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Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has bounced around between $1,314 and $1,328 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $3 an ounce at $1,325…Silver has added 7 cents to $16.57…Copper, Nickel and Zinc are all up slightly at $3.12, $6.26 and $1.49, respectively…Cobalt is steady at a decade high of $38.33…Crude Oil has jumped 50 cents to $61.86 while the U.S. Dollar Index has retreated one-quarter of a point to 89.88…the greenback came under pressure immediately after a tepid U.S. inflation report…the Fed meets next week, and the pattern in Gold immediately prior to an anticipated rate hike is well established as Commerzbank pointed out today:  “It was not unusual for Gold to experience phases of weakness ahead of a Fed meeting last year – this was particularly noticeably in the run-up to the 4 ‘major’ Fed meetings.  These took place in March, June, September and December and were regarded by the market as possible occasions for the Fed to hike interest rates.  Gold always shed 3-4% in the 2 weeks before these meetings.”

2. The key economic data point of the day came 1 hour before the opening bell on Wall Street as the U.S. consumer price index report for February was in line with expectations, up 0.2% for the month and 2.2% year-on-year…this will help ease inflation concerns, and stock prices have reacted accordingly in early trading…the “core” CPI number, which excludes food and energy, was also up 0.2% from January but has only advanced 1.8% year-on-year…a decline in energy prices helped keep inflation in check while apparel contributed the most to gains, adding to the increase in January…new car prices fell 0.5%, the biggest monthly decline since August 2009…this morning’s report marked the 3rd straight month in which core prices have risen at an annual rate of 1.8%, suggesting inflation is rising at only a moderate pace…real average hourly earnings were flat in February, and Oil prices remain at non-inflationary levels…

3. The Dow is up 144 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is 69 points higher while the Venture has added 2 points to 829…Kopin (KOPN, NASDAQ), a global leader in the wearable technology space, is up another 16 cents to $3.88 as of 7:00 am Pacific…KOPN has posted 8 consecutive winning sessions with the stock now gaining traction above its 200-day moving average (SMA)…Skeena Resources (SKE, TSX-V) has arranged a $6 million “best efforts” private placement through a syndicate of agents led by PI Financial and Sprott Capital Partners ($3 million in hard dollars at 60 cents per unit and $3 million in flow-through at 70 cents per unit)…Cypress Development (CYP, TSX-V) has drilled 126 m averaging 1,068 ppm Lithium (DDH-15) and 121 m averaging 1,146 ppm Lithium (DDH-16) from surface at its Dean Property in Nevada – the two intersections, located in the southeastern corner of the property, are the best the company has drilled to date in terms of contained Lithium…this comes ahead of Cypress completing work on a maiden resource estimate…drilling continues with assays pending for DDH-17…on the CSE, Auxico Resources Canada (AUAG, CSE) has released some exceptionally high Scandium assays from sampling at its Metalor Property in Colombia…a total of 6 selected samples were taken…5 of the 6 samples contain Scandium within an average content of 1,300 g/t Scandium…5 of the 6 samples also contain Gold with an average Gold content of 21 g/t…the selected samples were taken over a distance of approximately 481 m…the high-grade Scandium and Gold values are associated with a fault observed over a width of at least 480 m…the fault is represented by an exhalative shale sequence containing disseminated to massive sulphide strata…

4. Pascal Biosciences (PAS, TSX-V) has closed a $5.2 million financing at 40 cents per unit…there is a growing body of research demonstrating the effectiveness of cannabinoids in the treatment of cancer symptoms, including nausea, appetite enhancement and pain management…however, Pascal is the first to identify a mechanism in which cannabinoids may provide a direct benefit in immunotherapy…

5. Blue Moon Zinc (MOON, TSX-V) has added Peter A. Ball to its board of directors…currently an executive/board advisor with Bonterra Resources (BTR, TSX-V), Ball brings nearly 3 decades of extensive experience and leadership in the mining sector…Patrick McGrath, Blue Moon CEO, stated, “We welcome Peter’s leadership to our board and his broad experience from development stage assets through to active mining companies such as Hud Bay and Eldorado. Peter also brings a wealth of knowledge of the capital markets and the mining investment community which will benefit shareholders significantly as we enter an exciting new phase for the Blue Moon Zinc Project.”

