BullMarketRun.com

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

1. Gold has traded between $1,685 and $1,702 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is up $14 an ounce at $1,698…the price differential between the Gold forward contract for short-term delivery on the Comex in New York and the Spot price in London has normalized again now that the Swiss refineries have resumed regular operations…Silver has jumped 31 cents to $15.12…base metals continue to firm with Copper up 4 cents to $2.38…Nickel is unchanged at $5.53 while Zinc has gained 2 pennies to 90 cents, its highest level in 2 months…Crude Oil has added $2.10 a barrel to $26.09…WTI is on track for its 2nd best week in history as a number of bullish factors are now supporting prices, including U.S. companies cutting production, Saudi Arabia raising its official Oil selling price, and gasoline demand improving as economies around the world reopen…the U.S. Dollar Index is up one-quarter of a point to 100.32…DBRS Morningstar is looking at pandemic scenarios that include a housing price correction in Canada of between 10% and 15% by 2022…the credit ratings agency says some mortgage holders in such a scenario would also be expected to fall behind on payments, particularly in Oil-producing provinces where the economic shock would be greater…however, house price declines are expected to be sharper in cities, such as Toronto, where there has been a “significant run-up in prices in recent years”…even in a “moderate” scenario envisioned by DBRS, home prices in Canada’s largest city would fall by 14%…U.S. weekly jobless claims were 3.2 million last week, in line with expectations but the 7th straight week of record applications thanks to government-imposed lockdowns in response to the Wuhan COVID-19 virus…in recent weeks the number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits during the pandemic has dropped to about half the peak of 6.9 million touched in late March…jobless claims, though still numbering in the millions (well above the prior weekly record of 695,000 set in 1982), suggest the wave of unemployment caused by the pandemic and government lockdown measures could crest as soon as this month…still, the layoffs that already occurred are likely to cause the unemployment rate, at a 50-year low as recently as February, to jump to a record high with April’s number, due out tomorrow…economists say it could still be many months before the labor market returns to a point when U.S. employers consistently add more jobs than they subtract…and it probably will take years for the economy to fully replace the millions of jobs lost in March and April…

2. Massachusetts-based Modern Therapeutics (MRNA, NASDAQ) said today that the FDA has given it the go-ahead for a 600-person Phase 2 study for its coronvirus vaccine candidate…“The imminent Phase 2 study start is a crucial step forward as we continue to advance the clinical development of mRNA-1273, our vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement…“With the goal of starting the mRNA-1273 pivotal Phase 3 study early this summer, Moderna is now preparing to potentially have its first (Biologics License Application) approved as soon as 2021“…Moderna is finalizing protocols for a Phase 3 study expected to begin in “early summer of 2020“…Moderna is one of many companies across the globe racing to create a coronavirus vaccine…MRNA is up $4.31 a share to $53.26 as of 7:00 am Pacific…the Trump administration is pushing for rapid vaccine development through a recently announced project called Operation Warp Speed…

3. Global exchange-traded funds added another 170 metric tons of Gold to their holdings in April, taking the total to a new all-time high of 3,355 tons, the World Gold Council (WGC) reported today…assets under management also reached a new record high of $184 billion, the WGC said…this was helped not only by continued inflows but because Gold prices in U.S. dollar terms moved higher by 5.8%…the continued rise in the amount of Gold held by ETFs last month comes after the WGC’s recent report on demand trends showed that ETF holdings rose by 298 tons during the 1st quarter, which was up more than 300% from the same period last year…“Inflows have been strong and consistent in recent months, but not unprecedented,” the WGC said…“Rolling 12-month inflows of 879t just surpassed those of 2009 and 2016, while rolling 6-month inflows are less than two-thirds of the 457t of inflows in the comparable time periods of 2009 and 2016“…during April, North America was the continent with the most inflows, with these ETFs adding 144 tons…other increases included Europe, 20 tons; Asia, 2.9 tons; and other regions, 3.3 tons…U.S.-based SPDR Gold Shares was the ETF with the most inflows, adding 89.5 tons, while iShares Gold Trust added 31.2 tons, the WGC said…

