While the cryptocurrency prices dropped toward the end of the week, precious metals, energy stocks, and global commodities skyrocketed in value amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. The price of one ounce fine gold is nearing the $2K mark, benchmark coal prices have been surging, aluminum values broke records and nickel tapped an 11-year high.
Metal and Oil Markets Rip Higher, Elon Musk Insists ‘Extraordinary Times Demand Extraordinary Measures’
On Friday, stock markets tumbled as Nasdaq, NYSE, S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day in red. The conflict in Ukraine continues to shake investors that don’t know how to cope with a wartime market.
Moreover, after cryptocurrency markets did well last week, the end of this week turned out to be a different story, as the global market valuation of the entire crypto-economy slipped below the $2 trillion mark. At the time of writing on Saturday, March 5, the crypto economy is hovering just above $1.85 trillion in USD value.
Gold, on the other hand, is up 1.76% per ounce of .999 fine gold during the last 24 hours, and one ounce of .999 fine silver is up 2.37% today. The precious metal gold has done well amid the conflict in Ukraine, and during the last 30 days, an ounce of gold has jumped 7.25% in USD value. On March 4, the economist and gold bug Peter Schiff tweeted about gold jumping in value along with oil prices.
“Today both gold and oil are at record highs priced in euros,” Schiff said. “For years the ECB was complaining that inflation in the Eurozone was too low. They were committed to solving that non-existent problem. Well, congratulations ECB, now you’ve got a real problem to solve,” Schiff added.
Gold is not the only commodity getting special treatment from global investors this week. For instance, reports show benchmark coal prices spiked by 46% in Asia, climbing to the highest value since 2008. Over the last few days, aluminum values broke records and nickel jumped as high as 5.6% this week.
Copper’s price smashed an all-time high on Friday, and the price of zinc skyrocketed to a 15 year high. In certain regions of the world, electric prices have risen dramatically and electric vehicle (EV) stocks have started to rise. While EV stocks may see a bigger rise and Tesla could gather more gains, Tesla’s Elon Musk tweeted about increasing oil and gas output. Close to half a million people liked the tweet when Musk said:
“Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil [and] gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures.” Musk further added:
Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil [and] gas exports.
Besides EV stocks, precious metals, and specific commodities, a great majority of everything else in equities shuddered in value toward the end of the week. Specific, well known brand name companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are being criticized on social media for still operating within Russia’s borders. Furthermore, many reports are noting that “recession signals are surfacing” and this weekend some investors are expecting another leg down on Monday.
What do you think about the energy stocks rising, gold skyrocketing and global commodities breaking new records? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.