Via Soveriegnman.comLess than two weeks ago, the United States Department of Treasury very quietly released its own internal projections for the federal government's budget deficits over the next several years.And the numbers are pretty gruesome.In order to plug the gaps from its soaring deficits, the Treasury Department expects to borrow nearly $1 trillion this fiscal year.Then nearly $1.1 trilli...Read More

Just 15% of Americans think the government will bring us to a better future. 59% say the government is the most broken institution, followed by 21% who think the media is the worst.On the other hand, 29% of Americans think NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are the most likely institutions to lead to a better world followed by 22% who say businesses will take us where we need to be.Trust in gov...Read More

Comex copper prices bounced back on Monday February 12 morning in the US due to a weaker dollar and the market stabilizing after heavy losses last week.Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 4.15 cents or 1.4% to $3.0750 per lb. On Friday, the contract tumbled to its lowest point since December 14, 2017.Base metals were driven lower last week whi...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange seem to have found buying interest this morning, Monday February 12, with all of the base metals, except lead (-0.3%), showing gains averaging 1%. The three-month copper price leads the way with a 1.8% rally to $6,870 per tonne - this after a low last Friday of $6,733 per tonne.Volume has been high with 12,015 lots traded as of 07:09 am London time -...Read More

CloseGain/LossGold $1321.30+$6.50Silver$16.52+$0.20XAU81.08+3.49%HUI180.45+3.38%GDM613.99+2.89%JSE Gold1118.34-13.55USD90.14-0.29Euro122.92+0.54Yen92.02-0.07Oil$59.29+$0.0910-Year2.857%+0.002T-Bond144.50+0.34375Dow24601.27+1.70%Nasdaq6981.96+1.56%S&P2656.00+1.39% The Metals: Gold gained $11.10 to $1325.90 in early Asian trade before it fell back to $1317.50 in London, but it then climbed t...Read More

By Ira EpsteinMetals move higher, but will it last?https://www.iraepstein.com/ Read More

Eric Griffin takes your top questions to ITM Trading's Chief Market Analyst Lynette Zang.Question 1. Silver Birddog: I have a question about median home value in 1920 vs median home value today. When the price is divided by ounces of gold, they are both roughly 239 ounces. Could you get The Queen to opine on that?Question 2. Francisco: I do believe gold is a good store of value, but I also know is...Read More

The purpose of this update is to try to make sure that you remain aware that the dollar has broken down from a giant top area, and is probably headed much lower, a prospect which is not diminished by the modest countertrend rally of the past week or so. We can see this top area and the breakdown last month to advantage on the latest 4-year chart for the dollar index below. With respect to the do...Read More

David Stockman on 'Mornings with Maria' (Fox Business Network, Feb. 12, 2018)David Stockman is a former Republican congressman from Michigan and was President Reagan's budget director from 1981 to 1985. After leaving the White House, Stockman became a managing director at Salomon Brothers, and he later founded a private equity fund. David is the founder of David Stockman's Contra Corner, and he is...Read More

By Clint Siegner U.S. equities got a free ride on the Trump train after his election, even as Federal Reserve officials hiked interest rates. That ride may have ended last week.If commentators are correct and the blame for recent selling in the stock market falls on the burgeoning fear of rising interest rates, it looks like Fed tightening is finally having the effect many predicted when the cyc...Read More

Import prices for re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil in Vietnam surged over the past week on higher offer prices from major suppliers, including China and India. Metal Bulletin's assessment of HRC import prices in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm SAE1006 HRC and equivalent grades sold into Vietnam - was $607-620 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday February 12, up $22-25 per t...Read More

By Bill HolterMarkets around the world are convulsing which is definitely different than anything we have seen in over a year. We also know that interest rates are going higher all over the world. In fact, if you look at rates going back to 1981, the downtrend line(s) has been broken and thus a very major change. Generational trades and 37 year trend lines are rare on their own, when they finall...Read More

By PlungerVolatility has now returned to the stock market after a hibernation of several years. An explosion of volatility normally is indicative of a change of trend. The recent signals transmitted by this market have been classic and has been telling us that we have entered the final topping process of this extended and stretched economic cycle. The trading over the past 7 market sessions f...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil futures posted some gains on Monday February 12 after the country's steel production hub of Tangshan announced more production caps late last Friday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,110-4,130 yuan ($653-656) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,000-4,030 yuan per tonne, unchangedFerrous futures surged at the start of the day's session in the wake of news that...Read More

Source: Michael J. Ballanger for Streetwise Reports 02/09/2018 The physical metals will continue to outperform mining shares until there is some stabilization in the global arena, posits precious metals expert Michael Ballanger. -->In the "I hate to say I-told-you-so" category, it looks like the Punxsutawney Phil came out of his den last week, took one look at the state of the global stock...Read More

By Graham SummersThe markets have changed and many are going to get "taken to the cleaners."Last year, 2017, was a not a normal year for stocks. Stocks as an asset class are not meant to go straight up without even a 1% pullback. But that is precisely what happened for nearly an entire year.Now that massive market rig is over. And anyone who continues to invest as though it's 2017 is going to ge...Read More

China's ferrous futures mostly started the week with slight gains during the morning trading session on Monday February 12.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,910 yuan ($621) per tonne, up 15 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,966 yuan per tonne, down 1 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 522 yuan per tonne, down 0.50 yuan per tonne...Read More

By Frank HolmesStrengths? The best performing metal this week was gold, down 1.26 percent. China's demand for gold jewelry rose 10 percent last year to around 700 metric tons due to increasing wealth of residents. China is the largest market for gold in the world.? Gold demand is also on the rise in India, the second largest consumer of gold, with purchases expe...Read More

In addition to funding for a border wall and other border security measures, immigration hardliners are sure to push to include mandatory E-Verify in any immigration legislation considered by Congress. E-Verify is a (currently) voluntary program where businesses check job applicants' Social Security numbers and other Information - potentially including "biometric" identifiers like fingerprints - a...Read More

By Avi GilburtFor those that follow me regularly, you will know that I have been tracking a set up for the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX), which I analyze as a proxy for the metals mining market. I believe that the GDX can outperform the general equity market once we confirm a long term break out has begun, and I still think we can see it in occur in 2018. But, after last week's b...Read More