6. Tinka Resources (TK, TSX-V) , enjoying success at its Ayawilca Zinc Project in central Peru, has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by GMP Securities LP pursuant for a $7 million bought deal financing at 48 cents per unit…the Ayawilca Zinc zone Inferred mineral resource estimate now consists of 42.7 million tonnes at 6.0% Zn, 0.2% Pb, 17 g/t Ag and 79 g/t Indium, and a Tin zone Inferred mineral resource of 10.5 million tonnes at 0.63% Tin, 0.23% Cu and 12 g/t Ag…drilling at Ayawilca continues…President and CEO Dr. Graham Carman stated, “The company has two key objectives for 2018: continue our exploration drill program targeting additional zinc resources at Ayawilca with 15,000 m of drilling planned; and advance the project with desktop mining studies and detailed metallurgical tests that will form the basis of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) planned for the 2nd half of 2018.”

7. Northern Vertex Mining (NEE, TSX-V) has achieved its first Gold pour at the Moss mine in northwestern Arizona…it has received a commitment of up to $100 million (U.S.) for acquisition and development from its partner Sprott Private Resource Lending LP and has arranged a $2-million non-brokered exploration financing at 52 cents per unit…Ken Berry, Northern Vertex President and CEO, stated: “The first Gold pour at the Moss mine is an exciting milestone for all stakeholders.  The transition to U.S. Gold producer is the culmination of 6 years of development, millions in economic activity and a dedication to safety with more than 1,967 days without a lost-time accident. Furthermore, the commitment of up to $100-million (U.S.) by our partner Sprott for acquisitions and development positions Northern Vertex to aggressively pursue our goals for 2018 (see news release dated Jan. 3, 2018).”

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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has traded between $1,314 and $1,325 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $6 an ounce at $1,317…Silver has retreated 14 cents to $16.43…Copper has slipped 3 pennies to $3.11…Nickel, after a powerful move Friday, has eased off 4 cents to $6.23…Zinc is down a penny to $1.47 while Cobalt is unchanged at a decade high of $38.33…Crude Oil is 48 cents lower at $61.56 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off slightly at 90.09…U.S. inflation worries have faded after data on Friday showed non-farm payrolls jumped by 313,000 jobs last month, but annual growth in average hourly earnings slowed to 2.6% after a spike in January that helped precipitate a correction in equities…Americans’ sentiment rose last week to the second-highest level since 2001, as the benefits of increased take-home pay from tax cuts outweighed concerns about stock-market volatility, according to the weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index…CNBC’s Cramer is reporting this morning that Larry Kudlow, a CNBC senior contributor and a free trade advocate, is the leading contender to replace Gary Cohn as President Trump’s National Economic Council director…Canada, China and Hong Kong are among the economies most at risk of a banking crisis, according to early-warning indicators compiled by the Bank for International Settlements…speaking of China, the communist country’s rubber-stamp lawmakers yesterday passed an historic constitutional amendment abolishing a Presidential two-term limit that will enable Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely…

2. A new report by Fitch Group think tank BMI Research forecasts a decline in Canada’s global contribution of Nickel over the next decade with the country’s production growth rate averaging just 1.6%, the slowest of all major global Nickel producers…new discoveries in Canada are urgently needed…world Nickel production is expected to grow by an annual average rate of 3.5% through 2027, similar to the last decade, with Indonesia leading the way after having surpassed the Philippines as the largest global producer last year…the analysis presents Australia, which enjoys a stable regulatory environment and a solid project pipeline, as the second best-performing major producer…

3. Not surprisingly, there’s a stark difference between Canada and the U.S. in terms of how Oil rig activity is trending…according to energy services firm Baker Hughes, there were 796 active rigs in the U.S. last week…that’s an increase of 179 rigs or 29% over the past year…in Canada, 273 rigs were active last week which is down 13.3% from a year ago…of even greater concern is the drop in Oil rig activity in Canada just since the beginning of last month – down a whopping 69 rigs or 20.1%, according to CADOC (Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors)…that’s what politicians in this country are doing to the Oil and gas sector…

4. While metals’ sector investors gathered at PDAC last week, the Oil industry’s biggest names were at CERAWeek, the largest energy industry get-together in the Americas…a key turning point this year was the attendance of companies such as Alphabet and General Motors…their presence coincides with major discussions on how the Oil industry is funding research into big-data, cloud computing and applying new technology to its operations to cut costs and boost production…

5. A Barclays‘ analyst says Chinese data arriving in the coming days will set the tone for Copper’s short-term price as the market assesses demand indications from the world’s biggest consumer of the metal.  “We believe the Copper market is at a crossroads, with the next 4 to 6 weeks holding particular significance,” stated analyst Dane Davis.  “With China broadly maintaining macro momentum into the New Year, there is an open question whether that will be maintained with resumption of industrial activity in March and early April.  Supply and the ongoing pace of labor contract renewals (in Chile and Peru) are also under scrutiny…for the industry as a whole, labor harmony brings higher supply, a return to mined production growth, and, thus, the potential for weaker prices.”

