Peter's Blog

Last Week in Metals: Other Metals Join the Party

Gold finished last week at US $3,352 per ounce, a modest 0.6 % gain that nonetheless leaves the metal up an eye-catching 28.5 % year-to-date. Monday’s trade saw prices probe as high as US $3,365, keeping bullion within arm’s reach of the two-month trading ceiling that technicians have marked at US $3,395. All of this […]

Central Bankers vs. The Dollar

If Donald Trump has his way and recent reports are accurate, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is considering stepping down from his position. While extremely rare, Fed Chairs resigning before the end of their term isn’t entirely unheard of. Powell’s obligations would ordinarily extend to May 2026.

Get Ready for Big, Beautiful Inflation

As is the case with many new regulations, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had the opposite effect as what was implied by its name. President Trump campaigned on reducing inflation and bringing down prices.

Fed Governor Waller Defends $6.7 Trillion Balance Sheet

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller used a Dallas Fed podium Thursday to peel back the curtain on the central bank’s swollen balance sheet—and to argue that a slim-down is overdue but shouldn’t be draconian. Since 2007, Fed assets have ballooned from $870 billion (about 6 percent of U.S. GDP) to roughly $6.7 trillion, even […]

New Insights from the Fed’s Meeting Minutes: Market Expects Rate Cuts

Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June 17–18 meeting show policymakers content to hold their fire—for now. The Fed kept its benchmark federal-funds range at 4¼–4½ percent and left both the interest rate on reserve balances (4.4 percent) and the primary-credit rate (4.5 percent) untouched. Officials insisted that “recent indicators suggest that economic activity […]

Gold Sits at 28% on the Year as Tariff Clock Winds Down

Gold ended last week at a record-setting US $3,332 per ounce, up 1.8 % on the week and a blistering 28 % year-to-date. The metal’s march higher has come even as Wall Street cheers fresh equity highs and a softer dollar, underscoring bullion’s stubborn appeal as fiscal storm clouds gather. Yesterday’s price action was orderly—just […]

ADP Logs Surprise 33,000 Job Drop 

Hiring hit the brakes in June, with the ADP National Employment Report showing U.S. private-sector payrolls shrinking by 33,000 positions—the first monthly contraction of 2025. Goods makers managed to eke out modest gains, but service industries bled jobs, and small businesses took the biggest hit. Wages, meanwhile, kept climbing faster than the official inflation gauges, […]

Texas Greenlights Gold and Silver as Legal Tender

Austin, TX keeps rewriting the monetary rulebook.  House Bill 1056, cleared by both chambers in late May, designates properly marked gold and silver “specie” as legal tender in the Lone Star State starting September 1, 2026.  A second phase—launching no later than May 1, 2027—authorizes an electronic payment rail fully backed by bullion stored in […]

What the AI Boom Means for Precious Metals

We are living through the early stages of a technological revolution, and Wall Street is salivating over artificial intelligence. AI is being hailed as the new electricity: a transformative force destined to rewire nearly every industry, capital flows, and the very nature of human productivity itself. 

Powell Stalls, Tariffs Loom, and Consumers Turn Gloomy

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday that the central bank is in no rush to move interest rates, even as fresh tariffs cloud the outlook and inflation remains sticky. “For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the […]