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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, coming off its best week in nearly 2 years, has traded between $1,343 and $1,354 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up another $6 an ounce at $1,353…Silver has added 19 cents to $16.72…Copper dipped as low as $2.95 but is bouncing back, now off just a penny at $2.99…Nickel has reversed higher as well, up 4 cents at $5.87…Zinc has gained 2 cents to $1.48…Cobalt, which has climbed nearly 20% in 3 weeks, has eased off 34 cents to $42.98…Crude Oil has retreated 30 cents to $65.58 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen another one-third of a point to 89.12…President Trump’s hardball trade strategy with China already appears to be having its intended effect, and equity markets are responding accordingly this morning…the Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. and China have quietly started negotiating to improve American access to Chinese markets…in another report from the Financial Times, China has apparently offered to buy more semiconductors from the U.S. by diverting some purchases from South Korea and Taiwan…meanwhile, the FT also reported that Chinese officials are rushing to finalize new regulations by May that will allow foreign financial groups to take majority stakes in its securities firms…

2. China’s yuan-denominated Crude Oil futures surged on their long-awaited debut today, indicating positive initial sentiment toward the new market which Beijing hopes will eventually give the country an Oil benchmark to rival those in the U.S. and Europe…the most actively traded futures contract due for delivery in September closed up 3.3% at 429.9 yuan ($68.07) per barrel on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, after opening up more than 6% from a starting reference point of 416 yuan per barrel…over 42,000 lots or more than 21 million barrels of Oil valued at 18.3 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) were traded today…Beijing has been planning to launch its own Oil market for several years with the aim of providing an Oil price that will be more closely aligned to local supply and demand conditions…China is the world’s biggest importer of Oil after the U.S., and its 4th-largest producer…the new Oil futures traded in Shanghai are open to foreign investors, the first time China has allowed them to trade in its domestic commodities markets in this way…

3. China has a massive and growing appetite for Crude Oil but the climate change extremists now running the British Columbia government believe the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion – the centerpiece of Canada’s plan to ship heavy Crude Oil to energy-hungry Asia – is “unnecessary”…B.C.’s Environment Minister, George Heyman, has lashed out upon learning that the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed the government’s attempt to overturn a National Energy Board ruling against the City of Burnaby…Heyman said the decision allows for local rules and regulations to be “needlessly undermined” (pipelines, of course, fall under federal jurisdiction) and he added that the B.C. NDP will continue to explore other legal ways to “defend the interests of British Columbians against this unnecessary project” (our emphasis)…the fact that a majority of British Columbians actually support the pipeline expansion, based on various opinion polls, means nothing to the NDP which stole power by teaming up with the Greens to form what is essentially an urban-based Metro Vancouver/Vancouver Island coalition of climate change extremists backed by radical Americans carrying out smear campaigns against Alberta Oil…we’ll see how “unnecessary” that pipeline is when Alberta finally musters the courage to start restricting the Oil and gas flows to Burnaby in order to send B.C.’s wacko political leaders a message that they cannot violate the Constitution and the rule of law by blocking an already approved project that is unquestionably in Canada’s national interest…meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau’s recent silence regarding this controversy is a gross abdication of leadership…he has already killed 2 pipeline projects (Northern Gateway and Energy East) and might be secretly hoping that Kinder Morgan walks away from the Burnaby expansion given an abundance of Liberal seats in Metro Vancouver as a 2019 federal election approaches…meanwhile, as a recent bank report stated, the Canadian economy is taking a $16 billion annual hit due to our lack of pipeline capacity…that’s enough to knock nearly a full point off the country’s GDP…investment and jobs are headed elsewhere but many Canadians don’t seem to mind – they’re going to “save the planet”!..

4. As Canadian Oil rig activity continues to plummet, thanks to hugely discounted Western Canadian Select prices, U.S. Oil rig activity continues to climb…are Canadians oblivious to what’s unfolding here????…U.S. Oil output has already jumped by a quarter since mid-2016 to 10.4 million barrels per day, and last week the number of Oil rigs operating in the U.S. hit a 3-year high…tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, along with the possibility of the U.S. pulling out of the flawed multi-country nuclear deal with Iran, are keeping a firm bid under Crude…Saudi air defenses shot down 7 ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia yesterday, some of which targeted Saudi capital Riyadh…Crude Oil prices are headed higher and we’ll have an updated chart by tomorrow…

5. U.S. equity markets are rebounding sharply following the worst week in 2 years…the Dow has jumped 483 points as of 7:00 am Pacific…in Toronto, the TSX is 98 points higher while the Venture has added 1 point to 819…PolyMet Mining (POM, TSX) has negotiated a 12-month payment extension and reduction in interest rates on approximately $152 million of debt owed to Glencore…the company also secured a commitment for an additional $80 million in debentures from Glencore over the next 12 months to complete pre and post-permitting work for the NorthMet Copper-Nickel-Cobalt-Precious Metals Project in northeastern Minnesota…

6.  International Zeolite (IZ, TSX-V) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 55% of the outstanding share capital of Ichaana Indo-Can Zeolite Private Ltd., an Indian company focused on introducing various products of natural Zeolite to the Indian agriculture and farming sectors…under the agreement, Ichaana will attempt to secure all federal, state and municipal certifications, permits and clearances the to enable International Zeolite’s natural Zeolite and Zeolite products to be used in Indian agriculture, farming, horticulture, poultry, organic farming as well as water pollution treatment applications…Ichaana will also undertake to secure an initial offtake agreement for the purchase of a minimum of 30,000 metric tonnes of bulk natural Zeolite to be supplied by International Zeolite…IZ will also be granted a right of first refusal to acquire the remaining 45% interest in Ichaana…IZ is up 6 cents at 44 cents as of 7:00 am…

7. Hempco Food and Fiber (HEMP, TSX-V) is up strongly in early trading on news that Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX) has exercised 10.6 million warrants to purchase common shares of the company for total proceeds to Hempco of $4.3 million…Aurora now owns just over 21 million Hempco shares, reflecting an ownership interest of approximately 35%.  “With this further investment by Aurora we are now very well capitalized to accelerate our various strategic initiatives to drive growth at Hempco,” said Diane Jang, CEO of Hempco. “Since taking the helm at Hempco, we have made a number of tactical and strategic moves that position the company well to take advantage of a number of opportunities in the health lifestyle food supplements market, as well as for the pet and equine markets. Additionally, with the positive vote on the second reading of Bill C-45 in the Senate, implementation of the new Cannabis Act is that much closer, which would position us very well for whole-plant utilization and further acceleration of our business plan. These funds, and the presence of a large, stable shareholder, puts Hempco in a strong position to pursue a multitude of opportunities and create further shareholder value.”

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