Virtually nobody saw it coming. Late on Sunday night, the Saudi-led alliance of Gulf Arab states, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain including Egypt, shocked the world when they announced they had severed ties and closed borders with one of the Gulf's wealthiest, if smallest, neighbors Qatar, a (now former) member of the Gulf Cooperation Council in what we called a "geopolitical earthquake" and wha...Read More

President Donald Trump will not invoke executive privilege to block former FBI Director James Comey's scheduled testimony before Congress this week, the White House said on Monday."In order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony," White H...Read More

By Andrew MacAskill and Lawrence WhiteLONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland is refusing to raise its offer to shareholders still suing the bank over its 2008 share sale, sources with knowledge of the matter said, leaving the claimants in a race to raise 3 million pounds ($3.9 million) to proceed with the case.Chief Executive Ross McEwan told shareholders they face a take-it-or-leave it...Read More

(Recasts with police investigation of leaked emails)By Mfuneko Toyana and TJ StrydomJOHANNESBURG, June 5 (Reuters) - South Africa's elite police unit opened an inquiry on Monday after thousands of emails relating to alleged fraud in awarding government contracts were leaked, adding to a graft scandal that has deepened splits in the ruling African National Congress.Last week, AmaBhungane, a non-pr...Read More

(Kitco News) - Investors continueto take a cavalier attitude to economic risks, piling into equities, but onemajor gold fund sees the market at an important precipice that could benefitthe yellow metal.In itsannual In Gold We Trust report, managers at Incrementum AG warned thatinvestors are ignoring growing risks of a recession or the potential for theU.S. economy to fall into a stagflation scena...Read More

(Adds background)BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde has offered Greece's European creditors a way out of their impasse over Athens' debts that would allow the euro zone to release a tranche of aid later this month.The IMF believes Greece needs a debt haircut, which Germany rejects. Lagarde suggested agreeing a deal whereby the IMF would stay...Read More

MONTEVIDEO, June 5 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in Uruguay rose 0.13 percent in May from the prior month, government data showed on Monday, bringing the country's 12-month inflation rate to 5.58 percent. That marked the third straight month in which inflation was in the central bank's target range of 3 to 7 percent. The 12-month rate entered the target range for the first time since 2010 in March.(...Read More

* Graphic: Sterling and gilt yields * Graphic: World FX rates in 2017 * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote (re-leads, updates prices)By Ritvik Carvalho and Jemima KellyLONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Sterling rose to its highest in ten days against the dollar on Monday, with investors taking comfort from a opinion poll that gave Britain's ruling Conservative Party a comfortable lead ahe...Read More

MOSCOW -- Polyus PJSC, Russia's largest gold producer, announced a return Monday to the London Stock Exchange following a two-year hiatus. The company said the offering would comprise at least 7% of its issued share capital. Polyus has a market capitalization of $9.9 billion on the Moscow Exchange. The company delisted in 2015 to ensure its eligibility to bid for the Sukhoi Log deposit, one of the...Read More

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Friday despite signs that US jobs growth is slowing down and that expansion of the world's largest economy remains stuck around the 1% level."Following the notion of mean reversion, we should be seeing attractive investment opportunities"In contrast the S&P GSCI All Commodities index is flat so far in 2017 although prices for energy, m...Read More

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Friday despite signs that US jobs growth is slowing down and that expansion of the world's largest economy remains stuck around the 1% level."Following the notion of mean reversion, we should be seeing attractive investment opportunities"In contrast the S&P GSCI All Commodities index is flat so far in 2017 although prices for energy, m...Read More

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Friday despite signs that US jobs growth is slowing down and that expansion of the world's largest economy remains stuck around the 1% level."Following the notion of mean reversion, we should be seeing attractive investment opportunities"In contrast the S&P GSCI All Commodities index is flat so far in 2017 although prices for energy, m...Read More

While VIX closed at its lowest level since 1993 on Friday, VVIX (which tracks the anticipated volatitilty of VIX) completed a fourth week of gains in five, reaching a record high relative to the measure of equity turbulence. As Bloomberg notes, with the VIX down more than 30% this year through the end of last week, investors have been using options to bet on volatility.As the chart above shows, t...Read More

* Herbalife falls after cutting current-quarter forecast* Apple slips after rating cut; top drag on all three indexes* Oil prices fall after Arab states cut ties with Qatar* Indexes down: Dow 0.02 pct, S&P 0.07 pct, Nasdaq 0.13 pct (Updates to early afternoon)By Tanya AgrawalJune 5 (Reuters) - Wall Street edged lower in early afternoon trading on Monday as Apple weighed on all the three major inde...Read More

Mr. Jeffrey Wilson reports PRECIPITATE'S LATEST IP RESULTS PRODUCE EMERGING NEW DRILL TARGETS AT SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH JENGIBRE ZONESPrecipitate Gold Corp. has released results and interpretation from the latest geochemical and geophysical surveys at the Southeast and South Jengibre zones within the company's 100-per-cent-owned Juan de Herrera project in the Dominican Republic. The latest results ha...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices were ending the U.S. day session modestly higher and hit a six-week high Monday. Geopolitical developments in the Middle East and an increasingly bullish near-term technical posture are prompting trader and investor buying interest. Gold prices are now within striking distance of the key $1,300.00 mark. August Comex gold was last up $1.70 an ounce at $1,281.90. July Come...Read More

BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde has offered Greece's European creditors a way out of their impasse over Athens' debts that would allow the euro zone to release a tranche of aid later this month.The IMF believes Greece needs a debt haircut, which Germany rejects. Lagarde suggested agreeing a deal whereby the IMF would stay on board in the b...Read More

CAIRO, June 5 (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Egypt said on Monday that it had issued no instructions to halt the buying or selling of the Qatari riyal.There would be no restrictions on exchanging the Qatari currency to Egyptian pounds or any foreign currencies, the bank said in a statement.Egypt was one of four Arab nations to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, along with Saudi Arabia, Uni...Read More

A first look at DeepGreen Resources, a seafloor mining startup partnered with Glencore, Maersk, and Fiore Group to disrupt the metals industry and defend the environment. Growing up on his family's dairy farm in Queensland, Australia, Gerard Barron developed a work ethic that has helped him realize success in diverse industries. Barron has built and sold successful ventures in the finance, publi...Read More

Decline, Deterioration, and Bear WarningsBy Dennis SlothowerWritten Saturday, June 3, 2017Trump Rejects Climate PactThe stock market responded favorably to the President's announcement that the United States will be pulling out of the Paris Climate Pact that benefits countries like China and India at the expense of the U.S.Whether you agree or disagree with the President's decision, the financial...Read More