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

1. Gold has traded between $1,314 and $1,321 so far today as it begins its quest for a 5th straight weekly gain…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is off $1 an ounce at $1,318…Silver has pulled back 11 cents to $17.05…Copper and Nickel are steady to slightly higher at $3.22 and $5.71, respectively…Crude Oil is up 6 pennies at $61.50 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 91.97…the Perth Mint’s sales of Gold and Silver products rose in December from a month ago, the mint said in a blog post on its website this morning…sales of Gold coins and minted bars rose 13% to 27,009 ounces in December from 23,901 ounces in November…Silver sales during December, meanwhile, surged a whopping 61% to 874,437 ounces…the Perth Mint refines more than 90% of newly mined Gold in Australia, the world’s second-largest Gold producer after China…

2. Hedge funds continued to pile into Gold and Silver in the week ending January 2, according to the latest trade data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  “Market participants are increasingly unconvinced that Trump’s tax reform will be inflationary, implying that still-muted inflation will not entice the Fed to raise rates in accordance with their dot-plots, thereby keeping the cost of holding non-yielding precious metals low,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities…over the last 3 weeks, hedge funds have nearly doubled their net-long positions in Gold…

3. The gap between the prices fetched for Western Canadian Select and West Texas Intermediate Crude has hit a 4-year high of almost $27 (U.S.) – the direct result of a shortage of spare pipeline capacity in Canada where getting pot to market is more of a sense of urgency for politicians than getting Oil to market…Ralph Klein is rolling over in his grave…the pipeline bottleneck combined with increasing Canadian production is forcing more producers to rely on an expensive rail option which ironically also carries more environmental risks…

4. Canadian heavy Crude prices are depressed but WTIC is closing in on 3-year highs on a slight decline in the number of U.S. rigs drilling for new production and sustained OPEC output cuts…U.S. rigs declined by 5 to 742 in the week to January 5, according to data from Oil services firm Baker Hughes…despite this, U.S. production is expected to bust through 10 million barrels per day very soon, largely thanks to increasing output from shale drillers…only Russia and Saudi Arabia produce more Oil…

5. The broader equity markets are off slightly in early trading on profit taking after a robust start to the New Year last week…by March of this year, the climb from the depths of the financial crisis market low is set to reach 9 years…the overall S&P 500 gain is now 306%, not including dividends…that’s better than any other climb except the 1987–2000 glory run which was a stunning 582%, suggesting the current bull cycle still has plenty of upside potential based on an unusual combination of faster growth and ample liquidity…last week’s 2.6% S&P 500 gain in 4 days would have made it the best week of 2017, a sign of expanding risk-taking appetites and more eagerness among buyers…that sentiment is very much reflected in trading on the speculative Venture Exchange which has confirmed a key breakout above 2-year resistance at 850…

6. The Venture gapped up at the open to 908 and has built on those gains through the first 30 minutes of trading…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the Index is up 16 points at 912 with marijuana stocks leading the way…AnalytixInsight (ALY, TSX-V) has touched a multi-year high of 78 cents…the company posted its first operating profit in the 3rd quarter of 2017 (ending September 30) along with record revenues of $1.7 million, a 6-fold increase compared with the same period a year earlier…Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V) has drilled 83.1 m grading 3 g/t Au starting from 7 m at its Val d’Or East Project in northwest Quebec…the company completed over 80,000 m of drilling last year and has launched a new 85,000-m program…a fresh resource update is expected later this quarter…Coeur Mining (CDE, NYSE) posted record Silver-equivalent production in the 4th quarter and full-year 2017, the company announced this morning…Q4 output hit a record of 11.7 million Silver-equivalent ounces which was a quarter-on-quarter gain of 23% and year-on-year gain of 17%…full-year 2017 Silver-equivalent production was the highest in the Coeur Mining’s history at 39.4 million ounces, up 9% from 2016…

