Unusual Situation in Gold & Silver Market May Spark Big Price Moves

Money Metals News Service
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Unusual Situation in Gold & Silver Market May Spark Big Price Moves

(Money Metals News Service) The monetary metals pulled back sharply yesterday but have entered Tuesday on stable footing. Silver is trading at $29.90 –and gold is $2,674.

The ongoing volatility is a reflection of uncertainty in the gold and silver markets globally, including fears of import tariffs from the incoming Trump administration.

If Trump slaps a tariff of, say, 10% on precious metals coming into the U.S., that would have a huge impact. 10% on silver would amount to $3 per ounce!

As a result of this worry, the price of gold and silver – as traded on the New York futures market – has risen sharply above the prices for the same metals seen simultaneously in other markets across the globe.

In silver, for example, the spread between London spot and New York futures has recently reached as high as $1 per ounce!

This spread has also created a big incentive for parties all over the world to get their gold and silver into the U.S. before any tariffs are imposed.

Traders are buying metal in London, simultaneously selling in the NY futures market (and pocketing a tidy profit), withdrawing the metal from London vaults, and transporting the metal to the U.S. to deliver onto the exchange to close out the futures position.

This dynamic is having the effect of draining London vaults of gold and silver at an unusually fast rate –and at some point, these lower levels of vaulted metal in London could create price dislocations in that major market too.

Those who have short positions in the New York market are in the process of getting squeezed, especially if they are having trouble getting their hands on physical metal to deliver into their short positions. Or get it into the right form.

This situation could lead to big price swings and even a major short squeeze event in gold and/or silver, so you can be confident we’ll keep our customers updated at MoneyMetals.com.

CBO: American Birthrate Plummeting, Immigration to Drive Future Population Growth

Ken Silva
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CBO: American Birthrate Plummeting, Immigration to Drive Future Population Growth

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Congressional Budget Office released its annual U.S. demographics report on Monday, revealing dismal projections that the American deathrate will exceed the birthrate by 2033, and that immigration will account for any population growth thereafter.

According to the CBO, the U.S. population is projected to increase from 350 million people in 2025 to 372 million in 2055. However, immigration will account for all the increases after 2033.

“Without immigration, the population would shrink beginning in 2033, in part because fertility rates are projected to remain too low for a generation to replace itself,” the CBO said. “Immigration is projected to more than account for the population growth from 2033 to 2055.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new CBO projections are a major change from previous forecasts that the birthrate would exceed the deathrate until 2040.

“The expected drop reflects the fact that Americans are having fewer children. Last year, the CBO projected the fertility rate—the number of children the average woman is expected to have over her lifetime—would hold steady at 1.7 through 2054,” the Journal reported Tuesday.

“But procreation hasn’t recovered much from the pandemic: In 2023, the latest year for which data are available, the U.S. fertility rate was a hair above 1.6, prompting the CBO to lower its long-run fertility projection to that level.”

The CBO also made a downward revision to its immigration forecasts, presumably due to Donald Trump’s victory.

According to the CBO, net migration increased by 920,000 per year under Trump’s term, and increased to around a whopping 3 million per year under Joe Biden. In the long run, the CBO estimates that immigration will continue to grow at a rate of 0.04% annually, indefinitely.

“Many of CBO’s projections are based on past long-term averages. CBO projects that net immigration of people in the other-foreign-national category will continue to decline after 2024, reaching a level consistent with historical experience in 2028 and remaining at roughly that level through the rest of the 30-year projection period,” the CBO said.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Report: CIA HR Programs Include Transgender Lecture, ‘Loving Day’ and Dog Lessons

Ken Silva
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Report: CIA HR Programs Include Transgender Lecture, ‘Loving Day’ and Dog Lessons

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Daily Mail published a trove of internal CIA flyers on Monday, which show that the agency promoted a lecture by the highest ranking transgender officer in the armed forces; a celebration of “Loving Day,” sessions on “equity assurance training” and other diversity, equity and inclusion-themed programs.

