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Weekly Survey of Gold and Silver Prices
Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark
Money Daily has been providing business and financial market news, views, and coverage on a nearly continuous basis since 2006. Complete archives are available at moneydaily.blogspot.com.
PRIOR COVERAGE:
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Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 9:05 am ET
This behavior is completely undignified and, honestly, insulting to anybody with at least two brain cells to rub together. President Trump deserves to be in prison, not in the White House. He is leading America to its ruin, likely by design, while looting the treasury and making billions via insider trades. It was revealed yesterday that Trump's investment advisors made at least 3,700 trades in the first quarter of 2026 including companies the White House had touted or whose executives Trump dined with at the White House months ago. Trades were made in Nvidia, Microsoft, Oracle, Boeing, Intel, and many others. The complete filing can be viewed here. [PDF] Traders considered the sheer number of trades to be outrageous, especially for a sitting president. The White House denied that the president had anything to do with the trading which is handled by an investment advisor at the Trump Organization. It's apparent that President Trump is making loot from his own actions. Some of his trades were in Intel, the company that the U.S. government had taken a 10% equity position recently and which Trump had publicly praised, urging people to "buy Intel." This kind of behavior is insidious and indicates that the president, who is likely to be impeached in 2027, cares more about his bank account that he does for American citizens who are being quickly reduced to peons by inflation and the Mideast situation which the president initiated on behalf of Israel. The likelihood of Republicans holding majorities in the Senate and House is slim to none. The party of sitting presidents has lost seats in the House in 18 of the last 20 midterm elections. Trump is setting himself up for failure, knowing full well that even if he is impeached, the consequences will be nothing more than a bad reputation and a slap on the wrist. Trump has enough money to retain the best lawyers against any actions that may come in the near future, and, at 79 years and counting, he's probably not very concerned about jail time.
In addition to the outrageous number and dollar amounts of his trades, which amount to billions, the Trump family also operates companies in the crypto space, which Trump has openly touted to the general public. His sones, Donald Jr. and Eric, have enriched themselves in various crypto ventures based on reputation and alignment with the White House, leaving many loyal Others close to the president, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who hold no official office but serve as the president's preferred negotiators and advisors, no doubt have benefitted from inside, advance knowledge of White House policy. No proof is needed to publicly indict these miscreants. Their arrogant actions speak for themselves. U.S. courts of law will probably choose to sidestep any issues as the broken two-tiered justice system routinely avoids charging public officials for any wrongdoings, even the most obvious and egregious. Congress is not to be overlooked. Insider trading on public policy has been widespread for decades. Most politicians at the federal level enter office as upper middle class "servants" and leave, decades later, as multi-millionaires. It's disturbing, mob-like behavior for which the general public pays a heavy price for trusting them in the first place. Entering Tuesday's gala trading session, WTI crude oil traded above $104/barrel on Monday and is approaching that level again. Stock futures are lower, as are gold and silver (no surprise there). Yield on the 10-year note is 4.62% with the 30-year bond yielding 5.14%. Nice con job operation. Be a shame if anything should happen to it.
