Sunday, April 19, 2026

India Allowing Gold Futures to Back ETFs

Money Metals News Service
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India Allowing Gold Futures to Back ETFs

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) In what seems like a groundbreaking move, an Indian gold ETF is set to back its fund with gold futures contracts, as well as physical metal.

ETF is an acronym for “Exchange Traded Fund.” In simplest terms, an ETF represents a basket of investments that trades on the market as a single entity. An ETF can represent just one commodity, such as oil, or a fund can hold a wide range of assets, such as tech stocks.

Like stocks, ETFs are sold in shares. The price rises and falls throughout the trading day as they are bought and sold on the market, just like a stock or bond.

A gold ETF is backed by a trust company that holds metal owned and stored by the trust. In most cases, investing in an ETF does not entitle you to any amount of physical gold. You own a share of the ETF, not gold itself.

Under Indian regulations, ETFs must maintain a 95 percent allocation to physical gold and related instruments.

Sebi opened the door to including gold futures contracts as part of that allocation in June 2024. HDFC Gold ETF announced plans to take advantage of this provision via a notice-cum-addendum dated March 15.

This seems obvious, but it’s important to emphasize that a futures contract is not the same as gold. In practice, buyers commit to purchasing gold at contract expiration, while sellers commit to delivering it.

Futures contracts trade on the open market, oftentimes with no actual delivery of physical silver. Contracts can be rolled over indefinitely. However, if the buyer in the contract opts for delivery, the seller is obligated to provide the requisite amount of gold on the delivery date. If the current price is above the contract price, the seller “wins” and takes a profit. If the spot price has dropped below the contract, the buyer takes the gain.

There is nothing inherently wrong with futures contracts. They allow gold buyers and sellers to hedge price movements. However, futures trading is extremely speculative.

There is also a significant risk because there are vastly more futures contracts than physical metal.

It’s similar to fractional reserve banking. As long as everybody is content to keep their money in the bank, the system hums along quietly. But when people lose faith in the bank and demand their dollars, you end up with bank runs. Similarly, if enough people demand physical gold instead of rolling contracts, the paper system could collapse.

According to The Times of India,

“Experts maintain this is not a structural shift to ‘paper gold’ but a liquidity or backup mechanism. Think of ETCDs (Exchange Traded Commodity Derivatives) as a shock absorber, not a replacement for physical gold. Gold ETFs are still required to primarily reflect gold prices.”

However, as already noted, owning an ETF is not the same as owning physical metal. It is paper gold in and of itself. You own a piece of paper backed by gold that may or may not exist. (It probably does, but you can’t touch or see it.) Allowing ETFs to add gold futures contracts to the mix moves these investments even further away from gold itself.

Wise Finserv CEO & CIO Ajay Kumar Yadav downplayed the move.

“Giving fund managers the option to use gold futures is really about handling practical situations better,” he told the Economic Times of India. He explained,

“If there are sudden inflows or a temporary delay in buying physical gold, the gold ETF doesn’t have to sit on cash. It can use futures to stay aligned with gold prices. That can help in reducing small inefficiencies, which investors usually don’t notice but do matter in the background.”

Yadav conceded that rolling over futures contracts adds transaction costs that could dent ETF returns.

But there is a more fundamental problem with allowing futures contracts to back gold ETFs. It introduces additional counterparty risk. There is always the possibility that either party could default on a futures contract.

Not everybody is thrilled with the rules allowing futures to back gold ETFs. Independent consultant Balakrishnan R. told The Times of India that it fundamentally alters the construct of the gold ETF.

“We buy the ETF for passive exposure to gold, so why introduce an active element to it? You don’t change the rules of the game after you invite the participants.”

Quantum Mutual Fund CIO Chirag Mehta agreed.

“Our belief is once you change the underlying holding from physical gold to any other, it changes characteristics, bringing different nuances to consider.”

He warned that “any disruptions in physical gold supply will reflect in market prices and get captured in the ETF’s net asset value (NAV).”

He also pointed out that gold ETFs are required to purchase gold that conforms to LBMA standards.

“The underlying in gold futures may not always conform to this, which can be a problem when taking delivery.”

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Gas Tops $4 in Florida

Headline USA Editor
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Gas Tops $4 in Florida

(Merrilee Gasser, The Center Square)  Drivers in Florida have gas prices above $4 per gallon for the first time in four years with crude oil prices rising almost 60% since the Iran conflict began, AAA says.

