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What a difference a couple of days can make. The brutal implosion in precious metals at the end of last week swept away trillions of dollars in market cap like it was nothing, as gold lost the better part of $500 per ounce on Friday. The selloff in silver was even more harrowing, with the white metal shedding over 25% on the day, pushing prices down to just $85 from highs of $121 the day prior. Nothing was spared, with platinum, palladium and metals further afield all suffering horrific losses. As painful as the latest leg down has been, the move does not yet appear to be over, with gold and silver opening with huge gaps to the downside this morning and pushing lower still. Gold briefly sank under $4,600 earlier today, meaning the precious metal officially hit a $1,000 drawdown from last week’s record high. Silver meanwhile is in the process of losing $80 per ounce, leaving many traders in utter disbelief at the scale of the reversal. Post hoc rationalisations for the selloff are only so useful, but arguably the biggest catalyst for last Friday’s change in sentiment was the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chairman. Warsh served as governor between 2006 and 2011, a period marred by the 2008 financial crisis, and was the youngest ever member of the Federal Reserve board of governors. While the nominee favours lower interest rates, aligning with President Trump’s stance on the matter, Warsh has been vocally critical of quantitative easing in the past, suggesting he may favour a smaller Fed balance sheet. While the nomination has yet to be confirmed, the choice has generally reassured markets, with many seeing Warsh as a “safe pick”. The dollar rebounded strongly following the announcement, pushing the DXY a solid 1% higher, taking much of the wind out of the sails of safe-haven flows. Things are going from bad to worse in cryptocurrencies. A strengthening dollar adds to the long list of woes for Bitcoin, which unlike gold and silver, has benefitted from absolutely no positive price action since last October. Bitcoin suffered awful losses over the weekend and prices are now down to $75,000 as of this morning, matching lows from April of last year. Any further depreciation will see Bitcoin revisit prices from 2024. Adding insult to injury, the latest move means that Bitcoin is no longer in the global top ten assets. The industry is in dire straits after a series of legal setbacks; sentiment is at an all-time low; long-standing narratives are beginning to crumble and many traders have simply had enough. If there is a silver lining to any of this, White House crypto czar David Sacks will host an event later today, with the aim of bridging the gap between the banks and various crypto interests, including Coinbase. CEO Brian Armstrong is all but solely responsible for scuppering the latest attempt to push the Clarity Act through Congress, citing the bill’s unfair treatment of stablecoin yields. Attempts at mediation will be difficult, especially following some of the clashes between Armstrong and several big bank leaders during Davos, including an encounter with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, who told Armstrong, “you are full of s***”. Needless to say, the meeting does not bode well. Another busy week lies ahead. On Tuesday morning, the Reserve Bank of Australia may perform a U-turn on recent policy by raising rates on the Aussie dollar, although a rate hike is by no means a done deal. Breaking from global trends, the central bank is undertaking the move following a surprise uptick in inflation, which now lies outside of the RBA’s target band. Wednesday delivers the latest inflation figures in the Eurozone, followed by the ADP employment change in the US. On Thursday, the Bank of England and European Central Bank are expected to maintain rates steady on their respective currencies. Last but not least, the big event of the week arrives on Friday in the form of January non-farm payrolls, which are currently forecast to show 70 thousand new jobs. The earnings calendar remains hot this week, with Palantir (PLTR) reporting on Monday, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Tuesday, Alphabet (GOOG) on Wednesday, and Amazon (AMZN) on Thursday. #PreciousMetals #Crypto #Federal
