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Strategies & Market Trends : Dino's Bar & Grill -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Goose94 who wrote (33370)	8/23/2017 6:18:52 PM
From: Goose94	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 203376

Nickel: For example nickel, has been slowly but surely attempting to grind out a base over the past 18 months. This is shown on the chart below with the June/July low potentially forming the first major "lower high" since way back in 2011. Figure 5: Weekly nickel price candlestick chart, as of Friday, 18th of August, 2017. Source: Thomson Eikon Nickel prices peaked at almost $54,000/t back in 2007. This means that at the current price of just under $11,000/t, the key ingredient in stainless steel is still down almost 80% from its peak seen over a decade ago, making it probably the single most contrarian metal within the base metals complex. Nickel prices have shown a recent bout of strength, moving higher over the past few months and are now threatening to break out above the 2016 highs of $12,000/t - a key level to watch. At face value, the fundamentals driving the sector look less favorable than the likes of zinc or copper (near record high warehouse inventory levels being key). However, there are enough green shoots out there to suggest it's a metal that's at least worthy of adding to your watch list. One of the key drivers to watch is the growth of the electric vehicle and Li-ion battery industry, where nickel is a key (and becoming increasingly important) ingredient in most battery chemistries. It's difficult to predict the growth of the Li-ion sector (an industry prone to hyperbole), however the demand it is generating looks to be already having an impact, with nickel inventories declining for the first time in half a decade in 2015/16 in a world of flat to slightly increasing global mine production. Whilst it's far from a perfect indicator, I am also keeping a close eye on warehouse inventory levels as I believe an increase in the rate-of-decline will be a key "tell-tale" that the supply/demand balance is moving in favor of higher prices. Should we see the continued strong growth in Li-ion uptake as the world moves towards electric vehicles, I believe there is potential for the nickel price to surprise a lot of people to the upside over the coming years. Sam Broom