“For Pride Month last year, CIA agents were invited to a lecture by Admiral Rachel Levine, assistant secretary at Health and Human Services, the first openly transgender four-star officer in the armed forces, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

“A year before, CIA headquarters held a week of events to mark ‘Loving Day,’ the anniversary of a 1967 court judgment allowing interracial marriages in Virginia,” the site reported.

“Then there are support groups for people getting divorced; ‘Orange Shirt Day,’ to remember indigenous people affected by their experiences in residential schools; ‘intentional parenting’ sessions; and even lessons in importing dogs from overseas postings.”

The Daily Mail said the flyers came from disgruntled CIA staff. The newspaper quoted an anonymous 20-year veteran who said the agency is promoting DEI at the expense of competency.

“When diversity became the overriding emphasis it ends up like the old rule of convoys when the ships traveled at the speed of the slowest boat,” the officer told the Daily Mail. “And that’s what we ended up with.”

Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, John Radcliffe, has promised to curtail DEI within the agency.

“I suspect  Ratcliffe is going to come in like a wrecking ball to the woke deep staters,” an anonymous source told the Daily Mail.

“The mission is all he cares about. No more politicized intelligence products. No more social experiments. Nothing and no one that distracts from the mission of collecting foreign intelligence and keeping Americans safe.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Kamala Harris Breaks Tradition, Snubs Vance on Visit to Vice President’s Residence

Julianna Frieman
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Kamala Harris Breaks Tradition, Snubs Vance on Visit to Vice President’s Residence

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Vice President Kamala Harris broke tradition by refusing to invite Vice President-elect J.D. Vance to the Naval Observatory residence for a formal sit-down or tour before Jan. 20.

Multiple Democrat and Republican sources confirmed Harris’s snub to Vance to CBS News, meaning when Vance, his wife, Usha, and their three children move into the vice president’s residence, it will be their first time there.

Usha Vance’s team reportedly reached out to Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to inquire about how to make their future home safe for their children, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel, who are all younger than age eight.

However, a Harris political appointee initially refused to give insight on how to childproof the property, CBS News reported.

The incoming second family had more luck communicating with Navy officials who watch over the Naval Observatory, according to the outlet. Navy officials gave the Vances an overview of the residence and provided logistical information before Christmas.

There are no reports that Harris ever extended an olive branch herself to the Vances, but Emhoff reportedly spoke to Usha Vance for 40 minutes in early January.

Harris sources reportedly told the outlet that arrangements are in process to childproof the residence.

Harris reportedly claimed she was never offered a chance to visit the Naval Observatory before she moved in, but advisers to then-Vice President Mike Pence denied her allegation.

They said Harris and Emhoff were invited to the house—even though the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak.

Despite this, Pence and Harris never had a sit-down meeting at the Naval Observatory ahead of the first Trump-Biden transition, according to the outlet.

Harris did not move into the Naval Observatory until April 2021, three months after President Joe Biden took office, because the residence was in need of repairs, CBS News noted.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

MSNBC Sends Rachel Maddow Back to Work for 5 Days a Week Amid Trump’s Return

Julianna Frieman
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MSNBC Sends Rachel Maddow Back to Work for 5 Days a Week Amid Trump’s Return

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) MSNBC announced leftist darling Rachel Maddow will host her show five days a week for the first 100 days of the second Trump administration.

Maddow, who only anchored The Rachel Maddow Show on Mondays since spring of 2022, was ordered back to work the weekday grind following a $5 million pay cut by her sinking network.

The Rachel Maddow Show will air Mondays through Fridays at 9 p.m., Variety reported.

Alex Wagner, who hosted MSNBC’s 9 p.m. slot Tuesdays through Fridays, will be sent overseas “to talk to both newsmakers tied to and people affected by Trump’s policies,” according to the outlet.

“The idea is to give MSNBC viewers a full, 360-degree view of what’s happening in the country in a way that you don’t necessarily get in the studio,” Wagner said in an interview.

Maddow and Wagner will return to their regular roles on April 30, the outlet noted.

The MSNBC shakeup came one day before Rashida Jones informed top MSNBC anchors she stepped down as the network’s president on Tuesday, according to the Status newsletter.

