June 18, 2018 -- Gold and silver prices were smashed Friday, wiping out gains from what looked like a very promising week before the final day. Prices are slightly lower still this morning.

Precious metals pulled back despite weakness both in the U.S. dollar and in the equity markets. Perhaps the action in metals was a delayed response to the dollar’s sharp rally on Thursday.

U.S. retail buyers of gold and silver have jumped on the price correction to add to their holdings. Money Metals Exchange was hit with a surge of buying on Friday and over the weekend from bargain hunters.

The carnage in the commodities sector may also have drug gold and silver prices downward. President Donald Trump announced an additional $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. Officials in China promised to respond in kind. Copper and other key commodities were wrecked by the prospect of lower demand from manufacturers there.

The most likely explanation for the latest price correction, however, is another rinse cycle implemented by bullion banks. Over the past two weeks, these players wrote nearly 25,000 new silver futures contracts for speculators betting on higher prices, taking the other side of that bet. Friday represented another terrific payday for the bankers.

This week’s financial news cycle is likely to be focused on trade. We’ll see how the U.S. dollar reacts. Many expect trade restrictions to benefit the dollar, but China and other major trading partners could easily expand the trade war to a currency war. That could be bad news for the greenback.



Check out live precious metals prices here:
https://goo.gl/sggYF1