WEEK-IN-BRIEF BASE METALS

A large delivery of aluminium into warehouses in Rotterdam was linked by market sources to JP Morgan's sale of its physical commodities business to trading firm Mercuria after late-night talks. 

Does state control in China distort the aluminium market in China? One US trade lawyer argued it does.  

There were other theories too on the boost to aluminium stocks - as well as one large delivery of zinc, which never materialised, which proved that stocks are still worth talking about.  

Earlier, a large zinc short position had led some to question whether it was covered.  

A large miner agreed higher treatment charges for zinc this year compared with last.  

MMG confirmed it is in talks with Glencore about the purchase of the Las Bambas copper project in Peru.  

The Australia-based miner plans to raise the limit on the amount of copper concentrates it can sell to controlling shareholder China Minmetals.  

A spot deal for copper concentrates in China demonstrated the effects of Jinchuan's declaration of force majeure on concentrate shipments. 

The Chinese company said it would focus on nickel after a furnace outage. 

Gold Completes Golden Cross for the first time in 13 months

For the first time in 13 months, gold's 50-day moving-average is above its 200-day moving-average. This so-called "golden cross" occurred in Feb 09 before gold surged over 100% in the following years (but also occurred 'falsely' in September 2012.

Some technicians are reflecting on the last big run that gold had...

Congress Last 5 Years, Choose Your PM Gandhi Vs Modi, Congress Or BJP.

» These are just a few of the scams that have rocked India and shamed our nation in the last 5 years

» The cumulative loss to the National Exchequer is to the tune of INR 3.74 lac crore +

• » Sharp drop in agri growth rate is serious cause for concern - since 70% of India´s families are dependent on rural incomes
• » Agriculture´s share in India´s economy has progressively declined to less than 15% due to the high growth rates of the industrial and service sectors

• » The last five years have seen an unprecedented rise in corruption levels in India - which can be attributed to lack of transparent laws, abuse of discretionary powers and a governance and moral deficit
• » The Transparency International Index 2013 proves that India – with Rank of 94 and a score of 36 - is perceived to be a highly Corrupt Nation

• » Gender-based violence has been acknowledged as a widespread and persistent challenge in India - so much so that a girl is raped in India every 22 minutes
• » Its important to note that some states like Gujarat have the lowest RPL ratio (rapes per lakh population) in the country, at 0.8

» BJP led NDA govt had maintained the Inflation rate at a record low of 3.6% - which in the last 10 yrs has spiralled out of control completely

• » The Govt´s inability to control the prices of essential food products, petrol and diesel etc has disproportionately hurt the living conditions of the poor and the middle class

• » The BJP led NDA govt created 22 TIMES MORE JOBS ( 60.7 mn jobs from 2000-2005) than the Congress led UPA Govt ( 2.7 mn jobs created from 2004-2010)
• » Gujarat registered the lowest rate of unemployment of 1% in the survey 2011-2012

• PLAY THE GAME ( POWER PLAY ON MONEY-CONTROL WHERE YOU CAN BUY SELL POLITICIANS) CHECK PRICE OF POLITICIANS HERE 
• 
  

Showing Europe's Mutually Assured Economic Destruction As EU Plans More Sanctions

With senior German officials expecting discussions among leaders at the EU Summit to solely focused on a second round of sanctions against Russia (and warnings that they "must avoid a spiral of sanctions"), we thought it worth drilling down on just how mutually-dependent the two regions are. As Acting-Man's Pater Tenebrarum notes, the following infographics suggest tit-for-tat sanctions could be a really big problem for Europe and why the EU's leaders are probably quietly praying for the crisis to simply go away.

Trade between the EU and Russia (via RT)

Trade between Russia and Germany (via Der Spiegel) – Russia is Germany's 11th largest trading partner

A list of German companies with big exposure to Russia (also via Der Spiegel)

International exposure to Russian debt (via Reuters)

Here are details on selected bank exposures (via Reuters):

SOCIETE GENERALE:

France's second-biggest bank had exposure of 22.4 billion euros to Russia at the end of June, according to the European Banking Authority's (EBA) data. That equated to 15.7 billion euros in risk-weighted assets.

SG Russia, which includes Rosbank and other insurance and financial operations, made operating income of 239 million euros last year, almost double 2012 despite a 41 percent jump in losses from bad debts. The bank said it had 13.5 billion euros of outstanding loans in Russia and deposits of 8.5 billion in the country at the end of 2013.

SocGen's equity in its Russian business accounted for 7.7 percent of its group total, Morgan Stanley analysts estimated.

UNICREDIT:

Italy's biggest bank by assets had exposure of 18.6 billion euros to Russia at the end of June, the EBA data showed.

The bank said its revenues from Russia were 372 million euros in the fourth quarter, up 80 percent from a year earlier.

