transitioning to renewable energy, investors who’ve moved on to better and faster opportunities elsewhere.  On the U.S. side, optimism is strong, thanks to the U.S. industry’s success in producing shale gas and tight Oil and in crushing barriers to export the new production globally, plus support from a President whose only concern about fossil fuels is that there should be more.” Jack Gerard, President of the American Petroleum Institute (API), reflected the U.S. industry’s buoyancy in his annual state of the industry address this week. “We have taken the nation from energy scarcity to energy abundance, from making products abroad to a rebirth of U.S. manufacturing.  From energy as a major pocketbook issue to lower gasoline, diesel, electricity and home heating costs. And today we are increasing development as we’re contributing to lower greenhouse gas emissions – a reality many believed was implausible, if not impossible.”

6. U.S. stocks are strongly higher in early trading with the 3 major equity indexes reaching new record highs as big banks kicked off the 4th quarter earnings season…the S&P 500 is enjoying its best start to any year since 1987…J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM, NYSE) is up slightly, even though it revealed that it took a huge loss ($143 million) from a trading-related margin loan to a single client during Q4…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the Dow is up 164 points…in Toronto, the TSX has added 14 points…First Majestic Silver (FR, TSX, AG, NYSE) has agreed to acquire struggling Primero Mining (P, TSX) in an all-stock deal, the companies announced this morning, with Primero more than doubling in price on the news…with the addition of Primero’s San Dimas Silver-Gold mine in Mexico, First Majestic said it anticipates company annualized Silver-equivalent production of 27 million to 30 million ounces…First Majestic already operates 6 mines in Mexico…the Venture has lost another 12 points in early trading to 878…the Index has declined for 3 straight sessions but is approaching exceptionally strong support….

7.  Barkerville Gold (BGM, TSX-V) updated investors this morning by detailing its 2018 objectives.  “The company is planning to undertake several actions which are anticipated to be substantial catalysts for Barkerville. The company plans to publish an initial resource for Cow Mountain, Island Mountain and Valley zones as well as an update for Barkerville Mountain. Barkerville will initiate drill testing of regional targets to confirm the mineralization model and district scale upside. Bonanza Ledge anticipates finishing development in Q1 with stope production to follow. The company will also start its underground access, permit depending, in order to explore for increased underground resources at Cow and Island Mountain targets. This should reduce future drilling cost and improve the company’s understanding of the mineralization. This underground access will also allow for trial stoping and bulk sampling that will supply valuable data related to rock mechanics, dilution, operating costs and processing.”  BGM is trading in the low-to-mid-70’s, slightly above its rising 500-day moving average (SMA) which confirms a primary bullish trend… 

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