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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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Thursday, July 3, 2025, 9:08 am ET With anxious investors awaiting June's Non-farm Payroll data prior to getting away for the three-day 4th of July weekend, the BLS settled everybody's nerves by announcing job gains of 147,000 for the month. From the press release:
Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 147,000 in June, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in state government and health care. Federal government continued to lose jobs. The BLS figures ran counter to Wednesday's ADP report of -33,000 jobs in the private sector during June. As usual, Wall Street celebrated, sending futures shooting higher immediately upon the release. Just after 8:30 am, Dow futures were up 95 points, S&P futures gained 15, and NASDAQ futures were up 75. Also, in response to the employment numbers, the criminals at the COMEX managed to send gold lower by nearly $40, to $3,322.10, as if a normal U.S. job report equated to negativity towards gold. Meanwhile, in the nation's capital, the House of Representatives was in a lather, feverishly arranging votes on the big, beautiful continuing resolution which cleared the Senate on Tuesday. "We have the votes," speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at about 3:00 am ET. The House voted 219-213 a few minutes later to begin formal debate on the measure with only one Republican - Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania - voting no. Speaker Johnson managed to secure votes from the Freedom Caucus, members of which had voiced concerns over various parts of the bill. There were also some holdouts in moderate camps, but they seem to have been convinced to pass the bill and move on, as all Democrats are expected to vote against the measure. It now appears that Wall Street will get all its Christmas in July wishes fulfilled and send stocks to more record highs ahead of Independence Day. MAGA, everybody, MAGA. Happy 4th of July.
At the Close, Wednesday, July 2, 2025:
Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 10:00 am ET The Dow Jones Industrials tacked on 400 points on Tuesday because, as anyone following U.S. stocks knows, all major indices MUST make new all-time highs on a regular basis. It's written into the algorithms and assisted by AI, so it's not even debatable. 45,014.04 is the Dow's all-time high, accomplished on December 4, 2024, leaving just more than a one percent gap between Tuesday's close and another record. With the S&P, NASDAQ, and NYSE Composite already making new ATHs, the Dow needs to catch up, but there seems to be a disturbance in the Wall Street farce, a fly in the stock grease ointment, sand in the gears of commerce. Maybe it's anxiety over the big, beautiful bill the Senate passed on Tuesday and is now headed back to the House for final consideration and reconciliation, or it might be this morning's ADP National Employment Report that posted a -33,000 jobs for June. The nerve of those private economists and number-fumblers! The U.S. can't be losing jobs. We are strong. We are growing. We are, well, AI bots are replacing human job-holders at an alarming rate. Sooner or later, there won't be many jobs for humans, though, with illegals being deported at a quickening pace, the non-farm payrolls due out tomorrow (Thursday) may want to start checking on those farms, because there are openings galore for cherry-pickers, cotton-pickers, hayseeds, slaughterhouse hands and anything other position that requires human bending, stooping, using hands - things AI bots cannot do. One solution to this problem of the loss of human jobs would be to start counting the jobs filled by robots and bots. Those numbers should be awesome for the foreseeable future, assuring that the fudgers over at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) can keep the human jobs for a while longer. That is, until they are replaced by AI. No matter what, tomorrow's NFP report is likely to be a real stinker, though, given the assembled brain power of the Wall Street trading elite, there is likely to be a way to report that as a positive development, which, essentially would be that the loss of human jobs at such a breakneck pace should encourage Fed Chairman Powell and his cadre of FOMC voters to lower interest rates, at least by 25 basis points. In case the jobs number is deeply negative, like a million jobs lost (we know the BLS is capable of that degree of dissembling), the Fed may just take the extraordinary step of doing an emergency cut, maybe a full percent, or even more. It's this kind of disaster management that keeps U.S. stocks elevated. Wall Street's interpretation of economic data is second to none when it comes to turning negatives into positives. There should be a massive rally prepared for the day before the 4th of July celebration so that all those folks with 401k accounts loaded with tech stocks, blue chips and assorted high-leverage penny stocks can enjoy the three-day weekend, secure in the knowledge that, no matter how bad things may look on the surface, Wall Street and the Fed has a response ready to counter any ill will. That, at least, is how it appears to be going. The House should just get on with reconciliation, pass the big and the beautiful (there's a soap opera plot in there somewhere) and head home for the holiday. Big, Beautiful, Zero jobs. Christmas in July! What could go wrong?
