[View this email in your browser]( [Youtube]( [Kitco Metals]( Editor's Picks [@neils_C]( The biggest banking crisis since the 2008 Great Financial Crisis once again proves that gold is the ultimate safe-haven asset. [It is seeing its best weekly performance in three years as the price moves to within striking distance of $2,000 an ounce.]( According to analysts, gold prices are ending Friday up more than 3% on the session as investors donât want to go home ahead of the weekend without some protection and you canât blame them. The U.S. banking system is a complete mess and nobody knows how bad it will get. [Laurence Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the worldâs biggest asset management firm, admitted that even he doesnât know how bad it will get as financial institutions face âa classic asset-liability mismatch.â]( âWe don't know yet whether the consequences of easy money and regulatory changes will cascade throughout the U.S. regional banking sector with more seizures and shutdowns coming," Fink said in his annual letter to investors. Customers are moving their money out of regional banks at an incredible rate, creating a liquidity crunch. To raise the capital needed to meet their customersâ demand, these regional banks have to sell bonds; however, because of the aggressive rise in interest rates in the last 12 months, these banks are selling their bonds at a loss. Silicon Valley Bank, the first domino to fall, lost $2 billion as it sold $21 billion in assets. In another sign of how weak the financial system is, according to data from the Federal Reserve, banks borrowed a record $164.8 billion from the Federal Reserve in the week ending March 15; this is up from $4.58 billion borrowed the previous week. Just for comparison, the previous record was $111 billion, reached in 2008. Economists and market analysts have been warning investors that the Federal Reserve was going to raise interest rates until it breaks something; well, something broke. Of course, itâs more than just a U.S. banking crisis; it has turned global as one of Europeâs biggest banks, Credit Suisse, had to borrow $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank to shore up its liquidity and restore investor confidence. Wednesday, the Swiss bank saw its shares fall more than 30%, a day after it said in its annual report that it lost $8 billion last year. At the same time, its wealthy clients withdrew about $100 billion from the bank in the fourth quarter. [In an interview with Kitco News, Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer of Merk Investments]( said itâs only logical for gold to go up as markets are gripped with uncertainty. He added that there is no way the Federal Reserve can raise interest rates in this environment. To save some face, the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by 25 basis points next week, but Merk said they are done. As to where this leaves gold, analysts note that goldâs solid push above $1,960 puts it on pace to test resistance at $2,000 an ounce. However, even that now feels like an outdated number, this week both Bloomberg Intelligence and Wells Fargo said that they ultimately see gold eventually going to $3,000 an ounce, according to reports from Kitcoâs Anna Golubova. Of course, while we are all focused on the banking sector, letâs not forget that the world economy also faces the threat of persistently high inflation. The latest survey from the University of Michigan shows that consumers expect inflation to rise 3.8% by next year. While this is down from Februaryâs estimate of 4.1%, it is still above the Federal Reserveâs target of 2%. [Matthew Piepenburg, Commercial Director at Matterhorn Asset Management and Author of Gold Matters: Real Solutions to Surreal Risks, told Kitcoâs editor-in-chief Michelle Makori that he remains focused on gold as a long-term inflation hedge.]( âI have no doubt that the dollar in my pocket, if I put it there and come back in two years, itâll be worth a lot less than the gram of gold I have in my pocket,â he said. That is it for this week; I hope everyone stays safe in this new banking crisis. Neils C. Editor's picks [Gold's $3k rally? The missing catalyst is here: banking crisis signals economy's 'ebbing tide' - Bloomberg Intelligence]( $3k rally? The missing catalyst is here: banking crisis signals economy's 'ebbing tide' - Bloomberg Intelligence]( [SVB collapse aftershocks: Expect this for bank contagion, Fed, gold and Dollar - Matt Piepenburg]( collapse aftershocks: Expect this for bank contagion, Fed, gold and Dollar - Matt Piepenburg]( [Credit Suisse sign of âfinancial crisis 2.0,â BTC will drop to $13k before rally - Gareth Soloway]( Suisse sign of âfinancial crisis 2.0,â BTC will drop to $13k before rally - Gareth Soloway]( [Inflation won't recover to 2%, this could consume nearly 100% of silver by 2030 â Peter Krauth]( won't recover to 2%, this could consume nearly 100% of silver by 2030 - Peter Krauth]( [Kitco News]( ['Clash coming': Worst-case scenario for gold in this supercycle is to double, Wells Fargo is watching $3,000]( [Afraid of a Sunday bank failure, investors don't want to start the weekend without some gold, driving prices up more than 3%]( [The Fed is done - Axel Merk]( [Gold is the only true measure of value in our growing multipolar world - Byron King]( [Natixis raises its 2023 gold price average but doesn't see $1,900 holding as banking crisis fears start to ease]( ['Are dominoes starting to fall?' BlackRock CEO Fink talks SVB fallout and cost of 'easy money']( [The Fed could add up to $2 trillion to the economy with its new bank lending program, says JPMorgan]( [Commerzbank reaffirms its gold forecast, looking for prices to end 2023 at $1,950 an ounce]( [Gold price hits record highs against Aussie dollar as banking crisis drives safe-haven demand - Surbiton Associates]( [Don't doubt that the ECB will fight inflation - Christine Lagarde]( [FDIC validates concerns that it's cracking down on crypto services]( [Bitcoin and gold benefit from the spreading banking contagion as SVB Financial Group files for bankruptcy]( [Crypto and Bitcoin ATM adoption is highest in countries with large unbanked populations]( [Banking crisis keeping gold above $1900 into Fed week]( [Copper banner]( [Is the gold market oversold? Main Street investors say no]( [Gold Live App]( [Kitco Mining]( ['Consolidation has to happen' - Integra Resources' George Salamis on M&A]( has to happen' - Integra Resources' George Salamis on M&A]( [Fortuna Silver reports net loss of $135.9 million in 2022 due to impairment charges]( [Why the tech behind lab-grown diamonds may be too good - Lucara Diamond CEO Eira Thomas]( [Silver production in Peru down 20% in January, ministry says]( [Kitco Gold Chart]( [Kitco Gold Chart]( Technically Speaking Jim Wyckoff Market Analyst and Columnist
jwyckoff@kitco.com [Gold sees solid price gains on bullish outside market forces]( Promotion [Silver coin]( This message was intended for {EMAIL} , as a subscriber and/or customer of Kitco.
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