6. The Dow is up 76 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is 22 points higher…Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX) has been added to the S&P/TSX Composite Index…the Venture has slipped 2 points to 827 on weakness in some marijuana plays…Scythian Biosciences (SCYB, TSX-V), which soared to more than $34 in January, announced this morning that it has entered into a non-binding LOI to acquire a company pursuing medical cannabis opportunities in South America…Pascal Biosciences (PAS, TSX-V), in the midst of closing a $5.2 million financing at 40 cents, is unchanged at 48 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…the company recently announced that it has identified molecules in cannabis that stimulate the immune system to destroy tumor cells…Canada Jetlines (JET, TSX-V) continues to fly high, touching $1.18 in early trading…Assure Holdings (IOM, TSX-V) is taking a beating after announcing the resignation of its Auditor and a director…on the CSE, MGX Minerals (XMG, CSE) says it has commenced optimization of charging and oxygen fuel generation functions for its Zinc air fuel cell battery as part of the mass production design phase…Kopin (KOPN, NASDAQ), a global leader in the wearable technology space, is up another dime in early trading to $3.60, its 8th straight winning session as it pushes above its 200-day moving average (SMA)…

7. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), which is overseeing the sale and distribution of recreational cannabis in that province, has unveiled its Ontario Cannabis Store (OSC) brand…the Ontario Cannabis Store will be the name for the government agency as well as its physical and virtual retail shops…the OCS will be the only retailer in the province that sells this type of product legally…Ontario plans to initially open 40 stores, in addition to offering on-line sales…it said it will have 80 stores open by July 1, 2019, and 150 locations by the end of 2020…in contrast, there are 660 LCBO retail stores and 212 agency stores that sell alcoholic beverages in the province…that is a little more than half of the Ontario alcohol market…meanwhile, Canadians are paying just under $7 a gram for marijuana, on average, according to Stats Canada which received 17,139 voluntary reports, submitted on-line, on how much people paid for pot…

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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has traded between $1,312 and $1,323 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $2 an ounce at $1,320…Silver is up slightly at $16.53…Copper and Nickel are both rebounding, up 4 cents and 12 cents, respectively, at $3.12 and $6.12 after bullish news on the U.S. economy…Zinc is unchanged at $1.46…Crude Oil has jumped $1 a barrel to $61.13 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off slightly at 90.13…the booming U.S. economy added a staggering 313,000 jobs in February, crushing expectations, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%…economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting non-farm payroll growth of 200,000…construction firms added 61,000 workers, the biggest increase in nearly 11 years for the sector…wages, however, grew at a slower rate compared with January which will temper inflation expectations…average hourly earnings for all private sector workers increased 4 cents last month to $26.75…wages rose 2.6% from a year earlier in February while the average wage gain in January was revised down to 2.8%…Wall Street loves it but CNN keeps talking about Russians and Stormy Daniels…

2. Cobalt is up again this morning, trading at another new decade high of $37.88…a powerful group of top mining executives, including Robert Friedland, has failed to derail the momentum of a controversial new tax code in the “Democratic” Republic of the Congo…the miners held a 6-hour meeting with Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Wednesday, but the government said it will proceed with its planned tax increases without any changes…the government did agree, however, to “listen to the concerns of the miners” after the tax code is signed into law…how generous of them…the DRC is an unstable regime, to put it politely, that currently supplies more than 50% of the world’s Cobalt…all the more reason why investors need to be looking at Cobalt opportunities elsewhere, particularly in North America where so much geological potential exists for new Cobalt deposits and mining of historic ones…at the top of that list is the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp where multiple companies are active…Canada Cobalt (CCW, TSX-V) appears to have the most attractive current valuation and we’ll be explaining why in the days ahead…

