NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday sold $13 billion in 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities to the strongest demand since 2014 at a yield of 0.548 percent, which was the highest yield in two years, Treasury data showed.The ratio of bids to the amount of 10-year TIPS issue offered was 2.69, which was the highest reading since May 2014. This gauge of overall auct...Read More

Jeff Desjardins on January 18, 2018If for some reason, you still think that the commodity markets are predictable, today's chart provides a nice piece of humble pie.The Periodic Table of Commodity Returns, which comes to us annually from our friends at U.S. Global Investors, shows the returns of commodities over each year of the past decade.As you may have guessed, commodities are a volatile ass...Read More

Jeff Desjardins on January 18, 2018If for some reason, you still think that the commodity markets are predictable, today's chart provides a nice piece of humble pie.The Periodic Table of Commodity Returns, which comes to us annually from our friends at U.S. Global Investors, shows the returns of commodities over each year of the past decade.As you may have guessed, commodities are a volatile ass...Read More

The 20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest total weekly options volume during the past 10 days. Stocks highlighted in yellow are new entries to the list. Data is courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. One of the names to note is Snapchat parent Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP). Below, we'll break down recent options trading activity on SNAP.Snap stock has b...Read More

An Italian professor at the Politecnico di Milano says that there could be an iron throne right below the apex of the Pyramid of Cheops, located in the Giza pyramid complex, Egypt.If there is such an artifact, says Professor of Archaeoastronomy Giulio Magli, it would not be melted iron but meteoritic iron, that is, fallen from the sky in the form of iron meteorites. Such mineral is distinguishable...Read More

Richard Cowan, Susan CornwellWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday threw its support behind a Republican proposal to avert a government shutdown at week’s end with a one-month extension in funding, but it was unclear whether there were enough votes to pass it in Congress.Congress has been struggling for months to reach an agreement to fund the government, which is currently ope...Read More

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, said quarterly iron ore output rose 3 percent on improved rail and plant performance, putting the exporter on target for record annual production.Read full newsRead More

Chilean development agency Corfo said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal with lithium company SQM, putting an end to a long-running dispute over royalties in Chile's Salar de Atacama, home to one of the world's richest lithium deposits.Read full newsRead More

After the flood of mixed Christmas trading updates from the high street over the past few weeks, the main focus on Friday will be the release of the official UK retail sales data for December.The British Retail Consortium survey, released the week before last, showed that sales between 26 November and 30 December were 1.4% higher than a year earlier.The BRC data also suggested there was faster gro...Read More

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:10 P.M.) - The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevl? 1/4 t ??avu??o??lu, stated on Thursday that Ankara demands the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) immediatelRead full newsRead More

Syrian Foreign Ministry has warned Turkey against taking hostile action in Afrin, saying that Damascus will consider it an act of aggression and undermineRead full newsRead More

When OPEC and Russia meet this weekend to review their strategy for clearing a global oil glut, they'll face an unusual problem: it could be working just a bit too well.Read full newsRead More

(Kitco News) - After recovering in 2017, gold prices are in for further gains this year, with the potential to hit $1,440 an ounce, said MKS PAMP in its annual outlook.“As the demand is set to improve, the supply side will remain under pressure. This combined with ongoing geopolitical tensions and the official sector expected to be a net buyer prompts us to set the yearly average at 1365.00...Read More

(Kitco News) - After recovering in 2017, gold prices are in for further gains this year, with the potential to hit $1,440 an ounce, said MKS PAMP in its annual outlook.“As the demand is set to improve, the supply side will remain under pressure. This combined with ongoing geopolitical tensions and the official sector expected to be a net buyer prompts us to set the yearly average at 1365.00...Read More

Mark Gustafson, chief executive of Challenger Acquisitions Limited (LON:CHAL), tells Proactive's Andrew Scott they've invested in a second giant observation wheel project, this time in Dallas, Texas.The AIM-quoted firm has invested US$300,000 towards the pre-development costs of the Eye of Texas, with the option to invest up to US$1mln in this first tranche.The remainder of the US$3mln of pre-deve...Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) tapped a record high at the open, but it would appear stocks are now being hit by a round of profit-taking, with the blue-chip index last seen trading back below 26,000. In fact, some of the year's top sectors -- namely, healthcare and finance -- are the primary reasons the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) have joined the Dow in the red. Invest...Read More

(Kitco News)- The risks of a government shutdown continue to rise asCongress’ deadline quickly approaches; however, gold bulls might bedisappointed if they are expecting to see higher prices as a result of ongoing politicalturmoil on Capitol Hill.Washington has until Friday to come up with an agreement tofund the government. But, with a growing number of politicians are pushing backagainst t...Read More

(Kitco News) - The risks of a government shutdown continue to rise as Congress’ deadline quickly approaches; however, gold bulls might be disappointed if they are expecting to see higher prices as a result of ongoing political turmoil on Capitol Hill.Washington has until Friday to come up with an agreement to fund the government. But, with a growing number of politicians are pushing back aga...Read More

* Pound pauses after briefly rising above $1.39* Traders focus on improved Brexit outlook, UK economy* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote By Tommy Wilkes and Jemima KellyLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Sterling climbed above $1.39 on Thursday for the first time since Britain's vote to leave the European Union and was on track for a fifth consecutive wee...Read More

By Sinead CarewJan 18 (Reuters) - Investors have shrugged off the latest threat of a federal government shutdown, saying they are not worried about a major pullback in shares even if U.S. lawmakers fail to strike a deal. If history is any guide, a shutdown would not be enough to knock the market off course. And investors have already shown they can ignore political risks at home and abroad, focusi...Read More