30 April 2026 – 08:41 Central Euro Time

Following three straight days of decline, both precious metals are presently above today’s Neutral Zones, as is Oil; the balance of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and session volatility is moderate. By Market Trends as suggested yesterday, Gold’s linreg has (in real-time) rotated to negative, whilst that for Silver looks to so do by tomorrow despite both metals being up today. Looking at Market Rhythms for pure swing consistency, our Top Three by the 10-test basis are Gold’s daily Moneyflow, Copper’s 8hr Parabolics, and again Gold’s 30mn MACD, whereas per a 24-test basis we’ve Copper’s 30mn Parabolics, the Swiss Franc’s 1hr MACD, and the Spoo’s 1hr Parabolics. Eight metrics come due today for the Econ Baro, including April’s Chi PMI, March’s Personal Income/Spending and “Fed-Favoured” PCE data, plus the first peek at Q1 GDP and the Employment Cost Index.

29 April 2026 – 08:44 Central Euro Time

Presently, the Euro is below its Neutral Zone for today, whilst above same are both Copper and Oil; BEGOS Markets’ volatility is light. As we’d already seen for Silver, Gold too yesterday traded down into the “Golden Ratio” retracement zone as noted in The Gold Update: Gold’s low thus far in the week is 4568 whilst that for Silver is 71.93; ‘twould appear by week’s end, both precious metals linregs shall have rotated from positive to negative (see Market Trends); as well, Copper’s “Baby Blues” of trend consistency confirmed dropping below the +80% axis, indicative of lower prices near-term. The S&P 500 is now 14 consecutive trading sessions as “textbook overbought”; and the Spoo by its Market Value is (in real-time) +427 points above its smooth valuation line. There are varying sources for today’s incoming Econ Baro metrics: to be sure, we’ll get March’s Durable Orders, and maybe a combination of February and March data for Housing Starts/Permits, plus perhaps same for New Home Sales, albeit they also are scheduled for next week … on verra… Then at 18:00 GMT comes the FOMC’s “no change” Policy Statement.

28 April 2026 – 08:45 Central Euro Time

The Euro, Swiss Franc, and all three elements of the Metals Triumvirate are presently below their respective Neutral Zones for today; above same is Oil, and session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is moderate, noting therein that Silver already has traced 101% of today’s EDTR (see Market Ranges). Too, Silver’s cac volume is rolling from May into that for July. At Market Trends, the “Baby Blues” of regression trend consistency continue to fall for the precious metals; indeed Silver has today reached down into the “Golden Ratio” retracement range as cited in the current edition of The Gold Update; as well, both Gold and Silver are now trading below the bottom of their 10-day Market Profiles. The S&P 500 has again recorded closing (7174) and intra-day (7179) highs, and is now 13 consecutive trading days “textbook overbought”; the “live” (futs-adj’d) P/E is 48.8x. The Econ Baro awaits Consumer Confidence for April.

27 April 2026 – 08:40 Central Euro Time

Early on we’ve the Bond at present below its Neutral Zone for today, whilst above same is Oil; volatility for the BEGOS Markets is light-to-moderate. The Gold Update points to last week’s decline in the “Baby Blues” of regression trend consistency for both precious metals such that lower price levels are likely in the near-term offing. The S&P 500 concluded Friday at an all-time closing high of 7165, the intra-day high having been a record 7169; by the Spoo, today’s S&P opening ought be mildly lower; per the Spoo’s 10-day Market Profile, price (currently 7188) has its most volume-dominant Profile support at 7162. Copper’s cac volume is rolling from May into that for July. And whilst nothing is due today for the Econ Baro, ’tis a busy week with 14 scheduled metrics, plus the “no change” FOMC Policy Statement on Wednesday.

The Gold Update: No. 858 – (25 April 2026) – “Likely Lower Levels for the Precious Metals”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 858th Edition — Monte-Carlo — 25 April 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

Likely Lower Levels for the Precious Metals

  • This past Wednesday, our deMeadville analytics produced a near-term “sell signal” for Gold.
  • This past Thursday, our deMeadville analytics produced a near-term “sell signal” for Silver.

“And heeeere they arrrrrre!” –[Monty Hall, “Let’s Make a Deal”, 1963-1991]

Ahh, the breaking down of the ‘Baby Blues’, right mmb?”

Exactly so, Squire.  The baby blue dots of 21-day linear regression trend consistency have been a favoured leading indicator of deMeadville for many years.  (As a valued reader wrote to us better than a decade ago:  “Let me not forget to tip my hat to the Baby Blues – they have made my trading far more successful and less stressful!”)

And specific to the above case for both Gold on the left and for Silver on the right, their respective “Baby Blues” have fallen through the key +80% axis per the red-encircled dots, the rule there being likely lower levels near-term.

To wit, the fine team from our “There’s No Holy Grail Dept.” assembled this table of “Baby Blues” sell signals for both Gold (four) and Silver (five) from a year ago-to-date, even as we hasten to state that “Shorting Gold is a bad idea.”  The maximum points and monetary losses/contract within the ensuing 21 trading days (one month) are therein compiled, the two new fresh signals with “???”:

Thus, as an appropriate musical ditty: “Where Do We Go From Here?” –[Chicago, ’70]

‘Course, ’tis unknown as to how low the precious metals shall go, if at all.  And by price structure, we don’t see anything helpfully tangible.  So we went instead to ol’ Leonardo “Fibonacci” Bonacci to find some reasonable expectation for the downside. And here’s what “The Fibster” found:

  • For Gold (June contract):  it settled yesterday (Friday) at 4725.  The dominant recent low was 4129 (22 March) and dominant high 4918 (17 April).  Thus the Golden Ratio retracement range spans from 4616 (-38.2%) down to 4430 (-61.8%).

  • For Silver (May contract):  it settled yesterday (Friday) at 75.69.  The dominant recent low was 61.21 (likewise on 22 March) and dominant high 83.25 (likewise on 17 April).  Thus the Golden Ratio retracement range spans from 74.21 (-38.2%) down to 69.63 (-61.8%).

All that, just in case you’re scoring at home.  Preferably however, Gold and Silver simply resume higher.  Yet, ad nauseam we repeat:  “Follow the Blues instead of the news, else lose yer shoes.”

Either way, to be sure, Gold and “Big Oil” have been in a war phase of negative correlation.  Restrain the transit of Oil and the price rises.  In turn, the demand for Dollars with which to purchase Oil also rises.  And whilst we’ve on occasion demonstrated over the years that “Gold plays no currency favourites”, in these warring times, the knee-jerk reaction is to sell Gold given the oxymoronic condition known as “Dollar strength”, which on balance (albeit not very consistently) been the case since the USA/IRN war commenced on 28 February.  Indeed in the past week alone, the Buck made “higher daily highs” each of Monday through Thursday, although the “war-high” Dollar Index level of 100.500 remains above the current 98.340 level.

But the point is:  rising Oil has led to declining Gold as we look at their BEGOS Markets (Bond / Euro / Gold / Oil / S&P 500) correlation through these first 78 trading days of 2026.  Note the red square marking the war’s commencement, (Gold then 5296 vs. 4725 today, i.e. -10.8%).  Beneath the red axis indicates negative correlation:

In turning to Gold’s weekly bars from a year ago-to-date, this past week’s span of 183 points was the narrowest since that ending 14 weeks back on 16 January, even as the expected weekly trading range remains rather robust at 349 points, (and the daily 112 points).  Too, contract volume in April is comparably subdued to that traded in March.  Thus as we saw by the “Baby Blues” falling off, Gold may be seeking a rest, especially given how otherwise volatile this year’s first quadrimester has been:

As to the 10-day Market Profiles of Gold (below left) and of Silver (below right), what we’d cited a week ago as support areas for Gold “…the yellow metal by the 4800s…” and for Silver “…the white metal basically by the 79 handle…” obviously have morphed into resistance:

“Well, mmb, if support and resistance always held, the markets wouldn’t go anywhere…

That, dear Squire, elicits the foundational cornerstone of what today is the oft-ignored essential of “cash management”, (which for you WestPalmBeachers down there means knowing precisely where you’ll exit your losing trade before even placing it).  And by the white present-level bar in both of the two volume-weighted stacks, Gold by price is -3.7% from the top of its Profile, and Sister Silver -9.0%:

But then there’s the “Nuthin’ But Up Dept.” known as the S&P 500, (or as we on occasion more accurately refer to it, the “Casino 500”).  “War?  What war??”  Warring in the 21st century has been StateSide stocks friendly:  now 39 trading days into Iran, the S&P is at a record closing high (7165) +4.2%.  Remember Syria in 2014?  39 trading days in ’twas +1.4%.  How ’bout Libya in 2011:  +4.6% for the same stint.  And respectively for Iraq in 2003 +8.8% and for Afghanistan in 2001 +6.4%, both after 39 trading days.

Today the S&P 500 is now 12 consecutive trading days “textbook overbought”, the “live” price/earnings ratio is 48.5x and the yield (jeepers, ’tis so tiny we can’t find it…) oh there ’tis:  1.109%.  Astride the Economic Barometer, which — save for improved Retail Sales in March — basically put in an uneventful week, is the never war-weary S&P red line:

Toward closing, on a nightly basis for the website we run 405 Market Rhythm studies across all of the BEGOS Markets.  And whilst nothing works in perpetuity for any market study, that which has been best for Gold through its last 10 swings is the four-hour Price Oscillator, (which is a “canned” study supplied by high-level data providers).  In running this particular study through the deMeadville number-crunching, we found it to have reached an in hindsight profit objective of at least 56 points 10-times in-a-row, (from 05 February-to-date with an average duration per swing of five calendar days).  At $100/point/contract, here’s that in hindsight profit picture:

Again we emphasize the above results are in hindsight.

“Yeah, but still, mmb, ten times back-to-back is amazing!

Squire, this is where — again — cash management is of critical concern.  You may recall the French Revolution survivor Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace.  Per his infamous “Rule of Succession”, in this case for something having occurred ten consecutive times, the probability of an eleventh like occurrence is mathematically 91.67%.  HOWEVER (emphasized), in the reality of trading, the actual probability is 50.00%.  Period.  Do try not to get carried away.

But should precious metals near-term slip away, ‘tis good to still have Gold along the way!

Cheers!

…m…

24 April 2026 – 08:40 Central Euro Time

Into week’s end we’ve at present Gold, Silver and Oil below today’s Neutral Zones; the other five BEGOS Markets are within same, and volatility for the session is light. Following (per yesterday’s comment) Gold having confirmed on Wednesday the “Baby Blues” of linreg consistency having moved below their key +80% axis, price since has dropped to as low as 4672; too, Silver’s “Baby Blues” yesterday confirmed moving below their +80% axis; more of course in tomorrow’s 858th consecutive Saturday edition of The Gold Update. The S&P 500 made a marginal record intraday high yesterday to (precisely) 7147.78, (the prior such high being on 17 April at 7147.52); the Index is now 11 consecutive days “textbook overbought”. The Econ Baro concludes its quiet week with the revision to April’s UofM Sentiment Survey.

23 April 2026 – 08:48 Central Euro Time

The Bond, Gold, Silver, Copper and the Spoo are all presently below today’s Neutral Zones; only Oil is above same, and BEGOS Markets’ volatility is mostly moderate, noting that Copper already has traced 103% of today’s EDTR (see Market ranges). By Market Trends, ironically Oil is the sole BEGOS component in negative linreg, as today at 94.23 price is well-down from 117.63 peak of three weeks ago. Thus Gold’s linreg is positive, however, its “Baby Blues” of trend consistency confirmed settling below the key +80% level yesterday such that still lower prices “ought be” in the near-term offing. Currently 4733, the mid-4600s would seem a reasonable destination, below which there is trading congestion through 4600-4400 zone; for pure swing consistency, Gold’s best Market Rhythms have been the daily Moneyflow (10-test basis) and the 15mn Moneyflow (24-test basis). For the Econ Baro we’ve just the usual Initial Jobless Claims from the prior week.

