Welcome to this week’s Market Wrap Podcast, I’m Mike Gleason.
As rate hike fears drove heavy selling on Wall Street this week, precious metals investors are finding some silver lining amid the storm clouds.
Worse than expected inflation data has put a 75 basis-point rate increase firmly back on the table. Futures markets are now pricing in the possibility that the Federal Reserve will move by a full percentage point, though a three-quarters of a percent move is currently viewed as more likely.
Earlier in the month, investors had hoped that weakening economic data would cause central bankers to pivot away from their historically large interest rate hikes. But Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index report showed inflation is still raging.
The CPI came in at an annualized rate of 8.3%. Despite a drop in gas prices and weakness in most industrial commodities, retail costs for consumers continue to climb. Especially worrisome is persistently rising food costs.
Food prices have surged 11.4% over the past year, marking the biggest annual increase since 1979. A sub-index that measures price changes at the grocery store jumped by a whopping 13.5%.
Meanwhile, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American worker is seeing only a 5.2% annualized bump in earnings. The purchasing power of wages, savings, and investments is getting clobbered at a staggering rate.
Unfortunately, none of the major asset classes have provided investors with a safe haven from the corrosive forces of inflation. Stocks, bonds, and yes, even precious metals are being dragged down.
On Thursday, gold prices broke below the $1,700 level to record a new low for the year. As of this Friday recording, the yellow metal trades at $1,666 an ounce and is down 3.4% for the week.
Metals investors who are looking for some silver lining amid the selling can find some positive divergences in the silver market. Silver prices continue to hold comfortably above their low point from earlier this month. The white metal is actually up 0.7% in this week’s trading to bring spot prices to $19.27 an ounce.
Platinum is also showing relative strength versus gold, up 0.9% since last Friday’s close to trade at $902. And finally, palladium shows a weekly loss of 2.9% to come in at $2,153 per ounce.
Volatility is inevitable in metals markets. Riding out downswings is the price investors must pay to enjoy the upswings that follow.
What investors must never risk is losing their actual, physical stake. Secure storage of your bullion is as important as the decision to obtain it in the first place.
Money Metals Depository offers maximum security for physical precious metals owners. All bullion holdings are fully segregated and never commingled or rehypothecated. And they are fully insured by Lloyd’s of London.
The most convenient and cost-effective way to buy and store precious metals is to purchase them from Money Metals Exchange and have them delivered directly to the Depository. Of course, all the products we sell are guaranteed for weight, purity, and authenticity.
Money Metals now ships about 40,000 gold and silver orders across America each month, with thousands of other investors choosing to securely store their precious metals in individually segregated accounts at Money Metals Depository.
Due to our steadily growing customer base on the way to becoming an industry leader, we have outgrown our existing facility.
This week Money Metals Exchange announced it is breaking ground on a new 40,000 square foot vaulting and fulfillment facility in Idaho. The $21 million facility will be the largest private depository of its kind in the Western United States.
The convenience and security of storage, including the seamless process Money Metals customers experience when buying and selling metal, has been the main catalyst for the new, dramatically larger depository and fulfillment center.
With completion scheduled for late 2023, the secure, state-of-the-art facility will be erected on a 3.2-acre lot adjacent to emergency services near the heart of Eagle, Idaho.
The demand for secure storage of physical gold and silver from our nationwide customer base has increasingly filled up our depository vaults.
We frankly don’t anticipate a reversal in the destructive trend in the U.S. (and the world at large) toward bigger government along with more debt, attacks on Americans’ freedoms and privacy, currency debasement, stock market volatility, and political conflict.
We expect more and more Americans to wake up and take prudent steps to protect themselves and their families — and that includes diversifying into gold and silver. Only about 1% of Americans today own gold and silver bullion as an investment or financial hedge, a number that’s poised to rise dramatically in the coming years.
That’s why Money Metals is confident in making this major long-term investment. Precious metals holders also tend to be long-term oriented and aren’t going to let go of their core holdings to chase some new investment fad.
Gold and silver markets may test investors patience and even trigger their nerves at times. But like no other form of money, precious metals have stood the test of time.
Well, that will do it for this week. Be sure to check back next Friday for our next Weekly Market Wrap Podcast. Until then this has been Mike Gleason with Money Metals Exchange, thanks for listening and have a great weekend everybody.