UniCredit's equity in its Russian business accounted for 2.7 percent of its group total, Morgan Stanley estimated.

RAIFFEISEN BANK INTERNATIONAL:

The Austrian lender said it is Russia's 10th biggest bank, with a loan book of 10.2 billion euros, 2.5 million customers and 192 outlets. Its Russian assets represent 12 percent of the group total, and the Russian unit made 507 million euros in the first nine months of last year, most of the group's total.

The EBA data showed Raiffeisen had a 13.2 billion euro exposure to Russia at the end of June.

Raiffeisen's equity in its Russian business accounted for 15.6 percent of its group total, Morgan Stanley estimated.

OTP BANK:

The Hungarian bank's exposure to Russia was 4.4 billion euros at the end of June, the EBA data showed.

BANK OF CYPRUS:

Its exposure to Russia was 1.6 billion euros at the end of June, the EBA data showed.

But apart from that - should be fine?! And this on the heels of Ukraine appearing to fold on any further action suggests Western powers have put themselves in a red-line-crossing MAD box...

CME Group to launch energy, metal weekly options in April

March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. derivatives exchange operator CME Group Inc said on Thursday it will launch shorter-term weekly energy and metal option contracts beginning in April in a bid to boost trading volume.

Chicago-based CME Group said it will launch crude oil, natural gas, gold, silver and copper weekly options on the trading floors and the Globex electronic platform effective Sunday, April 13 for trade date Monday, April 14.

The options, which expire on Fridays, offer participants greater flexibility to manage risk and speculate around major U.S. economic indicators such as the monthly nonfarm payrolls, said Miguel Vias, CME Group's director of metal products.

Vias said the products also offer a new opportunity to arbitrage with the options of the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund. The gold ETF options also expire on Fridays.

"Structurally, they fit a need that the market doesn't have right now," said Vias. "If we start to get volatility in the short term, they offer people a real opportunity to protect themselves and to speculate."

CME Group said the new products are based on the popular weekly options in other asset classes such as interest rates, equities and agricultural products.

In 2012, CME Group also launched short-term gold options, which offer daily expiration five business days forward. Those options are rarely traded due to low interest.

COMEX gold options floor trader Jonathan Jossen said the weekly options could very well boost trading volume for the CME Group because new option products are likely to increase trading flows to its existing monthly options.

The new product could also help the CME Group win market share from the over-the-counter option market, which offers more customized products in terms of duration and strike prices, traders said.

"If it was to catch a following and have open interest and market makers providing liquidity, I would be interested to participate in that market," said Albert Ng, a market maker in COMEX gold options and portfolio manager at Aurum Options Strategies.

Another day of copper price plunge.

In afternoon New York trade on Thursday May copper changed hands at $2.936 a pound, erasing all of yesterday's strong gains.

Earlier in the day the red metal fell as low as $2.913, down more than 2%, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made upbeat comments about the strength of the US economy.

On Wednesday copper price futures went on wild ride falling to multi-year low of $2.877 by midday only to attract strong buying towards the end of the day to close within sight of the psychologically important $3.00 a pound level.

While the hawkish comments by Yellen indicate expectations of stronger growth in the US thanks to housing starts at a six-year high and continuing strength in manufacturing, growth in the US cannot offset the slowdown in China.

Copper is down more than 13% this year, with most of the losses coming in March after a steady stream of dismal economic numbers out of China – responsible for 47% of total global copper demand – sent prices tumbling.

Given its widespread use in transportation, manufacturing and construction the weakness in China is having a significantly negative impact on underlying copper demand.

At just over 10 million tonnes a year, China consumes more than four times the amount of copper than the US does and three times that of Europe.

Chinese growth is expected to come in below the official target of 7.5% this year, the slowest pace since 1990 as the country's new leaders transform the economy from an investment-led to a consumption driven one.

Chinese authorities are also doing everything they can to throttle back debt-fueled growth – earlier in March, Choari Solar became the first Chinese company in history to default on a corporate bond, sending shivers through Chinese industry and sparking fears of a knock-on effect.

The slowdown in China is also coming at a time of significant production expansion in copper.

Codelco's new 160,000 tonnes-plus Ministro Hales mine in Chile, Glencore's Las Bambas project in Peru it is close to selling to China's Minmetals, expansion at other Codelco properties and at BHP Billiton's Escondida will help global output top 22.2 million tonnes from just over 21 million tonnes in 2013.

Already gargantuan Escondida mine is being bulked up

Vanished Plane Since 1948, Some 83 aircraft have been declared missing.

Some 83 aircraft have been declared “missing” since 1948, according to data compiled by the Aviation Safety Network. The list includes planes capable of carrying more than 14 passengers and where no trace — bodies or debris — has ever been found.