The past year was a difficult one overall for the metals, with the main standouts to the upside being a geopolitical risk-driven gain in gold, a China-driven rise in iron ore and a surge in uranium on broadening global support for nuclear power (Figure 1). A jump in global interest rates to near two-decade highs saw recession fears persist all year, and while one still did not actually eru...Read More

This year the post-global health crisis boom was brought to an end by a surge in inflation to forty-year highs, a major rise in global interest rates in an attempt to curb the rising prices and surging geopolitical risk after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While precious metals held up reasonably well as markets turned to them as a risk hedge, by Q2/22 the higher interest rates put an end t...Read More

Chile is the world leader in copper production, at 28.5% of the total in 2020, and this looks set to continue, with the country having the largest global reserves, at 23.0% of total. It is also the global leader for molybdenum, which is often found along with copper, and is a major lithium player, holding 51.1% of global reserves. Read More

Newfoundland has become a gold exploration hotspot over the past few years, with the sector seeing some of its strongest activity ever. While the province remains a small contributor to Canadian gold production, it has a substantial mineral industry well supported by the government, focused on iron ore, copper and nickel, and the surge in exploration suggests that gold output from the...Read More

Nevada is the core of the U.S. gold output, accounting for by far the majority, at 75.4% on average for the past year. The state looks set to remain a dominant player in U.S. gold, as it accounts for 49% of total U.S. reserves, with Alaska slightly ahead with 51% of reserves, but just 8.6% of current production. The U.S. accounts for 6.1% of global gold output, making Nevada one of the largest gol...Read More

The Golden Triangle in northwestern British Columbia has historically been a major site of Canadian gold production, beginning as early as the mid 1800s. There was a wave of production in the 1990s which cooled as the gold price declined, but larger scale production resumed in 2017, and the area has seen surging exploration interest over the past year, given that the region has some of the largest...Read More

In this report we outline the Quebec gold mining industry, including its major producers, and a survey of many of the junior miners focused on the province. Quebec accounts for 34% of Canadian gold production (second to Ontario, with 44%) and remains a major focus for both producers and junior miners.Read More

Red Lake has been one of the most prolific gold mining districts in Canada and the world, with exploration having started in the 1920s, and production, which began in the 1930s, continuing to the present day. The district is known for the high grade of its gold, its infrastructure, and strong institutional support, given the long history of mining in the area.Read More

There's so much happening right now, including last night's vice presidential debate, it's hard to know where to begin.But yesterday's attack by Iran on Israel needs to be addressed because of its potentially massive implications.Iran launched a major missile attack against Israel, in apparent retaliation for recent Israeli attacks upon Iranian proxy Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Details of the a...Read More

The major averages are barreling into the fourth quarter perched near all-time highs.The S&P 500 is now up more than 20% year-to-date, and more than 60% off its bear market lows posted in late 2022.US stocks are strong no doubt about that!I spend most of my time analyzing and trading US stocks. It's called home bias - the tendency for investors to favor domestic stocks over foreign investmen...Read More

The word capitalism has no stable definition and should probably be permanently retired. That won't happen, however, because too many people are invested in its use and abuse.I'm long over trying to push my definition over someone else's understanding, generally viewing disputes about vocabulary and dictionary definitions as a distraction against the real debate over concepts and ideals.The point...Read More

I'd like to start today's issue by extending my thoughts and prayers to those impacted by Hurricane Helene, which has devastated significant portions of the southeast with massive flooding.The death toll is over 100 and may increase significantly. Let's all hope the affected areas will recover.Moving on, with so much attention focused on the U.S. presidential election, the war in Ukraine and the w...Read More

Eat. Drink. And be merry for tomorrow we die.Poor economic omens litter the heavens. Among these are plunging manufacturing and wobbling unemployment.Meantime, some 96% of Americans fear for the United States economy.Yet consumer consumption said to represent 70% of the gross domestic product remains a-jump.Why is the American consumer evidently so flush? Why is she spending money she hersel...Read More

When I travel by air, which I do often, I usually choose a window seat. Looking out over the American landscape, I've noticed some changes in recent years.Among the forests, fields, farms, housing and office park developments, I see many solar panel arrays. But there's something else as well, and a lot of it. I'm talking about data centers.They're especially common in northern Virginia, outside D....Read More

When I wrote in last Friday's Rude Awakening that I had sold my stocks, I had a funny feeling I'd be back in sooner rather than later. It seems I prefer the frying pan of the markets to the fiery waiting of purgatory.Jay Powell announced his 50-basis-point cut last Wednesday, and I was surprised. I had thought a 50-basis-point cut was too much, too late. The market would know that Jay knew somethi...Read More