Following four years of Jones’s rule, NBCUniversal Media Group Chairman Mark Lazarus promoted Rebecca Kutler, the senior vice president of content strategy, to fill Jones’s shoes, Status reported.

“I came to this decision over the holidays while reflecting on our remarkable journey and the many successes we’ve achieved together as a team,” Jones wrote in a memo to MSNBC employees. “This has been the most rewarding chapter of my professional career and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished, which has been made possible only by you.”

Jones’s departure came as no surprise after Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, announced in November 2024 that MSNBC would soon be separated from NBC News and offloaded into a new company. This comes after MSNBC has reached historic lows in their post-election ratings.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

A Cautionary Tale: Britain’s Gold Selling Blunder

Money Metals News Service
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A Cautionary Tale: Britain’s Gold Selling Blunder

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) It looks like Great Britain sold its gold too soon. And are some lessons to be learned from this British experiment with reserve diversification.

Between 1999 and 2001, the British government sold about 395 tonnes of gold in a bid to diversify the UK’s reserves.

The sale generated around $3.5 billion at the time. That comes to around $6.4 billion in 2024 dollars.

Had the Brits held on to their gold and sold it at today’s price of nearly $2,700, it would have generated around $37.6 billion.

According to a report by GB News, the sale today could have filled the current £22billion “black hole” in public finances.

Why Did the UK Sell Its Gold?

Why did the British government offload nearly half of its gold reserves?

At the time, gold wasn’t performing particularly well. The market was volatile. When the government announced the gold auction in May 1999, the yellow metal was at a 20-year low.

IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop told GB News that the sale made sense at the time “because gold had performed poorly as an investment for many years.” He also argued that the launch of the euro provided the opportunity to diversify UK reserves into a new currency expected to rival the dollar. Furthermore, “the proceeds from the gold sales were reinvested in assets that paid interest, generating some additional income.”

As it turns out, between 1999 and 2024, the price of gold increased by an average of 8 percent annually.

Oops!

The Lesson

Jessop’s last point underscores a typical mindset in the investing world. Because gold isn’t an interest-bearing asset, investors often shun the yellow metal in a higher interest rate environment. We’re seeing that today every time the Federal Reserve hints it might hold rates higher for longer.

Investors forget they are always battling inflation. Jessop conceded that any additional income generated by these assets paled in comparison to the increase in the price of gold since the sale, but he still defended the move, saying, “The government should not really be in the business of speculating on commodity markets.”

However, his argument for investing in interest-bearing assets rests purely on speculation. As we’ve seen since the 2008 financial crisis, central banks tend to suppress interest rates for the stimulative (and inflationary) effect. You may or may not get a higher interest rate environment. In reality, interest rate policy is volatile and subject to the whims of politically connected bankers.

And as we’re seeing today with the rates on the long end of the yield curve increasing even with Fed rate cuts, the bankers don’t have as much control of the market as they would have you believe.

Even when rates seem high, real interest rates (the stated rate you see on the news adjusted for price inflation) are often much lower than advertised rates due to inflation. We saw long stretches of negative real rates between 2008 and 2022.

On the other hand, gold has historically served as an inflation hedge in the long term. Owning gold may not be as sexy as chasing yield, but it protects wealth over time – the entire point of reserve assets. This is precisely why so many central banks today are buying gold.

Not all British officials defended the sale. Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng told GB News, “The sale of the gold at rock bottom prices was a huge blunder.”

“We should never have sold it and if we hadn’t, we should still keep it regardless.”

Continue

China Reports Another Round of Gold Buying in December and They’re Buying More Than They Admit

Money Metals News Service
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China Reports Another Round of Gold Buying in December and They’re Buying More Than They Admit

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) China announced an increase in its official gold reserves in November. It was the first reported increase after a 6-month pause, and it appears it wasn’t a one-off event.

And by the way, the Chinese have a lot more gold than they admit.

The People’s Bank of China reported another increase in official gold reserves in December with a nearly 10-tonne purchase.

You’ll notice I keep emphasizing the word “official.” That’s because the Chinese are accumulating gold much faster than officially indicated, as data parsed by Money Metals investigative reporter Jan Nieuwenhuijs proved.

