Author

admin

Browsing

A year ago Friday, President Joe Biden took the debate stage against then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and drove one of the final nails in his reelection campaign’s coffin as traditional allies turned their backs on the 46th president and subsequently rallied to replace him as the frontrunner against Trump. 

Biden entered the reelection cycle already racked by claims and concerns that his mental acuity had slipped and he was not mentally fit to continue serving as president, which was underscored by special counsel Robert Hur’s report in February 2024 that rejected criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials, citing he was ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’ 

The then-president spent days preparing for the debate from Camp David in Maryland, as videos of his recent public gaffes and missteps haunted the campaign in the days leading up to the debate. Trump, meanwhile, led the charge in demanding Biden take a drug test to prove he was not taking performance-enhancing supplements ahead of the highly anticipated event. 

Biden brushed off accusations he was using any performance-enhancing supplements, including mocking Trump’s challenge that he take a drug test in an X post showing him drinking a can of water. 

‘I don’t know what they’ve got in these performance enhancers, but I’m feeling pretty jacked up. Try it yourselves, folks. See you in a bit,’ the X post read, accompanied by a photo of Biden drinking a can of water that read ‘Get real, Jack. It’s just water.’

Just minutes later, Biden would deliver a failing debate performance that unleashed panic among the Democratic Party, as some rushed to defend Biden, and others broke with the man who had served in public office for more than 50 years to demand fresh leadership at the 11th hour of the campaign cycle. 

‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either,’ Trump shot at Biden at one point during the debate.

The viral moment followed Biden attempting to tout Congress’ bipartisan border package that lawmakers had bucked earlier in 2023. 

RFK Jr. reacts to Trump, Biden debate performance:

Biden said, ‘We find ourselves in a situation where when he was president, he was separating babies from their mothers put them in cages, making sure that the families were separated.’

‘That’s not the right way to go. What I’ve done since I’ve changed the law, what’s happened? I’ve changed it in a way that now you’re in a situation where there are 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally, that’s better than when he left office. And I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban on the total initiative relative to what we can do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers,’ Biden said, appearing to trail off. 

Overall, Biden’s 90-minute performance was riddled with him tripping over his words, speaking in a far more subdued tenor than during his vice presidency, having a raspy and unsure voice, and losing his train of thought at times. 

Biden and Trump also were both confronted over their ages during the debate, with the moderator saying Biden would be 86 by the end of a potential second term, and Trump 82. 

Biden defended his age, saying he ‘spent half my career being criticized about being the youngest person in politics. I was the second-youngest person ever elected to the United States Senate, and now I’m the oldest. This guy is three years younger and a lot less competent.’ 

Trump, meanwhile, said he had taken cognitive tests and ‘aced them.’ 

The debate unleashed panic among Democrat allies of the president and members of the media, as they remarked his performance was a failure that added fuel to the fire surrounding concerns over his mental acuity and age. 

‘My phone really never stopped buzzing throughout. And the universal reaction was somewhere approaching panic,’ then-MSNBC host Joy Reid, for example, said.

‘My job now is to be really honest,’ former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, said during an appearance on MSNBC after the debate. ‘Joe Biden had one thing he had to do tonight, and he didn’t do it. He had one thing he had to accomplish and that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age. And he failed at that tonight.’ 

‘I think the emotions of the night were basically disappointment, anger, and then, by the end, it was panic,’ one House Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak freely, told Fox News Digital following the debate.

Legacy media outlets such as the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune called on Biden to map out an exit plan – with the Times describing Biden as a ‘shadow of a great public servant’ – while Biden allies such as former President Barack Obama and first lady Jill Biden reiterated their support for the 46th president’s re-election. 

‘Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,’ Obama said the day after the debate. ‘But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight – and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit.’ 

Soon after the debate, however, reports spread that Obama was working behind the scenes to rally that Biden drop out of the race, so a new generation of Democrats could take the reins of the party. 

The White House, meanwhile, forcefully defended the president following the debate. 

