BullMarketRun.com

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

1. Gold has traded between $1,310 and $1,314 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $2 an ounce at $1,314…Silver is off a penny at $15.83…red-hot Nickel climbed as high as $5.90 overnight before pulling back to $5.78…Copper is up 3 pennies to $2.80 while Zinc has slipped 2 cents to $1.25…Crude Oil has retreated 54 cents a barrel to $54.02 while the U.S. Dollar Index has gained one-tenth of a point to 95.97…in economic news, U.S. non-manufacturing PMI cooled off slightly in January to a reading of 56.7%, down from December’s 58%…respondents remained mostly optimistic, however, about overall business conditions…U.S. retail sales, which account for about 60% of GDP, could climb between 3.8% and 4.4% in 2019, “despite threats from an ongoing trade war, the volatile stock market and the effects of the government shutdown,” according to a report released today by the National Retail Federation…that would be only modestly less than growth of 4.6% in 2018, which NRF says is its preliminary estimate for retail sales last year…

2. Wall Street expectations for earnings growth for Q1 have turned negative, which would mark the first decline in more than 2 years, according to FactSet…Wall Street analysts now expect S&P 500 companies to report an average 0.8% decline in 1st quarter profits…at the end of September, analysts expected Q1 profits to increase by 6.7%, on average…6 of the 11 sectors are expected to report a decrease in earnings for the 1st quarter, with the information technology sector projected to decline the most by 8.9%…lower expectations creates the potential for greater upside surprises…

3. Sun Metals (SUN, TSX-V) is acquiring Lorraine Copper (LLC, TSX-V) in a move that makes sense considering that Sun Metals was obligated to give 31.5 million shares to Lorraine by early April in order to complete its 100% earn-in of the Stardust Project in north-central British Columbia…under the friendly takeover, shareholders of Lorraine will receive 0.54 of a common share of Sun Metals for every Lorraine share held (50 million LLC shares are currently outstanding)…the consideration values Lorraine at approximately 24 cents per share, representing a premium of approximately 38% based on the trailing 20-day volume-weighted average of each company as of the close of trading last Friday…Sun Metals came to life in late October last year when the company drilled into a Copper-rich intersection outside of the known resource at Stardust – the best drill result ever at the property, actually, as DDH18-SD-421 returned 5% CuEq over 100 m – 2.5% Cu, 3 g/t Au and 52.5 g/t Ag…geologists are confident that they are successfully tracking a major mineralizing fluid pathway toward the heart of this high-grade system which has been reinterpreted as a large, coherent integrated porphyry-skarn-CRD-epithermal system after a detailed review of an enormous amount of historical data…no holes have been drilled yet to follow up on the results of #421 which will be the primary focus of a minimum 15,000-m 2019 program starting this spring…

4. Pure Gold Mining (PGM, TSX) has significantly increased Indicated and Inferred mineral resources at its Madsen Gold Project in the Red Lake District…Indicated resources have jumped by 319,000 ounces to a total of 2,063,000 ounces (7,196,000 tonnes at an average grade of 8.9 g/t at a 4.0 g/t Au cut-off) while Inferred resources have increased by 171,000 ounces to a total of 467,000 ounces (1,880,000 tonnes at an average grade of 7.7 g/t Au, same cut-off)…the soon to be completed Feasibility Study is based upon Indicated resources at the Madsen deposit which have increased by 13% to 1,857,000 ounces (6,429,000 tonnes at an average grade of 9.0 g/t)…the new estimates include updated and expanded mineral resources for all previously reported deposits, including Madsen, Russet South and Fork, and includes first-time disclosure of mineral resources at the Wedge deposit…resources from the Madsen deposit have been incorporated into an FS currently being finalized and will be followed by a PEA for the Russet South, Fork and Wedge deposits…both studies are expected to be released later this month…Darin Labrez, Pure Gold President and CEO, stated: “Today’s updated mineral resource estimate is the first of several near term key milestones on the path to establishing a modern, scalable mining operation at Madsen.  Over the past 4 years, our team’s disciplined, focused efforts and geological expertise, has established unequivocally that the Madsen deposit, in the very heart of Canada’s Red Lake mining district, is truly an exceptional asset.  The team’s efforts have resulted in an indicated mineral resource that has doubled over that period.  With this new high confidence resource, based on 1.2 million metres of drilling, we are in great shape to put a mine plan together for the next chapter in the evolution and growth of the Red Lake camp”…

