Gold was shaping up to have a fairly calm week, but a stronger-than-expected US jobs report sent it well under US$4,400 per ounce as the period came to an end.

Silver also took a hit, dropping below US$69 per ounce.

The report, which shows that nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, has further reduced expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

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Beyond that, the Iran war continues to impact gold, with increased conflict in the Middle East and overall uncertainty contributing to its ups and downs this week.

Although the US House has now backed a resolution geared at stopping the war until it’s authorized by Congress, the move is seen as largely symbolic.

There’s understandably a lot of focus on these day-to-day factors, but this week I heard from Chris Blasi of Neptune Global, who encouraged investors to take a step back and remember the bigger picture for gold. In his view, the metal’s key driver isn’t going anywhere:

“The (driver) that’s most consistent is the expansion of debt. There’s charts that show hard correlations between the growth in the US debt and the price of gold. It doesn’t move exactly — I mean, it’s just about exact, but there’s times when the debt is still expanding and gold may not be moving up immediately.

“But so, a person has to ask themselves, right — the thing that would truly hurt gold, in my opinion, in the long run, is if the US actually started paying down their debt, and the debt creation stopped or diminished markedly or materially. And that’s just not going to happen — it is not.”

Bullet briefing — Central banks buy, Russia makes bold claim

Central banks back in action

Central banks were back in action in April, purchasing a net 17 metric tons of gold.

According to the World Gold Council’s data, that’s a sizable rebound from March, when they sold a net 30 metric tons of the yellow metal as the Iran war began.

The organization says Poland was the top buyer for April at 14 metric tons, while China was next at 8 metric tons — that’s the highest level for the Asian nation since December 2024, and it pushes China’s gold-buying streak to an impressive 18 consecutive months.

Turkey, which attracted attention in March for selling 60 metric tons of gold, saw its reserves stay “virtually flat” in April. Its sales were reportedly for FX and liquidity purposes.

Gold reserves outpace treasuries

Underscoring gold’s importance to central banks, a new report from the European Central Bank (ECB) shows that the precious metal is now the world’s top reserve asset.

Gold accounted for 27 percent of all global central bank reserve assets as of the end of 2025, up from 20 percent the previous year. That puts it ahead of US treasuries at 22 percent.

While the ECB notes that this shift “largely reflects valuation effects,” and suggests that moving forward gold will face limitations as a reserve asset, it also notes that central bank gold buying points…

SpaceX soared in its Nasdaq debut on Friday, sending its value past $2 trillion US, as investors jumped at the chance to get a piece of Elon Musk’s sprawling empire spanning rockets, internet service and AI after a record-setting IPO.

Trade kicked off late Friday morning, swinging for most of the session between gains of 15 per cent and 30 per cent above Thursday’s pricing with little in the way of volatility. Shares ended the day at about $161 a share, up 19 per cent, making SpaceX the sixth-largest U.S. company, though the final settlement price had yet to be determined.

The trading, which surpassed 500 million shares, or about $80 billion US in volume, capped off a lead-up fraught with anxiety over the exchange’s ability to handle the launch, particularly after a recent swoon in technology shares that raised ​concerns about the massive gains in AI-linked names. 

With mega-listings from AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI waiting in the wings, market ​watchers worried that a flood of new IPOs could hurt market performance following a long period with a relative dearth of offerings. But investors across the spectrum, from large institutions to retail fans of Musk, ended the day euphoric.

“SpaceX is not only a record breaker in terms of money raised at a stock market debut, but ​it has also left other big names for dust. When the starting valuation is already pushing $2 trillion, adding that much value at the click of a ⁠finger is impressive,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets ⁠at AJ Bell.

The landmark listing cemented Musk’s status as the first trillionaire ever — despite coming under pressure during Musk’s active role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

SpaceX executives, including President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen, celebrated at the Nasdaq market site in New York’s Times Square after ringing the opening bell on Friday. Musk held a separate event for employees in Texas.

World’s largest IPO

The record IPO is a culmination of Musk’s long-held ambitions in space and technology, and has stood out for rewriting Wall Street’s IPO playbook and drawing legions of retail investors into the market.

At $75 billion US, the deal’s proceeds were more than double those of Saudi Aramco’s record-setting 2019 IPO.

The valuation could rise further should underwriters exercise their right to sell additional shares,…

The 2026 midterm election cycle could surpass the 2024 presidential cycle to reach record advertising spend for any U.S. election, according to a new report from advertising intelligence company AdImpact.

This year’s races are projected to reach $11.6 billion in ad spend, making it the most expensive cycle ever and eclipsing the $11.2 billion spent on ads for the 2024 election between now-President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, AdImpact estimates. The new projection is a $795 million increase from a previous projection made last year.

The midterm cycle is set to be more intense than previous cycles, with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress. The 2022 midterm cycle drew $8.9 billion in ad spend, according to AdImpact. If the projection holds, the 2026 ad spend would be 30% higher than the last midterm election.

“From record-setting races and surging party committee war chests to a competitive landscape that continues to expand, all indicators point to 2026 being the most expensive political advertising cycle in history,” the report read.

AdImpact said it expects $5.6 billion to be spent on broadcast, $1.4 billion on cable, $2.6 billion on connected TV and $1.68 billion on digital.

Advertising remains a key revenue driver for media companies, with sports, live events and news attracting the most spending. Elections, particularly those that are hotly contested or in battleground states, often bring in some of the highest ad revenue for the owners of local broadcast stations across the country.

