Considering the events of the past few days, in particular, the Venezuelan experience and the boarding and seizure of a Russian tanker, along with the excessive rhetorical expressions coming out of official Washington, it's difficult to assess the political calculations and ramifications, making economic decisions even more dicey than usual.
At times such as these, wherein the impulse to panic is prevalent, it's usually best to take a deep breath, try to ascertain exactly what's happening, and just watch as events unfold. When some direction can be formulated, then, perhaps, is time for action, be that doubling down on investments, rotating out of some sectors and into others, rethinking allocations or standing pat. These are decisions individuals must make using their own judgement, taking into account time horizons, differences of opinions, and one's own financial position.
Currently, and, unfortunately, Money Daily is unable to formulate any coherent strategy that aligns with what appears to be radical actions on the part of the U.S. government that are impacting just about everything on the planet. While it appears that President Trump is hell-bent on imposing the will and military might on primarily the Western Hemisphere, one cannot discount the effect on Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and especially the BRICS and countries aligned with them. For outward appearances, it can partially be assumed that the ouster of Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela effectively cut off Russian and Chinese access to at least that country's oil, and likely most of its natural resources. The world is in the very early stages of a monumental shift, making the wait-and-see attitude the most prudent form of action, or, as the case may be, inaction.
There is certain to be blowback on various fronts, but making an accurate assessment of how conditions change or play out over the next weeks and months is a difficult undertaking of which few will eventually be proven correct. The United States does not act in a vacuum. Its actions affect the entire world, and, thus, nobody can be certain to a high degree of confidence where this is all going.
The most immediate effects have been, so far, engineered losses on primarily silver and bitcoin. Spot silver plateaued around $82.50 late Tuesday and since has been under assault, the price declining to as low as $74.43 as of this writing. Bitcoin, after catapulting to $94,747 on Monday, has fallen to below $90,000. These two "alternatives" to fiat dollars have taken on similar pathways, a condition that appears to be by design. Gold has declined, though not as rapidly or obviously as the other two financial assets. It peaked just below $4,500 an ounce, which constitutes obvious resistance, but has fallen by lss than $100, a pittance, by comparison.
Stocks may be experiencing some short-term panic due to overbought conditions. With the level of uncertainty prevailing, one cannot fault investors for taking money off the table or moving to more defensive positions. After all, the major averages are either at or very close to all-time highs. It would be somewhat amazing if they continued to climb during the turbulence that is just beginning to be played out.
Approaching the open for stocks in the U.S., futures are lower across the board, with the Dow leading, down 180 points. The S&P is down nine and the NASDAQ is lower by 45 points.
WTI crude oil is a focal point, being that the recent geo-political scene has crude at its center. While it's up a dollar this morning, the high price of $57.15 seems indicative of merely being noise rather than signal. The jury on oil, and, likely, most other tradable assets, remains out.
Overlaying everything is the Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of Trump's tariffs which may come to fore as early as tomorrow, making nay kind of speculative activity fraught with danger. Next week, earnings begin to roll out, beginning with the big banks, which will only add to the confusion.
Patience is about the only advisable strategy that makes sense for now.
At the Close, Wednesday, January 7, 2026:
Dow: 48,996.08, -466.00 (-0.94%)
NASDAQ: 23,584.28, +37.10 (+0.16%)
S&P 500: 6,920.93, -23.89 (-0.34%)
NYSE Composite: 22,341.23, -229.59 (-1.02%)
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