5. The Dow is up 138 points through the first 30 minutes of trading on strength in consumer discretionary and technology stocks following upbeat earnings, while investors wait for President Trump’s State of the Union address tonight…in Toronto, the TSX has gained 45 points while the Venture, aiming for its 9th straight winning session, has lost 4 points to 621 on profit taking in the cannabis sector…Flowr (FLWR, TSX-V) is bucking the trend this morning, trading higher on news that it has submitted an application to list its shares on NASDAQ…subject to approval for listing, FLWR will continue to trade on the Venture…“Flowr has made tremendous progress executing on its business plan since becoming a public company last year and we believe the cvompany is well positioned to pursue additional growth opportunities,” said Vinay Tolia, Flowr’s Co-CEO. “A NASDAQ listing is an important step forward for Flowr because we believe it will broaden our access to international investors as we become a truly global company”…iMetal Resources (IMR, TSX-V) has commenced Phase 1 of its maiden drill program at Gowganda West in Northern Ontario where initial holes at Zone 1 South are following up on channel sampling that returned values as high as 39.3 g/t Au…9 of 14 samples exceeded 2 g/t and also included 16.5 g/t and 11.5 g/t…Gary Grabowski, IMR advisory board member who served as district geologist for Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines for more than 35 years, stated: “Zone 1 South is hosted by lithologies such as jasper-bearing conglomerate and green carbonate-altered mafic volcanic rocks similar to the rocks observed in the Kirkland Lake camp”…

6. Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V) has commenced a winter drill program at its Val-d’Or East Project…approximately 24,000 m of planned drilling with 4 rigs will focus on expanding current Gold resources, testing new targets and extending the coverage of regional exploration…new drill targets will include 1.5 km of unexplored ground between the Beliveau and Courvan Gold zones as well as the Monique and Cadillac Break East areas..winter programs will also include geophysical surveys that will broaden the scope of the company’s regional exploration…David Palmer, President and CEO of Probe, states: “With a strong treasury going into 2019, Probe’s primary goal is to continue advancing Val-d’Or East in order to establish it as one of the leading projects that works in any foreseeable Gold price environment.  From the work completed to date, our confidence is growing in the project and we see a clear path forward to development”...an updated mineral resource estimate for Val-d’Or East project is expected late this quarter…

7. Should this come as any surprise?…the Trudeau government says it has no plans to lower taxes on cannabis, even as other regions in North America embrace research that says lower levies may help eradicate the illegal pot trade…jurisdictions in the U.S. with legal cannabis markets are considering temporarily lowering pot taxes in hopes of encouraging consumers to migrate from the illicit market (if you recall, Trudeau’s thesis for legalizing marijuana revolved around the idea of eliminating the black market – that’s not going to happen, much like his promise to eliminate the budget deficit)…recent research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argues that lower taxes in the early days of legalization gives the industry a chance to get on its feet…it also recommends phasing in cannabis taxes over time and allowing medicinal users to pay less than recreational users…the Trudeau government, however, is not interested in following that advice…Finance Department spokesman Anna Arneson told The Globe and Mail, “The taxation framework for cannabis products entails keeping duties low and working with the provinces and territories to maintain a co-ordinated approach to taxation.  There are no planned changes to the existing duties at this time”…Ottawa also charges an extra $1-per-gram excise tax on all cannabis, recreational and medicinal…

