By Dave Kranzler"At the parabolic top of every financial bubble, thrilled investors lose their tether to reality, and as the price of the speculative instrument rallies ever higher, investors' expectations for additional price appreciation inflate ever more. Whether its Cisco Systems at a trillion-dollar market value, Qualcomm at $1000 a share, Oil at $200 a barrel, Bitcoin at a million dollar a...Read More

A Fresno, California waffle restaurant dared to open its doors for business this weekend to the delight of a long line of customers, who waited up to two hours for the "privilege" of willingly spending their money in a business happy to serve them breakfast on Mother's Day. This freedom of voluntary transaction is the core of what we used to call our free society. But in an America paralyzed by...Read More

By Avi GilburtI think there has been more hair torn out in frustration during this rally off the 2200SPX region lows than at almost any other time in market history. The frustration in trying to understand this market is ubiquitous.As the unemployment numbers get worse and worse, the market continues to rally higher and higher. In fact, the futures rallied 70 points off the overnight low struck...Read More

Aluminium premiums in Europe, the United States and Asia were mostly steady week-on-week on Tuesday May 12, with the gradual restart of industries in various parts of the world having little immediate effect.Rotterdam P1020 premiums flat while Italy premium ticks upwardUS Midwest premium unchanged despite automotive industry restartsAsia premiums flat in quiet market.Italy premium ticks upwardThe...Read More

Teck Resources is starting to increase the number of workers active at its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) project in northern Chile but is still uncertain when it will be able to resume normal activities at the site. Around 1,100 employees are now active at the project, according to Don Lindsay, chief executive officer of the Canada-based company, noting that employment at the site had dropped...Read More

Mining company Rio Tinto is maintaining an eye on the potential for merger and acquisition opportunities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and plans to stay "patient but not complacent," its chief executive officer said. J-S Jacques told the Bank of America 2020 Global Metals, Mining and Steel Conference that metals market outlooks were currently clouded due to changing supply-demand pictures a...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 12 that are worth another look.Workers at ArcelorMittal Spain are preparing a series of token strikes in response to the company's decision to apply a new plan for temporary layoffs (known as ERTE), sources told Fastmarkets on May 12.Troubled oil trader ZenRock owes at least $615 million to banks, suppliers and customers, it sa...Read More

If ever there was a masterclass in the need to disaster-proof a supply chain, then the Covid-19 pandemic has provided a harsh reminder to the automotive sector that it's failing. It's a wake-up call for the industry, which, after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March 2011, had vowed to end its "just in time" production philosophy and diversify its supply chain in orderto limit a repe...Read More

The sharp decline in emerging market currencies combined with a collapse in oil prices are providing a twin saving grace for many metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. For producers of energy-intensive metals like aluminium, and in particular the low-cost ones, the benefit is even greater. It's an emerging trend that is starting to be reflected in the earnings of corporates in...Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic may well provide Freeport-McMoRan with a silver lining it had never expected. The US copper producer is discussing with the government of Indonesia what should be done with the planned smelter in the Gresik region in the province of East Java. It has been forced to delay the completion timeline of December 2023 for the plant, due both to Covid-19-related disruptions to the wo...Read More

Over the past four weeks, a large amount of copper inventory has left London Metal Exchange warehouses in the two Asian cities to enter China to tap arbitrage profits, industry sources told Fastmarkets.Combined LME copper stock at South Korea's Busan and Taiwan's Kaohsiung dropped by 28% or 31,750 tonnes from April 14 to May 12. During the period, LME copper inventory in Busan and Kaohsiung shrank...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market remained resilient on Tuesday May 12, with the prices for Brazilian fines rising significantly due to concerns over supply. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.67 per tonne, up $3.06 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.20 per tonne, up $3.02 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $78.38 per tonne, up $1.97 per...Read More

The inflows and the price action have some unusual discrepancies...by Chris Marcus via Arcadia EconomicsThere's new data available measuring the amount of gold and silver that have gone into the trust's like GLD and SLV.And of course as is often the case, the inflows and the price action have some unusual discrepancies. Which is covered in today's video, so to find out more, click to watch now!So...Read More

We know the ultimate dollar endgame, how about your silver and gold endgame?By Matt from Silver Fortune via Silver FortuneWe know the ultimate dollar endgame, how about your silver and gold endgame?Read More

The way you see silver now depends on whether you see a glass as half empty or half full. If you are a pessimist by nature you will be grumbling about its...by Clive Maund of Streetwise ReportsThe way you see silver now depends on whether you see a glass that is half empty or half full. If you are a pessimist by nature you will be grumbling about its underperformance relative to gold up to this po...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices went up slightly on Tuesday May 12, following a rebound the previous day, when there was active trading.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.06 per tonne, up by $1.09 per tonne.Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $121.01 per tonne, up by $0.14 per tonne.Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $87.16 per tonne, down by $0.90 per tonne.Hard cok...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: 'Sell the rally' mentality here to stayAlthough the London Metal Exchange aluminium price has managed to recover modestly from recent lows, we suspect this is mostly short-covering. The lack of producer restraint, growing exchange inventories, a weak demand outlook and the 7 million tonnes of oversupply forecast f...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: 4-million-tonne surplus for 2020We have made further downward revisions to our aluminium demand expectations for 2020 and, although there have been smelter capacity reduction in China too, the net effect is that our forecast for the global surplus this year has swelled to 4 million tonnes, from 2.7 million tonnes...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Average LME aluminium price down by 2.5% week on weekAlthough LME aluminium began this week on the rebound, prices extended their recent downtrend further last week, approaching the $1,400-per-tonne level. The weekly average LME aluminium cash price was down 2.5% last week to $1,432.50 per tonne from previous week's $1,469.6...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: OversoldAluminium has been the hardest hit base metal over the past week, after relentless selling pressure took it to fresh multiyear lows while its LME peers generally consolidate or try to rebound. Aluminium is seeing far less in the way of supply restraint or disruptions than the other metals. But this market...Read More