My apologizes to my subscribers and readers for being on extended writing hiatus. Over the last four month I’ve spent more than 500 hours in the greenhouse and garden, germinating vegetable seeds, tending the seedlings and planting them on a 3,500-foot backyard plot along the Harpeth River in middle Tennessee.
Now a bountiful summer harvest is underway. Hundreds of pounds of produce have been given to friends and neighbors, and donated to the local food bank. Much more fresh, homegrown goodness is on the way.
While gardening is dirty, sweaty work, I’ve discovered it’s just as rewarding—maybe more so—than tracking day-to-day precious metal movements and machinations on a computer screen, particularly when gold and silver prices are on the skids.
When I last checked, both metals were trading at levels not seen since last fall. Had supply and demand fundamentals changed so drastically while I was nurturing tomato starts, planting peppers and potatoes, harvesting beans and blueberries, and weeding the corn? Not that I’m aware of.
Paper Trading Beats Shiny Rock
When gold and silver prices soared to records highs last December, I presumed illegal and documented manipulation in the futures market was on its last leg, though I acknowledged short sellers would continue to cover and defend their positions to reduce financial losses. Is that what’s happening now? I presume again, but who knows for certain in the murky and opaque markets of London, New York and Switzerland?
As analysts and commentators ponder and opine on the subject, I’m not sure anyone can offer a simple and succinct explanation for the drastic price pullback other than noting paper futures trading beats shiny rock once again, at least for the time being.
Appointment of a new Federal Reserve chairman, a stronger dollar and the prospect of higher interest rates just don’t seem to suffice as sufficient reasons for the substantial precious metals downdraft, especially while the U.S. government wracks up record debt, financial markets are leveraged with trillions in borrowed funds, and persistent inflation devalues the currency and dogs confidence in the consumer-driven economy.
News vs. Noise
Taking a writing respite since April and doing manual garden labor granted me the time, peace and quiet to see more clearly how much of what is said and written about precious metals and financial markets is not news. It’s conjecture and unnecessary noise.
“Silver Price to Hit $200 an Ounce in 2026”
“Gold, Silver Prices Likely to Surge as Israel-Iran Tensions Escalate”
“Gold and Silver Drop as War Tensions Rachet Up”
“Gold Returns to Record Levels After Escalation in Iran”
“Gold To Skyrocket, Dollar to Be Wiped Out”
Reading bold, contradictory and ever-changing headlines day after day, and listening to unlimited online banter, conflicting opinions and rampant speculation can stir a gamut of emotions, which can prove disheartening, frustrating, gratifying, thrilling, even maddening.
I’ve ridden the rollercoaster of information and misinformation overload myself.
At times, I’ve amplified the noise by repeating colossal claims and premature predictions. I apologize for contributing to the clamor and augmenting the echo chamber. I regret making it harder to decipher verifiable fact from fantastic prophecies and often inaccurate short-term forecasts.
Restoring Tranquility in a Chaotic World
My current plan is to restrict and more critically assess the information I consume, attempting to separate the news from the noise. That can be difficult because facts, opinions, projections and theories constantly merge in the financial media, precious metal podcasts and online forums to attract hits, views, eyes and ears for prestige and profit.
By filtering fanciful assumptions, and reducing and ignoring the noise, it’s easier to maintain focus on fact-based fundamentals and embrace the long-term trend of the monetary metals.
Among the most significant fundamentals and trends I’d like to share:
• Central banks have been net buyers of gold for 16 consecutive years, officially accumulating more than 8,000 metric tons since 2010. A record 45 percent of the world’s central banks plan to increase their gold reserves over the next 12 months and 89 percent expect overall central bank gold holdings will rise over the same period, according to the 2026 World Gold Council survey.
• Silver is expected to experience a supply deficit for the sixth consecutive year, according to the World Silver Survey 2026, as industrial and investment demand for the metal exceeds mine production and scrap recycling. The structural shortfall, which began in 2021, likely will persist until new, viable silver deposits are discovered and more mines are brought online to extract the metal, which will require higher prices and additional investment.
• In Shanghai, China, silver premiums are considerably higher, averaging 6 to 12 percent more than in the United States, providing a financial incentive for the critical mineral to flow from West to East.
• Because of their unique qualities, silver and gold are among the key minerals needed for electrical components in 1,331 planned data centers in the United States, creating additional industrial demand for the essential metals.
Those are a few of the noteworthy items and reports to pay attention to while being bombarded with incessant news flashes, needless noise, and sporadic and drastic price swings.
For me, periodically withdrawing from the day-to-day deluge of news and noise is necessary to restore personal tranquility, remain rationally grounded, and maintain a sharp focus on the fact-based fundamentals of gold and silver.
I’ll return to posting articles when I have something relevant, scholarly or timely to say and share, hopefully with a subdued noise level.
In the meantime, I’m headed back to the garden with an old John Prine tune playing peacefully—and amusingly—in my head.
Blow up your TV, throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try to find Jesus on your own
—Lyrics from “Spanish Pipedream”
© 2025 Stuart Englert. All rights reserved.
Englert is the author of “Rigged: Exposing the Largest Financial Fraud in History” and “Patient Millionaire: A Financial Memoir.”
Read the full article here