Audio Length: 00:12:30

Precious metals are off to a great start here in 2018: gold has been up for fourteen of the past fifteen days and silver had a strong 2017 as well. What’s the secret?

Eric believes it’s dollar-related. “The U.S. dollar has been very, very weak. The economy is not really showing great signs of doing anything, quite frankly. It’s kind of coasting along. You have a new tax plan which is going to increase the deficit considerably…. Lot’s of people know there’s a high degree of recklessness going on at the federal government level. And people are losing confidence in currencies.”

Add to that a weak U.S. jobs report, anemic wage growth and higher-than-suggested inflation, and “it’s very difficult for the U.S. consumer to kind of hold it together here.”

After a run-down of how the commodities markets will benefit from the anti-dollar sentiment, this week’s wrap-up also includes a lengthy discussion on the “exchange for physical” phenomenon off of the Comex that you won’t want to miss.

Finally, Eric closes out with a brief chat about what’s going on with palladium.