At the Close, Tuesday, July 1, 2025:
Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 9:35 am ET There's a growing body of evidence that suggests complete control by the deep state with all members of congress, the Supreme Court, and even President Trump compromised and forced to do the bidding of the Federal Reserve, neocon-led intelligence faction that has - very likely - been in control of the government since the assassination of President Kennedy back in November of 1963. Stocks made impressive gains over the quarter. Those with either the foresight or inside information to have sold near the end of the first quarter (late March) and bought back in after the Trump Tariff Trauma on April 2nd, handily beat these second quarter numbers:
Dow: +4.98% It's not as though there wasn't advance warning or plausible deniability for those Senators and House members who made a killing. The president was talking up the tariffs well prior to the big reveal the day after April Fool's Day. Ironically, April 2nd was the greater fool's day, the tariff announcement a complete clown show at the White House Rose Garden, with extremely punishing numbers presented by the administration, designed to "level the playing field" with U.S. trading partners. As it turns out, it was more fiction than fact, because, just a week later, President Trump announced a 90-day hold-off on imposition of the tariffs, ostensibly giving the nations that export to the United States time to negotiate more reasonable deals. Those 90 days are nearly up. Whatever tariffs have been negotiated should begin being implemented early next week. However, like clockwork, just as the second quarter begins, this morning has Trump reconsidering the tariffs again, opting for "mini-deals" as opposed to big, beautiful ones. Clown show, part deux, mon ami. This twist in the narrative stems from an article in the Financial Times (behind a paywall, of course), the slashing left arm of the banking cartel. The tariff turbulence is only one of the various signals being sent out of Washington, D.C. suggesting that most of what gets passed off as news or truth is really little more than further pushing the desired narrative. The first inkling of things gone amiss was likely the Trump meme coins - $TRUMP and $MELANIA - that popped up on the crypto radar just before the inauguration. The vapid public snatched them up at ridiculous prices as Trump took the oath, then watched them evaporate, like so many crypto scams before them. Those who bought in the 20s and 30s are pure rubes. $TRUMP traded as high as $44. Today it's eight bucks. Suckers. While it's entirely possible that the president made a small fortune on this particular scam, there were no screams about the emoluments clause from the usual suspects. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer said nothing. They were probably memoed in on the deal. Other signs that what you see on TV and read on the internet include the recent bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, over which the president has taken victory laps over their complete destruction while various other reports - including from the intelligence community - have made claims that the Iranians moved their stockpiles of enriched Uranium before the strikes and that the facilities were only superficially damaged. Other reports suggest that Israel suffered tremendous blows from Iran's missile assaults, their "Iron Dome" failing badly against the Persian hypersonics. Little mention is made of Israel's damage in the mainstream. Finally, there's the issue of the U.S. Treasury, the GENIUS Act, and the stablecoin Tether, which all combines to facilitate a deep fake in the world's largest market. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently (June 3) bought back $10 billion worth of bonds from various note-holders of nearly $23 billion offered. The idea is that by buying these issues back prior to maturity, the Treasury would save money on interest, which is true, and all well and good, but it also amounts to a somewhat backhanded way of monetizing the $37 trillion debt pile the U.S. has built up over the years. Enter congress and the GENIUS act, which purports to offer "guardrails" for stablecoins like Tether, which now boasts owning over $100 billion worth of treasuries. Stablecoins get their name because they are valued at the same price as the item they represent. In Tether's case, that is the U.S. dollar, so one Tether ($UST) equals one dollar ($USD) and is backed by dollars, or, as they purport, U.S. Treasuries. Tether now holds more U.S. Treasuries than Germany or Spain and congress has just passed legislation that will allow them even more access, claiming that the GENIUS Act will make provide the U.S. Treasury market with more liquidity, via stablecoins. In effect, the worthless paper issued by the U.S. Treasury will be increasingly bought by a shell company (with just 13 employees) and turned into tokens. It's bizarre, and a strong sign that the U.S. hegemonic treasury complex is being ravaged by de-dollarization by BRICS and countries in the Global South who no longer wish to do business with the United States or at least conduct trade in U.S. dollars. Add in the failure to release the Epstein files, which have been, according to AG Pam Bondi, "on her desk", for months, the quiet about auditing the gold in Fort Knox, the Trump-Musk feud, all of Europe (except Spain) happily agreeing to spend 5% of their budgets on defense, and there should be ample suspicion over the reality being presented to the general public by an overbearing federal government. Some may disagree, saying that stocks are up, so there's been no screwing of the public. In response, the deep state just nods, because they could care less if the "little people" make money in stocks, real estate, business or just about anything other than gold or silver, because, at the end of the day, the U.S. government is a tax and spend and spend and spend skimming operation. The more money you make, the more money they take. It's as simple as that, so, play along if you like, but the end result is likely to be a completely gutted financial system, led by a corrupt congress and Wall Street boosters, operating in the shadows to the benefit of an elite uber-class of billionaires (and, even deeper, trillionaires). The third quarter starts today. Let the games begin.
