1. Gold has traded between $1,218 and $1,226 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,224…Silver is flat at $15.47…a lack of investor interest can be seen in the holdings of the largest Gold-backed ETF, New York’s SPDR Gold Trust, which at 25.7 million ounces have tumbled about 8% since April…Copper is off 3 pennies at $2.81…Nickel has added 2 cents to $6.23 while Zinc has slipped 2 cents to $1.18…Cobalt remains steady at $31.75…Crude Oil has shot up by more than $1.50 a barrel to $70.36…Saudi Arabia last week said it was suspending Oil shipments through the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb strait, one of the world’s most important tanker routes, after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked 2 ships in the waterway…U.S. energy companies added 3 Oil rigs in the week to July 27, the first time in the past 3 weeks that drillers have increased activity, according to data released Friday…
2. Investors are bracing for a flurry of crucial economic data and central bank monetary policy meetings this week…the Bank of Japan ends a 2-day meeting tomorrow, the Federal Reserve concludes its meeting on Wednesday and the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates on Thursday, a busy week which could set the near-term course for currencies and Gold…important economic data out of the U.S. this week includes the personal consumption expenditures report (PCE) tomorrow which will provide the latest update on personal income, consumption and the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the PCE price index which hit 2% for the first time in 6 years in May…meanwhile, the July jobs report from the Labor Department is due Friday…non-farm payrolls are forecast to rise by 195,000, down from 213,000 in the prior month…
3. Metal traders began the new week by shrugging off a potential strike at the world’s largest Copper mine, focusing instead on economic data in the coming days that analysts expect will show weakening growth in China…workers at Chile’s Escondida Copper mine rejected a final contract offer and on Saturday began a vote on strike action that will continue through the middle of this week…keep in mind that last year, a 44-day strike at the mine pushed Copper prices sharply higher…fears of supply interruptions, however, were matched by worries of weaker demand in China, where factory sector growth is expected to have slowed for a second month in July…the official PMI survey is due tomorrow and the private Caixin manufacturing PMI will be released on Wednesday…
4. So negative, it’s positive!…according to the latest COT data, managed money short positions in Gold have outweighed long positions for 4 weeks now, amounting to a record (or near-record) short position…this pattern has only been seen twice, and on both occasions it marked a tremendous buying opportunity in bullion…the first time was in July 2015…Gold bottomed within 2 weeks, and rallied 11%…the second such time was in November 2015, and Gold bottomed within 3 weeks before ultimately rallying 32%…what the high short position tells us is that Gold is creating a bottom near the psychological $1,200 mark, and at some point during the 2nd half of 2018 we’re going to see a powerful reversal…
5. The Dow is up 14 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…U.S. corporate earnings are set to grow at 22.7%, the second-fastest pace in the past 8 years, bested only by the 23% advance recorded over the first 3 months of the year as the broader economy records its best GDP growth since mid-2014…Caterpillar (CAT, NYSE) announced record Q2 profit this morning of $2.82 per share, more than double that of a year earlier…the company raised its full-year profit forecast to a range of $11 per share to $12 per share, an increase of 75 cents per share from its previous guidance, despite rising costs due to tariffs…Yamana Gold (YRI, TSX) is up another nickel at $4.01…on Friday the company reported Q2 adjusted profit at 5 cents a share, 3 cents better than analysts were expecting, thanks to higher production and lower costs…among its best performing properties in the quarter were its Chapada mine in Brazil and Canadian Malartic in Northwest Quebec…Yamana said it will likely exceed its 2018 production forecast of 900,000 ounces of Gold, thanks in part to increasing production at its new Cerro Moro mine in Argentina…the Venture has rallied 4 points to 711 through the first 30 minutes of trading…Aurcana (AUN, TSX-V) was halted pre-market, pending news…
6. The Globe and Mail reported over the weekend that Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX) is just one of many Canadian pot companies keen to do deals with brewers…Andy Burgess, President of Steam Whistle Brewing in Toronto, was quote as as saying, “We have what cannabis companies need – a brand that’s well established with their target market, national sales and distribution, experience in licensing and working with governments”…when asked if the brewer has fielded takeover offers from upstart marijuana firms, many of which are flush with cash and still have strong stock valuations, Burgess said several potential buyers have come calling, including Aurora this spring…cross-sector deal-making is well under way…Constellation Brands paid $245 million last November for a minority holding in Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX)…Aurora, meanwhile, followed up in February by dropping $138 million for a stake in Alcanna Inc., a publicly traded chain of liquor stores…
7. China could still grow by 6.6% this year, according to updated median of 62 economists’ estimates conducted in a Bloomberg poll following the recent 2nd quarter GDP print…with Chinese authorities slowing the pace of deleveraging, allowing some weakening of the yuan to soften possible trade blows, and instituting recent tax cuts and reserve ratio cuts, government fiscal and monetary stimuli may well help to keep China buzzing along which of course would be bullish for the metals sector…China’s Q1 growth was 6.8% while the 2nd quarter reading came in at 6.7%…the 6.6% estimate for 2018 could yet be revised higher…
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Jon, do you think we might see a rally in gold maybe in 2019 as opposed to 2018?
