The growing economic power of China and weakness of the US is the story this morning. On the latter point, the precious metals prices are bursting out again. Regarding China, there are rumors that China’s new sovereign wealth fund may hook up with domestic steelmakers to bid $200 billion for base metals miner Rio Tinto (RTP).

So all the metals prices are on the move this morning, and this is a story that probably has legs.

December DJIA futures are presently (7:00am ET) up +59 (+0.46 pct) to 13045, but at this time last Monday were at 13145.

The USD futures have opened weaker this morning against the Euro. At 7:00am ET, the Euro is up +0.09 pct to 1.4857.

At 7:00am ET Jan-08 Crude Oil (e-MiNY) futures are 98.425/bbl, having been up to 99.10 at about 5:00 am.

Spot Gold this morning is presently (7:15am ET) at 833.10, which is down from the 836.80 high at about 5:30 am. Spot Silver is at 14.86, down from 15.00 at 5:30 am. Both prices are very strong, however.

Comments & Outlook

The rally has continued from Friday morning in equities and Crude Oil and from Wednesday for Gold and Silver. My only surprise is that the gold price is so strong.

The mid-November pull-back in Gold to 775-785 was tepid to say the least. I had been expecting a pull-back, covering at least a month or two, to the 720-750 level. It appears that the continued move into fixed income and gold are both flight-to-safety moves from concerns traders have in the global financial system.

Anne Picker, Chief Economist at Econoday, will return with her excellent "Simply Economics" report on November 30.

Today, there are no US economics reports that are significant although the 4-week, 2-year and 5-year Treasury auction results will be announced at 11am ET. The major activity will be Wed through Fri, which will be busy.

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International Economics Review

US Economic Calendar.

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International Equity Markets Review

Europe

Here is the latest session data for the bourses of Europe.

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Here is the latest session data for the London stock exchange FTSE.

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Here is the latest session data for the German DAX.

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Here is the latest session data for the French CAC 40.

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Here is the latest session data for the Milan Italy stock exchange MIBTEL.

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Here is the latest session data for the Swiss market index.

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Asia-Pacific

Here is the latest session data for the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges.

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Here is the latest chart for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index.

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Here is the latest chart for the Singapore index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Shanghai Composite index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index .

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Here is the latest chart for the India BSE 30 index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Australian All Ordinaries index .

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US and the Americas

Here is the latest session data for the exchanges of the Americas.

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Here is the latest chart for the Brazilian Bovespa stock exchange in Sao Paulo.

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Here is the latest session data for the Toronto Stock Exchange composite index.

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US Equity Markets Review

DJIA (interactive) chart

NASDAQ Composite (interactive) chart

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Oil Review

Here is the e-miNY Jan-08 Crude Oil chart.

Interactive Chart of Daily Crude Oil:

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Gold & Precious Metals Review

Spot gold chart for the week

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Spot silver chart for the week

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Forex Review

Here is the chart of the week’s trading in the $USD.

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Wrap up:

Thank you to all the new members of this community who are freely participating in the Discourse. As you can tell, there are members from all over the world. Your ideas, opinions, experience and expertise are welcome here.

By staying connected 24 hours a day from around the world, we can work toward a greater understanding of capital markets, with immediate benefits in our personal portfolio performance.

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