At the Close, Monday, May 18, 2026:
Sunday, May 17, 2026, 1:48 pm ET Following President Trump's rather fruitless trip to China and with zero resolution to condition in the Middle East, stock traders cashed out their options and sent stocks reeling on Friday, wiping out what looked to be another positive week on the maligned market for equities. Also pertinent was the disdain for U.S. treasuries, especially on the long end with 30-year yields rocketing past five percent and 10-year yields spiking above 4.50%. Those represent starting points for Kevin Warsh's reign as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, starting June 1 and operationally serve as useful fodder for Trump's insistence for lower rates. Bond vigilantes are likely in broad disagreement, setting up some fireworks in the usually staid world of fixed income. With oil flows still disrupted, the questioning public may query Big Oil and the government about why the U.S. exports oil at profit instead of serving the public interest by shoring up domestic supply, keeping the price of gas at the pump and in heating oil at sustainable levels. The cynical - and probably correct - answer is that the entities in control of U.S. energy supplies couldn’t care less about the needs of the citizenry. Getting ever closer to a FU moment in the U.S., many patriotic serfs are gravitating away from the status quo, shedding political cover and moving closer to local and individual needs. Fiefdoms and regional warlords could become real things. Last week's CPI and PPI readings were the worst in years, proving, once again, that central planners at the Fed and in the Treasury Department have their heads stuck firmly in the grips of their own anuses, a preferred position, it appears. Moving on... Stocks Gains were completely wiped out by Friday's market dump, which looked very much like a rug-pull moment, but is not likely to be sustained. Wall Street, profitable on both sides of trades, does prefer gains over losses and all a deep dive does is put in place a rationale for buying the dip and sending stocks higher amid shouts from the Boaster-in-Chief about being the "hottest" (tell the truth, don't you hate when he says that?) economy in the world. The week ahead will offer a piddling of dated first quarter results from suspect retailers and others. Since it's nearly June, these announcements will have little impact on current levels, as an economic shift is underway, but, here they are: Monday: (before open) ReNew Power (RNW), Baidu (BIDU); (after close) Agilysis (AGYS) Tuesday: (before open) Home Depot (HD), Vertiv (VRT); (after close) Toll Borthers (TOL), Red Robin (RRGB), Wednesday: (before open) Target (TGT), Lowe's (LOW, TJX (TJX), Hasbro (HAS), Analog Devices (ADI); (after close) Nvidia (NVDA), Intuit (INTU), Urban Outfitters (URBN) Thursday: (before open) Walmart (WMT), John Deere (DE), Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Ralph Lauren (RL); (after close) Deckers (DECK), Workday (WDAY), Ross Stores (ROST), Lionsgate (LION) Friday: (before open) BJ's Wholesale (BJ), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) Relevant data releases can be found at Trading View. The outlook for the week ahead is clouded, to say the least. The ancient adage, "sell in May and go away," may be appropriate. Treasury Yield Curve Rates
Interest rates (yields) shot straight up late this week, the continuation of a trend that began in early 2022, at the end of the covid fright and start of the Ukraine fiasco when the Federal Funds target rate had been slashed to near zero. The evolving global economy necessitated rising yields to slow runaway inflation and that trend will likely be exacerbated by continuation of military escapades and choking off of supply chains. Amid a frightening and increasingly-polarized global economic oulook, lending money to the heavily-indebted U.S. government at any maturity longer than a year might raise the question of "return of equity" bayond the usual "return on equity." At 10 years, a reasonable expectation might be in the range of 5.50-6.25% and beyond that for 30-year bonds, which may be nearing an extinction level event, precipitating the need for false-fronting "stablecoins" which are nothing more than currency chimeras and utterly worthless. Rates sprung forward over the past week, with a spike of 19 basis points in 2-year notes, 21 on the 10-year and 17 on the 30-year sending spreads into the stratosphere, with 2s-10s at an even +50 and full spectrum topping out at a ghastly +141. While certain borrowers may drool over the lavish boosts in yields, longer term trends suggest an unhappy ending with the journey to insolvency a minefield of failed policy and nervy speculation. For the U.S. and other debt-laden governments, the costs of servicing their bloated borrowings will outstrip all other expenditures, guaranteeing the ultimate default. Argentina has shown the way. Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Europe will precede the U.S. down that unhappy pathway. Spreads:
2s-10s
Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years) Oil/Gas WTI Crude Oil finished the week in New York at $101.16, higher substantially from last Friday’s New York closing price of $94.68, though still in the recent range of $90-110. President Trump's wasted China visit late in the week sent stocks lower and oil prices higher. With no resolution in the Middle East, the stalemate between the U.S. and Iran may move in unanticipated directions. With Iran in control over the Strait of Hormuz and a U.S. naval blockade further out in the Golf of Oman and into the India Ocean, it should be expected that alternative routes will develop and they have, with Iran employing the Caspian Sea and rail routes east to Pakistan and China. Eventually, Iran has an upper hand, given that the number of oil tankers exiting the Persian Gulf outnumbers U.S. ships able to intercept them. Average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in the U.S. was $4.50 last week and $4.48 this week, little changed. Americans increasingly are begrudgingly accepting their fate of higher gas prices, but are beginning to express displeasure with government policies, feeling the weight of their chains, so to speak. Intentioal or otherwise, the federal government and many states and localities are pressuring middle and lower-income families, stretching household budgets near breaking points. Unless the president changes course soon or congress gets off their lazy, overdeveloped rumps, the likelihood of mass civil disobedience increases. In the meantime, Americans, having been through gas hikes and energy crises before, are adjusting and conserving wherever possible, though further increases in food and energy prices may be too much too bear Prices in key states:
California (leader): $6.13 (-0.01) On Sunday, May 17th, there are just four (5) states with average prices below $4.00 (Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia, up from 4 last week, and 43 above the $4 threshold, not including Hawaii ($5.65) and Alaska ($4.26), four above $5 (California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon), and one above $6 (California). The Southeast has become the lowest region overall over the past week as the averaging right around $4.00 in places like Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi. Bitcoin (aka, Trash)
This week: $78,015.76 "Hodlers" of six months to a year are down sharply, with only deep thinkers like Michael Saylor keeping the faith. With the U.S. congress moving forward on the CLARITY act this past week, the tom-foolery approaches the highest level of clown world. Cynthia Lummis, junior senator from Wyoming, otherwise known as Cheneyland, leads the charge toward government sponsored CBDCs. From Wikipedia: Lummis graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science in 1976 and a Bachelor of Science in biology in 1978. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Juris Doctor in 1985, and was on the dean's list. She worked as a student teacher at Rock River School in 1977. The perfect choice to sponsor crypto legislation. What the world needs is a new currency regime based on gold and silver, not vaporware cryptocurrencies. Guess which one the government favors most. The people operating the govenment are about as useful as an umbrella during a hurricane. Precious Metals Gold:Silver Ratio: 59.75; last week: 58.68 Futures, per COMEX continuous contracts:
Gold price 4/17: $4,849.40
Silver price 4/17: $81.58
SPOT:
(stockcharts.com)
Silver: 4/17: $80.75 On Friday, with stocks hammered within the international geo-political stalemate, it made perfect sense for precious metals to take sizable losses. Actually, no. The LBMA/COMEX cabal complex continues operational, suppressing prices, albeit at higher levels than years prior. Taking everything into perspective, gold and silver may continue to be affected negatively if stocks continue to vacillate and national economies begin to falter into recession. The alternative - converting to fiat - is not very attractive, though selling off part of one's stack for ready cash may prove to be prescient. On the other hand, precious metals are meant to be hedges against currency debasement and all manner of economic events. How one manages one's wealth all depends on personal perspectives, portfolio allocations, and investment horizons. To each his own, it seems, riding the waves in the economic lifeboats of choice. Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (free shipping included, numismatics excluded):
The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) fell modestly, to $87.08, a decline of $1.59 from the May 10 price of $88.67 per troy ounce and within the recent range. WEEKEND WRAP An inclination to utter cynical or pessimistic phrases to describe current economic conditions may be a sign of extreme dissatisfaction and completely normal. Disruptions to the regular flow of goods, services and the normal functioning of national economies has been fomented by reckless and feckless leadership of Western nations, especially in the United States. It's perfectly OK to occasionally utter "screw this" or "F them" in response to conditions created to subjugate the human race in favor of a handful of elitists with megalomaniacal intentions. If so, you've got plenty of miserable company.
At the Close, Friday, May 15, 2026:
For the Week:
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President Trump issued his usual Monday morning threat to Iran in hopes that he and his cronies could make more money trading stocks and oil futures.
