I normally steer well clear of issues related to politics on this site, but I thought it may be interesting to look at the latest round...

The topic du jour amongst the forensic element of the financial community, if I judge by the number of requests for explanations and...

In 1916, an impoverished, partly-trained engineer called Alves Reis, son of an undertaker and with a new young wife, left his native...

The departure of several high-profile banks from the metal trading business has been welcomed in some quarters – indeed my own view is...

Here, where I am staying at The Celebrity City Hotel in Chengdu, the sun never shines. Or rather it shines, but cannot be seen. The sun...

China is the world’s largest consumer of copper and it is also the largest consumer of gold (although consumption is in some ways a...

Some really good news has come out of the LME this week, following its review of Ring trading. I have to admit that I have been somewhat...

Over the last few weeks, I’ve looked at the rumblings in the bullion market about the forthcoming end of the silver fix and what appears...

China is a source of endless fascination to the financial markets; and it’s not surprising – it’s the big target. Car makers, wine...

I think today I’m going to stick my head in the lion’s mouth and talk about the gold fix and the recent ‘scandal’ perpetrated by Barclays...

There’s an old Russian joke that runs, ‘What is the tallest building in Moscow?’ Answer: The Lubyanka. Because you can see Siberia from...

One of the biggest surprises of my career in metal trading was the day I heard that N M Rothschild were quitting the London Gold Fix....

A short while ago, I wrote an article in ‘Metal Bulletin’ discussing the possible effects of the LME’s putative new regional aluminium...

The leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Ed Miliband, is probably the most opportunistic, bandwagon jumping politician of all the current...

When he wrote that lyric for the Beggar’s Banquet back in 1968, I doubt very much that Mick Jagger had Deutsche Bank in mind. And, for...

Well, the carousel is still turning, but the count of those continuing to enjoy the ride is getting smaller and smaller. The news that...

Back in the 1980s, lots of us involved in the financial markets read a book called ‘Liar’s Poker’, by Michael Lewis; Lewis had started as...

In an article on here last week, I talked about some of the issues surrounding the LME warehousing system and the aluminium market in the...

Elsewhere( http://bit.ly/1s3tDON ) I have written about the LME and the recent High Court finding in favour of Rusal over warehouse rule...

The recent failure of an obscure solar panel manufacturer in China is suggestive of a major shift in policy in that country, as it is the...