4. Justin Trudeau keeps insisting that Canadians should “stay at home unless absolutely necessary” (don’t work and collect CERB money, of course, which is very un-Canadian, actually) in order to “keep safe” during this pandemic, but science is putting that advice into serious question…it was revealed yesterday, during New York Governor Cuomo’s daily briefing, that new COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York state are from people who were staying home and not venturing much outside, a “shocking” finding, Cuomo admitted…the preliminary data was from 100 New York hospitals involving about 1,000 patients…it shows that 66% of new admissions were from people who had largely been sheltering at home…the next highest source of admissions was from nursing homes, 18%…“This is a surprise: Overwhelmingly, the people were at home,” Cuomo stated…“We thought maybe they were taking public transportation, and we’ve taken special precautions on public transportation, but actually no, because these people were literally at home”…nearly 84% of the hospitalized cases were people who were not commuting to work through car services, personal cars, public transit or walking…a majority of those people were either retired or unemployed…overall, some 73% of the admissions were people over age 51…information shows that those who are hospitalized are predominantly from the downstate area in or around New York City, are not working or traveling and are not essential employees…he also said a majority of the cases in New York City are minorities, with nearly half being African American or Hispanic…

5. The under-explored and prospective area immediately west of Timmins continues to produce interesting Gold results…Melikor Resources (MKR, TSX-V) is up significantly in early trading after announcing that drill hole CAR-20–05 at its Carscallen Gold Project intersected 25.7 g/t Au over 6 m from 357 to 363 m, including 205 g/t over 0.7 m,, within mafic metavolcanics approximately 35 m below the granodiorite contact and 350 m vertically below surface…this hole has helped to confirm the current interpretation of a significant Gold-bearing epigenetic system (minerals forming later than the rocks enclosing it) that continues below the granodiorite and into the mafic metavolcanics below as further verified by an earlier (2012) intercept of 51.9 g/t Au over 3.7 m…meanwhile, CAR-20–04 cut 4.2 g/t Au over 4 m from 334 m to 338 m including 15.8 g/t Au over 1 m…this intercept occurred within the granodiorite approximately 325 m vertically below surface and further validates the interpretation…notably, this hole also cut 8.7% Copper and 33.9 g/t Silver over 0.5 m from 545 to 545.5 m…speculatively, this could represent a Copper feeder system vectoring to a VMS environment…assays are pending for a 3rd drill hole…the 47 sq. km Carscallen Gold Project lies within the township of Carscallen, approximately 25 km southwest of the city of Timmins, north of GFG Resources‘ (GFG, TSX-V) recent high-grade Gold discovery but not on the same trend…

6. The Dow is up 330 points lower through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is 149 points higher while the Venture has added 3 points to 481…Freegold Ventures (FVL, TSX), which reported an outstanding drill result yesterday, is up 4.5 cents at 21.5 cents after a wild session yesterday…the company has announced a $5 million hard dollar financing at 17 cents per share (half warrant good for 2 years at 28 cents) that includes $2 million from Eric Sprott…Shopify (SHOP, TSX, NYSE) has passed Royal Bank (RY, TSX, NYSE) to become the most valuable public company in Canada, after it reported Q1 earnings and investors got a good look at how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the business…the key takeaway from the earnings numbers was that Shopify remains an essential service for the million merchants that use the company’s e-commerce platform, and CEO Tobi Lutke emphasized that point speaking to analysts on the earnings call yesterday…Canadian Tire (CTC.A, TSX) reported a loss in its latest quarter as sales fell due to the steps taken to slow the spread of COVID-19, including the temporary closure of its SportChek and Mark’s stores…retail sales for the quarter were nearly $2.76 billion, down from $2.83 billion in the same quarter a year earlier…on a normalized basis, Canadian Tire says it lost 13 cents per share for the quarter compared with a normalized profit of $1.12 per share in the 1st quarter of 2019…