‘Absolutely not,’ then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared in a media briefing July 3, 2024, when asked if Biden had any plans to exit the 2024 race. 

Biden ultimately did drop out of the race on July 21, 2024, less than a month following the debate, as pressure from traditional allies grew. The president announced his departure in a Sunday afternoon message posted to his X account. 

The announcement was soon followed by him endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to take up the mantle, leaving her with just more than 100 days to launch her own presidential campaign against Trump. 


This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Chartists can improve their odds and increase the number of opportunities by trading short-term bullish setups within bigger trends. The first order of business is to identify the long-term trend using a trend-following indicator. Second, chartist can turn to more granular analysis to find short-term bullish setups. Today’s example will use the Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY).

***********************

TrendInvestorPro monitors a carefully curated ETF ChartList to identify the leading uptrends and find bullish setups within these uptrends. We spotted several flag/pennant breakouts in tech-related ETFs in early June,  and Palladium crossed our radar with a trend-following signal in late June. This week we identified several more bullish continuation patterns. Click here to take a trial and get access to our research.

***********************

Returning to SKYY….First, and foremost, the ETF is in a long-term uptrend. The chart below shows the 5-day SMA and 200-day SMA only (no price plot). A downtrend signaled when the 5-day plunged below the 200-day in late March and early April. This downtrend signal did not last long as the 5-day surged back above the 200-day SMA on May 13th. Whipsaws suck, but they are part of the trend-following process.

The indicator window shows a method to reduce whipsaws – and still ride the big trends. Percent above MA (5,200,1) shows the percentage difference between the 5 and 200 day SMAs. I added signal lines at +3% and -3%, which means the 5-day must be more than 3% above/below the 200-day for a signal. This simple filter greatly reduced whipsaws and still caught the big trends. The red dotted line shows the downtrend from January 2022 to May 2023, while the blue dotted line shows the uptrend from May 2023 to April 2025. This indicator is one of 11 in the TIP Indicator Edge Plugin.

With a long-term uptrend in place and the tech sector leading the market, we can look for bullish setups on the bar chart. The next chart shows SKYY with a breakout surge from early April to mid May and a pair of short-term bullish continuation patterns. First, a pennant formed into early June and SKYY broke out. Second, a small flag formed into late June and SKYY broke out this week.

These breakouts signal a continuation of the April-May surge and target a challenge to the prior highs. A close below the rising 200-day SMA would argue for the first re-evaluation. The charts at TrendInvestorPro extend two years to offer longer term perspectives for the bigger trends and granular analysis for the shorter term setups along the way. The idea is to trade in the direction of the bigger uptrend. Click here to learn more and gain immediate access.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

A group of House Republicans is demanding to know how the U.S. is ready to protect its own domestic assets in the event of a potential attack on the homeland.

‘We write to inquire with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the current state of drone attack countermeasures for our military installations, government buildings, embassies, and consulates, both domestic and abroad,’ the GOP lawmakers wrote in a letter.

‘The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated that large-scale, highly coordinated mass-drone attacks can be highly effective if the defender lacks adequate counter-drone defenses.’

The letter was sent late Thursday, days after Israel and Iran declared a ceasefire following days of escalating attacks within one another’s borders.

Just before President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned the Middle East conflict was ‘causing a heightened threat environment in the United States.’

House lawmakers will be briefed behind closed doors on the situation with Iran at 9 a.m. Friday.

‘Since 9/11, our nation has not suffered a major coordinated attack on our own soil. While the government has done good work in preventing an attack like 9/11 from happening again, we want to ensure that we are preparing for a new paradigm in which relatively cheap drones can quickly and effectively wipe out core military and government infrastructure,’ the lawmakers wrote Thursday.

‘While American threat projection globally is strong among all the branches of the military, we need to be prepared for a new paradigm of covert, but potentially disastrous, threats to our core military interests, including our nuclear triad in the homeland.’

The letter is led by Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio.

The lawmakers are asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem if counter-drone technology is being factored into Trump’s plans for a Golden Dome defense system in the U.S.