22 April 2026 – 08:42 Central Euro Time

All three elements of the Metals Triumvirate are at present above their respective Neutral Zones for today, whilst below same is Oil; volatility for the BEGOS Markets is mostly light, the largest EDTR tracing to this point being Oil at 49% (see Market Ranges). Oil’s best Market Rhythm for pure swing consistency on a 10-test basis is the 1hr MACD, whilst on a 24-test basis ’tis the 15mn Parabolics; Oil’s 21-day linreg trend is slightly becoming more negative as the “Baby Blues” of trend consistency have fallen below the 0% axis (see Market Trends); and by its Market Profile, Oil (currently 88.77) is trading below its most volume-dominant price for the past fortnight of 89.70. Nothing is due today for the Econ Baro. And Q1 Earnings season for the S&P 500 continues to run at an above-average pace: with 53 constituents thus far having reported, 44 (83%) have improved their quarterly year-over-year bottom lines; at issue, however, remains the dangerously high (futs-adj’d) P/E of 48.2x.

21 April 2026 – 08:44 Central Euro Time

Presently we’ve both precious metals below today’s Neutral Zones; otherwise, the balance of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and volatility is light. From an intra-day standpoint since the past week or two, the markets can best be characterized as “messy”. Regardless, let’s go ’round the horn (in real-time) for the Market Values of the five primary BEGOS components: the Bond is just -0^10 points “low” beneath its smooth valuation line, the Euro 0.013 points “high”, Gold -63 points “low”, Oil -6.16 points “low” (having reverted all the way back to its BEGOS valuation after having been some +34 points “high” at the beginning of April), and the Spoo +457 points “high”, the S&P 500 having completed a fifth consecutive session as extremely “textbook overbought”; too, by our MoneyFlow page (quarterly basis), the S&P “ought be” -597 points lower than ’tis. The Econ Baro looks to March’s Retail Sales and Pending Home Sales, plus Business Inventories for February.

20 April 2026 – 08:46 Central Euro Time

With events in the Middle East taking a negative turn, the BEGOS Markets today featured various “gap” openings, notably Oil which settled Friday at 85.57 opened up at 88.15, Gold from 4849 down to open at 4812 and the Spoo from 7164 down to open at 7103. At present, the Bond, Gold, Silver and Spoo are below today’s Neutral Zones, whilst Oil is above same, and session volatility is mostly moderate. The Gold Update points to price having nearly reverted back up to its BEGOS Market Value, whereas the S&P 500 having set a record high on Friday remains vastly overvalued by earnings (fundamental) as well as extremely “textbook overbought” (technical). Nothing is due today for the Econ Baro with a very light load in the week’s balance of just six incoming metrics. However, Q1 Earnings Seasons really starts to ramp up as its third week gets underway.

The Gold Update: No. 857 – (18 April 2026) – “Gold’s Means Reversion; S&P’s Record Excursion”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 857th Edition — Monte-Carlo — 18 April 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

Gold’s Means Reversion; S&P’s Record Excursion

Our recent missives have underscored Gold’s volatility as having been reduced from vehement to narrow.  Here at deMeadville, we are keen watchers of one of the most overlooked metrics in trading:  range, notably that which is expected for each ensuing trading day, regardless of direction.  ‘Tis why on the website we’ve the Market Ranges page which embodies the year-over-year “EDTR” (“Expected Daily Trading Range”) for each of the eight BEGOS Markets (Bond, Euro/Swiss Franc, Gold/Silver/Copper, Oil, S&P 500).

Knowing the EDTR — be it for any of the BEGOS Markets or even equites — helps to keep one’s feet on the ground.  For example, how many times across the S&P 500’s post-COVID six-year rally have we heard some yahoo boastfully exclaim:  “Oh!  I just bought XXX ’cause after earnings today it’s gonna fly” … only to find some days later that it never got very far off the tarmac.  (You ought have had a sense of expected range there, Bunky).

Either way, with Gold having settled its week yesterday (Friday) at 4849, the compressing of range continues.  The following graphic is our year-to-date view of Gold’s actual daily trading ranges (the bars) vis-à-vis each day’s EDTR (the line). Clearly during April, daily range has been narrowing.  In fact, specific to the past 10 trading days’ ranges, none have reached up to the EDTR, even as ’tis been contracting:

Moreover, in each trading day’s Prescient Commentary we cite the stance of the BEGOS Markets relative to their “Neutral Zones”:  be a market higher or lower, if its price is within that day’s Neutral Zone, we deem the day as essentially “unchanged”.  And across Gold’s past 10 trading days, five have concluded within the Neutral Zone.

“It’s kinda like that Chris Isaac song, right mmb?

Squire is referring to the ’95 tune about the girl with dirty blonde hair wearing a taupe miniskirt whilst standing with her overnight case in the Greyhound bus station: “Goin’ Nowhere”.

Not that Gold’s hasn’t gone anywhere.  Price year-to-date has spanned from 5586 (our forecast high 5546) down to 4100 (our forecast low 4136), a range of -1486 points (-26.6%).  ‘Course, with 179 trading days remaining in 2026, ’tis far too soon to “take credit” that we “nailed it”.  But range has been nonetheless narrowing.  Both of the past two weeks have recorded notably narrower trading ranges (262 and 292 points chronologically) than those of the three prior (571, 501 and 413 chronologically).  So to Gold’s weekly bars we go, the red-dotted parabolic Short trend having completed its fifth week, such stance having commenced back on 16 March when priced opened at 5010:

Meanwhile from the “Means Reversion Dept.” we’ve this updated graphic of Gold from a year ago-to-date along with its smooth valuation line born of price’s movement relative to those of the five primary BEGOS Markets as therein noted.  To reprise, ’twasn’t that far back on 26 March (only 15 trading days ago) that Gold settled at a record -886 points (-16.8%) beneath valuation.  Now as we below see, ’tis just -55 points “low”.  As we oft quip, “Means reversion is a beautiful thAng” … (however, when it finally hits the S&P 500, ’twill be horrifying, perhaps per our wrap).  Here’s the Gold graphic with price nearly having reverted back up to valuation, (which is a swifter valuing of Gold than is Fair Value by which Gold remains quite high):

Now we just made reference to the S&P 500, the mighty Index overvalued, overbought and overhyped beyond belief.

“Well, mmb, they say the war is winding down…

Squire, it puts us in mind of the old saying “There’s been a sudden breakout of peace”, albeit so called “cease fires” carry a rather temporary tone.  And now we’ve just learned the Straits of Hormuz have again been “closed”.

Regardless, ’twas but seven missives ago on 28 February that we penned “… in setting this morning to write our 850th consecutive Saturday missive, we’ve just learned of the commencement of USA/ISR attacks on IRN…”  The S&P then was 6879, Oil 67.29 and Gold 5296.  Today, Gold is -8% lower at 4849, Oil +27% higher at 85.57 (and at one point was +75% higher at 117.63) and the S&P now +4% higher at the record closing high of 7126.  Were not higher energy prices to wreak havoc on corporate earnings?

To be sure, only the single war month of March is included in this Q1 Earnings Season, which whilst still quite young for the S&P 500 has thus far been excellent:  30 constituents have reported, of which 25 — that’s 83% — have bettered their bottom lines over Q1 of a year ago.  Going as far back as 2017, the average quarterly year-over-year improvement is 66%. “Happy Days Are Here Again”  –[Ager/Yellen, ’29].  However, problematic as we’ve time and again mentioned is that the nominal level of earnings need really to double toward supporting the stratospherically high level of the S&P; the median increase thus in Q1 earnings Season far is “only” +20% — which actually is great — but ’tis not the +100% “requisite” to get earnings in line with price.

Yet, so happy are the S&Pers that they’ve driven up the Index to now being (by our technical cocktail of Relative Strength, Stochastics and John Bollinger’s Bands) extremely “textbook overbought”, the price/earnings ratio a laughable 48.7x, with a pitifully puny yield of 1.127%, whereas noted in the opening Gold Scoreboard, the three-month annualized U.S. T-Bill yield is 3.600%.  Again, that’s more than triple the S&P’s dividend return and you shan’t lose your money … at least not until the U.S. Treasury defaults and/or the Buck gets nixed as the world ‘s reserve currency.  For you WestPalmBeachers down there, that is why you want to own Gold.

Meanwhile, to the suddenly sagging Econ Baro we go, ignored ‘natch by an S&P all aglow, the high P/Es list pulled from the website you know:

Indeed of the past week’s 11 incoming Economic Barometer metrics, just four improved period-over-period, notably therein both the New York State Empire and Philly Fed Indices for April.  But March’s Producer Price Index (barring neither you eat nor drive) was again quite inflationary, the +0.5% pace annualized at +6.0% being ever so far afield from the Federal Reserve’s +2.0% target.  Why, even FedGov Stephen “The Mirage” Miran on Thursday reduced his rate cuts projection for this year from four to perhaps three, inflation having become (hat-tip Barron’s) “more complicated even before war with Iran began”.  Yo, Mirage Man:  instead, how ’bout a rate increase or two, hmmm?

And speaking of increases, even as trading ranges narrow, our baby blue dots of regression trend consistency have been well on the rise for the precious metals as we below see for Gold on the left and for Silver on the right by the day across the past three months.  Recall “Follow the Blues instead of the news, else lose yer shoes…”?  Indeed you do:

Too, we’ve the 10-day Market Profiles for Gold (below left) and for Silver (below right).  Price is supportively-positioned in both cases, the yellow metal by the 4800s and the white metal basically by the 79 handle, her having just settled a completed week above 80 (at 80.93) for the first time since that ending 13 March.  Cautiously however by the Scoreboard, whereas Gold is presently +23.2% above Fair Value (3937), Silver is +42.4% above same (56.82).  Hang in there, Sister Silver…

Toward our wrap, here’s the stack:

The Gold Stack (continuous contract pricing):
Gold’s All-Time Intra-Day High:  5586 (29 January 2026)
2026’s High:  5586 (29 January)
Gold’s All-Time Closing High:  5411 (28 January 2026)
The Weekly Parabolic Price to flip Long:  5362
10-Session directional range:  up to 4908 (from 4628) = +280 points or +6.1%
Gold’s BEGOS Market Value (from our opening “Scoreboard”):  4905
Trading Resistance:  vis-à-vis the Market Profile, 4880 – 4910
Gold Currently:  4849, (expected daily trading range [“EDTR”]:  135 points)
Trading Support:  vis-à-vis the Market Profile, the lower 4800s
10-Session “volume-weighted” average price magnet:  4785
2026’s Low:  4100 (23 March)
Gold’s Fair Value per Dollar Debasement, (from our opening “Scoreboard”):  3937
The 300-Day Moving Average:  3863 and rising
The 2000’s Triple-Top:  2089 (07 Aug ’20); 2079 (08 Mar’22); 2085 (04 May ’23)
The Gateway to 2000:  1900+
The Final Frontier:  1800-1900
The Northern Front:  1800-1750
On Maneuvers:  1750-1579
The Floor:  1579-1466
Le Sous-sol:  Sub-1466
The Support Shelf:  1454-1434
Base Camp:  1377
The 1360s Double-Top:  1369 in Apr ’18 preceded by 1362 in Sep ’17
Neverland:  The Whiny 1290s
The Box:  1280-1240

So as Gold gathers itself via means reversion, the S&P 500 has made a record high excursion.  But is it really that impressive?  After all, year-to-date Gold is now +11.9%, whereas the S&P is comparably +4.1%.  Still, truth be told, both markets are fundamentally overvalued, Gold per its Fair Value and the S&P by its high (understatement) P/E.  Gold indeed reverted well back down toward Fair Value when price plummeted to 4100 just this past 23 March, (Fair Value then 3890).  But what about for the S&P?  How far would price have to fall to bring the present dividend yield of 1.127% up to match the aforementioned T-Bill’s 3.600%?  We put the question to “AI” (“Assembled Inaccuracy”), which responded thus:

  • “Based on recent market data as of mid-April 2026, the S&P 500 would need to fall approximately 4,586 points to increase the dividend yield from 1.127% to 3.600%.”