7. GoGold (GGD, TSX-V) announced this morning that its operations generated $1.9 million (U.S.) of cash flow, net of general and administrative expenses, in Q1…“Parral had another record production quarter, which covered corporate general and administrative expenses and the majority of our exploration expenditures at Los Ricos,” stated CEO Brad Langille, President and CEO…“With our $19.1 million cash balance and the cash flow from our Parral operation, we are well positioned to execute on our Los Ricos Project”…GGD’s revenue for the quarter was $8.6 million (U.S.) on record production of 600,697 Silver equivalent ounces, an increase of 42% from prior year, at a realized Silver price per ounce of $15.19…all-in-sustaining costs were $15.10…the company has $19.1 million (U.S.) in cash, thanks in part to a large raise at 75 cents completed just prior to the “Corona Crash”…GGD is up a penny at 77 cents in early trading…

Rapid Response!

How This Pandemic Will Ultimately Help Copper

Wuhan COVID-19 Virus Update

The Cost Of Doing Business With China (The CCP)

“Silver Lining”: Innovative Vancouver Company Provides Help During Crisis

COVID-19 Update

Smithers Shakes Off Turmoil For A Major 3-Day Event Connecting Hockey And The Resource Sector

Turbocharged Nickel

Commodity Check!

The Nickel Mountain Magma Highway

The Dramatic New Chase For A Nickel-Copper-Rich Massive Sulphide Deposit In The Heart Of A Famous Gold Camp

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

1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,708 and $1,680 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is off $11 an ounce at $1,695…Silver has gained 4 cents to $14.98…base metals are pushing higher with Nickel leading the way, adding 10 cents to $5.50…Copper and Zinc are up 2 cents each at $2.33 and 88 cents, respectively…Crude Oil has eased off $1.14 a barrel to $23.42…data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released moments ago showed that for the week ending May 1 inventories rose by 4.6 million barrels, which was smaller than the 8.67 million barrels build analysts had been expecting, according to FactSet…Suncor Energy (SU, TSX, NYSE) is going further into a defensive crouch, cutting its capital spending plans for a second time and shrinking its dividend payout, as the Wuhan COVID-19 pandemic hammers Crude demand…capital spending this year will be $3.6 billion to $4 billion, down from an already-reduced range of $3.9 billion to $4.5 billion announced in late March…the board also cut the company’s quarterly dividend to 21 cents a share, from 46.5 cents…Suncor is joining a parade of global Oil producers that are hunkering down as low Crude prices cause steep losses…in the 1st quarter, Suncor was able to shift output to higher priced light Crude and its refined-product mix to higher-value distillate…the moves helped the company post a better-than-expected loss, excluding some items, of 20 cents a share…the European Union will contract 7.4% in 2020 as the pandemic brings the worst economic shock since the Great Depression in the 1930’s, the European Commission said this morning…the executive arm of the EU has released its latest economic forecasts – the first estimates since European countries introduced lockdown measures to stop the spread of the virus…in February, the European Commission estimated a 1.4% rise in GDP for the EU this year…

2. No big surprise: U.S. private payrolls hemorrhaged more than 20 million jobs in April as companies sliced workers amid a coronavirus-induced shutdown that took most of the U.S. economy offline, according to a report this morning from ADP…in all, the decline totalled 20,236,000 – easily the worst loss in the survey’s history going back to 2002 but not as bad as the 22 million that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting…the previous record was 834,665 in February 2009 amid the financial crisis and accompanying Great Recession…“Job losses of this scale are unprecedented,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute, which compiles the report in conjunction with Moody’s Analytics…“The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession”…investors await the Labor Department’s key jobs report on Friday, when economists expect to see the U.S. unemployment rate to have rocketed to 16% in April from 4.4% in March…