Second-term Republican President Donald Trump put out a strongly worded warning on social media Sunday for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday, threatening power plants and bridges if the country did not comply. 

His message received mixed reactions from both sides of the aisle, with some lawmakers warning against further escalation.

Two days before Operation Epic Fury was launched on Feb. 28, the cost of crude oil was sitting at $65.42 a barrel and the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.98.

Now crude oil prices have skyrocketed into the triple digits costing $111.54 per barrel, up $12 from the previous week, according to AAA. The organization said it anticipates another rise in prices soon to follow.

Florida’s average price for a gallon of gas reached $4.20 Sunday, a little higher than the national average of $4.11, a more than 45% increase in one month. It’s a 25 cent increase from about a week ago and over a $1 increase per gallon than this time last year, AAA reported.

The most expensive prices are in West Palm Beach where the average hit $4.35 a gallon Sunday and Gainesville where the average is $4.28.

Gas remains below $4 per gallon in areas like Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and Panama sitting where it’s averaging around $3.91 a gallon.

“The average Florida driver now pays about $20 more to fill up than a month ago,” said AAA’s Mark Jenkins. “Gas prices are climbing quickly because crude oil prices are surging as the conflict with Iran disrupts global fuel supplies. With the Strait of Hormuz still largely closed, ongoing uncertainty continues to push energy markets and prices higher.”

Next door in Georgia, prices have thus far remained below $4 a gallon with the state average hitting $3.71 over the weekend.

Some Democratic lawmakers have called for a suspension of Florida’s gas tax to buffer rising prices. Gov. Ron DeSantis signaled he wouldn’t back the idea, saying previous gas tax holidays didn’t make a big difference in the final price at the pump.

 

French Central Bank Sells New York Gold; Replaces It With Gold Stored in Paris

Money Metals News Service
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French Central Bank Sells New York Gold; Replaces It With Gold Stored in Paris

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) In a move that netted a nice capital gain, the Banque de France (BdF) sold the remainder of its gold held in the U.S. and replaced it with higher-quality bars purchased in Europe.

The move significantly upgraded the quality of the French central bank’s gold reserves. And while officials won’t talk about it out loud, it also gave the U.S. a little less control over French finances.

France has the fourth-largest gold reserves in the world.

The French central bank upgraded 129 tonnes of gold that was stored in New York. The move impacted about 5 percent of the country’s 2,437-tonne gold reserves. In the process, the central bank realized a gain totaling nearly $13 billion thanks to the higher gold price.

“In 2025 and at the start of 2026, while the volume of gold reserves remained unchanged, the Banque de France had to align a residual portion (5%) with technical guidelines, resulting in a significant realized currency gain. This exceptional foreign exchange income totaled EUR 11 billion for 2025.”

The BdF unloaded “non-standard” gold bars of varying purity and size. The central bank used the proceeds to purchase new gold bars that meet international reserve standards for weight, purity, and certification.

Think of it as exchanging “junk silver” for pure .999 silver coins.

Notably, a large percentage of U.S. gold reserves is made up of these non-standard bars.

According to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), gold bars must contain 350 to 430 fine troy ounces and have a minimum fineness of 995.0 parts per thousand to be acceptable for international settlements.

Having sold the last of its gold in New York, the entirety of France’s gold is now safely inside French borders. According to a French news agency, the central bank still holds 134 tonnes of non-standard bars and coins. It plans to upgrade the remainder of its holdings by 2028.

Not a Political Move?

French central bank officials insist pulling the remainder of its gold out of the U.S. was not a political move. BdF governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said he made the decision to sell the non-standard gold held in New York to “upgrade reserve quality” and that it was more convenient to simply sell the metal stored in New York and buy higher quality gold in Europe rather than transporting and refining the existing bars in the U.S.

However, I would bet dollars to donuts that the move was at least partially motivated by politics.

In fact, France moved most of its gold out of the U.S. in the 1960s, and it was 100 percent motivated by politics.

Skeptical of U.S. monetary expansion and worried it would ultimately ruin the value of the currency, President Charles de Gaulle secretly repatriated 3,000 tonnes of the country’s gold from the U.S. between 1963 and 1966. The operation even had a code name – Vide-Gousset, French for “emptying the pocket.”

