Gold and Silver prices stalled with Gold down 5% in the past 5 days at $6957 CAD still up 6% month over month. Silver is up 15.5% this month and down 13.5% from the last 5 days now $112.99CAD. Silver is still up 150% Year over Year. US Dollar index DXY is up 1.5% this week at 99.40 and down 8% YOY. SP500 Volatility Index VIX rose 12%. SP 500 ES futures fell 1% and are now trading 6744 having failed to trade above 7000 for the 3rd week this year. The Dow Jones 30 is below 50,000.
The war powers resolution vote failed in a 53 to 47 vote on Thursday. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth commented “We have only just begun.” On February 28th the USA and Israel launched preemptive air strikes against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khemenei. President Trump has since expressed doubts that Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last US allied Shah could run Iran. "I don't know whether or not his country would accept his leadership,"
Pahlavi’s father ruled Iran from 1953-1979 when the monarchy was abolished. In August 1953, a power struggle with Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh forced the Shah to flee to Baghdad and then Rome. He returned to Iran just a few days later, on August 22, 1953, after a UK- and US-backed coup (Operation Ajax) successfully overthrew Mosaddegh.
On Tuesday, CBS News reported The DOJ has been taking down some of the Epstein files on the grounds that they contained photos (some explicit) and personal information of the survivors. Their analysis found that approximately 47,000 files in about 65,500 pages had been removed and previous links now show “page not found.”
Crude WTI futures are up 18% at $88.63 and now up 26% YOY. On March 2, 2026, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officially declared the strait closed, threatening to "set fire" to any ship attempting to cross. Iran has hit several vessels in the strait. The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, facilitating the transit of approximately 20% of global oil consumption as of early 2026.
NYMEX NG natural gas futures which spiked over 100% above $7 in January are now trading $3.09 USD per Million BTU.
Crypto is still soft, having attempted a rally and fallen back with BTC up 4% this week to $68,600 and ETH down 6% at $1986. The crypto crash originally started on Oct. 10 when Trump threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese imports
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Ai powered Government Contractor Palantir is up 14.5% - PLTR currently trades at $153.45, and up 73% YOY after falling from a 52 week high of 207.52. NVDA is flat in the past 5 days at $182.09 despite trading up to $197.62 following last Wednesday's announcement of record quarterly revenue and record full year revenue up 65%.
S&P AeroSpace and Defense ETF XAR fell 0.5% in the past 5 days to $278.39 after making a new All Time High of 295.23 on Monday following the assasination of the Iranian Supreme Leader. XAR is up 66% in the past 12 months.
Weekly Jobless Claims were flat at 213,000 for the period ending Feb 27th. The Gold/Silver ratio rose 10% now at 61.36 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 sold off, with yields up 19 and 16 bps respectively to 4.77 and 4.80% respectively.
Japan's 40-year bond yields which surged to 4.21% in January have fallen back, currently trading up from last week at 3.60%.
The Polymarket quoted probability of a total 75 bps in cuts in 2026 stands at 13%, the probability of 50 bps is 28% and the probability of 25 bps is 28%. Short term rates are up 17 bps in the 2yr at 3.57.
US Comex Copper Futures HG, a leading indicator of economic growth, fell 3% to $5.83 usd/lb after hitting a new all time high in January of $6.58 usd/lb.