How central bank gold buying is undermining the dollar

Alderon Iron Ore Corp saw a 2% bump in its stock price Friday on news that the Canadian iron ore junior has inked a CAD$194 agreement with China's largest steel producer.

The Chinese economy is likely to land softly, rather than with a jolt, with growth forecast at 8.2% this year and 8.6% in 2013, according to The World Bank.

The price is up more than 27% from lows struck in October last year when the steelmaking ingredient experienced a mini crash.

Using the dismal science to make forecasts and taking risks with real money are two very different things. And the Brazilian giant is definitely putting its money where its mouth is.

Hitachi has built an 11-kilowatt motor that uses no rare earth materials. The motor took four years to develop, and commercial production is expected in two years.

Caterpillar has gotten a lot of juice out of overseas sales, and China’s been a growing market for the company. So anything undermining that is a concern for investors.

U.S.-based Molycorp, Inc., one of the only non-Chinese producers of rare earths, announced today that its proven and probable reserves of rare earth minerals at its Mountain Pass, California facility have increased by 36 percent, according to a new independent estimate.

Legendary commodity-investor and Singapore resident, Jim Rogers, told China Daily News that the property market has been slowed down and there is no crisis.

Brazilian miner World Mineral Resources (WMR) has found a large reserve of neodymium, one of the 17 rare earth elements, in the western Bahia state, which could bring US$8.4 billion to the country.