They’ve also asked whether there is ‘a concern of any sort of weaponized drone buildup already happening in the United States from drones that may have been smuggled in due to the former administration’s open border policies.’

Noem and Hegseth were also questioned on whether they are ‘aware of or actively working to deter potential threats posed by foreign-owned land near critical military and infrastructure sites in the United States that could be a launching point for a mass drone attack like we saw in Russia by Ukrainian forces.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon and DHS for comment.


This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

The tension between former President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has reignited, following the Fed’s recent decision to hold interest rates steady. President Trump stated again that he might consider firing Powell, something he had previously ruled out. With unemployment still low and output not yet showing signs of contraction, the Fed has judged that the current policy stance is appropriate. Inflation, while lower than its peak, remains above target, leaving little room for interest rate cuts without risking renewed price pressures. Yet Trump prefers a lower interest rate, a policy that might, in the short run, counteract his policy on tariffs.

Trump’s push for lower interest rates creates economic and institutional problems. The first is macroeconomic. By lowering rates in the face of still-stubborn inflation, the Fed risks undoing the fragile progress made since the post-pandemic surge in prices. While lower rates could offer some short-term relief from the economic drag caused by trade tensions and the recent spike in tariffs — many of Trump’s own making — they would do so at the risk of future inflationary pressure. That’s a dangerous trade-off. Monetary easing in a context of persistent inflation is more likely to produce stagflation than sustainable growth.

The second problem is institutional, which is arguably more damaging in the long run. Political interference in monetary policy compromises the independence and credibility of the central bank. The Fed’s legitimacy rests on its ability to act according to economic data, not political pressure. If monetary policymakers can be cajoled into taking actions that align with electoral timelines or partisan agendas, the public will likely expect higher inflation. That would put the Fed in a difficult position: deliver the higher inflation expected by the public or risk a recession. 

Two historical precedents underscore the importance of central bank independence in very different ways. Fed Chair Arthur Burns gave in to President Nixon’s pressure campaign: he lowered interest rates ahead of the 1972 election, when doing so was unwarranted by the economic data, contributing to the high inflation of the 1970s. Fed Chair Paul Volcker refused to give in to pressure from President Reagan, who wanted the Fed chair to commit to not raise rates ahead of the 1984 election. Volcker was not planning to raise rates any further at the time, but refused to commit nonetheless. Volcker’s approach helped restore price stability and solidified the Fed’s reputation for independence. That legacy is now at risk.

President Trump’s calls for the Fed to cut rates risks undermining the institution, regardless of how the Fed responds. If the Fed were to cut rates today, the public might view the decision as a capitulation to political demands. If the Fed refuses to cut rates, as it has done since December 2024, the public might wonder whether the decision was at least partially driven by Fed officials’ desire to avoid the perception of yielding to political pressure. In either case, therefore, the public might come to believe the Fed is responding to political factors rather than economic data. Hence, the integrity of monetary policy suffers either way.

Credibility is hard earned and easily lost. That credibility is especially important in the international context. As the issuer of the world’s primary reserve currency, the U.S. dollar’s value depends not only on the economic fundamentals in the United States, but also on the belief that the Fed will conduct policy in accordance with the economic fundamentals. Political meddling undermines that belief. A politicized central bank is one that foreign investors and trading partners may learn to doubt. Additionally, it can have a negative impact on the US Treasury’s international market.With signs of disagreement emerging within the Fed’s Board of Governors on whether to pivot toward rate cuts later this year, the institution finds itself in a difficult position. Even if the eventual decision is economically justified, it risks being interpreted through a political lens. It is also likely that the Trump administration will publicly claim a victory over the Fed when cuts eventually begin, encouraging the political interpretation. In sum, the damage is already done: not necessarily to inflation or employment, but to the foundational principle of sound money itself.

On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and all executive departments and agencies to cease federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). (The administration seeks to rescind $1 billion in CPB funding). 

The two broadcasters, said the order, still “receive taxpayer funds,” but the situation has changed drastically. Since 1967, when the CPB was created, the media landscape has become “filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options.  Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.” 

