GC=F - Gold Jun 20
| Pre. Settlement | N/A |
| Settlement Date | 2020-06-26 |
| Open | 1,734.80 |
| Bid | 1,728.20 |
| Last Price | 1,735.50 |
| Day's Range | 1,718.00 - 1,736.90 |
| Volume | 60,025 |
| Ask | 1,725.00 |
- FX Empire
Rally in Risk Assets to be Challenged as Sino-US Tensions Return
The escalating tensions between the two largest global economies may impose a new threat to the recovery in risk assets, having advanced 30% from their March lows.
- Bloomberg
Zambia to Amend Mining Rules to Treat Gold as Strategic Asset
(Bloomberg) -- Zambia is moving to amend gold-mining rules so that they treat the metal as strategic.The cabinet agreed to amend the Mines Act to align it with a policy set last October to recognize gold as a strategic mineral. That requires production by artisanal miners to be bought through the state-owned mining investment company ZCCM-IH Plc.The cabinet’s May 20 approval to modify laws and regulations stemmed from a proposal from the mines minister, according to the ministry’s permanent secretary, Barnaby Mulenga.Zambia wants its national gold production to help the central bank build up the nation’s strategic reserves. ZCCM-IH has been mandated to coordinate the purchasing and trading business in Zambia. The country mined about 4,000 kilograms of gold in 2018 and is Africa’s second-largest copper producer.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- FX Empire
The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -23/05/20
It’s a mixed start to the day for the majors. Bitcoin would need to avoid sub-$9,200 levels to make a move…
- FX Empire
Crude Oil Price Update – Major Retracement Zone at $36.07 – $40.50 Providing Resistance
If the concerns over demand continue then look for the selling that began on Friday to drive the market into at least $28.34 over the short-run.
- FX Empire
Gold Price Prediction – Prices Rise but Remain Range Bound Ahead of Long Weekend
The jobless rate per state is concerning
- Thomson Reuters StreetEvents
Edited Transcript of GORO earnings conference call or presentation 6-May-20 3:00pm GMT
Q1 2020 Gold Resource Corp Earnings Call
- Coindesk
Money Reimagined: Designer Money for a Machine-Run Post-COVID World
The pandemic is likely to accelerate a shift to automation, putting people out of work and raising the need for new types of money.
- Coindesk
10 Years After Laszlo Hanyecz Bought Pizza With 10K Bitcoin, He Has No Regrets
Laszo Hanyecz's 10,000 BTC pizza buy 10 years ago has a special place in bitcoin folklore, highlighting, however expensively, that participation is necessary for network success.
- FX Empire
Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Lower as Traders Shrug Off Friendly EIA Storage Report
On Thursday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 81 billion cubic feet last week.
- Coindesk
Market Wrap: Traders ‘Buy the Dip’ as Bitcoin Hovers at $9,000
Bitcoin fell for a second day as sentiment grew bearish, though some traders say they’ll buy the dip.
- Coindesk
Finance and the Real Economy Can’t Stay Out of Sync Forever
While Main Street is shut down, the financial world keeps moving as quickly as ever. That's not a sustainable situation, says our columnist.
- Coindesk
Chinese Government Advisers Propose Regional Stablecoin for 4 Asian Countries
The stablecoin would help facilitate trade among four Asian countries, which is key to economic recovery in the region after coronavirus, proponents said.
- FX Empire
Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Get Hammered
The Thursday session has seen a 4% drop rather quickly, and quite frankly we may have further to go.
- FX Empire
Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Pulled Back Slightly
Quite frankly, crude oil markets have gotten ahead of themselves and now they are testing a major gap.
- FX Empire
Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Drift Lower
Natural gas markets have fallen a bit during the trading session on Thursday, as we see a bit of selling, perhaps in a bid to fill a gap below.
- Investing.com
Gold Back Under $1,750 as Data Show Flattening of the U.S. Job Loss Curve
Nearly 40 million U.S. jobs lost to the coronavirus pandemic suggests that gold prices should be up. This was despite stocks on Wall Street, the alternative trade to gold, headed for a lower close on concerns that U.S. recovery from the pandemic may take longer than thought. U.S. gold futures for June settled down $30.20, or 1.7%, at $1,721.90 per ounce, snapping a second-day rise that came after last week’s one-month high above $1,760.
