Lithium Drive: 2015 KIA Soul Electric Vehicle Debut at 2014 Chicago Auto Show ILC.v, TNR.v, LIT, RM

  

  More and more Electric Cars are hitting the streets these days. After the initial hype industry is solidly on track to bring more models with better range and safety than ever before. New names are entering the race and electric cars are here to stay.  Korea was quite slow to introduce electric cars, but now situation is changing very fast. Samsung is very active in Lithium Batteries technologies and Posco has a few projects in lithium supply chain. The new catalyst for the industry is coming from California and China now. Elon Musk is breaking the auto industry standards with his bold vision and China provides the huge opportunity to capitalise on this trend.

Lithium Drive: UK Government commits to electric cars LIT, ILC.v, TNR.v, RM.v

"China is literally chocking with pollution and electric cars are the obvious solution for urban mobility over there. Lithium developers are out of market favour now, but wait when investors will connect the dots again. Ganfeng Lithium is already the market leader in China in the lithium strategic supply chain and  extending its raw material base with International Lithium strategic partnership. Today's news from UK are putting new perspective to International Lithium 10 million J/V development partnership in Ireland with Ganfeng Lithium. 

  From International Lithium Annual General Meeting:

"Mr. Kirill Klip stated, "We are working to advance our Blackstairs Lithium project early in 2014 under the ten million dollar joint venture with strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. ("GFL"). We are also working with GFL on a corporate structure that will enable the companies to move forward on the Mariana lithium-potash brine project in Argentina."

International Lithium: Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium to Raise $81.5 Mln via Private Placement ILC.v, TNR.v, LIT

"Now Ganfeng Lithium has the capital to advance its development programs with International Lithium. Once the tax loss selling will be over International Lithium should enjoy better market perception with further advance of Lithium properties in Ireland, Argentina and Canada. Ganfeng Lithium production facilities development shows China's appetite for strategic commodities for electric revolution in order to make transportation and personal mobility still possible after recent pollution scare."

Lithium Drive: Experts Eye Tesla To Spur China's Electric Vehicle Market TSLA, ILC.v, TNR.v, LIT, RM.v

 "Tesla is coming to China with Tesla Model S - as always, just wait for a few years until China will come out with its own version of the reliable electric car. You can not stop the progress and market forces over there or piracy for the same matter and Elon Musk is already talking about Tesla Electric Cars production in China and that China could become the second largest market for Tesla Motors."

Lithium Drive: Beijing To Fight Air Pollution By Making 40% Of All New Cars Hybrids ILC.v, TNR.v, LIT, RM.v

"Electric Cars will be the logical solution for China's pollution problems. At least with urban mobility electric cars can dramatically improve the air quality very fast. For years critics were pointing out that electricity is produced in China in large percentage by the coal power plants, the latest Party Plenum has taken the clear path towards greener electricity sources: natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar. 

  Now the only thing left out is the reliable technology to put the real electric cars for mass market on the roads. All major electric cars players are already presented in China: Nissan, GM, Ford, Toyota. Home grown BYD is making its way with electric proposition and taking the market of Electric Buses now. Tesla Motors is already selling Model S in China and there are reports that this electric car can be produced in China as well. Kandi with its concept of electric cars for rent from the vending machine is another very important development. We are talking here not only about Beijing and Shanghai, but more than 160 cities in China with population over 1 million people.

  Now China again makes the bold move into the electric space and its lithium batteries and lithium materials industry is making very big progress under the radar screens of general investors. We are following here Ganfeng Lithium and International Lithium and they are getting into the interesting development stage of this cycle now with UK promoting electric cars and China coming back in this high stake technology game with the new force."

CITI Goes Bullish On Miners For The First Time In Three Years GDX, TNR.v, MUX, ILC.v

 Now CITI joins our small crowd with its bullish call on miners - it is very important development as now these news will go mainstream with the new money being allocated to the sector. Gold is particularly interesting now with the record high Leverage at COMEX of 112 owners for each ounce of Gold and record low level of Registered Stocks. Copper will be gaining attention as well with Chinese biding for huge Las Bambas Copper in Peru making the headlines again.

Rick Rule: Money Are coming Into Gold And Silver Now GLD, TNR.v, MUX, GDX

 "Rick Rules discusses the recent bear market in Gold and what is going to happen in the beginning of the new bull phase. Money are coming into the resource sector again. It is the very big money, which are circling this sector now. Who are the investors? You can guess - they are mostly from Asia - China and Korea, new type of long term investors. There are a lot of opportunities in the market now - we have learned from our previous experience and the valuations are very appealing now for the right plays."

McEwen Mining And TNR Gold: Report - Argentina Is In The Mood For Change On Investment Policy TNR.v, MUX, LCC.v, SSRI, PAA

  "Argentina mining landscape is changing for the better according to the report by BN Americas. Lumina Copper is trading above CAD 6.00, McEwen Mining is breaking out to the upside and TNR Gold has found some bids as well recently."

MarketWatch:

Citi goes bullish on miners for the first time in three years

“We would rather be too early than too late in making this call.”

And with that, analysts at Citi moved their 12-month view on the mining sector to bullish for the first time in three years.

