Gold silver punished by still-hawkish Powell

Gold, silver punished by still-hawkish Powell

Gold and silver prices are sharply lower in midday U.S. trading Tuesday, as the metals market bulls are feeling the pressure of a still significantly hawkish U.S. central bank. April gold was last down $34.80 at $1,819.80 and May silver prices hit a five-month low and were last down $0.925 at $20.21.

Focus of the marketplace today was on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony on U.S. monetary policy to a Senate committee. Powell leaned hawkish, which was not surprising to many, but the marketplace did deem his remarks as being more hawkish than the central bank chief had been in the recent past. Powell said the Fed will likely have to keep U.S. interest rates higher for longer to win the war against problematic price inflation. He said recent stronger U.S. economic data has likely rolled back some of the softening the U.S. had seen on the inflation front the past few months. The U.S. dollar rallied sharply on Powell’s remarks and hit a three-month high. However, U.S. Treasury yields did not react much to Powell’s comments. The U.S. stock indexes sold off sharply on his remarks, as did crude oil. Powell speaks to a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday. The hawkish Powell is bearish for the metals markets because of the implications of softening consumer and commercial demand as the tighter central bank policies squeeze their respective economies in order to reduce demand.

 Pierre Lassonde: Gold to reach $2,400 by 2028 as geopolitical tensions mount, central banks purchase more bullion

Traders and investors are also looking forward to the February U.S. employment situation report from the Labor Department on Friday morning. The key non-farm payrolls component of the report is expected to show a rise of 225,000 jobs, following a mammoth rise of 517,000 in the January report.

The key outside markets see the U.S. dollar index sharply up and hitting a three-month high. Nymex crude oil futures prices are sharply down and trading around $78.00 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note is presently fetching around 3.93%.

Technically, April gold futures bulls have lost their slight overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at this week’s high of $1,850.50. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,800.00. First resistance is seen at $1,835.00 and then at $1,850.00. First support is seen at the February low of $1,810.80 and then at $1,800.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.

May silver futures prices hit a five-month low today. The silver bears have the firm overall near-term technical advantage and gained fresh power today. Prices are in a steep five-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $21.50. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $19.00. First resistance is seen at $20.50 and then at $21.00. Next support is seen at $20.00 and then at $19.50. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0.

March N.Y. copper closed down 1,205 points at 398.00 cents today. Prices closed near the session low today. The copper bulls have the slight overall near-term technical advantage but trading has been choppy and sideways recently. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at the February high of 423.70 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at 380.00 cents. First resistance is seen at 405.00 cents and then at 410.00 cents. First support is seen at the February low of 393.45 cents and then at 390.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Restoring Humanity – From Mass Psychosis to Mass Awakening

Restoring Humanity – From Mass Psychosis to Mass Awakening

The global events of the last three years have presented extreme economic, health, and freedom challenges while raising questions about the emerging dystopian nightmare. 

Why is it that a minority of people can see through the crumbling official narrative imposed on the people while, by contrast, many seem so blissfully asleep in continuing to accept and defend a narrative that does not add up?

In order to answer this, it may be helpful to look at the relationship between perception and mind control and how this contributes to mass psychosis, which refers to a collective lack of insight where current reality is concerned. Even more important than insight is how to break the spell of harmful and destructive conditioning.

I start with a personal example. I was walking through our local hospital many years ago wearing a white jacket and skirt cotton suit. As I walked through the local hospital, it seemed that everybody I passed nodded at me respectfully; initially, I couldn't figure out why. After all, I didn't know them.

It took a minute to dawn on me that my presence was being acknowledged this way because most doctors wear white uniforms. They thought I was a doctor and, therefore, worthy of such respectful acknowledgment due to my perceived status and authority. 

In another incident in 2020, an elderly gentleman in town gave me expletives due to my opposing views over a specific health matter. He abruptly stopped when I told him I was a former nurse, and his demeanor changed entirely to a more passive and accepting stance. Again, in his eyes, I represented authority.


Image source: Bgfons.com

MASS PSYCHOSIS

In the above examples, the keyword was authority, demonstrating the behavioral trend to accept what those in charge say without question. In an ideal world, that should not cause an issue, and there is merit in taking advice from those in authority who have the relevant expertise and a desire to help those they serve genuinely.

However, if you primarily serve your ego, then authority and status can lead to misuse and abuse of power if left unchecked. Money and status are aphrodisiacs to these types of individuals. With this in mind, Thomas Jefferson warned Americans about the need to be vigilant.

‘Freedom is not free; the price you must pay for freedom is eternal vigilance.’