Huge moves in precious metals this morning, but not in the direction investors were hoping for. Yesterday’s session saw gold top out around $5,600 per ounce, before a series of brutal swings shook out large swathes of traders. The price action has been equally aggressive this morning, with gold prices plummeting to $5,200 and leaving markets guessing as to the next direction of travel. Silver, which saw record-breaking highs of $120 per ounce yesterday, is currently being subjected to the same selling pressure as gold, dipping to lows of $108 earlier in the day. Platinum and palladium were both down 6% early this morning, and even humble copper was brought down to more earthly levels after a huge spike on Thursday. Lacking any conviction whatsoever, cryptocurrencies are happy to use any excuse to sink lower, with Bitcoin exploring the depths of $81,000 this morning and the wider crypto markets faring just as poorly. Bad news for Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which fell almost 10% yesterday, closing the day at 143 per share and matching lows from September 2024. The company has been in free fall for the past six months, losing 70% since last summer. There is some small reason for optimism however, as yesterday the US Senate Agriculture Committee narrowly voted to advance a crypto market structure bill, which essentially represents the other piece of the puzzle in relation to the Clarity Act. The two pieces of legislation will eventually be combined into one unified crypto framework, which is what everyone has been waiting for since the Genius Act passed last year. Encouragingly, this is the first time such a market structure bill has advanced beyond a Senate committee, and while crypto traders are by no means out of the woods just yet, the development is an unexpectedly pleasant one. Yesterday was a mixed bag for the tech sector, which saw large movements in both directions following several high-profile earnings reports. Despite beating Wall Street estimates, Microsoft (MSFT) shed 10% on Thursday as investors struggled to come to terms with the company’s massive AI-fuelled spending spree, as well as a lack of growth in its Azure cloud business. The drop marks the largest since 2020 and Microsoft now sits at an eight-month low. It was a totally different story for Meta Platforms (META), which rose 10.4% yesterday after a surprisingly strong quarterly revenue outlook, coupled with plans to massively expand its data centre operations this year. Tesla (TSLA) slid 3.5% after the company announced plans to shift away from electric cars, scrapping the model S and model X, pivoting instead towards the manufacturing of humanoid robots. Apple (AAPL) meanwhile revealed a big uptick in revenue thanks to strong iPhone sales, easily surpassing analysts' expectations and causing shares in the company to rise in extended trading last night. #PreciousMetals #Cryptocurrency #TechStock
The dollar took another step down yesterday after President Trump told reporters that he wanted the US currency to “seek its own level”. The comments made it clear that the current administration is more than comfortable with a softening dollar, signalling to currency markets that the slide may well continue further. The DXY lost 125-bps on Tuesday, pushing the index all the way down to 95.8, a level not seen since February 2022. Traders are on the lookout for any new signs of a joint US-Japan intervention to prop up the yen, but so far nothing more has emerged since the NY Fed conducted rate checks on dollar/yen pair last Friday. Speaking of the Fed, market participants eagerly await the FOMC meeting later today, which will almost certainly hold rates steady. In fact, interest rate traders are not expecting a rate cut until June at the earliest. The rallies in gold and silver continue unimpeded. For gold, three-figure moves are becoming increasingly common and yesterday was no exception, which saw prices end the day at $5,180 per ounce. Buying pressure remains strong this morning and the precious metal rapidly rose to $5,250 earlier today. It is a similar story for silver, which wasted no time climbing to $115 early on in the Asian session. The rise in precious metals has been contained to gold and silver so far this week, with platinum and palladium instead electing to withdraw from their recent highs. As to the question of who is buying all up all the gold, an interesting answer made its appearance on Monday, when Tether announced that the company had added 27 tonnes of gold to its holdings in the fourth quarter of 2025. Tether provides the cryptocurrency markets with a number of different stablecoins, the most prominent of which is USDT, which now boasts a market cap of over $180 billion and is partially backed by gold. More relevantly, the company also issues XAUT, which is a tokenised claim on physical gold, granting crypto participants direct access to gold exposure. XAUT now has a market cap of $2.3 billion, meaning Tether is currently rubbing shoulders with some of the largest sovereign holders of gold in the world. #DXY #Gold #Silver
