Spot gold rose 0.7% at $4,236.57 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled 0.3% lower at $4,224.70.

The Fed cut interest rates in another divided vote, but signalled it will likely pause further reductions in borrowing costs as officials look for clearer signals about the direction of the job market and inflation.

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Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/10/gold-dips-ahead-of-fed-decision-silver-extends-rally-above-60.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawOpU9lleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeBzLnMxOjnZabRLWw-0VjKUpAnWnSP7wnNseoHNvipxvZscrewl27EwONlYk_aem__15FE8Vxn-qGKY7VKpucpQ

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The post Exclusive: Central banks eye gold, euro and yuan as dollar dominance wanes first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Hope everyone has had a great start to this year’s Holy Days. We are looking forward to the Last Day of Unleavened Bread tomorrow here in Tyler with a potluck planned for after services and an evening of fun and fellowship including Bible Trivia and Karaoke. Like with the weekly Sabbath, it is refreshing to take a break from the chaos of the world and rejoice in honoring God’s commands with like-minded brethren.

Meanwhile, the news has been a regular roller coaster ride. The tariff hubbub has finally crystallized around the primary conflict, the struggle for economic dominance between the US and China. American institutions have found themselves in an uncomfortable position, dependent on cheap foreign goods and government largess with an administration determined to wean the country off both.

If all your hopes and dreams are tied up in the stock market it has probably been a harrowing experience. It has been a scramble to ascertain which companies’ operations will be most affected, which will be insulated, and which have the capacity to adapt. The temporary reprieve given to all markets other than China has offered a preview of what may be coming as well as an opportunity to shift production or negotiate a mutually advantageous alternative. Many are working toward that alternative, and while the media is focused on the fallout there will also be unexpected winners as supply lines shift and new players become competitive or viable.

We are so busy being shocked by market volatility and record highs among safe havens like gold that we forget some of the major, underlying issues. The financial trajectory of the US and the majority of developed Western nations has been abysmal. France has yet to limit itself to a 5% budget deficit without dissolving the government and triggering elections. The sad truth is, there is no good time or easy way to make the kind of changes that need to be made. 

We are seeing the Houthis devastated in Yemen. This as the US pursues high level negotiations with Iran over its nuclear ambitions and role in the region. And it has not been a good year for Iran. Hamas is not gone but there is hardly anything left of Gaza, potential deals to end the war and release the hostages keep breaking down. Hezbollah is all but obliterated in Lebanon. Assad is out of Syria. The Houthis are hurting as we mentioned and even the Shiite militias of Iran are offering to disarm. 

The war in Ukraine also continues to grind on. Headlines continue to tease that a mineral deal is possible or near completion that would vest US interests in the region. Various European nations have voiced a willingness to participate in the security aspect but the reality on the ground has continued to deteriorate. Russia controlling all of the regions it claims to have annexed will be a hard pill to swallow for many capitals that have repeatedly insisted every inch be returned to Ukraine as a prerequisite to peace. Who doesn’t want another uncomfortable geopolitical reality like that between North and South Korea or China and Taiwan? 

My Dad asked me to write the update this week as he is feeling a bit under the weather. Your prayers are appreciated, as they are for all those facing trials. The prayer wall at the ICG site is a good place to keep up with many of the requests we receive as are the various social media pages and groups. And we are always happy to pass them along for those who prefer to call or email. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power…” (James 5:16 ESV) We would also like to acknowledge the passing Mrs. Marsh, who many would know from the Myrtle Beach, SC Feast site, and Mr. Jensen, who others may know from Lake Tahoe. We sorrow over their loss but we rejoice that their salvation is secure and that they will rest in peace until Christ’s return. In hard times, and especially during these Holy Days, we remember that our hope is not in this world but in His Kingdom.

Happy Sabbath,

Michael Armstrong

The post Weekly Update by Michael Armstrong – April 18, 2025 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Spot gold XAU= was up 1.4% at $2,796.15 per ounce, as of 11:07 a.m. (1603 GMT), hitting its record high level at $2798.24 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 climbed 2% to $2,824.

“We are seeing keener uncertainty and anxiety about the Trump administration’s new policies on trade and foreign policy … fresh technical buying coming in as prices are trending higher now in both gold and silver,” said Jim Wyckoff, a senior market analyst at Kitco Metals.

