U.S. markets are staging a long-awaited rebound this week, bouncing higher for a third straight session Wednesday after a particularly nasty short Thanksgiving trading week. That might pull investors' attention back away from conventionally defensive assets like gold. But that's a big mistake. After a prolonged stretch of underperformance, gold is finally staging a major turnaround here. Simply...Read More
Markets are playing it cool Wednesday morning, holding positive territory ahead of the Fed's 2:00 p.m. rate hike decision. Broadly, investors expect the Fed to hike rates by 25 basis points - markets are pricing in about a 67% probability of a hike as of Wednesday morning - but hope that a revised dot plot could hint at Jay Powell and company hitting the brakes on additional hikes for 2019. The...Read More
Contagion The urge to merge is spreading. Two weeks ago, news broke that Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) would spend $74 billion for Celgene (CELG) . Then we heard that Eli Lilly (LLY) would acquire Loxo Oncology (LOXO) for cash. Almost immediately, the talk swirled around BMY as a potential takeover target itself. It's not just the pharmaceutical space, friends. The break of dawn brought to our mids...Read More
Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) , one of the world's largest copper miners, fell by 13.1% on Thursday to close at $10.70 after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter results. The company reported net income of $140 million, or 11 cents a share, after reporting net income of $1.04 billion, or 70 cents a share, a year ago. Copper production fell 17% to 841 million pounds. Aver...Read More
Shares of gold and copper producer Newport Mining Corp. (NEM) slipped 0.5% Thursday to $35.22 despite the company reporting fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts' expectations thanks to steady gold and copper production and lower operational costs. The company reported adjusted earnings of $214 million, or 40 cents a share, for its fourth quarter, compared to $206 million, or 38 cen...Read More
Gold is glittering this winter - and everyone's favorite precious metal could have even further to run in the sessions ahead. After a run of underperformance, gold prices have managed to find bottom and move higher in the last six months, the ever-popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) is up about 9% since the end of August. But there's mounting evidence that gold could have even further to rally...Read More
The merger mania sweeping the gold mining sector isn't a flash in the pan - it's likely just begun. Unless these companies want to shrink, they must continue to gobble each other up. "There is going to be a new wave of M&A as a way to grow reserves especially because organic growth is so hard to come by," said Matthew Miller, a Denver-based equity research analyst at financial research firm CFR...Read More
Gold is set to surge as long as the Federal Reserve keeps a dovish tone to its policies, as it did on Wednesday when it signaled it would keep short-term interest rates at their current levels. Historically, when the central bank pauses its cycle of increasing the cost of borrowing money, prices for the yellow metal tend to trend higher, according to a recent report. "[...] after the Fed pause...Read More
The big rally in palladium prices still has room to run. Double-digit returns are likely in store over the next few months. Increased interest in the metal from investors, as well as a relatively tight supply-demand balance, should propel prices even higher over the next half-year. Like gold, palladium is considered a precious metal, but it is overwhelmingly used for industrial purposes. Two...Read More
Gold bugs, meet blockchain - the decade-old computer programming behind bitcoin that backers say is now fueling a revolution in the financial industry. Tradewind Markets, a startup founded in 2016 by former Wall Street and gold-industry executives, said its blockchain-based trading platform allows investors to buy gold and keep it at the Royal Canadian Mint without ever having to take ph...Read More
The gold bulls are back. The price for the metal just breached $1,400 a troy ounce, its highest level since 2013. The move opens the possibility that investor appetite for the metal is rising. If we are indeed entering a major bull market for the metal then savvy investors should consider buying smaller cap gold mining stocks rather than either the metal itself or the larger miners. The easiest...Read More
Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD - Get Report) said Monday it has been awarded nearly $6 billion in damages related to a 2011 arbitration case involving it and a partner being denied a mining lease in Pakistan. Toronto-based Barrick announced on Monday that the World Bank International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, has awarded $5.8 billion to Tethyan Copper Company Pty L...Read More
Anyone bullish on precious metals should consider silver instead of gold. The white metal tends to see far more volatility, which is an advantage for traders in an up-trending market. Plus, silver prices are still playing catch-up with gold based on historical price analysis. To profit from the phenomenon, investors should consider buying the iShares Silver Trust (SLV - Get Report) exchange-tr...Read More