So why do individuals accept authority blindly when a destructive use of power is in play? The clues lie in mind control.

MIND CONTROL

Mind control is the ability to influence the mind towards a specific objective. It can be positive when focussing on how to achieve a dream goal, for example. This is a constructive use of the mind, which impacts emotions and behavior too. When used for harmful or nefarious purposes, this becomes destructive. 

Most, if not all of us, have been born into a time when such corruption is well established. This means that these practices have an air of normality about it. Normal becomes so through a process of conditioning over time. If you look at it from the angle of the law of cause and effect, these nefarious outcomes are the effects of things being created to cause them to happen.

So if the effect is that you wish people en masse to believe a lie, then certain ingredients would need to combine to cause that to happen. For example, combine authority with media, education, and health control, and you can control the message that will be delivered consistently to the people. 

After a certain time, that message will get accepted to the point where it will remain unchallenged without question, even when it makes no sense. Mass conditioning becomes possible when you expose the public to specific information with frequency and intensity through commonly held technology devices such as the television.

George Orwell once said, “Who controls the past controls the future.”

Ask yourself the following question. Who controls the media, who owns education, and who owns the pharmaceutical industries? See if you can name them without research. 

If you struggled with the answer, that is great feedback because it lets you know what you do and don’t know. It's on the basis of such ignorance that many make uninformed comments and decisions about things like health, education, and money.

To help advance your knowledge in this area, the documentary below called  "MONOPOLY" is well worth watching as it shows you how to find the answer rather than just telling you who controls the world. It’s about one hour long and addresses the issue of who owns what when it comes to the primary industries in the world. It also develops your research ability in the process.

This pattern of control highlighted in the documentary is the creation of those with high status, money, presumed authority, and disdain for humanity. Once you determine who controls what, you can examine their connections regarding who they associate and with whom they merge their objectives. You can then more accurately predict the narrative that will come through the media channels. 

So in the case of the Monopoly documentary, all roads lead to Blackrock and even more so to one in particular – Vanguard. The agenda with Blackrock and Vanguard has been addressed in previous articles from the team. 

Since they have a monopoly on every major industry, it stands to reason that it is not in their interest to allow an even playing field for all. They do not believe in meritocracy. Hence they will use everything in their arsenal to remove the competition. 

Does the trail stop with Vanguard, or is there another type of hierarchy with controlling influence? 

Well, depending on how far you want to take your research, there is consistent commentary from various ex-government officials turned whistleblowers to suggest there are individuals in the shadows hiding behind these corporations pulling the strings.

Some talk in terms of thirteen ruling families. Others talk of the Club of Rome or The Committee of 300. The theme of Masonic Orders and The Illuminati are other names. They are collectively referred to as The Cabal or Deep State.

Where this trail ends is hard to say, but a common theme is this hatred for humanity, reflected in destructive rituals and behaviors. This theme of unjust enrichment for the few by those in authority and enslavement of the masses is an enduring theme, irrespective of the exploration angle.

So how does that corporate control relate to you? It goes beyond you buying their stuff. Let’s loop back on the subject of mind control and see if we can get nearer to the roots of this.

MK Ultra

MK Ultra was a collaboration between the government and approximately 80 institutions in the 1950s, a central point of which was the Tavistock Institute. Certain people were selected to be experimented on regarding mind and behavior control. It was brought into being off the back of the war as a strategic initiative for defense purposes. For more background, look up Project Blue Beam, Operation Paperclip, and P20 CointelPro.


Image Source: All That’s Interesting

Director Sidney Gottlieb, an integral figure in that program, joined the CIA in the early 1950s. He was an expert in poisons and devised many projects to remove the enemy.  This program became controversial because such experiments were used more widely to experiment on the public without their knowledge. The nature of the experiments was barbaric in that they were designed to break the human will and spirit. 

The mind would become fragmented as the conditioning process of subliminal messages, drugs, alcohol, mental disruption, fear, blackmail, hypnosis, and sensory deprivation kicked in to induce specific behavior. The subject would automatically and unconsciously respond to a pre-programmed objective once triggered by a stimulus or command at the required time.

MK Ultra is deemed to be behind certain assassinations where the assassin has no knowledge of performing the act. It protects the real killer, and hence these subjects become proxy killing machines, weaponized to do the bidding of those that control them.

Once this program became known in the public domain in the early 1970s, the program was supposed to be terminated. However, it got morphed into Project Monarch, and many believe the project continues in some way, with the use of subtle tactics.