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/01/30/gold-prices-all-time-high/78053332007/

The post Gold hits record high on safe-haven demand amid tariff threats first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The precious metal has rallied more than 20% this year on anticipation that interest rates could eventually ease. Since gold offers no yield, traders consider it a better investment when central banks slash rates.

For this same reason, spot gold jumped as much as 1.8% on Friday as fresh housing data gave investors renewed reason to bet on lower interest rates.

In July, new home starts dropped to their lowest level since 2020, the Commerce Department reported. This finding adds on to concerns over the economy’s strength, especially after recent weakness in inflation and labor prints.

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Source: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/spot-gold-record-price-fed-interest-rate-cuts-safe-haven-2024-8?op=1

The post Why gold prices just hit a new record first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Financial experts are pointing to inflation and a pause in interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve as reasons why the the price of gold has risen. But opinions are mixed as to whether it will keep going up or remain steady in the coming months.

“I believe that over the next couple of months, gold prices will be flat,” Steve Azoury, the head of Azoury Financial, told CBS News.

Other experts predict the price will rise further. From 1987 to 1988, the price of gold bounced from roughly $300 an ounce to just under $500 an ounce.

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Source: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/04/01/gold-federal-reserve-JP-Morgan/9321711985609/

The post Gold hits new high of $2,250 an ounce first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

All three major U.S. stock indexes followed their European counterparts lower in anticipation of the February jobs report due on Friday, as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s two-day congressional testimony expected to begin on Wednesday.

“This seems to be a day when bad news is bad news. We had sluggish data,” Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. “It’s more about concerns about a slowing economy, and less about how many times the Fed will cut interest rates this year.”

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Source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-03-05/

[Disclaimer]

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The US wants its fiat dollar system to prevail for as long as possible. It has every interest in preventing a “rush out of dollars towards gold”, as happened in the 1970s. Since then, bankers have been trying to exercise control over the precious metal’s price. This war on gold has been ongoing for almost 100 years but gained traction in the 1960s with the forming of the London Gold Pool – whose members included the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland.

During meetings of central bank chiefs at the Bank for International Settlements in 1961, the eight participating countries agreed to make available a gold pool worth US$270 million. This was focused on preventing the gold price from rising above US$35 per troy ounce, as set during Bretton Woods, by selling official gold holdings from the central banks’ gold vaults.

However, in March 1968, the pool was disbanded because France would no longer cooperate. This signaled the start of a 13-year “bull market” and sent gold to more than US$800 per troy ounce in 1980.

The post Gold is making a comeback to the world financial system first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/tons-of-gold-missing-in-venezuela/av-47742568

The post Tons of gold missing in Venezuela first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

With support from President Vladimir Putin, the central bank has been betting heavily on bullion, often seen as a safe haven or a natural hedge against the dollar, with active purchases in the last 10 years.

In 2018, Russia’s buying jumped further as holdings of U.S. Treasury securities were reduced after Washington imposed sanctions on Russian entities in April, the toughest since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The central bank bought 8.8 million troy ounces last year, it said on Friday, beating a record 7.2 million ounces set in 2017.

As of Jan. 1 this year, the central bank held 67.9 million ounces of gold, up from 59.1 million ounces at the start of 2018, making it the world’s fifth largest holder behind the United States, Germany, France and Italy.

China dropped to sixth place as it reported an increase in gold reserves just once in more than two years, with its holdings rising to 59.6 million ounces in December 2018 from 59.2 million ounces in October 2016.

BETTING ON GOLD

Industry sources said one of reasons Russia’s central bank was betting on gold due to U.S. sanctions was because it could not be frozen or blacklisted.

“It seems that there is an aim to diversify from American assets,” said a source at one Russian gold producer, referring to the central bank’s holdings.

Putin said in May that “the monopoly of the U.S. dollar is not reliable enough, it is dangerous for many”.

Russia’s central bank is buying domestically produced gold from commercial banks. The size of future purchases is a state secret. It is not clear whether it will keep raising its gold holdings at the same pace, of about 14 percent a year, in 2019.

However, the central bank has already bought a significant portion of Russia’s domestic gold production, which is also rising but at a slower pace, industry sources said.

The central bank declined to comment.

Russia, the world’s third largest gold producer, increased its 2017 gold output by 6 percent. The producers’ lobby Gold Industrialists’ Union previously expected Russia’s 2018 production to rise by 3 percent.

According to the latest available data from Russia’s Finance Ministry, Russia produced 8.5 million ounces (265 tonnes) of gold between January and October last year.

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