Daily Close | Forex, Metals, Oil, Agriculture August 19, 2020

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Agriculture

Export demand is the primary demand for US Cotton so poor weekly sales means weak overall demand. The increase in Texas Cotton condition in the reports could indicate increased abandonment of the very bad dry land crops. General Comments: Winter Wheat markets were lower in response to reports of weaker overseas prices, especially in the Black Sea area. Export demand for US Cotton has been poor for the last few weeks. Spring Wheat was developing under good growing conditions in both the US and Canada.
The hot and dry weather extends north into Oklahoma and western Kansas. “Beijing is modernising its nuclear arsenal while the United States handcuffs itself with one-sided arms-control,” Mr Cotton said on Twitter. About half of the Argentine Wheat belt is too dry. General Comments: Cotton closed a little lower.

Currencies

Dollar General states its main priorities are such: profitable sales growth, capturing growth opportunities, enhancing low cost operation, & investing in people. Together what this means is that Dollar General’s existing stores are getting increased foot traffic while selling items at higher retail prices. Because so many stores were closed, and Dollar General was not, sales increased an amazing 27.56% in comparison to FY 2019 Q1 due to strong demand.
With many retail locations being forced to shutdown due to the pandemic Dollar General was classified as an essential business allowing stores to remain open. Source: SEC 10-K’s Dollar General has seen very solid financial performance over the past five years. This is because a weak dollar has made dollar-denominated assets cheap for foreign investors, making U.S. multinationals more competitive and leading to increased profits. Further, a booming technology sector, a rise in mergers and acquisitions, and a weak dollar led to a spike in the stock market.
In the end Dollar General has been doing a good job maintaining and enhancing low cost operations. On top of that Dollar General has an average 10 year ROA of 9.94% and ROIC of 14.36%, showing the company’s ability to make profitable moves. 53 years ago, “demonization” meant the breaking of the dollar’s official link to gold. CWB tracks a market-value weighted index of US dollar convertibles with par amount outstanding above $250 million.
Source: Author via Tradingview Since the end of 2017, market trends in the Invesco CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar Trust have been bearish. Everyone has seen a Dollar General on the corner of a road in your town and many more will with store openings abound. Dollar General is the largest discount retailer by number of stores with 16,368 across the United States. With all of this taken together Dollar General is successfully capturing growth opportunities. The recent dollar weakness is acting as a huge tailwind for the mega-cap companies, which derive most of their revenues from international markets.
A sharp rebound staged by the US Dollar in response to the FOMC minutes is likely exacerbating renewed XAU/USD weakness. Perhaps this explains the upbeat reaction by the US Dollar given its posturing as a top safe-haven currency. Dollar General Corp. (DG) is one of those stocks that has been outperforming for years. Source: SEC 10-K’s But has Dollar General been able to control and maintain low costs?

Metals

Source: own processing, using data of Equinox Gold As Equinox’s gold production increased notably, its gold sales grew as well. The company sold only 82,629 toz gold in Q1, but as much as 125,824 toz gold in Q2. The “return of capital” would be in the form of shares in Japan Gold, Tethyan (Adriatic), and Rise Gold. less Gold and gold mining stocks have become the talk of the trading world these days. The underground mine should supplement the existing open-pit mine, and it should be able to produce almost 62,000 toz gold per year on average, over 12-year mine life.
The overall gold production should amount to 470,000-530,000 toz, which is 12.3% less compared to the original guidance of 540,000-600,000 toz.
Given the current gold prices above $2,000/toz and the expected growth in Equinox’s production volumes, the share price still has room to grow. Thus, in one day, the U.S. Mint sold an additional 22,000 oz of Gold Eagle coins, mainly the 1 oz coins (14,500). Source: Bloomberg Sending precious metals lower with gold back below $2000… And silver back below $28… As real yields spiked…
Compared to the previous quarter, the gold production increased by 43%, and compared to the same period of last year, it increased by 373%. Later on in 2008, he began researching areas of the gold and silver market that, curiously, the majority of the precious metal analyst community have left unexplored. Source: own processing, using data of Equinox Gold Equinox’s production costs decreased quite notably in Q2. The futures market is for the big boys, and they are warring back and forth to get the last remaining stockpiles of gold bars.
The value of Southern Arc’s interest in Rise Gold as of close on August 17 is approximately C $2.37 million. However, at the current gold price, the NPV is around $400 million. According to the information provided during the earnings call, the Castle Mountain mine construction is almost complete, with first gold production expected in Q4. Unless the gold price experiences a major correction, it is possible to expect Equinox’s steady growth pattern to continue.
Adding to it an 8.8% growth in average realized gold prices (from $1,574/toz to $1,712/toz), and Equinox recorded an almost 66% growth in revenues. We show that available gold to be had is getting razor thin, despite the “apparent” liquidity that COMEX inventory data represents. It seems as if the U.S. Mint is now able to ramp up production of both Gold and Silver Eagles.

