On Wednesday, the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump for a second time – this time with just a few days left in his term.
It was a mostly symbolic rebuke. Financial and precious metals markets barely budged on the news.
The Senate, which alone has the power to convict and remove an impeached President, isn’t even expected to hold a trial until after Trump leaves office and Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th.
Of much wider significance for the future of American politics – and for the free, open exchange of ideas on an array of controversial subjects – is the unprecedented mass, coordinated de-platforming of President Trump and some of his supporters by social media companies.
Every morning before the markets open I share my video chart analysis of the day’s price action in the indexes, metals, bonds, and more for members of the BAN Trader Pro service. Today we look at the futures of the major indexes, bonds, gold, silver, and miners. I review our open trades and I go through my BAN Hotlist in detail, showing members how to take advantage of the hottest sectors. Learn how we manage risk and implement our BAN (Best Asset Now) strategy to consistently beat the market.
Click on the video below to watch today’s members-only analysis
Sector expert Michael Ballanger ruminates on how the storming of the U.S. Capitol has affected both America s reputation and the precious metals markets, as well as on the value of value.
The events of this week are dominating the news cycle, with a sitting president days away from being replaced while Congressional and Senatorial leaders debate whether he should be impeached immediately.
If I were having a chat with Mr. Trump, I would advise him to refrain from reading his own press clippings because they will only offer you glimpses of past glory and never reveal the reality of the moment. It s like that great story where Gordie Howe asks a hungover rookie to pick up his game, to which the rookie replies, I had four goals last night; I can afford a night off. Gordie placed his size fifteen hand around the kid s neck, slowly squeezing, and said Son, you are only as good as your last shift. Trump should have been on the bench to hear that.
What a week! First gold soared to almost $1,960, but then its price (London P.M. Fix) plunged to $1,863 on January 8, as the chart below shows. This is quite strange (and bearish) behavior, given what happened last week. First, there were violent pro-Trump protests in Washington D.C. The rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. During these riots, five people died. Given the chaos in the capital, gold, which is a safe-haven asset , should shine.
Second, the December Employment Situation Report came out . It turned out that the nonfarm payroll employment declined by 140,000 last month . The numbers fell short of expectations, as the pundits expected that the U.S. economy would add 50,000 jobs. The contraction in the nonfarm payrolls means that the winter wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. labor market rather significantly.
Do you want to know how gold will be doing soon? Or the USDX? You have to look at the German and French economies. You may ask “What? How can they be tied together?” Well, the globalization of markets is one of the core foundations of the modern world. With everything interrelated, nothing in economics can be examined in a vacuum state. That includes the three precious metals price drivers: stocks, yields and currencies.
The EUR/USD currency pair is a perfect example of this interconnectivity. Being the most popular and most traded currency pair in the world, the EUR/USD is influenced by many factors, including the price action in the USD Index as well as the strength of the European and American economies at any given time. The same level of interconnectedness can be applied to the other price drivers.