Strategies and Tactics

To bring it forward to the present day, the use of artificial intelligence for population surveillance and the internet of things is deemed to be the medium through which the public is being spied on. Here are a few tactics employed in the process.

Plausible Deniability

Plausible deniability is about insulating yourself from blame based on the fact that someone else performed the misdeed without your knowledge, coupled with the fact that there is no clear trail of evidence that links you directly with the act in question.

The following testimony from a whistleblower from a private security firm in Seattle demonstrates this and how far these global powers are willing to go to control the masses for their own agenda. What he shows undoubtedly aligns with the attempted removal of law enforcement and the introduction of robots. 

It enters the realms of direct energy weapons, which lays the groundwork for plausible deniability because, in this scenario, you can harm someone without touching them and distance yourself through a lack of evidence. 

As much as what he shares is not for the faint of heart, it does prove that these things did not happen overnight, and the view that the so-called virus was created for a global reset rather than the other way around is gaining momentum by the day.

Distraction

Consider this from Aldous Huxley back in the 1930s:

“As for the manual workers, they will be discouraged from serious thought: They will be made as comfortable as possible…; As soon as working hours are over, amusements will be provided, of a sort calculated to cause wholesome mirth and to prevent any thoughts of discontent which otherwise might cloud their happiness.” 

Distraction is a tactic that keeps a person from realizing what is actually happening. A typical vehicle for this is the television.

Entertainment

Look up the film ‘White Noise’ and compare it to what happened in Ohio recently with the train incident. Many reported that the so-called virus reminded them of the film ‘Contagion.’ Most recently, there was talk of another virus called the Marburg virus. 

Coincidentally Stanley Johnson, the father of former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, released a fiction book in 2020 called ‘The Virus,’ featuring the Marburg Virus. It was previously published in 1982 as The Marburg Virus. 

A variation of these fiction movies and books is the simulated tabletop exercises facilitated by Bill Gates back in 2019 and written into the WHO papers. (World Health Organization)

Are these fictionalized movies, books, and simulations a tactic to get the mind to associate these things with fiction prematurely or to confuse the mind about what is real and fiction?

Could it be that when the real event happens, it has already been seeded in the collective mind? And any attempts to suggest this is premeditated get seen in a fictitious light as disinformation?  

Or are we being told the agenda ahead of time, albeit presented as mere fiction, so we won’t take it seriously until it catches up with us in an unguarded moment? You decide.

The Trojan Horse 

If you look up what a trojan virus is, it is a play of the trojan horse theme. In this scenario, some sort of malware disguises itself as legitimate code. Once it enters your computer, it wreaks havoc in a destructive manner.

Apply this to 9/11, where there was a supposed foreign terrorist attack. Through the back door came The Patriot Act, allowing for citizen surveillance.

In the case of the so-called virus Co-vid 19 [look up its patent]. The virus supposedly allowed the public to be inoculated through experimental jabs, which has given way to track and trace technology for our protection.

It was, in fact, the other way around. The problem was created in the form of a virus with a 99.9% recovery rate, yet, by sleight of hand, by solely focussing on cases, it was presented as a killer pandemic, suggesting a significant percentage of the population would be wiped out. 

This, in turn, would provide a context and compelling case for mass injections and then, then morph into an emergency climate agenda based on reducing carbon emissions. 

Now the proposal of a digitized CBDC becomes a controlling pinnacle mechanism for approved social behaviors in the form of social credits within smart cities. Spot the trojan horse. Welcome to the new world order.


Image Source: Stop World Control

In their new online playground, the lines between reality and virtual reality get consumed in the metaverse, ‘et voila’ we have the internet of things, where you now become a thing that can be switched on or off at the press of a button – the ultimate control.

A way to further verify these events is to look at where big money has been directed. For example, look up the list of US patents, and you will find related patents going back many years ago that laid the ground for what we are now seeing.

Duplicity

This is where you appear to be on one side while really serving the other. An example of this is when the government sugarcoats its lies with the truth to bait the people or keep them hooked.

Deception – The Overarching Theme

Deception is a theme that runs through all the tactics mentioned above, and the most dangerous kind is the duplicitous narrative that has a bit of truth sprinkled in to keep the masses onside and to mute any objections. 

Robin de Ruiter sums it up in his book The Satanic Bloodlines,

“There is only one truth which has been purposely covered up and re-branded to ensure that those who dare to seek and question are unsuspectingly led into a dangerous cocktail of truth mixed with error.”

This can pave the way for things such as battered wife syndrome and Stockholm Syndrome. The latter is a term often used in psychiatry, where the subject perceives her abuser as more of a friend than a foe to the point where the abused will defend the abuser in the face of threat. 

