Swiss America: Gold Standard News Daily

5.21.26 - How to Hedge Gasoline Prices

Gold last traded at $4,543 an ounce. Silver at $76.67 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Higher gas prices have become a harsh reality we're all being forced to deal with in today's economy. The real question is whether there's anything we can actually do about it. This article offers an interesting perspective on how investors may be able to ease some of the pain at the pump instead of simply absorbing the cost.

How to Hedge $6 Gasoline Prices -Daily Reckoning

by Matt Badiali

Fuel prices are going to clobber the American consumer. If you think it hurts now, I have bad news… higher prices are coming.

I expect that gasoline prices will break $6 per gallon this summer. The only good news is that high prices cure themselves…it just takes pain and time.

The closest thing I have to compare is the 2008 demand spike right before the global financial crisis. Back then, soaring gasoline prices created massive demand destruction. We all felt the pinch.

So, we stopped driving and conserved when we could.

We carpooled. When we went out to run errands, we ran ALL of them at once. And we changed our plans to accommodate the extra expenses. As you can see in this chart of data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the blue line is consumption. The red line is the price of gasoline: VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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5.20.26 - Uncertain financial waters

Gold last traded at $4,539 an ounce. Silver at $76.18 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: As global markets continue their desperate search for stability, investors are being forced to navigate some of the most uncertain financial waters in modern history. Over the last several years, the landscape has fundamentally shifted, with the world marching to a completely different rhythm socially, politically, and economically. While that reality is hard to dispute, there is also a growing belief that we are approaching a financial breakdown that could send investors rushing into tangible assets.

Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham says AI is the only thing that's prevented a recession and a market crash -Business Insider

by Jennifer Sor

The US economy would have tumbled down a difficult path were it not for AI, Jeremy Grantham says.

The GMO founder and investing legend issued a cautious message on the state of the US economy and markets last week. Speaking on a recent episode of the Excess Returns podcast, Grantham said he believed the US probably would have slipped into a downturn and seen a steep market crash in 2023 , were it not for the huge investments being poured into AI.

"My guess is that in 2023 we would have moved into a recession and the market would have gone down another 25%. And AI headed it off," Grantham said.

"We're in terra incognita," he added, referring to the US's "unprecedented" reliance on AI spending as a percentage of GDP.

The boom in artificial intelligence has fueled a massive spending spree among tech giants. Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft have collectively earmarked $725 billion in capex this year, much of which will be spent on the AI buildout, according to company statements. That amount is roughly 2% of US GDP in 2025. READ MORE

Why Gold Is Falling Even With War and Hot Inflation -Investing Haven

Conventional market wisdom suggests that gold should shine when inflation flares and geopolitical tensions boil over. Yet, the current market environment has confounded many investors.

Spot gold retreated toward $4,472 this week, a move that followed a sobering U.S. producer price index (PPI) report showing a 6% year-over-year jump and a 1.4% monthly increase.

Rather than acting as a reflexive shield against these pressures, gold has found itself caught in a different, more powerful crosscurrent. Treasury yields have climbed to levels not seen since 2007, and the U.S. dollar has strengthened to a six-week high.

These developments have recalibrated market expectations, with investors now betting that the Federal Reserve will maintain a “higher-for-longer” interest rate stance, a dynamic that currently acts as a weight on non-yielding assets. READ MORE

Commercial Oil Inventories Are “Depleting Very Fast” And Global Supply Chain Stress Is Spiking -The Economic Collapse

We are watching a slow-motion train wreck play out right in front of our eyes, and nobody can stop it. Every single day that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, commercial oil inventories will get even lower and national strategic oil reserves will get even lower. Right now the global economy is using more oil than it is producing, and everyone agrees that we are reaching a major crisis point.

Unfortunately, we may arrive at that major crisis point even sooner than many experts were originally projecting.

The head of the International Energy Agency is warning that commercial oil inventories are “depleting very fast”…

International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol warned that the tally of commercial oil inventories is shrinking at an accelerated pace.

“I think it is depleting very fast,” he told reporters at the sidelines of a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers in Paris, echoing comments from last week. It will be “several weeks, but we should be aware of the fact that it is declining rapidly,” he said. READ MORE

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5.19.26 - Six Economic Disasters Waiting to Happen

Gold last traded at $4,482 an ounce. Silver at $73.77 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the future? I imagine it could feel like both a blessing and a curse. While this article may not literally predict what's ahead, it is certainly an insightful look at the growing economic pressures and potential disasters that could be waiting just around the corner.

