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All Posts Term: gold
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Market NewsOil and Gas

The Day the Bottom Fell Out: A Commodity Crash Hits Home

It was a chilly Monday morning, April 7, 2025, and for most folks, the day started like any other—coffee brewing, kids scrambling for school, the usual chaos. But in homes tied to the heartbeat of global trade, something felt off. By the time the sun peeked over the horizon, the news hit like a freight train: commodity prices—oil, metals, gold—were crashing hard. This wasn’t just numbers on a screen; it was livelihoods unraveling, dreams slipping away, and a world suddenly holding its breath.

Stock market crash scene

Oil Towns Feel the Chill

In Midland, Texas, Jake Torres, a third-generation roughneck, stared at his phone in disbelief. Brent crude had tanked to $70 a barrel, and WTI wasn’t far behind at $65. “I’ve seen dips before,” he muttered to his wife, Maria, over breakfast, “but this? This feels different.” It was. President Trump’s new tariffs—10% on everything coming into the U.S., 34% on China, 25% on cars—had spooked the world. Less trade meant less oil needed, and Jake’s rig was one of dozens now facing shutdowns. Maria, a nurse, squeezed his hand. Gas might be cheap at $2.80 a gallon, but that didn’t pay their mortgage.

Across the Atlantic, in Aberdeen, Scotland, oil worker Fiona MacLeod got the call she’d dreaded: “No shifts this week.” Her husband, a fisherman, hadn’t seen a decent haul in months either. The tariffs were choking demand, and with China slashing factory output, the oil market was drowning. Fiona scrolled X, where folks raged about OPEC+ dragging its feet. “They’ll meet eventually,” she sighed, “but will it even matter?” Reuters reported that oil prices were at their lowest since 2021, a grim echo of her fears.

Metal Towns Brace for Silence

In Kitwe, Zambia, copper miner Chanda Mwape sat on his porch, watching kids kick a ball in the dust. The price of copper had nosedived to $3.50 a pound—down 8% overnight. “We were just getting back on our feet,” he told his neighbor, a fellow miner. The U.S. tariffs had slammed China’s factories, and with Jaguar Land Rover halting U.S. exports over the 25% vehicle hit, metal demand was vanishing. Chanda’s mine cut shifts, and rumors swirled of layoffs. His wife, a teacher, started calculating how long their savings could stretch.

In Pittsburgh, steelworker Tony Russo felt the same gut punch. Steel prices were down 12%, and his plant was eerily quiet. “Tariffs were supposed to save us,” he grumbled to his buddy over a beer. “Now we’re drowning in our own inventory.” The bar TV blared about Wall Street’s 2,000-point drop, but Tony’s world was the mill, and it was teetering.

Gold Loses Its Glow

Even the safe bets crumbled. In Reno, Nevada, retiree Linda Hayes checked her gold stash—her “rainy day fund.” It had dropped 3% to $2,450 an ounce. “I thought this stuff was supposed to hold up,” she said to her son on the phone. He explained the chaos: investors selling gold to cover stock losses after the tariff news. Silver was down too, 4% to $28. Linda’s nest egg shrank before her eyes, and with the dollar spiking, she wondered if cash under the mattress was the smarter play.

Everyday Lives Upended

The crash rippled everywhere. In Des Moines, Iowa, farmer Sarah Klein watched grain prices wobble as export demand faltered. Cheaper fuel helped, but not enough. “We’re barely breaking even,” she told her co-op friends, who nodded grimly. In Long Beach, California, dockworker Miguel Ortiz clocked out early—fewer ships, fewer hours. “Maersk’s got boats just sitting there,” he said, kicking a pebble. His daughter’s college fund felt further away than ever.

Back in New York, Wall Street was a madhouse. Priya Patel, a junior trader, watched the VIX hit 40, her heart racing. “It’s like 2020 all over again,” she texted her roommate. Her boss barked about Goldman Sachs slashing GDP forecasts to 0.5%, recession odds climbing. Priya’s bonus? Probably toast. She glanced at her phone—Bloomberg noted China might pump cash into its economy, a flicker of hope. But the pit in her stomach stayed.

Market NewsMortgages and Banking

Inflation Nation: Are We Back for More?

Remember that whole "everything's getting more expensive" thing? Inflation? Yeah, it might be making a comeback. So, how do we deal with that as investors? That's where the "inflation trade" comes in.

Think of it like this: imagine your money is a bag of chips. Inflation is like someone slowly sneaking fries into that bag. You still have the same bag, but it's not worth as much.

InflationTrade

The Inflation Trade

The inflation trade is about fighting back. It's about swapping your chips for things that tend to hold their value, or even go up, when prices rise. Here's the lowdown:

Swapping Your Portfolio: Investors ditch stuff that inflation eats away at (like cash) and grab things that tend to do well when prices climb. This could be stuff like gold, real estate, or even certain stocks.
Commodities as Bodyguards: Imagine gold as your financial bodyguard. When inflation goes up, gold prices often follow. So, it can help protect your money's worth.
Currency Dodgeball: Some folks use fancy financial tools to avoid getting whacked by inflation that weakens their currency. Basically, they bet on how currencies will trade against each other.
Interest Rates: The Party Crashers: Inflation can make central banks raise interest rates. This can be bad news for some investments, like bonds, but it's not all doom and gloom.

The stock market can actually handle some inflation okay. Companies might even make more money if they can raise their prices without scaring away customers. But, not all stocks are created equal. Some industries, like energy or materials, might even benefit from rising prices.

Here's the catch: if inflation gets too crazy, central banks might slam on the brakes with those interest rate hikes. This can hurt the stock market in general.

Oil and Gas

Gold Futures Prices On The Rise

Gold Futures Prices On The Rise

Men have always been willing to go for broke to get their hands on gold and silver. In many cases it didn't come easy. For others, being in the right place at the right time paid off.

There have been many times that the word got out of a gold strike and families packed up and headed across country to find their fortunes as gold futures prices skyrocketed.

This time line takes you through the history of many such times. The eras of miners risking it all to get gold. After everything they did to get there, no matter how minute the amount, it was all they had to hold on to.

Oil and Gas

All the World's Gold

Did you know that all of the gold in the world has a value of 8.5 trillion dollars? This precious metal is one of the most sought after in the entire world, but there are some 165,000 metric tons of it available on this planet.

With about 7 billion people on the planet, there is less than one ounce of gold per person available. That being said, gold production has increased by 210% from 1959 to 2010. In that same period of time human population increased by 220%. Thus, we are just barely outpacing the amount of gold available, and this means that the less than one ounce figure remains true.

Nearly 52% of the gold in the world is used in jewelry while 34% remains in holdings and investments. Only 12% gets used for industrial purposes. We obviously value wearing and trading gold far more than we value actually using it.

Gold is Still Rising, Passes 1300

Gold is Still Rising, Passes 1300

Gold is still a buy according to Frank Holmes, CEO of US Global Investors, today. He notes that Gold and Silver are lagging other commodities when adjusting their 1980 prices for inflation. This is even with the incredible run Gold has had over the past two years, hitting a new high today. He prices Gold at $2,300 an ounce if properly adjusted to inflation.He feels that Gold could double over the next 5 years. Sounds like the opinion of many analyst at the end of the Dot Com Bubble right before the bubble burst.

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