Gold has traded between $1,069 and $1,086 so far today…as of 9:30 am Pacific, bullion is down $1 an ounce at $1,074…Silver is flat at $14.15…Copper is unchanged at $2.08…Crude Oil moved higher initially this morning but is now off slightly at $37.35 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen three-quarters of a point to 97.61…important support is at 98…
The risk of short covering in Gold remains elevated, according UBS – and we agree 100%…a large number of speculators are holding short, or bearish, positions in anticipation of a rate hike when the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meets next week. “The upcoming FOMC meeting has been well flagged,” UBS says. “Market positioning suggests that the Gold market has also been preparing itself for a Fed rate hike – net speculative longs are currently at the lowest in 14 years.”
The most recent Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show gross shorts are at 93% of the record, UBS points out. “Extreme short positioning suggests that the risk of a more dramatic short-covering rally is currently elevated, particularly if a rate hike is accompanied by dovish rhetoric.”
China’s central bank has lowered the yuan’s peg against the U.S. dollar to its lowest level in 4 years…the move by the People’s Bank of China is meant to create better demand for China’s goods on the world market…another report from China overnight said producer prices were down 5.9% from year-ago levels as deflationary pressures continue…
Banks including HSBC say that even the drastic cuts announced yesterday by Anglo American might not be enough should weak commodity prices prevail…Anglo fell more than 10% today to a new record low in London…the stock has slumped nearly 80% this year and is the worst performer in the benchmark FTSE 100 Index…with the announced cuts, the company will eventually employ 50,000 people, 85,000 fewer than now…it will control of maximum of 25 assets, down from 55 today…any mines that don’t make money will be put for sale or simply shut…Anglo American is the classic tale of over-extending during the good times only to be left with too much debt and too little money when markets take a dive…
Crude Oil Update
WTIC is being supported today by a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that Crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 252,000 barrels…Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 423,000 barrels…meanwhile, the International Energy Agency is expecting no recovery in Oil prices in 2016, and possibly even lower prices, and predicted another year of plunging Oil development spending by energy companies…
Husky Energy Inc. (HSE, TSX) is considering the sale of part of its vast midstream business and will cut capital spending – particularly in Alberta – in 2016 to make itself more resilient in a low oil price environment…in capital spending plans for next year announced yesterday, the Calgary-based integrated Oil company said it would trim investment to about $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion in 2016, from $3.1 billion in 2015, and from $5.1 billion in 2014…Husky will also reduce the break-even Oil price it uses for planning purposes to sub-U.S. $40 West Texas Intermediate, from the mid-U.S. $50’s last year…Asim Ghosh, President and CEO of Husky, said he is strengthening the company to succeed in a post-OPEC world…
TFSA Petition
As mentioned a few months ago, we’re surprised this wasn’t more of an election issue…Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau confirmed the other day what the Liberals promised earlier – starting January 1, 2016, they are cutting back Canadians’ eligible annual TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) contributions from $10,000 to $5,500 (the Conservatives had increased the limit to $10,000 this year)…
Such a move by the Liberals, in essence, is equivalent to a HUGE potential TAX HIKE for millions of Canadians over a period of several years…it will have a life-long impact on your ability to create and build wealth that’s protected from any government taxation…the TFSA was one of the best new measures introduced by the previous Conservative government (along with the First Nations Financial Transparency Act which both the Liberals and NDP strangely opposed during the most recent election campaign)…
A Benefit Just For The “Rich”?
The Liberals’ silly argument, and that of others, has been that increasing the annual TFSA contribution limit was benefitting the wealthy more than middle and lower-income segments of the population…but the evidence simply doesn’t support that…the TFSA has proven to be popular with low-income Canadians who gain no real benefit from registered retirement savings plans, which are geared toward people with high marginal tax rates in their prime working years wanting to defer tax into the future, when they will have a lower marginal rate…
About half of adult Canadians currently have TFSA’s, which is a very high level of participation in a program that has only been available since 2009…of those TFSA holders who have taken advantage of the current $10,000 limit, 60% earn $60,000 per year or less, demonstrating that the current TFSA limit is not a tool only for the “rich” (liberals in North America have a very curious way of defining who is “rich”)…
If used effectively, the TFSA is also a tremendous vehicle for average Canadians to build substantial tax-free wealth…Canadians’ TFSA’s can still continue to grow under a Liberal government, but certainly not as fast as they would have if the annual limit had stayed at $10,000…this move by the Liberals will more than off-set any “middle class” tax cuts they have been promoting…
Petition Launched By Working Canadians & Officially Sponsored By MP Peter Kent
An official online petition against the Liberals’ decision was recently launched by Catherine Swift of the group Working Canadians. “This government claims to be concerned that average Canadians are not saving enough for their retirement, and then weakens one of the key means for Canadians to save in a tax-efficient way?”, Swift wrote in a news release. “That certainly doesn’t sound like a consistent policy approach at all.”