7. Datametrex AI (DM, TSX-V) has pushed higher on news that it has entered into a binding LOI to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Shoptalk Analytics Group Inc., a Toronto-based data collection company focused on independent pharmacies in the United States…the proposed consideration for the transaction is an aggregate amount of $4 million (CDN) payable by a combination of cash and common shares, mostly based on Shoptalk achieving certain milestones.  “The collection of POS (Point-of-Sale) and other data from independent pharmacies is an integral part of the U.S. healthcare technology market,” stated Andrew Ryu, Datametrex Chairman and CEO.  “The U.S. pharmaceutical sector was valued around $446 billion in 2016. U.S. healthcare standards such as HIPAA (Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and HL7 (Health Level Seven International) are more prevalent than ever, and Shoptalk Analytic’s data collection platform will integrate with these standards and protocols providing vital information between healthcare providers. Datametrex sees the value of the data in this sector and how the DataTap, Nexalogy AI and Shoptalk will become a major business intelligence technology solution for the U.S. and international pharmacy market.”

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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 traded between $1,313 and $1,323 so far today as it prepares for its 4th straight weekly gain, the first time that has happened since April of last year…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is off $4 an ounce at $1,318…Silver is relatively flat at $17.16…Copper and Nickel have eased off slightly to $3.21 and $5.67, respectively, but Zinc has hit a new 10-year high of $1.54…Crude Oil, enjoying a strong start to the year, has retreated modestly to $61.57 while the U.S. Dollar Index has reversed higher to 92.04…the pace of hiring slowed in the U.S. last month (non-farm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 148,000 in December) but the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, matching the lowest level since December 2000 for the 3rd straight month…hourly wage growth, from a year earlier, failed to accelerate…however, recent economic data all point to an American economy that has shifted into high gear in front of large corporate and individual tax cuts that could help turbocharge growth in 2018…that is very positive for the commodity sector…

2. Differences between the Canadian and U.S. governments’ approach to Oil could not be more stark…at a time when Canada is apologizing for its Oil riches, can’t get pipelines built and is imposing job and investment killing carbon taxes as part of a globalist mindset to “save the planet”, the Trump administration yesterday proposed opening up nearly all the country’s offshore areas for Oil and gas drilling in a move that would touch every coastal state, some that have been off limits to drillers for decades…under the plan announced by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the government would offer for sale the largest number of Oil and gas leases in U.S. history starting late next year…it would open up 90% of offshore areas for drilling as part of a 5-year plan, reversing an Obama-era plan that would have kept only 6% of the same acres available for drilling…the move, which of course will face fierce opposition from some coastal-state lawmakers and environmental groups, is one of a number of steps the Trump administration is taking to bolster U.S. fossil fuel production…

3. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that Crude inventories fell by 7.4 million barrels in the week ended December 29, widely exceeding analysts’ expectations on average for a drop of 4.7 million barrels…as the amount of Crude in storage has declined, geopolitical risks around the world have raised concerns about disruptions to supply from major Oil exporters…prices have risen 11 out of the past 14 sessions entering today…improving fundamentals “have placed the market on the firmest footing seen in several years,” said Michael Tran, director of energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets, in a Thursday note. “Recent production hiccups in the North Sea and Libya are examples of how outages will be magnified as the global storage surplus continues to taper.”

4. In a move that contributed to the sell-off in marijuana related stocks yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended an Obama-era policy that discouraged federal prosecutions of marijuana use and sales in states where it has been legalized…Sessions is instead leaving it up to U.S. attorneys to decide to what extent they will enforce federal anti-marijuana laws…the new action by Sessions comes on the heels of California becoming the 7th and largest state (plus the District of Columbia) to legalize recreational marijuana…almost 90 businesses received state licenses to begin legal marijuana sales in California at the start of 2018 and sales are booming…in addition, 29 states allow the sale and use of medical marijuana…in a report issued before Sessions’ announcement of a change in federal policy – the effect of which is not yet determined – BDS Analystics forecast that marijuana sales in California alone could total $3.7 billion this year and $5.1 billion in 2019…

