4. The Venture is up slightly at 801 as of 7:00 am Pacific with North American equity markets recovering from modest losses yesterday…the TSX is 52 points higher through the first 30 minutes of trading…in New York, the Dow has added 12 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the NASDAQ has hit a new record high…the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ are coming off solid monthly performances in May…the S&P and NASDAQ posted monthly gains of 1.16% and 2.5%, respectively, while the Dow rose about a third of a percent on the back of a subdued volatility environment…the VIX, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, broke below 10 six times last month, hitting levels not seen in more than 20 years…
1. Gold hit a 6-week high this morning, buoyed by technical momentum, geopolitical events including another Islamist terrorist attack, and disappointing U.S. jobs data on Friday that may have dimmed the prospects for further U.S. interest rate hikes during the 2nd half of the year…Gold has traded between $1,279 and $1,284 so far today and is up $2 an ounce at $1,280 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Silver is up slightly at $17.58…India will be rolling out a new 3% nationwide sales tax on Gold and Gold jewelry as soon as July 1, according to the country’s GST Council which met during the weekend to finalize the numbers…the new bracket will force consumers to pay a total of 13% in taxes on Gold jewelry…this number consists of a 10% import duty and 3% GST…right now buyers pay around 12.5%….India’s Gold imports in May surged 4-fold from a year ago to 103 tonnes as jewellers increased purchases to replenish inventory and stock up ahead of the new national sales tax…
2. Saudi Arabia and 3 other Arab countries have severed diplomatic and some commercial links with Qatar, a dramatic move today that exposes divides among U.S. allies in the Middle East over policy toward Iran and the role of political Islam in the region…in cutting ties, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accused the tiny Gulf state of backing terrorism and meddling in their affairs…the step marked a sharp escalation of a rift between the countries that surfaced late last month when Qatar’s state-controlled news agency carried pro-Iranian comments that it later said were the result of a hack…Iran has spoken up, doing what most like to do – they’ve blamed President Trump…with a production capacity of about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), Qatar’s Crude output is one of OPEC’s smallest (it accounts for only about 2% of the cartel’s output)…there are 2 ways to view today’s developments…tension within OPEC clearly has the potential of weakening the Oil supply deal, aimed at supporting prices, or the opposite could occur – increased tensions could lead to a broader Middle East conflict that ultimately builds a risk premium into Crude…Qatar, by the way, is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied Natural Gas, accounting for about one-third of global supply…WTI prices are 68 cents lower at $46.98 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
3. The World Bank has maintained its forecast that global growth will improve to 2.7% this year, citing a pickup in manufacturing and trade, improved market confidence and a recovery in commodity prices…the updated report marked the first time in several years that its June forecasts were not reduced from those published in January due to rising growth risks…the World Bank said advanced economies were showing signs of improvement, especially Japan and Europe, while the 7 largest emerging markets – China, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Russia – were again helping to drive global growth…
4. The Venture is up 1 point at 802 as of 7:00 am Pacific…the TSX has slipped 58 points while the Dow has gained 8 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…Deveron UAS (DVR, CSE) has just reported that it has closed the 2nd and final tranche of its previously announced financing, raising an additional $716,000 for total gross proceeds of just over $2 million…Deveron is scaling up its fleet of drones as it continues to dominate and lead innovation in drone-data-related precision agriculture in Canada…Granada Gold (GGM, TSX-V) is showing signs of breaking out now that Secutor Capital appears to have exhausted its supply of flow-through paper from last fall’s financing while GGM is also now armed with updated NI-43–101 resource and Block Model estimates for its multi-million ounce deposit near Rouyn-Noranda…
5. White Gold (WGO, TSX-V) has commenced initial RAB drilling programs on its Dime and Loonie properties in the Yukon…an estimated 50 to 60 drill holes, representing approximately 5,000 to 6,000 m of drilling, are planned between the two properties over a period of about 4 weeks…the programs will utilize on-site XRF analysis and downhole optical televiewer surveys paired with 3D modelling software for daily geologic, geochemical and structural interpretation to guide the drilling…these drill holes comprise the first phase of a 3-phase drilling program planned over 6 properties by the company in 2017…
6. Atac Resources (ATAC, TSX-V) has commenced diamond drilling at the Carlin-type Conrad Gold zone within its wholly-owned Osiris project at the 1,742 sq. km Rackla Gold property in the Yukon…as a result of the recently announced Barrick Gold earn-in agreement, the Rackla Gold Property has been divided into 3 projects: 1) Osiris, located at the east end of the property, covers 302 sq. km and hosts the Osiris, Conrad, Ibis and Sunrise drill-confirmed Carlin-type Gold discoveries; 2) Rau, located at the west end of the property, covers 660 sq km and hosts the Tiger Gold Deposit in addition to numerous other early-stage carbonate-replacement style Gold and base metal targets; and 3) Orion, located in the central portion of the property, covers 780 sq. km and is the only project subject to the Barrick earn-in agreement…Orion hosts the Orion and Anubis drill-confirmed Carlin-type Gold discoveries in addition to 8 other early stage Carlin-type Gold prospects…
7. Biorem (BRM, TSX-V) reported this morning that has received several new orders totaling $5.4 million for air emission abatement projects in North America…the Company’s 2017 order bookings to date total $12.5 million compared to $7.6 million of orders booked in the 1st half of 2016, and the order backlog of $24 million is $6.9 million or 40% greater than the order backlog of $17.1 million on June 30, 2016. “Our business development and sales initiatives continue to bear fruit as we approach the mid point of 2017,” said Derek S. Webb, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We have focused our attention on providing technical and engineering services to our existing clients in an effort to expand the scope of supply for high profile projects. This approach is resonating with consultants and municipalities who need to have a reliable long term solution. With these latest orders, the company’s order backlog stands at approximately $24 million, providing great revenue visibility for the next 4 to 6 quarters.” Biorem is a leading clean technology company that designs, manufactures and distributes a comprehensive line of high-efficiency air emissions control systems used to eliminate odors, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants…
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