China was the biggest central bank gold buyer in 2023, but it stopped announcing increases to its official reserves back in May. Even with the pause in public reporting last spring, China still admitted to adding nearly 30 tons of gold to its official reserves through the first half of 2024.

As Bloomberg noted, the December increase in official gold holding happened despite a rising gold price.

“The purchase shows the PBOC is still keen to diversify its reserves even with gold at historically expensive levels. The metal’s rally to a record in 2024 was supported by monetary easing in the US, safe-haven demand, and sustained buying by global central banks.”

In fact, as Nieuwenhuijs showed, record gold prices haven’t deterred Chinese gold accumulation at all. While only admitting to adding about 45 tonnes of gold in 2024, the People’s Bank of China’s “unreported” purchases in London accounted for a stunning 110 tonnes in September and October alone.

Nieuwenhuijs wrote, “Chinese authorities see a greater role for gold in the future international monetary system, or they wouldn’t continue buying such extraordinary amounts of gold. Via London alone, the PBoC has stockpiled 1,000 tonnes of gold since Russia’s foreign exchange assets were ‘frozen’ by the West in early 2022.”

When the Chinese claimed it had paused new gold purchases in May, it precipitated a panicked gold selloff. Despite the kneejerk reaction, I said at the time that it was unlikely that the Chinese were finished adding gold to their reserves.

China has a history of adding to publicly stated reserves and then going silent.

The People’s Bank of China accumulated 1,448 tons of gold between 2002 and 2019 and then reported nothing for more than two years before resuming reporting in the fall of 2022. Many speculate that the Chinese continued to add gold to its holdings off the books during those silent years as well. Based on Nieuwenhuijs’s research, this seems almost certain.

Chinese gold accumulation is part of a broader central bank gold buying spree. Through November, central banks bought 807 tonnes of gold in 2024 after a record third quarter.

Continue

Shellenberger Cracks Up Tucker Carlson w/ Critique of ‘Goodie Two-Shoes’ Lapdog Journalists

Julianna Frieman
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Shellenberger Cracks Up Tucker Carlson w/ Critique of ‘Goodie Two-Shoes’ Lapdog Journalists

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Reporter Michael Shellenberger left political commentator Tucker Carlson in stitches Monday with his critique of “goodie two-shoes” journalists in the modern-day media.

Shellenberger told Carlson that because today’s journalists refrain from being bold and brash, “this is the golden age of journalism.”

“Basically. I can go into every story and you discover that people aren’t really doing reporting,” he said.

Carlson listened attentively as Shellenberger recalled visiting the Berkeley residence of David DePape, who attacked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. Shellenberger said many journalists were standing outside of the property, but they were all hesitant to move forward and seek out the story.

“I show up, and I’m like, I’m just happy to be there. And there’s all these journalists there. There’s like a bunch, like local TV news and local print paper,” Shellenberger said, mentioning DePape’s Black Lives Matter flag and the abandoned school bus in the “terrible environment.”

Shellenberger, who was initially worried that he arrived late, revealed that many journalists were just standing there because they “didn’t want to be like, rude or something.”

“At that moment I was like, ‘Oh God, this is gonna be great,’” he told Carlson, who burst out laughing.

Shellenberger said he knocked on all of the neighbors’ doors and got the story, which differed from the initial mainstream narrative that DePape was a right-wing extremist.

He found that DePape was actually a leftist spurned to violence by drugs and homelessness.

There is “no competition” in journalism, Shellenberger said, adding that today’s journalists are “not really journalists.”

“They’re more like kind of the people who would run for class president or something. They’re kind of goodie two-shoes types,” Shellenberger said, prompting Carlson to call young journalists “ass-kissers.”

Gone are the days of the “cantankerous and crabby” journalists, the reporter told Carlson. He emphasized that today’s reporters are “running cover” for politicians by referencing a meme about how the media became a mouthpiece for the government.

“It’s amazing, you know,” Shellenberger said. “It used to be that the reporter would like be holding the microphone up to the politicians and be like, ‘Answer my question.’ And now they’re like, demanding that the people defend themselves for their terrible votes, you know? It’s like a complete reversal!”