3. Freegold Ventures (FVL, TSX) is flying in early trading after reporting a drill hole (GSDL2001) that cut an impressive 188 m grading 3.7 g/t Au, including – very significantly – 20 m at 9.9 g/t Au over the final 20 m (528 m to 548 m) – at its Golden Summit Project near Fairbanks, Alaska…the intercept represents the projected high-grade extension of the Cleary vein system…GSDL2002, drilled 150 m to the east of GSDL2001, was drilled to a depth of 165 m and had just intersected the projected vein system, returning 2.4 g/t over 9 m, before drilling activities were suspended due to COVID-19…drilling on this hole will be resumed when the program restarts…Kristina Walcott, President of Freegold, stated, “Management is tremendously excited with these results. The drill program is testing our interpretation that the high-grade CVS extends to the west and these results are confirming our interpretation”…these intercepts correspond with Freegold’s revised model that the strike of the Cleary Hill vein system may extend west of the old mine workings toward the Dolphin intrusive in an area of limited previous drilling…as the district’s highest-grade historical underground mine, Cleary Hill produced 281,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.3 ounces per ton before production ceased in 1942…the historic Cleary Hill mine workings are projected to lie approximately 500 to 600 m to the northeast of current drilling…FVL has soared 15 cents to 23 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…

4. Another fantastic quarter for Kirkland Lake Gold (KL, TSX, NYSE)…net earnings grew to $202.9 million (U.S.) or 79 cents per share, 84% higher than $110.1 million (52 cents per share) in Q1 2019 and 20% higher than $169.1 million (81 cents per share) in Q4 2019…adjusted net earnings totalled $179.2 million (70 cents per share) versus $113.8 million (54 cents per share) in Q1 2019 and $185.3 million (88 cents per share) in Q4 2019…revenue growth in Q1 was 82%, totalling $554.7 million…Gold sales totalled 344,586 ounces, 48% higher than 232,929 ounces in Q1 2019 and well up from 278,438 ounces in Q4 2019…average Gold price of $1,586 per ounce in Q1 vs. $1,307 per ounce in Q1 2019 and $1,481 per ounce the previous quarter…free cash flow in Q1 of $130.9 million (the Detour mine contributed $78 million of free cash flow from January 31 to March 31)…KL had $530.9 million in cash as of March 31 with no debt…Tony Makuch, President and CEO, commented, “Throughout my career, I have seen that, in times of adversity, quality people rise to the occasion. Faced with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team did extremely well protecting themselves and each other, while also turning in a very solid performance for the quarter. As a company, we have also risen to the occasion to support our local communities. We are donating $20 million (U.S.) to assist community groups in the areas of Canada and Australia where we operate in recognition of the essential services that these groups provide and the challenges they are, or may be, faced with in obtaining funding and social assistance as a result of a slowing economic environment”…KL is off 75 cents at $59.81 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

7. Energy Fuels (EFR, TSX; UUUU, NYSE) has entered into an agreement to acquire from GeoInstruments Logging LLC (GIL) all of its prompt fission neutron (PFN) technology and equipment, including all of its related intellectual property, which will give Energy Fuels the exclusive right to use, license and service this particular PFN technology globally…PFN is critical to successful Uranium production particularly from many in situ recovery deposits, as it more accurately measures downhole in-situ U3O8 ore grade versus traditional Total Gamma and Spectral Gamma methods…Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO, stated, “Energy Fuels‘ acquisition of this PFN equipment and technology will further solidify Energy Fuels‘ position as the leading Uranium miner in the United States, especially in the ISR space. We believe that acquiring PFN technology is now more important than ever, as we believe a revival of the U.S. Uranium industry is imminent. On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group (NFWG) conclusively described why the U.S. needs healthy Uranium and nuclear fuel industries in order to secure U.S. energy and national security and prevent Russia, China and other geopolitical rivals from gaining control of global nuclear markets. We believe the NFWG report represents the strongest U.S. government commitment to supporting U.S. Uranium miners in decades. The NFWG report also provides a menu of actions the U.S. government can take to support domestic uranium mining, including creating a U.S. uranium reserve, and potentially increasing the size of the American Assured Fuel Supply. We believe the NFWG report is an emphatic call for the U.S. government to take whatever actions are necessary to bring back U.S. Uranium and nuclear fuel production. In response to the NFWG Report recommendations, President Trump has already announced a budget that seeks $150 million per year over the next 10 years (totalling $1.5 billion over that timeframe) to establish a strategic Uranium reserve intended ‘to provide additional assurances of availability of uranium in the event of a market disruption'”…EFR is up a penny at $2.46 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

Rapid Response!

