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

Cord Cutters And The Death Of TV … The TV business is having its worst year ever. Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research. Media stock analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson recently noted, "The pay-TV industry has reported...Read More

The strange convergence of Bernanke, Hayek and Bitcoin … Every time Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opens his mouth, the markets move. But few could have guessed that in an offhand remark he would add legitimacy to the Bitcoin, the virtual currency that competes with the American dollar as a reserve currency and an international trading medium. Yet that is what he did when he held out...Read More

UN climate talks fall apart as 132 countries storm out … Poor countries pulled out of the United Nations climate talks during a fight over transferring wealth from richer countries to fight global warming. The G77 and China bloc led 132 poor countries in a walk out during talks about "loss and damage" compensation for the consequences of global warming that countries cannot adapt t...Read More

The strange convergence of Bernanke, Hayek and Bitcoin … Every time Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opens his mouth, the markets move. But few could have guessed that in an offhand remark he would add legitimacy to the Bitcoin, the virtual currency that competes with the American dollar as a reserve currency and an international trading medium. Yet that is what he did when he held out...Read More

UN climate talks fall apart as 132 countries storm out … Poor countries pulled out of the United Nations climate talks during a fight over transferring wealth from richer countries to fight global warming. The G77 and China bloc led 132 poor countries in a walk out during talks about "loss and damage" compensation for the consequences of global warming that countries cannot adapt t...Read More

Fed Taper Likely in 'Coming Months' on Better Data … U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks about Fed policy and the outlook for the federal funds rate. Bernanke, who spoke to economists yesterday in Washington, also discussed Fed policy communication. (Source: Bloomberg) Policy makers "generally expected that the data would prove consistent with the Committee'...Read More

Census 'faked' 2012 election jobs report … In the home stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign, from August to September, the unemployment rate fell sharply — raising eyebrows from Wall Street to Washington. The decline – from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September – might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were ma...Read More

Fed Taper Likely in 'Coming Months' on Better Data … U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks about Fed policy and the outlook for the federal funds rate. Bernanke, who spoke to economists yesterday in Washington, also discussed Fed policy communication. (Source: Bloomberg) Policy makers "generally expected that the data would prove consistent with the Committee'...Read More

Census 'faked' 2012 election jobs report … In the home stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign, from August to September, the unemployment rate fell sharply — raising eyebrows from Wall Street to Washington. The decline – from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September – might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were ma...Read More

Fed Ponders How to Temper Tapering Without Rate Increase … One of Janet Yellen's first challenges as Federal Reserve chairman will be figuring out how to cushion against a lurch in interest rates when she pares the pace of the central bank's bond buying. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The Fed struggles with problems. Nonetheless, these are wise individuals, indeed.Free-Marke...Read More

David Cameron says evidence is 'growing' for climate change link to storms after Typhoon Haiyan … Evidence was growing that climate change was responsible for extreme weather disasters such as typhoon Haiyan, the Prime Minister said today … The Philippines government has blamed "climate madness" for the devastating super-storm that has killed more than 3,600 people an...Read More

Fed Ponders How to Temper Tapering Without Rate Increase … One of Janet Yellen's first challenges as Federal Reserve chairman will be figuring out how to cushion against a lurch in interest rates when she pares the pace of the central bank's bond buying. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The Fed struggles with problems. Nonetheless, these are wise individuals, indeed.Free-Marke...Read More

David Cameron says evidence is 'growing' for climate change link to storms after Typhoon Haiyan … Evidence was growing that climate change was responsible for extreme weather disasters such as typhoon Haiyan, the Prime Minister said today … The Philippines government has blamed "climate madness" for the devastating super-storm that has killed more than 3,600 people an...Read More

Mr. Geithner will join the private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Geithner, who played a major role in the federal government's rescue of the financial system, has spent most of his career in the public sector. He'll serve as president and managing director of the company in his new job. "When they approached me, they clearly wanted me to play a substantive role in helping them manage th...Read More

Reding in Washington: EU Sends Tough Commissioner for NSA … EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding says data protection in Europe is 'non-negotiable.' … The EU is remaining firm with Washington over US spying, with officials in Brussels demanding better protection for Europeans. Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding is heading to Washington on Monday with a number of demands. Whe...Read More

Mr. Geithner will join the private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Geithner, who played a major role in the federal government's rescue of the financial system, has spent most of his career in the public sector. He'll serve as president and managing director of the company in his new job. "When they approached me, they clearly wanted me to play a substantive role in helping them manage th...Read More

Reding in Washington: EU Sends Tough Commissioner for NSA … EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding says data protection in Europe is 'non-negotiable.' … The EU is remaining firm with Washington over US spying, with officials in Brussels demanding better protection for Europeans. Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding is heading to Washington on Monday with a number of demands. Whe...Read More

S&P 500 Will Be at 2,000 Sooner Than You Think … Craig Johnson of Piper Jaffray has some bad news for the bears. The S&P 500 (,GSPC) is going to hit his long-time target of 2,000 and it's going to happen sooner than most people think. Johnson is well aware of the fact that a lot of the "smart money" is going to take the other side of his call. Five years into the bull...Read More

Deficit and Debt Are Caused by Baby Boomers, Not Socialism … Yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a lengthy report proposing 103 ways to cut the federal deficit. The report contains plenty of red meat for partisans – from block-granting low-income assistance programs for savings of $404 billion over the next decade, on the right, to imposing a greenhous...Read More

S&P 500 Will Be at 2,000 Sooner Than You Think … Craig Johnson of Piper Jaffray has some bad news for the bears. The S&P 500 (,GSPC) is going to hit his long-time target of 2,000 and it's going to happen sooner than most people think. Johnson is well aware of the fact that a lot of the "smart money" is going to take the other side of his call. Five years into the bull...Read More