6 Economic Disasters Waiting to Happen -Newsbreak

by Shally Akoth

America does not always hear an economic alarm before the floor starts shaking. Sometimes the warning comes quietly, through a grocery receipt that feels heavier than last month, a mortgage payment that swallows a paycheck, a credit card balance that refuses to shrink, or a government debt chart that climbs like ivy over an old wall. The danger is not one single crash waiting at the door. It is a cluster of slow-moving pressures, each one looking manageable alone, yet far more dangerous when they begin pulling on the same thread.

The scary part is that many of these risks already sit in plain sight. They are discussed in budget reports, bank data, housing updates, insurance tables, and labor market forecasts. The economy can still grow through them, but growth does not erase pressure. It only gives the country more time to fix what is cracking beneath the surface.

The national debt problem is no longer just a political talking point. It is becoming a math problem with teeth. The Congressional Budget Office projects a $1.9 trillion federal deficit in fiscal year 2026, rising to $3.1 trillion by 2036, with federal debt held by the public climbing from 101% of GDP in 2026 to 120% in 2036. That level would surpass the old post-World War Two high, which should make every budget watcher sit up straight.

The real danger is interest. A country can borrow for a long time when rates are low and growth is strong, but high interest costs turn debt into a treadmill. More tax dollars go toward paying yesterday’s bills instead of building roads, improving schools, strengthening health care, or responding to emergencies. If investors demand higher yields, the government pays more to borrow, deficits grow, and the cycle feeds itself. READ MORE

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5.18.26 - Billionaire Eric Sprott put 98% of his fortune in gold and silver

Gold last traded at $4,567 an ounce. Silver at $77.83 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: When billionaires like Eric Sprott put nearly their entire fortune into gold and silver, it's likely wise to take notice; especially when the reasoning centers on runaway debt, money printing, and weakening currencies. Precious metals are more than a trade; they are financial insurance in a world where paper assets and fiat currencies look increasingly fragile. With central banks aggressively buying gold and investors like Ray Dalio warning about the same risks, owning physical gold and silver looks less like speculation and more like preparation.

Billionaire Eric Sprott put 98% of his $3 billion fortune in gold and silver — and says gold is headed to $10,000 -Moneywise

by Godwin Oluponmile

Gold has had one of the greatest two-year runs in its history and the man who saw it coming says it's just getting started.

Eric Sprott, 81, was at his vacation rental in San Jose, Costa Rica in late January when Forbes checked in with him. This was right around the same time that silver had hit its all-time high of $100 an ounce, and Sprott wasn't impressed.

"I'm not a geologist — I know nothing about rocks, but I know about numbers...if the reward's a big reward I can afford to lose," he told Forbes (1). "I think the prices are going much higher, quite frankly. I think silver can easily go to $200, even $300. I think gold could go to $10,000."

Days later, silver dropped to $76 and gold had pulled back below $5,000, but Sprott was still unfazed.

Such equanimity is easier when you've spent four decades being right about precious metals. Eric Sprott doesn't claim to be a geologist, even after decades of success in the mining sector. When asked how he finds the next billion-dollar play, he keeps it simple: "Numbers took me there, numbers. You don't have to be a geologist (3). READ MORE

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5.15.26 - The Next Inflation Wave is Here

Gold last traded at $4,558 an ounce. Silver at $77.07 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Inflation doesn’t rise in a smooth, predictable way; it builds quietly through loose monetary policy and then can surge rapidly once public confidence shifts. Traditional savings, cash, and fixed-income assets could lose purchasing power quickly if an even bigger inflation wave takes hold. That’s why hard assets like gold and real estate shine in times like these.

The Next Inflation Wave is Here -Daily Reckoning

by Adam Sharp

Inflation came in hot in April.

The producer price index (PPI) rose 6% year-over-year. That’s the price companies pay for wholesale goods.

The bad news is that consumer inflation (CPI) tends to follow PPI with a lag of around 2 months.

The chart below shows how closely CPI and PPI track (with PPI running 2 months ahead).

Note the large spike from back in 2021 and 2022. That was related to post-COVID inflation caused by massive monetary stimulus. And of course in 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, which compounded the problem by spiking oil and fertilizer costs.

Here’s another chart showing how recent inflation trends (green) match up to the 1970s (blue).

It’s worth noting that official inflation was higher in the 1970s, peaking out at around 12% in the middle wave, and 14.5% in the final move. VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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5.14.26 - Nothing Stops This Train

Gold last traded at $4,672 an ounce. Silver at $84.54 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The financial system has already built up more debt and monetary pressure than policymakers can realistically unwind. This "train" of deficits, currency debasement, and economic distortion is already in motion; and investors who ignore it risk being left behind. As this author's last line reminds us, tangible assets like gold and silver may become one of the few real shields against the erosion of purchasing power and the instability beneath the global financial system.