Naturally, we followed-up with the math to find ‘twould be an S&P 500 “correction” of -64% to 2540 — right in the heart as below marked of the extrapolated “had COVID not occurred” red regression channel … just in case you’re scoring at home:

Query:  How are those Gold n’ Silver holdings workin’ out for ya?

Cheers!

…m…

17 April 2026 – 08:43 Central Euro Time

Presently, all eight BEGOS Markets are within their respective Neutral Zones for today, and session volatility is very light. The Bond (currently 113^20) yesterday moved under Market Profile support (114^06 now resistance) and price slid below the Market Magnet (114^01); nonetheless, by its Market Trend, the Bond’s linreg is positive and improving upside consistency given the rising “Baby Blues”. Gold again has been recording a comparatively narrow week; the yellow metal’s EDTR (see Market Ranges) has compressed from 196 points two weeks ago to now 140 points; further insight per tomorrow’s 857th consecutive Saturday Edition of The Gold Update. Nothing is due for the Econ Baro until next Tuesday. And Q1 Earnings Season for the S&P 500 is off to a well above-average start: of the 26 constituents having thus far reported, 22 (85%) have bettered their quarterly year-over-year bottom lines; problematic is that the nominal level of earnings is too low to support an S&P here at 7041, given the “live” (futs-adj’d) P/E of 47.8x.

16 April 2026 – 08:44 Central Euro Time

The S&P settled above 7000 yesterday at a record closing high of 7023, (intra-day 7026); the “live” (futs-adj’d) P/E is now 47.6x and the yield 1.126%, (that for the 3mo T-Bill annualized is 3.612%). At present for the BEGOS Markets, both Silver and Copper are above today’s Neutral Zones, the balance of the bunch being within same; session volatility is again light. By Market Values, the Spoo (in real-time) is +327 points above its smooth valuation line; the MoneyFlow for the S&P has notably improved so far this week; however by our broadest measure (63 days, i.e. one quarter), the Flow finds the Index +607 points too high. Cac volume for Oil has rolled from May into that for June with priced discounted by -2.80 points. And the Econ Baro completes its early week with metrics including April’s Philly Fed Index and March’s IndProd/CapUtil.

15 April 2026 – 08:45 Central Euro Time

Presently, Oil is the only BEGOS Market outside (below) its Neutral Zone for today; session volatility is light. Copper in recent days has regained the 6 handle: currently 6.0950, the red metal’s all-time high of 6.5830 was set this past 29 January; by Market Rhythms for pure swing consistency, Copper’s Parabolics on the 15mn, 30mn, and 1hr time frames are topping its list. Gold is moving closer to its BEGOS Market Value of 4975, price at present 4839. The S&P 500 yesterday reached up to 6969, the all-time high being 7002 (28 January): the Index has rapidly become extremely “textbook overbought” having just been oversold from 06 March through 02 April and the MoneyFlow having been weak, (although that for yesterday was firm). The Econ Baro looks to April’s NY State Empire Index and NAHB Housing Index, plus March’s Ex/Im Prices. Then late in the session comes the Fed’s Tan Tome.

14 April 2026 – 08:41 Central Euro Time

Silver is at present the sole BEGOS Market outside (above) its Neutral Zone for today; session volatility is quite light. The Euro yesterday confirmed settling above its BEGOS Market Value for the first time since 29 January, the Dollar Index having in recent days fallen from the 100s into the 98s; our top Market Rhythm by pure swing consistency for the Euro on a 10-test basis is its 30mn MACD, whilst on a 24-test basis the Euro’s two standout studies are its 30mn Moneyflow and 2hr Parabolics. At Market Trends, we’ve now positively-sloped linregs for the Bond, Euro, Copper, Oil and the Spoo; thus negatively-sloped are the linregs for the Swiss Franc, Gold and Silver. The Econ Baro awaits March’s PPI, (which by annualizing the consensus expectation is expected to run well above the Fed’s +2.0% target).

13 April 2026 – 08:43 Central Euro Time

Given the failure of the U.S./Iran talks, ’twas no surprise to see — save for Oil — the seven other BEGOS Markets drop at today’s open: at present, the Bond, EuroCurrencies, Silver and Spoo are below today’s Neutral Zones, (Gold and Copper actually are within same), and Oil of course is well-up, currently +8.4% at 103.64. Despite the on-balance negative start to the day, session volatility is to this point light-to-moderate. The Gold Update cites price’s range as “narrowing”, but the stance of inflation as “harrowing”, such that the Fed in due course this year may have to raise rates. The Econ Baro starts a moderate week of incoming data with March’s Existing Home Sales. And Q1 Earnings Season enters its second week, the financials getting the emphasis.

The Gold Update: No. 856 – (11 April 2026) – “Gold Range Narrowing; Inflation Gauge Harrowing”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 856th Edition — Monte-Carlo — 11 April 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

Gold Range Narrowing; Inflation Gauge Harrowing

With all the global uncertainty in play — from unrepayable debt and overvalued (understatement) equities, to stymied transport of the world’s economic engine (oil) and sorrowfully childish warring (“He bombed me, so I’m gonna bomb him!”) — the trading range of Gold, which as we detailed a week ago had through Q1 been “vehemently volatile”, is now noticeably narrowing.  This perhaps is due in part to an allowance of ships through the infamous Strait, as well as 14th-century minds (all ’round) now attempting 21st-century negotiations.  On verra…

“But the trading range still is pretty wide, huh, mmb…

Broadly, Squire, Gold’s ranginess indeed can still be characterized as “wide”, yet of late clearly compressing, as too is that for Silver.  Here from a year ago-to-date per the website are the EDTRs (“expected daily trading ranges”) for Gold on the left and for Silver on the right, both well off their respective peaks of recent weeks; (again for you WestPalmBeachers down there, this is not price, rather the expected range thereto from day-to-day):

“But with prices up so much from a year ago, how about by percentage instead of points, mmb?”

Squire, by either method, precious metals’ volatility today is essentially double that of a year ago, yet as noted, remarkably reduced from the recent price-spiking in February.  To wit this table (in reverse chronological order):

The “point” is:  with all that is in play these days, the daily trade of both Gold and Silver has become a bit more contained, even if considerable vis-à-vis this time in 2025.

Still, as we turn to Gold’s weekly bars and parabolic trends from a year ago-to-date, notwithstanding a fourth rightmost red Short dot, price has posted both “higher highs” and “higher lows” for two consecutive weeks in perceivably pursuing a return to the ascending dashed trendline.  This past week’s low-to-high range of +262 points (+5.7%) ranks narrowest of the past four, despite its expected weekly trading range having anticipated a span of 369 points:

Price too has been recovering relative to its BEGOS Market Value, which as initially depicted in the opening Scoreboard and as below labeled at 5086, is in decline even as Gold settled yesterday (Friday) at 4771, but still -315 points under its smooth valuation line:

‘Course, that’s been a significant improvement given Gold just back on 26 March was a record -886 points (-16.8%) below said valuation.  But more broadly (again per the Scoreboard) Gold today at 4771 is +21.3% overvalued given Fair Value of 3934.  Although Gold through its many “discarded relic” years overwhelmingly went unnoticed, today we oft are asked “Is this a good time to buy Gold?”, our “off-the record” response being, “Now is fine, but purposely budget to purchase again upon price returning to Fair Value.” Reference as well Stephanie Quayle “We Buy Gold” –[’21] as we below go to Gold’s two-panel graphic of the daily bars from three months ago-to-date at left and 10-day Market Profile at right.  Note the baby blue dots of regression trend consistency continuing to climb:  upon their eclipsing the 0% axis, such trend shall have rotated from negative to positive.  And by the Profile, Gold’s most immediate support zone runs from 4787 down to 4691:

Quite similar is the drill for Silver, although having settled the week at 76.03 finds her a distant +33.9% above Fair Value of 56.77.  But as with Gold, Silver’s “Baby Blues” (below left) are rising as her trend becomes less negative, whilst per her Profile (below right) she appears supported down to 72.90.  “As overvalued as you are, Sweet Sister Silver, we still love you!”

Now:  recall the late, great, heavily Brooklyn-accented Joan Rivers?  “Kin we tawk??” … in this case about inflation.  Throughout the past two years, we’ve regularly herein displayed our monthly summaries of inflation, time and again citing its rate stubbornly running above the Federal Reserve’s desired annualized target of +2.0%.  And yet across all those many months has come the usual FinMedia speculation of “How many times will the Fed cut this year?”  Thus rolls on the Investing Age of Stoopid wherein actually performing math has become comprehensively replaced by people parroting what everybody else says and posts.  But has the time now finally arrived to “pay the piper”, (i.e. raise rates)?  Here’s our inflation table for February, now sporting the most over-extended “above target” paces in recent years.  And that’s pre-war, Folks:

But wait, there’s more:  warringly exacerbated by disruption to “the free flow of Oil at market prices” (hat-tip RHL), the “headline” release yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Consumer Price Index for March of +0.9% was its fastest monthly inflation pace in nearly four years, (since the +1.3% reading for June in 2022 as markets accelerated back to work post-COVID).  However, assuming that neither do you drive nor eat, the “core” release was again just +0.2%.  (Relieved?)

‘Course, the Fed’s stance to cut its FundsRate had been rooted in weak employment data.  But as we know from a week ago, the StateSide jobs picture for March improved well-beyond consensus expectation.  And even as the Economic Barometer took a bit of a dip this past week with just four of its 15 incoming metrics having improved period-over-period, the Baro’s overall strength from July a year ago combined with the ever-more harrowing inflation data well-suits the Fed for a rate rise instead.  The next Open Market Committee Policy Statement is due 13 trading days hence on 29 April, but expect a lot of geo-political play and effect in the balance.  Meanwhile, here’s our year-over-year Econ Baro view:

And specific to the practically yieldless S&P 500, is the average investor about to step off the price cliff, or be willing to pay $44.60 for something that “earns” $1?  If you follow our leading MoneyFlow page, you know just how weak is the Flow, lacking on balance very little “go”, despite a “cease-fire” bump as below shown.  For by the broadest MoneyFlow measure (the right-hand panel’s cumulation from three months ago-to-date), the S&P “ought be” some -700 points lower than its current 6817 price.  But as usual, it takes time for the investing community to figure that out…

…and hardly shall the now underway Q1 Earnings Season find bottom lines for the S&P having doubled, (which for those of you scoring at home would halve the price/earnings ratio to a more realistic level).  Fortunately with Gold, you’ll always be on the right level!

“Oh now yer really ‘tawkin’, mmb!

Absolutely, Squire.

Cheers!

…m…

10 April 2026 – 08:38 Central Euro Time

As we saw ’round this time yesterday, trading in the BEGOS Markets is quite narrow, all eight components at present within today’s Neutral Zones and volatility is very light, albeit in the context that trading ranges have expanded significantly in recent months. Yesterday’s PCE data for February was not Fed-friendly as we’ll further display in tomorrow’s 856th consecutive Saturday edition of The Gold Update. The leading MoneyFlow for the S&P 500 cautiously suggests lower levels are ahead: by our page thereto, on the one-week basis the Index “ought be” -91 points lower than ’tis (currently 6825), on the one-month basis -139 points lower, and on the one-quarter basis a more dire -807 points lower; as trading/investing entities start to sense this going forward, it can pressure prices. The Econ Baro wraps the week with April’s UofM Sentiment Survey, March’s CPI and Treasury Deficit, plus February’s Factory Orders.

