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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 $1,266 and $1,270 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $2 an ounce at $1,268…Silver has added 7 cents to $16.17…both Gold and Silver appeared to bottom last week at key technical support levels…Copper is up slightly at $3.19 while Nickel continues to shine, up another 2 cents to $5.47…Cobalt, meanwhile, is at a new decade high just above $34 a pound…Crude Oil has slipped 36 cents to $58.00 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 93.39…the U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), which strips out volatile food and energy prices and is the central bank’s preferred inflation measure, showed an annual increase of 1.5% in November, in line with consensus forecasts but well below the Fed’s 2% target…

2. Palladium prices jumped to a 17-year high today, touching $1,042, as strong demand from autocatalyst makers reinforced the prospects of market shortages…analysts predict that about 80% of global Palladium demand estimated at more than 10 million ounces next year will come from autocatalysts for gasoline powered cars, which many now prefer over diesel fueled vehicles…Palladium prices have doubled since January 2016 after Germany’s Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 that it had used illegal software to cheat U.S. diesel emissions tests…diesel’s share of the European auto market continues to fall, and the flip side of that is that gasoline’s share is rising…meanwhile, Chinese car sales, supporting Palladium, remain strong, while 2018 is set to be the 7th successive year of large deficits in the Palladium market according to GFMS analysts in a recent research note…

3. Bitcoin briefly plunged below $11,000 (U.S.) this morning, a drop of more than 40% in 5 days with the digital currency on track for its worst week since 2013…the sharp decline triggered temporary, built-in trading halts in Bitcoin futures traded on the CME and Cboe…the biggest and best-known cryptocurrency had seen a staggering 20-fold increase since the start of the year, climbing from less than $1,000…

4. Despite its headline-grabbing performance this year, Bitcoin is actually one of the worst performing assets in the cryptocurrency space according to analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence….the recent Bloomberg report noted that Bitcoin is losing ground as the digital currency benchmark to its younger rivals and may end up as the primary short target in 2018.  “Bitcoin’s pioneer status should continue to drag on its performance,” the report said. “Among the primary constituents in the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 index, Bitcoin is 2017’s worst performer. When the frenzy fades, Bitcoin’s fate may mirror Internet pioneers Netscape and AOL”…the Bloomberg report said that Bitcoin is no longer the best representation of cryptocurrencies because of its technological inferiority compared to its peers…contenders to overtake Bitcoin’s dominance are second generation (2G) crypto coins which focus on superior speed and efficiency…

5. U.S. stocks are off slightly in early trading…Wall Street was relieved that lawmakers agreed on a plan to prevent a government shutdown…the Senate passed a bill to keep the federal government funded through January 19…the bill, which also cleared the House, is expected to be signed by President Trump…in Toronto, the TSX has slipped 16 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the Venture is off 5 points at 799 with cryptocurrency and blockchain stocks under some pressure…Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V), a Cobalt-focused play that has released more high-grade results from two properties this month, has touched a new multi-year high of 35 cents in early trading…CSR is the only company in Canada’s top Cobalt region (northern Ontario) with underground access to Cobalt mineralization, at the past producing Castle mine near Gowganda…significantly, it also has a proprietary process (Re-2OX) to convert Cobalt material to meet the high purity specifications of the battery sector…more results from an ongoing underground program at Castle are pending, along with a name change to better reflect the company’s focus on Cobalt…

6. Mining companies have enjoyed a stellar year with the combined market capitalization of the globe’s top 50 firms year-to-date rising $141 billion to a collective total of $896 billion…the majority of the gains were recorded since August…the main beneficiaries were the top 10 companies included on the list, compiled by Mining.com…they made up half of the sector’s value, rising 65%…the best results came from China Molybdenum with its stock rising 150% this year, now worth more than $20 billion…the mining company rose from 31st to 4th on the list…

7. Some interesting statistics investors in Nickel, Copper and Cobalt should take note of – Glencore commissioned CRU to measure the impact the global shift away from internal combustion engines to an electric vehicle market would have on metal markets…the London-based research company modeled metal requirements across the supply chain – from generation and grid infrastructure through to storage, charging and vehicles – based on relatively modest penetration of EVs in the total global vehicle market out to 2030…according to the study, as early as 2020 when EVs would still make up only 2% of new vehicle sales, related metal demand already becomes significant, requiring an additional 390,000 tonnes of Copper, 85,000 tonnes of Nickel and 24,000 tonnes of Cobalt…based on an EV market share of around 30% in 2030, forecast metal requirements are roughly 4.1 m tonnes of additional Copper (18% of 2016 supply)…the move away from gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles would need 56% more Nickel production or 1.1 m tonnes compared to 2016 and 314,000 tonnes of Cobalt, a 4-fold increase from 2016 supply…

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