08/16/2026
๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ โ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง'๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐
๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต.
๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ
Gold closed at $4,377.60, up $34.30 on the week (+0.8%). That puts gold up 1.3% for the year and 30.2% higher than this time last year, when it was sitting at $3,362.
โข China's central bank added another 20 tons to its gold reserves in July. The 21st month in a row it's added to the pile and the monthly addition gets higher and higher. A reminder that the demand for gold isn't just coming from everyday stackers like us.
โข In an interesting side story this week, Venezuela's government and opposition agreed to jointly push for the return of about 31 tons of gold (worth roughly $4.4 billion) that's been frozen in the Bank of England's vaults since 2018 over a political dispute. It's a reminder that even "safe" gold held in a vault isn't always easy to access when politics get involved โ a point worth thinking about when it comes to where and how you hold your own metal.
๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ
Silver closed at $64.83, up $1.12 on the week (+1.8%). Silver's had a strong month, up 12.4%, though it's still down 9.5% for the year after a rough start to 2026.
โข Zoom out a little further, though, and silver is up 68.3% from a year ago, when it was trading under $39.
โข On the demand side, China's imports of silver-bearing ore jumped 62.5% year-over-year in June, driven by its solar and power-grid buildout โ another sign that industrial demand for silver isn't slowing down.
๐๐จ๐ฅ๐-๐ญ๐จ-๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ: ๐๐
Unchanged from last week. A year ago that ratio was over 87.
๐๐จ ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐?
A few different threads pulled at the market this week, and most of them trace back to the same question: how strong is the U.S. economy really doing right now?
๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐
๐๐'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ.
โข Both the July Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index came in cooler than expected โ consumer prices rose 3.4% over the past year (down from 3.5%), and wholesale prices rose 4.7% (down sharply from 5.5% in June). Producer prices were flat for the month.
โข Cooling inflation usually takes some pressure off the Fed. But policymakers are still divided โ one Fed president is pushing for a rate hike to keep inflation in check, while others are urging patience. Markets now see roughly a 1-in-3 chance of a rate hike in September, down from better than 50/50 a week ago.
๐๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐๐ซ๐.
โข Retail sales fell 0.6% in July, the biggest monthly drop in more than a year. Online sales and car sales led the decline.
โข On top of that, a closely watched measure of consumer confidence dropped sharply this month โ the University of Michigan's index fell about 8%, ending a two-month streak of improving sentiment.
โข When people start pulling back on spending and feeling less confident at the same time, it's often one of the first signs the economy is cooling off โ and that kind of uncertainty is part of what draws people toward gold and silver in the first place.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง'๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ญ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ.
โข The federal government ran a $432 billion deficit last month alone. Thatโs the largest July deficit on record, and 48% bigger than a year ago.
โข Interest payments on the national debt climbed another $26 billion compared to last July.
โข That is the kind of backdrop that's kept central banks, China's included, adding to their gold reserves month after month.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ .
โข Attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz continued again this week, keeping a small risk premium baked into the market. It's been part of the backdrop for months now, and it doesn't look close to resolved, no matter how many times claims are made that peace is near.
Taken together, it was a week where the economic data leaned "cooling" but the fiscal picture leaned "concerning.โ And metals ended up drifting quietly higher through it all.
๐๐จ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ
This wasn't a dramatic week. No huge swings, no panic. Just gold and silver both grinding a little higher while the headlines argued about deficits and interest rates. A year ago, gold was at $3,362 and silver was at $38.53. Both are up substantially since then, and neither move happened in a straight line or because of one single headline.
Questions about what any of this means for you? Come see us โ we're always happy to talk it through.
๐ Until next week, stack smart!
๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ & ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ in
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๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ & ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ is not a registered investment advisor. Content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
