Grade has traded between $1,308 and $1,321 so far today…as of 7:30 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,313…Silver has climbed 9 cents to $19.90…Copper is off slightly at $3.12…Crude Oil is down 68 cents at $96.91 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen more than one-tenth of a point to 81.47…
Total global Gold demand in the second quarter fell 16% to 963.8 metric tons, versus 2013’s second quarter, the World Gold Council said this morning in its latest report…demand in Q2 2013 was unusually strong, of course because of the 25% price drop during April-June, which stoked a big jump in metal purchases. “The second quarter saw a continuation of many of the factors that were in play during Q1: the huge stockpiling of Gold that took place in Asian markets during 2013 was still, to some extent, being digested; the election and import restrictions forestalled Indian consumers; bar and coin investors continue to sit on the sidelines; while jewelry consumers in the U.S. and U.K. were further encouraged by improving economic conditions,” the WGC said in its report…
Jewelry demand fell 30% in the second quarter, to 509.6 tons, versus the second quarter 2013…technology demand fell 3% to 101 tons, and total bar and coin demand was down 56% to 275.3 tons…ETF’s saw outflows of 39.9 tons…however, total investment demand rose 4% year-over-year to 235.4 tons…central bank net purchases were up 28% to 117.8 tons…
Today’s Equity Markets
Asia
Japan’s Nikkei extended gains into a fourth session, climbing 100 points to to hit a one-week high, on the back of a weak yen…China’s Shanghai Composite fell 16 points to finish at 2206…yesterday’s unexpectedly weak growth in July’s investment, retail sales and bank lending, which pointed to vulnerabilities in the world’s second-largest economy, weighed on sentiment…
Europe
European markets are up slightly in late trading overseas…investors appeared to take comfort from “calming words” by Russian President Vladimir Putin…on a visit to Crimea, Putin said that Russia would do its utmost to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, adding that his country did not need conflict with the outside world…so expect a Russian invasion of Ukraine in the not-too-distant future…
North America
The Dow is up 23 points as of 7:30 am Pacific…the TSX is 35 points higher through the first hour of trading while the Venture has added a point to 1001…John has chart updates on a couple of interesting situations this morning – Critical Elements Corp. (CRE, TSX-V) and NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NB, TSX-V)…tomorrow, we’ll be posting the second excerpt of our interview with Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) President and CEO Steve Regoci…
Venture 5-Year Weekly Chart
It may seem that the Venture is like watching paint dry at the moment, but it’s in this kind of “quietness” when a market can suddenly come to life…the underlying technicals remain very supportive of a breakout to the upside given the incredible support that has been established in the immediate vicinity of the rising 200-day moving average (SMA)…
As you can see on the chart below, the RSI(14) appears to have found support at the rising trendline…if the pattern established over the last year continues, RSI(14) should imminently reverse higher along with the market…buy pressure remains steady…the next Fib. measured resistance is 1057…notice how the 200-day, in the mid-980’s, has provided rock-solid support throughout the year…additional strength is immediately below that around 970…
Updated CRB Chart
The CRB Index, which correlates well with the Venture, got a little ahead of itself in June when it surged above 310, and it has since retreated to strong support around 290…it staged an important breakout through 290 and a downsloping wedge earlier this year…
Critical Elements Corp. (CRE, TSX-V) Update
We’ve been bullish on the prospects for Critical Elements (CRE, TSX-V) since it was trading in the high teens in early June…this morning, the stock hit a new 52-week high of 32 cents following news from the company that its low iron lithium concentrate has been successfully tested by ceramic and glass manufacturers…samples sent to multiple end-users for testing in May all tested positively…Critical Elements will now proceed with plans to diversify its material output featuring at least three different products – tantalum concentrate; low-iron lithium concentrate; and battery-grade lithium carbonate…
Below is an updated 2.5-year weekly chart from John who made an excellent call on the confirmed breakout above 25 cents…what will be interesting now is how CRE handles Fib. resistance at 30 cents, and obviously that’s an issue this morning…RSI(14) is also in overbought territory on this longer-term weekly chart (could remain there for a while), though that’s not the case on the 1-year daily chart…
CRE is up half a penny at 30.5 cents as of 7:30 am Pacific…
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NB, TSX-V) Update
On Monday, NioCorp Developments (NB, TSX-V) reported its highest assay results yet from its Elk Creek project in Nebraska where it continues to drill a defined resource with a recently added third rig (Niobium has physical and chemical properties similar to those of tantalum, it’s a rare and a soft transition metal primarily used in the production of high grade steel such as that used in gas pipelines)…
Technically, NB has gradually unwound an overbought condition that emerged in May and has been consolidating within a pennant…a breakout at some point above that pennant appears very possible…RSI(14) has reversed higher after appearing to bottom out near the 50% level…looks promising…as always, perform your own due diligence…
NB is up 6 cents at 69 cents as of 7:30 am Pacific…
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM, TSX) Update
The Agnico Eagle Mines‘ (AEM, TSX) chart shows how a strong turnaround has taken hold among producers, at least the companies who have been successful at reducing costs and improving their bottom line…
Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold share positions in CRE, NB or AEM.