Comment by flyinthruu — July 30, 2018 @ 8:56 am
Hey Jon, what do you make of BLO and the news regarding Saliva tester?
Comment by flyinthruu — July 30, 2018 @ 12:35 pm
Any comments on the WHM news today.
Comment by Bryan — July 30, 2018 @ 1:29 pm
The Feds never cease to amaze me, flyinthru…first off, this is nothing new – the Liberals have been talking about this for a while now, so a total overreaction by the market in selling BLO because if anything, this merely reinforces the urgent need for a proper marijuana breathalyzer like the one BLO is developing…
As the Feds proceed toward the legalization of marijuana, and on Trudeau’s rushed timeline, they’re also scrambling to show they’re going to “get tough” on drugged drivers…well, they’re going to “get tough” later this year with a device made in Germany that simply won’t work in the opinion of many, including law enforcement personnel…the saliva test is problematic in cold weather, defense attorneys are lined up fiercely against it, the probability of convictions is low, and importantly it doesn’t effectively distinguish between very recent THC use (2-3 hours) and THC use going back several days or more…it’s nothing more than a Liberal “stop-gap” measure, so they can say they have something to protect against drugged driving as recreational marijuana is legalized—-totally bogus…
Of course much of the mainstream media tows the Liberal line…Brian Platt of the National Post wrote today, “The federal government’s crackdown on drug-impaired driving has taken a big step forward, as the Justice Department is set to give its blessing to Canada’s first roadside saliva test.” (Funny, the govt. is getting credit for “cracking down” on a problem they helped create (or made worse) by legalizing marijuana, and they’re “cracking down” with a very questionable device).
I expect to see BLO come out with news very quickly to point out the unreliability of the saliva test…what’s needed is a test that’s accurate and can stand up in the court of law, and BLO is the recognized leader in developing that device…mark my words, not long into the legalization of marijuana in this country, all sorts of problems and controversy will surround the Feds’ “saliva test” for drugged drivers…
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 30, 2018 @ 1:41 pm
I’m much more interested in the channel sampling than a bunch of grab samples, Bryan…the market wasn’t too excited by the grab sample numbers which were below 1,000 ppb, but that doesn’t change the big picture at all…Gold is showing up over a very broad area, and this is going to play out nicely going forward…
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 30, 2018 @ 1:53 pm
Goodness me, Trudeau…. yes the same Trudeau government that’s spending 3/4 million on a monument in Quebec for the legacy of Rene levesque, and does anyone remember his main goal as a politician back then, yup, that’s right. 3/4 million I’m sure would help blo speed up the r&d… he’s gotta go!!
Comment by Laddy — July 30, 2018 @ 2:55 pm
Jon if you truly love the channel assays the perhaps another look at Juggernaut Exploration is in order (JUGR.V) and Goliath Resources (GOT.V) Both companies have channel assays from their exploration programs that are stellar.
Comment by large — July 30, 2018 @ 3:59 pm
the saliva testing isn’t what goes to court to substantiate an impaired driving conviction, it is merely a method used roadside to provide grounds for an arrest under section 253 of the criminal code. From there, a DRE (drug recognition expert) determines if the driver was in fact impaired according to the established limits. It’s the DRE’s testimony that will provide the concrete impairement evidence. Just as an FST provides the roadside eveidence to arrest, but it is the intoxillizer machine which actually provides accurate results for the court to use.
Incidentally, there is another established and completely admissible method police can use other then a saliva test or THC breathalyzer; it works for alcohol and other drugs and I’m trained to administer it.