The order unnecessarily charged both broadcasters with bias: “…Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage…” And “CPB’s governing statute requires “principles of impartiality.”  The CPB may not “contribute to or otherwise support any political party…. The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS.”  

PBS and NPR reacted with predictable outrage, claiming the action was illegal, and the left-liberal media at large rallied to the icon of “non-commercial” programming in “the public interest” — all hoary premises of a soft socialism deemed inherently superior to the commercial world of profits. 

It is decades overdue. President Trump has not merely shifted a budgetary line item. He has struck a major blow against a deep-rooted violation of America’s constitutional and cultural principles — the idea that the government should “establish” its own television and radio stations not the “captive” of private, commercial interests. 

We scarcely could have hoped for this moment, one that strips away the illusion, cherished since the late 1960s, that in a free country with a free press, government can somehow act as a neutral arbiter of public information. But any claim to act “in the public interest” always means to advance the interests of some against the interests of others. In short: interest-group politics. 

Birth of a Constitutional Contradiction 

In the 1960s, with television still relatively new, with only three major television networks— ABC, CBS, and NBC — advocates claimed that the private, commercial media landscape could not adequately serve the public. News had become commercialized. Educational programming was spotty (the commercial stations had declined the Children’s Television Workshop series, “Sesame Street”). Journalism, they argued, needed a “public” alternative, unsullied by the profit motive. It was pure anti-capitalism. 

One must be a New Yorker of the baby boom generation to fully comprehend the reverence for PBS. We always knew what our kids would be doing when “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” was on, then “Sesame Street”: sitting in front of the TV. Then, “Nature” virtually introduced us and our kids to the nature documentary genre, until it became a routine on TV.  And then, great original drama — not “soaps” but literary — “Masterpiece Theatre” and “Great Performances” — stuff we used to see only on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, or on London’s West End. The generation I am talking about here offered big support to Trump in 2024, but postmortems on the election make it clear this was not the bicoastal, urban intelligentsia who grew up having an affair with “PBS NewsHour” and “NOVA.” 

It is an uphill battle to convince the typical welfare-state liberal that the quality of PBS programming, in a very real sense “highbrow”  — educational, literary, scientific, with no commercials — does not in itself justify a government-subsidized broadcaster. What PBS’s record does show is that such programming does have a lasting audience — as demonstrated by PBS’s fundraising successes.  

But how can the government, forbidden to “establish” a church or to censor speech, presume to establish a taxpayer-supported broadcasting system? This system, unsurprisingly, soon became the voice of the political establishment, offering a consistent narrative in favor of more government action, government programs, and government solutions. 

In his executive order, President Trump weakened his argument from principle, even implying that in some circumstances the government may legitimately control the media. To revert to the passage quoted earlier: Government funding of news media in this environment is …not only outdated and unnecessary…” Then the return to principle: “…but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.” 

The “pragmatic” argument is true but irrelevant. Yes, today there are hundreds of cable channels, thousands of podcasts, streaming platforms, independent radio stations, digital news outlets, and citizen journalism initiatives. The “public interest” is never singular; it is nothing more than the many interests of individuals. But the practical argument invites rejoinders about what is still missing, even today, and the media immediately said, for example, “access to education” would be weakened. It is much harder to argue with the principle that government never had a legitimate role in favoring one news source over another. If anything, federal funding of one set of media institutions in this environment creates the appearance — and often the reality — of favoritism, institutional bias, and dependence. Public broadcasting has, predictably, evolved into a haven of government advocacy, portraying private profit-making enterprises with suspicion while celebrating the expansion of public programs and regulation. 

The issue is freedom: free minds, free judgments, freely expressed opinions, and freedom in interpreting and reporting events. Freedom means no government supervision, no subsidies, and no anointed “public” channels. 

