Barry Stuppler

Since it’s Good Friday and the start of Passover, the U.S. Markets are closed today . . . .

The country is shrinking its tax base just as interest expenses surge and social programs get harder to cut . . . .

Gold is trading in a very tight $7 high/low range today, between $1,328 and $1,321 . . . .

The 4th quarter of 2017 GDP was revised today and in it increased to 2.9%. This caused the Gold price and stock markets to start moving lower . . . .

In a January post, I showed how the price of gold rallied in the months following the 2015 and 2016 December interest rate hikes – as much as 29 percent in the former cycle, 17.8 percent in the latter. Gold ended 2017 up double digits, despite pressure from skyrocketing stocks and massive cryptocurrency speculation . . . .

The silver futures Commitment of Traders (COT) report released last Friday was extremely positive and has most silver analysts calling for higher silver prices in the near term . . . .

Yesterday Gold closed up $4 in the face of a 669 point increase in the Dow/Jones average . . . .

Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain were thought by some to replace gold as the ultimate haven against financial calamity. Now the gold market is using blockchain to kick back at crypto and bring precious metals into the digital age . . . .

The outlook for gold - both bullion and the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) - is as bullish as I have seen it in my lifetime . . . .

Last week was very exciting. The excitement started last Wednesday when the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, raised interest rates by a ¼ of a percent . . . .