09 April 2026 – 08:45 Central Euro Time

“Quiet” is the watchword for the BEGOS Markets thus far, all eight at present within their respective Neutral Zones for today; session volatility is exceptionally light. That noted, there still exist some near-term valuation extremes are we go ’round the horn for the Market Values of the five primary BEGOS components, where in real-time we’ve: the Bond -3^19 points “low” below its smooth valuation line, the Euro -0.015 points “low”, Gold -377 points “low”, Oil +13.79 points “high” and the Spoo -67 points “low”. Yesterday’s net -12.5% drop in Oil was sufficient to confirm price settling below its Market Magnet of 101.50, (currently price 97.52). Yesterday’s MoneyFlow into the S&P 500 was not fully supportive of the +2.5% up move, such leading indicator instead (regressed into S&P points) being +1.7%. The Econ Baro awaits metrics including the “Fed-favoured” PCE data for February, plus that month’s Personal Income/Spending and Wholesale Inventories, as well as the final revision to Q4 GDP.

08 April 2026 – 08:48 Central Euro Time

Suspension for two weeks of the war sees Oil down as much as -17.5% from last evening’s settle, current price 94.80 and below its Neutral Zone for today; above same are all the seven other BEGOS Markets, and session volatility (not surprisingly) is mostly robust. The Dollar Index is down more than -1% for third time year-to-date; the EuroCurrencies thus are getting a strong bid, the Euro itself by Market Trends finding its linreg having rotated from negative to positive, (that for the Swiss Franc lagging in such respect). Gold up to 4888 is nearly a three-week high: recall that Gold by its BEGOS Market Value has been deeply oversold, such real-time reading still finding price -285 points below its smooth valuation line. And the Spoo is firm such that were the S&P 500 to open at this instant, ‘twould so do +2.7%. Whilst nothing is due today for the Econ Baro, late in the session we’ve the FOMC 17/18 March meeting minutes.

07 April 2026 – 08:45 Central Euro Time

Oil is the sole BEGOS Market at present outside (above) today’s Neutral Zone; session volatility to this point is light. By their Market Profiles, the Bond, Swiss Franc and Spoo all moved yesterday above their most volume-dominant prices for the past 10 trading days, whilst Silver dropped below same, albeit today there so far lacks much continued direction. Looking at our best Market Rhythms for pure swing consistency: on a 10-test basis we’ve Gold’s 2hr Parabolics, Copper’s 6hr Moneyflow and the Euro’s 1hr Parabolics; on a 24-test basis the leaders are Copper’s 15mn Parabolics, the non-BEGOS Yen’s 30mn Price Oscillator and the Euro’s 30mn Moneyflow. The Econ Baro awaits February’s Durable Orders, plus late in the session that month’s Consumer Credit. And Q1 Earnings Season is officially underway: for Q4, 71% (an above-average pace) of S&P 500 reporting constituents bettered their bottom line of Q4 a year earlier.

06 April 2026 – 08:49 Central Euro Time

‘Tis Easter Monday on this side of The Pond, but StateSide ’tis a full trading day for the BEGOS Markets, for which at present we’ve Copper as the sole component outside (below) its Neutral Zone for today; session volatility is light. The Gold Update underscores the yellow metal’s record Q1 price volatility, overwhelming that which we’ve seen across the prior 25 years. And whilst by Market Trends the linregs remain negative for all of the BEGOS except Oil, the “Baby Blues” of trend consistency are rising notably for the Metals Triumvirate, the Bond and Spoo. The Econ Baro has a very busy week of 15 incoming metrics, including February’s “Fed-favoured” PCE data (Thursday) such that we’ll complete our inflation table through that month. Today for the Baro comes March’s ISM(Svc) Index.

The Gold Update: No. 855 – (04 April 2026) – “The Vehement Volatility of Gold”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 855th Edition — Monte-Carlo — 04 April 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

The Vehement Volatility of Gold

One quarter (plus two days) of the 2026 trading year is in the books, replete with really record-setting Q1 volatility for Gold, price having settled its week on Thursday at 4703 as we above see.

For an otherwise “non-yielding, archaic, ho-hum” hard currency, Gold in Q1 traced a record -1,486 point-range from the recent All-Time High of 5586 (29 January) down to 4100 (23 March), indeed a -26.6% plummet across a mere 37 trading days.  Comparably, this century’s second-largest Q1 trading range was +537 points (+20.5%) just a year ago; or second-best percentage-wise, Gold in 2009 amassed a +25.7% low-to-high Q1 run, (albeit by points ’twas “only” +206 from 802 to 1008).

Yet through such rampant Q1 volatility for 2026, we’ve this amazing view from the ” ‘Tis Far Too Early to Blow One’s Own Horn Dept. “

“Oh no, here yer gonna gloat, mmb…

Now just relax, Squire, and instead recall this opening sentence from our first missive of 2026 (03 January) which read as follows:

  • 5546 is our forecast Gold high for 2026.”

‘Twas then followed a number of paragraphs deeper into the piece by:

  • “… the potential low coming in at 4136 …”

Here is daily Gold year-to-date (63 trading days); duly note therein the labeled green and red lines:

“Yeah but ya gotta think that range is gonna get busted, mmb…

“Think” is your key word there, Squire.  Unknowns abound with 75% of the trading year still in the balance.  To wit:  next week’s busy economic calendar shall complete our inflation data for February and it doesn’t look Fed-favorable one wit.  Energy prices are on the move to the extent we see the FinMedia (finally) having figured out the Federal Reserve may actually have to raise rates as the year unfolds.  “Whoopsie!”  There’s your Gold negative for lower lows, albeit as we’ve historically herein shown, Gold can rise in stride with rates, (recall 2004-2006).  ‘Course if instead money need be created by the Fed to pay back that to which the U.S. has been lent, there’s your Gold positive for higher highs: recall our close from two missives ago:

  • ” What if — to pay off the StateSide federal debt of now $39T — the Fed merely made an accounting entry of same … the ‘M2’ money supply would leap 2.7x from today’s $22T to some $61T … [and Gold would be] at 10,606 (by Fair Value precision) … ‘Got Gold?’ “

Moving right along… we just mentioned energy, which given the war has knocked the precious metals from their long-running spot atop our BEGOS Markets Standings.  Here’s the table year-to-date, (and no, that percentage gain for Oil is not a typo):

Still, both Gold and Silver are on the podium.  But clearly the S&P 500 being -3.8% is certain to cause chaotic confusion for the “stocks only go up” crowd.  The chilling news for such “marked-to-market millionaires” is that across the past 50 years, (which for you WestPalmBeachers down there is from 1976 through 2025), the S&P has netted 24% (i.e.12 years) that were negative … but there’s been only one down year in the past seven.  Think the S&P is overwhelmingly due for a down year, or two?  Reprise Murray Head from back in ’75: “Say it ain’t so, Joe”.  Have a great day.

To be sure, Gold’s days are vehemently volatile, indeed as are its weeks per the following year-over-year graphic.  The expected weekly trading range for Gold is now 369 points, the daily alone being 196 points.  Either way — of which there’s been a lot — the red parabolic Short trend has completed a third dot.  But at least Gold’s four-week losing streak is complete, this past week’s +4.7% gain a welcome treat.  Moreover, Gold is still “textbook oversold” through the past 13 trading days; that would resolve upon Gold swiftly closing above 4797.  ‘Course, by the opening Scoreboard, Gold is nearly -10% below its BEGOS Market Value (5220), but ’tis practically +20% above Fair Value (3930).

Let’s stay year-over-year in going to our graphic of Gold’s percentage track vis-à-vis those of key metals’ equities.  Thus from this time a year ago, Gold has gained +49%, whereas for the leverage-driven equities we find Franco-Nevada (FNV) +64%, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) +93%, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners exchange-traded fund (GDX) +107%, Pan American Silver (PAAS) +118%, Newmont (NEM) +136%, and the Global X Silver Miners exchange-traded fund (SIL) +137%.  Quite the roller coaster for the equities boaster!

The precious metals’ wild ride is further exemplified by our 10-day Market Profiles for Gold on the left and for Silver on the right, both boasting a big bracket gap.  Just a friendly reminder that gravity does work:

Whereas the above Profiles encompass this last fortnight, let’s too go ’round the horn across the past month by the daily bars for each of our BEGOS Markets.  Notice that — again save for Oil — the balance of the bunch have negatively-sloped grey regression trend lines.  Also, as regular website viewers know, the baby blue dots depict the consistency of the respective trends.  And per the maxim “Follow the Blues instead of the news, else lose yer shoes”, the rising “Baby Blues” for both Gold and Silver are indicative of their respective downtrends becoming less consistently so as the trendlines become more shallow.  We thus may see still higher metals’ prices in the ensuing week:

Now again, it being month-end, ’tis our own trend to present Gold by its monthly bars since 2020.  And per “March, the Mad Scientist” by Jethro Tull from 50 years ago, this past March for the Gold bulls was maddening.  ‘Tis the second right-most “candle”, which as jarringly red as it appears, finished March well off the aforementioned 4100 low.  Then the right-most wee “doji” is this April’s two trading days pro tanto, (a little Latin lingo there).  Here’s the whole show:

As for the Economic Barometer — on balance in ascent since last July — ’twasn’t too much of a surprise yesterday (Friday) to see the best Non-Farm Payrolls creation since March a year ago.  ‘Course, the growing economy in tandem with increasing prices doesn’t auger well for a FedFunds rate cut anytime soon, with instead perhaps (as noted) a rate rise should energy prices further fuel inflation.  On this side of the pond, petrol is getting pretty pricey.  We’re told that just down the coast in San Remo, its four filling stations went dry last week.  Meanwhile StateSide, the past week’s stream of 13 incoming Econ Baro metrics found eight having improved period-over-period, notably including (in addition to March’s job growth) February’s Retail Sales.  Here’s the picture from a year ago-to-date, the Baro in blue and S&P 500 in red, (and as earlier shown, year-to-date in the red):

All that said, next week is the commencement of Q1 Earnings Season.  You’ll recall those for Q4 found 71% of the S&P’s reporting constituents having improved their bottom lines from the like quarter a year earlier.  Can such above average pace be maintained?  The Baro suggests yes, but an ongoing energy crisis can eventually erode earnings.  ‘Course as we oft quip, if earnings today were properly used as an equities’ valuation tool, the S&P would be half its current level, (the current price/earnings ratio still a whoppingly high 43.5x).  But:  ’tis different these days (until ’tisn’t).

In the meantime — for those of you scoring at home — the S&P 500 (pre-yield) is +399% century-to-date (or with yield, nearly +500%); the yieldless relic — vehemently volatile Gold — is +1,618%.

So what’s in your bunny basket?

Cheers!

…m…

03 April 2026 – 08:39 Central Euro Time

As noted yesterday, whilst today is a holiday for western bourses, because of the exceptional occurrence of this Good Friday falling on the first Friday of the month when StateSide Payrolls are released, the Bond, Currencies and Spoo are in abbreviated trading sessions such that they can respond to the data; none of those BEGOS Markets have (as yet) moved materially. Tomorrow brings the 855th consecutive Saturday Edition of The Gold Update, indeed our month and quarter-ending piece. Happy Easter!

02 April 2026 – 08:21 Central Euro Time

‘Tis the final trading day of the week, wherein at present — save for Oil being above its Neutral Zone for today — we’ve nothing but red for the seven other BEGOS Markets, all below said Zones; session volatility is mostly robust following the U.S.’ intent to ramp up war operations toward completion. As provisionally noted yesterday, both the Bond and Gold have now confirmed their “Baby Blues” of linreg consistency having crossed above the key -80% axis: however both markets are well down today (Bond -0.8%, Gold -3.8%). Looking at Market Rhythms for pure swing consistency, our leaders (10-test basis) are Copper’s 6hr Moneyflow and both Gold’s 12hr Parabolics and 1hr Price Oscillator; too, (24-test basis), we’ve the non-BEGOS Yen’s 15mn Moneyflow, Gold’s 2hr Moneyflow and Silver’s 30mn Parabolics. Today’s Econ Baro incoming metrics include February’s Trade Deficit. Whilst western bourses are closed tomorrow, we’ll nonetheless have a brief comment, noting that StateSide Payrolls shall be reported, for which the Bond, EuroCurrencies and Spoo have an abbreviated Friday session so as to respond to the data.