How This Pandemic Will Ultimately Help Copper

Wuhan COVID-19 Virus Update

The Cost Of Doing Business With China (The CCP)

“Silver Lining”: Innovative Vancouver Company Provides Help During Crisis

COVID-19 Update

Smithers Shakes Off Turmoil For A Major 3-Day Event Connecting Hockey And The Resource Sector

Turbocharged Nickel

Commodity Check!

The Nickel Mountain Magma Highway

The Dramatic New Chase For A Nickel-Copper-Rich Massive Sulphide Deposit In The Heart Of A Famous Gold Camp

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

1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,709 and $1,690 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is off $6 an ounce at $1,696…Silver has jumped 11 cents to $14.86 while base metals are steady with Copper, Nickel and Zinc trading at $2.30, $5.37 and 84 cents, respectively…Cobalt remains unchanged at $13.38…Crude Oil, riding a nice winning streak, has shot up by more than $3 a barrel to $23.80 (see below) while the U.S. Dollar Index is up slightly at 99.53…vehicle sales in the UK have plummeted to their lowest since February 1946…Wuhan COVID-19 has created a surge in takeout pizza orders, baking and pantry stockpiling…this has sparked a burst in demand for Canadian wheat and lentils, as restaurants remain shuttered and governments continue to urge physical distancing measures to prevent the spread of the virus…prices for Canadian spring wheat, a key ingredient in pizza crusts, for red lentils, a pantry staple, and for the durum wheat used in pasta have all soared in the weeks since the pandemic forced broad lockdowns of non-essential businesses…meantime, the low Canadian dollar, hit hard by weak Oil prices and government ordered lockdowns, has provided farmers with an additional boost…Trudeau this morning announced $252 million in new federal assistance for Canadian farmers and others in the agri-food sector, though the Feds continue to virtually ignore the struggling Oil and gas sector…Starbucks (SBUX, NASDAQ) CEO Kevin Johnson says over 85% of the U.S. company-operated locations will be reopened by the end of the week, with modified operations and hours…the chain plans to have more than 90% of cafes open by early June…Quebec businesses outside the Montreal region reopened yesterday as the province began the first phase of its ambitious relaunch plan, even while announcing a 1-week delay for the city where the Wuhan COVID-19 virus has had the most impact…Premier Francois Legault said the situation in Quebec is under control, but Montreal lacks the COVID-19 hospital capacity to open stores and other businesses by the original May 11 date…they will have to wait until at least May 18, but the aggressive plan to open elementary schools, daycares, stores, construction sites and factories over the next 3 weeks remains intact…the pandemic has hit the province harder than other areas of the country, and Quebec’s Director of Public has called the fast-paced plan a calculated risk…that’s a refreshing change for a country whose politicians are mostly gripped by fear…most other provinces are taking a more tentative approach – British Columbia, for example, has had only about 2,000 total cases of Wuhan COVID-19 (mostly in metro Vancouver) and limited deaths, but the NDP is operating Canada’s ultimate “Nanny State” and treating residents like kindergarten kids…as a result, B.C. is lagging the other 3 Western provinces in a reopening strategy…

2. Oil is headed for its longest run of daily gains in more than 9 months as the impact of production cuts indicated the glut may be beginning to ease…futures in New York rose for a 5th day after Genscape reported an increase in inventories of only 1.8 million barrels at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate Crude…that would be the smallest weekly gain since mid-March if confirmed by official data due tomorrow…meanwhile, the discount on Oil for June delivery relative to July narrowed to the least in a month, signalling that concerns of oversupply may be abating…the American Oil benchmark has more than doubled from an intraday low near $10 a barrel last week as OPEC and its allies start reducing production…in addition, U.S. giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips plan combined curbs of as much as 660,000 barrels a day by the end of June, despite a Texas regulator pronouncing an effort to mandate output cuts dead on arrival…there are early signs that the plunge in demand caused by the pandemic might have bottomed out in some markets, although clearing the glut that’s built up in recent months will take time…European Oil major Total SA said today that demand remains well below supply, even with widespread output cuts…but Norwegian bank DNB ASA sees change coming…“We are currently seeing accelerating Oil production curtailments outside the OPEC+ countries,” said DNB analyst Helge Andre Martinsen…“Even though the Oil market balance still looks quite oversupplied in the very short-term, we believe this is about to change quite quickly”…