Media Sacred Cows Are Constitutional 

PBS and NPR are readying lawsuits even as they invoke the public affection for “Big Bird” and Ken Burns documentaries. (In fact, Mr. Burns created a documentary with the catastrophic effect of advancing the “exoneration” of the infamous Central Park 5.)  All right, but, in 2023, the Media Research Center found that while PBS journalists referred to politicians as “far right” 162 times in 18 months, they labeled politicians as “far left” only six times. 

President Trump refuses to allow the federal government to act as the grand editor-in-chief. He has rejected the paternalistic assumption that without federal funding, the American people will be left ignorant, uncultured, or misled. 

Matters of principle aside, being cut off from federal funds will not silence PBS and NPR and their viewpoints or destroy beloved programs. Sesame Street, Ken Burns, and countless others have proven that philanthropic, corporate, and viewer support can and will sustain what the public truly values. (More than 40 million Americans listen to NPR public radio each week, and 36 million watch a local television station from the PBS network each month, according to their estimates.) PBS CEO Paula Berger said government funding of PBS “…amounts to about $1.60 per person a year [half a billion dollars]…When the Public Broadcasting Act was signed back in the late ’60s, it was envisioned that public broadcasting would be a public-private partnership. 

“This is different than many other public broadcasters around the world, which are state-supported. We are not. About 15 percent…of the budget for public broadcasting comes from the federal government. The rest of it comes from contributed money from viewers like you.” 

Oh, But the BBC Works So Well! 

From the start, advocates of the CPB cited the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), founded in 1922, as a model. But it is a model of a successful government media “establishment.” It led the way in exemplifying how government-funded media reflects the ideological leanings of the political and cultural class that sponsors them. For decades, British conservatives have accused the BBC of liberal-left bias — reflexive hostility to Brexit, nationalism, and traditional values. In 2020, a report commissioned by the BBC itself, The Future of Public Service Broadcasting, warned that the corporation risked losing public trust because it no longer reflected “a broad spectrum of opinion” and failed to represent “the whole UK.” This is a phony “self-criticism.” No broadcaster can represent the perspective of the whole country; and if it has no perspective, it is dull. The real criticism is that tax-dollars are sponsoring a particular political perspective. 

A year earlier, former BBC journalist Robin Aitken, in The Noble Liar, chronicled the BBC’s systematic marginalizing of conservative perspectives and viewed traditional British institutions — like the monarchy, the Church of England, and capitalism — with reflexive skepticism or disdain. A former BBC director-general, Mark Thompson, conceded that the corporation had suffered from a “liberal bias” in its earlier years. 

The BBC’s dominance is backed by law. Any household or organization watching or recording television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast is required by law to hold a television license. This applies regardless of the transmission method and is used to raise revenue to fund the BBC’s $8 billion annual budget. This has made it a gatekeeper of British culture and politics, a state-backed media behemoth that as polished and professional though it may be, distorts the marketplace of ideas by crowding out dissent and entrenching a consensus set by cultural elites. For the United States, where the First Amendment forbids government establishment of favored ideas or institutions in public discourse, the BBC is not a model but a cautionary tale. Americans should not aspire to replicate a system where government-backed journalism becomes indistinguishable from official ideology. 

An Assertion of Principle — At Last? 

Of course, the architects of the CPB knew that they must evade the First Amendment. Thus, Congress structured and funded the CPB as a “private nonprofit corporation” wholly independent of the federal government. It forbade “any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting.” 

“Wholly independent”  — except for funding. Government cannot spend tax dollars decade after decade and disclaim responsibility for the quality of what they buy. Or rather, it can disclaim responsibility only as long as criticism remains muted. Executives of public television and radio know that. They know, too, that the government still holds the purse strings and that their future depends upon keeping the politicians happy. 

So, will much change? Can we expect that government returns to a constitutional role well known all along, even by the advocates of public funding  — protecting freedom of speech, not subsidizing one source of speech? No media outlet should be “the elect” of Washington. No broadcaster should be elevated as the official voice of “the public.” In a free country, the people, through millions of choices made freely, determine what interests them, educates them, and inspires them. For a significant segment, it is PBS and NPR. 

