#precious-metals

#precious-metals

A downbeat start for European markets today with equities taking the back foot as traders once again look to the precious metal space for consistent returns. In a week filled with potential volatility, traders have to weigh up the direction of travel once Wednesdays FOMC meeting and mag7 earnings are out the way. While today's economic calendar remains relatively light, the release of German Ifo business climate and US durable goods data provide two areas of note.

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Yields were lower Monday across the Treasury curve as buyers returned from the holiday, looking to grab bonds, especially longer-dated maturities. Despite bond traders preparing for a heavy schedule of U.S. Treasury debt auctions throughout the holiday-shortened week, which tends to increase bond supply and push prices down, the opposite happened Monday. The 30-year-long bond closed trading at 4.80%. In comparison, the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.11%.

The latest rally came after the U.S. launched strikes on Islamic State targets in Nigeria on Thursday, adding to other geopolitical tensions. Earlier in the week, the Trump administration continued to pile on more pressure on Venezuela by targeting additional oil tankers, squeezing a key source of revenue for the Maduro regime. Meanwhile, the Pentagon sent large numbers of special-operations aircraft, troops and gear into the Caribbean, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

Global markets are nearing the year-end with striking contrasts across major asset classes, shaped by shifting rate expectations, geopolitical uncertainty, and uneven economic momentum. Nowhere was this divergence more evident than in the performance of commodities, oil, and global equities. Gold led with a gain of more than 60%, its strongest annual advance in over a decade, while silver outperformed even that, surging nearly 100% over the year. Both precious metals benefited from expectations of global monetary easing, persistent geopolitical tensions,

"These are seasoned criminals," he said.

"I use debt as money and I don't save cash because in 1971 the dollar became debt," he added, referring to the Nixon shock, where the former president ended the convertibility of the US dollar into gold, devalued the currency, and ultimately, led to the rise of cryptocurrencies. Instead, Kiyosaki uses debt to buy assets, like gold, which can withstand market crashes and spiraling inflation-unlike cash saved in the bank. "If I go bust, the bank goes bust," he added. "Not my problem."