This is an example of codependency, where the abuser controls a vulnerable subject and where she is dependent on the abuser in some way for her survival.

In the book Fruits From A Poisonous Tree, Mel Stamper describes the other common form of deception, which is the use of language to deceive. 

Nowhere is this more prominent than in the laws that were changed over time to create things like the birth certificate fraud and the debt economy fraud. This was done to enslave the masses and make it so difficult for them to recover, let alone have the strength to make those responsible accountable for their fraudulent and criminal actions.

If you accept that the very things that would bring charges of fraud and crime against us are things that the government seems to be immune to, then at some level, you have to accept that we are being ruled through organized crime by the very people we pay to serve us.

When errors are not corrected, this leads to incompetence. When incompetence is repeatedly ignored, this leads to corruption. That makes them criminals and fraudsters acting as a government.

The above construction of a mass psychosis through mind control and fear would suggest that certain globalists have succeeded in their orchestrated plan to numb, dumb, and stupefy the public into going along with their behavior. Authority has combined with force in the present day to keep it this way. Yet all is not as it seems, and truth has a way of coming to the fore in time.

MASS AWAKENING

This begs the question of how it is possible to go from mass psychosis, where there is no insight into current reality, to a mass awakening, where there is clarity of insight.

Thomas Jefferson reminded us of the important quality of vigilance; “Freedom is not free; the price you must pay for freedom is eternal vigilance.”

Vigilance is a form of being alert to guard against deception and lies, but it needs to feed off the clarity of insight. Here are three tips for facilitating awakening and anchoring it in vigilance.

1. Perhaps a starting point is to recognize what does not work so well, which has been attempted by many who have tried to wake people up. Many have tried to use reasoning in conversation, which has led to much angst and frustration. The key learning point here is that the act of reasoning with a conditioned mind is nigh impossible.

When faced with something new, the mind will tend to roam its inner filing cabinet, and if it cannot find a supporting experience in its memory bank, it will likely dismiss your reasoning. This is a description of conflict often referred to as cognitive dissonance.

Reasoning only works where there is an open mind and heart. An awakening usually bypasses the intellect and happens through the heart. So the first step is to open the heart and desire to seek truth in all things.

If you are a person that is trying to help someone wake up, the best way to help them open their heart is to simply show them what a better world looks like in thought, word, and deed through things like empathy, compassion, and presence.

This becomes like a contrasting mirror to the type of world that ruling authorities are ushering us into. This also provides a safety net in which the person you are helping can genuinely open up over time without fear and entertain something different from what they have held onto for so long.

2. Recognize the opportunity in adversity. There is something about the nature of adversity that causes individuals to evaluate life with greater depth compared to when things are going well. 

There is an opportunity to change the trajectory of life as more awaken to what is going on. That makes this a perfect storm if that opportunity is taken. Consider the example of Transcendental Meditation and the research conducted over four years, demonstrating its powerful ability to reduce crime and increase peace. 


Image source: Meditation Lifestyle

This is an example of the opportunity to create a powerful impact in a positive way and bring restoration to the masses. Prayer is another form that can do likewise when we focus attention on the desired outcome with faith and expectation.

3. In keeping with the theme that showing is more powerful than telling, documentaries such as Monopoly, when done with an educational stance, are powerful to help move a person away from unbridled trust to reconstructing the basics of better research and verification of truth.

Do not be surprised if fear and apathy arise in the process of strengthening your mind. The dross of fear and apathy will surface as you break away from deeply engrained habits and learn to let go of those elements which have created the illusion of safety.

Fear can arise from the act of challenging authority, and apathy can be a buffer against disappointment. Apathy can show up as ‘what difference can I make?’ However, it also blocks the flow of life and is a lie against your true nature. 

Simply move through it with a loving acceptance of yourself and a reminder of the loving soul that you are as you continue with the trajectory change and keep your eye on the prize. Keep exposing yourself to the mind-training tools, spiritual insights, and processes that will help you become strong and resilient where fear and apathy are concerned.

 
SUMMARY

From the example of mind control, we have seen how reality is changed from a place of perception first. Many make the mistake of trying to change the outer reality without the inner journey.

However, to constructively change reality as an individual or group, you must go beyond mind control to expand your inner resources and God-given potential to contain and cultivate new possibilities.

Many of the conditioning tools that lock you into a fearful agenda can also set you free when used responsibly, such as hypnosis, whole-brain synchronization, and heart-brain coherence.