At the Close, Monday, June 30, 2025:
Sunday, June 29, 2025, 11:50 am ET The Shiller PE, the price earnings ratio based on average inflation-adjusted earnings from the previous 10 years, known as the Cyclically Adjusted PE Ratio (CAPE Ratio), Shiller PE Ratio, or PE 10, stands at 37.65 as of Friday's close, the third-highest reading ever for this gauge. Questioning why stocks are so richly valued would go a long way toward rationalizing what is essentially an irrational market, based largely on fraud, government handouts, allowance of tech monopolies, hedge fund oligarchies, insider trading, complete lack of oversight, questionable statistics, corrupted data, unreliable media, and the idea that if something or somebody doesn't comply with the wishes of the hegemonic, fractional reserve, fiat currency counterfeiting regime, the U.S. military will simply blow them up. The merry-go-round that is the U.S. economy is a marvel of ingenuity and process. Create money out of thin air, make congress borrow it, hand it off to banks, consumers, retirees, welfare recipients, and have them spend it on things produced by Fortune 500 companies, make fat profits, send stocks higher, line the pockets of politicians and billionaires and just keep it going. It's a nice gig. The S&P, NASDAQ and NYSE Composite made all-time highs this week. The U.S. dollar was weaker. Get used to it.
Bombing Iran was good for business. The major indices had one of their best weeks of the year. The S&P, NASDAQ and NYSE Composite all made new al-time highs, with everyone from the Wall Street Journal to CNBC proclaiming the rebound from Trump's "liberation day" tariffs to be extraordinary and magnificent. That's all well and good, but the tariffs aren't even in place yet. Recall, if you will, that on April 9, Trump offered a 90-day limited hang-out on tariffs. That 90 days expires in two weeks. Prior to that, on Tuesday, July 1, all U.S. banks will treat gold as a Tier 1 asset on par with U.S. treasuries. There's been plenty of resistance to the change, but here it comes, right before the June non-farm payrolls on Thursday, just prior to the Independence Day three-day weekend, so, it better be a good one, or America's 249th birthday might not be such a grand old time. From a Wall Street perspective, nothing could be better than a very weak jobs number, like 35,000 or less, because that would put pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates, which is what Wall Street wants most of all, and especially before Christmas. If there is anything even close to Christmas in July, a bad jobs report would fit the bill rather perfectly for Wall Street honchos. The ever-reliably-incorrect BLS is on it. Plenty to look forward to in the week ahead, and then, the first full week of July, come second quarter earnings, likely to be a mixed bag like the first quarter, full of beating expectations but falling short of prior year revenue and EPS. The combination of a possible rate cut and stocks beating lowered expectations is the perfect setup for a big, fat summer rally. Hot dogs and mustard all around! Fed Chairman Powell addressed both houses of congress this past week. For all the words and questions and answers, he didn't say anything. It was another example of congress wasting tax dollars, and not in a good way. May Existing Home Sales were pretty much a disaster, with prices hovering near record highs while sales were up 0.8% on a month-to-month basis, but that was an increase from the slowest April for existing home sales in 16 years. Last month was the slowest May for existing home sales since 2009. Existing home sales in May fell 0.7% compared to the same month last year. Median home prices are up 52% compared to May 2019, which has raised the cost of a typical mortgage from around $1,000 a month to beyond $2,000. No wonder home sales are below pre-covid levels. The third (and final) estimate of first quarter GDP was released by the BEA on Thursday, showing the economy slowed by not 0.2% (first est.) or 0.3% (second est.), but 0.5%. Hmmm. Maybe by next year, they'll have figured out that the economy slowed by 1.0% or maybe 1.5%. Rinse, revise, repeat. Nobody wanted to talk about the Fed's favorite inflation gauge deeking back up to 3.7%. We need rate cuts, dammit!