- FX Empire
E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Trapped Inside Major Retracement Zone
The June Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading inside the retracement zone at 23796 to 25144. These are the major levels.
- FX Empire
Daily Gold News: Thursday, May 21 – Precious Metals Taking a Breather
Precious metals are trading within a short-term correction this morning.
- Coindesk
Bitcoin Drops Over 3% Despite Golden Cross and Bank Calls for More US Stimulus
Bitcoin is struggling to gather upside traction despite positive developments on the macro and technical fronts.
- Bloomberg
Venezuela Considers Privatizing Gas Stations in Historic Shift
(Bloomberg) -- Faced with a paralyzing gasoline shortage, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela is using Covid-19 to keep everyone home. Iranian tankers are on their way as he considers longer-term solutions including a private market for imports and sales and a price increase at the pump to kill the black market.Under his plan, state-owned oil company PDVSA would permit private companies to import and distribute fuel, theoretically avoiding U.S. sanctions aimed at state entities, according to people familiar with the matter. This would be accompanied by a price hike, they said.Meanwhile, as a short-term fix, Iranian tankers with millions of barrels of gasoline are expected in Venezuela by this weekend. The Iranian foreign ministry has said any attempt by the U.S. to stop them will be met with “a swift and decisive response.” The Venezuelan opposition, led by Juan Guaido, has warned that the tankers shouldn’t be allowed to dock.At PDVSA’s Cardon and Amuay refineries, Iranian technicians are repairing halted plants. In April, more than a dozen flights from Tehran brought the workers along with supplies and parts to the Paraguana refining complex and left with 9 tonnes of gold -- about $500 million-- as payment.Cultural ShiftAn overhaul of the country’s gasoline distribution system would mean an end to price controls that have allowed Venezuelans to fill up essentially for free. It would also represent a stark shift in national culture, loosening the state’s monopoly over the country’s central asset. PDVSA would recover millions currently lost in subsidies.But it is a move freighted with political risk. Venezuelans have come to view free gasoline as a birthright -- when prices were raised in 1989, Caracas burst into violent riots.They also accept the current lockdown with relative equanimity because it’s going on around the world. But coronavirus has claimed few victims in Venezuela and the main reason the population is being kept home is a lack of gasoline. As quarantines ease, movement and recovery will remain stuck without fuel.And the opposition, which has been trying, with U.S. help, to oust Maduro, has to weigh its response to the plan with care. A successful rebooting would bring relief to those who wait in line as long as three days to fill vehicles. But it would consolidate Maduro’s hold on power.Fuel RationsShortages, especially in rural areas, have existed for some years due to mismanagement of PDVSA. They’ve now hit Caracas. The military is guarding fuel pumps where only select personnel can partially fill up with fuel rations limited to 20 liters (5.3 gallons) per car. From having the cheapest gasoline in the world, Venezuelans are now paying as much as $4 per liter ($15.2 per gallon) on the black market.Last year, the oil ministry drafted a proposal to raise prices to international levels. In a sign of the delicacy of the issue, the document has been languishing in the vice president’s office, according to a person familiar with the situation.Press officials at PDVSA and the Oil Ministry didn’t reply to requests for comment on the plans.But change seems to be on its way. Internet connectivity at 250 stations -- out of 1,530 nationwide -- is being verified and card readers unblocked to widen connectivity with private banks, according to two people.Credit CardsCurrently, stations only accept local cash. Once credit cards work, prices will effectively be set in dollars.Maduro’s backers in the super-legislature known as the National Constituent Assembly, favor a price rise.