Many economists believe the French move was the death knell for the Bretton Woods system. Under the scheme established in 1944, the dollar became the primary global currency. Other currencies were linked to the dollar, and the dollar was convertible to gold. Just a few years after France brought the bulk of its gold home, President Richard Nixon ended the convertibility of the dollar to gold, ushering in the era of fiat money.

Today, many countries are again wary of the dollar’s outsized role in global finance due to the U.S.’ weaponization of the currency and America’s fiscal malfeasance.

Over the last several months, a movement to repatriate Germany’s gold held in New York has sprung up.

The German central bank opted to store significant amounts of gold in New York to keep it far away from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. As an article in Fortune pointed out, “The country’s close ties with the U.S., which has historically held up the Western World order, made the Fed an obvious resting place for the commodity.”

With the U.S. aggressively using economic pressure as a foreign policy tool, the wisdom of storing German gold in New York no longer seems quite so obvious to many Germans.

For instance, a leading German economist and former head of research at the Bundesbank says the central bank should move all of the gold stored in the U.S. back to Germany. Emanuel Mönch said it’s “too risky” to keep Germany’s gold reserves in the United States.

European Taxpayers Association (TAE) head Michael Jäger was even more blunt, saying U.S. demands to control Greenland should “concentrate minds.”

“Trump is unpredictable and he does everything to generate revenue. That’s why our gold is no longer safe in the Fed’s vaults. What happens if the Greenland provocation continues? … The risk is increasing that the German Bundesbank will no longer be able to access its gold. Therefore, it should repatriate its reserves.”

French officials probably don’t want to say it out loud, but they almost certainly have the same concerns as German leaders (and many others around the world). It’s easy to frame the sale as a technical move to improve reserve quality, but it undeniably solves a political problem.

Germany and France aren’t alone in thinking its gold might be safer at home.

According to a World Gold Council survey in 2023, a “substantial share” of central banks expressed concern about potential sanctions after the U.S. and other Western countries froze almost half of Russia’s $650 billion gold and forex reserves in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. According to the WGC, 68 percent of the banks surveyed said they plan to keep their gold reserve within their country’s borders. This was up from 50 percent in 2020.

One anonymously quoted central bank official told Reuters, “We did have it [gold] held in London… but now we’ve transferred it back to our country to hold as a safe haven asset and to keep it safe.”

Several countries have repatriated gold in recent years, including India, the Netherlands, Australia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

This gold repatriation trend underscores the importance of holding physical gold free from counterparty risk.

If you store your gold and silver with a third party, you could lose your metal through theft, fraud, or an act of God. Of course, you could lose silver and gold stored in your home the same way (except for fraud), so you have to weigh the risk of using third-party storage and keeping large amounts of silver and gold at home.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Trump Warns a ‘Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight’ If a Deal With Iran Isn’t Reached

Headline USA Editor
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Trump Warns a ‘Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight’ If a Deal With Iran Isn’t Reached

(Headline USA) Airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station in Iran on Tuesday, and Iranian officials urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran does not meet his latest deadline for the Islamic Republic to agree to a deal that includes reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. also struck military targets on the Iranian oil hub of Kharg Island, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack marked the second time the island was targeted. Earlier in the war, American forces struck air defenses, a radar site, an airport and a hovercraft base there, according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.

Trump has extended previous deadlines but suggested the one set for 8 p.m. in Washington was final, and the rhetoric on both sides reached a fever pitch, leaving Iranians on edge. Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran does not allow traffic to fully resume in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits in peacetime. Iran’s president said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight.

It was not clear if the latest airstrikes were linked to Trump’s threat to attack bridges. At least two of the targets were connected to Iran’s rail network, which Israel earlier signaled it might attack. Israel has increasingly carried out strikes that it says are aimed at delivering a blow to Iran’s economy.

Iran, meanwhile, fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia, prompting the temporary closure of a major bridge.

While Iran cannot match the sophistication of U.S. and Israeli weaponry or their dominance in the air, its chokehold on the strait is causing major damage to the world economy and raising the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.

Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks were ongoing — but Iran has rejected the latest American proposal, and it was unclear if a deal would come in time to head off Trump’s threatened attacks. World leaders and experts warned that strikes as destructive as Trump threatened could constitute a war crime.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if a deal isn’t reached, Trump said in a post Tuesday morning, while keeping open the possibility of an off-ramp, saying that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”

Earlier, Iranian official Alireza Rahimi issued a video message calling on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants.

