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Check back later this morning for today’s BMR Morning Market Musings.

1. Gold has traded between $1,200 and $1,206 so far today, just a few hours ahead of a widely anticipated interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,200 while Silver has added 2 cents to $16.86…this morning’s CPI report was a non-event for precious metals…consumer prices in February posted their smallest increase since last July, a seasonally adjusted 0.1% which was in line with expectations…the core index, excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, was up 0.2%…the Labor Department says consumer prices have risen 2.7% over the past year (2.2% excluding volatile food and energy)…

2. By an overwhelming 56–13 margin, the Idaho House of Representatives has voted to end all Idaho taxation on precious metals, e.g. Gold and Silver coins and bars…the entire Republican caucus voted for the measure…if the Republican-controlled Idaho Senate follows suit and Governor Butch Otter (R) signs the bill, as expected, Idaho citizens will better be able to use Gold and Silver as a form of savings and to protect against currency devaluation…backed by the Sound Money Defense League, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Money Metals Exchange and and grassroots activists, HB206 expands Idaho’s existing sales tax exemption to end Idaho income taxation of sales of precious metals bullion…

3. The bigger news coming out of today’s Fed meeting will be Fed officials’ projections of how much more they expect to lift rates this year – that’s what the market will be watching…in December, they penciled in 3 quarter-percentage-point increases for 2017…traders will be eager to see if officials stick to those forecasts or add a 4th, given recent signs of a strengthening labor market and inflation that’s trending higher, albeit gradually…Fed statement at 11:00 am Pacific followed by the Ma Yellen news conference…

4. North American markets have a generally positive tone this morning going into the Fed decision…the Venture is flat at 793 but the TSX and Dow are both modestly higher…Americans spent only slightly more last month at retail stores compared with January, a sign of consumer caution despite rising optimism about the economy…the Commerce Department says retail sales ticked up a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in February, after a much bigger gain (revised) of 0.6% the previous month…meanwhile, President Trump’s promise to roll back strict environmental regulations has led to the highest home builder sentiment in 12 years…it was announced this morning that the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index hit 71 in March, a sizable jump from 58 in March of 2016…anything above 50 is considered positive sentiment…

5. Data obtained by CTV News shows the number of Canadians registered to use medical marijuana has soared from 30,000 to nearly 130,000 since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, after campaigning on a promise to legalize the drug…in the month before the October 2015 election, 30,357 people had prescriptions to use the drug, according to figures from Health Canada…that number more than quadrupled to 129,876 by December 2016…as police in Canada’s biggest cities shut down unregulated pot dispensaries, many individuals are obtaining the drug legally by seeking prescriptions from doctors at clinics so they can register with Health Canada…some of those clinic doctors never meet their patients in person – they communicate via Skype video conferencing…patients then get their pot in the mail…after all, it’s 2017, Trudeau would argue…

6. Columbus Gold (CGT, TSX) says it will announce the results of an independent Feasibility Study for its Montagne d’Or Gold Project in French Guiana next Monday, March 20, following the market close…the study was funded by Nordgold (NORD, LSE) which has earned a majority interest in the project by spending a minimum of $30 million U.S. and completing a Bankable Feasibility Study…

7. A Tanzanian export ban on Gold and Copper ore has cast a shadow of doubt over a potential $4 billion (U.S.) merger between Barrick Gold (ABX, TSX) subsidiary Acacia Mining (ACA, LSE) and Endeavour Mining (EDV, TSX) according to a report this morning in the Globe and Mail…the Endeavour–Acacia deal could be delayed or scuttled by Tanzania’s unexpected move March 3 to freeze the export of Gold and Copper ore…a merger would create an African mining giant with mines in 5 countries…Acacia said it responded to the ban by halting its exports from Tanzania where the company’s only producing Gold mines are located…Tanzania’s new President, John Magufuli, is an anti-corruption campaigner and economic nationalist nicknamed “The Bulldozer” who has repeatedly criticized the foreign-owned mining companies in his East African country, accusing them of “a lot of funny deals” to avoid taxes in Tanzania…

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