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1. Gold has traded between $1,701 and $1,726 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal has retreated $10 an ounce to $1,701…Silver continues to push higher after a big day yesterday…it’s up another 14 cents to $15.50…base metals are unchanged with Copper, Nickel and Zinc at $2.37, $5.51 and 89 cents, respectively…Crude Oil has gained 55 cents a barrel to $24.10 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off slightly at 99.83…North American Oil companies are cutting production quicker than OPEC officials and industry analysts expected and are on track to withdraw about 1.7 million bpd of output by the end of June…the number of Oil and gas rigs operating in the United States is expected to hit an all-time low this week, reflecting data going back 80 years…Tesla (TSLA, NASDAQ) CEO Elon Musk told employees in an email sent overnight that the electric vehicle maker would attempt to restart production at its U.S. car plant in Fremont, California this afternoon…Greyhound Canada will halt all of its bus routes in Canada starting next Wednesday, May 13, because of the pandemic…the company controversially stopped its service in Western Canada in 2018, but the pandemic has caused ticket sales for its remaining routes in the eastern part of the country to plummet 95%…
2. U.S. employers cut 20.5 million jobs in April, roughly in line with expectations (the good news is that 78% of those workers see their layoffs as temporary)…however, it was nonetheless a record-shattering number that pushed unemployment to 14.7%, the highest level since the Great Depression as the Wuhan COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented economic catastrophe, aided of course by governments’ response to it…the grim Labor Department report provides one of the most comprehensive looks at the economic damage inflicted by the virus outbreak and subsequent stay-at-home measures mandated by states to curb the spread of COVID-19…more than a decade of job gains were erased in a single month…the paralyzed U.S. economy, and the tidal wave of layoffs, pushed the unemployment rate – which sat at a half-century low of 3.5 percent in February – to the highest level since record-keeping began in 1948…the previous record was 10.8% in late 1982…the number of job losses is also the biggest on record dating back to 1939…previously, the largest 1-month job loss number was 1.96 million in September 1945, at the end of World War II…as expected, the leisure and hospitality sector bore the biggest brunt of job losses, shedding more than 7.6 million jobs in April alone, 5.5 million that stemmed from eating and drinking establishments…but few sectors were immune to the pandemic…education and health services lost 2.5 million, while professional and business services, as well as retail, each lost about 2.1 million…analysts have warned it may take some time for the U.S. economy to return to pre-crisis levels…as terrible as those numbers are, they don’t tell the full story…the jobs numbers come from a survey of employers, and do not include independent contractors like Uber and Lyft drivers in the gig economy…likewise, the unemployment rate, which comes from a survey of households, probably undercounts the number of jobless Americans, too…
3. Coronavirus-related restrictions are set to loosen further in parts of the U.S., while some countries are ramping up reopening plans, as the reported global death toll from the pandemic nears 270,000…the total number of reported cases worldwide rose to nearly 3.85 million today, with about a third of those in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University…the U.S. death toll has surpassed 75,000, according to Johns Hopkins…as states across the U.S. look to revive their economies, many lockdowns are being lifted…21 states have let some businesses reopen, although typically with restrictions, such as requiring masks or limiting the number of customers…beginning today, California retailers such as clothing stores, bookstores, florists and sporting goods stores can reopen for curbside pickup…manufacturers in the state will also be allowed to restart operations…meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that as the number of COVID-19 patients grows, doctors and scientists are discovering that damage from the virus can extend beyond the lungs to affect the brain, kidneys, heart, vascular and digestive system…some patients have sudden strokes, pulmonary embolisms or heart-attack symptoms…others have kidney failure or inflammation of the gut…infections can also affect the nervous system, causing seizures, hallucinations or a loss of smell and taste…and according to Chinese researchers, the WSJ says, the virus also has been found in the semen of infected individuals, raising the prospect that it could be sexually transmitted…one thing that is clear, though, based on an increasing amount of data, is that the fatality rate from COVID-19 is far lower than initially believed…