Last week, anticipating the official TFSA announcement by the Finance Minister, Conservative MP Peter Kent sponsored Swift’s online petition, which went live last Friday…it is titled e-3 (Tax System) and can be directly accessed through the link below…
It takes just a few minutes to view and sign this simple online petition…all of our Canadian readers are impacted by this Liberal “tax hike” (to be sure, there will be more tax hikes to come because their pre-election math was made up on the fly – Canadians will find out the hard way in due course)…
TFSA Petition
In today’s Morning Musings…
1. Updated chart for the Venture – more technical evidence that this market has a strong rally ahead of it…
2. The world’s 14th highest grade undeveloped Gold deposit in the world – with great expansion potential (for only 10.5 cents a share)…
3. Two advanced Lithium plays (deposits) and a Lithium explorer that has retraced to a favorable level…
Plus more…to view the rest of today’s Morning Musings, login with your username and password, or click here to gain full access to this and other exclusive BMR content and features…
Thanks for including the TFSA petition. Just signed it.
Comment by Dan1 — December 9, 2015 @ 10:14 am
It is absolutely and utterly insane government policy to reduce the contribution limit…can’t understand the thinking behind it, and if you do the math over a few years, the potential tax hit here on capital gains as a result of this measure could be in the tens of thousands of dollars for some Canadians…so much for the middle class tax cut…I know some very average Canadians who with their first $10,000 in TFSA contributions in 2009 and 2010, turned it into $100 K or more within the first couple of years…too many times, a lot of government policies are just plain silly and bad – a lot of them are emerging in Alberta right now, and elsewhere across the country on a provincial and national level…doesn’t help the economy…
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 9, 2015 @ 10:24 am
Jon – geez, can I sign up. Only thing we got here is IRA and you get penalized and taxed if ya pull it out. I could not trade if I had IRA unless I did mutual funds. I’m not going to put my money in the hands of someone I don’t even know.
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 10:32 am
Jeff – your right PXA to aquire blue creek
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 10:50 am
Sorry, Dave, wish you could sign-up…the TFSA is such a simple and effective tax-free vehicle that every Canadian should take advantage of if they can…unfortunately, starting next year, we can contribute $4,500 less to it each year…unless there’s a big enough revolt…I don’t think most Canadians have really thought thru the implications of this and how much more they are going to be sending the government in capital gains taxes…
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 9, 2015 @ 10:52 am
DBV 0.09 Lower than PGX 0.095. Looks like I made a big mistake buying in the 0.13-0.15 range.
Comment by ConcernedCitizen — December 9, 2015 @ 1:29 pm
GGI – Longest stretch without an update/NR since drilling began. Come on Regoci, keep the momentum going.
Comment by Dan1 — December 9, 2015 @ 1:42 pm
Jon – check out NR on ATG. That’s a lot of gold. I didn’t read the whole NR. Spot checking now around packing.
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 1:59 pm
Ya, whats up with the abysmal share price of DBV?
Comment by Steve A. — December 9, 2015 @ 2:41 pm
Dan1- ya Cmon, let’s get the results.
Comment by George — December 9, 2015 @ 4:38 pm
Dave, in your post #25 you say EQT-watch it!! Can say anything more as I’ve been watching it for over 3 months now and still holding my 6 digit position. Hmmm maybe you were the smart one selling 94% of your holdings according to a post on SH!!
Are you moving within the Atlanta area??
Comment by Jeff — December 9, 2015 @ 5:40 pm
Jon picked a great explorer in CDB, TSX-V.
Cordoba Minerals blew through the 200 moving average today closing at .16 and looks thin on the upside. I am looking forward to the 1st drill results from Cordoba on their Alacran target in the new year. There are 3 targets known to date with previous results.
Comment by Andrew — December 9, 2015 @ 6:21 pm
Stopped by 409 Granville, Dan1, to say hi and the mood was very buoyant, though Regoci was also as tight-lipped as ever, as another poster commented yesterday. So I couldn’t glean any information, but if I had to read between the lines, all looks very good and I can’t see Regoci going longer than Friday without another update.
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 9, 2015 @ 6:36 pm
Yes, we have a chart on CDB tomorrow, Andrew. Great pick-up around 12 cents which is the rising 50-day SMA. Project looks great.
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 9, 2015 @ 6:38 pm
Thanks for the update Jon. I hope you are right about another update before end of day Friday. We need the interest to come back to GGI.
Comment by Dan1 — December 9, 2015 @ 7:17 pm
Jon, whats 409 Granville
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 7:30 pm
Jeff – I sure don’t ever remember posting anything on SH on my position with eqt. I don’t know where or what you saw. Anyway, again, I do not like to have big positions in right before assays. As I have said before, its smart investing to me. But what I do and how I feel is irrelevant. What should be important to you is how you feel and what is relevant to you. Remember, it is very rare for the first holes to hit. Even DFI, voisey bay did not hit on first go around. I have a position just in case and that is rare for me. Everyone else has to access their own risk level and decide how big of a position they want to carry with them into assay time, and I believe they are very near.