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

1. Gold has traded between $1,308 and $1,314 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is off $7 an ounce at $1,310…U.S. bond yields have firmed since Friday following strong economic data including monthly non-farm payrolls and the ISM manufacturing survey…outflows from Gold ETF’s totalled 5.3 tonnes Friday, a noticeable change from the 25 tonnes of inflows over the previous 4 sessions…Silver is still grappling with the key $15.75 level…it’s down 9 cents at $15.77…Nickel continues to lead among base metals, up another 7 cents to $5.75…Copper is unchanged at $2.76 while Zinc has gained a penny to $1.26…China’s Zinc output came in at 4.53 million tonnes in 2018, according to a survey of smelters by Antaike…that marked a fall of 4.6%, or 218,000 tonnes, from 2017, the steepest drop since 2013…Zinc was the worst performer in the base metals complex in 2018, falling 26% on concerns of oversupply, but it’s is off to a flying start in 2019…inventories are low and global Zinc demand is expected to increase to 14 million tonnes this year…Crude Oil has retreated $1.02 a barrel to $54.25 while the U.S. Dollar Index has gained one-quarter of a point to 95.87…

2. Radient Technologies (RTI, TSX-V), Aurora Cannabis‘ (ACB, TSX-V) extraction technology partner, is up sharply in early trading after announcing that it has received its standard processing licence from Health Canada…in 2016, Aurora identified Radient’s proprietary extraction technology (MAP) as potentially disruptive for the cannabis industry due to its ability to achieve much higher throughputs than is possible with existing benchmark technologies, as well as its efficiency and ability to preserve the full spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes found in the source material…these aspects provide key competitive advantages in the development and large-scale production of high-quality derivative products…since investing in Radient, Aurora has expanded into the hemp sector with its majority ownership of Hempco Food and Fiber and the acquisition of AgroPro, Europe’s largest producer of organic hemp products, providing low-cost access to high-quality raw material for the extraction of cannabidiol…the industrial-scale extraction of CBD will play a key role in the rollout of Aurora’s derivative products strategy, including the development and production of high-margin products for the wellness market…meanwhile, Radient today also announced the appointment of Aurora CEO Allan Cleiren to its Board of Directors…RTI is up 26 cents at $1.07 as of 7:00 am Pacific, while ACB has blasted through Fib. resistance at $9.80 and is 61 cents higher at $10.31…

3. The Liberals’ Bill C-69 (pending legislation that overhauls the review process for major resource projects in Canada) is a major threat to Western Canada’s Oil sector…that’s the view of Hal Kvisle, the former CEO of TransCanada (TRP, TSX) who spent a decade shepherding projects such as the Mackenzie Valley Gas pipeline and the original Keystone pipeline through Ottawa’s byzantine regulatory process, with mixed results…now chairman of the board of ARC Resources (ARX, TSX) and a director for Cenovus Energy (CVE, TSX), he’s concerned that burdensome federal policies are killing growth prospects in the Western Canadian Oil industry and warns the new legislation will only compound the problem…the Liberal legislation “takes a horrifically bad situation and makes it worse,” Kvisle told The Globe and Mail…“They’ve created something that we in industry – having been through what we have – we see no end in sight to that [review] process”…no pipeline company will pursue a project under those circumstances, he added…energy industry executives also say that Bill C-69 threatens to bog down development projects just when they are most needed…the Bill has been pushed through the Commons by the Trudeau majority and is now before the Senate…