Furthermore, when you surround yourself with like-minded people supporting your progress, you can anchor your own process in eternal vigilance. This way, we can create communities whose connection is based on genuine and authentic care for each other. We can usher in a golden age where natural law principles and parity of equality under the law are restored.

The light emitted from a heart of love for the well-being of our fellow man and woman can dispel any darkness. It can show us the way and help us remember who we truly are and what we can achieve together in bringing about restoration so that we can go beyond survival to become part of a thriving planet.  

Let’s change the trajectory of our future now. Make a decision to give your attention to the sort of world you wish to see rather than dwell constantly on what is playing out, and get creative in harnessing your inner resources to make it a current reality. The future depends on what we create now.

 

 

 

About: Anita Narayan. (United Kingdom) My life's work is about helping individuals to greater freedom through joy and purpose without self-sabotage, so that inspirational legacy can serve generations to come. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

Traders are cautious as reflected in fractional declines in gold and the dollar

Traders are cautious as reflected in fractional declines in gold and the dollar

Market participants are trading cautiously with a wait-and-see attitude as this week contains multiple events that could have a deep impact on the financial markets across the board. Cautiousness is the overall demeanor of market sentiment as traders and investors await Chairman Powell's appearance before both the Senate and House beginning on Tuesday. This will be followed by the Labor Department's jobs report for February on Friday.

As of 4 PM EST, gold futures basis most active April contract is down $2.50 or -0.13% and fixed at $1852. Concurrently, the US dollar is also trading fractionally lower down 0.18% or 18 points with the dollar index currently fixed at 104.30.

The more hawkish faction of the Federal Reserve continues its strong narrative that was evident last weekend. On Saturday the San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly discussed economic and policy issues with Michael Strain, director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

The first question presented to Mary Daly was, "how do you think things are going with the economy right now?" To which she replied, "I really think of it as a yes and situation. And what I mean by that is, yes, the economy has good momentum. Yes, the economy looks like monetary policy is starting to have an effect. We see some slowing in interest-sensitive sectors, we see that we feel a slowdown coming in a way that would be predicted by us raising interest rates."

Throughout the interview, she continued to underscore the narrative of the more hawkish faction of Federal Reserve officials by expressing that the policy of the Federal Reserve most likely will continue to tighten and maintain the more restrictive policy for a longer time.

Although hawkish members of the Federal Reserve are in the minority Chairman Powell is expected to maintain that more rate hikes are needed for a longer time than previously anticipated when he addresses the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow and testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

Chairman Powell's testimony will be followed by two extremely important economic reports beginning on Friday when the Labor Department releases the most current data in the January jobs report which will be followed by the inflation data vis-à-vis the CPI report on Tuesday, March 14.

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold Price to New Heights ?

Gold Price to New Heights ?

Since its low in November 2022, the price of gold in dollars has climbed nearly +15% (compared to +4.5% in euros). The rising cost of gold production and the declining profitability of mining companies largely explain this movement. As early as November 2022, we were insisting on the strong probability of an effective gold reversal in 2023. This movement has now been confirmed. But will this rise be enough to drive new highs?

Throughout this publication, we will see that despite the slight drop in the dollar price of gold in 2022, demand is clearly on the rise. At the same time, production costs are rising and mining companies are less profitable. This context largely explains the strong rebound of gold. But what is most impressive is the appetite of central banks for gold, whose demand has increased at a rate not seen since 1967… Behind the structural changes in the market, gold seems to hide a geopolitical confrontation of considerable magnitude.

Strong increase in demand for gold in 2022

Contrary to what many had suggested, demand for gold was boosted considerably in 2022. Demand for the physical metal increased by 18% between 2021 and 2022, while supply increased by only 2%. The stability of the gold price in 2022 once again shows the lack of a link between the price and actual demand.

We should also note the particular case of Russia. The demand for coins and bars in Russia jumped by 374% in 2022 to 25 tons! This is a very significant increase for the reasons we know. In France, the increase in demand for coins and bars is still 21%, or 14% in Germany. The chart shows a clear interest in gold in European countries, mainly due to the fall of the euro in 2022. But the interest in gold is even stronger in the Middle East and Russia, driven by a desire for monetary independence.

Central banks are massively buying gold

One thing that catches our attention is the sudden and massive revival of interest in the yellow metal by central banks. Central bank demand for gold jumped 152% between 2021 and 2022! This is simply the largest amount of gold ever purchased by central banks in one year in decades. The equivalent of 1,135 tons.

