Stefan Gleason

As long as silver continues to trade above its low from late August, it will continue to show a positive divergence versus gold. When silver leads, that generally a bullish a sign for the precious metals space. A strong close above $21 would point to a new uptrend.

Banks operating outside the United States are presently most vulnerable. A spike in interest rates concomitant with a spike in the exchange rate of the Federal Reserve note “dollar” is wreaking havoc in global debt markets and driving capital flight

Longtime precious metals naysayers such as personal finance guru Dave Ramsey are pointing to gold and silver weakness throughout most of the year as evidence that they don’t protect against inflation. Are the anti-gold bugs right?

A bad run for gold and silver markets this summer is dimming hopes for the metals being able to finish out the year with some good gains. Major economic indicators have also been trending down this summer. However last week brought some disappointing jobs data.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell is talking tough and warning of more interest rate pain to come. At the same time, Fed officials are now admitting that their sized-up rate hikes won’t even be sufficient to tame the price inflation they have helped create.

So much for “inflation reduction.” Just a few days after signing Green New Deal legislation, rebranded as the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden has moved to completely undo its core promise by pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into another new bailout package.

Even as silver prices have begun to rally off their lows for the year, the white metal remains one of the best bargains in the investment universe. Few other assets are as cheap on a historical basis as silver is today. Just don’t talk about Silver Eagles…

With last week’s second 75 basis-point rate hike, the Federal Reserve now claims it has achieved a “neutral” monetary policy stance. That would mean, in theory, that interest rates are neither stimulating nor restraining the economy.

After going essentially straight up for more than a year, the Dollar Index chart is now looking extremely overbought. The Federal Reserve note may be due for a retracement against its foreign counterparts. That will likely spark a rally in metals markets.

All presidents make mistakes, whether it’s failing to limit the growth of the federal budget or being unable to anticipate turns in the economic cycle. But the Biden administration has been unique in consistently getting just about everything wrong while stubbornly refusing to change course.

The U.S. economy appears headed for a hard landing. After months of ignoring the steadily growing inflation problem, the Federal Reserve is now using monetary blunt force to try to rein in rising prices.

The explosion in retail demand for gold has made headlines, but retail investors aren’t the only ones steadily stockpiling the yellow metal. As doubts over currencies increase and as the world becomes increasingly polarized, nations are seeking to hedge their risks with the tried-and-true asset capable of doing so: gold.

Friday’s Consumer Price Index Report sent shockwaves through financial markets. The 8.6% annual reading was yet another new multi-decade high – dealing a body blow to analysts who believed inflation pressures had peaked.

Talk of “peak inflation” is helping to drive investor inflows back into stock and bond markets. As the narrative goes, inflation readings have hit their highs for the year. The Federal Reserve will hike rates until monetary policy “normalizes,” then declare victory over the very problem its policies unleashed.

Central bankers and bureaucrats are seizing on recent turmoil in cryptocurrency markets to push aggressively for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). They made their case to other global elites gathered in Davos on Monday…

Good news for gold holders is that the safe-haven metal is holding up better than conventional financial assets. Stocks are breaking down at the same time as purportedly “risk-free” Treasury bonds are collapsing in value at a rate never before seen

Markets responded to the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated 50 basis-point rate hike yesterday by rallying. Investors breathed a sigh of relief when Fed chairman Jerome Powell said a 75 basis-point future hike is off the table.

Last week’s release of first quarter GDP data was a disappointment, as GDP sank by 1.4%. Analyst expectations were calling for a rise of 1%. The surprise decline may signal a recession ahead. Optimists, however, say the GDP number may not be as bad as it looks.

To begin with, gold and silver are still up for the year overall. By contrast, stock and bond markets are sticking investors with large losses. Investors are finding out the hard way that in an environment of high inflation and rising interest rates, there are no safe havens in paper assets.

Joe Biden has committed more than his share of mistakes and missteps during the first 15 months of his administration.
Some, including a new federal spending spree combined with decisions to limit U.S. oil production and to weaponize the U.S. dollar against Russia, are contributing to the surge in price inflation.

As Russia appears to be on the verge of defaulting on its debt, the U.S. debt market is also signaling trouble ahead. Treasury bonds, long considered to be among the safest investments, are rapidly plunging in value as yields surge. It could end up being a lost decade – or worse – for bondholders.

With Tax Day coming up and tax hike proposals coming down the pike, investors are eyeing ways to limit Uncle Sam’s take. Last week, President Joe Biden proposed several new tax increases to help pay for his massive $5.8 trillion budget…

Direction, magnitude, and timing are difficult to predict. But precious metals bulls are eying massive upside potential for gold and silver as war and inflation stoke safe-haven buying. What follows are four major macro scenarios that could impact metals markets…

In response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the U.S. and G-7 countries have launched a currency war against the Kremlin. Sanctions imposed on the Russian central bank have effectively blacklisted the country from the U.S. dollar-dominated global financial system.

After rallying over the $2,000/oz milestone this morning, the gold market may now be poised to run to new record highs. A major technical breakout out of last year’s consolidation pattern had already been established in February. A trend change of this significance can be expected to last not days or weeks, but months… perhaps years.

Fuel costs have already been soaring due to oil and gas supply constraints and inflationary pressures. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.55 – some parts of the country are paying closer to $5.00 per gallon. Now the threat of full-scale war in Ukraine is sending risk premiums in futures markets even higher.

In an unprecedented move sidestepping normal due process guarantees, Trudeau ordered banks, insurance companies, and even cryptocurrency exchanges to close the accounts of anyone deemed to be involved in the Freedom Convoy.