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1. Gold has traded between $1,403 and $1,413 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $4 an ounce at $1,407…Silver has added a penny to $15.10…Nickel continues to lead base metals, up another 6 cents a pound to $5.97…Nickel prices have touched their highest in more than 3 months on worries that major producer Indonesia will resume an export ban on ore in 2022…Indonesia relaxed the ban on Nickel ore in 2017, but said at the time that it would last only 5 years and that exports would be restricted again in 2022…Copper and Zinc are steady at $2.68 and $1.10, respectively…Crude Oil has added 23 cents a barrel to $60.43…a tropical storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico has helped boost the price of Oil and refined energy products this week, a development that could temporarily lift fuel costs for consumers depending on the severity of the storm…the U.S. Dollar Index is off slightly at 97.02…U.S. producer prices rose slightly in June as the cost of energy and other goods fell for a 2nd straight month, offsetting an acceleration in services, leading to the smallest annual increase in producer inflation in nearly 2-and-a-half years…the Labor Department said this morning that its producer price index for final demand edged up 0.1% last month after a similar gain in May…in the 12 months through June, the PPI rose 1.7%, the smallest gain since January 2017, slowing further from a 1.8% increase in May…euro zone industrial production rose more than expected in May, offsetting declines in the past 2 months and defying gloomy forecasts caused by prolonged trade tensions…EU statistics agency Eurostat said euro zone factory output increased by 0.9% in May on the month, above market consensus expectations of a 0.2% rise…

2. Singapore’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the 2nd quarter as exports continued to plunge amid a weakening global economy…GDP in the trade-reliant city state declined an annualized 3.4% in the quarter (much more than expected) compared with the first 3 months of the year…Singapore’s heavy reliance on trade and its complicated integration in regional and global supply chains makes it vulnerable to a slowdown in world growth…exports have already taken a big hit over the past few months, with shipments plunging in May by the most since early 2013…

3. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning that reports on U.S.-China trade talks are not reliable, even calling stories in The Wall Street Journal “garbage”…Navarro added, “My advice for investors is to be patient with the process and don’t believe anything you read in either the Chinese or the U.S. press about these negotiations unless it comes from the mouth of either the President or advisor Lighthizer.  There’s just going to be a lot of garbage coming out of The Wall Street Journal and the People’s Daily and everything in between.  I’ve seen this movie before.  There were all sorts of stories written and they were designed to shape the negotiations and they didn’t have any insight into them”…

4. In a series of tweets late yesterday, President Trump talked up the greenback and said he’s “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies, suggesting that Facebook (FB, NASDAQ) may need a banking charter if the company wants to launch the digital token Libra…Trump said cryptocurrencies are not money and “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.  If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations,” the President tweeted…Trump is not the only one who has criticized Facebook’s plan to introduce Libra…Fed Chair Jerome Powell, French Finance minister Bruno Le Marie and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney are among government leaders and central bank chiefs who have spoken up against Libra…

5. The Dow has climbed another 137 points in early trading after topping the 27,000 level for the first time ever yesterday…in Toronto, the TSX has lost 15 points while the Venture is 1 point lower at 579 as of 7:00 am Pacific…it hasn’t been a good week for cannabis stocks (impacting the Venture) as more cracks begin to appear in the sector…the Canadian Marijuana Index has lost nearly 8% this week and market leader Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX; CGC, NYSE) has fallen below its 300-day moving average (SMA) and a long-term uptrend line…meanwhile, nearly 50% has been wiped off the value of CannTrust Holdings (TRST, TSX) this week with a 9th analyst downgrading the stock following news Monday that Health Canada discovered that the company had been growing cannabis in 5 unlicensed rooms between October 2018 and March 2019 while inaccurate information was also provided to the regulator by Can’t Trust employees…the company, a former employee and whistleblower alleges, took extensive measures such as hanging white poly walls to hide thousands of cannabis plants from Health Canada…TRST has sunk to its lowest point since October 2017 and Bay Street analysts are now openly questioning whether the company will lose its growing licence…TRST also faces the possibility that it will be forced to destroy thousands of kilograms of cannabis, worth tens of millions of dollars…Canaccord Genuity analyst Derek Dley said in a note, “Clearly, the major concern among investors at this point is whether Health Canada will look to make an example out of Canntrust and potentially pull the company’s production licence”…BMO has commenced coverage on Barkerville Gold Mines (BGM, TSX-V) with an “outperform speculative” rating and a share target of 80 cents…BMO analyst Andrew Mikitchook says the rating reflects “an expected revaluation as the company delivers development milestones on its 100%-owned Cariboo Gold Project.  In our opinion, the market will be watching for positive fast-tracked milestones in 2019 and 2020 toward initial production of 180,000 oz/year.  We expect the upcoming PEA and Feasibility to represent milestones that progress the project closer to a development decision and financing arrangements in 2020 that should represent more substantial revaluation catalysts”…Gold Standard Ventures (GSV, TSX) has increased the size of its previously announced public offering to 15 million shares, at a price of $1.22 per share, for total gross proceeds of $18.3 million…the financing is expected to close by month-end…

6. Cannabis investors can bank on more losses in the 2nd half of the year and maybe a surprise stack of writedowns…a Bloomberg dispatch to the Financial Post reports that although pot stocks enjoyed a heady start in 2019 due to global marijuana legalization efforts and the burgeoning use of CBD as a wellness product, backers are starting to judge their investments by profitability instead of hype, and patience is wearing thin…of the 5 largest Canadian pot companies, only Cronos Group (CRON, TSX, NASDAQ) is expected to report adjusted net income by the final quarter of the year…instead of profit, writedowns related to unfinished inventory may be in the offing for some Canadian companies…that has some investors voting with their feet, moving out of Canada and into the United States, where the marijuana companies are generally performing better despite a patchwork of state-by-state regulations…Purpose Investments‘ Greg Taylor says, “It’s symbolic that the Canadian guys have really not been able to deliver on some of their expectations and the American companies have”…

7. The U.S. isn’t without its own problems, though, on the cannabis side…CNBC reported this morning that an underground economy is cutting into the profits of legal cannabis businesses…the illegal market in cannabis totals about $70 billion nationwide, 7 times the legal market, according to New Frontier Data…so far in 2019, the LAPD has arrested 277 people in connection with raids at unlicensed cannabis businesses with a total of 562 arrests last year…a team of CNBC producers carrying hidden cameras visited 10 illegal cannabis dispensaries across Los Angeles, and captured illegal activity inside, which authorities say is a significant problem…

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