Check back later this morning for today’s Morning Musings.
1. Gold is trying to stabilize above important support at $1,130…bullion has traded between $1,132 and $1,138 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, it’s up $2 an ounce at $1,334…
2. Gold is struggling, and is vulnerable to further declines, but Oil is on track for its best December performance in 6 years…even a 14-year high in the U.S. Dollar Index is not dampening bullish spirits in Crude…as of 7:00 am Pacific, WTI is up 16 cents at $53.46…the Dollar Index has backed off nearly half a point to just below 103 after approaching resistance near 104 yesterday…
3. Palladium remains the best performing precious metal this quarter with a drop of just 8% compared with a 14% drop in Gold prices and an 11% retreat in Platinum…Palladium is the “fundamental favorite” precious metal in 2017, according to Citi Research…the bank looks for Palladium prices to average $685 an ounce in the 4th quarter, rising throughout the course of next year to average $715 in 2017…
4. The Dow recorded its 26th record close of the year yesterday, and 17th since the election, as it came within just 13 points of the magic 20,000 level…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the Dow is down 19 points at 19,956…the TSX has climbed 27 points while the Venture is flat at 717 as it continues to test its November low…
5. Pioneering Technology (PTE, TSX-V) has hit a new multi-year high of $1.13 during the first 30 minutes of trading…the company has recorded 6 consecutive profitable quarters…meanwhile, Radient Technologies (RTI, TSX-V) remains one of the Venture’s volume and price leaders, up another 6 cents at 53 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…
6. Lion One Metals (LIO, TSX-V) released more infill drill results this morning from its Tuvato Gold Project in Fiji…they included 4.05 m grading 12.3 g/t Au (hole #407) and 2.4 m @ 24 g/t Au (hole #410)…drilling will resume in January…dewatering is now complete to approximately a third of the underground development and will continue over the Christmas period…further work underground in the New Year will include diamond drilling from the decline, detailed sampling and mapping, and exploitation of the mineralized ore zones…
7. Americans’ confidence in the economy has surged to a new high…the first positive double-digit index score since the inception of Gallup Daily tracking in 2008 reflects a stark change in Americans’ confidence in the U.S. economy from the negative views they expressed in most weeks over the past 9 years…
