Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices lowerin early U.S. trading Thursday, on routine corrective pullbacks after recent gains.A firmer U.S. dollar index on this day is also a negative outside market elementfor the...Read More

Buyers in Taiwan continued to purchase containerized scrap cargoes at higher prices on Thursday October 21 amid bullishness in the spot market, sources said. Taiwan continues to book containerized cargoes at higher prices Spot prices in China edge down amid losses in finished steel futures Tokyo Steel announces another rise in domestic scrap purchase priceTaiwanTaiwanese buyers continued to secur...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve ethics officials in March 2020 cautioned Fed policymakers about personal securities trading as the central bank geared up for what became a massive and wide-ranging effort to battle the pandemic and keep the economy and asset markets from crashing, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.The Times said it had confirmed the substance of a March 23 email from...Read More

Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Orca Gold (TSXV: ORG)announced today that the company and the Government of Sudan signed all the keydevelopment agreements to proceed with the formal construction of a largecommercial gold operation at...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - For all the angst caused by this year's 65% oil price leap, concerns about a return to 1970s-style stagflation are overblown and the developed world, at least, can probably handle even costlier crude without too much stress.Alternative energy sources, a rise in less energy-intense service sectors, plus more efficient vehicles, gadgets and power plants mean that oil demand has ev...Read More

Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit plans to start long-term mine development activities at its Kucing Liar deposit, the company said.PT-Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), in which Freeport holds a 48.76% stake and manages its mining operations, will develop the project over the next 10 years, the US copper producer said.At full operating rates, annual production from Kucing Liar is expected to exceed 500...Read More

Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - According to a recent reportby ALROSA, the diamond market has fully recovered from the pandemic, andstructural decline in production due to stock depletion, coupled with growingdemand from end-users, c...Read More

Freeport-McMoRan's new Indonesian copper smelter will not be subject to export duties, the US copper producer said.The new greenfield smelter, currently delayed by Covid-19, is to be located in Gresik, Indonesia, and will have the capacity to process around 1.7 million tonnes of copper concentrate per year.The same applies to the company's precious metals refinery (PMR), which will process gold an...Read More

WASHINGTON, Oct 21(Reuters) - U.S. home sales surged to an eight-month high September, but higher prices as supply remains tight are squeezing out first-time buyers from the housing market.Existing home sales increased by 7.0% - the largest increase in a year - to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.29 million units last month, the highest level since January, the National Association of Realto...Read More

I recently got wind of a new solar project in Brazil that's paying steady double-digit gains - every single month. And what makes this particularly attractive is a new rush on solar projects in the country that are paying top dollar to investors like us.In fact, BYD Co. (OTCMKTS: BYDDF) recently increased its solar panel production in Brazil, "adding a second production shift and increasing its...Read More

Oct 21 (Reuters) - For central bankers wrestling with the question of whether inflationary pressures are transitory, industry chiefs around the world have a clear message: prices are only going higher.Shortages of workers, fuel, cargo ships, semiconductors and building materials as the global economy bounces back after pandemic lockdowns have companies from electric car makers to chocolatiers scra...Read More

(Reuters) - Shares of SoftBank-owned WeWork jumped nearly 9% as they finally started trading in New York on Thursday, capping an arduous journey to the public markets for the storied office-sharing company that was once valued as high as $47 billion.While WeWork's top management led by current chairman and SoftBank executive Marcelo Claure insist the worst is over, the office-sharing firm continue...Read More

The government of the United Kingdom plans to set up an expert committee on critical minerals to provide independent advice on the scope and content of a critical minerals strategy to meet the country's net-zero carbon emissions targets, it said.In a move designed to guide investment decisions, the government also plans to update the country's critical minerals list, which details materials that a...Read More

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday banned individual stock purchases by top officials at the central bank and unveiled a broad set of other restrictions on their investing activities roughly six weeks after reports of active trading by some senior policymakers triggered an ethics uproar.Following is a full text of the Fed’s announcement:Following a comprehens...Read More

BERLIN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) restored efficacy to 95.6% against the virus, including the Delta variant, data released by the companies from a large study showed on Thursday.The companies said the trial, which has not been peer-reviewed, tested 10,000 participants aged 16 and older, an...Read More

Cobalt sulfate prices have trended upward since early September this year due to continuously higher raw materials costs and the rising cost of chemical auxiliary materials despite thin downstream demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of the cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China price was assessed at 89,000-93,000 yuan ($13,914-14,539) per tonne on Wednesday October 20,...Read More

Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. carriers American Airlines (AAL.O) and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) on Thursday warned mounting inflationary pressures could overshadow strong holiday demand and delay a complete return to profit.Both the Texas-based carriers posted a smaller-than-expected loss in the third quarter, but said rising fuel prices as well as higher labor costs are hurting earnings in the quar...Read More

United States-listed lithium producer Albemarle has signed an investment agreement with the local government of Pengshan Economic Development Zone in Meishan city, Sichuan Province to invest in a new lithium-ion battery materials project, the local government said.Albemarle will invest $500 million in the new battery materials project.The project will have an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes of li...Read More

(Reuters) -Valero Energy Corp predicted on Thursday low inventories and a recovery in fuel demand to pre-pandemic levels could support higher refining margins, shrugging off a recent rally in crude prices.Gasoline and distillate consumption in the United States is back in line with five-year averages after more than a year of weak demand due to the pandemic that had also knocked refining capacity...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 21 that are worth another look.Rio Tinto will invest $7.5 billion to reduce emissions and meet its carbon targets earlier than planned, the company announced on Wednesday September 20.The government of the United...Read More