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

Go Ahead, Bash the Fed …"Bash" is a useful word for journalists looking to stack the deck. We criticize; the people we disagree with "bash." The bashing may take the form of criticism, but the choice of words has primed readers to regard the criticism as stupid and vulgar. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The Fed needs to be criticized so it can work better.Free-Ma...Read More

'Blurred Lines' and Bad Law … If the devolution from Marvin Gaye to Robin Thicke doesn't stand for the decline of Western civilization, nothing does. The Los Angeles jury that found Thicke's "Blurred Lines" unintentionally plagiarized Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" apparently agreed. Choosing the dead genius over the living epigone was artistically correct...Read More

American Mystery Story: Consumers Aren't Spending Even In a Booming Job Market … It's an American mystery story: More people have jobs and extra pocket money from lower gas prices, but they aren't buying as much as economists expected. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Happy days are here again. People don't understand it yet.Free-Market Analysis: Is it really a mystery...Read More

Columbia Journalism School to Cut Class Size and Staff Jobs … Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism is reducing its class size and cutting staff positions as demand for journalism schools across the country dwindles. – New York TimesDominant Social Theme: Good reporting will always find a market.Free-Market Analysis: What is analogous to debating how many angels can dance on the...Read More

American Mystery Story: Consumers Aren't Spending Even In a Booming Job Market … It's an American mystery story: More people have jobs and extra pocket money from lower gas prices, but they aren't buying as much as economists expected. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Happy days are here again. People don't understand it yet.Free-Market Analysis: Is it really a mystery...Read More

Columbia Journalism School to Cut Class Size and Staff Jobs … Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism is reducing its class size and cutting staff positions as demand for journalism schools across the country dwindles. – New York TimesDominant Social Theme: Good reporting will always find a market.Free-Market Analysis: What is analogous to debating how many angels can dance on the...Read More

Only mass default will end the world's addiction to debt … As global debt rises off the scale, creditors stand to take a huge hit in a threatened tsunami of defaults. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: This will end badly as it has to.Free-Market Analysis: This is another one of those hopeless articles that the mainstream media specializes in. There's nothing about it that pr...Read More

Major survey finds record low confidence in government … Americans' confidence in all three branches of government is at or near record lows, according to a major survey that has measured attitudes on the subject for 40 years. The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, 11 percent in the executive branch and 5 pe...Read More

Only mass default will end the world's addiction to debt … As global debt rises off the scale, creditors stand to take a huge hit in a threatened tsunami of defaults. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: This will end badly as it has to.Free-Market Analysis: This is another one of those hopeless articles that the mainstream media specializes in. There's nothing about it that pr...Read More

Major survey finds record low confidence in government … Americans' confidence in all three branches of government is at or near record lows, according to a major survey that has measured attitudes on the subject for 40 years. The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, 11 percent in the executive branch and 5 pe...Read More

Gold's Long Decline Is the Real Story … Equity markets started off this year by falling. They rallied in February, working their way back into the green. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index now is up about 1 percent for the year. Gold has traveled the opposite path … – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Gold is a bad investment.Free-Market Analysis: We track dominant social...Read More

U.S. Senators Introduce Historic Bill to Allow Full Legalization of Medical Marijuana … Three U.S. senators unveiled a new bill today that would effectively end a federal ban on medical marijuana, according to multiple sources. – MedicalJane.comDominant Social Theme: Cannabis is a scourge.Free-Market Analysis: Believe us now? Meme watching is a skill. As soon as we detected the first &...Read More

Gold's Long Decline Is the Real Story … Equity markets started off this year by falling. They rallied in February, working their way back into the green. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index now is up about 1 percent for the year. Gold has traveled the opposite path … – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Gold is a bad investment.Free-Market Analysis: We track dominant social...Read More

U.S. Senators Introduce Historic Bill to Allow Full Legalization of Medical Marijuana … Three U.S. senators unveiled a new bill today that would effectively end a federal ban on medical marijuana, according to multiple sources. – MedicalJane.comDominant Social Theme: Cannabis is a scourge.Free-Market Analysis: Believe us now? Meme watching is a skill. As soon as we detected the first &...Read More

The Fed Needs Humans … U.S. legislators … want to remove human judgment from its decisions on where to set interest rates. It's a terrible idea that could endanger the entire global economy. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The Fed is an art form. Technocrats are the artists.Free-Market Analysis: Our ongoing effort to analyze the arguments against an "audit" of the...Read More

McDonald's Latest Sales Are Worse Than Expected … McDonald's MCD +0.6% worldwide sales fell a more than expected 1.7% in February, marking nine consecutive months of declines. This comes a week after new CEO Steve Easterbrook assumed the top job. Easterbrook, who has said he considers himself an 'internal activist,' is faced with reviving the lagging sales that cost previous...Read More

The Fed Needs Humans … U.S. legislators … want to remove human judgment from its decisions on where to set interest rates. It's a terrible idea that could endanger the entire global economy. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The Fed is an art form. Technocrats are the artists.Free-Market Analysis: Our ongoing effort to analyze the arguments against an "audit" of the...Read More

McDonald's Latest Sales Are Worse Than Expected … McDonald's MCD +0.6% worldwide sales fell a more than expected 1.7% in February, marking nine consecutive months of declines. This comes a week after new CEO Steve Easterbrook assumed the top job. Easterbrook, who has said he considers himself an 'internal activist,' is faced with reviving the lagging sales that cost previous...Read More

India is on course to complete a remarkable turnaround … India could achieve growth of up to 8pc a year for the next decade, amazing for an economy which already accounts for 3pc of global GDP. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: India rising.Free-Market Analysis: China, Brazil and now India. Among the BRICs, only Russia and South Africa receive a measure of bad press. Russia a great...Read More

Jean-Claude Juncker calls for EU army … European commission president says this military development would persuade Russia the bloc is serious about defending its values – UK GuardianDominant Social Theme: War, the health of the state.Free-Market Analysis: The current Ukraine is the gift that keeps on giving from the standpoint of the expansion of state power.As Russia is considerably...Read More