Gold and silver caught an overnight flight to safety on the war breaking out between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen on the overnight.
Gold hit a high around 1218 or so on the spot price, but was pushed back down towards 1203 during the New York trading hours.
The miners were hit rather hard, which sometimes portends a hit on the metals the next day. Let's see how that works out. These mechanisms and influences are not linear.
It would be in the manner of the bucket shop to give a gut check on a price drop to those new holders of futures contracts from today's precious metals option expiration. But since I cannot see into all the players hands, to know who is holding what with any confidence, it is too hard to say.
I do think that the US Fed will raise rates this year by some token amount, unless the wheels completely fall off the economy for two quarters in a row. The first quarter is looking increasingly dismal, but it is easy to dismiss that as a one-off due to the weather.
The pampered princes and princesses of the Feds would like to raise rates for the benefit of their Bankers. And they will perform as required. Like the politicians, this is why they are there, to give plunder the appearance of legitimacy.
But at the end of the day, they are, for the most part, a collection of willful, self-deceiving fools who are plunging madly forward without a clear vision or care for what is just across the horizon, whether it be a shoal or an iceberg. They are now operating on necessity, defined by their own selfish needs. Just following orders. Whose orders, what priorities, well, that is another question altogether. But not yours.
If you want someone to tell you exactly what will happen or what to do next you can find plenty of people who are willing to do it, for a price, generally denominated in money and power. Just look for the wild claims, self-promotion, and screaming headlines.
If they knew, they would not tell you.
There are so many big changes happening behind the scenes. No one can really predict exactly which way they will go. But I am increasingly confident that we have the lay of the land mapped out correctly. And I think that the signs are knowable.
The currency war is the pivotal event of our time. If you do not yet understand what is going on there, you will be tossed around like a small boat, directionless in a tempest, because you cannot see beyond the nearest waves.
Keep an eye on China and Russia. This does look like a pivotal year, but we have been close before, and the can keeps getting kicked further down the road. The longer we wait, the greater the break.
If someone knows which way the Chinese leadership will finally go, I should like to know it. But I don't think even they know that yet.
What you can do, above all, remember what is truly important, what lasts. And now is a very good time to sort that out, because when the time comes, there will be no time.
Have a pleasant evening.
