May 2023 in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in May? Gold had a rollercoaster ride again in May, but when all was said and done, it had lost less than 1%. Gold prices hit an intraday high of $2,085 in Europe on May 4th but opened in New York at $2,055. It settled at the same level, marking the closing high for the month in the US. Gold closed above …




April 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in April? Gold hit triple-digit gains in March, which allowed April to start off strong. Gold futures gained $122 in March. Spot gold did even better, ending $143 higher. This put prices 7% higher for the month, and up 9% year to date. Gold futures started April by settling at $2,000 per troy ounce on the 3rd. It got a big boost …




March 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affect gold prices. What Did Gold Do in March? Gold saw choppy trade all month as safe-haven demand whipsawed between easing inflation and a global banking crisis. Prices bottomed out at $1,813/oz on Wednesday, March 7th, but were $100 higher a week later on the 15th. That $1,913 mark was the low for the rest of the month. Futures hit an intraday high of $2,011 on the 20th, then …




February 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in February? Gold gave back all of January’s gains in February in choppy trading, ending the month down about $10 for the year. Things started off badly on February 2nd, when the Fed, ECB, and Bank of England all hikes rates and announced that rates would be moving higher for longer than previously estimated. This sent gold down $34 to $1,916 an …




January 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in January? Gold kicked the current rally into overdrive in January. Starting the year at $1,829 an ounce, spot gold closed at $1,923 an ounce on January 30th. It began the year hitting a six-month high near $1,850 early on January 3rd before easing, only to claim that level the next day. Prices marched higher during the second week in January, to …




December 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in December? The gold market was a volatile battlefield in December, with bulls and bears waging war around the $1,800 level. Rallies were routinely sold into, which bulls saw as a buying opportunity. Some of this selling, best seen in gold ETF outflows, was likely due to margin calls as stocks stumbled under the dual expectations of recession and stagflation as the …




November 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in November Gold started the month around $1,640 an ounce.  After dipping slightly to $1,630, prices powered $145 higher to the $1,775 area, leaving the $1,685 support level in the dust. Prices leaked lower in the third week of November, but held above the $1735 support line that signifies the floor gold must respect to signal a new short-term bull run. Prices …




October 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in October? Central bank rate hike programs depressed gold prices as the month went on in October. The dollar smashed all other currencies during October, fueled by the Fed’s determination to keep raising rates until something breaks. This added to the pressure on gold prices, as it became more expensive when bought with other currencies. Prices recovered temporarily when market expectations grew …




September 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. This is an abbreviated Month in Precious Metals column, due to Hurricane Ian striking southwest Florida. Factors Affecting Gold This Month INFLATION Inflation indicators resumed their climb in September after some slightly encouraging signs that it might be topping out in August. Average inflation in the EU hit a record 10.0% this month, putting the ECB in a tough spot in its efforts to break the …




August 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in August? This was a rough month for gold, as central bank rate hikes sent the dollar to 20-year highs and US markets began to think that inflation has already peaked. The Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 bp as expected on August 4th, but its forecast of a 15-month recession starting by the end of the year AND 13% …




July 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in July? Gold had a worse than usual month in July. It started the month crashing by $42 from $1,807 per ounce to $1,765. As bad as that was, things got worse as the month went on, with spot gold closing at $1,696.40 on July 20th. The end of the month ended with a bang, thanks to the Fed. They raised interest …




June 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

What Did Gold Do in June? Gold prices don’t usually see much activity during the summer months, but there were lots of things pushing and pulling prices in different directions in June. in June. The largest moves happened in the middle of the month. June 13th was the Monday after a worse-than-expected CPI report, and it seemed like the world caught fire. The bottom fell out of the stock market, bond yields shot up and briefly inverted, and the dollar index jumped to over 105. Spot gold closed the day $53 lower. Gold prices inched higher in the following days, …




May 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in May? May was an extremely volatile month for most assets, and gold was no exception. Inflation fears and Fed reactions (or inaction) to fighting it dominated market sentiment, with investors fleeing stocks and bonds, but moving to cash instead of gold. Gold started the month by crashing by $48 to $1,863 an ounce. It would see five more extreme daily losses …




April in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in April? Gold started April coming off its best quarter since the second quarter of 2020. In contrast, Wall St had a terrible start to the year, posting its worst quarter since the April 2020 COVID market crash. The 2-year / 10-year bond curve briefly inverting several times the first week of April kept gold bouncing between $1,925 and $1,945 an ounce. …




March 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in March? Volatility was the theme for March, as sanctions against Russia and disruptions in food and fuel supplies caused by the war rocked global economies. Sanctions imposed on Russia had the effect of pressuring the economies of the sanctioning countries as well. Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine sent safe-haven assets higher early in the month. Gold traded …