Oil

One potential disruption to this bullish outlook could become apparent if oil prices show further weaknesses based on limitations in global demand. Source: Author Estimates Boardwalk started trading at a discount to NAV in mid-2013 ahead of a plunge in crude oil prices in mid-2014. On slow days for the FAANG stocks, companies like airlines, cruise lines, oil producers, and other cyclicals have stepped up to the plate and kept the indices moving. The U.S. Oil Fund disclosed Wednesday that it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission two days earlier.
The economy is expanding, oil and other commodities are likely to go up in price. It’s shrinking, they’ll fall – as they did this spring with one oil contract even going negative. Alberta’s migration patterns are inextricably linked to the oil industry’s fortunes. During boom times, thousands of Canadians pile into the province in search of jobs, but the population rush often slows or reverses after crude prices drop.

United States

He said US security would be substantially worse and relationships with allies frayed even further during Mr Trump’s second term. Mr Trump claimed to reporters at the White House on Tuesday that widespread mail-in voting would cause “a disaster the likes of which our country has never seen”. In May, the Trump administration responded to China’s alleged low-yield tests by suggesting the US would renew nuclear testing in Nevada. FOMC minutes also suggested that the Fed is growing less optimistic on a robust economic recovery during the second half of the year.
Hospitals across the US are finding that they are short of doctors, and one reason may be the Trump administration’s ban on work visas.
Mr Billingslea characterised China’s arsenal expansion as a “rapid buildup” and said the country sought to achieve “nuclear parity” with the US and Russia. Donald Trump said the violence in Chicago is “worse than Afghanistan“ in a recent interview and suggested he may send federal officers into additional cities. Fed officials discussed the potential use of yield curve control as a tool for conducting monetary policy, but details showed little appetite for this possible approach.
As the economic situation in the US inflamed by the coronavirus continues to worsen, some experts fear China may be positioning itself to be the world’s dominant economic superpower. The pandemic illustrated the Fed’s dual role and the conflicting demands of being America’s central bank and the central bank of the global reserve currency. On Tuesday, the former DHS chief claimed that – should Mr Trump win a second term – he will “align with dictators around the world.”
The Trump administration claims China has been testing nuclear weapons and expanding its warhead arsenal in secret. To keep the domestic economy and stock market from imploding, the Fed digitally printed $3 trillion and unleashed it as flood waters, raising all boats to some degree. Inovalon Holdings (NASDAQ:INOV) has been an unprofitable company with frequently low cash return on total capital of 5.0% on average over the past 5 years.
Former US Department of Homeland Security Chief Miles Taylor claimed Donald Trump was unfocused during security briefings, likening him to a distracted elementary school student. Mr Trump, seated in the Oval Office and speaking with reporters, claimed that the violence in Chicago this summer has been ”worse than Afghanistan, by far”. China claims it’s adhering to the measures, and the US has had a moratorium on nuclear testing since entering the treaty. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the US economy has “lost its way” while China has seen success.
In recent days, Mr Taylor has made the cable news circuit telling damning tales of his time working in the Trump White House. Mr Billingslea said the US is only interested in extending the New START treaty – and then, only for less than the five-year maximum – if China participated.

China

As one might suspect, this triggered Beijing, which has attempted to have Guo extradited on charges which include bribery, kidnapping, fraud, money laundering and rape. They said that local officials fear reprisal from Beijing for situations that might be viewed as failures. Sharing the full story, not just the headlines Download now US negotiator Marshall Billingslea suggested Beijing had an “obligation” to participate in the talks.

Europe

Of course, it’s fine for the EU to antagonise the UK.

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