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Haywood’s Haywood’s Heritage Moment: Canary in a Coal Mine Some miners took canary birds in cages down the mine. If it breathed in dangerous gas, the canary passed out (fainted), and the miners hurried to safety. Source: BBC

Oil Price/Equities Tumble Further as U.S. Economy Surges

The price of WTI crude and light crude dropped below the US$60 per barrel support level during the week, with WTI crude finishing at US$57.48 (down 14%) per barrel on Friday. The price of WTI crude has dropped >40% since June, as a supply glut continues to rise. Thus far, OPEC has refused to slow production in what many commentators view as the cartel’s attempt to route shale and other higher-cost producers. Meanwhile, the falling oil price is viewed by some as a tax break for consumers in the U.S., reflected in further positive economic data including lower jobless claims, higher consumer confidence and robust housing data. Precious metals prices were up for the week, with gold rising above the US$1,200 support level (↑2.4%) before finishing at US$1,222 per ounce, while silver was back above US$17, finishing at US$17.05 per ounce on Friday. Platinum and palladium were both up for the week, finishing at US$1,230 (↑0.55%) and US$815 (↑1.63%) per ounce respectively.  Despite the positive week in precious metals, the S&P/TSX Venture index fell further during the week, closing at 654, while the S&P/TSX composite index was also down, falling to 13,732. With the exception of copper, the major base metals were also down, with nickel (down 0.8%), lead (down 2.5%) and zinc (down 2.36%) finishing at US$7.53, US$0.90 and US$0.99 per pound respectively. Copper was up slightly for the week (↑0.42%) to US$2.93 per pound as of Friday. The uranium price down 1.8% for the week, up slightly and finishing at US$37.38 per pound.

Here’s an overview of what’s in the Dig this week:

weekly dig Dec 12

Click here for the full report.

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[Canary photo source]