Comment by Charles — July 30, 2018 @ 5:09 pm
Well, I sure blew it today ….. didn’t realize the News was out on WHM and when I saw SIC coming off its morning hi, figured WHM was a good buy at .16 !! That money in there would have been much better spent on more CCW and even more CLM …. with any luck, there may be some kind of follow up news and get back to .16
Comment by farmer — July 30, 2018 @ 5:16 pm
From June 18 BLO news:
The recent passing of legislation Bill C-45 by the Senate of Canada and legislative developments in the State of Vermont, have increased the number of inquires for the Cannabix breathalyzer device and the Company has received interest in piloting from both U.S. and Canadian law enforcement groups as well as other organizations that drug test their employees. The Senate Judiciary Committee in the state of Vermont recently rejected a bill to use saliva testing for THC enforcement, amid concerns of scientific validity, accuracy, and infringement on civil liberties.
Comment by Silverhook — July 30, 2018 @ 6:23 pm
BLO – responds with news release
Cannabix Technologies Comments on Bill C-46 – Unaware of any Material Change
C.BLO | 3 hours ago
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cannabix Technologies Inc., (CSE: BLO) (OTC PINK: BLOZF) (the “Company or Cannabix”) the developer of the Cannabix Marijuana Breathalyzer for law enforcement and the workplace provides the following statement related to the government of Canada’s authorization of roadside saliva-testing devices under bill C-46: “It has been well signalled for some time by the Canadian government that a roadside saliva-testing device would be used when Canada legalizes marijuana later this year. The move to use saliva testing, we believe, is because no court accepted breath test device currently exists on the market. This the chief objective of Cannabix and our ongoing advanced product development work. Saliva testing is not a new technology and has been available for many years. There are well documented issues with saliva testing including its ability to effectively identify impaired individuals and operate in cold weather conditions, to name a few. Of note, the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee recently rejected a bill authorizing the use of saliva testing in traffic enforcement, amid concerns of scientific validity, accuracy, and infringement on civil liberties. Cannabix believes that an accurate breath test for THC is the future for law enforcement and workplace testing, as it is less invasive and will look to provide superior sensitivity to better determine impairment. The Company has received significant interest for its technology from police and companies in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. As the issue of drugged driving becomes increasingly acute, Cannabix is committed to using its technology, R&D and scientific experience to provide effective tools to aid law enforcement and help governments and the public transition to marijuana legalization in various jurisdictions. Cannabix is a well funded Canadian company that is rapidly developing is FAIMS-based marijuana breathalyzer.”
Furthermore, Cannabix wishes to confirm that the Company’s management is unaware of any material change in the Company’s operations that would account for the recent increase in market activity.
About Cannabix Technologies Inc.
Cannabix Technologies Inc. is a leader in marijuana breathalyzer development for law enforcement and the workplace. Cannabix has established breath testing technologies in the pursuit of bringing durable, portable hand-held tools to market to enhance detection of marijuana impaired driving offences on roads at a time when marijuana is becoming legal in many global jurisdictions. Cannabix is working to develop drug-testing devices that will detect THC- the psychoactive component of marijuana that causes intoxication- using breath samples. In particular, Cannabix is focused on developing breath testing devices for detection of recent use of THC, in contrast to urine testing for THC metabolite that requires an invasive collection and reflects usage, days or even weeks earlier. The devices will also be useful for other practical applications such as testing employees in the workplace where impairment by THC can be hazardous.
We seek Safe Harbor.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
“Rav Mlait”
CEO
Cannabix Technologies Inc.
For further information, contact the Company at [email protected]
The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, such as final development of a commercial or prototype product(s), successful trial or pilot of company technologies, no assurance that commercial sales of any kind actually materialize; no assurance the Company will have sufficient funds to complete product development. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company’s plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) risks regarding protection of proprietary technology; (iii) the ability of the Company to complete financings; (iv) the ability of the Company to develop and market its future product; and (v) risks regarding government regulation, managing and maintaining growth, the effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the Company’s public announcements and filings. There is no assurance that the marijuana breathalyzer business will provide any benefit to the Company, and no assurance that any proposed new products will be built or proceed. There is no assurance that existing “patent pending” technologies licensed by the Company will receive patent status by regulatory authorities. The Company is not currently selling commercial breathalyzers. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
Comment by Foz1971 — July 30, 2018 @ 6:28 pm