5. U.S. equities, like the Venture, have started 2018 with a bang, hitting new all-time highs this morning…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the Dow is up another 60 points to 25,135…in Toronto, the TSX has slid 72 points while the Venture is off 2 points at 878…however, the Venture has confirmed a major breakout above 850 this week and appears headed for a stellar 1st quarter…Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V), at multi-year highs, is one of the most active stocks in early trading after an apparent cross of 2.5 million shares at 37 cents at the open…this is already the highest volume single session in the stock’s history…CSR, which has said it will soon be changing its name to more accurately reflect its Cobalt focus, has been gaining momentum on that news recently in addition to high-grade Cobalt results from 2 properties in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp…with its past producing Castle mine, CSR is the only company in the region with critical underground access where material is being extracted to be converted into Cobalt sulphate for battery sector evaluation in Asian markets through the company’s proprietary Re-2OX process…Metallis Resources (MTS, TSX-V), ideally positioned for new discoveries at its Kirkham Property contiguous to Nickel Mountain in the Eskay Camp, has announced it has arranged a private placement of up to $2 million at $1.15…

6. Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX), down in early trading, has just issued news commenting on yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Attorney General regarding federal anti-marijuana laws:  “We want to make our position as clear as possible: While Canopy does not support continued cannabis prohibition, it is management’s view that confusion surrounding federal cannabis laws in the United States presents advantages for Canopy Growth, not risks, stated Bruce Linton, Canopy Growth Chairman and CEO.  “We want to assure our shareholders that they are not being exposed to undue risk.  We are confident in our position because we have exclusively focused on ethical, responsible and legal cannabis opportunities across the globe and not in the United States.  We want to assure our shareholders that they are not being exposed to undue risk.”  That’s an effective spin by Canopy but the reality is the genie is out of the bottle in the U.S. with regard to legalizing recreational marijuana at the state level across much of the nation, and the federal government has only limited resources and time to fight that trend…

7. A.I.S. Resources (AIS, TSX-V), continuing to hit new all-time highs, is launching a seismic survey, to be immediately followed by drilling, at its Chiron Lithium brine project in Salta, Argentina…the survey will define the subsurface horizons that are highly conductive and suggest the presence of aquifers down to a depth of approximately 400 m…once the survey confirms specific drill targets, AIS will carry out an 8-hole drill program totaling 3,200 m…this news comes just a few weeks after AIS announced that it has completed the mass balance chemistry and process engineering for the Lithium brines at the company’s Guayatayoc Project in Jujuy province, north of Salta…AIS is targeting an 8,000 to 10,000-tonne Lithium carbonate plant that could be scaled up and serve both Guayatoayoc and Chiron…

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

1. Gold has traded between $1,307 and $1,317 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $3 an ounce at $1,316…yesterday’s intra-day high of just above $1,320 was the best level for the yellow metal since the middle of September…Fed minutes gave traders an excuse to lock in some profits after Gold’s strong move the past few weeks…Silver is up slightly at $17.16…Nickel is closing in on last November’s highs and its best levels since the spring of 2015…the metal is up 14 cents at $5.70…Copper has added 3 pennies to $3.24…Palladium pushed above $1,100 an ounce to a new all-time high this morning…the precious metal soared 56% last year due to fears of a shortage fueled by Chinese car sales growth, tightening emissions controls and a swing away from diesel cars in Europe…the fundamental tightness in the Palladium market is not likely to change anytime soon…Crude Oil remains firm, near $62 a barrel, while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen one-third of a point to 91.86…the greenback has hit a 3-and-a-half month low versus the euro…

2. Oil prices have hit their highest levels since May 2015 as ongoing protests in major producer Iran have added a geopolitical risk premium to the market…the anti-government uprising in that country over the past week has been partly driven by economic grievances after the lifting of international sanctions 2 years ago did not generate the windfall the populace expected (the Iranian regime has directed the benefits of that Obama-led nuclear agreement toward funding terrorism and expanding its influence in the Middle East)…the potential reinstatement of U.S. sanctions targeting the Iranian Oil industry remains an issue with the U.S. due to review temporary waivers on sanctions against Iran later this month…

