7 @ 7:00 « BullMarketRun.com

April 24, 2019

7 @ 7:00

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1. Gold has traded between $1,271 and $1,275 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is unchanged at $1,272…TDS on Gold: “The key level to watch is $1,271/oz, while the 200-day moving average (SMA) is not far off at $1,266/oz, which would open up substantial downside if these levels do not hold. The melt-up in equities amid strong earnings from the likes of Twitter and Snap, along with the DXY (U.S. Dollar Index) looking to break out above recent highs of 97.7, do not lend a helping hand to the precious metals market, but price action in the bond market seems to contradict this narrative and could lend support to the shiny metals moving forward”…Silver is up 6 pennies at $14.87…Copper has added 2 cents to $2.92 while Nickel and Zinc are flat at $5.63 and $1.29, respectively…Crude Oil is holding steady at $66.27…the International Energy Agency, a watchdog for Oil-consuming countries, said yesterday that markets are “adequately supplied” and that “global spare production capacity remains at comfortable levels”…the Dollar Index has added another one-fifth of a point to 97.77…equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT, NYSE), considered a proxy for the global economy, has reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue…Occidental Petroleum (OXY, NYSE) has bid $76 a share for Anadarko Petroleum (APC, NYSE), higher than a previous offer by Chevron (CVX, NYSE) for the Oil and gas driller…the new Occidental offer (half cash and half stock) values Anadarko at $57 billion, including debt…Chevron announced an agreement on April 12 to buy Anadarko for $33 billion in cash and stock, valuing the company at $65 a share…Anadarko has prized assets from Texas to Mozambique, and Occidental is seeking to expand its footprint in the booming Permian basin, an area where it is already one of the largest operators…

2. Nickel use in electric vehicle batteries has doubled year-on-year, according to research consultancy Adamas Intelligence…Manganese deployment was up by 96% while Cobalt deployment increased 87% for the same period…“While usage of all 3 cathode metals saw major gains from February 2018 through February 2019, Nickel enjoyed the greatest gains on account of the auto industry’s ongoing shift from no or low-nickel cathodes, such as LFP or NCM 111, to varieties with higher concentrations of nickel, such as NCM 523, NCM 622, and NCM 811,” Adamas said…batteries are still only estimated to account for less than 5% of global Nickel demand at the moment, but that’s expected to rise significantly…the Tesla Model 3 accounted for more than 400 tonnes of Nickel use in February, followed by the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model S and Hyundai Kona…the 5 models were responsible for almost 50% of all Nickel deployed in EV batteries globally during February…

3. Ford (F, NYSE) announced this morning that it has invested $500 million in electric truck maker Rivian to build a new battery-powered electric vehicle for the Detroit manufacturer…the news comes just months after Rivian revealed 2 new products, an all-electric pickup and SUV, that analysts say could rival established truck manufacturers like General Motors (GM, NYSE) and Ford…industry executives even see it as real competition for electric car maker Tesla and its SUV and new crossover — the Model X and Model Y…“This strategic partnership marks another key milestone in our drive to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility,” said RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO…“Ford has a long-standing commitment to sustainability, with Bill Ford being one of the industry’s earliest advocates, and we are excited to use our technology to get more electric vehicles on the road”…

4. A Reuters’ analysis has revealed that billions of dollars’ worth of Gold is being smuggled out of Africa every year through the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, a gateway to markets in Europe, the United States and beyond…customs data shows that the UAE imported $15.1 billion worth of Gold from Africa in 2016, more than any other country and up from $1.3 billion in 2006…the total weight was 446 tonnes, in varying degrees of purity – up from 67 tonnes in 2006…much of the Gold was not recorded in the exports of African states…several trade economists interviewed by Reuters said this indicates large amounts of the metal are leaving Africa with no taxes being paid to the states that produce them…previous reports and studies have highlighted the black market trade in Gold mined by people, including children, who have no ties to big business, and dig or pan for it with little official oversight…no one can put an exact figure on the total value that is leaving Africa…but the Reuters‘ analysis gives an estimate of the scale…informal methods of Gold production, known in the industry as “artisanal” or small-scale mining, are growing globally…they have provided a livelihood to millions of Africans and help some make more money than they could dream of from traditional trades…but the methods leak chemicals into rocks, soil and rivers…and African governments such as Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia complain that Gold is now being illegally produced and smuggled out of their countries on a vast scale, sometimes by criminal operations, and often at a high human and environmental cost…artisanal mining began as small-time ventures…but the “romantic” era of individual mining has given way to “large-scale and dangerous” operations run by foreign-controlled criminal syndicates, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo told a mining conference in February…Ghana is Africa’s second-largest Gold producer…

5. Stocks on the broader markets have come all the way back to new record highs, ending one of their fastest and fiercest round trips in history…strong earnings pushed the S&P 500 to a new record close yesterday…the index surged nearly 600 points in the span of 4 months, from a Christmas Eve low of 2351.10 all the way to 2933.68 at yesterday’s close…the comeback is led by the technology sector, the first group to put 2019′s year-end drop behind it and the best performer among S&P 500 sectors with a nearly 37% gain since Christmas Eve…Netflix (NFLX, NASDAQ) has rallied a whopping 63% from its December lows, the front-runner of the so-called FANG names…fast-casual food chain Chipotle (CMG, NYSE) has skyrocketed 82% as the company crushed Wall Street expectations with its earnings and turnaround plan, while Petroleum refineries company Hess Corporation (HES, NYSE) is the biggest winner in the S&P 500…it has rebounded more than 85% from its Christmas Eve low, thanks to a major turnaround in Oil prices…

6. The Dow is off slightly after the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX, which closed at a new record high yesterday, has retreated 65 points while the Venture is off 1 point at 608 as it trades just above new support at its rising 100-day SMA…Canadian interest rates are on hold until at least next year after this morning’s announcement from the Bank of Canada…its revised outlook shows the economy essentially stalled over the last 6 months, extinguishing the sparks that had caused policy makers to start worrying about inflation…GFG Resources (GFG, TSX-V), which has been showing some technical strength, has hit a fresh 6-month high of 26 cents after releasing encouraging till sample results from its Pen Project west of the Timmins Gold Camp…on the CSE, Chemesis International (CSI, CSE) has completed a definitive agreement in respect of its previously announced transaction to acquire 100% of a fully operational extraction and manufacturing facility in Cathedral City, California…the acquisition will expand the company’s processing ability to over 500,000 kg of cannabis annually…CSI is up a nickel at $2.08 in early trading…strong support has formed at the $2 level since the beginning of March, despite the correction in the cannabis sector…

7. Canadians’ personal finances and consumer debt levels have deteriorated over the past few months, according to a Financial Post report this morning…this is rather astonishing, but nearly half of Canadians say they are $200 or less each month away from financial insolvency, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of MNP…this includes 1 in 4 who say they have no wiggle room at month-end, as they already do not make enough to cover their bills and debt payments…MNP president Grant Bazian say: “When there is this little room in the household budget, people can easily get trapped in an endless cycle of debt. This isn’t simply a matter of people living beyond their means. The reality is that too many households simply cannot make ends meet, however hard they try”…those surveyed also say they have been broadsided by interest rates that began rising last year…just over half of Canadians are concerned about repaying their debts (54%) or think they may get into financial trouble (47%) if interest rates increase, with 35% indicating that a rate increase could push them towards bankruptcy…