Check back later this morning for today’s Morning Musings.

1. The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, according to this morning’s latest jobs report from the Labor Department…the report was close to Wall Street expectations of 175,000, though economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.9%…wages put a damper on the gains with the annualized pace of average hourly earnings slumping to 2.5%…there was less anticipation around this morning’s U.S. jobs report than any other jobs report over the last few years, in large part due to the fact that the Fed is widely expected to hike rates for only the second time in a decade at its upcoming meeting December 13–14…Gold, up a few dollars an ounce as of 7:00 am Pacific, may not really turn the corner until that Fed meeting…

2. The Canadian labour market unexpectedly added 10,700 net jobs last month and the unemployment rate slid to 6.8%…however, the Stats Canada employment survey shows yet another monthly decline in the more desirable category of full-time work – a figure more than offset by a gain in part-time jobs…

3. Outflows from global Gold ETFs continue, although sales of Gold coins were strong last month, according to Commerzbank. “ETF outflows also continued yesterday for the 15th consecutive day of trading. At 18.1 tonnes, the highest daily outflow since July 2013 was even recorded, which for the most part was attributable to the SPDR Gold Trust in the U.S. It may be that ETF investors – the majority of whom are institutional investors – are selling Gold in a bid to cushion their losses on the bond market. In November, U.S. bond investors suffered their highest monthly loss since 1990.”

4. Despite the surge in Crude Oil prices since Wednesday, the TSX is still slightly lower for the week but up slightly through the first 30 minutes of trading today…the Venture has had a positive week and is 5 points higher at 744 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

5. WTI prices eased off overnight to about $50 a barrel before turning higher again…as of 7:00 am Pacific, Crude is flat for the day at $51…Nickel is the leader among the metals this morning with a gain of 7 cents to $5.11…

6. Canadian Zeolite (CNZ, TSX-V), after announcing important approvals yesterday for its natural Zeolite as an animal feed additive, has hit a new high of $1.17 as of 7:00 am Pacific…we’ll have an updated CNZ chart in today’s Morning Musings…

7. Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V) has made some interesting strategic moves in the Val d’Or area this week, including staking and a deal with another company to double the size of its Val d’Or East Project where a 10,000-m drill program started in August with no results released yet…PRB is up 4 pennies at $1.05 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

Gold has traded between $1,160 and $1,178 so far today…as of 11:15 am Pacific, bullion has recovered to $1,173, even for the day…Silver is up 14 cents at $16.62…Copper is off slightly at $2.62…Nickel is down 2 pennies at $5.03…Crude Oil has surged another $2.12 a barrel to $51.56 while the U.S. Dollar Index has retreated half a point to 101.02…

HSBC looks for the polish to return to Silver in 2017, forecasting a 132 million ounce supply deficit and an average price of $18.75 an ounce…like Gold, Silver fared well for most of this year before a recent downward spiral after the U.S. elections and a growing certainty of a Fed rate hike December 14…

“In our view, any resurgence in investor uncertainty or ‘safe-haven’ demand, possibly based on geopolitical concerns, will bolster Silver in 2017,” HSBC said, forecasting a price range for the year of $16 to $21.50.  “We also base our expectations on solid fundamentals, as mine supply is likely to contract while industrial and jewelry demand should increase. Our expectation of Gold strength is supportive, and we believe a tighter Fed policy is largely priced into the market.”

A stronger-than-expected U.S. ADP national employment report yesterday and an upbeat ISM Chciago business survey helped put fresh pressure on Gold with prices dipping to a new 10-month low this morning…New York-listed SPDR Gold Shares said its holdings fell nearly 60 tonnes in November, the most of any month since May 2013…

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest levels since July 2015 today…

The euro zone unemployment rate is now at its lowest level in 7 years, falling to 9.8% in October from 9.9% in September…also, euro zone PMI was 53.7 in November, up slightly from the October reading of 53.5…

OPEC burned quite a few shorts in the market yesterday – shares of Whiting Petroleum (WLL, NYSE), North Dakota’s largest Oil producer, soared 30% on massive volume…more than a quarter of its float was bet short, according to FactSet…

Crude Oil Update

The likes of Elizabeth May and David Suzuki have made it clear that those who are opposed to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, approved Tuesday by Prime Minister Trudeau, will do whatever they can to attempt to block the critical infrastructure project – in May’s case, even if it means “going to jail”…

BMR offices are just a short distance from Burnaby Mountain, so we look forward to covering any upcoming protests if the Oil haters wish to expand their efforts against Kinder Morgan and federal and provincial governments in the battle over this much-needed $7 billion project…

Environmental activist David Suzuki at a Trans Mountain pipeline protest in Burnaby, B.C., in the fall of 2014.

Imagine This:  Polluting Smoke Billowing From Suzuki’s Car!