4. Barrick Gold (ABX, TSX; GOLD, NYSE) says it has entered into an agreement with Reunion Gold (RGD, TSX-V) to form a 50-50 alliance to jointly explore for, develop and mine certain mineral projects in the Guiana Shield, including Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the north and northeast regions of Brazil…Reunion will initially contribute to the alliance the Waiamu, Aremu, Arawini and Oko projects, all located in Guyana…Barrick says it will initially fund $4.2 million on these projects, as credit for historical exploration expenditures by Reunion, with subsequent funding to be on a 50-50 basis between Reunion and Barrick…the alliance “expands Barrick’s exploration footprint in the Guiana Shield, a significantly underexplored region and one of the most prospective in the world for large-scale gold discoveries,” stated Mark Bristow, Barrick President and CEO…Barrick will also increase its equity position in Reunion from 15% to 19.9% of outstanding shares…Barrick has agreed to acquire up to 35.7 million shares of Reunion at 15 cents each for a total purchase of just under $5.4 million (CDN)…

5. The Dow is off 42 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is up 14 points while the Venture, aiming for its 8th straight winning session, has added another 3 points to 626…Sun Metals (SUNM, TSX-V) and Lorraine Copper (LLC, TSX-V) were both halted shortly prior to market open, pending news…also halted, as news is disseminated, is Namaste Technologies (N, TSX-V) as the company announced that it has fired CEO Sean Dollinger “for cause” and removed him from his position as Director, effectively immediately…meanwhile, Namaste also stated that “following a recent expression of interest in the company, the Board of Directors…has launched a strategic review process to consider all value-maximizing alternatives”…Zenabis Global (ZENA, TSX-V) has entered into a supply agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart…Shoppers may purchase dried marijuana and cannabis oil (once Zenabis receives its licence to sell oil) from the Zenabis medical branded product line, subject to any and all regulations…Shoppers also has the right to purchase all future products available as laws and regulations allow…Zenabis branded medical cannabis products will then be sold online at cannabis.shoppersdrugmart.ca, as regulations do not allow the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies…on the CSE, Weekend Unlimited (POT, CSE), trading under the much sought-after symbol POT for the first time, climbed as high as 36 cents in early trading on massive volume…Tidal Royalty (RLTY.U, CSE), which jumped 50% last week on a surge in volume, is steady at 28 cents…

6. Amex Exploration (AMX, TSX-V) continues to drill into high-grade Gold in the Eastern Gold zone (EGZ) of its Perron Project north of Rouyn-Noranda…drill hole PE-2019–24 cut 24 g/t Au over 5.85 m including 214.7 g/t over 0.65 m at a vertical depth of 235 m…meanwhile, PE2019–23 intersected 39.6 g/t Au over 0.75 m at a vertical depth of 135 m…this helps verify vertical continuity in the near-surface portion of the system…the zone has been intersected in the same section over a vertical distance of approximately 150 m, pierce point to pierce point, with a spacing varying from 25 to 50 m…in addition to these results, the company reports that the first 25 m step-out hole testing the lateral extent of the EGZ’s High Grade Zone has intersected visible Gold…AMX has pulled back 6 cents to 56 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…

7. Should this come as any surprise?…the Trudeau government says it has no plans to lower taxes on cannabis, even as other regions in North America embrace research that says lower levies may help eradicate the illegal pot trade…jurisdictions in the U.S. with legal cannabis markets are considering temporarily lowering pot taxes in hopes of encouraging consumers to migrate from the illicit market (if you recall, Trudeau’s thesis for legalizing marijuana revolved around the idea of eliminating the black market – that’s not going to happen, much like his promise to eliminate the budget deficit)…recent research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argues that lower taxes in the early days of legalization gives the industry a chance to get on its feet…it also recommends phasing in cannabis taxes over time and allowing medicinal users to pay less than recreational users…the Trudeau government, however, is not interested in following that advice…Finance Department spokesman Anna Arneson told The Globe and Mail, “The taxation framework for cannabis products entails keeping duties low and working with the provinces and territories to maintain a co-ordinated approach to taxation.  There are no planned changes to the existing duties at this time”…Ottawa also charges an extra $1-per-gram excise tax on all cannabis, recreational and medicinal…

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How high will the Venture climb in 2019? – you may be surprised at what’s in the works…