01 April 2026 – 08:35 Central Euro Time

Yesterday’s +2.9% net gain in the S&P 500 was the largest since 13 May a year ago (+3.3%); that for Gold of +4.2% was the most since 03 February (+6.2%). At present, the Bond, EuroCurrencies and Spoo are above their respective Neutral Zones for today; the balance of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and session volatility is light-to-moderate. By Market Trends, yesterday both Silver and Copper confirmed their “Baby Blues” of linreg consistency having moved above their key -80% axes, indicative of still higher prices near-term; today, the Blues for Gold have provisionally moved up above same. Oil (98.36) has traded down to just above its most volume-dominant Market Profile price of 98.00. Scheduled metrics for the Econ Baro are March’s ADP employment data and ISM(Mfg) Index, February’s Retail Sales, and January’s Business Inventories.

31 March 2026 – 08:42 Central Euro Time

The final trading day of Q1 finds at present the Bond, Gold, Silver and the Spoo above today’s Neutral Zones; Oil is below same, and BEGOS Markets’ volatility is again moderate. The Bond yesterday moved above what had been volume-dominant Market Profile resistance (112^22), price now a full above above that at 113^22; similarly, Copper moved above same (5.470) to now 5.509; both markets however — as remains the case for every BEGOS component except Oil — are in negative linreg (see Market Trends). Gold (presently 4591) is just beneath its most volume-dominant Market Profile resistor of 4598; too Gold is still considerably below its BEGOS Market Value of 5243, that measure itself having begun to roll over to the downside. The Econ Baro awaits March’s Chi PMI and Consumer Confidence.

30 March 2026 – 08:36 Central Euro Time

Into the new week we’ve at present the Bond, Gold and Copper above today’s Neutral Zones; the balance of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and session volatility is moderate. The Gold Update depicts price as being (by percentage) about equidistant (i.e. “♫ Stuck in the Middle with Gold ♫” between its BEGOS Market Value (some +14% higher than price) and its Fair Value (some -14% lower than price). As to our Market Values for all five primary BEGOS Components (in real-time): we’ve the Bond as -6^30 points “low” beneath its smooth valuation line, the Euro as -0.050 points “low”, Gold as -729 points “low”, Oil as +26.58 points “high”, and the Spoo as -620 points “low”. The Econ Baro is quiet today ahead of 14 incoming scheduled as the week unfolds.

The Gold Update: No. 854 – (28 March 2026) – “♫ Stuck in the Middle with Gold ♫”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 854th Edition — Monte-Carlo — 28 March 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

♫ Stuck in the Middle with Gold ♫

In two trading-days time, 2026 shall be 25% complete.  And as was calculated back at New Year, our expected yearly trading range for Gold in 2026 came to 1410 points between the low and high.  Or by percentage range, were the low to come first, the high would later be +34.1% above the low, else if vice-versa, the low -25.4% below the high, (the latter directionally being the case year-to-date).

But so far through not quite three months, the range has already surpassed our expectation in spanning 1486 points, or -26.6%,  from the 29 January high of 5586 down to the 23 March low of 4100.  More on Gold’s extremes vis-à-vis what we had precisely forecast come next Saturday’s month-end/quarter-end piece; (a shameless plug, that).

To be sure, from the “Means Reversion Dept.” — barring your having slept through last Monday’s trading session — that day’s low of 4100 was a “mere” +5.4% (+210 points) above Fair Value of then 3890.  We say “mere” as by Gold’s All-Time High of 5586, price at that instant was +43.0% (+1681 points) above Fair Value of then 3905; (the latter has since slipped a tad given the immaterially periodic refining of the money supply).

Either way, in settling the week yesterday (Friday) at 4490, Gold per the above opening Scoreboard is now fundamentally +14.4% (+564 points) above Fair Value, but technically is nearly an identical -14.6% (-770 points) below its BEGOS Market Value.  Cue “Stuck in the Middle with You” –[Stealers Wheel, ’72].  Cue, too, Gold’s year-over-year track and — just now rolling over — smooth BEGOS valuation line per our proprietary view:

More commonly used by the investing/trading community at large are “textbook technicals”, our preferred cocktail comprised of John Bollinger’s Bands, blended with Relative Strength and infused with Stochastics.  And such concoction now finds Gold as “textbook oversold” through the past nine trading days.

“But there’s new contract premium coming in, right mmb?

Certainly so, Squire, as contract volume on Gold is rolling from April into June which adds +33 points of fresh premium to price (by the so-called “continuous contract”) as we go into next week.

‘Course such premium gets lost in the shuffle given just how broad Gold’s trading ranges have become:  price’s expect daily trading range is now 193 points (updated nightly at the website), and the weekly is expected to trace 359 points.

That’s a lot of points.  For example:  to trade one COMEX Gold contract (by which you control 100 ounces of Gold) today requires initial margin of just $31,671; (for you WestPalmBeachers down there, that is called “leverage”).  In the new week — assuming the range were to work out with your impossibly being perfectly price prescient in buying the exact low and selling the exact high (or vice-versa, albeit as we always say “Shorting Gold is a bad idea”) — you’d gain +359 points valued at $100/point, i.e. +$35,900 … which added to your initial margin would thus increase your account by +113% to $67,571.  That’s within one week, just in case you’re scoring at home.  (Disclaimer:  get it backward and you shan’t be around anymore).

What hasn’t been around for some time in The Gold Update is one of our infamous pop quizzes.  So let’s go with one.  Ready?

  • Gold just completed a fourth consecutive down week.  When was the last time that happened?  Extra credit:  What is Gold’s largest weekly down streak so far this century?

“The last time, mmb, was in February 2023, right?

Correct you are, Squire.  And the for the extra credit?

“Ummm … there’ve been three streaks of seven weeks each in ’04, ’15 and ’16, yes?

Folks, this is why Squire got the job.  Spot on, mate.  But let us not procrastinate, as we move on to the weekly bars from one year ago-to-date — which of late have not been looking so great — even as price  yesterday settled well off the week’s low:

 

Yet, as therein noted, Gold’s fourth consecutive down week was only a loss of -2 points, as from the 4100 low, price bounced back to now 4490.  Still, the distance from here to the ensuing week’s parabolic “flip-to-Long” price of 5527 requires a rise of +1037 points, nearly triple the expected weekly trading range (359 points).  So realistically, the current red-dotted parabolic Short trend likely has at least a few more weeks to run.

Toward choosing a technical study for Gold, from the “Benefit of Hindsight Dept.”, the website’s Market Rhythms page currently depicts 28 studies (of 45 tested nightly) which meet the list’s qualifications.  The best of that bunch up to now (through 10 tests) are Gold’s daily Parabolics:  as the last 10 signals have alternated back and forth between Long and Short (careful), each trade “would have” achieved a minimum of 48 points of profit.  ‘Course, you’re on your own with Market Rhythms as again, ’tis all in hindsight.  Still, the webpage encompassing all our BEGOS Market Rhythms is updated each night.

Updated daily as well is the Economic Barometer, for which the past week was fairly muted:  the Baro collected just eight incoming metrics of which three bettered their respective prior period.  Positively, the StateSide Current Account Deficit for Q4 ($190.7B) was the lowest since COVID-stricken Q1 for 2021.  As for the Baro’s weak link from last week, ’twas Q4’s Productivity revision from +2.8% down to +1.8%; (our ever-productive Squire hates it when that happens).  Here it all is from a year ago-to-date, ahead of 14 metrics due for next week’s slate:

Therein too we see the S&P 500 which from its record high of 7002 (28 January) is today at 6369,  a rather mild correction of -9%, and yet the price/earnings ratio is a ridiculously high 42.2x.  ‘Course to market “newbies” and the children’s writing pools of the FinMedia, this recent sag is a cataclysmic crash.  Therefore toward maintaining perspective, here is our updated chart of the S&P 500 across the past 50 years:  note the current rightmost “world-ending” down hook.  To be sure, war-elicited lack of energy can severely put the screws into the economy, meaning lower corporate earnings.  Oh yes, ’tis been a good number of years since earnings were actually regarded as a valuation tool for equities.  But perhaps the effects of the war shall bring common sense back to pricing, which per the following graphic would be between the yellow regression channel lines, (for as you well know, everything ultimately reverts to the mean):

Meanwhile, let us drill down into Gold.  Here we’ve the following two-panel graphic of the yellow metal’s daily bars from three months ago-to-date on the left and 10-day Market Profile (by June contract pricing) on the right.  Query:  when Gold’s baby blue dots of regression trend consistency broke below +80% (price wildly overvalued up there), did you (to quote charter reader THR) “take a few chippies off the table”?  In looking at the Profile, we see nearby support for Gold as labeled at 4457 with resistance at 4598:

We’ve heard quite a bit of banter this past week about buying Gold sub-4000.  But you know how that goes:  whilst all await such desired level, price never gets there.  That said, although a return by Gold to Fair Value (now 3926, itself in ascent these past nine weeks) would be an attractive entry/add level, we reprise the great Richard Russell:  “There’s never a bad time to buy Gold!”

As to “poor ol’ Sister Silver” we can say the same as regards her “Baby Blues” (below left), their having broken the +80% axis back on 02 February.  And by her Profile (below right), now priced at 69.77, the white metal is basically at her most volume-dominant level of the past fortnight (69.70 as labeled).  As for Silver’s Fair Value?  Per the opening Scoreboard she’s presently +23.2% above such 56.65 level:

So there we have it:  Gold today at 4490 is nearly equidistant between its BEGOS Market Value (5260) which has just begun to descend, and its Fair Value (3926) which is in ascent.  So as to where Gold travels near-term, whilst fundamentals remain the ultimate driver of price, the swifter technicals are negative in many respects.  As noted earlier for guidance, Gold’s best trading studies are comprehensively tested every night in order to qualify at our Market Rhythms page.  Regardless, as herein emphasized, Gold is basically at the midpoint between our two critically important valuation metrics.  But in this case, being stuck in the middle clearly is good (dare we say) “Fortuna”!

Cheers!

…m…

27 March 2026 – 08:34 Central Euro Time

The Bond currently is below its Neutral Zone for today, whilst above same are all three element of the Metals Triumvirate; session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is again light. Gold’s cac volume is rolling from April into that for June with +33 points of fresh premium; more on Gold, ‘natch, in tomorrow’s 854th consecutive Saturday edition of The Gold Update. The Spoo yesterday moved below its most volume-dominant price (6639) for the past fortnight (see Market Profiles); as fundamentally expensive as is the S&P 500 (“live” futs-adj’d P/E 43.2x), the Index is “textbook oversold” through the last 15 trading days and the Spoo itself is (in real-time) -514 points below its smooth valuation line (see Market Values). The Econ Baro wraps its quiet week with the March revision to the UofM Sentiment Survey.

26 March 2026 – 08:45 Central Euro Time

The Bond, Gold and Silver all are presently below their respective Neutral Zones for today; the balance of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and session volatility is light. The Swiss Franc by its Market Profile yesterday moved below what had been volume-dominant support at 1.280: price is now 1.273; by Market Trends, as is the case for every BEGOS component except for Oil, the Swiss Franc and Euro are in negative linreg, but both are becoming less consistently down as the Dollar Index keeps falling back from the 100 level (currently 99.515). The S&P 500 is basically down -6% from its all-time high (7002): however by our MoneyFlow page, the Index (6592) “ought be” -95 points lower by the five-day measure, -196 points lower by the 21-day measure, and -737 points lower by the 63-day measure; the “live” P/E of the S&P (futs-adj’d) is 44.3x. Today for the Econ Baro we’ve just the usual Initial Jobless Claims from the prior week.