Iranians have formed human chains in the past around nuclear sites at times of heightened tensions with the West. This time though, it was unclear who would heed the call, and one major power plant in Tehran apparently had been closed off for security purposes at the time the demonstration was to start.

President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that 14 million Iranians had answered state media and text message campaigns urging people to volunteer to fight — and said he would join them — while a general from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard urged parents to send their children to man checkpoints.

The Guard, meanwhile, warned that Iran would “deprive the U.S. and its allies of the region’s oil and gas for years” and expand its attacks across the Gulf region if Trump carries out his threat.

In Tehran, the mood was bleak. A young teacher said that many opponents of Iran’s Islamic system had hoped Trump’s attacks would quickly topple it.

Now, as the war drags on, she fears U.S. and Israeli attacks will spread chaos. “If we don’t have the internet, and if we don’t have electricity, water, and gas, we’re really going back to the Stone Age, as Trump said,” she said told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for her safety.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot joined a growing chorus of international voices and calling for restraint, saying attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure “are barred by the rules of war, international law.”

“They would without doubt trigger a new phase of escalation, of reprisals, that would drag the region and the world economy into a vicious circle,” the minister said on France Info television.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also warned the U.S. that attacks on civilian infrastructure are banned under international law, according to his spokesperson.

Such cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute, and Trump told reporters he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes.

A series of intense airstrikes pounded Tehran, including in residential neighborhoods. Such strikes in the past have targeted Iranian government and security officials.

Israel’s military said it attacked an Iranian petrochemical site in Shiraz, the second day in a row it hit such a facility. Israel also issued a Farsi-language warning telling Iranians to avoid trains throughout the day, likely telegraphing intended strikes on the rail network.

Iranian officials later said that a railway bridge, a train station and a highway bridge had been hit in airstrikes. Neither the United States not Israel immediately claimed the attacks.

Another strike hit the Khorramabad International Airport in western Iran, and an attack on an unidentified target in Alborz province, northwest of Tehran, killed 18 people, according to state media. A total of 15 people were killed in other strikes, Iranian media reported.

Early Tuesday, Tehran launched seven ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, which authorities said rained debris near energy facilities as they were intercepted.

The attacks prompted Saudi Arabia to temporarily close the King Fahd Causeway, the only road connection between Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Iran also fired on Israel, with reports of incoming missiles in Tel Aviv and Eilat.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, but the government has not updated the toll for days.

In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, more than 1,400 people have been killed. and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

Iran choked off shipping through the strait after Israel and the U.S. attacked on Feb. 28, starting the war. That stranglehold and Iran’s attacks on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors have sent oil prices skyrocketing, raising the price of gasoline, food and other basics far beyond the Middle East.

In spot trading Tuesday, Brent crude, the international standard, was above $108 per barrel, up around 50% since the start of the war.

On Monday, Tehran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war. But as Trump’s deadline neared Tuesday, an official said indirect communications between the United States and Iran remained underway. The official said mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey “are racing against time” to reach a compromise before the deadline.

He said Iran has linked the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to sanctions relief, and the U.S. was open to easing some sanctions, especially on Iran’s oil sector, in part to stabilize the global oil market.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing diplomacy.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Top 5 Reasons to Store Your Gold and Silver at Money Metals Depository

Money Metals News Service
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Top 5 Reasons to Store Your Gold and Silver at Money Metals Depository

(Joshua D Glawson, Money Metals News Service) “If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it” is one of the most common phrases in the precious metals investing sphere.

It is an axiom that reflects the desire to eliminate counterparty risk, and consciously deciding to hold all of one’s own precious metals in direct proximity.

The origins of the phrase are unknown, but its philosophical origins could be traced to the Austrian School of Economics and such key economists as Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

These thought leaders espoused that individuals should have control over their own property, that there should be healthy skepticism of centralized financial systems, and that there are very real dangers of credit expansion and custodial risks.

This certainly applies to investments, including gold or silver.

As a general rule of thumb, people should have direct ownership of their precious metals items. This ensures that they have what they have, it can be sold at any time without outside delays, and it is not being jeopardized by anyone or anything.

Citizens are rightly cautious of outside institutions, whether private or public, when holding their metals. There have been cases over the years of bad actors in the precious metals industry stealing gold and silver, or government agencies confiscating it out of safe deposit boxes relating to investigations of others.

