Precious Metals News

The S&P 500 to gold ratio has fallen to the lowest reading since the pandemic and is at a critical support level. This could signal more upside for the yellow metal. Stocks and gold have risen in tandem in 2025. The S&P 500 is up nearly 16 percent on the year, and up 38 percent since the April selloff sparked by tariff worries.

The U.S. economy depends on consumers buying stuff. Persistent price inflation forced Americans to blow through their savings and then turn to credit cards to make ends meet. Credit card spending has slowed significantly this year, indicating consumers may be maxing out the plastic.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has officially added silver to its list of “critical minerals.” This could put further demand pressure on a metal already in short supply. It also increases the possibility of tariffs on silver. The USGS critical mineral list was established in 2017, and it guides federal strategy

Early this year, high premiums developed for COMEX bars in the U.S. thanks to fears of tariffs on importing silver (and gold). In response, traders shipped an estimated 300 tons of silver from London to New York to alleviate that squeeze. Last month, the London Bullion Market ran into some issues of its own with respect to silver

After charting the highest level of gold inflows on record in September, the flow of gold into ETFs slowed modestly in October but remained comfortably above the year-to-date average. It was the fifth straight month of net gold inflows into ETFs globally. In total, 54.9 tonnes of gold flowed into gold-backed funds last month.

Central bank gold buying hit the highest level of the year in September, with several new banks adding to their reserves. Globally, central banks officially added a net 39 tonnes of gold to their holdings in September. That was up 79 percent month-on-month and was above the 12-month average of 27 tonnes.

Silver has been on a wild roller coaster ride. Is the recent selloff a temporary correction or have we reached the end of the rally? While the supply displacement has moderated somewhat, the underlying dynamics that have been driving both silver and gold higher over the last two years remain in place.

For the second straight meeting, the Fed cut the federal funds rate by a quarter percent on Wednesday. The FOMC also announced balance sheet reduction will end December. However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell tried to keep the party from heating up too much by downplaying the possibility of another cut in December.

Gold has been pounded recently and is now struggling to hold the $4,000 level. Are the bulls dead? It’s important to keep the selloff in perspective. As I put it in my podcast last week, “keep your eye on the ball.” Corrections are healthy and normal in a bull market. But a big selloff could also indicate the end of a bull run. So, where are we now?

According to the World Gold Council, the festival season started on a “positive note” with healthy demand. “Despite the pressure on gold jewelry consumption due to high prices and affordability, there has been a recent sales uptick, predominantly concentrated around wedding-related purchases and aligning with the wedding season.”

Despite all the talk about DOGE and cost-cutting earlier this year, the federal government spent more in fiscal 2025 than it did the previous year and set a new spending record. However, thanks to an influx of tariff revenue, the fiscal 2025 budget deficit was slightly smaller – if you can call a $1.78 trillion deficit “small.”

In a seismic shift, Morgan Stanley CIO Michael Wilson recently came out with an investment strategy that includes a 20 percent allocation to gold. Now a Sprott executive has followed suit, telling a mainstream financial network’s audience that investors should consider shifting from the traditional 60/40 portfolio to a 60/20/20 allocation.

With gold scaling record highs on what feels like a daily basis, mainstream financial analysts are scrambling to raise their price forecasts. Goldman Sachs recently upped its 2026 price projection to $4,900. Not to be outdone, Bank of America has now raised its 2026 forecast to $5,000 an ounce.

Is Wall Street starting to embrace gold? For years, mainstream investment gurus have steered clients away from gold. But with the yellow metal gaining more than 87 percent since January 2024, it’s getting hard to ignore the yellow metal. Morgan Stanley recently came out with an investment strategy with a 20 percent allocation to gold.

Nobody in their right mind would hold their reserves in dollars. That’s the conclusion of Catalyst Funds CIO David Miller. And he’s right. Gold is up over 87 percent since January 2024 and is knocking on the door of $4,000 an ounce. But even with the rapid price surge, Miller said gold is not overpriced.

CNCB says investors should have gold as a hedge if the government shutdown persists. But they miss the real problem. That comes after the government reopens! At midnight on October 1, the feds shut the doors, turned out the lights, and went home. Well, some of them did.

Most people define inflation as rising consumer prices. Price inflation is part of the inflationary equation, but inflation also manifests in other ways, for instance, in asset inflation. Keep in mind that inflation, properly defined, isn’t about prices. It is an increase in the supply of money and credit.