25 March 2026 – 08:45 Central Euro Time

Both the Swiss Franc and Copper presently are below today’s Neutral Zones, whilst above same is Gold; BEGOS Markets’ volatility is light-to-moderate. Going ’round the horn of Market Values for the five primary BEGOS components, we show (in real-time) the Bond as -7^15 points “low” vis-à-vis its smooth valuation line, the Euro as -0.053 points “low”, Gold as -721 points “low”, Oil as +17.43 points “high” and the Spoo as -451 points “low”. Oil yesterday by Market Trends saw the “Baby Blues” of trend consistency drop below the key +80% axis, indicative of still lower prices near-term: obviously the wildcard in this case is the war; thus a Short is fine, but with a firm stop in line(!); by Oil’s Market Profile, the most volume-dominant price resistor is 94.20, (vs. current price at 88.61). Today’s Econ Baro looks to February’s Ex/Im Prices and Q4’s Current Account Deficit.

24 March 2026 – 08:38 Central Euro Time

No, Gold’s intra-day drop yesterday of -9.6% was not a record; and even as Gold recovered to finish the session just -1.8%, the low trade of the day at precisely 4100 was “only” +210 points above Fair Value of 3890 … just in case you’re scoring at home. At present, Gold is in its Neutral Zone for today, as are six of the other BEGOS Markets, Copper being the sole exception below same; session volatility vis-à-vis yesterday has cooled to moderate. Topping our Market Rhythms for pure swing consistency on a 10-test basis are Silver’s 15mn Moneyflow and 30mn Price Oscillator, plus the Bond’s 30mn Moneyflow; on a 24-test basis, the leaders are Silver’s 2hr Parabolics, the non-BEGOS Yen’s 2hr MACD, and Gold’s 4hr Price Oscillator. The Econ Baro awaits the usual revisions to Q4’s Productivity and Unit Labor costs.

23 March 2026 – 08:46 Central Euro Time

Gold is -7% this morning having traded down into the 4100s: The Gold Update specifies the yellow metal having taken a double-shot of technical adversity (parabolics and MACD on the weeklies), including a table of how typically “low is low” suggestive of the 4100s; it didn’t take long; Gold is now not that far above Fair Value (3890), albeit is more than -1,000 points below its BEGOS Market Value (5275). Obviously, at present Gold is also below today’s Neutral Zone as too are Silver, Copper, the Spoo, the Bond and the Euro; Oil is above same, and session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is moderate-to-robust. With the Spoo -1.4%, the S&P 500 would at this instant open down -0.9%. The Econ Baro begins its somewhat subdued week with January’s Construction Spending.

The Gold Update: No. 853 – (21 March 2026) – “Gold’s Double-Shot of Technical Adversity”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 853rd Edition — Monte-Carlo — 21 March 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

Gold’s Double-Shot of Technical Adversity

We’ve felt a bit of a lone wolf year-to-date in duly citing Gold’s overbought state.  However of late, the mighty metal’s market participants have finally been grasping Gold’s dire strait.  For en route to settling  the week yesterday (Friday) at 4492, price from its All-Time High of 5586 — a mere 36 trading days ago on 29 January — is down -19.6%.

Not surprisingly in turn (and as promptly posted Wednesday on “X” @deMeadvillePro), Gold’s 14-week run of being parabolically Long saw such stance flip to Short.  Here ’tis, the rightmost first red dot as encircled:

 

But wait, there’s more:  note the above graphic’s being embedded with the now negatively-crossed “moving average convergence divergence” (MACD), the momentum of the blue line having powered down below the red line.  We’ve thus now adversity by both the parabolics and momentum:  hardly the “Double shot of my baby’s love” we relish romancing for Gold, (hat-tip The Swingin’ Medallions, ’66).

“But negative MACDs on the weekly haven’t been that bad, right mmb?

Squire, in looking at any broad-term chart of Gold from the year 2019-to-date, price has been in rally mode, (the current overvaluation downside lurch notwithstanding). Indeed, the price of Gold started 2019 at 1285 and at 4492 today is an impressive 3.5x that opening price of just over seven years ago.  By comparison, the S&P 500 opened the same year at 2477 and is now 2.6x higher at 6506.  And yet throughout when specific to these two markets, the FinMedia’s focus has essentially been 99% on the S&P and 1% on Gold.  Oh well … perhaps they’ll figure it out someday.

Despite that, again as above graphically described, Gold has just taken a double shot of technical adversity per the weekly MACD and parabolics.

“Which, mmb, begs the usual question of ‘How low is low?’…

The answer being, Squire, that none of us know.  Yet, we’ve history as a hint as to how low Gold may go.  The following two-panel table of weekly stints displays Gold’s worst adversity for the last 12 MACD Short signals on the left and for the last 12 parabolic Short signals on the right.  ‘Tis important to note that given Gold’s bold performance, adversity certainly from 2023-to-date has been comparatively minimal.  And whilst “average” hardly is “absolute”, at the foot of each panel is the average Short weeks’ duration before flipping back to Long:  12 weeks for the more ponderous MACD and 9 weeks for the slightly swifter parabolics.  Thus purely within the vacuum of “average” — and assuming the yellow metal opens this Monday ’round where now ’tis at 4492 — precisely hitting the MACD’s -4.4% decline would put Gold at 4294 within 12 weeks, or by the parabolics a -3.1% decline down to 4353 within 9 weeks.  ‘Course, given Gold’s expected daily trading range is presently 167 points — let alone the weekly being 340 points — price could touch such adversity in a single day.  Here’s the table either way:

 

All such negative nattering aside, there is good news:  Gold by the opening Scoreboard is now -14.7% below its BEGOS Market Value of 5266, which is a “near-term” view versus the “long-term” Fair Value level of 3890, (above which present price is +15.5%).  Obviously it remains to be seen if Gold truly is en route to fully reverting to Fair Value; but strictly by BEGOS, Gold for the near-term moment is undervalued.  Thus we wouldn’t be surprised a wit to see Gold buyers come bollocking in for a bounce on Monday, prematurely as they may be given the double-shot of technical adversity.  Regardless, here’s our year-over-year graphic of Gold, now -774 points below its BEGOS valuation:

Bouncing just fine in the meantime is the Economic Barometer.  Taking in 13 metrics this past week, just four were worse period-over-period, especially January’s “shutdown-delayed” New Home Sales which missed consensus by the worst margin since those for April 2022 and clearly were worse than those for December, such month itself revised lower as well.  Still, (albeit for two months later), March’s National Association of Home Builders Index beat consensus and improved over February, which too was revised higher.  So building, but not buying?  On verra… Here’s the Baro:

Yes, the StateSide economy appears quite fine, although the economic effects notably on the expense and availability of Oil per the war have yet to ripple into reported metrics.  That high in the above graphic for the Econ Baro, (which we remind you WestPalmBeachers down there is an oscillator rather than an index), is at its loftiest level since 02 May 2024.  Too, per last Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee Policy Statement:  “…economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace.”  Therein however, we view the sentence “Inflation remains somewhat elevated.” as an understatement.

Further, the S&P 500 today at 6506 is -7.1% below its 7002 record high, Dow Jones Newswires yesterday referring to stocks as being “pummeled”; (the children’s writing pool there there doesn’t know what “pummeled” looks like).  Moreover, the S&P remains scarily high, its price/earnings ratio settling the week at 43.0x, the exact formula for which remains unsolvable by “AI” (Assembled Inaccuracy).

But directionally accurate as ever for Gold are our baby blue dots of linear regression trend consistency as depicted below at left across the past three months.  And whilst those “Baby Blues” continue to descend,  the lower leftmost cluster of daily bars from last December (4581-to-4284) into which Gold has now penetrated can be structurally supportive.  As for the 10-day Market Profile at right, present price barely shows way down there as the wee white bar:

Per earlier mention, whereas Gold from its 5586 All-Time High to here (4492) is -19.6%, Silver from her record high of 121.79 to here (67.81) is off a whopping -44.3%, and yet by the opening Scoreboard still is +20.8% above her Fair Value of 56.13.  However, Silver’s December-through-January rise was so vertical, that we see (below left) her “Baby Blues” essentially being “painted on the ceiling” prior to her wheels coming off into February and March.  Too, as is Gold, Silver is buried near the bottom of her fortnight’s Profile (below right).  From her peak, Sister Silver’s loss has been deprivative, yet still she’s expensive!

Three weeks into the war, we’ve waxed regularly about the usual geo-political Gold “spike n’ plunge”, in so noting that ’tis a random exercise to try and regress a value for Gold based upon geo-politics.  After all, since President Nixon’s nixing of The Gold Standard back on 15 August 1971, our 55-year regressing of Gold to the U.S. money supply has served well for valuing the yellow metal, even as its own supply has more than doubled since then.  But the following thought has occasionally come to mind, (and doubtless same to many of you, too):

What if — to pay off the StateSide federal debt of now $39T — the Fed merely made an accounting entry of same, and ’twas distributed to all the creditors?  To be sure, the “M2” money supply would leap 2.7x from today’s $22T to some $61T.  Inflation would become hyper-impalpable.  And were it to happen, say, over this weekend, Gold having settled Friday at 4492 would open Monday at 10,606 (by Fair Value precision) … just in case you’re scoring at home.  “Got Gold?”

In summary, we offer this from the “Don’t Be That Guy Dept.”:  Gold’s double-shot of technical adversity may see price work further low, but to let go of your Gold would be a bad blow!

Cheers!

…m…

20 March 2026 – 08:43 Central Euro Time

Into week’s end, we’ve at present the Euro below its Neutral Zone for today, whilst above same is Gold; BEGOS Markets’ session volatility is light-to-moderate. Gold yesterday traded down to 4505, its lowest price since 02 February; for pure swing consistency, Gold (on a 10-test basis) by Market Rhythms has been featuring the 15-minute time frame on both the Parabolics and MACD studies; more on the yellow metal’s newly negative near-term stance in tomorrow’s 853rd consecutive Saturday edition of The Gold Update. The S&P 500 from its 7002 record high (28 January) through yesterday’s low (6558) has retraced -6.3%; a full -10% correction would be completed come 6302. The Econ Baro wrapped up its week yesterday. And today marks the arrival of Northern Hemisphere spring (14:46 GMT).

19 March 2026 – 08:38 Central Euro Time

Gold, Silver and Oil are presently below today’s Neutral Zones; the balance of th BEGOS Markets are within same, and volatility for the session is moderate. As posted last evening on “X” (@deMeadvillePro), Gold’s weekly parabolic trend has provisionally flipped from Long-to-Short; price’s low trade thus far today (4749) last traded on 06 February. At Market Trends, with the exception of Oil, the seven other BEGOS components all are in negative linreg. By Market Profiles, both the Euro and Spoo yesterday moved below their most volume-dominant support levels (1.157 and 6754 respectively). The Econ Baro wraps its week this Thursday with incoming metrics that include March’s Philly Fed Index, plus January’s New Home Sales, Wholesale Inventories, and (purportedly) Leading (i.e. “lagging”) Indicators.

18 March 2026 – 08:39 Central Euro Time

Both the Bond and Spoo are at present above their respective Neutral Zones for today, whilst below same are the Swiss Franc, Copper and Oil; session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is again light-to-moderate. The S&P 500 completed an eighth consecutive day as “textbook oversold” and would see a bounce (were it to open at this instant) of +0.6%; clearly however, the Index broadly remains overvalued, the “live” futs-adj’d P/E at this moment 45.8x. Still, by Market Values, the Spoo is -336 points below its smooth valuation line. Gold’s 21-day linreg in real-time has provisionally rotated to negative, (see Market Trends). The Econ Baro awaits wholesale inflation for February via the PPI, and purportedly (again) January’s Factory Orders; then at 18:00 GMT comes the FOMC’s Policy Statement for we expect no change in rates, albeit with a cautionary note toward stubborn inflation.