Paper investing, such as stocks or ETFs, is quite similar to an outside institution holding a person’s gold or silver when they invest. Even where the gold or silver ETFs are claimed to be backed by sufficient metal, there could be a daisy chain of custodians and subcustodians involved. And proper performance by all involved is a must.

ETF shareholders have title to a security instrument, not the underlying physical metals. As more and more counterparties get involved, the risks multiply.

Meanwhile, keeping all of your precious metal investments at home is not always a viable option for everyone. Some people move a lot, easily lose things, or are forgetful. A depository account holder can designate a beneficiary to ensure a smooth transition to heirs.

Burglaries, home invasions, fires, storms, and death can lead to a loss. Insurance on precious metals held at home is expensive, assuming you can get it at all. That’s why some folks look for a safe alternative to holding metals at home.

So, when should someone consider putting their precious metals in a depository? The following are five examples of situations where it makes sense…

Proper Insurance Available Via Depositories

Store with Money Metals Depository! State-of-the-Art Physical Security, Lowest Fees in the Industry, Completely Insured & Isolated, Zero Costs to Ship & Insure. Learn More

Insurance is usually not enough to protect your precious metals at home. Storing your precious metals in a trusted depository helps properly insure your metals at a lower relative cost.

Most Americans have homeowners or renters insurance, and most insurance companies offer some coverage for precious metals like gold and silver. However, the amount that is covered might surprise you.

Most insurance companies are only going to offer less than a thousand dollars in coverage for gold and silver, unless you tell them how much gold and silver you have. Even after telling them how much value you store at home, more coverage would likely require paying annually at least one percent of the metals’ average market value.

If your insurance company will actually allow you to insure as much as $50,000 worth of gold and silver, you’d be looking at $500 per year in additional premiums.

By contrast, by storing your precious metals in a depository, such as the Money Metals Depository, your precious metals are fully insured and protected 24/7 at no more than half that cost.

Vault Storage Can Be a Superior, Convenient Savings Method

Having a savings account is a great way to plan for the future, and a precious metals depository account is a prime example of such a savings account.

Sometimes the best way to save money is by removing it from your immediate grasp. For this reason, people tend to store their extra cash in savings accounts to create a safe and structured way of storing wealth for long-term planning.

By storing your metals in a depository, such as the Money Metals Depository, you safely and securely store your metals while keeping them out of sight and out of mind. Then, when you wish to sell your metals or to get a loan against your metals, you can normally receive payment within a couple of days. You can also have your gold and silver mailed directly to your residence.

In essence, a person exchanges their fiat currency for sound money, gold, and silver, and then that sound money is stored in the depository as a savings account that hedges against inflation. This is a sound and disciplined investment strategy.

Historically speaking, gold and silver have outperformed dollar holdings since USD, or Federal Reserve Notes, are being deliberately debased. So, savings in precious metals is likely a superior way of saving when compared to cash holding in a traditional bank savings account.

Security at Home Can Be Iffy

Most people do not have the security necessary for storing at home. In contrast, storing precious metals in a commercial depository does provide the necessary security for protecting them.

A person’s job or activities mean one’s home could be vacant for hours or days at a time. Absence from your home leaves you at a higher risk of being robbed or even lost in a fire.

Some people are also risk-prone because they like to show off their precious metals stack to their neighbors, social media, etc, leaving them as a prime target for theft or burglary.

Money Metals Depository has 24/7 security, fully armed and trained staff, temperature controls, fire protection, and enough galvanized steel and reinforced concrete to make it the largest privately owned depository in the United States.

So, in order to protect your metals from theft, burglary, or fire, storing them in a depository may be a better option than holding your gold and silver at home.

Safe Deposit Boxes Have Drawbacks

Store with Money Metals Depository! State-of-the-Art Physical Security, Lowest Fees in the Industry, Completely Insured & Isolated, Zero Costs to Ship & Insure. Learn More

There are very real limits to safe deposit boxes (aka, safety deposit boxes) when compared to storing precious metals in a depository account.

Few realize that storing your gold or silver in a safe deposit box does not provide any additional insurance for your precious metals or anything stored in that account. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) does not cover gold, silver, or anything else stored in a safe deposit box.

Furthermore, contents of a safe deposit box can be subject to IRS sanctions, federal agency seizures, court orders, FinCEN rules, and “national security” compliance via the PATRIOT ACT and the USA FREEDOM ACT.

