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 $1,311 and $1,318 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is off $2 an ounce at $1,315…SPDR Gold Shares, the world’s largest Gold-backed exchange-traded fund, posted a modest inflow of roughly 15 metric tons during 2017…it’s reasonable to expect more ETF buying in 2018, enough to help Gold reach new multi-year highs…Silver is flat at $17.13…buying Silver on January 5 and holding through February 14 has resulted in a winning trade in 13 of the last 15 years…another factor in Silver’s favor at the moment, from a contrarian perspective, is that COT data has shown a net short position in the metal for the 3rd straight week…Copper and Nickel have retreated slightly to $3.21 and $5.55, respectively…Zinc is steady at $1.52…Crude Oil has jumped 64 cents to $61.01 while the U.S. Dollar Index has recovered one-quarter of a point to 92.12…
2. Gold prices in 2017 made their biggest gains since 2010 but U.S. Mint coin sales were the weakest in a decade…the U.S. Mint confirms that the sales of American Eagle Gold and Silver coins were the lowest since 2007 and American Buffalo coins had their worst year ever…the majority of analysts blamed the results on range-bound Gold prices and excitement surrounding the U.S. equities market…the World Gold Council described the U.S. bar and coin market as lackluster in 2017 with demand only at 7.3 metric tons in the 3rd quarter, down from 17.7 tons during the same period a year earlier…2016 was the 3rd best year for bar and coin demand on record in the United States…
3. Crude Oil is getting a boost from events in Iran where anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets over the past week to voice anger over the country’s economic woes…21 people have reportedly been killed and 450 people arrested during the protests which have become the most powerful challenge to the hideous, corrupt Iranian regime since mass demonstrations in 2009…the situation has reignited a geopolitical risk premium in global Oil markets amid concerns the civil unrest could result in Crude supply disruptions out of the Islamic Republic…so far, protests in Iran have had no impact on the country’s Oil production or Oil shipments but the situation could change if the U.S. were to impose fresh sanctions or dismantle the very flawed Obama-led international agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program…that deal proved to be a gift to Iranian leaders who continue to sponsor terrorism and forment trouble in the Middle East…
4. Long lineups to buy marijuana in California and a new ETF sent Canadian pot stocks roaring into the new year yesterday, and that action has continued today…the market for marijuana in California, the world’s 6th largest economy, is expected to reach $3.7 billion (U.S.) this year and more than $5.1 billion in 2019, according to research firm BDS Analytics…7 other states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational weed, boosting a market that Cowen & Co. predicts will grow to $50 billion by 2026, up from $6 billion in 2016…ETFMG Alternative Harvest, a U.S. ETF that started trading December 26, is attracting strong interest…the ETF is dominated by Canadian stocks, including Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX), MedReleaf (LEAF, TSX) and Cronos Group (MJN, TSX-V)…Canada’s Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ.U, TSX) is up for a 7th straight session, surpassing a market cap of $500 million…
5. The Dow is up 56 points through the first 30 minutes of trading after a 105-point gain to kick off 2018…the TSX has added 31 points while the red-hot Venture, after a confirmed breakout above critical resistance at 850, has surged another 16 points to 888…Cannabix Technologies (BLO, CSE) gapped up to a new all-time high of $3.24 at the open and is holding that level as of 7:00 am Pacific…Naturally Splendid Enterprises (NSP, TSX-V) is drawing fresh interest this morning after announcing that Howe Street veteran Doug Mason has accepted the position of interim CEO…Mason has built a reputation for product innovation during a career in the public markets that spans more than 2 decades..
6. Datametrex AI (DM, TSX-V) and its San Francisco based joint venture partner Bitnine Global Inc. have arranged a non-brokered private placement of up to $2.5 million for Graph Blockchain…the financing is direct into the private company “Graph” so as not to dilute Datametrex AI…Graph has completed the previously announced prototype for a utility company to analyze electric vehicle charging stations and has a contract with Revive Therapeutics (RVV, TSX-V) to develop the blockchain component in Revive’s proprietary patient-focused program…that program is enabled by DM’s artificial intelligence (Nexalogy) dedicated to the medical cannabis industry…
7. Great sign of an accelerating bull market in the metals sector in 2018 – volume is one of the best indicators of all, and exchange operator CME Group reports that average daily volume in metals markets increased 23% to a record 568,000 contracts during 2017…this far exceeded the average daily volume for all CME markets combined (gains in average daily volume for other markets included interest rates, 9%; foreign exchange, 7%; energy, 6%; and agriculture, 2%)…significantly, for just the month of December average metals volume rose 48% year-on-year to 531,000 contracts daily…
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