In Charles Dickens's classic novel, a tale of two cities, he depicts the chasm and huge differences between two major cities in Europe. In the case of the book, as they revolve around France and England. In today's modern society, a chasm continues to exist between the haves and the have-nots.

After four consecutive gains in gold’s spot and futures pricing, gold moved moderately lower, giving up $17.10. After factoring in today’s decline, gold’s April Comex contract is fixed at $1825.60. Silver also sustained losses today, but they were fractional, with the most active March 2021 contract giving up five cents, currently fixed at $27.03.

If the budget resolution passed by the Senate last Friday is any indication as to how we will see voting on the president's fiscal stimulus aid package unfold, it seems highly probable that it will be voted into law shortly. Last Friday, the Senate passed the budget resolution with a vote of 51 to 50.

In the last two trading days, we have seen a series of tweets by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, have a profound impact on the price of Bitcoin. In fact, on Monday, Bitcoin opened at $38,997 and closed over $44,000 per coin that same day. That momentum carried Bitcoin to an all-time record high today as it tested $48,885 and closed very well near the highs at $47,735.

Many of the financial markets are continuing the rally that began last week, with the momentum gaining strength due to the jobs report and budget resolution passed last week. These two events have shaped market sentiment in U.S. equities as well as gold and silver pricing.

The U.S. Labor Department released its jobs report today indicating that the number of new jobs gained in January came in at 49,000, and the unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to 6.3%. Although we saw a down-tick in the unemployment rate Jerome Powell last week said that the “real” unemployment rate is most likely higher than the actual numbers coming in and is probably closer to 10%.

A combination of factors drove both gold and silver pricing dramatically lower, with gold sustaining the strongest drawdown in the precious metals complex, losing well over 2%. Currently, the most active April 2021 Comex contract is down 2.24%, a price decline of $41.10, and fixed at $1794.

Today we saw a mixed bag in the precious metals complex, with silver, palladium, and platinum posting substantial gains and gold closing fractionally higher. Market participants and traders are awaiting more details about the outcome of President Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

The precious metal complex (gold, silver, platinum, and palladium) traded under pressure, with all precious metal futures contracts closing sharply lower on the day. Silver futures sustained the largest drawdown, with the most active March contract losing $2.70, a decline of 9.17%, and is currently fixed at $26.71.

Last week traders and market participants witnessed a transformation in how individual or retail investors can effectively use the power of collective capital to trade the financial markets. And do so with the same big stick that the hedge funds and large institutional players have been wielding for years.