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Gold has traded between $1,185 and $1,196 so far today…as of 8:30 am Pacific, bullion is unchanged at $1,189 as it aims for its 5th straight day of gains…Silver is off a nickel at $16.93…Copper is flat at $2.78…Crude Oil is up 22 cents at $47.67 while the U.S. Dollar Index dipped to about 96.50 this morning but has since recovered to 97.32 for a gain of one-third of a point…very strong support at 96 could be tested over the near-term…a confirmed breach of that area would clearly be bullish for commodities and the Venture…

Consensus expectations for a bump in U.S. interest rates has shifted, with most of Wall Street’s top banks now looking for the central bank to hold off until at least September rather than making a move in June, according to a Reuters’ poll…

The U.S. federal funds rate will likely increase before the end of this year, but the Federal Reserve has “no plans” to hike regular interest rates, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said yesterday…speaking before the Economic Club of New York, Fischer said that a rate increase will occur when the benefits outweigh the costs…a hike will be appropriate when the Fed sees “further improvement in the labor market” and (our emphasis) is “reasonably confident” that inflation is moving back to 2%…

February CPI In Line With Expectations

U.S. consumer prices rebounded in February as gasoline prices rose for the first time since June, and there were also signs of an uptick in underlying inflation…whether that trend continues will be critical in terms of potential timing of the first Fed rate hike since 2006…

The Labor Department said this morning that the CPI increased 0.2% last month – matching economists’ expectations – after declining 0.7% in January…that ended 3 straight months of declines in the index…excluding volatile food and energy components, core prices also climbed 0.2%…over the past year, overall prices are flat while core prices have risen 1.7%…

However, the Fed prefers a separate measure – the Commerce Department’s price index for personal consumption expenditures – as it targets annual inflation of 2% to determine that prices are stable and the economy is growing healthily…that index has run below the central bank’s target since spring 2012…the Fed projects the PCE price index to hit 0.6% to 0.8% by the end of this year and to reach 1.7% to 1.9% by the end of 2016…

More Stimulus On The Way In China?

China’s economy is showing further signs of slowing, with an indicator of factory activity this month falling to an 11-month low…the indicator showed new orders, employment, and prices all weakening in the manufacturing sector and suggests that 4th-quarter weakness in the world’s No. 2 economy extended into the beginning of 2015…the preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in March, compared with a final reading of 50.7 in February…

Euro Zone Recovery Picks Up But Deflation Concerns Persist 

The euro zone’s modest economic recovery gathered further momentum in March, as Germany led the fastest increase in private sector activity since May 2011, according to surveys of purchasing managers released today…the surveys add to other signs that the euro zone economy is finally emerging from a long period of near stagnation, aided by lower Oil prices, a weakening euro, and firming confidence following the ECB’s launch of a new stimulus program…

However, the surveys underlined the scale of the challenge facing the ECB, since they showed that businesses continued to cut their prices as 2015 began, an indication that the euro zone won’t soon escape a lengthening period of deflation…

Copper Update

Copper prices have climbed more than 10% since hitting a 5.5-year low in intra-day trading January 26…the metal is believed to be getting a boost from the strong possibility of more stimulus measures from China, as officials there take steps to shore up growth…previous stimulus efforts have involved funding infrastructure projects and easing monetary policy to spur consumer spending…China accounts for about 40% of global Copper consumption…

Oil Update

WTIC is holding critical support in the immediate vicinity of $45…fundamentally, risks appear skewed to the downside given supply-demand factors and seasonal considerations…technically, what’s required to produce some upside momentum is a confirmed breakout through resistance at $50 combined with a reversal to the upside in the 50-day SMA…

The direction of the greenback is also a major factor of course in determining where the price of Oil is headed…a breakdown in the Dollar Index below 96 (possible but far from a sure thing) would certainly serve as a bullish catalyst for Crude…

Today’s Markets

Asia

Asian markets were mixed overnight with China’s Shanghai Composite adding 4 points while Japan’s Nikkei slipped 41 points to close at 19713…

Europe

European markets were up moderately today…

North America

The Dow is up 24 points through the first 2 hours of trading…the U.S. manufacturing sector continued to expand last month, hitting a 5-month high, according to the latest PMI data…private research firm Markit said its March flash estimate PMI rose to a level of 55.3, compared to February’s final reading of 55.1…according to consensus reports, economists were expecting to see a reading at 54.9.  “The latest reading signaled the strongest overall improvement in manufacturing business conditions since October 2014,” the report said.