That makes Trump’s decision to end taxpayer support for government media far more than a budget cut. It is a philosophical reassertion of freedom. So, relax. PBS and NPR will survive and thrive. This may be the best boost in years to their funding campaigns. The media landscape is vast. The First Amendment is vibrant. And we have a president who seems, at least this time, to have remembered government’s role in the realms of information, ideas, opinions, artistic judgments, and entertainment: Get out of the way.

John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, discusses uranium supply, demand and pricing, also sharing details on the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust’s (TSX:U.U,OTCQX:SRUUF) recently closed US$200 million bought-deal financing.

‘It’s clearly acted as a very positive catalyst — the spot price has popped, a lot of the equities have popped on this,’ he said about the agreement.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Tudor Gold (TSXV:TUD,OTC Pink:TDRRF) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire American Creek Resources (TSXV:AMK,OTCQB:ACKRF) in an all-share transaction, marking a consolidation in BC’s Golden Triangle.

Under the deal, dated Wednesday (June 25), each American Creek shareholder will receive 0.238 shares of Tudor for each share held, effectively giving Tudor an 80 percent ownership stake in the Treaty Creek project — one of Canada’s largest undeveloped gold-copper porphyry systems. American Creek previously held a fully carried 20 percent interest.

‘Our acquisition of American Creek increases our interest to 80 percent in the Treaty Creek Project, which hosts one of the largest gold discoveries in Canada with excellent potential for expansion and additional gold-copper discoveries, at a reasonable per ounce of gold equivalent cost,’ said Joe Ovsenek, Tudor Gold president and CEO, in a press release.

According to Tudor, Treaty Creek is located adjacent to world-class deposits held by Seabridge Gold (TSX:SEA,NYSE:SA) and Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM). Treaty Creek’s flagship Goldstorm deposit is a large-scale system that holds both gold and copper mineralization, and the project has consistently returned high-grade intercepts.

The transaction also includes the settlement of up to US$2.22 million in severance obligations to American Creek insiders — US$1 million in cash and the remainder in Tudor shares at a price of US$0.537 per share.

These shares will be subject to a four month statutory hold period, pending approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.

Golden Triangle deal mirrors global M&A trend

The Tudor-American Creek deal is the latest in a wave of mining sector consolidations driven by a record gold price, rising corporate cash reserves and dwindling new deposit discoveries.

Notable deals in the first half of 2025 include the C$2.6 billion merger of Equinox Gold (TSX:EQX,NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) and Calibre Mining, which was announced in February and closed this month.

In Australia, Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST,OTC Pink:NESRF) closed its AU$5 billion acquisition of De Grey Mining in May. De Grey was the owner of the massive Hemi gold deposit. The same month, Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI,JSE:GFI) made a US$2.4 billion bid for Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR,OTC Pink:ELKMF).

Ramelius Resources’ (ASX:RMS,OTC Pink:RMLRF) AU$2.4 billion acquisition of Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR,OTC Pink:GYYSF), announced in March, further underscores the appetite for consolidation.

Data from S&P Global Commodity Insights shows last year’s M&A activity laid the groundwork for this trend.

With US$26.54 billion in deal value across 62 qualifying transactions, gold remained the dominant metal of focus, accounting for 43 deals and US$19.31 billion of total deal value. ‘Ever-depleting mining reserves and limited exploration success mean that acquisition is now the key strategy for growth,’ the report notes.

Gold’s record price rise, which took it to the US$3,500 per ounce level in April, has made previously uneconomic deposits viable and pushed miners’ margins to historic highs.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Further to the ASX announcement on 20 June 2025, Cygnus Metals Limited (‘Cygnus’ or the ‘Company’) advises that it has issued a total of 211,627,907 fully paid ordinary shares (‘Shares’) at A$0.086 each under Tranche 1 of the Placement, raising a total of A$18,200,000 (before costs). The Shares were issued under the Company’s existing capacity under ASX Listing Rules 7.1 (126,702,591) and 7.1A (84,925,316).