What's good for stocks (sanctions, bombs) is also good for bonds, with yields lower across the treasury curve this week. The 2-year note saw a significant decline of 17 basis points, while the 10-year dropped nine, from 4.38% to 4.29%, leaving the 2s-10s spread at +56, a hearty steepening in yield curve dynamics, the highest in a period of high spreads, dating back to right after Trump reversed course on tariffs in early April. The long end of the curve is steepening rapidly, which is a positive for debt buyers and sellers alike. With full spectrum (30 day - 30 years) at +66, all the treasury market now needs is for Chairman Powell and his henchmen and wench-women to lower the federal funds target rate down a few notches, to, let's say, 3.75-4.00%, to eliminate the slouch in the belly between 6-month bills and 10 year notes. Even better would be a full one percent cut to 3.25-3.50%, which would unleash incredible liquidity, not unlike what we've just witnessed, with lag effect, from the Fed one percent rate cut from September (-0.50%), November (-0.25%), and December (-0.25%). The Fed cut rates when stocks were at all-time highs back then, which was unprecedented. Now that they've set a new precedent, they're about to do it again, though probably not right away. There's a chance that they'll find a rationale for cutting 25 basis points in July, since economic data is pointing towards slowing and the June non-farm payroll report out Thursday may influence that further. The result will be similar to the six-to-eight months following their first round of cuts: higher stock prices, followed by smart money cashing out, then re-entering and driving stocks up to even higher highs. By the end of 2025, U.S. markets should be floating on clouds and Treasuries will be yielding reasonably good rates from 3.50 to 5.00% from 2s out to 30s. What's not to like? Bubbles. Investors should beware of bubbles, because they eventually burst. But, not right away. We're going to have prosperity, like it or not, even if candy bars are $3 and chicken is $9 a pound. Overall, from a consumer perspective, interest rates are irrelevant until they become the only factor, overriding common sense and fiscal order. Since the U.S. is devoid of both of those commodities, expect everything to price higher - well, except maybe gold and silver - because the Fed and the current crooks in congress can't see anything past the midterms. They might be overcooking this particular goose, however, because Wall Street is so flush with money, congress is becoming envious. More for them, less for you. Spreads:
2s-10s
Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years) Oil/Gas $65.07 was the closing price of WTI crude oil in New York on Friday, after closing at $74.04 last week (6/20). The price erosion occurred as soon as markets opened Monday after the U.S. bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran. Who knew bombing a country that's been under U.S. sanctions for 30 years could be so beneficial to the price of gas at the pump in America. It didn't take long for gas prices to reflect higher oil prices, largely the result of the Israel-Iran tiff, and, just like that, they're down four cents nationally. Gasbuddy.com is reporting the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular gas at the pump at $3.17. With a three-day weekend upcoming on July 4, 5, and 6, prices aren't probably going to come down right away, but once all the holiday travel is over and done with, expect $3.10 or lower on the national level in a few weeks unless there's another outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East. The highest prices in the country remained California's, at $4.57, down seven cents on the week. Mississippi was edged out by Oklahoma ($2.69) for the low spot at $2.70, just a penny lower than a week ago and up 11 cents over the past three weeks. Other states in the Southeast were also down over the course of the week. Texas is at $2.74, followed by Tennessee ($2.77), Louisiana ($2.78), and Alabama and Arkansas ($2.79). South Carolina is at $2.84, Georgia, $2.91, and Florida and North Carolina both $2.92. Florida fell 16 cents, from 3.08 last week. The Northeast continues to be led by Pennsylvania ($3.38), up eighteen cents from three weeks ago. All other New England and East coast states are all back above $3,00, ranging from $3.03 (New Hampshire) to $3.25 (Maryland). Prices were stable to slightly higher across the region. Midwest states are led by Illinois ($3.48), up five cents from last week. Missouri is the lowest in the region, at $2.87, followed by Kansas ($2.90) and Kentucky ($2.91). The remainder of the Midwest ranges from $2.92 (Nebraska) to $3.27 in Michigan, with Ohio, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin all falling back below $3.00. Along with California, Washington ($4.44) and Oregon, at $4.02, are the only states above $4.00 in the country. Nevada ($3.75) dropped two cents. Arizona ($3.24) is still priced at a premium to neighboring New Mexico, a relative bargain, at $2.92. Idaho ($3.41), and Utah ($3.33) each saw prices rise. Sub-$3.00 gas can be found in three more states this week than last, with now 20 under the line. If the Middle East situation remains in a relatively peaceful state, prices should continue to come down.
