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1. Gold has traded between $1,276 and $1,284 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is off $1 an ounce at $1,277…large speculators wiped out their net-bearish positioning in Gold futures, leaving them with a tiny net long, during the most recent reporting week for data compiled by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)…Silver has slipped 10 cents to $14.81…Copper is 2 cents lower at $2.83…the world’s largest Copper miner has a few words of advice: current bargain prices in the metal won’t last much longer…Codelco Chief Commercial Officer Robert Ecclefield is forecasting a 2.3% growth in Copper consumption this year as mine production is seen slipping 0.5%, while smelter output remains flat…supply-demand fundamentals are increasingly favouring Copper over the next couple of years, at least…Nickel is up 2 cents at $5.51 while Zinc is flat at $1.30…Cobalt remains steady at $15.76…Crude Oil has retreated 23 cents to $61.71 while the U.S. Dollar Index has climbed one-fifth of a point to 97.64…according to Tradeweb, nearly a quarter of the $3.6 trillion worth of investment-grade corporate debt in Europe carries a negative yield…this is constructive for Gold, which has correlated closely with the amount of negative-yielding debt in Europe…the U.S. is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a clear message to Iran that any attack on American interests or its allies will be met with “unrelenting force”, National Security Adviser John Bolton said yesterday…amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, Bolton in a statement said the decision was “in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings. The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or regular Iranian forces”…
2. Wall Street has started the week with a panic attack (aided by the hysterical mainstream media) after President Trump tweeted yesterday that the U.S. will hike tariffs on goods imported from China…in typical Trump negotiating style, which has mostly served him well in the Oval Office, he wrote that he planned to raise levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25% starting Friday, from 10% currently…he also tweeted he would impose 25% tariffs “shortly” on $325 billion in Chinese goods that haven’t yet been taxed…“The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!”…unpredictability, and knowing the “art of the deal”, are Trump’s strengths in dealing with friends and foes…the timing of his threat suggests it’s a tactic designed to increase leverage going into final negotiations, with the goal of cutting a deal perhaps as early as the end of the week…however, when the President puts his foot down, the markets feel some temporary pain…his threats also left Chinese officials facing another urgent task early today – how to prevent the Chinese stock market from plunging on the news…a rebound in Chinese shares this year, coinciding with the trade talks, has helped boost business confidence in the world’s 2nd-largest economy…meanwhile, in a bizarre twist, Trump’s tweets yesterday drew rare bipartisan support from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who urged Trump to “hang tough”…Schumer added, “Don’t back down. Strength is the only way to win with China”…China said this morning that its negotiators are still preparing to travel to the U.S. for trade talks this week…Trump has boxed them in…the Shanghai Composite tumbled 5.6% today while the Shenzhen A Shares index plunged more than 7%…fortunately for Americans, the Chinese are no longer dealing with a weak-kneed Obama with no business savvy…
3. Follow the money: Adventus Zinc (ADZN, TSX-V) has arranged a fully subscribed non-brokered private placement of approximately $12.1 million (13.8 million shares at 87.6 cents per share) for its Curipamba Project, a JV with Salazar Resources (SRL, TSX-V)…Consorcio Nobis, one of Ecuador’s largest private business conglomerates, is the lead participant in the offering by subscribing for $7.38 million, which will result in ownership of approximately 9.9% of the common shares of Adventus upon closing…Roberto Dunn, Executive Director of Nobis, will be nominated as a director of the company as part of an investment agreement and Adventus will grant Nobis the right to participate in future equity offerings so that it can maintain at least its pro rata ownership at the time of any such offering, up to a maximum of 9.9% of the common shares of Adventus…the remainder of the financing is expected to result from the exercise, or partial exercise, of anti-dilution rights held by pre-existing strategic shareholders of Adventus, including Altius Minerals (ALS, TSX), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM, TSX, NYSE), Greenstone Resources and Resource Capital Funds…Nobis has developed into one of Ecuador’s most successful and respected private enterprises with business interests across the agricultural, real estate, industrial, commercial, construction and tourism sectors…Nobis is also a leader in community development and philanthropy initiatives through the Nobis Foundation, which aims to educate and enable women, youth and low-income communities within Ecuador…the investment into Adventus, which follows last week’s release of an updated resource and a PEA for the El Domo VMS deposit listed by BMR last December, is the first by Nobis in the mining sector of Ecuador…Roberto Dunn, Executive Director of Nobis, commented, “We are pleased to announce our investment in Adventus and to participate in the growing mining sector of Ecuador, which is set to become a major driver of economic development. We look forward to working with the Adventus team on its impressive project portfolio and to benefiting from the international sector expertise of our fellow strategic shareholders, while in turn adding value through the sharing of our knowledge and deep understanding of the economic, social and environmental priorities of Ecuador. We are confident that this investment will strengthen the country’s position before international markets and the success of the Curipamba Project will positively impact the nearby communities”…