A further 1,162,790 Shares are intended to be issued under Tranche 2 of the Placement to Non-Executive Director Raymond Shorrocks, or his nominees, subject to receipt of shareholder approval at a general meeting to be held in August 2025.

In addition, the Company has issued a total of 306,129 Shares to employees on conversion of 350,000 vested Performance Rights issued under the Company’s previous Employee Securities Incentive Plan.

Cygnus issued the Shares without disclosure under section 708A(5) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (‘Act’). With reference to those Shares issued, in accordance with section 708A(6) of the Act, the Company gives notice under paragraph 708A(5)(e) that:

1. the Company issued the Shares without disclosure under Part 6D.2 of the Act; and
2. as at the date of this notice:
a) the Company has complied with the provisions of Chapter 2M of the Act as they apply to the Company;
b) the Company has complied with sections 674 and 674A of the Act; and
c) other than as set out below, there is no excluded information within the meaning of sections 708A(7) and 708A(8) of the Act which is required to be disclosed under section 708A(6)(e) of the Act.

As previously announced, the Company has ongoing exploration and drill programs at its Chibougamau Copper-Gold Project in Quebec and is awaiting assay results from its current drill program (which remains ongoing). The Company will announce its assay results when it is in a position to complete the collation and interpretation of all data and in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations, the JORC Code and the ASX Listing Rules.

This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board of Directors of Cygnus.

David Southam
Executive Chair
T: +61 8 6118 1627
E: info@cygnusmetals.com
Ernest Mast
President & Managing Director
T: +1 647 921 0501
E: info@cygnusmetals.com
Media:
Paul Armstrong
Read Corporate
+61 8 9388 1474

About Cygnus Metals

Cygnus Metals Limited (ASX: CY5, TSXV: CYG) is a diversified critical minerals exploration and development company with projects in Quebec, Canada and Western Australia. The Company is dedicated to advancing its Chibougamau Copper-Gold Project in Quebec with an aggressive exploration program to drive resource growth and develop a hub-and-spoke operation model with its centralised processing facility. In addition, Cygnus has quality lithium assets with significant exploration upside in the world-class James Bay district in Quebec, and REE and base metal projects in Western Australia. The Cygnus team has a proven track record of turning exploration success into production enterprises and creating shareholder value.

Primary Logo

News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

President Donald Trump recognized a third-generation autoworker from Michigan Thursday while speaking at the ‘big, beautiful event,’ noting he was a lifelong Democrat who now supports the president because of vehicle loan interest tax benefits.

The president spoke about the ‘big, beautiful bill’ from the East Room of the White House with a group of people standing behind him who represented various trades, including food delivery, farmers and automotive workers.

One of the workers standing behind Trump was James Benson, a third-generation autoworker from Belleville, Michigan, who has been with Ford Motor Company for 26 years.

Trump introduced Benson, noting that Ford has ‘a lot of plants’ in the U.S.

‘If you have plants in this country, you’re going to make a lot of money,’ the president said, adding that he loves autoworkers.

Trump also said Benson was a lifelong Democrat until 2017, when he saw the benefits of the tax laws.

Trump then spoke about his latest plan to benefit car owners by making interest on car payments fully tax-deductible.

But the deduction would only be for cars made in the U.S., Trump said, adding if it was made someplace else, ‘we don’t care.’

Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ would create a new deduction of up to $10,000 for qualified passenger vehicle loan interest in a given taxable year. The deduction would phase out when a taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000.

Applicable passenger vehicles include cars, trucks, vans, SUVs and motorcycles that have been manufactured for use on public streets, roads and freeways and for which the final assembly occurs in the U.S.

The bill defines the final assembly as the process by which the manufacturer produces a vehicle and delivers it to a dealer with all the parts necessary for operation.

As is the case with the overtime and tips deductions, the auto loan provision would be in effect for tax years 2025 through 2028.

Trump reiterated to those in attendance that the tax benefit is only for vehicles made in the U.S.

‘Remember that, James. We’re going to keep those Michigan auto factories roaring,’ the president said.

FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.


This post appeared first on FOX NEWS