These massive purchases are questionable, as they run counter to the trend observed in recent years. In 2019 and 2020, central bank demand had fallen by 7.7% and 5.8%, respectively. Central banks' purchases are taking place against a backdrop of balance sheet reduction, which seems contradictory. Turkey has thus increased its gold reserves by 147 tons in 2022, followed by 62 tons for China, and 44 tons for Egypt.

According to the World Economic Forum, the pace of gold accumulation by central banks is unprecedented since 1967! In a WEF article published on November 10, 2022, the WEF states that: “Gold is regarded as an effective inflation hedge, although some analysts believe this to be true only over extremely long time horizons stretching over a century or more.”

Gold is primarily considered in the same way as foreign exchange reserves. In order for the balance of payments between countries to be balanced, central banks must change their reserves. Foreign exchange reserves thus tend to decrease when a country experiences either capital outflows, a deterioration of its trade balance, or a decrease in prices. It is understandable why, in an inflationary context, the demand for foreign exchange reserves increases, and with it, the demand for gold. The case of Turkey, which has seen inflation rise to over 80%, is revealing. Faced with a rising dollar, many central banks are buying gold to ensure liquidity on the international scene. The real interest of gold for central banks is, above all, to guarantee a source of confidence and independence.

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold price to take direction from Powell’s testimony US jobs report next week

Gold price to take direction from Powell's testimony, U.S. jobs report next week

After five consecutive weeks of losses, the gold market posted its first weekly gain. Analysts say the precious metal will now take direction from the upcoming Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony and the February employment report.

After testing the lows at $1,810 an ounce, gold bounced back to the mid-$1,800s range. At the time of writing, April Comex gold futures were at $1,852.70 an ounce, up $35 on the week.

"I am impressed with how gold performed, especially when you look at yields, with the 10-years above 4%," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya told Kitco News. "It will be pretty wild next week because of the hawkish Powell testimony and U.S. payrolls data. We might see some gold weakness initially, but then some strength after payrolls."

On Tuesday, Powell will testify on the U.S. central bank's semiannual monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee. This will be followed by his testimony on the same topics to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

Markets will also digest the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report from February, with consensus calls projecting 200,000 new positions and the unemployment rate remaining at 3.4%.

"The February employment report and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress next week should give a clearer indication of whether recent talk of interest rates going 'higher for longer' is justified," said Capital Economics' deputy chief U.S. economist Andrew Hunter.

Powell is likely to remain aggressive in his language, Moya noted. "He can't change that right now. It could weigh gold down in the first half of the week," he said. "The message 'higher for longer' will be firmly implemented."

One development that could move gold prices higher is the downward revision to January's strong employment report.

"We might have a significant downward revision. January's 517,000 positions could get revised. We're likely to see a sharper slowdown in hiring. The February number could also come in below the consensus," Moya said.

Gold's strong rally at the start of the year was reversed when the markets received the January employment news, RJO Futures senior market strategist Frank Cholly told Kitco News.

"Strong employment report was followed up with inflationary news — CPI, PPI, and retail sales," Cholly added. "All this data indicated that the Fed has to continue to raise rates, and gold fell."

The gold market continued to trend downward until it hit the $1,810s level, which coincided with the metal's 200-day moving average, Cholly pointed out. At that point, gold got a bounce.

"The market might do some consolidation here and wait for direction. But we probably found a bottom. There is value in gold between the $1,800-$1,825 range," Cholly noted.

Once gold can close above $1,860, more buying would kick in. And above $1,880 an ounce, Cholly sees the $1,900 level at play again.

"It will depend on how the data comes out over the next two weeks. The employment number and then the CPI and PPI the week after that. If we continue to see that the Fed will have to be aggressive with rate hikes, gold will re-test last week's lows," he said.

Moya added that gold's resistance is $1,880, and support is $1,820 an ounce.

In the short-term, gold remains very data-depended — just like the Fed. "It was all about payrolls last month. This time, the nonfarm payrolls, the CPI, and PPI will also be critical for the direction of interest rates and precious metals. If we are getting such good yields on fixed incomes, it is hard for gold to move higher," Cholly stated.
 

Next week's data

Monday: U.S. factory orders

Tuesday: Fed Chair Powell testifie

Wednesday: ADP nonfarm employment, Fed Chair Powell testifies, BoC rate decision

Thursday: U.S. jobless claims,

Friday: U.S. nonfarm payrolls

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

GoldSilver – The next bull wave begins

Gold/Silver -he next bull wave begins

It was a turning point for Precious Metals this week as Gold, Platinum, and Silver all rose after six straight down weeks. The rally came on the heels of a stronger U.S. Dollar and another cycle high in Treasury Yields. The physical buying this year has been robust, and once the Fed concludes hiking rates, news of the pivot will spark an additional buying frenzy. I expect Gold to take a forward-looking approach as it begins its recovery while the long end of U.S. rates makes another lower high.