4. Top officials from the U.S. and China have had discussions since late yesterday regarding trade matters including the Phase 1 deal that was signed in January…the 2 countries were embroiled in a trade battle for the last 2 years and added significant amounts of tariffs on each other’s products, before tensions took a pause when they signed the Phase 1 agreement…but relations between the 2 worsened again in recent weeks, with Washington and Beijing disputing over a variety of issues, including the origin of the coronavirus and China’s deception and lies regarding the virus since late last year…the pandemic also raised questions about whether China would fulfill its obligations in the Phase 1 deal, which include purchasing an additional $200 billion of U.S. goods over 2 years…last weekend, President Trump said he would “terminate” the agreement if Beijing failed to meet those obligations…but during yesterday’s call, both sides “agreed that in spite of the current global health emergency, both countries fully expect to meet their obligations under the agreement in a timely manner,” according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative…a statement by China’s Ministry of Commerce also said both countries are working toward implementing what’s outlined in the trade deal…however, it’s reasonable to conclude that tensions between the U.S. and China are not going to go away anytime soon – in fact, they are likely to accelerate over the coming months…in times of crisis, global rivalries tend to intensify rather than abate, and China’s actions surrounding the pandemic are going to play into the upcoming U.S. elections…
5. Congratulations to a controlling shareholder of Canadian Tire (CTC.A, TSX), Martha Billes, also a major philanthropist, who resigned this week as chancellor of the University of Guelph as a result of the university’s decision to divest its endowment portfolio of fossil fuel stocks…this fanaticism that is demonizing our critical Oil and gas industry, embraced even by many federal politicians, is disgraceful and anti-Canadian…in this particular case, the University of Guelph caved to pressure from the student group Fossil Free Guelph which organized a 1-hour sit-in and repetitive propaganda campaigns…Billes stated, “For over 40 years, I have been an investor in business ventures including the Oil businesses in my home city of Calgary and my family business, Canadian Tire Corp. My decision to resign as chancellor was prompted by the incompatibility of my business interests with the board of governors’ decision to divest from fossil fuel companies in its endowment portfolio,” she wrote in her resignation letter…her remarks to a local paper were even more poignant…“If it weren’t for Canadian Oil development, many of the advantages across this country would never have happened. The university, to make a statement against an industry that has been paying their bills for many years, I find untenable”…
6. Canadians need to wake up – more of our strategic resources are being snatched up by the communist government of China which is finding every way to undermine the West…TMAC Resources (TMAC, TSX) announced this morning that it has entered into a definitive agreement with SG Gold, one of the world’s largest Gold producers whose majority owner is the government of the province of Shandong in China, pursuant to which SD Gold has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of TMAC at a price of $1.75 per share in cash…the total value of the deal is approximately $149 million (U.S.) on a fully diluted basis, a premium of 52% to TMAC’s 20-day volume-weighted average price as of yesterday…Resource Capital Funds, Newmont and directors and officers of TMAC collectively holding approximately 58.6% of the current outstanding TMAC common shares have entered into voting support agreements to support the transaction…Jason Neal, President and CEO of TMAC, stated, “The Transaction is the culmination of the strategic review process we announced earlier this year. Over the past several months, SD GOLD has completed a significant due diligence review of TMAC, including a site visit to Hope Bay earlier this year. SD GOLD, as one of the world’s largest Gold producers, has the financial strength, technical capability and long-term vision to maximize the value of the Hope Bay camp”…
7. The Dow is up 314 points lower through the first 30 minutes of trading…stocks have rallied aggressively off their March lows as investors bet on a successful gradual reopening of the economy…many tech companies are also seeing solid revenue through the lockdowns…the S&P 500 has bounced more than 30% from its virus low and is just 15% from a record…the NASDAQ is more than 35% off its lows and is now back in positive territory for 2020 on the strength of gains in Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple…at one point, the NASDAQ was down more than 25% year-to-date…in Toronto, the TSX has climbed 104 points…Freegold Ventures (FVL, TSX) has been this week’s big winner after an impressive drill result from its Gold Summit Property in Fairbanks, Alaska (the last 20 m of the hole, which expanded the high-grade footprint, returned 9.9 g/t Au)…Eric Sprott is leading a $5 million financing at 17 cents…FVL is currently up 6.5 cents at 29.5 cents…the Venture is on track for its 5th straight weekly advance…it’s up another 3 points at 491…that’s a 107-point climb over the past 5 weeks or a gain of almost 28%…those investors who panicked and dumped their paper at the height of the “Corona Crash” got fleeced – another example of how important it is to say focused and never let fear take control of your investment decisions…Amex Exploration (AMX, TSX-V) announced this morning that it will imminently resume drilling and exploration activities at its Perron Property near Rouyn-Noranda…drilling will initially focus on the Eastern Gold zone (EGZ) while the company waits for the ground to dry out elsewhere on the property…2 drills are currently sitting on pads and will target the eastward expansion of the HGZ…
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Jon are you still in SONA? Do you have any update on them?