17 March 2026 – 08:49 Central Euro Time

Copper is presently below its Neutral Zone for today, whilst Oil is above same; BEGOS Markets’ volatility is light-to-moderate. For the five primary BEGOS components (in real-time) by their Market Values: the Bond shows as -6^11 points “low” beneath its smooth valuation line, the Euro as 0.070 points “low”, Gold as -195 points “low”, Oil as +29.95 points “high”, and the Spoo as -410 points low: obviously all these extremes have largely been elicited by responses to the war and firming Dollar. Specific to the Spoo, it (on Friday) confirmed a negative daily EMA has crossover: thus commencing from yesterday’s open (6660), we may near-term see 6609 trade on the downside as the last 10 such crossovers — either Long or Short — have distanced at least 50 points of follow-through travel; (see the Market Rhythm chart at the foot of BEGOS Markets > S&P 500). February’s Pending Home Sales come due for the Econ Baro.

16 March 2026 – 08:36 Central Euro Time

Both Copper and the Spoo are presently above today’s Neutral Zones; the rest of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and session volatility continues to this hour as moderate. The Gold Update underscores price having fallen through the first two war weeks, and is again lower a bit this morning: the yellow metal has completed a -10% correction from its All-Time High (5586 on 29 January). As noted, Copper is higher today, albeit has not regained the volume-dominant 5.8050 level down through which it fell on Friday (see Market Profiles). April Oil has returned above the 100 handle for the first time since last Monday, however cac volume is now rolling into that for May at a price discount of -1.90; too, cac volume for the Spoo is rolling from March into that for June with +49 points of premium. For the Econ Baro we’ve March’s NY State Empire and NAHB Housing Indices, plus February’s IndProd/CapUtil.

The Gold Update: No. 852 – (14 March 2026) – “Two Weeks of War Profound; Two Weeks of Gold Gone Down”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 852nd Edition — Monte-Carlo — 14 March 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

Two Weeks of War Profound; Two Weeks of Gold Gone Down

Gold just recorded a second consecutive down week for the first time since a trifecta which respectively ended this past 24 and 31 October, plus 07 November.

Fast forward to two Fridays ago on “War Eve” (27 February), when Gold settled at 5296, price then proceeding to post a -2.2% net loss through the war’s first week to close at 5181.  And now through the war’s second week, Gold recorded another net loss of -3.1% in settling yesterday (Friday) at 5023.

Given the outbreak of war, Gold in decline is contra to conventional wisdom wherein ’tis assumed price instead must soar — which it initially did albeit ever so briefly — in an eight-hour COMEX run from the aforementioned 5296 to as high as 5434 on Monday, 02 March.  However, price since hasn’t been higher, indeed recording from the war high of 5434 to this past week’s low of 5014 an encompassing loss of -7.7%.  And from Gold’s All-Time High (5586 on 29 January), price today is lower by -10.1%.

“Still, a -10% correction seems like a lot, eh mmb?

War or otherwise, Squire, Gold has gotten far ahead of valuation.  And lest we forget, from September 2011 into December 2015, Gold “corrected” by some -46%.  But as our readers know ad nauseam, this is exactly how Gold negatively reacts to geo-political spikes, price now once again lower than prior to the onset (then 5296) of this war by -5.2%.  “Who wudda thunk it…” right?

‘Course as we’ve written, regressing the price of Gold to geo-politics is at best an abstract guess.  But mathematically regressing Gold to Dollar debasement across five decades (as rightly adjusted for the increase in the supply of Gold itself) is a proper, proven measure.  And as thus shown in the opening Gold Scoreboard, price today at 5023 is +29.2% above the broad Fair Value measure of 3888.

Near-term however, per Gold’s BEGOS Market Value of 5179, price is -3.0% low, indeed by some -156 points per the year-over-year chart below, reversion to such mean as inevitably is seen:

Indeed, Gold’s most recent 73-trading-day run above its BEGOS valuation ranks fourth-longest century-to-date, (the longest being just last year for an 88-trading-day stint).  But come Gold’s All-Time High (5586), price then was +24.4% above such valuation, a record high-side deviation since 2001; (for those of you scoring at home, the century-to-date low-side deviation was -15.5% on 15 April 2013 in the midst of Gold’s aforementioned -46% “correction”).

Either way, with back-to-back down weeks for Gold having become a bit of a rarity, let’s next go to Gold’s weekly bars from a year ago-to-date astride the parabolic dots.  And clearly there’s little wiggle room for Gold to gain another blue dot of the parabolic Long trend.  Present price (5023) is but +51 points above the flip-to-short level (4972) with Gold’s expected daily trading range now 143 points and the weekly 313 points:

Too, as Gold’s uptrend energy weakens, range is narrowing.  The following graphic from four months ago-to-date shows us price’s actual daily trading range (bars) versus the expected daily trading range (line).  Gold’s actual range has exceeded the expected range just once in the past eight trading days, the expected range itself in decline.  “War?  What war?”:

Contrary to Gold’s narrowing range, that for the S&P 500 is widening in worry over war’s woes and the potential economic fallout thereto.  The S&P having peaked at a record high of 7002 on 28 January, the Index today at 6632 marks a -5.3% decrease.  Moreover, through these first 49 trading days of 2026, the S&P’s net decline to this point  — whilst only -0.5% — nonetheless ranks fourth-worst century-to-date for any opening 49-trading-day stint.  To be sure, through 25 full trading years thus far this century, the S&P has recorded just seven downers … but that as a gentle reminder to you WestPalmBeachers down there means the stock market doesn’t always go up.  And as we oft update, the S&P’s price/earnings ratio (again per the opening Scoreboard) is now 44.6x (trailing-twelve months’ method) with a dinky yield of 1.203% versus 3.603% risk-free from the annualized three-month U.S. T-Bill.

Meanwhile, the Economic Barometer — ratchety as ’tis become —  still is maintaining an upside bias.  15 metrics came into the Baro this past week, 10 of which equaled or bettered their period-over-period performance.  The best of the bunch were February’s Existing Home Sales which beat consensus and had January’s level revised higher.  ‘Course the real stinker was the severe downward revision to Q4’s Gross Domestic Product (annualized growth pace) from initially +1.7% to only +0.7%.  Ouch…

Note therein the Fed head:  whilst he steps down from the Chairmanship in mid-May, on the Board of Governors he’s destined to stay.  But his departure in May may be timely so as to avoid stagflation’s sway … should it come that way.  Below is our completed summary of January inflation with again every calculated category in red, i.e. above the Federal Reserve’s desired target for 2% inflation.  Thus, must the Fed raise?  Just a passing thought…

As for the U.S. Dollar, ’tis (as is typical) getting the war bid, the “Dixie” re-achieving the 100 level yesterday for the first time since last 25 November, even as Oil on balance also has moved higher.  Thus as we noted earlier, whilst Gold remains in an uptrend, ’tis weakening.  Specifically, said trend is the 21-day linear regression direction, which by the panel next on the left is positive given the “Baby Blues” are still above 0%, but waning as the Blues are falling by the day.  As for Silver on the right, the rightmost erraticity of her normal “Baby Blues” consistency is producing an uneasy motion sickness:  poor ol’ Sister Silver!

Too, the wartime weakening in the precious metals’ prices finds them nearly at the base of their respective 10-day Market Profiles for both Gold (below left) and for Silver (below right).  Notable volume-dominant prices — almost all resistive — are as labeled:

So with Gold on the wane, we go to the stack … (but hardly in vain):

The Gold Stack (continuous contract pricing):
Gold’s All-Time Intra-Day High:  5586 (29 January 2026)
2026’s High:  5586 (29 January)
Gold’s All-Time Closing High:  5411 (28 January 2026)
Trading Resistance:  notables as labeled in the Market Profile
10-Session “volume-weighted” average price magnet:  5181
Gold’s BEGOS Market Value:  5179
Gold Currently:  5023, (expected daily trading range [“EDTR”]:  143 points)
Trading Support:  none notable by the Market Profile
10-Session directional range:  down to 5013 (from 5432) = -419 points or -7.7%
The Weekly Parabolic Price to flip Short:  4972
2026’s Low:  4319 (02 January)
Gold’s Fair Value per Dollar Debasement, (from our opening “Scoreboard”):  3888
The 300-Day Moving Average:  3706 and rising
The 2000’s Triple-Top:  2089 (07 Aug ’20); 2079 (08 Mar’22); 2085 (04 May ’23)
The Gateway to 2000:  1900+
The Final Frontier:  1800-1900
The Northern Front:  1800-1750
On Maneuvers:  1750-1579
The Floor:  1579-1466
Le Sous-sol:  Sub-1466
The Support Shelf:  1454-1434
Base Camp:  1377
The 1360s Double-Top:  1369 in Apr ’18 preceded by 1362 in Sep ’17
Neverland:  The Whiny 1290s
The Box:  1280-1240

To wrap — warfare an ongoing wildcard — ‘twould otherwise appear we’ll soon see Gold slip sub-5000 and the parabolic trend flip from Long to Short, certainly so were the war to show signs of winding down, even as price presently is already -3.0% below its BEGOS Market Value.  Moreover, Gold now being down -10.1% from its record high can inducing buying.  But at the end of the broader day — as we regularly say — Gold remains best valued by Dollar debasement.  And yes, Gold by Fair Value is overly high and due for further retracement, but ’tis always important to keep some in your basement!

Cheers!

…m…

13 March 2026 – 08:32 Central Euro Time

As was the case at this time yesterday, we’ve both the Euro and Swiss Franc below today’s Neutral Zones, as too are Silver, Copper and the Spoo; the Bond, Gold and Oil are within same, and session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is again moderate. Gold in its weakening uptrend (see the falling “Baby Blues” at Market Trends) has moved below its smooth valuation line, now in real-time by -95 points (see Market Values); more of course in tomorrow’s 852nd consecutive Saturday edition of The Gold Update. The S&P 500 has closed lower for eight of the past 11 trading days; technically it remains “textbook oversold”, albeit is still well-overvalued by the “live” (futs-adj’d) P/E of presently 44.8x; from the Index’s all-time high of 7002 (28 January), it has corrected by as much as -5.2% (to 6636 on 09 March). Contract volume for the Euro and Swiss Franc is rolling from March into that for June. And ’tis a busy day for the Econ Baro with incoming metrics of March’s UofM Sentiment Survey, January’s Durable Orders, Personal Income/Spending and “Fed-favoured” PCE data, along with the first revision to Q4’s GDP.

12 March 2026 – 08:42 Central Euro Time

The Euro, Swiss Franc and Spoo are all presently beneath their respective neutral Zones for today, whilst above same is Oil; BEGOS Markets’ volatility is moderate. By Market Trends, four BEGOS components are in negative linreg (the Bond, Euro, Swiss and Spoo), the other four positively-sloped (Gold, Silver Copper and Oil); however, given the volatile lurches of late, the “Baby Blues” in some cases are less consistent than the norm. Gold has slipped back below volume-dominant support of 5195 (see Market Profiles), as have both the Euro and Swiss Franc, the Dollar getting a mild bid today. Our top Market Rhythm for pure swing consistency on a 10-test basis is the non-BEGOS Yen’s 6hr Moneyflow, and on a 24-test basis again the Yen’s 2hr MACD. Metrics for the Econ Baro today include January’s Housing Starts/Permits and Trade Deficit.

11 March 2026 – 08:42 Central Euro Time

The Euro is the sole BEGOS Market at present outside (above) its Neutral Zone for today; session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is light-to-moderate. Gold is teasing either side of its Market Profile’s most volume-dominant price of 5195, (current price 5202); should such support fail, we’d look near-term down to 5105; Gold’s EDTR (see Market Ranges) is 153 points; for pure swing consistency, Gold’s best Market Rhythm has been the 4hr Parabolics (10-test basis) and 6hr Moneyflow (24-test basis). The S&P 500 has on balance worked down such as to become mildly “textbook oversold”; the Spoo by Market Values is (in real-time) -313 points below its smooth valuation line. And for the Econ Baro we await the first indications of February inflation via the CPI, even as the PCE for January shan’t be released (purportedly) until Friday; too for February we get the Treasury Budget late in the session.