Yesterday, we received an interesting email from one of our subscribers, a highly reliable individual, after our comments regarding Suzuki, May and all those who are opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (or any Oil pipelines in Canada, for that matter…Suzuki said he was “gobsmacked” that Trudeau approved the project after he had personally lobbied the PM)…

“Many years ago, at least 10, we were doing a project in either Comox or Campbell River.  David Suzuki was in line with us waiting for the ferry.  When he started up his Japanese make of a car, it billowed so much smoke, in today’s environment he would not have been allowed on the ferry.  In his words, my guys were gobsmacked!  Unreal.  I should have taken a picture, you could not see his car from all the smoke!” 

In Today’s Morning Musings…

1. TSX and Oil updates – how high for Crude?…

2. Zeolite zaps CNZ to a new high…

3. The “Tinka Trend” at Ayawilca – multiple priority step-out holes for near-term drilling to expand Zinc and Tin-Copper resources…

Plus more…click here to read the rest of today’s Morning Musings and all BMR exclusive content, through a risk-free Pro, Gold or Basic package, or login with your username and password…

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Check back later this morning for today’s Mornings Musings.

1. Crude Oil prices have added to yesterday’s explosive gains following the announcement of OPEC’s first production cut since 2008…WTI is up $1.32 a barrel to $50.76 as of 7:00 am Pacific…over the past year, a bullish inverted head-and-shoulders bottom has formed in Crude, suggesting prices are headed significantly higher in the months ahead…

2. Gold suffered its biggest monthly drop in 3 years in November…it fell by more than 8% last month, hurt by a surge in the dollar and Treasury yields, and by expectations that the Fed will hike interest rates for only the 2nd time in a decade December 14…ETF outflows since the U.S. election have totaled approximately 5 million ounces, mainly from U.S.-listed products in a rotation away from safe-haven instruments toward pro-growth assets…after finding its bottom, perhaps just prior to the Fed meeting, Gold could charge back vigorously, however, once investors start focusing on the likelihood of rising U.S. deficits and debt in addition to the possibility of a more inflationary environment in 2017…

3. Canopy Growth (CGC, TSX) is acquiring Mettrum Health (MT, TSX-V), creating a world-leading diversified cannabis company with 6 licensed facilities and a licensed production footprint of approximately 665,000 square feet, with significant acreage for expansion…MT is up $2.03 to $7.95 while CGC has climbed 47 cents to $12.27 as of 7:00 am Pacific…the deal is an all-share transaction valued at $430 million, and that has given other companies in the sector a boost this morning…

4. Nemaska Lithium (NMX, TSX) this morning has announced a 29% increase in Indicated resources and a 58% jump in Inferred resources at its Whabouchi Lithum mine in northern Quebec…Guy Bourassa, NMX President and CEO, stated, “The new resource will increase the open pit design enabling us to mine for a longer period using low cost open pit mining methods, which should reduce our cost of concentrate. This is very important when one considers that it takes approximately 7.5 tonnes of concentrate to produce one tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent. While our updated Feasibility study, which we are targeting to release in January 2017, will further define those numbers, I am nonetheless very pleased with the results of this new resource and the positive impact it should have on our project economics”…

5. Investors should note that Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V) has significantly expanded its footprint in the Val d’Or region, particularly immediately around its Val d’Or East Project and the past producing Beliveau mine where a major drill program was launched in August (no results yet)…this morning, the company announced it has acquired the Bonnefond North Property from QMX Gold (QMX, TSX-V) which extends Probe’s land package immediately to the south of Val d’Or East and along strike of the Beliveau mine…in addition, Probe has recently staked claims around Val d’Or East that, together with the Bonnefond North acquisition, almost doubles the size of this project to 150 sq. km…

6. One of the top-performing juniors in November was Garibaldi Resources (GGI, TSX-V) with a 48% gain thanks to confirmation of British Columbia’s first magmatic Ni-Cu rich system with PGE’s, Cobalt and Gold in the heart of the Golden Triangle, 11 miles southwest of Eskay Creek and 20 miles west of Pretium’s (PVG, TSX) high-grade Brucejack Gold mine…the deposit features high tenors and has not been delimited in any direction including at depth…a private Chinese company has become a GGI shareholder, and two renowned Nickel specialists have just joined the GGI team including the author of a book on Voisey’s Bay who’s also a periodic guest on BNN…despite November’s surge, GGI’s $8.2 million market cap gives the stock considerable upside given valuations of neighbors Colorado Resources ($15 million), Eskay Mining ($25 million) and Tudor Gold ($34 million) with GGI also diversified with year-round projects elsewhere in B.C. and Mexico…more near-term developments expected regarding the E&L and GGI’s other holdings…

7. Callinex Mines (CNX, TSX-V) is up a nickel to 65 cents in early trading, just 4 pennies below its recent multi-year high…a second drill rig recently arrived at the company’s Pine Bay Project near Flin Flon and is currently drilling the first follow-up hole to test the downplunge extent of its new VMS discovery as part of a 10,000-m campaign…