Gold hits 1.5-year high

Gold prices are higher in midday U.S. trading Monday, but well down from their overnight 1.5-year high of $2,007.50. Silver overnight an eight-month high of $26.37 but are now trading lower on the day. More safe-haven demand is featured in gold early this week amid the war raging in Europe. April gold futures were last up $19.90 at $1,986.40 and May Comex silver was last down $0.174 at $25.62 an ounce.

Veteran market watchers know it's usually a fool's errand to predict specific market price tops. However, price action in certain markets today is beginning to suggest to this market watcher of nearly 40 years that we may be close to such in several raw commodity markets. "Dr. Copper" scored a record high early on today and then reversed course to produce massive losses and score a bearish "key reversal" down. Crude oil and gold are both way down from their spike overnight highs. This suggests exhaustion in these important markets. These are the strongest early clues to date that raw commodity market bulls are running out of gas—at least on a near-term basis.

The all-time high in Comex gold futures was set in August of 2020, at $2,063.00. Palladium futures also hit record highs overnight. Crypto currencies are under selling pressure Monday, as traders and investors apparently consider them higher-risk assets.

Global stocks markets were lower overnight and the U.S. stock indexes are solidly lower at midday. Geopolitical tensions remain very high as the Russian invasion of Ukraine is set to enter its second week with no off-ramp seen to the conflict that has also created a humanitarian crisis. The U.S. and Europe are considering banning Russian oil imports, which ratchets up further the anxiety in the marketplace, as well as further stokes inflation that has already become problematic. Said one analyst: "This toxic cocktail poses a huge problem for central banks."