The major gold miners’stocks have rallied dramatically out of mid-March’s stock-panic lows, soaringto new bull-market highs. Theirjust-reported Q1’20 operational and financial results reveal whether today’shigher gold-stock prices are fundamentally justified. They also illuminate whether this gold-stockupleg is likely to continue powering higher, despite the cat...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Early signs of post-lockdown demand recoveryWith major economies outside China reopening after the easing of their Covid-19-related restrictions on movement and industrial activity, last week's jump in the number of cancelled aluminium warrants on the London Metal Exchange may be an early sign that the post-lockdo...Read More
Gold and silver are likely to decline even more. Here's why...by Przemyslaw Radomski via Sunshine ProfitsThe precious metals sector was likely to decline, and it did exactly that. And based on what we just saw, it's likely to decline even more.Once again, the situation yesterday and so far today developed quite in tune with what we wrote yesterday, so today's analysis will take form of a broad up...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
Powell gave a much-awaited speech yesterday, in which he sent one bearish and two bullish messages for gold. What exactly did he say and what does it mean for the yellow metal?Powell Sends One Bearish and Two Bullish Messages for GoldJerome Powell gave a speech yesterday at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The Fed Chair acknowledged the unprecedented depth of the coronavirus cri...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 precious metals market did almost nothingyesterday, and consequently we have relatively little to comment on today.There are two subtly bearish signs that we would like to feature, nonetheless.The first subtly bearish sign is the change in theway the USD Index “topped” this month. In early April, and then in late April,the USDX reversed close to the 101 level and then moved lower i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.US demand shrinksDemand projections call for a continued retreat in US electric-resistance welded (ERW) line pipe and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) consumption as drill rigs and the number of wells drilled per rig are cut. Project demand in the large-diameter line pipe market is also shrinking with deferred or canceled pro...Read More
Technical expert Clive Maund explains why he believes gold and silver are powering up for a stratospheric advance.The deflation and depression is right here, right now, and if you don't believe that, try asking some of the 30 million people who just lost their jobs in the U.S., or those who (used to) work in the catering and tourism industries.The Federal Reserve is reacting to this situation by w...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.A couple of months into the global Covid-19 pandemic, the sell-off in steel markets appears to be abating.In parts of Asia, where the outbreak first occurred, steel prices - including those for coated steels - have rebounded since late April. The same is true of the US market as well. As we detail in our Americas analysis thi...Read More
Technical analyst Clive Maund explains why he's bullish on silver. The 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 point, but if you are an optimist, as we certainly are with regards to silver, you will see it as maintaining the opportunity to...Read More
April job report shows a terrible US labor market. Coronavirus destroyed 20.5 million jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to almost 15 percent. How far does the number reflect reality – and what does it actually mean for the gold market?Apocalypse in the US Labor Market 14.7 percent. Remember this value well, as it will go down in history. This is the official US unemployment rate for April...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US flat product prices outperformed our expectations over the past month. In an attempt to lend the market confidence that sheet prices had reached a floor, US steel mills announced price increases of $50-60 per ton at the end of April. In the announcement, mills cited the expectation of higher scrap prices, tight domestic s...Read More
Over the last 50 years there have virtuallybeen no significant Silver rallies during a period when the US Dollar index hasbeen rising.If you are betting on a massive Silver rallywhile US dollar strength continues, then you have a very low probability ofsuccess. Similarly, if you bet on a massive Silver rally while the US dollarcontinues a long decline, then you have a great chance of success.So, f...Read More
Global markets are contracting in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the prices for flat steel products continue to retreat, with prices for coated steels down by a further 5% since late March in most of the markets that Fastmarkets tracks.The latest edition of Fastmarkets' Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Market Tracker, for April 2020, is now available to view.Further price falls are almost cer...Read More
The recent volatility inmost markets was really extreme, which means that it was easy to lose focus onthe things that matter the most in case of the gold market. It was relativelyeasy to keep one’s focus as far as the fundamental outlook for gold isconcerned – it’s quite obvious that the economies around the world are in deeptrouble and that the various QEs and money-printing mec...Read More
What it cannot do is cure the virus. What it could do, however, according to a good many analysts, is act as an effective hedge against its economic consequences. Since the beginning of the year through April, the metal was up 11.73% during probably the worst period in economic history since the 1930s Great Depression. Below we chronicle what top experts have to say about gold in the year of...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More
Tonight I would like to focus in on silver which remains one of the best bargains in the PM complex right now. When I first became acquainted with the PM complex back in early 2002 I learned quickly that just because gold may have had a good rally sometimes the PM stocks move very little which was confusing to me as I thought they should move in tandem. Then there were other times when the PM stoc...Read More
Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More