Comment by Don — May 9, 2020 @ 7:30 am
Absolutely I am, Don, and added some on this week’s pullback; just waiting like everyone else for completion of the validation stage.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 9, 2020 @ 11:30 am
We talking 100 shares or 10k shares? Maybe a little more clarity?
Comment by MacT — May 9, 2020 @ 12:02 pm
25,000, MacT…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 9, 2020 @ 12:03 pm
I have 11K of SONA…just waiting for approval.
Comment by John - BMR — May 9, 2020 @ 3:00 pm
Just to be clear when you guys both say you’re just waiting for approval, you don’t mean you’re just waiting for approval so you can dump on that approval surge? I’m going on your previous updates where you point out that SONA has potential for multiple upward moves.
Comment by schiffwasright — May 9, 2020 @ 6:07 pm
Obviously the point is to sell at much higher prices, Schiffwasright, but the peak IMHO won’t come the day upon approval, so I have no intention of selling or “dumping” as you call it on that day. We’ve given a range of where this could go depending on the number of total units sold. Keep in mind, SONA has other tests it’ll be bringing to market, as well, ones that will have recurring revenue for a decade or more, so this is a company with tremendous potential over the next few years – launched by this first COVID-19 test. All the more reason why they need to get it right, as their future will be truly golden. I added 25,000 shares this past week on the pullback to top 200,000 total.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 9, 2020 @ 7:20 pm
Absolutely. I bought another bit on Friday at $1.63. It was interesting to see there were two sharp drops Friday to $1.55 that got immediately buoyed back up over $1.60. I was typing furiously to buy those drops but I missed. Maybe that was you grabbing it haha. SONA doesn’t need to be first to market. They need to be first to market with a reliable, fast test which is much harder to achieve. As an engineer told me years ago, “it’s easy to build something that works. It’s very difficult to build something that never fails.” Validating to that level of confidence where they can hit the market with a firm and impressive reliability number (like, for example, less than 1% false positives, etc) will require extensive testing, not just by them, but in integration with all their partners e.g. GE. The integration stage of any product always brings its own unforeseen issues. But it has to be done.
Comment by schiffwasright — May 10, 2020 @ 6:14 am
Jon have you any idea what efficiency SONA’s test was before and after optimization?
Comment by Don — May 10, 2020 @ 7:52 am
They haven’t announced that, Don, but they have emphasized the efficiency of the gold nanorods (highly sensitive to the presence of the virus) and how the nanorods interact with GE’s membrane. They also have the right mix of biologics, thanks to the Native Antigen Group, which is crucial to detecting the presence of COVID-19 even as the virus mutates.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 10, 2020 @ 8:35 am
Jon,
Hope you, your team and your families are staying healthy. You have eluded that SONA is indeed in the validation phase. Any idea how long validation takes from the 3rd party lab? When do you anticipate the news we have all been waiting for. Thank you.
Comment by Schimy — May 10, 2020 @ 9:01 am
Particularly with the urgency around COVID-19 at the moment, Schimy, validation from a 3rd party lab should be a relatively quick process – a week or so, maybe? It shouldn’t drag on longer than that. I fully expect we’ll hear from SONA this week.
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 10, 2020 @ 4:20 pm