Gold and Silver prices pushed back with Gold up 3.5% in the past 5 days at $6194CAD. Silver is up 5.5% from last week to $106.39CAD. Silver is currently up 148% Year over Year in USD terms. US Dollar index DXY is up 0.5% this week at 98.92. SP500 Volatility Index VIX rose 4%. SP 500 ES futures are now trading 6962 having momentarily pierced 7000 by 2.5 handles is still up 1% this past week
Crude WTI futures have risen 1.25% to $58.12 and down 21% YOY. Crude rose on Thursday's better than expected economic news. US job cuts are at a 17 month low and weekly jobless claims rose less than expected. US Q3 non-farm productivity rose 4.9%, the largest increase in 2 yrs. On Sunday when oil futures opened after the Arrest of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, prices initially tanked 2% before finishing Monday trading higher. Nathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild congratulated the POTUS on X saying “ Well done Donald J Trump #venezuelalibre”
Protests for Venezuelan Sovereignty were eclipsed on Wednesday with the ICE shooting of 37 yr old Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother of three who was stopped on a residential road and fled detention by masked ICE agents. Good was idling in a car at the scene of an ongoing ICE operation, when she was approached by ICE agents who reportedly gave conflicting orders. “An eyewitness told MPR News that ICE agents gave conflicting orders to a driver in south Minneapolis on Wednesday, with one agent ordering her to drive away from the scene where an ICE vehicle was stuck in a snowbank while another yelled for her to get out of her car as he reached for the door handle. The scene ended with an agent shooting into the car, killing the woman.”
In Response Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey asked publicly that ICE “Get the F*ck out of Minneapolis."
Despite Eyewitness accounts that the victim posed no threat and video evidence showing the first shot was fired from the side of the vehicle and subsequent shots fired into the victims open drivers side window, President Trump condemned the mother of 3 as a “Domestic Terrorist”
In other news, President Trump announced on Thursday that Government Sponsored SubPrime Mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are worth “An absolute fortune” and have $200b in cash.” He stated he will “drive mortgage rates down” by “instructing my representatives to buy $200b in Mortgage Bonds. He went on to explain that this is “one of many steps” and “We are bringing back the American Dream”
Ai powered Government Contractor Palantir is down 2.5% - PLTR currently trades at $176.86, still up 125% YOY. Palantir jumped 4.5% on the morning of Jan 5th after news of the successful US Military operation in Venezuela. On Tuesday co-founder Jon Lonsdale posted to X that Palantir was founded to blow up “Commies.” Palantir had finished the previous Friday down 5.7% NVDA is down 2.5% in the past 5 days and up 1.25% this past month at $185.04.
Crypto rose with the Venezuelan news with BTC up 1.25% this week to $91,100 after a November low of $80,500 USD. ETH is flat at $3116 this past week anflat this past month though still down 14% YOY. The crypto crash started on Oct. 10 when Trump threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese imports — on top of the 30% already in place.
S&P AeroSpace and Defense ETF XAR jumped 11% in the past 5 days to $268.70. XAR is up 57% in the past 12 months. XAR rose 4% on Monday following Maduro’s capture and has continued through the week.
Weekly Jobless Claims rose 8,000 to 208,000 for the period ending Jan 3rd. The Gold/Silver ratio fell 2.25% at 58.19 after falling steadily since late October and down 54% from its March high of 107. Longer 20 yr and 30 yr US government bonds are down 2-4bps to 4.78 and 4.85% respectively.
The Polymarket quoted probability of a total 100 bps in cuts in 2026 is currently 17%, 75 bps in cuts stands at 22% and the probability of 50 bps is 27%. Short term rates are up 2bps in the 2yr at 3.50.
US Comex Copper Futures HG, a leading indicator of economic growth, rose 2% to $5.82 usd/lb after hitting a new all time high on Tuesday of $6.11 usd/lb.