“The price should be around 10 cents per liter,” lawmaker David Paravisini said in an interview. Keeping subsidy exemptions for special sectors is also an issue, people familiar added. Government fuel subsidies amount to $2.8 billion annually at current quarantine and rationing consumption levels of 40,000 barrels a day, down from $17 billion seven years ago, according to energy expert Nelson Hernandez.A change of this magnitude would require legal and legislative action, which might be blocked by the opposition. Maduro may therefore hand the issue to the supreme court where loyalists are in the majority.Evade Sanctions?It’s also unclear that privatizing the gasoline market would evade U.S. sanctions. The Trump administration has targeted state entities to send a message that it’s trying to undo a government, not harm the people. A senior U.S. official said Washington would look closely at any new system for links to the regime.In 2018, Maduro said the disparity in gas prices between Venezuela and its neighbors had led to such an alarming rate of smuggling that $18 billion had been lost in that year alone. He was going to raise the price in a plan that included a state banking payment system but he never followed through.Meanwhile, new payment systems appear to be undergoing testing now. Near the key Caracas military base of Fuerte Tiuna, two gas stations have new pumps with fingerprint readers connected to state-run banks.The pumps only serve government officials and members of the military but others around Caracas and in Carabobo and Aragua states are being refurbished to enable digital payment. Co-owners and lessees of PDVSA fuel stations are talking about creating companies to enter the market once it opens up.Supply of gasoline and diesel has been run by PDVSA since 2008 when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, banned private firms from the market, driving out BP, Texaco and Shell, among others after decades operating in Venezuela.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Venezuela Sues Bank of England for Access to $1 Billion in Gold Reserves
(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela’s central bank sued the Bank of England for access to $1 billion in gold reserves to combat the coronavirus.The Venezuelan bank asked the BOE to liquidate the gold and send the funds to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is working with the country to prepare for an increase in Covid-19 cases, Zaiwalla & Co., a London law firm representing Venezuela, said Wednesday in a statement.While the coronavirus pandemic adds a dramatic new twist to the dispute, the lawsuit is part of a long-running fight over the funds related to American efforts to cut off President Nicolas Maduro’s regime from its overseas assets. Last year, U.S. officials successfully lobbied their British counterparts to block Maduro’s attempt to withdraw $1.2 billion in Venezuelan gold stored in the Bank of England.As oil prices collapse, the gold is a now an even more important source of wealth for Venezuela, which has been driven into extreme poverty under Maduro’s socialist rule that’s left its health system poorly prepared to deal with an outbreak. While the country holds some 70 tons of gold in its vaults, selling it has become increasingly difficult.“By holding on to Venezuela’s gold reserves, the Bank of England is putting many thousands of lives at risk,” Sarosh Zaiwalla, senior partner at Zaiwalla & Co, said in the statement, pointing to the recent collapse in oil prices and the effects of U.S. economic sanctions for the country’s vulnerable position.Officials at the BOE and the Venezuelan central bank declined to comment.While Venezuela’s total number of confirmed virus victims is among the lowest in the region, at 749, the country reported its biggest daily jump in cases on Tuesday.(Updates with Venezuela’s gold reserves starting in the 4th paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- The Telegraph
Venezuela demands access to gold held by Bank of England
Crisis-hit Venezuela's central bank has launched legal action against the Bank of England in a bid to access gold bullion worth more than £831m. The bank has asked for the gold to be transferred to the United Nations as a matter of urgency to fund healthcare equipment, medicine and food during the pandemic, according to a claim filed in the London courts. Threadneedle Street has resisted until now because the South American country's ruling regime is not recognised as legitimate by Britain. Venezuela has recorded 749 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths, piling further pressure on an economy already ravaged by hyperinflation, plummeting oil prices and the hard-left policies of its leadership. Doctors have warned that there will be "carnage" if the virus takes hold as the healthcare system was already facing a critical shortage of staff and supplies. One nurse told The Telegraph in March that the only face mask she could find cost $35 and her monthly salary was $15. Venezuela has been suffering a deepening political and economic catastrophe under Nicolas Maduro, who has been attempting to repatriate the gold from the vaults since 2018.
- Simply Wall St.
Is Now The Time To Put Highland Gold Mining (LON:HGM) On Your Watchlist?
It's only natural that many investors, especially those who are new to the game, prefer to buy shares in 'sexy' stocks...
