1. U.S. stocks wavered on Monday amid doubts about interest rate cuts, as investors looked ahead to high-stakes Nvidia earnings and the delayed September jobs report. Wall Street is already getting set for Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday, always an intensely scrutinized event. But the stakes are even higher this time amid doubts about Big Tech valuations and hefty AI spending. Investors are hoping to get an official snapshot of the labor market with the long-awaited release of September’s jobs report on Thursday. But a full return to a complete slate of economic data remains in the air, even after the federal shutdown ended.
2. After peaking in October, Bitcoin has fallen sharply, briefly wiping out its 2025 gains before stabilizing on Monday. The sharp retreat from record highs comes in a year that was supposed to cement Bitcoin’s legitimacy. Yet the market has retreated — fast, hard, and with no clear trigger. Bitcoin’s total market value has plummeted by approximately $600 billion from its October high, according to data compiled. In crypto, volatility is expected. What’s different at this time is how quickly conviction has evaporated, and how few explanations hold up. With no traditional Wall Street playbook for how Bitcoin should behave, no stable correlation, no proven risk framework, some default to the model they know best: the four‑year halving cycle. That’s the event that sees Bitcoin’s supply growth cut in half, by design, around every four years. Historically, it has spurred speculative booms followed by painful busts, often with a lag, as miners, who operate powerful computers supporting the network, tend to unload their holdings just as prices sour. “The sentiment in retail crypto is so bad that there could still be some downside in the market,” said Matthew Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, who believes prices will go up next year. “People are afraid that the four-year cycle might repeat, and they don’t want to live through another 50% pullback. People are front-running that by stepping out of the market.”
3. U.S. construction spending unexpectedly rebounded in August, likely lifted by home renovations as higher mortgage rates continued to weigh on single-family homebuilding. The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Monday that construction spending increased 0.2% after an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in July. Economists polled had forecast construction spending would ease 0.1% after a previously reported 0.1% dip in July. Investment in private nonresidential structures like offices and factories fell 0.3% in August. Spending on public construction projects was unchanged. State and local government construction spending was also unchanged, while outlays on federal government projects declined 0.8%.
4. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will not publish its monthly “Employment Situation” jobs report for October, the agency said on Wednesday, citing its inability to adequately collect data during the government shutdown. The BLS also announced that the November jobs report, originally scheduled for release on Dec. 5, will now be published on Dec. 16 and will contain what October data the agency was able to collect. The monthly “Employment Situation” jobs reports are crucial and widely watched data releases that give the market an overview of the health of the labor market throughout the U.S. The Federal Reserve also leans on the jobs report for key input on its interest rate policy decisions.
5. Thought the market-bubble talk was over after Nvidia’s latest earnings? Nobody told Ray Dalio. “There’s definitely a bubble in markets,” said Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, in an interview Thursday morning. “But we don’t have the pricking of the bubble yet.” And when the balloon is inevitably pricked, according to Dalio, it will neither be shielded nor caused by one company’s very good or very bad numbers. “Bubbles don’t burst because people wake up one morning and determine that there won’t be enough revenue and profits to justify the price,” he wrote in a post Thursday morning. Rather, he said, bubbles happen when people decide they need to trade financial wealth, like that represented by assets with inflated values, for hard cash. What follows is a decline in markets, economies, and also major political change, he said. Dalio isn’t advising investors to sell simply because a bubble exists. He does, however, recommend protection—owning gold, for example, or unloading any “significant credit exposures.”
6. For September, the U.S. added 119,000 jobs. Economists had predicted a modest rebound of around 50,000 jobs. But job figures for the summer were worse than first thought. July’s gain was revised down from 79,000 to 72,000, and August, originally reported as a 22,000 increase — was revised to a loss of 4,000 jobs. In total, the revisions mean 33,000 fewer jobs were created than previously reported. Unemployment jumped to 4.4 percent. Still, Wall Street loved the upbeat September numbers. All three major indexes popped on the government data release.
7. Oil prices are on track for a weekly decline as signs of diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Russia eased supply fears, while cautious Federal Reserve signals and weakening demand added pressure. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $61.47 per barrel, down 3.8% from last Friday’s close of $63.90. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $57.48 per barrel, falling around 3.8% compared with $59.76 last week.