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 7:37 pm
Sorry, Dave, that’s the UK building on the corner of Granville and West Hastings in Vancouver…quite a few exploration companies/producers have offices there.
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 9, 2015 @ 7:39 pm
Oh – Pick their brain next time you are in there, ha.
EQT – news past due, one to watch carefully
CRS – news past due, one to watch carefully. I have spoken how I feel about oil pre results. I do not own CRS.
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 7:49 pm
Jon, did you happen to chat with Farshad while you were at Granville/Hastings?
Comment by Steve A. — December 9, 2015 @ 7:52 pm
Jon- did you stop by DBV’s office by chance?
Comment by DDD4 — December 9, 2015 @ 8:06 pm
Sorry Jeff, just saw the rest of your post #11. Yes, I am staying in the Atlanta area for now. I have to build my monies up again get the rest of debt gone, then hopefully in a year make it up to Vancouver. I am so anxious to see this mining capital city and meet some folks who live up that way. First things first. a couple doubles would be nice. I am so careful now with how I trade.
Comment by dave — December 9, 2015 @ 8:11 pm
Not today, DDD4, though I did pay a visit just recently. Farshad has a crew on the Hat to get the ball rolling there, as announced Monday, which is critical. This has been a good week for accumulation of an assortment of stocks during this last-gasp weakness (much of it tax-loss related plus the pre-Fed meeting commodities dump) prior to the seasonal trend kicking in…the Gold sector in particular continues to look attractive and that should set up some interesting dynamics going into year-end…the TSX Gold Index continues to look very bullish and that’s going to spill over into the Venture which has also been out-performing the entire commodities complex the last 2 months, despite its current level…
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 9, 2015 @ 8:32 pm
Dave you Will love Vancouver!! Its a beautiful city that I’ve visited dozens of times during the mining boom. Im from Toronto home of the Blew Jays and the Maple Laffs!
When in Vancouver check out the action on Seymour Street!! Vancouver is my “home away from home” !!
Comment by Jeff — December 9, 2015 @ 8:38 pm
YFI- solid break out through resistance on heavy volume……looking good with solid bid support moving up with the stock price….
Comment by DDD4 — December 10, 2015 @ 5:23 am
thanks Jeff
YFI’s agm is today. They still have not announced the fortune 500 company. The stock broke out for 2 reasons.
1. the agm, many expecting news
2. The chart was in a pennant flag formation, the surest of its kind for a breakout. Remember, when you see this, a pennant flag is a consolidation period and normally continues in the previous direction upon breakout. You can see the small pennant flag from about the 3rd week of november to just before the breakout. These are very bullish chart set ups as John would probably agree. When you see these set ups, you want to take a position. I put very little in because there are others right now with news coming and so forth.
Comment by dave — December 10, 2015 @ 6:24 am
Jon, the tone of your DBV posts seems as though you aren’t as excited as you once were. Not sure if it’s just in the shadow of GGI right now, or you’re just patiently waiting for something to fire up like the rest of us.
Comment by Steve A. — December 10, 2015 @ 6:58 am
I’m excited as I’ve ever been about the Hat, Steve, no reason not to be…just anxious to see drilling start, that’s all. That will be the catalyst for DBV…weakness is an opportunity at the moment with DBV…
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 10, 2015 @ 7:11 am
abr.v halted again.
Comment by moemoney — December 10, 2015 @ 7:14 am
They’ve got an interesting graphite property…looks like more good intercepts to follow-up on hole #1…
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 10, 2015 @ 7:16 am
Dave-on YFI can you see on a weekly candlestick chart-a J hook pattern forming where the hook or J part is aready form and starting the long neck up when pattern is done it will look like a J or fish hook. got that form bullish candlestick pattern with Stephen Bigalow. any case very bullish.
Comment by kelly — December 10, 2015 @ 8:21 am
kelly yes, that usually is the follow through pattern after the breakout on a tight short term pennant flag formation that YFI was in.
Comment by dave — December 10, 2015 @ 9:50 am
ABR news out… ASHBURTON COMPLETES SECOND HOLE, STARTS THIRD, INTERSECTS GRAPHITE IN BOTH AT BUCKINGHAM stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=Z-C%3aABR-2333571&symbol=ABR®ion=C
Comment by zippy — December 10, 2015 @ 10:10 am
Looks like ABR is onto something very real here, interesting.
Comment by Jon - BMR — December 10, 2015 @ 10:34 am
Let’s hop so how’s the chart looking Jon .
Comment by Randy — December 10, 2015 @ 10:40 am
Only problem I have with ABR is the selling by Michael England. I was into a stock a few years ago and he was the cEo. Sold his shares ahead of results. I haven’t forgot it.
Comment by Dan1 — December 10, 2015 @ 11:15 am