The Money Metals Depository provides fully insured, segregated, and audited storage with stronger ownership protections and allows owners to quickly access and control their metals. Money Metals even offers a video of a person’s depository holdings once per year, providing additional peace of mind when storing at Money Metals Depository.

Storage Sidesteps All Shipping Problems

When a person buys precious metals, such as gold or silver, online, those metals are then mailed to them. Mailing gold or silver creates more risks and costs, and is not always the best idea for everyone.

Buying and automatically storing in a depository account removes such risks, as well as the potential costs associated with not receiving the metal that you paid for.

Some areas have higher risks of lost or stolen packages, even when you’re using registered mail from the United States Postal Service (USPS).

FedEx and UPS do not even insure gold or silver shipments at all. In fact, some criminals intentionally look for packages coming from precious metal related addresses, such as online precious metals dealers or wholesalers, or package markings indicating such.

Sometimes, it’s the logistics company employees themselves who steal packages containing precious metals.

On the other hand, a person who buys gold or silver on MoneyMetals.com and has the metal automatically deposited into their Money Metals Depository account, there is no shipping involved. So there can be no shipping costs or losses.

In conclusion, while Money Metals recognizes the validity of the axiom “If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it,” we also recognize the importance of properly storing precious metals. And not everyone has the same needs.

For each of the aforementioned types of gold and silver buyers, the best solution could be storing their precious metals at Money Metals Depository.

Joshua D. Glawson is Content Manager for Money Metals and is writer on such topics as politics, economics, philosophy, finance, and personal development. He has a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of California Irvine.

Report: Iran, Inflation Concern Small Businesses

Headline USA Editor
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Report: Iran, Inflation Concern Small Businesses

(Andrew Rice, The Center Square) U.S. small businesses reported reduced spending and hiring amid concerns over military strikes against Iran and looming inflation data, according to a new report.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce found business owners across the country are slightly more concerned about the health of their businesses as the U.S. military continues its operations in Iran. Small business owners reported a decline in planned hiring and investments.

The Chamber of Commerce’s survey was conducted from Feb. 25 – March 11, 2026. The survey sampled 751 small business owners in the United States.

In quarter one of 2026, 16% of businesses reported increasing their staff over the past year, down from 23% in Quarter 4 of 2025. Similarly, 37% of business owners planned to increase investments in the next year, a decrease from 44% in quarter four of 2025.

The Chamber of Commerce found some business owners reported concerns with rising costs, which is contributing to a greater investment in artificial intelligence use.

Overall, the Small Business Index was 67 in quarter one of 2026, down from 68.4 in quarter four of 2025. The business owners reported feeling less comfortable with their cash flow over the previous quarter. About 28% of small business owners said the economy is in “good health,” down by 10% from the previous quarter.

Neil Bradley, executive vice president, chief policy officer and head of strategic advocacy at the chamber of commerce, said the data show clear concerns about the military conflict in Iran.

“The data show a clear downturn in public sentiment that shouldn’t be overlooked,” Bradley said. “This suggests small business owners are worried about the future state of the economy, but it remains to be seen if this will translate into changes in their current operations.”

The report also found 61% of small business owners planned to increase revenue, down from 65% last quarter and 69% in quarter one of 2025. About 19% of owners reported increasing concerns over providing employees with healthcare and other benefits.

The Chamber of Commerce said concerns over affording employee benefits were the highest since tracking began in quarter one of 2023.

“Businesses are navigating higher operating costs and more conservative spending behavior,” said Kate Strickland, founder of Wander Media Company. “There is opportunity, but decision cycles are noticeably longer.”

Inflation represented a top concern for most small business owners. 53% of owners surveyed said inflation was their top concern, up from 45% in the previous quarter. With rising inflation, fewer owners were willing to say they are “very comfortable” with their cash flow.

About 20% said they were “very comfortable” with their businesses cash flow, compared to 24% in the last quarter.

“The biggest challenge facing our businesses right now is financial uncertainty in the economy, which is causing tightening on discretionary spending,” said Chris Barber, a member of the National Small Business Council in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Utah Senator Demands H-1B Visa Freeze

Jose Nino
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Utah Senator Demands H-1B Visa Freeze

(José Niño, Headline USA) Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called for a temporary halt to the H-1B migration program amid mounting evidence that it pushes American professionals out of white collar careers, Breitbart News reported.

“Let’s pause the H1B program,” Lee tweeted as reports multiplied about the replacement of American graduates and displacement of workers in California, New Jersey, and Texas.