8. The Euro is soft, down a marginal 0.1% as it drifts back toward Thursday’s low just above 1.15. Yield spreads are offering the EUR renewed support following their latest push to the upper end of their recent range, largely reflecting lower U.S. yields as rate expectations in the euro area remain steady.
9. The Japanese Yen attracts some buyers on Friday and moves away from its lowest level since mid-January, touched against the U.S. Dollar the previous day. Comments from Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama earlier today fueled speculations that authorities would step in to stem further JPY weakness.
Gold’s direction is uncertain with weakening December rate-cut expectations putting downward pressure on prices, according to Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone. Wu noted that over the past week, gold prices followed a classic ‘rally-then-retreat’ pattern. “Bulls and bears were both active: on one hand, rising uncertainty over the U.S. economic outlook and doubts about the Fed’s independence supported safe-haven demand; on the other hand, with the government reopening, some profit-taking by bulls, and continued hawkish signals from Fed officials along with lowered market expectations for easing, bullish momentum was restrained,” she said. Wu said markets will be focused on September’s nonfarm payrolls on Friday morning. “While the data may be somewhat lagged due to the government shutdown, it could still act as a key catalyst for short-term volatility,” she warned. She said that to the downside, $4,050 followed by $4,000 are likely to provide support, while a move back above $4,100 would set up a target of last week’s $4,245 high as key resistance on the way to challenging the all-time high.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes increased last month to the fastest pace since February as lower mortgage rates helped pull more homebuyers into the market. Existing home sales rose 1.2% in October from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.10 million units. Sales climbed 1.7% compared with October last year. The latest sales figures topped the roughly 4.09 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. The national median sales price increased 2.1% in October from a year earlier to $415,200, an all-time high for any October on data going back to 1999. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 28 months in a row.
U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated slightly in November as Americans fretted about high prices, weaker incomes, and mounting layoffs, nearing record lows. That’s according to the University of Michigan’s final reading of its survey of consumers. Preliminary data released earlier this month showed falling sentiment for November, with overall sentiment hitting 50.3 amid concerns about the effect of the government shutdown on the economy. Sentiment improved a bit after the shutdown ended Nov. 12, reaching a level of 51 — lower than October’s 53.6 and down 29% from one year ago.
Volatility should be expected to remain high as investors will be closely watching for hints on the upcoming monetary policy direction. Many investors have redoubled their efforts to ensure that their portfolios are sufficiently diversified in the hope that they will be able to withstand corrections in multiple market sectors. Many of these investors have included physical precious metals as part of their diversification plans, given their long history as a hedge against both inflation and during times of economic turmoil. Remember, the key to profitability through the ownership of physical precious metals is to own the physical product and hold it for the long term. Always remember that you should never overextend your ability to maintain ownership of your precious metals over the long run.
Friday to Friday Close (New York Closing Prices)
| Nov. 14, 2025 | Nov. 21, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $4,099.38 | $4,085.36 | -14.02 | -0.34% |
| Silver | $51.16 | $50.33 | -0.83 | -1.62% |
| Platinum | $1,558.24 | $1,517.79 | -40.45 | -2.60% |
| Palladium | $1,410.32 | $1,384.58 | -25.74 | -1.83% |
| Dow | 47147.48 | 46245.56 | -901.92 | -1.91% |
Previous Year Comparison
| Nov. 22, 2024 | Nov. 21, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $2,706.58 | $4,085.36 | 1378.78 | 50.94% |
| Silver | $31.26 | $50.33 | 19.07 | 61.00% |
| Platinum | $969.84 | $1,517.79 | 547.95 | 56.50% |
| Palladium | $1,017.10 | $1,384.58 | 367.48 | 36.13% |
| Dow | 44296.51 | 46245.56 | 1949.05 | 4.40% |
Here are your Short-Term Support and Resistance Levels for the upcoming week.
| Gold | Silver | |
| Support | 3950/3789/3573 | 46.49/44.36/41.21 |
| Resistance | 4166/4327/4543 | 49.64/51.76/54.92 |
| Platinum | Palladium | |
| Support | 1513/1417/1341 | 1363/1294/1214 |
| Resistance | 1686/1763/1859 | 1512/1591/1661 |