The Institutional Risk Analyst

In the past five trading days, gold has moved up almost 3% but silver has done even better. Physical supply constraints in India and Asia are pushing prices for gold and silver higher, illustrating the disconnect between the momentum driven financial markets in the US and Europe and the physical market in Asia.

Institutional investors can and do abide by limits on redemptions for private equity and credit, at least for a while. Retail investors cannot and do not, and will run when there are clear signs of distress and illiquidity. Remember the deposit run at Silicon Valley Bank.

President Donald Trump, Bill Pulte and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have apparently met a couple of times in recent weeks to consider policy initiatives for spurring housing. Meanwhile, the GSEs have begun to buy and/or retain mortgage assets in an effort to push down mortgage rates, an effort that is unlikely to have much effect.