Sure, they’re concerned about the potential for long-term structural demand for commodities in China, and yes they’re aware there could be a seasonal slowdown in the first quarter of this year (as they pointed out in December), but analysts are seeing better bottom-up fundamentals, notably from big diversified miners. Citi’s top picks are BHP BillitonBHP +0.84% UK:BLT +1.34%, Rio Tinto RIO +1.46% UK:RIO +1.68% and Glencore-Xstrata UK:GLEN +3.19%.

“Investor sentiment has hit rock bottom. The mining sector has moved through five stages of grief, namely Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and now we think we are in Acceptance that the sector has moved into a new norm,” said lead analyst Heath Jansen, in a note out Thursday.

Amid a clutter of metals-price calls, Jansen foresees a flat commodity-price environment ahead and a reduction in volatility. An improvement in U.S. and European growth will help boost commodities, while weakening commodity currencies — the currencies of major exporters like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa — are boosting miners, he said. On top of all this, miners are cutting costs, improving balance sheets and aligning with shareholders’ interests. Because of this, earnings momentum has become positive.

But Citi’s advice to stay underweight on gold and base-metal stocks diverged from the opinions of other big investors. DoubleLine Capital founder Jeffrey Gundlach said earlier this week that not only is gold looking good technically — calling for $1,350 an ounce on gold “sooner rather than later” –  but he likes those miners as well. Most major gold companies lost at least half their value last year on the gold price plunge.

“Sentiment is as black as night on gold, so I’m actually long on some gold miners,” said Gundlach.

His gold call is more bullish than the average investment bank so far this year. Recent forecasts from six big banks (not including Citi) see the metal sinking to $1,209 an ounce this year, an average drop of 14.5% from the 2013 average. The gold-mining sector has a fan in hedge-fund manager John Paulson, who wasreportedly telling clients last year that he won’t add more to his hard-hit gold fund, but still likes the miners.

For its part, Citi said its least-favored big-cap miner is Anglo American UK:AAL +1.43%. The investment bank parted company with UBS, whose analysts lifted the stock to buy from neutral, saying valuations are looking attractive after a recent underperformance (by more than 18% over the past three months compared to buy-rated Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton).

Writing for Benzinga on Wednesday, William Briat said now isn’t a bad time to go hunting gold mining stocks, which are nearing lows not seen since the fall of 2008. He advises looking for stocks that “are able to produce at an all-in sustaining cost that is below the current price of gold bullion, which means they remain profitable.”

While Citi’s note is focused on Europe’s mining stocks, Briat outpointed NYSE-listed Primero Mining  PPP +0.49% . “If a company still has strong assets, a solid balance sheet, and is able to create positive cash flow, this type of firm is of interest to me, especially when market sentiment is so negative,” he said.

Marc Faber extolled the virtues of mining stocks at the close of 2013. The author of the Gloom, Boom and Doom report said that given the extremely bearish views out there on gold, silver, platinum and palladium, mining companies are at “relatively good values.” Not a new call here for Faber, he’s been touting miners for a while.

– Barbara Kollmeyer covers markets for MarketWatch. Follow her @bkollmeyer. Follow The Tell @thetell."

Rick Rule: Money Are coming Into Gold And Silver Now GLD, TNR.v, MUX, GDX

  

  Rick Rules discusses the recent bear market in Gold and what is going to happen in the beginning of the new bull phase. Money are coming into the resource sector again. It is the very big money, which are circling this sector now. Who are the investors? You can guess - they are mostly from Asia - China and Korea, new type of long term investors. There are a lot of opportunities in the market now - we have learned from our previous experience and the valuations are very appealing now for the right plays.

Rick Rule Interview on King World News.

Bloomberg: China May Become The Third-largest Holder Of Gold GDX, TNR.v, MUX, GDX

 Here it comes and a lot of people will be taken totally by surprise. Record buying of Gold by China last year will be translated in the much higher Gold holdings by PBOC. Bloomberg reports that these holdings could surpass now those of Italy and France - Jim Rickards talks about the announcement by Chinese Central Bank of 5,000 t of Gold holdings in the nearest future. It will be the game changer and puts Gold solidly into the investment game as well. Yesterday shock with Jobs numbers can be the sign of the real state of US Economy and it means that FED does not have any real exit strategy from QE permanent state. In another news Royal Mint in UK has run out of gold coins due to the exceptionally high demand.

U.K. Royal Mint Runs Out of Sovereign Gold Coins on Demand

Rob McEwen: “The Next Run Will Be Driven By Gold Moving Higher, As Well As New Discoveries” MUX, TNR.v, GDX, GLD

 "Rob McEwen gives his view on the Gold market and what will be the driving force behind the next Bull Run. He is looking for the deals in this market environment and that new discoveries will be driving the successful companies backing them. Meanwhile Gold is under pressure today testing the recent lows. Equity markets are drifting lower and Interest Rates higher. Rob reminds us, that turnaround can be very fast as we saw this summer after Gold has bottomed out and miners were spiking up. Equity markets are very high now and Gold sector is very undervalued, people will start looking at the relative values at these levels."