Carlson laughed and called the new crop of journalists “the pretorian guard” for politicians.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

DeSantis Warns ‘Resistance’ They Could Be Fired for Defying Trump Policies

Julianna Frieman
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DeSantis Warns ‘Resistance’ They Could Be Fired for Defying Trump Policies

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., warned Monday that officials who dare work to subvert President-elect Donald Trump’s illegal immigration policies would lose their jobs.

DeSantis signaled during a press conference that he would be one of Trump’s most loyal allies on mass deportations, declaring his authority to fire certain government workers who refuse to comply with the president-elect’s agenda.

“I have the authority with respect to certain officials to suspend them from their office if they are neglecting their duties. And that’s an authority that I have invoked when it’s been appropriate in the past,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis called a special legislative session Monday to prepare for Trump’s incoming crackdown on illegal migrants.

The Florida governor revealed that his office had been working with Trump’s transition team in the weeks leading up to the inauguration on Jan. 20, adding that he recently visited the incoming president at Mar-a-Lago.

“This is the time to get it right once and for all,” DeSantis told reporters.

He spoke about looting that has occurred at homes and businesses destroyed by the California fires, saying illegal migrants who pillaged burned properties “need to be sent back immediately.”

DeSantis’s strong support for Trump juxtaposes that of Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., who vowed to be the “resistance” to the Republican’s second term. Ignoring billions of dollars in damage caused by his state’s raging wildfires, California Democrats reached a $50 million deal Monday to be a thorn in the side of the Trump administration, Politico reported on Monday

Approximately $25 million of the deal is allocated toward fending off Trump’s mass deportation efforts, according to the outlet.

“This funding agreement cements California’s readiness to serve as as a bulwark against Trump’s extremist agenda,” the state’s Democrat Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener said.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Trump Pressuring Israel to Accept Gaza Ceasefire Deal before Inauguration

Ken Silva
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Trump Pressuring Israel to Accept Gaza Ceasefire Deal before Inauguration

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Donald Trump is allegedly working behind the scenes to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire deal in Gaza ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Trump sent his incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to negotiate with Netanyahu on Saturday. Netanyahu’s staff were reportedly taken aback when Witkoff insisted on meeting on their Sabbath.

“Witkoff’s blunt reaction took them by surprise. He explained to them in salty English that Shabbat was of no interest to him. His message was loud and clear,” Haaretz reported Monday. “Thus in an unusual departure from official practice, the prime minister showed up at his office for an official meeting with Witkoff, who then returned to Qatar to seal the deal.”

Trump’s pressure tactics may be paying off. After his meeting, Witkoff told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he’s hopeful a deal will be sealed by next Monday. He praised mediators in Qatar for doing “God’s work,” adding that the deal should have been signed weeks ago.

The Associated Press further reported Tuesday that Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages. Mediators in Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the “closest point” yet to sealing a deal.

An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized. The plan would need to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final approval.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end the 15-month war and secure the release of dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered it. Some 100 people are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third them are dead.

Any deal is expected to deliver a pause in fighting and bring Israel and Hamas a step closer to winding down the most deadly and destructive war they’ve ever fought, a conflict that has destabilized the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

However, Netanyahu doesn’t appear to be pleased with the impending ceasefire. The prime minister has reportedly cancelled his plans to attend Trump’s inauguration. The news of the cancelation came after Trump posted a video in which economist Jeffrey Sachs tells Tucker Carlson about how Netanyahu pushed for regime change in Iraq, Syria and Iran.

“He’s still trying to get us to fight Iran to this day,” Sachs said. “He’s a deep, dark son of a bitch.”

Netanyahu allies are also reportedly mad at the incoming Trump administration. Yinon Magal, an Israeli talk show host, reportedly said that Trump is talking a big game while allowing terrorists to escape accountability.

“He talks about hell and, in the meantime, sends his envoy to sign a deal. It’s a deal whose impact will be very difficult. That’s the truth,” Magal said, as reported by antiwar.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

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