3. Researchers have started giving healthy volunteers in the U.S. an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer (PFZ, NYSE) and German partner BioNTech (BTNX, NASDAQ), the latest study exploring a potential defense against the respiratory disease…researchers at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in Manhattan and the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore said today they began injecting people with the first of 4 vaccine candidates from Pfizer and BioNTech…the clinical trial will help the researchers evaluate whether the candidates are safe, which produces the strongest immune response that could fend off the coronavirus and what the dose should be…Pfizer plans to advance the candidate that proves most promising…testing of the vaccine candidates in Germany began last month…results from the 360-person study in the U.S. could come as early as next month, but the vaccine will still need to undergo additional testing in more patients, said Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development…Pfizer will track the progress of the study to pick the most promising vaccine candidate, Dr. Jansen said…the plan is to “weed out, weed out, weed out, focus on what’s good and move on,” she stated…“It’s a quick elimination”…a vaccine could be ready for emergency use as early as the fall if testing indicates it works safely, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told The Wall Street Journal last week, though the company would keep studying it in clinical trials…

7. Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V), which has Newmont as a major shareholder, has staked an additional 179 claims contiguous to the Pascalis and Megiscane-Tavernier properties at its Val d’Or East Project in Northwest Quebec…the new claims add 101 sq. km to the current project land package, increasing it from 334 sq. km to 435 sq. km…this extends the Megiscane-Tavernier Property to the southeast (146 claims) and the Pascalis Property to the northwest (33 claims)…the new claims were staked along Gold structures identified during regional exploration work and add highly prospective ground to the project…the Val-d’Or East land package represents one of the largest consolidated land packages in the Val-d’Or mining camp…President and CEO David Palmer stated, “Owing to the success of our exploration programs, and our increasing understanding of the Val-d’Or East Gold systems, we have expanded our property boundaries to include a number of highly prospective regional targets with excellent potential for new discoveries. We are fortunate to have a very strong treasury, with over $30 million in cash, which gives us the ability to continue advancing our project as we see these global Gold markets strengthen. We hope to resume activities in the near future and look forward to maintaining our position as one of Canada’s leading Gold exploration companies in 2020“…

Rapid Response!

How This Pandemic Will Ultimately Help Copper

Wuhan COVID-19 Virus Update

The Cost Of Doing Business With China (The CCP)

“Silver Lining”: Innovative Vancouver Company Provides Help During Crisis

COVID-19 Update

Smithers Shakes Off Turmoil For A Major 3-Day Event Connecting Hockey And The Resource Sector

Turbocharged Nickel

Commodity Check!

The Nickel Mountain Magma Highway

The Dramatic New Chase For A Nickel-Copper-Rich Massive Sulphide Deposit In The Heart Of A Famous Gold Camp

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

1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,719 and $1,670 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is up $2 an ounce at $1,705…Silver has retreated 17 cents to $14.77…Palladium is up $7 an ounce at $1,827 while base metals are off slightly with Copper, Nickel and Zinc trading at $2.30, $5.35 and 86 cents, respectively…Crude Oil is up 39 cents at $20.17…the 6-month spread of Brent futures hit its narrowest in almost a month today at a discount of around $6.50, up from a record wide discount of almost $14 in late-March, reflecting decreasing oversupply expectations and making storage for later sale less profitable..the all the money that people made by making deals with China over the years has been eclipsed many fold by the economic damage from the Wuhan COVID-19 virus…as a result, the U.S. Commerce Department, state and other agencies are looking for ways to push U.S. companies to move both sourcing and manufacturing out of China…tax incentives and potential re-shoring subsidies are among measures being considered to spur changes in an initiative that is being turbocharged by the Trump administration…there is a whole of government push to move U.S. production and supply chain dependency away from China, even if it goes to other more friendly nations instead…Florida has joined the U.S. states starting to ease restrictions against the pandemic and Italy reopened most of its factories today as the global number of reported infections crossed 3.5 million with nearly a quarter-million deaths…even in U.S. states where restrictions aren’t being lifted, local authorities in some areas are making plans to reopen (this cannot be done in British Columbia, for example, where the socialist NDP has overruled all local autonomy)…2 California counties, Sutter and Yuba, have said that some businesses such as salons, spas and tattoo parlors can open today under modified guidelines…in Italy, the opening of production lines and construction sites to more than 4 million workers after nearly 6 weeks closure will test whether an economy flattened by a pandemic can restart in earnest without touching off a 2nd wave of contagion…Italy reports declining rates of infection but more than 1,000 new cases a day…Alberta will allow dine-in restaurants, cafes, lounges and bars at 50% capacity starting May 14…meanwhile, Justin Trudeau seems keen on keeping Canadians in a state of fear – “Don’t go out unless you absolutely have to,” he actually said this morning…how do you get an economy moving again when you have a Prime Minister talking like that?…