Since the Fed's larger-than-expected rate cut on Sept. 18, both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones reached new all-time highs.Investor reactions seem almost Pavlovian. Lower rates = higher stock prices.But why do many believe this? And is it even true?Let's take a look at the Fed's drastic actions in 2019 and 2020, and explore the effects they had on markets.Pre-COVID, the Fed began cutting rates i...Read More

Imagine you're packed shoulder to shoulder in a huge arena to see your favorite band.The group is ripping through the final number of its encore performance and the scene is getting wild. A wall of sound slams into the sweaty crowd as everyone shouts along to the final verse. Fireworks ignite, drumsticks fly, and the singer thanks the crowd...Everyone hustles off stage and the house lights come up...Read More

It was September 1914, during the early days of World War I. The German army had bulldozed through Belgium into France and was threatening Paris. Masterpieces from the Louvre were being shipped away for safekeeping, and Parisian citizens were in a panic.The Allies’ situation was dire. But aerial reconnaissance a brand-new feat of modern warfare was about to save the day.French recon plan...Read More

I've had at least a dozen Uber drivers pitch me on suspect investments. For a while, it seemed like every trip came with free, and invariably horrible, picks.Interestingly, I've never had a driver, or a barber for that matter, pitch me on gold and silver. Despite gold regularly breaking out to new highs, we really haven't yet seen any signs of a typical retail mania.Looking at Google trends, there...Read More

Oops. Last week the SEC accidentally published internal commentary along with a speech by Chair Gary Gensler. Here's one of the comments which was mistakenly included.I strongly recommend that a sentence be placed here (or somewhere [sic] in the first part of the speech) to reassure markets that you are not making the speech because you think there is an imminent crisis.These internal comms were q...Read More

As reported yesterday, the Fed cut interest rates for the first time in over four years. But that was expected. What wasn't expected by many was how aggressive the cut was. And that's the bad news for markets and the economy.Why? Weren't market bulls hoping for a pivot by the Fed for months? Weren't they ready to pop the champagne cork?First, let's recap what happened yesterday...The Fed cut the f...Read More

Yesterday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) shocked most market watchers, including yours truly, with an aggressive 50 basis point cut, a mostly unexpected move. The Fed’s decision, which saw Governor Michelle Bowman dissenting, raises serious questions about the stability of the U.S. economy. The stark contrast between the cut and the rhetoric leading up to the meeting signals more...Read More

Today, the Fed did what I predicted it would do and cut interest rates. The "pivot" has finally arrived, ending the rate hike cycle that began in March 2022.I'll have much more to say about it in tomorrow's issue, so please tune in tomorrow. But today, I want to talk about the dangerous globalist threats to our freedoms that we presently face. Let's start with a question:Do you know these initials...Read More

The rate cut cycle you've waited for is finally here!Yes, the Fed is finally cutting this week and the noise couldn't be louder. Grab your earplugs! Trading could get a little wild as everyone jockeys for position heading into Wednesday afternoon.We're even dealing with some interesting new wrinkles as traders debate just how much the Fed might cut tomorrow. Last week, it was looking like 25 bps w...Read More

We're still trying to process the latest assassination attempt on Donald Trump, which took place on Sunday in West Palm Beach. But while that's important to dissect as the election gets closer, it's important to consider a development I've been warning about for over two years.President Trump has long been an opponent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or as I call them Biden Bucks. (Now t...Read More

Today, we'll discuss something you don't hear much about, but probably should the American steel industry, particularly the ongoing saga of how Japan's Nippon Steel wants to buy an iconic American firm, U.S. Steel.What would this kind of politicking mean to American steel, if not the U.S. economy, more broadly? Let's tap this furnace, so to speak, but first, let's review the Trump-Harris debate...Read More

Donald Trump survived what appears to be another assassination attempt yesterday. It would have been the second attempt on his life within two months.Trump was golfing at a course he owns in West Palm Beach, close to his home at Mar-a-Lago.Scouring the course two holes ahead of Trump, an alert Secret Service agent apparently spotted the barrel of a rifle protruding from a chain-link fence behind s...Read More

We understand the United States may soon bless Ukrainian missile strikes within the Russian interior with Western-supplied missilery.Thus the United States and its NATO understrappers would stomp across one of Russia's famous "red lines."Mr. Putin:Flight assignments for these missile systems can, in fact, only be entered by military personnel of NATO countries. Ukrainian military personnel canno...Read More