Nothing Stops This Train -Daily Reckoning

By now, everybody knows the U.S. government has a debt problem.

But the chart below offers a new angle, because it is inflation-adjusted.

This chart is about 6 months old, so it’s already outdated. The current federal debt total is up to $39 trillion. And growing at $2 trillion a year, which could rise to $2.5 trillion soon. And much larger when we get a recession.

The point is that even once we adjust for inflation, debt is a big problem. It’s not a good sign when debt charts go parabolic.

Besides the obvious, there are a few interesting things to note in the image. First, look at the bump in 1945 from World War II. It looks so tiny once you adjust for inflation.

Second, look at what happened after WW2. The debt load came down, and was steady for around 40 years.

Then in the 1980s, government spending jumped. Around 2008, the debt goes almost vertical. VIEW CHARTS AND READ MORE

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5.13.26 - Global Confidence, the USD and Gold

Gold last traded at $4,692 an ounce. Silver at $88.28 an ounce.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A clear warning is emerging across these stories: global confidence in the dollar and the broader financial system is weakening. Central banks are rapidly accumulating gold, while top investors are warning that debt, inflation, war spending, and market speculation could trigger major economic and market instability. Together, these trends point to a future where precious metals may play an increasingly important role as protection against currency debasement and financial uncertainty.

Michael Burry, Paul Tudor Jones, and a Nobel-winner all see the same thing: A stock market reckoning -Yahoo! Finance

by Shawn Tully - Fortune

In a new substack post, Michael Burry, the hero ofThe Big Short book and movie, declared that the stock market has "jumped the shark," and posited that "a complete reversal" in the soaring, tech-laden NASDAQ 100 is at hand. Burry noted the resemblance between today's price action and the waning days of the dot.com craze—adding that it’s feeling like "the last months of the 1999-2000 bubble." Fellow famed veteran Paul Tudor Jones, in a CNBC interview on May 8, partially echoed Burry’s warning. Jones stated that the current scenario reminds him of 1999, the first year of the infamous furor, noting that if the current momentum keeps rolling, we could be facing "breathtaking kinds of corrections."

Wall Street's analysts and market strategists are at pains to explain what Burry and Jones can't, namely, why U.S. big caps keep jumping to fresh, all-time records. The economic fundamentals overall look mediocre at best. The current scenario headlines inflation that’s proving both high and extremely sticky, as underlined once again in the April CPI report on May 12 that showed consumer prices advancing a hot 3.7% in the prior 12 months. GDP growth's ho-hum, the 10-year Treasury yield's stuck in the elevated mid-4% range, and ultra-tall energy prices keep digging into consumers' wallets, hiked by a war that keeps dragging on. Not to mention vanishing hopes that the Fed will juice the market via big rate cuts. READ MORE

Truth Is The First Casualty Of War; The Currency Is The Second... -ZeroHedge

Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” — Ernest Hemingway

Thanks to the fiat currency system, governments at war can tap into a nation’s savings by financing conflict through currency debasement. Under a gold standard, governments had to have the gold or impose taxes if they wanted the funds to prosecute a war. When the gold ran out, the war stopped. But not in a fiat currency system. They can continue debasing the currency until they hyperinflate it.

That’s why there’s a simple equation you should sear into your memory:

War = Inflation

The historical pattern is clear.

If the first casualty of war is truth, the second casualty is the currency. READ MORE

De-Dollarization: Central Bank Gold Holdings Top USD Reserves -Watcher.Guru

by Paigambar Mohan Raj

The US dollar seems to be becoming a less attractive asset to central banks globally. According to a Bloomberg report, share of USD global reserves has fallen to below 45%. The dip translates to a more than 15 point decline since the start of this decade. Moreover, central bank gold holdings have overshadowed value-adjusted USD reserves. Basically, foreign banks are selling US Treasuries and buying gold. Let’s discuss if the increase in gold holdings is another push towards more de-dollarization.

According to the World Gold Council (WGC), demand for gold among central banks was a driving force behind the yellow metal in the first quarter of this year. Poland, Uzbekistan and China were the top gold buyers, while Turkey, Russia and Azerbaijan were the top sellers.

At the heart of the matter is the ongoing US-Iran conflict, which is most likely an attempt to maintain the petrodollar dominance. Iran-China oil deals have been increasingly settled in the Chinese yuan, bypassing the US dollar. However, this development could also be due to Western sanctions placed on Iran. Nonetheless, the US-Iran conflict has likely led to a surge in gold accumulation. Not just central banks, but even retail investors began pivoting their funds into the yellow metal and other commodities. Gold and silver have hit multiple all-time highs since late 2025. READ MORE

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