Gold prices have surged to a staggering $2,595 an ounce this Monday morning, a significant leap from $2,500 at the start of last week. This marks a historic high for gold.

The weekly bump in gold prices is due to a combination of stabilized inflation numbers and decreased job growth, which supports speculation of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday this week.

Lower rates set by the Federal Reserve typically bode well for the price of gold. The potential magnitude of the rate cut could propel gold prices to unprecedented levels, a prospect that is keeping the financial world on the edge of its seats.

Even with statistics based on futures contracts pointing to a 50-basis point decrease, it may not happen on Wednesday. Some analysts speculate such a move would signal panic that the Fed did not move fast enough. Others speculate that a smaller cut of 25 basis points would be more prudent to allow the next presidential election to be decided on November 5th, as the next interest rate FOMC meeting would occur on November 7th.

In a related development, the 2-year treasury yield has plummeted to 3.57%, a sharp decline from the 4.5% or higher yield rates observed for most of 2024. This stark contrast with the spike in gold prices in September underscores the dramatic shifts in the financial landscape. 

We are hosting a live webinar in October at the U.S. Gold Bureau: BRICS and De-Dollarization. Some groups, like the BRICS countries, would like to replace the U.S. dollar as the global default reserve currency. On a more subtle note, the chart below shows a decrease in treasury bills by foreign purchases since 2013, with a drastic decrease starting in 2022. During the ten years, central banks consistently purchased more gold each year.