What a rare AAPL outperformance signal means for the DowThe following is a reprint of the market commentary from the November 2019 edition of The Option Advisor, published on October 25. For more information, or to subscribe to The Option Advisor -- featuring 10 new option trades each month -- visit our online store.There's been something of a "changing of the guard" going on this quarter among th...Read More

Offer prices for CIS export wire rod have softened somewhat amid a lack of trading activity in the market, Fastmarkets learned on Monday October 28.Russia-origin wire rod was available to foreign customers at $430-432 per tonne fob Black Sea compared with $435-440 per tonne fob last week. But the decrease has not sparked any interest among potential customers.Recent offers of Ukrainian wire rod we...Read More

StrengthsThe best performing metal this week was platinum, up 3.96 percent. Gold is back with a weekly gain and its best week in five, trading above $1,500 an ounce on hopes that the Fed will cut borrowing costs next week. The yellow metal also benefitted from haven demand due to geopolitical turmoil from Chile to Lebanon, plus volatility surrounding Brexit negotiations. Holdings in gold-backe...Read More

Avi GilburtThere is a significant amount of frustration from the bulls and bears alike as the market has been basically in a trading range for many, many months. So, before we go into my expectations for the coming months, I want to review how we got here.As the market began its rally off the December lows of 2018, my initial expectation was that we could top out as we headed into the March/Apri...Read More

Jordan Roy-ByrneFed rate cuts have been the driving force of the recent gains in precious metals.This is not a surprise to our readers as since 2018 we argued that a shift in Fed policy from rate hikes to rate cuts would springboard the next big move. History argued the same.The market is showing a roughly 90% chance the Fed will cut rates this week which indicates the market has essentially alr...Read More

Seaborne low-grade manganese ore prices in China fell sharply in the week ended Friday October 25 amid aggressive attempts to liquidate material and falling market sentiment.Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin, plunged 67 cents per dry metric tonne unit to $3.50 per dmtu on Friday. The index has recorded a fall of 24.9% in October. Fastmarkets' assessment for manganese ore 37% Mn,...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 28 that are worth another look.The metals industry needs to be smarter and play a bigger part in reducing its carbon footprint over the next decade to thrive in 2020, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, said.Umicore and Samsung SDI have agreed a multi-year deal whereby the former will supply...Read More

China and Russia have been purchasing gold in unprecedented amounts.The ISM Manufacturing report strengthens the case for investors to find safer assets.Fed rate cuts should boost gold's price, given its nature as a deflationary asset.Intro In the past few months, I have written articles detailing the macroeconomic case for gold that revolves around low-yielding debt, and expensive equities ma...Read More

Gold market heats up again in response to a weaker U.S. dollar.Fed's reversal of tight money policy will also benefit gold price.Gold mining stocks are showing relative strength versus bullion.It has been a long time in coming for traders, but finally the precious metals market is starting to show signs of life again. In the last few days we've seen the gold and gold stock prices perk up with...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday October 28, falling by a little less than 2% against high turnover, while copper's outright price breached nearby resistance.Nickel's outright price closed at $16,640 per tonne, while some 9,730 lots were exchanged by the close. The metal reached an intraday high of $17,025 per tonne, its highest...Read More

Responsible sourcing is top of the agenda for many companies in the metals space, partly driven by the LME's push for an industry standard, yet an LME Week panel discussion suggested the industry could do so much more. Speaking at an LME Week 2019 discussion on environmental sourcing on Monday October 28, panelists from APG Asset Management, Trafigura and the World Economic Forum set out...Read More

We've previously discussed why one might want to own gold, but another question involves timing one's entry into that volatile market.To that tricky question, Seeking Alpha contributor Ploutos proposes an intriguing approach based on calculating "gold yield.".I find the approach elegant and relevant, and look forward to seeing how this method stands the test of time.Listen on the go! Subscribe to...Read More

GAMCO Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust is a closed-end fund that's designed to generate income by applying a buy-write strategy to more volatile sectors.Gold and gold stocks are rising despite the strong dollar. Oil prices and energy stock performance is lagging.The volatility of gold and energy stocks remains high and this will positively impact GGN's premium income and divid...Read More

"...if this turns into a repeat of what occurred this summer, it could involve some big price changes ahead..."by Ted Butler via Silver SeekI'd like to follow up on an issue I first raised with subscribers last week, namely, the possible reemergence of the silver whale in COMEX silver futures. I want to preface this by openly acknowledging I may be premature in concluding a big buyer has begun to...Read More

SD Outlook: Silver's chart technically looks all sorts of bullish, and silver's fundamentals may prove a little too much for the cartel...Silver does have its work cut out for it.With important data releases beginning today:Wednesday will be a particularly important day in that we get third quarter GDP, but, more importantly, at 2:00 p.m. EST the Fed will release its October FOMC statement and sub...Read More

A summary of the financial results of Swedish iron-ore producer LKAB for the third quarter of 2019.In brief The quarter was characterized by high and stable production, while a slowdown in the iron ore market led to lower delivery volumes and volatile iron ore prices. LKAB's improved earnings mainly reflect higher iron ore prices and a stronger dollar exchange rate.Lower deliveries in the quarter...Read More

CIS producers of steel slab have considered raising their offer prices because their November-casting order books were almost full, although customers were not ready for any price rises, Fastmarkets learnt on Monday October 28.Offers of CIS-origin slab were reported within the range of $375-380 per tonne fob Black Sea at the end of last week, but no customer was willing to accept such a price, con...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 28 that are worth another look.The metals industry needs to be smarter and play a bigger part in reducing its carbon footprint over the next decade to thrive in 2020, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, said.Umicore and Samsung SDI have agreed a multi-year deal whereby the former will supply...Read More

The Indonesian government has brought forward its ban on ore exports, initially to be implemented in 2022 but then advanced to January 2020, and imposed the prohibition with immediate effect on Monday October 28.Exports of raw ore from Indonesia will cease immediately, with any material due to leave the country to be bought by domestic smelters at an internally agreed price, investment agency chie...Read More

Nickel continues to outperform other base and battery-use metals but there is still uncertainty about the emergence of demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, ED & F Man's president of commodity research, Ed Meir, said at a metals seminar for the London Metal Exchange's annual LME Week event on Monday October 28."The EV topic is all the rage at all the different industry conferences right now,...Read More