Daily Gold Chart

While the upside momentum has been strong, it will take a move back through $1891 to neutralize the downward trend and, ultimately, a move through $1900 to get the bulls back on track. $1785 is where the 200 day moving average comes in and acts as long-term support. To further help you develop a trading plan, I went back through 20 years of my trading strategies to create a Free New "5-Step Technical Analysis Guide to Gold that can easily apply to Silver." The guide will provide you with all the Technical analysis steps to create an actionable plan used as a foundation for entering and exiting the market. You can request yours here: 5-Step Technical Analysis Guide to Silver.

Our Strategy

By systematically purchasing regular intervals of the 10-ounce Gold contract or 1000-ounce Silver contract, you can layer in over time and preposition for the next rally. One example with a $25,000 account size would be to focus on the December 2023 10-ounce Gold contract and use a dollar-cost average approach by purchasing 10 ounces of Gold at 1850/oz, 10 oz at 1800, and 10 oz at 1750 with a year-end target of $2100/oz.

If filled on all three contracts, your average price will be $1800/oz; therefore, every dollar move Gold makes on the three contracts will be $30 since you control 30 ounces. If the $2100/oz price objective is achieved by year-end, this will result in a gain of approximately $9,000 (30 oz times $300 rise). Traders should also consider proper risk management while using a dollar-cost averaging approach, such as a hard stop on three contracts at $1700. If that were to occur under this scenario, it would likely result in a loss of $3,000. If you have never traded futures or commodities or would like to learn more about taking delivery of Silver, I just completed a new educational guide that answers all your questions on transferring your current investing skills into trading "real assets," such as the 1000 oz Silver futures contract. You can request yours here: Trade Metals, Transition your Experience Book.

By Phillip Streible

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Rising USDX US Treasury yields put price pressure on gold silver

Rising USDX, U.S. Treasury yields put price pressure on gold, silver

Gold and silver prices are weaker in early U.S. trading Thursday, as rising U.S. Treasury yields and an appreciating U.S. dollar on the foreign exchange market are bearish outside market forces working against the metals market bulls on this day. April gold was last down $7.50 at $1,837.40 and May silver was down $0.20 at $20.895.

Global stock markets were mixed overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward mixed openings when the New York day session begins. A feature in the marketplace recently has been rising U.S. Treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note is presently fetching 4.020%. The yield is the highest since last November. Traders and investors worried about a still-hawkish Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for longer in order to successfully tamp down problematic price inflation. However, that means the Fed clamping down on U.S. economic growth to squelch consumer and commercial demand.

In overnight news, the Euro zone February consumer price index came in at up 8.5%, year-on-year, compared to up 8.6% in January and a forecast for up 8.2% in the February report. It’s apparent the European Central Bank still has more work to do to defeat high inflation in the Euro zone.

The key outside markets this morning see the U.S. dollar index higher. Nymex crude oil futures prices are firmer and trading around $78.25 a barrel. Oil prices have rallied recently on hopes for better energy demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy, as that nation has abandoned its Covid restrictions.

U.S. economic data due for release Thursday includes the weekly jobless claims report, revised productivity and costs, and the monthly chain store sales index.

Technically, the gold futures bears have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are still in a downtrend on the daily bar chart, but just barely. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close in April futures above solid resistance at $1,881.60. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,800.00. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $1.852.50 and then at last week’s high of $1,856.40. First support is seen at Wednesday’s low of $1,829.60 and then at $1,820.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.5

The silver bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a steep downtrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing May futures prices above solid technical resistance at $22.25. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $19.00. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $21.285 and then at $21.52. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $20.78 and then at this week’s low of $20.505. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.0.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold and silver are tactical plays ahead of data storm Powell’s Senate testimony – Pepperstone

Gold and silver are tactical plays ahead of data storm, Powell's Senate testimony – Pepperstone

Precious metals could be a tactical play ahead of a data storm in the next two weeks, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the U.S. Senate, said Pepperstone's head of research Chris Weston.

It is getting harder to shock markets with higher-than-expected inflation numbers, and that reaction function is important for the gold market.

"The failure of the EUR … to be overly influenced by the above consensus French and Spanish CPI data suggests the market is becoming harder to shock by inflation reads. The risk-reward is shifting – the gold market will be watching this closely," said Weston Wednesday. "Gold and silver have come up on the radar, and both could be a tactical play as we eye a data storm brewing over the next two weeks."