2. U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak, and how contagious the disease is, to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show…Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early January, according to a 4-page Department of Homeland Security report dated May 1 and obtained by The Associated Press…the revelation comes as the Trump administration has intensified its criticism of China, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying that China was responsible for the spread of disease and must be held accountable…the analysis states that, while downplaying the severity of the coronavirus in January, China increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies…it attempted to cover up doing so by “denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data,” the analysis states…the report also says China held off informing the World Health Organization (WHO) that the coronavirus “was a contagion” for much of January so it could order medical supplies from abroad – and that its imports of face masks and surgical gowns and gloves increased sharply…those conclusions are based on the 95% probability that China’s changes in imports and export behaviour were not within normal range, according to the report…

3. Calgary-born Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz argued yesterday that the United States needs to reassess its relationship with China in the wake of the pandemic…Cruz, who was interviewed on “Sunday Morning Futures“, called China the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States…“The most important long-term, national-security informed policy consequence of this coronavirus pandemic is going to be a fundamental reassessment of the United States’ relationship with China. China is the most significant geopolitical threat to the United States for the next century”…Cruz added: “If you look at the pandemic itself, the communist government in China bears enormous responsibility, enormous direct culpability for this pandemic. We know they covered it up. We know that when heroic whistleblower doctors tried to draw attention to it last December, the Chinese government shut them up and punished them”…the Republican lawmaker’s comments came the same day that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told ABC News’ “This Week” there was “enormous evidence” that the novel coronavirus originated in a lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan…

4. CloudMD (DOC, TSX-V) has entered into a non-binding LOI with Save-On-Foods and separately with Pure Integrative Pharmacy to pilot telemedicine kiosks in 9 stores throughout British Columbia…for 6 weeks starting on May 26, CloudMD’s telemedicine software and services will be offered free of charge to Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy clients…telemedicine kiosks will be installed in existing private consult rooms in participating Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy locations across the province…patients will be able to see a doctor for prescription refills and non-emergency health concerns in real time on-site, and after the virtual visit, the prescription can be submitted directly to the same pharmacy for fulfillment…the delivery of these services will be billed under provincial medical plans…Save-On-Foods is Canada’s largest Western-based grocery chain with over 170 stores across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and in Whitehorse, Yukon (owned by the Jim Pattison Group, Canada’s 2nd-largest privately-held company)…Pure Integrative Pharmacy is one of B.C.’s leading independent community pharmacies and has been servicing patients with 16 locations across B.C. since 2008…in addition to the corporate arrangement, CloudMD and Save-On-Foods are joining forces to help provide home based telemedicine and delivery services (where available) of medications to at risk patients who cannot, or should not, leave self-isolation…B.C. patients unable to travel out of their homes can advise their CloudMD doctor they require home delivery of their medication and Save-On-Food’s pharmacies will take care of fulfillment and delivery…Dr. Essam Hamza, CEO of CloudMD, commented, “One of our key growth drivers is our kiosk implementation program, and we are excited to work with Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy on the first major step of the roll out. CloudMD, Save-On-Foods, and Pure Integrative Pharmacy share a community centric vision and are all aligned in maintaining customer focused businesses. Our priority is providing patients with innovative, accessible healthcare when and where they need it and in doing so, integrating the pharmacist into their team-based care. The initial paid pilot program is the first phase of our kiosk implementation and will hopefully lead to long term, mutually beneficial relationship with Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy“…DOC is up 7 pennies at 91 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…

5. Great Bear Resources (GBR, TSX-V) has cut 18.6 g/t Au over 13 m, within 104.15 m grading 2.7 g/t, from its continuing fully financed $21 million exploration program at its 100%-owned flagship Dixie Project in the Red Lake district of Ontario…Chris Taylor, President and CEO of Great Bear, stated: “As we approach the 1-year anniversary of the discovery of the LP Fault and our 100th drill hole into this target, our sense of enthusiasm continues to build as the LP Fault continues to deliver robust Gold results with more detailed drilling. New drill hole BR-118 returned one of the longest high-grade Gold intervals to-date, and was completed in the middle of a 150-m gap in drilling. Mineralization begins immediately at the bedrock surface, with consistent geology and mineralization styles observed in both neighbouring drill sections. Importantly, all other drill holes reported in this release also continue to successfully intersect gold mineralization at all points tested along the LP Fault to-date”…the company has completed 99 of approximately 300 planned drill holes into the LP Fault target as part of its 5-km-long x 500-m deep grid drill program…drill hole BR-118 on drill section 20650 was completed in the middle of a 150-m gap in drilling…the drill hole contained 2 significant mineralized intervals – 10.2 g/t over 6.80 m, within a broader interval of 3.2 g/t over 56.95 m, beginning at the bedrock surface at 30.20 m, and 18.6 g/t over 13 m, including 132.00 g/t over 0.50 m, within a broader interval of 2.7 g/t over 104.15 m beginning at 127.15 m…

6. The Dow is off 251 points through the first 30 minutes of trading amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China and as Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway unloaded its entire stake in airlines…Air Canada (AC, TSX) says it expects the impact of the pandemic to last at least 3 years and predicts large job cuts as it hunkers down to survive “the darkest period ever” for the industry…Canada’s biggest airline, which this morning reported a 1st quarter loss, says it expects capacity in the 3rd quarter to be 75% below last year’s level, from an 85% to 90% drop in the current quarter…it’s also accelerating plans to retire 79 planes and continues to look for ways to reduce costs and boost liquidity…the small-cap segment in Canada has outperformed the broader stock market in 8 of the past 10 trading sessions, over which time the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index rose by 8.5% compared with a 1.8% increase in the S&P/TSX Composite Index…resource plays make up a big portion of the Canadian small-cap market while there are also some hot emerging tech stocks…small caps and laggards have outperformed coming out of every bear market and major market correction during the last 40 years, according to a recent report from Goldman Sachs…the TSX is up 32 points as of 7:00 am Pacific to begin the new week while the Venture is 2 points higher at 475…the Venture has enjoyed 4 straight robust weeks with next key resistance in the 490’s…Marathon Gold (MOZ, TSX) has arranged a $26 million bought deal hard dollar financing at $1.50 per share led by Canaccord Genuity, Sprott Capital Partners and RBC Capital Markets…

7. A privately-held Ottawa biotech company is voluntarily recalling a rapid molecular-based test for COVID-19 after Health Canada expressed concern about its effectiveness, dealing a setback to expanded testing in the country…Spartan Bioscience said yesterday that the concerns centre around the proprietary swab used in the test, but that Friday’s Health Canada report did not raise issues about the accuracy of the test reagents and portable analyzer device…about 5,500 of the hand-held DNA analyzers, called the Spartan Cube, have been shipped to federal and provincial health agencies since the company gained that approval from Health Canada…“In light of the clinical results, Health Canada has placed conditions on the company’s authorization to restrict the use of the product to research use only until adequate evidence of clinical performance can be provided. The Spartan product can continue to be used for research purposes only,” the agency said in a statement…Spartan’s problems create an expanded opportunity in Canada for Sona Nanotech (SONA, CSE), currently in the midst of 3rd party validation for its lateral flow test…

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Learn more in today’s Week In Review And A Look Ahead!