10 March 2026 – 08:39 Central Euro Time

Following yesterday’s whirl ’round recovery across the BEGOS Markets — Oil notably giving back all of its extraordinary gain on the day — we’ve at present the Swiss Franc, Gold and Silver above their Neutral Zones, whilst the balance of the BEGOS bunch are within same; session volatility is mostly moderate. Save for Oil, at Market Trends the “Baby Blues” of linreg consistency are falling for the seven other BEGOS components. The Bond, after trading as anticipated down into the 115s, recovered enough to clear its most volume-dominant Market Profile resistor at 116^12, price now 116^17; for the past two trading days, the Bond’s 15mn Moneyflow has been our best Market Rhythm for that component by pure swing consistency. The Econ Baro gets its busy week underway today with February’s Existing Home Sales.

09 March 2026 – 08:43 Central Euro Time

Save for Oil (+10.1%) which is above its Neutral Zone for today, the seven other BEGOS Markets all are below same; session volatility is robust, Oil having traced 473% of its EDTR (see Market Ranges). The Gold Update underscores last week’s price decline as was anticipated; the yellow metal today (-1.4%) is just about in sync (+28 points) with its smooth valuation line (see Market Values), price reverting to that “mean”; for the other primary BEGOS Components: the Bond is -2^27 points below valuation, indeed trading in the 115s as we suggested ‘twould; the Euro shows as -0.056 points below same, the Spoo is below by -442 points, but Oil is far above valuation by +37 points. Despite the Spoo’s large deviation below its valuation line, the futs-adj’d P/E of the S&P remains critically high at 44.4x. Nothing is due today for the Econ Baro ahead of 16 scheduled metrics as the week unfolds.

The Gold Update: No. 851 – (07 March 2026) – “Gold’s War Slide is No Surprise”

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie — 851st Edition — Monte-Carlo — 07 March 2026 (published each Saturday) — www.deMeadville.com

Gold’s War Slide is No Surprise

American Civil War Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman coined the infamous phrase:  “War is hell”, as woefully we again are witnessing all ’round the Middle East.  ‘Tis remindful from the original “35 Undeniable Truths of Life” (hat-tip R.H.L.) therein of No. 6:  “Ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force.”

And yet from the “History Repeats Itself Dept.”, Gold today (as we anticipated ‘twould be) is lower than ’twas prior to its pre-war settle Friday a week ago (then 5296) than ’tis today at 5181.  This is normal — as we’ve herein pointed out time and again — following geo-political price spikes; (ref –> Gold Update No. 729 of 04 November 2023:  “Gold’s Post-Geopolitical Pullback“).

To wit for this most recent episode, Gold last Monday initially spiked up to 5434 (-152 points below its 29 January record high of 5586), only to then plunge to as low as 5005 just two trading days into the war, the exact timing as happened back in 2022 at the onset of the RUS/UKR incursion.  And credit the three authors of Bloomy’s “Long-Trusted Haven Trades Are Failing as Gold, Treasuries Fall” for also pointing out such similarity.  For yet again, Gold has now recorded a “Spike n’ Plunge” in reacting to geo-political stress.
 

“Because Gold is ultimately valued by Dollar debasement, not geo-politics, right mmb?

Spot on, Squire, and welcome back.  Indeed per the opening Scoreboard, Gold today at 5181 is just +2.4% above its BEGOS Market valuation of 5060, but moreover is +33.3% above Fair Value of 3886, (not that we expect price shall suddenly revert back down there).  Regardless, with the war underway, ’tis the Dollar that’s been getting the bid, (even as we’ve on occasion quipped that historically “Gold plays no currency favourites”).  Here are their respective percentage tracks for just this past week:

‘Course year-to-date, Gold (+19.6%) has left the Dollar (+0.8%) in the dust.  But again, they directionally can move together:  recall in 2024 from January through mid-April that even as Gold rose +14%, the Dollar, too, was on the move +4.7%.  More importantly, despite Gold’s usual early-conflict slide, should warring events significantly worsen and/or widen, the yellow metal can swiftly — even if only “momentarily” — ascend into uncharted territory.

As for Gold’s week just past, ’tis the rightmost bar as we turn to the weekly bars and dotted parabolic trends from a year ago-to-date.  And following this new war’s commencement, we heard there was speculation of Gold having made a record high (i.e. above 5586) which clearly didn’t occur.  Still, despite Gold’s down week, the blue-dotted parabolic Long trend printed its 13th dot, the flip-to-Short level having risen for the ensuing week to 4889.  That is -292 points below the present price of 5181, which technically however is reachable given Gold’s expected weekly trading range is now 318 points:

That cited, the expected daily trading ranges for the precious metals have in fact continued to compress; (ref –> Gold Update No. 848 of this past 14 February:  “Gold’s Range Compresses as the Uptrend Regresses“).  Below we’ve such “EDTRs” from one year ago-to-date for Gold on the left and for Silver on the right.  (We hasten to remind you WestPalmBeachers down there that this is not direction of price; rather ’tis expected range of price from one trading day to the next).  Such narrowing noted, these EDTRs remain well above historical norms:

As for the StateSide economy’s norm, we’re not fully convinced of various measures being on form.  To date, some reports continue to be confounded from the last October-November government “shutdown”.  Take this past week as an example:  on Wednesday, Automatic Data Processing issued for February very improved Employment data over that for January.  But then the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued February Payrolls shrinkage for the first time since that for October, (such month’s negative data we sense having been roughly pieced together, even as ADP back then reported gains).

The point (albeit a question) is:  is the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee being put in a stagflationary box with Payrolls declining whilst inflation is rising?  Cue Murray Head from ’75: “Say It Ain’t So, Joe” as we go to the Baro:

In fact, for the Economic Barometer’s 16 incoming metrics of this past week, only a scant three were better period-over-period, the worst being Labor’s negative Payrolls, also which well-missed consensus and saw the January level revised lower.  And as for the Fed in a rut, Payrolls say “Cut!” whereas inflation says “Raise!” … else come stagflation days?  Oh how weighs such economic haze!

Looking to Gold’s near-term ways, here next are our displays of price’s daily bars from three months ago-to-date at left and 10-day market Profile at right.  The baby blue dots of regression trend consistency survived that recent test of the 0% axis upon such slant only briefly having rotated to negative.  Then came the prior week’s bounce followed by last week’s trounce.  To be sure:  “Follow the blues instead of the news, else lose yer shoes”, even as the ride of late has been a bit erratic.  Note in the Profile that Gold’s present price of 5181 is just below the most volume-dominant resistor as labeled at 5195:

Here too we’ve the like graphic for Silver, having settled yesterday (Friday) at 84.70.  Her “Baby Blues” (below left) have had far more sweep than those for Gold:  in fact, Silver’s mid-panel price plunge registered -48%, whereas that above for Gold was “only” -21%.  As for her Profile (below right) Sister Silver is sitting on a settee of labeled volume-dominant support from 84.30 down to 82.45.  Cautiously however by the opening Scoreboard, Silver’s Fair Value of 56.06 is -34% below present price.  Hang in there, Sister Silver!

Towards wrapping, we’ve this from the “FinMedia Exaggeration Dept.”  Of the nine full trading weeks thus far this year, the past one for the S&P 500 ranked third (not most) for total points distance traveled (6901 to 6710, i.e. -191 points or -2.8%).  Yet, an intra-day drop of -1.96% on Thursday for “The Dow” (that Index at which our parents used to look) was reported by a financial source we encountered as a “crash”:  “they” don’t know what a crash looks like.

But the best descriptive verb we read came (again) from Bloomy, referring to the Middle East war as have roiled the markets, (our selectively therein highlighting oil).  Having closed the prior Friday at 67.29, West Texas Intermediate Oil reached up to as high as 92.61 yesterday, an intra-week gain of nearly +38% to a price not seen since 29 September 2023.  And with the Straits of Hormuz being characterized as “shut”, TV news here showed cars in long lines for petrol in places like Nice and Grasse.  Back to the 70s we go?  We hope not so.

But with respect to energy consumption there is some good news:  StateSide, they shan’t be burning as much midnight oil.  Why?  Because with two full weeks of winter still in the balance, the U.S. “tonight” ridiculously moves to summer hours:

Why do we care?  Because given the long-standing tradition of The Gold Update being posted each Saturday at 11:00 Pacific Time, if you’re outside most of North America, the following three editions (each of 14, 21 and 28 March) can be read an hour earlier as on this side of The Pond we’ll still more sensibly be on winter hours until 29 March; (thus in this CET time-zone at 19:00 instead of the usual 20:00).

Either way, price’s present slide aside, regardless of your hour, just stay with Gold’s power!

(Oh good grief, Squire…)

Cheers!

…m…

06 March 2026 – 08:32 Central Euro Time

Gold, Silver, Oil and the Spoo all are at present above today’s Neutral Zones; the balance of the BEGOS Markets are within same, and session volatility is light. Looking at Market Rhythms for pure swing consistency, our Top Three (on a 10-test basis) are Gold’s 30mn MACD, the Euro’s 8hr Parabolics and same for the non-BEGOS Yen; too, (on a 24-test basis) we’ve the Yen’s 2hr MACD and 1hr Parabolics, plus Gold’s 4hr Parabolics. Specific to the Spoo, its most consistent Rhythm has been (10-tests) the 15mn Price Oscillator and (24-tests) daily Moneyflow. Tomorrow brings our 851st consecutive Saturday edition of The Gold Update, in which we’ll emphasize (as was rather anticipated) price now being lower than ’twas pre-war. Finally for the Econ Baro, we’ve sources that conflict (the government “shutdown” hangover still affecting the data flow) as to what actually gets reported today: to be sure, metrics shall include Payrolls data for February along with Retail Sales and Consumer Credit for January; too, there may one or more reports as to various Inventories measures and Factory Orders.

05 March 2026 – 08:39 Central Euro Time

The Bond, EuroCurrencies and Copper are presently all below today’s Neutral Zones, whilst above same is Oil; session volatility for the BEGOS Markets is again moderate. The Bond’s “Baby Blues” of linreg consistency (see Market Trends) confirmed settling below their key +80% axis, suggestive of still lower prices: currently 116^15, an excursion from here down into the 115s wouldn’t be untoward; the yield on the underlying 30yr Bond itself (4.716%) has been increasing this week such that its MACD is poised to make a positive crossing; overhead Bond resistance is 117^00 (see Market Profiles). Meanwhile, the yield on the S&P 500 is 1.155% and the “live” (futs-adj’d) P/E is 45.9x. Amongst today’s incoming metrics for the Econ Baro we’ve January’s Ex/Im Prices (and purportedly that month’s still “shutdown” delayed Factory Orders), plus Q4’s initial Productivity and Unit Labor Costs.

04 March 2026 – 08:34 Central Euro Time

Both the Bond and Spoo are presently below today’s Neutral Zones; above same are (save for the Euro) all the other BEGOS Markets, and volatility is moderate. Prior to the conflict in the Middle East, Gold settled Friday at 5296; price Monday then peaked at 5434 before settling yesterday at 5100, thus recording yet another geo-political “spike n’ plunge” for the yellow metal. By Market Magnets, the following BEGOS components crossed below that leading measure yesterday: the Bond, Gold, Silver, Copper and the Spoo; too, the Bond crossed beneath its BEGOS Market Value. Today (in real-time) by Market Trends, the “Baby Blues” of linreg trend consistency are falling for every BEGOS Market except Oil, which yesterday reached as high as 77.98 after settling pre-conflict on Friday at 67.83; notable volume-dominant Market Profile supports for Oil are 72.00 and 66.50. For the Econ Baro we await February’s ADP Employment data and the month’s ISM(Svc) Index. Then late in the session comes the Fed’s Tan Tome.