This week: $108,168.60 Bitcoin had a nice week to the upside. Doesn't mean that it's still not a complete scam. In 2023, there were $5.3 billion in losses due to crypto scams. Cryptocurrencies are useless. There's No Good Reason to Trust Blockchain Technology (Wired, February 6, 2019). Over 1,600 of the Brightest Scientific Minds in Technology Have Signed a Letter Calling Both Crypto and Blockchain a Sham - Wall Street on Parade, July 13, 2022. The Senate passed the GENIUS Act on June 17, and the bill is currently under review in the House, where it is largely expected to pass. It should be on the president's desk sometime in July and will become law. David Sacks, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and President Trump's "Crypto Czar" is a big proponent of the GENIUS act and crypto in general. Sacks was born to a Jewish family in Cape Town, South Africa, and emigrated to Tennessee, United States, with his family when he was five. He has multiple ties to Elon Musk and Peter Thiel of Palantir. Once the GENIUS Act becomes law, the United States will be one step closer to the realization of central bankers' wet dreams of permanently eliminating cash and replacing it with programmable, trackable crypto in the form of stablecoins. Sacks will be leading the crypto effort to completely devalue the U.S. Dollar mich in the manner the German mark was hyper-inflated during the days of the Weimar Republic. People invested in crypto are likely going to get what they're after, good and hard.
Gold:Silver Ratio: 90.85; last week: 94.14 Per COMEX continuous contracts:
Gold price 5/30: $3,313.10
Silver price 5/30: $33.08 Gold got a little less expensive, which is great for big-time stackers at central banks and sovereign wealth funds. Buyers of individual coins and bars at retail got some relief. Where the price of gold goes from here - in the near term - is not significant. There's considerable effort bing made to suppress it further in Western markets and the usual suspects were busy doing just that this week. The effort to downgrade gold can only be beneficial to silver, which has held up quite well over the past month since breaking through the $35 barrier. If gold goes lower, don't expect silver to follow point-for-point. The gold:silver ratio is still over-extended and will continue to revert towards the mean. Any gains in gold could send silver right through $40 in a short span. As it stands, only the biggest stackers, buying in quantity, can get silver for under $40, given the premiums at retail. Not much should be taken from gold's slippage this week or even if it continues lower in weeks ahead. It's still out-performing stocks by distance on a year-to-date basis, and the pullback is simply in keeping with the stocks at record highs narrative. If anything, gold is presenting a buying opportunity to those late to the game. Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (numismatics excluded, free shipping):
The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) bounced higher this week, to $43.70, a gain of $1.20 from the June 22 price of $42.50 per troy ounce. Prices in the Sunday eBay survey indicate that buying is still very brisk with premia remaining enhanced. Despite gold being downgraded at the COMEX this week (silver, less so), prices for finished silver one ounce pieces were higher, while gold was generally knocked down by roughly $100 across both coins and bars. Like everything else touched by corrupted Western markets, the influence of the COMEX is being gradually eroded. While it's not likely to happen overnight, there's no doubt that the future for precious metal pricing will become the province of Eastern nations with currency and metals markets hubs in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Moscow, Dubai, Jakarta and elsewhere. WEEKEND WRAP Well, that's it for another Weekend Wrap, the production of which was severely impacted by yet another internet failure in deep woods, Tennessee. If the rural flavor wasn't so delightful, Money Daily might someday consider relocating to a big city where internet service isn't interrupted on a semi-regular basis (any time the wind blows, pretty much). Could happen, but probably not. Peace and quiet - even at the sacrifice of browsing and researching on the web - trumps hustle, bustle, and noise every time. A Starlink connection looms.
At the Close, Friday, June 27, 2025:
For the Week:
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