3. The Dow cracked the 25,000 level for the first time this morning following the release of stronger-than-expected jobs data…the U.S. private sector added 250,000 jobs in December, according to a report from ADP and Moody’s Analytics, as the Trump economy continues to perform…economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 190,000…the total brought 2017’s private payroll growth as gauged by ADP and Moody’s to 2.54 million, an average of 212,000 a month…job growth was broad-based, as professional and business services led the way with 72,000 new positions…the education and health services sector was next at 50,000 and trade, transportation and utilities contributed 45,000…Wall Street-related payrolls grew by 19,000, a strong sign of an accelerating bull market…the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report is set for release tomorrow…

4. The Dow is up 147 points as of 7:00 am Pacific, completing the fastest 1,000-point move in its history…it took just 23 trading sessions for the Dow to climb from 24,000 (the previous record was 24 trading days, accomplished a year ago when the Dow hit 21,000 and back in 1999 when it surged to 11,000)…meanwhile, the NASDAQ has enjoyed its best 2-day start to the year since 2006…in Toronto, the TSX is off 9 points in early trading while the Venture has retreated 10 points to 880 after closing above short-term Fib. resistance at 885 yesterday…red-hot marijuana stocks have pulled back on profit taking, largely contributing to this morning’s weakness…A.I.S. Resources (AIS, TSX-V), pursuing an aggressive Lithium strategy in Argentina with some of the brightest Lithium brine specialists in the world, has hit a new all-time high of $1.46 in early trading…Mason Graphite (LLG, TSX-V) has closed a $45 million bought deal financing…net proceeds will be used for development and construction expenses related to the company’s Lac Gueret Graphite mine and Baie-Comeau, Quebec concentrator plant project, the majority of which the company expects to incur over the next 12 months…development and construction expenses represent a portion of the project’s estimated $200 million capital expenditure budget…Transeastern Power Trust, which announced a financing up to $40 million December 12 at 48 cents followed by a name change 9 days later to Blockchain Power Trust, began trading under its new name and symbol (BPWR, TSX-V) on the Venture this morning…it’s up 3 pennies at 65 cents on light volume through the first 30 minutes of trading…

5. Datametrex AI (DM, TSX-V) and its San Francisco-based joint venture partner Bitnine Global announced this morning that they plan to spin out their joint venture entity Graph Blockchain Ltd., together with all of its assets and liabilities, as a separate operating entity to create a stand-alone publicly traded company…the proposed spin-out would give DM shareholders 1 share in the capital of Graph for every 20 shares of DM.  “We see a tremendous opportunity to realize greater shareholders value by spinning out Graph Blockchain as a stand-alone company that will ultimately provide shareholders the opportunity to realize the benefit of additional liquidity of their investment,” stated Andrew Ryu, Datametrex Chairman and CEO.  “We firmly believe that the sum of the parts is worth more than the whole when comparing Datametrex market cap to our peers and we will analyze each vertical to determine if a spinout is the best option for Datametrex shareholders.”

6.  Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX), off more than $1 per share in early trading on the pullback in the marijuana sector, announced this morning that it’s partnering with Danish tomato and pepper producer Alfred Pedersen & Son to produce and sell cannabis in Europe…under the deal, Aurora will own a 51% interest in Aurora Nordic Cannabis A/S, based in Odense, Denmark…APS received its license to grow cannabis from Denmark’s Medicines Agency effective January 1…tomato and pepper – often grown in greenhouses – are the most common choices to convert to weed as they have similar growth requirements…the joint venture, which is majority owned by Aurora, will focus on selling cannabis in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, through the company’s German unit…Aurora Nordic plans to build a 93,000 sq. m automated cannabis production facility which will be able to produce up to 120,000 kg of cannabis per year, Aurora said…

7. The S&P 500 could surge another 18% this year, according to UBS, which this morning raised its 2018 target to 3,150, the highest on Wall Street, only 3 trading days into the year…UBS says tax cuts for corporations will fuel earnings growth and are the reason for the more upbeat forecast…they’ve raised raised S&P earnings per share forecast for the year to $157, which would be an 18% year-over-year gain…with powerful earnings growth in the U.S., it’ll be hard to slow down or stop the bull market in equities…

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