Weekly Global Market Update Friday April 24 Friday April 24

Gold and Silver prices fell moderately with Gold down 1%  in the past 5 days at $6473CAD and up  7.5% month over month.   Silver is up 10% this month and down 4.5% from the last 5 days  now  $104.05CAD. Silver is still up 132% Year over Year.  US Dollar index DXY is up 0.25%  this week at  97.90 and down 0.5% YOY. SP500 Volatility Index VIX fell 4%. SP 500 ES futures rose 1% and are now trading 7156 having remained above 7000 on the week  for the 1st time. De-escalating tensions in the Middle East have not depressed oil prices this week. On Wednesday of last week, the President announced “China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz…” Iran did not comply. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian explained that opening the straight is not possible due to ceasefire violations citing "breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations"   Crude WTI futures are up 8% at $95.14 and now up 49.5% YOY.  On March 2, 2026, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officially declared the strait closed. NYMEX NG natural gas futures which  spiked over 100% above $7 in January are now trading $2.53 USD per Million BTU.   Crypto is consolidation , having  rallied back  with  BTC up  1% this week to  $77,800 and  ETH down 4% at  $2312. The crypto crash originally started on Oct. 10 when Trump threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese imports . Ai powered Government Contractor Palantir is down 4% - PLTR currently trades at $139.60, and up 50%  YOY after falling from a 52 week high of 207.52. NVDA is up 2%  in the past 5 days  at $203.44, nearly a 5 Trillion dollar market cap S&P AeroSpace and Defense ETF XAR fell  7.25% in the past 5 days to $257.25 after making a new All Time High of 295.23  following the assasination of the Iranian Supreme Leader.  XAR is up 60% in the past 12 months.     Weekly Jobless Claims were up 6,000 at 214,000 for the week ending April 18th.    The Gold/Silver ratio  rose  3.5%  now at  62.20 up from a low this year of 43.52  after falling steadily since late October and from its March high of 107.  Longer 20 yr and 30 yr US government bonds yields are creeping towards 5%, currently  4.89 and 4.91% respectively.     The Polymarket quoted probability of a total 0 bps in cuts rose  to 40.6%, where 75 bps in cuts in 2026 stands at  8%,  the probability of 50 bps is  17% and the probability of 25 bps is  28%.  Short term rates are down  in the 2yr at 3.78.    US Comex Copper Futures HG, a leading indicator of economic growth,  are flat   $6.02 usd/lb after hitting a new all time high in January of $6.58 usd/lb.