4. Trudeau’s in a bind and needs Trump’s help: A Globe and Mail report says Canada is leaning on the United States to help settle a dispute with China, which has started to block imports of vital Canadian commodities…China has upped the pressure on Canada in recent weeks following last December’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. warrant, combined of course with Trudeau’s ill-timed blustering about how Canada follows the “rule of law” (just prior to the SNC Lavalin scandal that has severely damaged the Trudeau and Liberal brand)…China halted Canadian canola imports and last week suspended the permits of 2 major pork producers…Chinese police also detained 2 Canadian citizens, and Beijing is refusing to allow a Canadian trade delegation to visit…with no cards to play against China without risking significant economic damage, the Trudeau government has launched a full-court press in Washington, which of course is negotiating its own trade deal with Beijing…Trudeau’s influence in the Trump White House, unfortunately, is very limited…
5. The Dow is off 310 points through the first 30 minutes of trading on the “China chill”…in Toronto, the TSX has lost 118 points points while the Venture is trying to hold above 600, down 4 points at 602…trading is quiet on both the Venture and the CSE to begin the new week…Radius Gold (RDU, TSX-V), last week’s big winner with a gain of 139% on stellar drill results, has pulled back 1.5 cents to 35.5 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…drilling continues at Radius‘ Amalia Project in Chihuahua state after the company’s first hole of 2019 cut 44 m @ 12.4 g/t Au and 300 g/t Ag (34 m estimated true thickness)…weather in the Eskay Camp is warming up with sunny skies forecast for much of this week…barring any last-minute twists, work programs are expected to begin early this year…Etruscus Resources (ETR, TSX-V) has been the first company with boots on the ground at the Rock & Roll Project near the low elevation Snip mine…Mission Ready (MRS, TSX-V) is up 3 pennies at 28 cents after reporting that it has signed $7 million (U.S.) in new contracts since April 1…Mission Ready innovates and manufactures leading tech-centric defence and tactical solutions to prevent injuries and enhance the performance of military personnel, first-responders and all those who protect us by equipping them with the next generation of personal protective technologies…
6. Retailers across Canada are struggling with a shortage of all cannabis, but there’s one product they’re especially desperate to keep on shelves: cannabidiol or CBD, a non-intoxicating extract vaunted for its purported health benefits…the extract, most commonly sold as Oil, has been promoted as a natural cure for pain, anxiety and insomnia, despite limited medical research…many customers are coming in asking for it, especially first-time and older users, store owners say…“I don’t think the licensed producers really realized how popular CBD was, so there’s none available, really,” said Krystian Wetulani, founder of City Cannabis Co. in Vancouver…“When something becomes available on the cannabis wholesale ordering sheet, everybody tries to get all that’s available. It’s like a race. That’s one of the biggest opportunities we’re facing in the legalized market”…companies are ramping up hemp growth to produce the trendy extract, but observers expect the shortage to persist until late this year…meanwhile, scientists are working to separate the hype from reality when it comes to medical claims about the drug…
7. Drager Drug Test 5000 failure: Police are continuing to remind people not to get high before driving…but what about the dangers of eating poppy seed cake?…a Vancouver lawyer says her suspicions about the new Drager DrugTest 5000 roadside testing device, approved by the Trudeau Liberals, have been confirmed after her law firm ran 2 days of testing that turned up false positives…the saliva-screening device was approved by the feds ahead of cannabis legalization last October to be used by law enforcement to check drivers for THC, the main psychoactive agent in marijuana…Kyla Lee with Acumen Law already had concerns about the device when it was approved, namely that it only detects the presence of drugs rather than impairment…yesterday, Lee said her staff ran 2 days of tests on the device and found it can be even more problematic…“We had several individuals eat poppy seed loaf from Tim Hortons and poppy seed cake they made at home. All of those people tested positive in the saliva test for opiates, and later tested positive in subsequent urine tests,” Lee said…“So if a police officer were to pull those people over and gave them a saliva test, they would be arrested”…if that person then tested positive for opiates in a urine test at the station, Lee said, that person could be charged with impaired driving…Lee added that the tests also found similar positive results for cocaine after staff drank coca tea, which derives from the same plant and is commonly available…“That’s so concerning, because in our legal system we have a zero-tolerance threshold for cocaine. Any detectable amount of cocaine in your system means you’re guilty of a criminal offence”…Finally, Lee said the testing found the Drager is unable to differentiate between THC and CBD, which is the non-psychoactive agent in cannabis and is often treated for medical treatment and pain relief…“We found there was a retention period of half an hour. It was still found in the mouth even though there were no lingering effects in the body,” she said…Vancouver police announced in September it wouldn’t be using the Drager device, with other Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley departments adopting a wait-and-see approach…this bodes well for the FAIMS based Cannabix Marijuana Breathalyzer being developed by Cannabix Technologies (BLO, CSE)…
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