Broadcast TV remains one of the largest forces in political advertising, according to the report, comprising nearly half of the total cycle spending and driven almost entirely by state races.

States seeing the largest spend overall include California, Texas, Michigan and Ohio. Michigan, Ohio and Texas all feature competitive Senate races, while California has an expensive governor’s race.

AdImpact estimated that through June 1, political ad spending has reached $4 billon, a 46% increase over the same point in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

“Much of that surge is driven by a concentrated set of high-profile, high-dollar contests that materialized earlier in the cycle than is typical,” the report read.

Politicians are also relying more heavily on digital spending across platforms like Facebook, Google, Snapchat and X, expected to spend $1.6 billion in that category during the cycle, according to AdImpact.

Within the election categories, the Senate has seen a notable increase in projected political spend, expected to draw nearly $3.4 billion, with one of the most expensive races being Texas’ Senate primary, the report said. Republicans hold 53 U.S. Senate seats compared with Democrats’ 45. The Senate’s two independents caucus with Democrats.

In gubernatorial races, three of the four most expensive competitions on record are taking place in 2026 in California, New Jersey and Georgia, according to AdImpact.

Even down ballot…

According to Metals Focus, mine output from the country is actually 28.8 percent lower, significantly short of what official statements suggest. The widening gap underscores a growing lack of transparency in Russia’s gold sector, particularly following the imposition of Western sanctions.

Russia has sought to reinforce its status as a global gold powerhouse in recent years, touting new discoveries, expanding reserves and maintaining one of the world’s largest official gold holdings. However, independent market data suggests a more nuanced picture of the country’s gold sector.

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In March 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources reported that 229 new gold deposits were discovered in 2024, adding 804.6 metric tons to the country’s reserves through exploration and resource upgrades.

The largest discovery was the Drevny deposit in the Magadan region, which is estimated to contain nearly 104 metric tons of gold. Russian officials have frequently pointed to these discoveries as evidence of the country’s growing mineral wealth and long-term production potential.

While reserve additions are substantial, they should not be confused with annual mine production.

As noted in Metals Focus’ recently released Gold Focus 2026, global gold mine supply reached a record 3,816.8 metric tons in 2025. Russia remained the world’s second largest producer, but its output was tallied at 345 metric tons, placing it behind China and accounting for less than 10 percent of global mine supply.

“The production statistics in Russia can be muddied sometimes for quite legitimate reasons, because people are counting refining production, as opposed to mine production, and if ores from neighboring countries are treated in Russia, or vice versa, you can get a discrepancy with the kind of production numbers that we tally on an individual project basis,”Metals Focus Chief Consultant for Hong Kong & Spain Philip Klapwijk, said during a launch event in Toronto (June 4).

The gap between reserve growth, refined output and annual production highlights a key distinction often lost in official statements.

Discovering or upgrading resources does not automatically translate into immediate mine output, particularly as miners contend with permitting, financing, infrastructure and geopolitical challenges.

Russia’s gold industry has taken on added strategic importance since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent wave of Western sanctions. Gold exports became a crucial source of value retention as Russia’s access to international financial markets narrowed.

The country’s central bank had already spent years building one of the world’s largest official gold stockpiles.

Between the mid-2000s and 2020, the Bank of Russia accumulated more than 2,300 metric tons of gold, becoming one of the most aggressive official-sector buyers globally. Much of that buying occurred between 2014 and 2019 as Moscow reduced its exposure to US dollar-denominated assets and sought to insulate…

Costco’s gas stations saw a surge in demand in the most recent quarter as consumers sought out its low-priced gasoline, which helped the company top the market expectations for its third-quarter sales.

Costco CEO Ron Vachris noted the “backdrop of ongoing macro uncertainty” has consumers searching out affordable options given the pressure on household budgets, which helped attract members to its gas stations.

“Nowhere has this been more apparent in the third quarter than our gas business. As events in the Middle East have had a significant impact on product supply and gas prices, our focus, as always, is to be there for our members by staying in stock and offering the best value,” Vachris said.

“The result was record-breaking volumes, all three four-week fiscal periods of the quarter set successive all-time company volume sales records, with the final five weeks for the quarter becoming our top five volume weeks ever,” he said.

HIGH ENERGY PRICES RISK KEEPING INFLATION ABOVE 2% TARGET, CONCERNING FED POLICYMAKERS

Vachris commended the Costco team’s work managing the deliveries necessary to meet demand, “which requires multiple daily gas deliveries to many locations.”

Energy markets were upended by the Iran war, which sent gas prices surging above $4 a gallon around the country as global oil supplies were constrained by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which sent crude prices above $100 a barrel.

AMERICANS LEAN ON CREDIT CARDS AND BUY NOW, PAY LATER AS GAS PRICES EAT BIGGER SHARE OF INCOME

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
COST	COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP.	956.32	-38.88	-3.91%

The latest AAA data shows the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.39 on Friday, up about 38% from the average of $3.17 a gallon a year ago.

Vachris noted that the low-cost gasoline offered at Costco stations helped attract new members and customers into stores, driving more sales momentum for the wholesale club in the future.

GAS PRICE SURGE HITTING LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS HARDEST, FED STUDY FINDS

“The high consumer price sensitivity, which fueled these record volumes, also drove many members to use our gas stations for the very first time in the third quarter. We believe this will drive even greater loyalty with these members in the future as members who use our gas stations typically spend more with us in the warehouse,” he said.

Costco CFO Gary Millerchip added that Costco’s volumes of gas sales allowed the company to widen its price gap with higher-cost stations, adding that the company knows “that’s something that’s very high…