Lee joins a growing number of Republican politicians acknowledging the damage that legal migration inflicts on middle class Americans.

“We have an illegal and legal immigration problem in this country,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said on March 16. “The H-1B & OPT programs are being used to displace American workers and students by incentivizing American employers & institutions to import foreign labor. We need reform now.”

Lee posted his statement shortly after retweeting a post from Texas suggesting fraud by one of the many Indian run companies that import H-1B visa workers from India for lease to other Indian run subcontracting firms.

Lee’s reversal is particularly striking given his past advocacy for expanding the program. Breitbart News reported that Lee led an effort in 2019 and 2020 to accelerate the inflow of Indian jobseekers during Trump’s first term. Sources told the outlet that Utah’s top political leadership pressured Lee to support the bill because Utah’s real estate industry wanted to attract more Indian companies to the state. Pro American groups and staffers blocked his push at the time.

The H-1B program brings in roughly 150,000 new workers annually, including approximately 35,000 spouses who hold H4EAD work permits. These workers undercut skilled American graduates because many accept very low wages hoping to eventually secure the ultimate prize of legal status in the United States. Roughly one million H1B workers currently hold jobs in the American white collar sector.

The massive H-1B population also obscures a similar number of foreign workers enrolled in the J1, O1, L1, L2, TN, Optional Practical Training, and Curricular Practical Training programs.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Gives Hamas Deadline To Agree to Disarmament by the End of the Week

Headline USA Editor
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Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Gives Hamas Deadline To Agree to Disarmament by the End of the Week

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” is demanding that Hamas finalize an agreement on its disarmament by the end of this week, The New York Times reported on Monday, as Israel continues launching attacks across Gaza in violation of the October ceasefire deal.

The report said that the demands were delivered to Hamas last month by Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician who was named the director of the board, which is ultimately under the control of President Trump. The demands require Hamas to eventually give up virtually all of its weapons and share maps of its tunnel network.

Mladenov made a vague post on X on Friday where he appeared to suggest there would be grave consequences for Hamas if it didn’t agree. “He who will not cross the river will drown in the sea,” he wrote.

For its part, Hamas has said that it won’t discuss disarmament until Israel fulfills its obligations under the ceasefire deal that was signed in October 2025. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks have killed at least 723 Palestinians and wounded 1,990 since the deal was signed.

“Dealing with the weapons file in this rude manner is a scandalous effort by the occupation to continue killing and exterminating at the expense of our people,” the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said on Sunday.

Besides the IDF attacking Palestinians, Israel has also backed anti-Hamas militias and gangs, which include members with ties to ISIS. Israel has also not allowed 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza each day, which was another requirement of the ceasefire deal, and the Times report said that the board was pressing Israel to allow more trucks into the Strip.

The Times report said that if Hamas agrees to the demand, the US and Israel will allow reconstruction to take place in Gaza, and the IDF troops who currently occupy more than 50% of the Strip would pull back. However, since the ceasefire deal was signed, the messaging from the Israeli government has been that the IDF will never leave Gaza and may eventually establish Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory.

Board members and Hamas officials are expected to hold talks in Cairo on Tuesday. It doesn’t appear that the Trump administration is very focused on Gaza amid the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has been raging for more than a month. The US and Israel launched the war less than two weeks after Trump held the first “Board of Peace” summit in Washington, DC.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.  

Donald Trump Endorses Steve Hilton in California Gubernatorial Primary

Headline USA Editor
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Donald Trump Endorses Steve Hilton in California Gubernatorial Primary

(Dave Mason, The Center Square) President Donald Trump has endorsed former Fox News anchor Steve Hilton in California’s Republican gubernatorial primary.

Trump picked Hilton over the other prominent GOP candidate – Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is an outspoken Trump supporter.

Sunday night’s endorsement on social media comes as Democrats face the risk of being shut out of the general election for the first time in the Golden State’s history.

Besides the two Republicans, there are eight prominent Democratic candidates. Under California law, the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the June 2 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will face off in the Nov. 3 election. Hilton and Bianco could get more votes if Democrats spread their votes among the eight candidates. 

And a recent University of California, Berkeley poll shows Hilton, a small business owner in addition to being a former commentator, and Bianco are ahead of the Democratic candidates.