If the forex market were a nightclub, the major currency pairs are the VIPs hogging all the attention: EUR/USD under the spotlight, USD/JPY sipping champagne, GBP/USD refusing to leave. But head deeper just past the bouncers guarding the dollar-based dance floor - and you’ll find the hidden rooms where exciting things happen - trading the minor pairs. These “less famous” currency pairs may not always trend on social media or get flashy headlines, but they offer unique opportunities for traders who know where to look, along with a bit more personality (and volatility) than their polished major cousins. Let’s look why expanding beyond major pairs could be one of the smartest moves you make on your trading journey. The forex market is the largest market on Earth - averaging $5+ trillion in daily volume. That’s around 25 time larger than the worldwide stock market’s average day. With that much money zipping around the planet 24/5, even the smaller lanes still carry big traffic. Currencies are influenced by: Major pairs follow these drivers closely - but minor pairs often react more dramatically, creating potential strategic money-making opportunities. Minor pairs (sometimes called cross-currency pairs) do not include the US dollar. Examples include: Then there are those involving emerging or commodity-linked economies, often grouped as “exotic pairs” - even though there’s nothing exotic about a central bank panicking during an inflation spike: These are the stars of trading minor pairs - offering exciting setups for hungry forex traders. Here’s where things become interesting… Major currencies can shrug things off. Minor currencies? Not so chill. For example: These can send minor pairs flying like a cat who’s seen a cucumber. That volatility = opportunity if you understand the context of the news releases. Since fewer traders and institutions track these pairs closely… Some minor pairs provide higher interest rate differentials, which can pay traders overnight funding profits if positioned correctly. More on that further on… If major pairs get dull or choppy, minor pairs provide alternatives - especially when you want exposure to certain economies or commodities. Time to connect this to right-now events Mexico has been strengthening trade leverage by considering tariffs of up to 50% on strategic imports. The peso - already a favourite for carry trades - is reacting sharply as investors speculate how US-Mexico relations evolve. Pairs to watch: USD/MXN, EUR/MXN With South Africa shifting into a new coalition government structure, confidence can shift rapidly - and the rand tends to express those emotions loudly. Pair to watch: USD/ZAR Japan remains ultra-loose with monetary policy compared to Australia or New Zealand - making yen crosses a carry-trade playground. Pairs to watch: AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY, EUR/JPY When global sentiment is upbeat (risk-on), money flows into higher-yielding markets. When recession fears spike (risk-off), capital sprints back into USD or JPY for “safety.” These dynamic movements can hit minor pairs first and the hardest. A cool perk of trading minor pairs: You can trade commodity exposure without touching commodities directly. So, if you think iron ore is in demand, then…… If oil spikes on Middle East supply risk? Commodity exposure = more strategic angles = more opportunity for trading minor pairs. Time for the famous - and sometimes infamous - strategy… What’s a carry trade? The yen (JPY) has been a favourite funding currency thanks to super-low rates. Popular examples: And when emerging markets offer juicy rates? The danger? Exchange rate moves can eat your carry gains - or worse. A sudden central bank surprise… and boom, it gets messy! Trading minors = more reward potential because the risks are bigger. Here’s what makes minor pairs the wild cards of forex: Minor pairs reward informed, patient, disciplined traders - not adrenaline addicts. Here’s your mini roadmap: Taking the time to understand one minor pair deeply beats trading 10 majors blindly. Here’s the bottom line: Even if you only add one or two minor pairs to your weekly rotation… That’s already a strategic edge over traders who ignore them entirely. Major pairs are important - they are the backbone of global FX. But when everyone crowds into the same EUR/USD trade, sometimes the smarter move is simply to… Walk down the hall. Open the door labelled USD/MXN, Enter If You Dare! And discover a more interesting story. Minor pairs are where the global world - politics, trade, commodities, human drama - express themselves loudest. If you stay informed, manage risk, and bring an analytical mindset, then: Trading minor pairs could be the difference between a limited trading toolbox…and a portfolio full of new possibilities.
