e from $23.04 per unit to the current USD value of about $23.72 on December 26, 2022, a slight increase in value over the previous year.
Gold Dropped a Hair During the Last Year, While Silver Rose a Touch — Precious Metal Assets Managed to Hold Value All Year Long Despite the Macroeconomic Calamity and Energy Crisis
While the value of precious metals like gold and silver in terms of U.S. dollars fluctuated over the past year, year-to-date price statistics for gold and silver show that prices are essentially unchanged from the previous year. During the previous year, gold was trading for $1,810 per ounce, and it is currently trading 0.71% lower at $1,797 per ounce. Silver’s price today is $23.72 per ounce, up 2.95% from yesterday’s $23.04 per ounce.
Gold had an interesting year in 2022 because on March 8, the price of an ounce of the precious metal reached a lifetime high of $2,070. Although silver reached a high on the same day, it is still a long way from reaching the $40 per ounce range attained in 2011. On March 8, 2022, silver came dangerously close to surpassing the $27 per unit range.
Compared to the top two cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum, both precious metals performed significantly better (ETH). According to metrics, BTC is down 66% from this time last year, and ETH is down slightly more than 70%. Precious metals supporters anticipate a bullish revival in the value of silver and gold in 2023, much like supporters of cryptocurrencies. On December 23, Kitco News contributor Phillip Streible offered his forecasts for the two precious metals.
According to Streible, by year’s end [2023], inflation should fall to 3-3.5%, which will cause gold prices to average $1,950/oz with peaks of over $2,000 at various times. The yield curve for two-year notes should flatten, and silver prices could easily see “green shoots” rise into the mid- to high-thirties before falling back to $28 by year’s end.
Gold and silver have been impacted by the macroeconomic storm, events like COVID-19, the Ukraine/Russia war, and the outcome of expanding the world’s money supply like never before, just like cryptocurrencies and equity markets. To combat America’s highest inflation rates in more than 40 years, the U.S. Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rate six times so far.
Although Peter Schiff, a gold enthusiast and economist, shares Streible’s optimism regarding the rate of inflation, he is less confident. In an interview with Kitco News anchor David Lin, Schiff stated that although there is a chance it will decline, he anticipates a spike in U.S. inflation to exceed 10%.
Schiff remarked, “We’re not even close to 2 percent [inflation].” The economist continued, “I think we’re going to take out the highs from 2022 before the end of 2023 on a year-over-year basis. Maybe we’ll go below 7 percent before we go above 10 percent.