The big market movers coming up are the U.S. employment (March 10) and inflation (March 14) reports. But all of this will be preceded by Powell's semiannual testimony before the U.S. Senate's banking committee on the Fed's monetary policy report, scheduled for March 7.

"That could spark some market volatility, but trading a speech is more problematic, as we're fighting algo's who are programmed to rapidly react to words," Weston noted.

This means traders need to gear up for higher intraday moves in the lead-up to the Fed's March monetary policy meeting, scheduled for March 22. "The market will tweak positioning into these defining events," Weston said.

Market consensus calls are projecting nonfarm payrolls to have added 200,000 new positions in February after the 517,000-shocker reported in January. The unemployment rate is estimated to tick up to 3.5% from 3.4%.

Weston forecasts the U.S. inflation (CPI) to come between 6% and 5.5% in February, a decent deceleration from the 6.4% reported in January.

"With gold so heavily inversely correlated to both nominal and real U.S. bond yields, I question if the market looks to pair back on their rates exposure into this data – a factor which could boost the gold price," Weston pointed out.

After February's $100 selloff, the gold market narrowly missed a bearish outside monthly reversal, according to Pepperstone. At the time of writing, April Comex gold futures were last at $1,845.10, up 0.46% on the day.

"Is this a sign of better demand and the sellers failing to push the price to $1,800? Perhaps – but it's early, and the price action needs work to really convince – adopting a more momentum approach," Weston said.

Pepperstone advises putting in buy-stop orders above Tuesday's high of $1,831.15 and positioning for the price to keep pushing higher.

"It may be that we see price rollover and re-test Tuesday's lows," Weston said. "As with any momentum and trend strategy, we get many false breaks, and the strike ratio can be far lower than, say, mean reversion, so it's important to cut losses early and extract as much out of the trade as possible."

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold trades higher for a second consecutive day overcoming dollar strength

Gold trades higher for a second consecutive day overcoming dollar strength

After four consecutive days in gold traded to a lower high, a lower low, and a lower close than the previous day, traders have witnessed a pivot that began yesterday. Gold futures traded to the lowest value today hitting an intraday low of $1810.80. This follows yesterday’s prior lowest low of $1812. However, both yesterday and today gold closed higher when compared to the previous day and higher when compared to its opening price.

While today’s green candle with a higher high does not on its own confirm a conclusion to the correction that began in the middle of January when gold prices hit their highest value ($1974) of the calendar year, this is how a reversal would look if gold continues to move higher in the upcoming days. In yesterday’s video report, we talked about the importance of $1815 as a key price point to look at for potential support.

This was based on a Fibonacci retracement of 61.8% which is a deep but acceptable correction. The data set used for the Fibonacci retracement covers the entire price area from the most recent leg of the rally. This rally begins at $1719 the low that completed a mild correction during the third week of November, to this year’s high at $1974 (the conclusion of the last rally). What followed was a quick and brutal correction from $1974 down to today’s low at $1810.80.

As of 5:00 PM EST gold futures basis the most active April contract is currently up $8.90 or 0.49% and fixed at $1833.80. Today’s gains in gold overcame dollar strength. The dollar is currently up 0.32 points or 0.31% with the dollar index fixed at 104.945.

It does appear as though the month will conclude with two moderate days of gains. That being said, gold’s performance during February 2023 was atrocious. Gold’s value declined by approximately 5% and will go in the record books as the worst monthly decline since June 2021. This month’s decline was largely based on the conviction that the Federal Reserve will continue its extremely hawkish monetary policy including more interest rate hikes and keeping those elevated levels for a longer time.

The latest kink in the Federal Reserve’s armor was that the most recent inflation reports came in unexpectedly higher rather than showing a continued decline in inflationary pressure. When compared to the previous month, the core PCE rose by 0.6% in January, bringing the year-over-year PCE to 5.382%.

The Federal Reserve will hold its next FOMC meeting on March 22-23. Before that meeting, there will be critical reports that will help shape the next rate hike Implemented by the Federal Reserve.

On March 10 the US Labor Department will release its latest jobs report for February. Then on March 14, the government will release the CPI inflation index for January. Collectively, these two reports will be the most current data used by the Federal Reserve to determine the amount of the next rate hike.

According to the CME’s FedWatch, there is a 73.8% probability that the Fed will raise rates by 25 BPS and a 26.2% that the Fed will be more aggressive with a 50 BPS rate hike.

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter