Gold has traded between $1,180 and $1,197 so far today…as of 9:30 am Pacific, bullion is up $10 an ounce at $1,194…Silver is up 23 cents at $16.50…Copper has added 3 cents to $2.91…Crude Oil has surged $1.42 a barrel to $60.67 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen three-quarters of a point to 94.35…
Gold has posted 3 straight months of losses, the longest slump since December 2013, but keep in mind that bullion took off to the upside after that previous 3-month slide, surging about 15% in the 1st quarter of 2014…contrarians will also point to Friday’s largest drop of the year in reserves in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s biggest Gold-backed ETF, as a bullish sign…technically, Gold must reclaim $1,200 as new support in order to generate fresh momentum…
RBC has retained a $1,250 per ounce average price for Gold this year, even with the assumption of an initial Fed rate hike…the bank sees stronger bullion prices during the 2nd half of the year…further, it believes the first Fed rate hike has already been priced into Gold at $1,150 to $1,175…the bank also contends that key Asian physical markets are likely to remain supportive, and if a Fed rate hike were to be pushed back into 2016 (certainly very possible in our view), Gold would experience a significant upward move…
Capital Economics predicts “stronger demand for industrial raw materials, including Copper, later in the year” as signs point to Chinese authorities being committed to using “the powerful tools at their disposal to prevent a hard landing.”
The firm’s senior commodities economist sees a year-end Copper price of $7,220 per metric ton or $3.27 a pound (there are 2,204.6 pounds in each metric ton)…
Two different views on the outlook for Silver, one from Capital Economics and the other from HSBC…Capital Economics expects to see an “upturn” in Silver fabrication demand in the 2nd half of this year with Silver finishing 2015 at $23 an ounce…
Meanwhile, despite tighter Silver supplies, commodity analysts at HSBC are lowering their price forecast for 2015 and 2016, the bank reported yesterday…HSBC says that it now expects Silver prices to average $17.05 an ounce in 2015 and $18.25 an ounce for 2016, down from their previous forecast of $17.65 and $20.50. “While the underlying supply/demand fundamentals are supportive, weak investment demand has weighed on prices; a reversal in the U.S. dollar and better commodity prices may improve investor demand,” the bank stated in the report…
Today’s Equity Markets
Asia
China’s Shanghai Composite Index finished at a 1-week high amid a 3-day winning streak, thanks to the central bank’s interest rate cut on Sunday…
Europe
European markets were down sharply today as bond markets sold off and some corporate earnings disappointed…uncertainty also continues around talks between Greece and euro zone finance ministers…
North America
The Dow has bounced back after falling nearly 200 points in early trading today…as of 9:30 am Pacific, the DJIA is off 59 points at 18052…
In Toronto, the TSX has retreated 90 points while the Venture is 2 points lower at 689, its rising 100-day moving average (SMA) continuing to provide support…
Venture-U.S. Dollar Index Comparative
One only needs to look at the U.S. Dollar Index to understand the Venture’s primary direction as there is such a strong inverse relationship between the two as this 16-year monthly chart illustrates…at the moment, the greenback is clearly in a consolidation phase as John’s shorter-term Dollar Index charts have shown in recent weeks…potentially, the Dollar Index may have topped out for 2015 just below 101 in mid-March after a spectacular run-up since last summer…it’s now under some technical pressure and how long that lasts will be key in determining how much traction the Venture can gain over the next few months…the likelihood of the Venture falling below key support is greatly reduced with the Dollar Index trending lower…
Fairmont Resources Inc. (FMR, TSX-V) Update
Something is stirring with Fairmont Resources (FMR, TSX-V) which is not surprising given how this company is so well positioned in the industrial minerals sector in Quebec with the Buttercup Property now fully permitted for production, and other projects on the go including 3 very intriguing high-purity silica plays…current market cap is only $2.5 million…
Increasing buy pressure and volume suggest FMR could be gearing up for a near-term breakout above a downsloping channel…the +DI indicator has reversed higher and RSI(14) is accelerating to the upside after landing at previous strong support…a bottom definitely appears to have formed here…
FMR is unchanged at 14 cents as of 9:30 am Pacific, after posting gains in each of the last 3 sessions…
In its 3rd annual Disruptor 50 list released today, CNBC features private companies in 16 industries – from aerospace to financial services to cyber security to retail – whose innovations are revolutionizing the business landscape…these forward-thinking upstarts have identified unexploited niches in the marketplace that have the potential to become billion-dollar businesses, and they rushed to fill them…
1. Moderna Therapeutics (Reprogramming cells to fight disease)
2. SpaceX (Elon Musk’s mission to Mars)
3. Bloom Energy (Live off the grid, keep the lights on)
4. Uber (A $50 billion on-demand ride)
5. Airbnb (The newest idea in room service: Renting one)
6. Dropbox (Saving a billion files every day)
7. Palantir Tech (Helped find Bin Laden. Don’t like to talk about it)
8. TransferWise (Getting bankers out of the forex biz)
9. Slack (Giving “slacker” a whole new meaning)
10.Warby Parker (Taking on the Luxottica eyewear machine)
Cannabix Technologies Inc. (BLO, CSE, BLOZF, OTC) Update
There are many publicly traded “disrupters” and one of them in our view is Cannabix Technologies (BLO, CSE, BLOZF, OTC) which has more than doubled in value already this year, and could be poised for an equally impressive 2nd half of 2015 as the company progresses with development of its marijuana breathalyzer…alpha device testing is well under way with medical marijuana users with the objective to maximize THC sensitivity, detection and reliability of the device for use as a roadside and workplace drug impairment tool…meanwhile, development of the beta version continues for trial testing with external organizations…continued strong news flow and media attention should keep activity in the stock brisk…
BLO has been trading in a bullish downsloping flag since February’s huge run…strong support at the bottom of that flag corresponds with last year’s resistance around 30 cents CDN (the chart below is in U.S. dollars, based on OTC trading, with CDN equivalent prices indicated on the left)…
Despite the retreat from the February high of 77 cents, the primary trend remains very bullish which should result in an eventual breakout above the downsloping flag for the next major leg up…
BLO is unchanged at 33 cents on the CSE as of 9:30 am Pacific…
IWG Technologies Inc. (IWG, TSX-V)
We suggest readers perform their due diligence on IWG Technologies (IWG, TSX-V) which is the world’s leading provider of flight-certified potable water treatment units…they’re based in Burnaby, B.C., and they’ve been helping business and commercial aircraft manufacturers improve the quality of on-board water systems since 1982…
Yesterday, IWG (39 million shares O/S) reported 2nd quarter revenue of $2.3 million, a 27% increase over the same period last year…net earnings for Q2 were $297,000 vs. $158,000 in Q2 2014…
Technically, IWG is showing strong momentum, hitting levels not seen in over a decade…this appears ready for a confirmed breakout above chart resistance at 26 cents…
IWG is up half a penny at 29 cents as of 9:30 am Pacific…
Walker River Resources (WRR, TSX-V) Update
As Walker River Resources (WRR, TSX-V) gears up for drilling at its Lapon County Gold Project in Nevada, we suggest readers take a close look at the 2-year weekly chart below…
Two things are critical to point out here:
1. The breakout above the downtrend line in February
2. The uptrend line which is acting as superb support and confirms the bullish overall trend.
RSI(14) has completed a healthy retracement to its trendline which currently intersects at strong support at 50%…
Given the upcoming drill program, and the stock’s technical posture, the near-term outlook for WRR has to be considered very promising…
WRR is unchanged at 3.5 cents as of 9:30 am Pacific…
Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in BLO and WRR.
LION’s on a roll. Up 50% in the last few days and still very inexpensive with a $24 million US market cap. I’ve heard from a trusted source that the coming PEA will be very good, with a low Capex, low cost per ounce, and the possibility of producing 70,000 oz per year in a couple of years. Still time to get out your calculators and do the math. V.LIO
Comment by Carl — May 12, 2015 @ 8:37 am
Just curious if anyone is hearing anything regarding a timeframe for DBV release on H23?
Comment by Steve A. — May 12, 2015 @ 8:49 am
Jon and Tombc – Your chit out of luck. If GGI hits .05, I’m in front of both of ya. LOL
Comment by dave — May 12, 2015 @ 12:34 pm
Steve, there is a theory that Farshad is waiting until after May 17th when some in the money options expire.
Comment by Tom UK — May 12, 2015 @ 1:17 pm
Not sure what Farshad is waiting for but Regoci must be asleep. If not him, his geologist. I know they can’t report news until ready but it is getting ridiculous. At least give an update. So much for the news flow.
Comment by Dan — May 12, 2015 @ 1:26 pm
Farshad is waiting for it to come back from the lab and nothing else imo. Its the opposite….he is worried now with the warrants about to expire and all of them belong to him! I think he expected the results to help him raise the money to pay for them but what he never expected is the big delay to get it back in time! I expect H23 to be out any day now but I have been saying this for a while now!
Comment by D4 — May 12, 2015 @ 1:48 pm
Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that Dave, but I’m thinking we should hear something out of them this month.
Comment by Tombc — May 12, 2015 @ 3:29 pm
The remaining 250m of hole 23 was being cut and logged on 26th March as a matter of urgency. Here we are nearly 7 weeks later and still no results? Surely it does not take that much time to assay 250m ?
Comment by Tom UK — May 13, 2015 @ 3:23 am
Tom, DBV’s fieldwork commenced at the end of March, so the process of getting to hole 23 and preparing samples for delivery to the lab took until at least the middle or 3rd week of April…..that process was completed by April 21 according to DBV’s news that day….if re-checks are required, and often they are, this can delay things a bit…so we just need to be patient….we know hole 23 is very good based on the numbers to date and the visuals….I’m more anxious about the drill starting to turn….
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 13, 2015 @ 4:44 am
Technical deterioration continues in the U.S. dollar…good news for commodities and the Venture….high ’80’s target on the Dollar Index is looking more and more likely…looks like a breakout on Silver this morning as per John’s Monday chart…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 13, 2015 @ 5:04 am
Tombc – It’s the other way around. Let’s hope it does come to that so I get my .05 cents truck
Comment by dave — May 13, 2015 @ 6:37 am
DBV – the slow pace is frustrating but they do have the money now to drill so eventually the drilling should start . Sure would be nice to get a news release as to what’s going on.
Comment by Les — May 13, 2015 @ 7:36 am