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1. Gold has dipped below $1,300 on a surging U.S. dollar and rising yields, though bullion remains within a strong support band…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is off $19 an ounce at $1,294…the morning low has been $1,291.70…Silver has retreated 29 cents to $16.20…Copper is 5 cents lower at $3.05 while Nickel has eased off 10 cents to $6.44 after a big jump yesterday…Zinc is flat at $1.36 while Cobalt has surged nearly $1 a pound to $41.50…Crude Oil has corrected 43 cents to $70.53 while the U.S. Dollar Index has shot up nearly three-quarters of a point to 93.36…it’s now trading within a strong resistance band between 93 and 94…one reason for greenback strength today can be attributed to economic data from overseas as growth in the euro zone economy slowed to 0.4% in Q1, down from 0.7% in the 4th quarter of last year…economic activity cooled in Germany, France and the Netherlands…China, meanwhile, reported mixed results…industrial output quickened last month from a year earlier, but investment and retail sales slowed…

2. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note has hit a new high for 2018 today, igniting the greenback and putting pressure on Gold prices, following strong U.S. retail sales and manufacturing data…the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, pushed above 3.06% this morning and is on the cusp of levels not seen since 2011…the Commerce Department reported that retail sales increased a solid 0.3% in April, down from sharp 0.8% gain in March which was revised higher…the spending gains were spread across most retail categories with furniture and clothing stores leading the way…meanwhile, a gauge of manufacturing in the New York region came in at 20.1 for May, much better than analysts’ estimates…

3. What a shame – actions, inaction and overall policies from Canada’s federal government and certain provinces have been deeply damaging to the Oil and gas sector in this country at a time when Crude Oil prices are at their highest levels since 2014…according to Goldman Sachs, energy stocks within the S&P 500 are expected to report a profit gain of 86% year, or roughly 4 x the pace of expected annual profit growth in the benchmark index…meanwhile, global Oil demand is rising sharply at a time when Canada seems unwilling or incapable of expanding much-needed pipeline capacity due to climate change extremism…in China, the world’s biggest Oil importer, data showed today that refinery runs rose nearly 12% in April compared with the same month a year ago, to around 12.06 million barrels per day (bpd), marking the 2nd-highest level on record on a daily basis…the tightening Oil market has all but eliminated a global supply overhang which depressed Crude prices between late 2014 and early 2017…OPEC figures published yesterday showed that Oil inventories in OECD industrialized nations in March fell to 9 million barrels above the 5-year average, down from 340 million barrels above the average in January 2017…great time to be positioned in the Oil sector like the United States is at the moment…

4. The Dow has fallen 162 points through the first 30 minutes of trading, but keep in mind the index had posted 8 straight winning sessions entering today…in Toronto, the TSX is relatively flat after its first close above 16,000 since January…the Venture has retreated 8 points to 783…buy the dip because the Venture is on track to snap a 3-month losing skid…yesterday’s big gainer, theScore (SCR, TSX-V), has pulled back 3 pennies to 25 cents…the stock broke above a long-term downtrend line yesterday, surging 12.5 cents to 28 cents after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow states to legalize sports betting…this has the potential to bring such gambling out of the shadows…justices upheld a 2014 New Jersey law allowing sports betting while striking down a 1992 federal law that had banned it in states that didn’t already have a law on the books, such as Nevada…now, other states could follow the Garden State’s lead…the American Gaming Association estimates that Americans spend about $150 billion on illegal sports wagers each year…Canadian Zinc (CZN, TSX-V), already with nearly 300 million shares outstanding, announced a $20 million financing this morning at 20 cents, a significant premium to its 12.5-cent share price…proceeds will be used to repay a $10 million (U.S.) bridge loan and fund ongoing development of the company’s flagship Prairie Creek Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in the Northwest Territories…

5. Watch for countries like Spain, Italy, and Colombia to become the next growth opportunities for Canadian cannabis companies after a flurry of consolidation at home…the marijuana industry saw its largest deal to date yesterday when Aurora Cannabis (ACB, TSX) announced it was acquiring MedReleaf (LEAF, TSX) for $2.9 billion in a friendly transaction…that followed Edmonton-based Aurora’s frenzied buyout of CanniMed Therapeutics in January for roughly $1 billion and several smaller deals…Canada has lost its urgency to get its Oil to market (we need to save the planet, of course!), but pot – well, that’s a much different story…the Great White North has emerged as a global leader in the marijuana industry as it becomes the first Group of Seven country to legalize the drug for recreational use later this year while a ban at the U.S. federal level keeps pure-play American pot companies from major exchanges south of the border…there are now 90 publicly listed marijuana companies in Canada with a total market value in excess of $30 billion…

6. Gold Standard Ventures (GSV, TSX-V) announced this morning that it has completed 4,605 m of infill drilling in 28 holes at its Dark Star deposit in Nevada while 123 holes infill holes have now been completed at the nearby Pinion deposit…this year’s $25.8-million (U.S.) program includes an estimated 74,800 m of RC and core drilling in 381 holes with Dark Star and Pinion accounting for approximately half of that total while exploration should add another 34,000 m of drilling in 85 holes…Gold Standard CEO Jonathan Awde stated, “Once again, we are impressed by the grade and thickness of the intercepts from the Dark Star deposit. As we do the detailed infill drilling for our upcoming PEA (preliminary economic assessment), we are finding the smaller-scale structural features that generate exceptional grade in Carlin-style deposits. We are also discovering lateral extensions which we expect to be able to bring within the PEA’s pit configuration and include in our mine plans.”  A PEA for Dark Star and Pinion is scheduled for completion during the 2nd half of 2018…in connection with the PEA, new resource estimates will be completed at Dark Star and Pinion…GSV is off slightly at $1.98 as of 7:00 am Pacific but has strong support around current levels…

7. Canada has slipped in its global ranking for innovation, falling back 3 spots compared to last year as business investment levels slumped, according to a new report…in its annual study, the Conference Board of Canada ranked Canada 12^th out of 16 countries for innovation, falling behind Australia, Belgium and Japan compared with last year and earning an overall “C” grade…the report ranks countries’ innovation capability according to public spending levels, research and development, access to capital and other metrics…the Conference Board attributed the slide to a stronger performance by Canada’s peers, particularly the U.S. and Switzerland…it also said low patenting activity and lagging research and development levels are a drag on Canadian innovation more broadly…overall, Canada was among the top performers in access to venture capital and in scientific articles…

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