According to the poll, Hilton has 17% of the vote, and Bianco, 16%. The leading Democratic candidates are U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of San Francisco with 14%, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County with 13% and billionaire and consumer protection advocate Tom Steyer, who financed the successful campaign to pass congressional redistricting in California, with 10%. The poll says none of the five remaining prominent Democrats – former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Controller Betty Yee and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan – has more than 5% of the vote.

The Democratic Party is taking the risk seriously, with California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks urging Democrats with less support to drop out. So far, no one has budged. Hicks has said the risk of shutout is “relatively low but not impossible.”

Hicks wasn’t available for further comment on Monday, and the state Republican Party and Bianco or his campaign staff didn’t respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment. 

Hilton also wasn’t available for an interview, but his spokesperson Hector Barajas emailed The Center Square a statement saying Hilton was honored to be endorsed by Trump. The candidate’s statement noted California has the nation’s highest poverty, unemployment and cost-of-living rates after 16 years of “one-party rule” by Democrats. Hilton promised to cut electric bills by half, have no taxes on the first $100,000 of income, make house purchases more affordable and reduce the cost of gas to $3 a gallon.

California consistently has had the nation’s highest gas taxes for several years, and the tax has grown more than $1 a gallon since the Feb. 28 start of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. On Monday, California’s average price was $5.93 a gallon, above the national average of $4.12 a gallon, according to AAA.

Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, told The Center Square that under the top-two primary system, Democrats have spent a lot of money to help Republican candidates they think they can beat in November.

“We as a party have not gotten to choose our standard bearer for a long time, from state Senate all the way up to governor,” Hoge said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. ”The fact that for the first time in hundreds of races they [Democrats] might be shut down does not fill me with great empathy or concern.”

She added two Republicans and no Democrats in the general election’s gubernatorial race would be the best outcome for California.

“I’m firmly of the opinion that either Steve Hilton or Chad Bianco — or any Republican — would be a vast improvement over the public-sector-union puppets we have running our state now,” she said.

In his endorsement on his social media platform TruthSocial, Trump said he has known and respected Hilton for many years. 

“People are fleeing, crime is increasing, and Taxes are the highest of any State in the Country, maybe the World,” Trump’s post said. “Steve can turn it around, before it is too late, and, as President, I will help him to do so! With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!”

There’s the question of whether Trump’s endorsement of Hilton could pull enough votes away from Bianco to mean Hilton would face a Democrat in the general election. But Hoge isn’t willing to predict that would happen.

“Republicans are first and foremost rugged individuals,” Hoge said. “For me to know what they’re going to do would be a fool’s errand.”

Porter, one of the leading Democratic candidates, commented on Trump’s endorsement of Hilton on social media.

“If there was any doubt what this race is about, now it’s certain: It’s California values against MAGA,” Porter posted on X. “I’m running because voters are tired of the same old political games when the stakes are so much higher. They deserve a governor they can trust to fight for regular people, not just push policy agendas that only benefit corporate interests and the richest of the rich.”

Campaign staffs for some of the other leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment Monday. 

‘We Leave No American Behind’: President Trump Details Easter Rescue of Downed Airman

Headline USA Editor
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‘We Leave No American Behind’: President Trump Details Easter Rescue of Downed Airman

(Morgan Sweeney, The Center Square) The successful Easter rescue of the downed F-15 airman who went missing in Iran was “one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing” combat search and rescue missions “ever attempted by the military,” President Donald Trump told reporters Monday.

Search and rescue missions like this in enemy territory are rare because it’s typically a much greater threat to American forces to attempt a rescue than it is to allow one soldier to go unrecovered. But Trump said he ordered the rescue anyway.

“I ordered the U.S. armed forces to do whatever was necessary to bring our brave warriors back home – a risky decision because we could have ended up with 100 dead as opposed to one or two. So, hard decision to make,” Trump said. “But in the United States military we leave no American behind. We don’t do it.”

After an F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, the American military was unsure of the locations of its two crew members. The pilot was found and rescued fairly quickly, but the search for the jet’s weapons systems officer went on for nearly 48 hours.

The initial rescue mission that recovered the pilot involved 21 military aircraft. The mission to find the downed weapons systems officer involved 155 aircraft, including 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers and 13 rescue aircraft. 

“A lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said, adding that the military made it look like they were looking in seven different locations.

The officer landed far from the pilot and went higher into the mountains, treated his wounds and transmitted his location to American forces. Though badly wounded, he evaded capture and the rescue mission was completed with no American casualties.

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