The week has barely started, and yet history is already being written. Gold once again started the week with a gap up, leapfrogging the $5,000 threshold and pushing higher still as the Asian session got underway. The precious metal rose almost $400 last week, which represents the largest weekly gain in absolute terms ever seen, but gold is evidently hungry for more, peaking to highs of $5,090 this morning. Silver also opened the week with a bang, from last Friday’s close of $103 per ounce, the white metal rose straight to $109 within hours of the opening bell after printing a sizeable gap of its own. The weekly chart for silver now looks like a textbook parabola, and incredibly, the metal is already up 50% so far this year. Platinum is also breaking records this morning, rising the better part of $100 and pushing north of $2,800 per ounce. Finally, palladium touched $2,100 earlier today, matching prices not seen since 2022. There is something interesting brewing in currency markets. Traders may have noticed the sudden move in the yen last Friday, which saw a 1.6% swing in favour of the beleaguered Japanese currency. The yen has been bleeding for years at this point, but with a new and dramatically different government in place, the nation’s currency may finally see an end to its relentless depreciation. Speculation is rapidly mounting that Japanese authorities may intervene to defend the yen, with potential support from the US. On Friday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York contacted financial institutions regarding the yen’s exchange rate. Such a move is very rare, and points to a coordinated effort between the US and Japan to prop up the yen. The most famous historical example of such an intervention dates to the Plaza Accords of 1986, which resulted in a global effort to halt the rise in the US dollar. Since last year, economists have been floating the idea of a new type of accord, informally called the “Mar-a-Lago Accord”, the goal of which would be to intentionally devalue the dollar. A weaker dollar would ease US government debt repayments and make US exports cheaper, thereby improving the country’s trade balance. The dollar currency index has plummeted in light of recent developments, hitting lows of 97 early this morning, and currency markets remain on high alert for any further signs of a joint intervention. Both the dollar and the yen are crucial pillars of global capital flows, the former because of its status as world reserve currency, the latter as a vast source of funding via carry trade. Any sudden rebalancing between the two could have far-reaching consequences for financial markets at large. A lot going on behind the scenes this week. Wednesday will see both the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve convene to establish the interest rate on their respective currencies, and while neither is expected to budge, the subsequent press conference and comments from Fed board members will define expectations for the next FOMC meeting in March. Jerome Powell only has a few months left as Chairman, after which the Fed may strongly change course to lower rates. The earnings calendar heats up this week, with Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA) and ASML Holding (ASML) all reporting on Wednesday, although with the exception of ASML, traders will have to wait until after the closing bell to see the reports. On Thursday, Apple (AAPL), Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) all report after market close, while Exxon Mobil (XOM) reports before market open on Friday. #Metals #JPY #Earnings
Gold and silver are both inches away from hitting seismic milestones. Gold came within $40 of the $5,000 mark earlier today, while silver pushed over $99, putting it less than a dollar away from three figures. Not one to be forgotten, platinum was up to $2,600 per ounce this morning after surging the better part of 6% yesterday. All three metals enjoyed blistering rallies yesterday and the momentum is once again fully intact as of this morning. We are only a few weeks into 2026 and gold, silver and platinum are already up by 15%, 38% and 30% respectively, completely demolishing expectations and forcing major institutions to increase forecasts for precious metals. While tensions surrounding Greenland have abated in the latter half of this week, safe-haven flows have not. For now, precious metals are enjoying the view from the top. US stocks have all but recovered from the selloff earlier in the week after enjoying a modest rally over the last two sessions, with the Dow Jones in particular almost notching a new record intra-day high on Thursday. Wall Street had extra reason to be optimistic yesterday after the latest revision to Q3 GDP growth, which revealed that the US economy grew at an annualised rate of 4.4% in the third quarter, beating previous estimates. The Dollar continued its slide against other major currencies yesterday, pushing the Pound up to $1.35 and the Euro up to $1.175. The exception is the Japanese Yen, which is fast approaching record lows against the Dollar, nearing 159 Yen. Meanwhile, in cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is once again anchored to the middle of the same price range it has been enjoying since November, sitting comfortably just under $90,000 per coin. #Metals #DJI