New U.S. single-family home sales surged in February to their highest level in 7 years despite harsh winter weather, in a hopeful sign for the housing market…

In Toronto, the TSX has climbed back above the 15000 level…it’s up 99 points as of 8:30 am Pacific, while the Venture has edged 4 points higher to 674…after a big day yesterday, on news regarding the Ring of Fire, Noront Resources (NOT, TSX-V) is unchanged at 48.5 cents…

International Montoro Resources Inc. (IMT, TSX-V) Update

Another Nickel play in Ontario that investors should have on their radar screens is International Montoro Resources (IMT, TSX-V) which is gearing up (imminently) to begin drilling its promising Pecors magnetic anomaly at the Serpent River Project near Elliot Lake…

It’s not just the very capable technical team at IMT that’s excited about this target – the Ontario Geological Survey is intensely interested in what may unfold here based on information they uncovered, which has been immensely helpful to IMT…this is a legitimate and exciting discovery opportunity that could quickly attract a lot of speculators…

Technically, IMT is on the cusp of a potential major breakout – a situation not much different than what John charted recently with NOT…volume is on the increase, and what seems very possible here is a near-term push above a 6-month horizontal channel between 5.5 and 9 cents…

IMT is unchanged at 8 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Copper Fox Minerals Inc. (CUU, TSX-V) Update

Benefiting from the the stabilization and firming up of Copper prices, and fresh interest from Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK.B, TSX) in advancing Schaft Creek, Copper Fox (CUU, TSX-V) has really turned the corner this month with a 136% increase in its share price from the end of February…that’s a positive sign for all major porphyry projects in British Columbia, including of course the emerging Sheslay district to the north of Schaft Creek…

CUU is now grappling with Fib. resistance in the mid-30’s, where it reacted yesterday and again this morning with a healthy pullback, but what’s really significant about the chart below is the reversal to the upside in the 200-day moving average (SMA)…CUU’s 200-day went into decline in late 2011, and finally – almost 4 years later – it has turned higher which suggests a major trend change…in our view, this is not only a positive statement regarding porphyry plays in B.C., but it’s a sign that perhaps we’ve seen the bottom in the overall junior resource market…

CUU is off 3 pennies at 30 cents through the first 2 hours of trading…

Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V) Update

Importantly, Doubleview Capital (DBV, TSX-V) is now cashed up ($620,000) to jump-start activity at the Hat Project in the Sheslay district…that also means a likely resumption of drilling in the very near future, perhaps beginning first with a deepening of hole #23 which was halted at 650 meters just prior to Christmas…that hole has produced the best grades encountered to date at the Hat, and more assays are pending from #23 which in our view is a major game-changer for the project…

In addition, based on new maps and fresh interpretations of the Hat Gold-Copper Porphyry Complex released by Doubleview, it now appears that the Lisle Zone is merely the southeastern edge of a much broader system…if that’s the case, tonnage possibilities will increase dramatically…higher grades are also extremely important, but after nearly 2 dozen holes Doubleview’s technical team is gaining a much greater understanding of this system and why and where the higher grades may exist…

Experience has taught us that quite often in this sector, you’ll find that the market will either be ahead or behind actual developments on the ground concerning a company’s major project…with regard to the Hat, the market has a lot of catching up to do in our view, and that provides savvy investors with an enormous opportunity at the moment…

DBV 3-Year Weekly Chart

Our interpretation of this 3-year weekly DBV chart is that there’s a strong likelihood of a “Wave 3” move to the upside in DBV over the coming weeks, concurrent with a major breakout above the top of the downsloping flag and Fib. resistance at 15 cents…DBV closed at 13.5 cents yesterday…

Note the rising 500-day SMA which has been providing support recently…it also confirms that the bullish long-term trend remains intact…

Cannabix Technologies Inc. (BLO, CSE, BLOZF, OTC) Update

This update on Cannabix Technologies (BLO, CSE) is mostly chart-related as “decision time” is drawing near with regard to a bullish pennant that started forming last month…the “accumulation zone” has proven to be accurate, to this point at least, and the odds of a breakout above the pennant seem high…

John’s TA on BLO dating back to last year has been extremely helpful to many of our readers…as always, understand the risks associated with these speculative plays and always perform your own due diligence…however, BLO remains our favorite in the non-resource space – they have disruptive technology (marijuana breathalyzer), an attractive share structure, money in the bank, and a management team that knows how to execute in every way…

Below is an updated chart based on the U.S. market price (Stockcharts.com does not yet provide charts for CSE-listed companies)…

BLO is up half a penny at 45.5 cents (CDN) on the CSE as of 8:30 am Pacific…

 Note:  John and Jon both hold share positions in BLO.  Jon also holds share positions in IMT and DBV.