Getting a little frustrating seeing the venture hovering near these levels when all other indexes are near or at all time highs. Whats it going to take to get people back into the venture? or is everyone too scared to venture back into the venture?
Comment by Tony T — August 14, 2014 @ 8:44 am
BMR
you guys used to comment on a company called Newstrike Capital, I see that they are getting ready to release a PEA very soon and the recent article in the Northern Miner with the CEO sounded very positive. Are they undervalued here, whats your take
thanks
Comment by Greg — August 14, 2014 @ 10:22 am
SUMMER IS HARD TO GET VENTURE GOING, HOWEVER, WE ARE APPROACHING MID-AUGUST WHERE THINGS CAN PICK UP QUICKLY GOING INTO SEPTEMBER….LOOK AT CCB/NRT OVER THE PAST TWO DAYS…VOLUME,ETC
Comment by STEVEN1 — August 14, 2014 @ 11:55 am
All it takes to get people back into the venture is time(possibly the next 4 weeks) and some very good results from the truth machine. Speaking of whih it will be really interesting to see where GGI will drill first whenever they start on the grizzley property. I would not be surprised to see the area in the west being the first as they menntioned quite awhile ago.Build up to the large area in cental griz. Richard l
Comment by richard l — August 14, 2014 @ 12:01 pm
would oil have to do with the venture decline,not all that bad at the close?jon, i guess its going to take another result from rodadero to get ggi going,which i think would still be a few weeks away?and i know they have targets at the grizzly,but we’re into mid aug.and if they are going to drill you would think they would have to start pretty quick,not?
Comment by tombc — August 14, 2014 @ 12:32 pm
Tom, the decline in Oil certainly hasn’t been helpful for the Venture, but again…the kind of overall technical pattern we’ve seen with the Venture over the last 10 months can only lead to something very good…with regard to your comments re: GGI, I really believe it’s about to enter a whole new phase here…my instincts tell me they’re going to ramp up the pace at Rodadero – why wouldn’t they after the Phase 1 results? – and this should have an important impact on the share price and volume….it’ll be interesting to see what may develop during this last half of August…Rodadero is looking very good and it’s gonna’ run, and don’t worry about the Grizzly – part of our interview with Regoci was obviously on the Grizzly and the Sheslay, you’ll be a happy camper when you see it shortly…
Comment by Jon - BMR — August 14, 2014 @ 3:10 pm
Prosper’s SP took a dip yesterday and I’m considering adding to my position. Results should be out soon but I wonder what BMR think of the results that have been published previously. If the next batch of results are similar to those already published, and I believe that Prosper intend to get a resource estimate out some time soon, how do you rate PGX’s chances of having a world class deposit?
Comment by Tom — August 14, 2014 @ 11:35 pm
Tom, by any standard, the last batch of results from PGX (Oct. 29) was outstanding – the market sold on the news because that was the end of their drill program with a quiet period coming up, and the results were from an already known deposit (the Star) – they weren’t step-out holes from that deposit. Prosper in this 2014 drilling has been stepping out to the north and perhaps the south. Similar results to the Star in these other areas will really demonstrate a very sizable resource in the making, a truly world class deposit with obvious potential to exceed 1 billion tonnes. At some point along the way they need to find a higher grade starter area. That should be there somewhere. Or it might be across the Prosper border on the Grizzly as a good portion of the Grizzly is contiguous to the Star Project.
Comment by Jon - BMR — August 15, 2014 @ 4:04 am
Thanks Jon. DBV have announced that Patrick McAndless who was Imperial’s ex VP (exploration) is now on the board of directors. Given that Imperial’s latest flagship is Red Chris, this is a very interesting appointment.
Comment by Tom — August 15, 2014 @ 6:17 am