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 $1,307 and $1,316 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, Gold is down $2 an ounce at ounce at $1,309…Silver is flat at $16.36…Copper is unchanged at $3.07…Nickel is up slightly at $6.26 while Zinc is steady at $1.36…Cobalt has jumped 79 cents to $41.05…Crude Oil has gained 31 cents to $68.74…the possibility that the U.S. will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and refrain from extending sanctions relief is keeping Crude markets near 3-year peaks…the U.S. Dollar continues to trade within a resistance band between 92 and 93…it’s up one-third of a point at 92.76 as of 7:00 am Pacific…how’s this for good luck – a Korean janitor has uncovered 7 Gold bars worth about $325,000 while cleaning out a garbage bin in South Korea’s biggest international airport…it’s possible he may be able to keep the loot under the country’s “finders keepers” law…each Gold bar weighed 1 kilogram and was wrapped in a newspaper…
2. Gold bounced off morning lows after a modestly weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report showed April non-farm payrolls increasing by just 164,000, about 30,000 less than the consensus estimate…however, the unemployment rate dipped to an 18-year low of 3.9%…meanwhile, the closely watched average hourly earnings number rose by 4 cents, equating to a 2.6% percent annualized gain, a bit off the pace from the previous month…looking at the bigger picture in this morning’s report, the monthly pace of hiring this year is 200,000…that’s a healthy pace and stronger than 2017’s average of 182,000 per month…factories remain a bright spot…manufacturing firms added 24,000 workers to payrolls last month, after adding 22,000 and 31,000 the prior 2 months…while manufacturing employment has been generally declining for decades, hiring has picked up in the sector over the past year…mining increased by 8,000, and has risen 86,000 since October 2016 on a successful push by President Trump to give that sector new life as well…
3. Holdings of Gold by exchange-traded funds have fallen in recent days after rising during April, points out Commerzbank. “The Gold ETFs tracked by Bloomberg have recorded outflows of 10.5 tonnes so far this week,” Commerzbank stated. “Holdings were topped up by 60 tonnes in April, however – the highest monthly inflow since February 2017. Silver ETFs saw inflows of 52 tonnes in April. While holdings in Platinum ETFs remained virtually unchanged, Palladium ETFs registered further outflows of 44,000 ounces last month.”
4. The Dow is off slightly in early trading…Apple (AAPL, NASDAQ) is closing in on a new all-time high after news that Warren Buffet had bought 75 million shares of the tech giant during Q1…Apple is now roughly $20 per share short of a $1 trillion market cap…in Toronto, the TSX has added 34 points while the Venture is flat at 771…the Venture has declined in 8 out of the last 9 sessions with RSI(2) plunging into extreme oversold conditions at just above 1%, suggesting a turnaround is imminent…
5. Seabridge Gold (SEA, TSX) has added nearly $20 million to its treasury with the closing of a non-brokered flow-through financing at $17.16 per share as the company prepares for a busy exploration season in the Eskay Heart of Gold Camp…Chairman and CEO Rudy Fronk noted, “This year’s exploration program at KSM will follow up on the tremendous success we achieved last year at KSM’s Iron Cap deposit where Inferred Gold resources increased by 302% to 20 million ounces and Inferred Copper resources increased by 379% to 8.6 billion pounds. As in previous years, we are confident that this year’s program should add sufficient resource ounces of Gold to more than offset the share issuances from this financing. Increasing Gold ownership per share remains an important objective for Seabridge.”
6. More concerns about Canada’s energy sector as GMP Capital (GMP, TSX) grew its Q1 investment banking revenue by 90% to $30.2 million by diversifying beyond energy and resources into cannabis and new areas of technology…CEO Harrs Fricker stated, “An explicit element of our strategic agenda has been to diversify and further strengthen the non-commodities portion of our franchise and, we believe, our result this quarter shows we are on the right path.” GMP posted a profit of $4.1-million, up 17% from a year ago, led by its investment banking division. “In energy, a lack of hard timelines and a regulatory process that has been subject to dithering and near endless legal challenges will continue to be the major stumbling block for domestic and international investor confidence.”
