Last week was quite the week in Europe. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook U.S. readers may only be picking up the roller coaster in Italian politics via the fluctuations in their pension fund share portfolio values, but it is probably no exaggeration to say European democracy has been […]
Category: Macroeconomics
Productivity is the West’s Conundrum
It is a question we often see on the financial pages of newspapers or news sites, but rarely take time to seriously consider the consequences – why is the West apparently in a period of stagnant productivity growth? Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook A recent article in The […]
India is Changing Faster Than Many of Us in the West Realize
India has over-promised and under-delivered on so many fronts over the decades. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook Home of the world’s largest and, despite its young age and huge diversity, still thriving democracy, it has promised growth to rival China. Apart from brief bursts of activity, it has […]
Where is the Next Economic Crisis Coming From?
Be assured there will be a next crisis — there always is, sooner or later. It is the nature of economic cycles that markets get out of balance and have to readjust. That sounds like rather a benign process, but of course we all know there is plenty of pain and many casualties when it […]
Mid-April Metals Analysis: Aluminum, Copper and Nickel Prices Rise, Other Base Metals Fall
Numerous factors weigh heavily on the base metals and commodity complex: the Chinese copper scrap ban, the Section 232 proclamation on aluminum and steel combined with country-specific exemptions set to expire on May 1, the Section 301 investigation, and multiple strikes at copper and nickel mines to boot. After the turmoil of the first few […]
Is the Hong Kong Property Market Going to be the First Casualty of Fed Tightening?
We have been far from alone in issuing periodic warnings about the implications of rising interest rates for a global debt market that is out of proportion to levels seen even before the last recession. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook Fortunately, one of the first test cases has […]
Are Those SHFE Stocks Telling Us the Whole Story?
The state sector has benefited better than most in China from Beijing’s environmental crackdown, which resulted in enforced closure of steel, aluminium, coke, alumina and coal-burning power plants. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook The extent to which the resulting rise in prices benefited domestic aluminum smelters was revealed […]
Not All at the Federal Reserve Convinced of Need for Rate Rises
We tend to hear the pronouncements of the Federal Reserve and take them as the all-knowing position of the Fed chairman with the unanimous support of his or her colleagues. Yet in actual fact, even arriving at a rate setting decision, let alone scoping the media announcement afterwards, requires extensive debate and the balancing of […]
This Morning in Metals: January Finished Steel Import Market Share Hits 26%
This morning in metals news, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported finished steel imports accounted for 26% of the U.S. market, analysts expect the index that measures market volatility to come back down and General Motors reported strong 2017 earnings. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook Steel […]
Equities Rout Hits Commodities
Metals have suffered considerable volatility this month with prices sliding, then recovering, then sliding again at the end of last week. Metals markets are not alone in this — equities have been on a slide and many are beginning to ask if this is the end of the bull market that has stretched back nearly […]