2023: A Golden Review

We would venture to guess that after this past year, those outside of the precious metals community would have guessed that gold had finished the year in the red due to surging bond yields directly correlated to rising interest rates. We would even venture to go further and guess that even some owners of physical gold that hold this asset for economic emergencies, not necessarily checking prices daily, may also believe gold was in the red in 2023. In a typical year, both would be 100% correct as you would need to go back all the way to September of 2007 to find the last time 10-year bond yields were above 5% in a year and gold still rallied to finish in the green to finish that same year. All that said, gold did it again, 16 years later, through all the economic headwinds sent its way, the perceived economic turmoil that many are predicting is still very much on route, has landed gold in the green to finish 2023 even though 10-year bond yields once again crept above 5%. Please check Silver on sale at Au Bullion.

The major question that must be asked is, “what factors caused gold to be pushed into the green with so many economic factors saying it shouldn’t?” and through this newsletter, that is exactly what we are going to cover.

For starters, it would be disingenuous to say that gold had a year that faced little to no bumps in the road. 2023 saw its fair share of gold price volatility, be it less than in 2022, however, the chaos our economic system faced was more than enough to propel gold to a 13% increase on the year. This was also coupled with the fact that gold was able to smash the 2022 price resistance of $2000 USD to set a record price high of $2152.30 USD as the year neared an end. In comparison, in 2022, gold struggled to hold any price above $2000, and never closed above $2000 USD on a Friday to end the week once throughout the entire year. Looking at 2023, gold not only was able to close the week above $2000 USD for the first time in history, it then went on to close above that mark for 6 consecutive weeks, setting a record this past Friday closing at $2063.09 USD. What gold is now doing is turning the 2022 price resistance level into a price support level, meaning rather than bouncing off $2000 USD and heading lower, gold now routinely bounces off $2000 USD and heads higher. Truly a remarkable development through 2023 that should not be understated as we head into 2024, as many are predicting with the United States election being added to the current economic state of the world that it will undoubtedly cause further unrest as it did in 2020, providing gold ever increasing strength.

To start off the year, gold sat at $1839 USD, and with inflation continuing to surge, gold rallied to $1950.17 USD to end the month; a solid 6.05% monthly gain to start the year. However, gold continued to bounce off the $2000 USD resistance and finished February at a year-to-date low of $1809.87 USD, losing all January gains plus some. It was then in March, everything changed, and gold began to take back the spotlight as it had in 2020. First, Silicon Valley Bank fails. Then Silvergate Bank fails. By March 12^th, Signature Bank also failed. These three massive bank failures then contributed to the Swiss giant Credit Suisse collapsing not long after. This caused gold to jump straight to $1989.13 USD by March 15^th; a 9.90% gain in 15 days through four banking collapses proving that gold will act quickly to protect its holders in times of economic crisis. Due to this, an overall lack in confidence in the global financial system rippled through the world and it was then gold broke through the $2000 USD mark, gaining traction and eventually setting a new price record of $2049.92 USD on May 3^rd.

July through September was a slower period for gold as economic bad news began to slow after a rapid decline in consumer trust through March. This pushed gold lower through Q3 (July-September). It was then on September 20^th, the Federal Reserve held interest rates at 5.25-5.5%, pushing gold to another year-to-date low of $1820.01 USD on October 4^th. Many believed gold was on route back below $1800 USD. It was then on October 7^th, the world faced more geopolitical chaos due to the conflict in Gaza boiling over into an all out hot war between Israeli forces and Hamas. Gold would see a significant rise as it commonly does during any type of world chaos that causes overarching uncertainty, as again, it will always work to protect its holder through global and domestic chaos. Gold would bounce between $1930 and $2000 USD through November, ultimately reaching an all-time high of $2152.30 on Dec 3^rd; posting an 18.26% price gain in just 2 months. Gold would then go on to close the year at a price of $2062.90 USD, a year-end record.

Looking into 2024, we are still awaiting the announcement of how much gold was purchased by central banks in Q4 (October-December), but with 800 tonnes already purchased through September of 2023 central banks are on track to set a fresh record surpassing the 1136 tonnes mark set in 2022. What is interesting and should be noted, is that the 2022 record was set during a year when gold prices began to tumble lower after a run in 2020. Meaning, central banks bought gold at a historic rate during the best time to buy physical gold over the last 3 years. If that does not tell you the world is flipping over to sound money, real value commodities, and away from intangible debt based paper/digital assets as the U.S. recently passed $34 TRILLION USD in debt, we don’t know what would. The stage is set for interest rates to now be cut, which would send a resilient gold price skyward as it has continued to coil price energy due to interest rates being held so high. As yields fall, currency will flow toward gold as it becomes more and more attractive, only giving it more and more strength.

Many experts are predicting that we saw gold’s low in 2023, and that 2024 is going to be an incredible year for the shiny yellow metal. With everything happening in the world today, it is hard to argue against that point. If you want to get out ahead of any trouble faced in 2024, there is still time as here at Au Bullion we are committed to getting gold into the community for as low a premium as possible. Below you will find three different 10-ounce silver bars we currently have on sale, along with assorted 100-ounce silver bars that are also on sale.

10 Ounce Royal Canadian Mint Silver Bar