7. Medreleaf (LEAF, TSX) confirmed yesterday that it has held talks with Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX) and other rivals about possible transactions…Medreleaf stated in a news release that it “engages from time to time in discussions with other industry players, including Aurora Cannabis, regarding various alternatives”…it added that the company “has not entered into an agreement to effect any particular transaction, and there can be no assurance that such discussions will result in any such agreement.” The news comes a day amid fresh rumors that Medreleaf is in play and had contacted several possible suitors about a deal…Medreleaf’s talks with Aurora and other players come at a time of increasing consolidation in the space, as companies look to add scale in an effort to lower their cost structures, while others look to cash in on elevated valuations…
Most Popular Recent BMR Posts
“The Enemies Of Progress, The Radical Environmentalists, Are Ramping Up For A War In The Woods”
Why Are These People Smiling? – Their Stock Has Tanked 80%!
BMR Morning Alert! – Venture Slips On An Oil Slick, And Updates On 5 Special Situations
The Template For The Next 10% Stake In Garibaldi Resources
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!
Northern Ontario Cobalt Junior Attracts Interest From Metal Trading Companies
The Most Important Venture Development Since The New Bull Market Began
Hi guys, Do we know what’s going on with CCW and getting things going there? Frank seems to be dragging his feet again. By the time he gets things going share price may be so low that no one will care. Does not look good for CCW holders.
Comment by Tycoon777 — May 4, 2018 @ 9:14 am
Tycoon777, if some bozos want to sell at these levels today, great…we’ve got eyes out in the Gowganda area at the moment, some of our contacts in the region who know and can see what’s going on, and I can assure you Frank is not dragging his feet…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 4, 2018 @ 9:23 am
BMR what’s your take on Cameo (CRU) announcing 3 for 1 forward split and name change to cameo cobalt?
Comment by marc — May 4, 2018 @ 9:49 am
can your ‘eyes’ start buying it up and get a rally going then, pls?
Comment by David — May 4, 2018 @ 10:01 am
If it wasn’t Akash Patel’s name on that news release, marc, I’d be interested.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 4, 2018 @ 10:04 am
@ Jon – yikes – what does that mean? he has a bad rep?
Comment by marc — May 4, 2018 @ 10:15 am
Seen him involved in other deals, marc, and haven’t been impressed…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 4, 2018 @ 10:32 am
High volume on CCW and bouncing off support. Looks promising,even more so if it finishes in the green. Have added down here.
Comment by keen1991 — May 4, 2018 @ 11:13 am
Have not been pleased with CCW, but solid accumulation at these levels at least.
Comment by flyinthruu — May 4, 2018 @ 11:43 am
You can make tons of money in the market off traders/imvestors’ emotions, flyinthru, including impatience and frustration – GGI was a great example of that in the spring and early summer of last year…CCW has everything going for it as it approaches underground drilling and that’s going to turn into quite a show, so 20-cent paper is just like the gift at .15 last fall…one also needs to understand how the May Big Picture is going to play out for the Venture and a broad set of plays we’re tracking…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 4, 2018 @ 5:40 pm
Tesla’s Elon Musk said on Wednesday that it had managed to beat other leading battery makers by reducing the amount of cobalt with its own battery chemistry.“We think we can get the cobalt to almost nothing,” Mr. Musk said.
For those of us invested in cobalt thinking the electric car market will pave the road to riches may be in for a nasty shock.
Comment by Ivan — May 5, 2018 @ 4:35 am
Hi Jon, I would love to hear more about the May Big Picture you are talking about here, with the broad set of plays you are tracking. Any chance to read about it this weekend in the Sunday Sizzler or in a soon publication? Thanks!!
Comment by jeanmichel — May 5, 2018 @ 6:36 am
Besides the Cobalt, I wonder when Tesla will reduce its burn rate and get a move on without all the problems…I am curious to see what comes of this because my understanding is cobalt is a very important element for longevity of battery.
Comment by flyinthruu — May 5, 2018 @ 9:03 am
The messed up Congo supplies more than half of the world’s Cobalt, flyinthru, and there just aren’t enough other sources coming on stream near-term to satisfy future demand, so it should come as no surprise that Tesla and others are desperate to reduce the Cobalt content and increase the Nickel proportion in their EV batteries…that doesn’t mean Cobalt prices are going to drop (they were actually up a bit last week) but it may help to prevent an unhealthy sudden spike to $100 a pound…Cobalt remains essential to the stability of the battery – that’s not going to change anytime soon and will continue to drive the market…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 5, 2018 @ 9:41 am
I don’t disagree at all. Look at Katanga. What a screwed up mess DRC is. I just find it funny Tesla commenting on Cobalt when they seem to be having issues as a company. Get your company moving forward rather than spending money on innovating something that isn’t necessary right now.
Comment by flyinthruu — May 5, 2018 @ 9:45 am