by Clint Siegner, Money Metals:

Coming up later in the program Craig Hemke of the TF Metals Report joins me to talk about why he sees the dollar as tremendously overbought after its recent rally, what it’s going to take for the metals to get moving to the upside again and breaks down two scenarios that the Fed hopes they won’t encounter later this year but almost certainly will have to deal with one of them. Don’t miss a sensational interview with Craig Hemke, coming up after this week’s market update.

Precious metals markets are rebounding this week as investors weigh the consequences of President Donald Trump’s decision to scrap the Iran nuclear deal. The Trump administration announced it now intends to ramp up economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.

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Among the areas the U.S. will target specifically are Iran’s oil and gold trades. The U.S. Treasury Department will reportedly impose sanctions on Iran’s gold market after 90 days, in addition to blocking new oil deals with the country.

Oil prices responded to the latest developments by gaining, though not as dramatically as some analysts had feared. The crude market continued on the upswing it’s been in for several months, hitting a new 3 and a half year this week at $72 per barrel. As Memorial Day and the summer driving season approach, motorists will have to pay much higher prices at the pump than they did last year.

Turning to gold, spot prices are up 0.5% on the week to $1,323 per ounce. Silver checks in at $16.78 an ounce after putting in a 1.4% weekly gain. Platinum is up 1.3% since last Friday’s close to trade at $928, while palladium posts a 2.5% advance, now coming in at $998 per ounce as of this Friday morning recording.

Metals markets benefited from a bit of a break in the recent dollar rally. They also saw some modest safe haven inflows on concerns over Iran. Some of the safe-haven buying came directly from Iranians who are now hunkering down financially. The Iranian government moved to ban unauthorized cryptocurrencies as it prepares to launch its own state-sponsored crypto coin. Both Iran and Venezuela are attempting to use the blockchain to bypass U.S. sanctions.

As for the world’s leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin approached the $10,000 level at the start of the week but sold off sharply by Thursday. Bitcoin prices currently sit 50% below all-time highs – but thousands of percent higher from where they were a few years ago. Bitcoin continues to garner intense support from those who see it as a true free market currency… as well as intense opposition from those who view it as a speculative fad that has no underlying value.

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