South Africa police standoff with illegal gold miners escalates
The police sealed off access to the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein several weeks ago to deny the miners access to food and other essentials.
World markets tumbled overnight as bad news mounts and investors turn pessimistic.
The Hang Seng fell 4.95%, the S&P ASX was down 2.63% and the Shanghai composite index is down -2.78%.
Even gold, the traditional fear trade, was off three percent and trading at $1,739.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper is off from a high of US$9,800/tonne in late July to under $8,300/tonne.
Poor data from the U.S. Labor Market shows that the American economy is still struggling. For the week ending September 17, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 9,000 to 423,000. Still higher than analyst’s estimates and showing a weak job market.
The recent Federal Reserve statement highlighted some of the current difficulties.
“Recent indicators point to continuing weakness in overall labor market conditions, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Household spending has been increasing at only a modest pace in recent months despite some recovery in sales of motor vehicles as supply-chain disruptions eased. Investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector remains depressed,” said the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
Eurozone issues to continue to mount with no clear plan for resolution in site.
Comments
Lmickle
Wow…..remember, stay focused on the long term and “buy when there’s blood in the streets”