Happy Sunday, GoldBuzzers!

What a week. Both metals ripped higher, and the trigger wasn't a war, a bank failure, or a central bank announcement. It was one number in a government spreadsheet.

In this week’s Deep Dive, I'm breaking down what happened and why, and then I've got some personal news to share.

Let’s get into it. ⬇️

Gold closed Friday above $4,340 per ounce, a two-month high, after the July jobs report landed with a thud: the US economy shed 23,000 jobs against expectations for an 80,000 gain, and traders promptly trimmed their bets on a September Fed rate hike.

Yields eased, the dollar slid to a two-week low, and gold caught the bid, with Chinese institutions and central banks still buying underneath it all. Silver did even better, climbing past $63.50 for its best close in roughly seven weeks, helped by the same rate story plus real industrial demand - Chinese imports of silver-bearing ores jumped 62.5 percent year over year in June on solar and grid buildout.

The wildcard is still energy: talks between the US and Iran over Strait of Hormuz exports remain unresolved, and any flare-up could put the inflation question, and the rate hike, right back on the table.

Last week was the week we’d all been waiting for, with Gold rocketing up 7.9%. Silver did what silver does in a rally: it outran gold, climbing 10.3% and adding more than four percent on Friday alone.

Friday's July employment report lit the fuse. Nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 jobs against expectations for a gain of around 80,000. That's not a soft number. It's a serious contraction, the first outright monthly job loss in months.

The revisions were arguably worse than the headline. May and June were marked down so heavily that average monthly job creation over the past year now sits near 34,000. The labor market hasn't just stumbled for one bad month. It had already been running far weaker than the official data showed all along, and July simply confirmed it.

Markets repriced immediately. The dollar slid to a two-week low, Treasury yields fell, and traders unwound their bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike.

The other force at work this week came from the oil market. Crude has been sliding on news that Iran and Oman reached agreement on a proposed shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, the first tangible step toward restoring exports through the world's most watched chokepoint.

Falling oil might seem like an odd friend for gold, but right now it's doing the metals a favor. Energy-driven inflation was the main argument left for another Fed hike. Take that away and the case for tightening weakens, which pulls real yields down and gives assets like gold and silver (that pay no interest) room to run.

But the part that makes this week unusual is that the region is still nowhere near a settled peace. So while cheaper oil eases the rate pressure, the unresolved conflict keeps the safe-haven bid firmly in place. The metals are being helped by the de-escalation and the tension at the same time.

A deteriorating labor market and falling real yields are the classic recipe for assets that pay no interest, and both metals responded on cue. Trading volumes and open interest jumped as money rotated in, with silver's persistent supply deficit adding fuel to its outperformance.

After a grinding six-month correction, weeks like this are a reminder of why the metals matter. They're also why GoldBuzz exists, which brings me to something I've been wanting to share with you.

The GoldBuzz newsletter launched at the end of August 2025, which means we're coming up on our first anniversary. It feels like the right moment to pause and look back at the year.

I launched GoldBuzz because Theseus, the four-year research project I'd undertaken into more than five decades of precious metals data, kept pointing to the same conclusion: we were in the early stages of a generational bull market for gold and silver.

At the time, gold was trading around $3,400 and silver around $39, and neither was getting much mainstream attention. The timing of the launch turned out better than I could have hoped. Within five months, the first leg of the bull market carried both metals to record highs of $5,600 and $121.

The forces behind that move haven't gone anywhere. In the US, the national debt is approaching $40 trillion and now sits above 120 percent of GDP. In fiscal year 2026 alone, close to $10 trillion of US Treasuries will need to be rolled over. The debt is growing by around $7 billion every single day.

Most of the developed world is on a similar path, running deficits with no credible plan to rein them in. That's exactly the environment where central banks keep buying gold instead of each other's bonds.

Against that backdrop, GoldBuzz has grown faster than I ever expected. The newsletter is now read every week by people in more than 40 countries.

Four months ago, I launched GoldBuzz INSIDER for readers who want more direct guidance on protecting and growing their investments. It's the culmination of the Theseus research project, taking that work further so it can be put to use on a daily basis. INSIDER delivers the same daily signals for gold, silver, mining stocks and Bitcoin that I use for my own investing.

As we've grown, I've been able to bring on some invaluable additional talent to help with the workload. And I'm excited to share that we'll soon be launching our sister site, with live prices, charts and news. More on that to follow soon.

It's been a privilege to interact with so many of you this year, and I appreciate every kind word and piece of feedback you've shared.

The messages from INSIDER subscribers have been especially gratifying. Many have written to say how much they've benefited from the guidance this year and that they'll be relying on it through the rest of this bull market.

On that note, I have to share a snapshot of the current INSIDER stock portfolio and the profits our members are sitting on right now.

Our INSIDER subscribers make all of this work possible. If you've been thinking about joining, I'd encourage you to come aboard now, because this bull market has a lot further to go.

On a personal note, it's been a busy year, and our son is getting married next week. The newsletter will take a short summer break while we travel and spend time with family and friends.

GoldBuzz INSIDER will continue updating every day as normal, and the free newsletter will be back in two weeks.

In the meantime, thank you, and best wishes to everyone around the globe.

Rick

That’s all for this Sunday, folks. See you in two weeks.

Before you go, please take a moment to rate today’s newsletter and tell us how we did.

Rick Adams
Founder, GoldBuzz
rick@goldbuzz.com