3. The left-wing mainstream media in the U.S. and Canada had difficulty dealing with the bombshell announcement regarding North Korea last night – the news that “Little Rocket Man”, who has been squeezed hard by tough sanctions and the credible threat of annihilation from a U.S. military strike, is now prepared to potentially denuclearize and requested a near-term meeting with President Trump…this development underscores how no one understands the “Art of the Deal” better than the book’s author who’s now applying that business acumen in the Oval Office in matters of national security and trade…Trump has agreed to meet with the North Korean leader by May in what would be an historic moment of international diplomacy…there has never been a face-to-face meeting, or even a phone call, between sitting leaders of the two nations…Trump’s unpredictability has helped move the needle on North Korea more than any other American President before him, and Republican Lindsay Graham had another message for “Little Rocket Man” in an official statement last night:  “The worst possible thing you can do is meet President Trump in person and try to play him.  If you do that, it will be the end of you – and your regime,” Graham said…

4. Alberta needs to take a page out of the Trump Playbook and become much more aggressive in its dealings with British Columbia which is deliberately and illegally standing in the way of the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion (a threat not just to Alberta, by the way, but all of Canada with the feds remaining virtually silent)…there needs to be some serious push back against the unrepentant Green Monster, similar to how former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed threatened to make Eastern Canada freeze in the dark (and made that threat credible) when Pierre Trudeau introduced his disastrous National Energy Program in the early 1980’s…Lougheed passed legislation allowing him to reduce Alberta’s Oil exports to Ontario by 15%…he didn’t turn off the Oil taps completely, but adjusted the flow so central Canada felt the pinch – and Ottawa agreed to renegotiate the program…Alberta Conservative and Opposition Leader Jason Kenney has been a strong proponent of the Lougheed approach when it comes to British Columbia, and yesterday Alberta Premier Rachel Notley raised the specter of such action in the government’s throne speech.  “In the past, when workers in our energy industry were attacked and when the resources we own were threatened, premier Peter Lougheed took bold action.  We will not hesitate to invoke similar legislation if it becomes necessary owing to extreme and illegal actions on the part of the B.C. government to stop the pipeline.”  Whether Notley The Snowflake has the courage to act on those words is another question (with Kenney there is no doubt – British Columbia will freeze in the dark and gas prices will go through the roof, even if it means short-term pain for Alberta)…meanwhile, anti-pipeline protesters, broadly encouraged by the Green Monster, have kept Burnaby RCMP busy this week – police have made 6 arrests in the past 4 days with individuals doing everything from chaining themselves to trees to jumping on work vehicles and blocking access to the Kinder Morgan site…

5. Interesting allegations from Maricann Group (MARI, CSE) CEO Ben Ward who’s taking aim at the underwriters who terminated the company’s $70 million bought deal announced at the end of January…Eight Capital and Canaccord Genuity served as the lead banks…they each had agreed to buy 40% of the deal from Maricann and then resell those securities to other investors…last week, the syndicate of underwriters formally cancelled the deal after The Globe & Mail reported that Maricann had not disclosed a probe by the Ontario Securities Commission into Ward…the OSC has also made inquiries into recent trading by company directors…Ward alleges that an unnamed underwriter sought to tank the deal because pot stocks tumbled shortly after the financing was launched.  “We believe the underwriter in question was working with clients that shorted our stock in the wake of the deal collapsing with the intention of destroying Maricann’s shareholder value and making off like bandits at the same time…there was clearly something nefarious afoot,” Ward told the Globe…

6. The Dow has climbed 172 points through the first 30 minutes of trading following the encouraging jobs report and President Trump’s tariff announcement yesterday…in Toronto, the TSX is 15 points higher…a bad week for Bitcoin…the cryptocurrency has fallen back below $10,000, a drop of about 25% for the week after a slew of negative headlines hit the cryptocurrency market this week…Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX) has been successful in its offer for all the issued and outstanding common shares of CanniMed Therapeutics (CMED, TSX)…the number of CanniMed common shares tendered as at the close of business yesterday totaled just over 17.8 million, representing approximately 71% of the total outstanding CanniMed Shares on a fully diluted basis…the Venture is unchanged at 829…Pascal Biosciences (PAS, TSX-V) is close to wrapping up its financing after announcing last night that the PP is now over-subscribed and is being increased to $5.2 million at 40 cents per unit…

7. Wearable technology leader Kopin Corp. (KOPN, NASDAQ) is up for the 7th straight session in early trading…Daniel will have more regarding the company’s Q4 financials released yesterday in today’s Daniel’s Den…after a 78% jump in revenue in Q4, vs. the same period a year earlier, Kopin is forecasting strong demand in 2018 with revenues expected to increase by as much as 50% to $40 million…as CEO Dr. John Fan stated, 2018 could be the “tipping point” for enterprise adoption of augmented reality (AR)…

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