Good afternoon
well - now the probably last, sensible guy in Nero´s government is gone! Rex Tillerson got sacked today - apparently without much warning - even though not totally unexpected, I guess! If you call your boss a moron, dismissal is not that far away. As soon as this was announced, European stocks started falling. I guess a Foreign Minister called Pompeo - a real hardliner - cannot be good for Europe, and will most probably not stand in the way of Trump´s trade policy. Anyway - I am taking out of the blue here...I have no idea, really...we will find out!
CPI in the US was a non-event today - everything exactly in line withe xpectations - 1.8% YoY ex Food and Ernergy - bonds unchanged, US$ weaker, gold & base metals stronger. Good old nickel feels like it might break 14.000US$/t soon...
Antofagasta declared a surprise-dividend and aired a lot of confidence in future copper demand..quoting an additional 2 millt of copper - in an already tight market - needed from the EV-industry by 2030....
OK you might be sick&tired to hear from them....but Prairie Mining shot up in Poland today, to a new high of 82ct equivalent - on big turnover! I would not be surprised, if the Polish would know a few things we don´t! Announcing the result of about 1 Bill A$ in net profit, JDW´s boss officially stated, that they will talk to Prairie this week or next on Debiensko as well as on Jan Karski! Without directly referring to Prairie, he also stated, that possible takeovers would not preclude them for paying a dividend next year....I have to sell a few here and there, because of my 5% weighting rule - but this thing feels good!!!!!
Volkswagen according to their press conference today have ordered batteries worth 25 bill US$ from it´s Asian battery suppliers...plan to produce 3 mill EV´s by 2015...but battery demand for North American sales yet to be filled. It´s unclear to me from their comments, wether they still try to buy cobalt ( which they claim to have secured for the "initial rollout of EV´s" - whatever that means - - anyway, what is important is, that VW is pushing very hard for EV´s and from 2019, want to bring on new models more or less by the month!
Crusader - is suspended for the long awaited capital raising in London...Details to be announced...
Have a nice evening
WS