BullMarketRun.com

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 $1,330 and $1,339 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $8 an ounce at $1,334…holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest Gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 1.42% to 840.76 tonnes yesterday…a U.S. government shutdown (not really a big deal – there were 9 of them during the Reagan era) is looming as early as tonight if the Senate doesn’t clear a bill that would fund the government through February 16…a House bill has passed but a Senate bill on this requires 60 votes…that means Democrats, insisting on DACA protections for undocumented immigrants, will need to show some rare bipartisanship…Gold has actually lost ground during the last 3 U.S. government shutdowns…Silver has added 5 cents to $16.98…Copper is unchanged at $3.19…Nickel has jumped 11 cents to $5.74…Crude Oil is off 45 cents at $63.50 while the U.S. Dollar Index labors near a 3-year low, down slightly at 90.46…

2. The U.S. is well-positioned to overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia and become the world’s leading energy producer over the next 12 months, according to the latest monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).  “This year promises to be a record-setting one for the U.S.,” the IEA said in its closely-watched report published today.  “Relentless growth should see the U.S. hit historic highs above 10 million barrels a day (in production), overtaking Saudi Arabia and rivaling Russia during the course of 2018 – provided OPEC and non-OPEC restraints remain in place.”  U.S. Crude production stands at 9.9 million barrels a day, according to the IEA, which is the country’s highest level in almost 50 years…that level of supply puts the U.S. neck-and-neck with OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, the world’s 2nd-largest producer after Russia…given the recent rally in Oil prices, the IEA expects a “wave of new production” from the U.S. in the coming months…

3. U.S. consumer sentiment remains very high but dipped in the January mid-month reading released moments ago, moving further from the decade high reached in October…the University of Michigan’s survey of consumer attitudes for January slipped to 94.4, after falling to 95.9 in December…economists polled by Reuters expected the reading to increase to 97…one-third of consumers spontaneously mentioned tax reform…of those, 70% said the impact from the new tax reform law would be positive while 18% (perhaps those watching CNN) said it would be negative…

4. Wall Street’s top regulator yesterday shot down the idea of allowing exchange-traded funds that hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, questioning whether the products could comply with rules meant to protect mom-and-pop investors…the Securities and Exchange Commission outlined its views in a letter to two Wall Street trade groups whose members envision the profits that could flow from selling exposure to Bitcoin through popular investment vehicles such as ETFs and mutual funds, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal…the SEC questioned how Bitcoin’s volatility and potential illiquidity would fit with funds that must calculate a fair market price for their portfolio at the end of every trading day and allow investors to easily cash out their shares…

5. The Dow is off slightly through the first 30 minutes of trading…yet another reason why U.S. equity markets remain so strong – nearly 80% of the S&P 500 companies that had reported have surpassed earnings-per-share estimates while almost 90% have beaten expectations on the top line, according to The Earnings Scout…in Toronto, the TSX is up 41 points while the Venture has added 3 points to 879 as the Index tries to snap a 3-session losing skid...ML Gold (MLG, TSX-V), which has enjoyed a powerful week, remains one of the Venture’s most active stocks, hitting a new multi-year high of 32 cents in early trading as the company continues a drill program at its Stars Project near the Huckleberry mine in central British Columbia…Millennial Lithium (ML, TSX-V), which released a maiden resource estimate late last year for its Pastos Grandes Lithium brine project in Salta, Argentina, touched a new all-time high yesterday of $4.45 and is up 4 pennies at $4.29 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

6. Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V), the only company in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp with critical underground access, announced this morning that it’s changing its name to “Canada Cobalt Works Inc.” (“Canada Cobalt), subject to a shareholder vote at its upcoming AGM February 15…CSR says the name change will more accurately reflect the company’s primary focus in Canada’s premier Cobalt district, adding that “well before the surge in Cobalt prices started in 2015, CSR laid the groundwork for success on the Cobalt side of its business by acquiring and advancing top properties in northern Ontario while researching technological opportunities related to the Cobalt sector.”  CSR has expanded its underground Cobalt program at the past producing Castle mine near Gowganda…updates on that and the company’s proprietary Re-2OX process are expected “shortly“, according to this morning’s news…Re-2OX was originally developed in conjunction with the National Research Council and, together with underground access at Castle, opens a range of opportunities for CSR to help serve the growing Cobalt needs of the battery sector…given regional neighbor First Cobalt’s (FCC, TSX-V) market cap of >$250 million, the new “Canada Cobalt” currently valued nearly 90% less has impressive upside potential…CSR is unchanged at 48.5 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…

7. Is there a chance for a Nickel sulphide discovery well outside the borders of Nickel Mountain (and Kirkham) in the Eskay Camp?, nearly 20 km away to the southeast?…Eskay Mining (ESK, TSX-V) reported this morning that highly-regarded geologist and magmatic Nickel-Copper sulphide system expert Dr. Peter Lightfoot has confirmed that the mineralization at the company’s Red Lightning prospect is indeed that of a magmatic Nickel-Copper sulphide system…while the grades intersected nearly a decade ago are sub-economic (20.4 m at 0.79% Cu, 0.42% Ni and 0.08% Co, including 10 m at 1.03% Cu, 0.55% Ni and 0.10% Co (estimated true thicknesses of 10.8 m and 5.3 m, respectively), the Nickel-Copper system remains remains prospective…meanwhile, stream sediment sampling and airborne geophysics both suggest that Red Lightning should be viewed as just one small part of what is likely a much larger, 15-km-long under-explored belt that likely includes other mafic-ultramafic bodies…the belt is outlined by anomalous Nickel-Copper stream sediment geochemistry and airborne magnetic highs that may well run from the Red Lightning zone along a northwest trend toward Garibaldi Resources‘ (GGI, TSX-V) high-grade massive sulphide discovery just east of the historic E&L deposit…

Most Popular Recent BMR Posts

Venture Locked and Loaded For Powerful Q1

Commodity Check!

The Template For The Next 10% Stake In Garibaldi Resources

Thunder In The Corridor!

The Nickel Mountain Magma Highway

Two Big Plays Emerge in B.C., Setting The Stage For A Summer To Remember

How To Bring A Junior Resource Market To Life!

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

Northern Ontario Cobalt Junior Attracts Interest From Metal Trading Companies

The Most Important Venture Development Since The New Bull Market Began