Trump once believed he was the only one in the market capable of “drawing K-lines with words,” but it turns out Iran has learned the same trick. From last Friday to the beginning of this week, both sides have been locked in a tug-of-war over whether the Strait of Hormuz remains open and whether to extend ceasefire negotiations, each telling its own version of the story. Judging by market reactions, investors are largely in a passive, headline-driven mode: bullish news triggers risk-on buying, while negative developments lead to risk-off selling. Based on our analysis and judgment from last week, a delaying strategy remains the most likely scenario, with the key question being whether it is short-term or a more prolonged standoff.1.     Negotiation Tug-of-War: Tough Talk

The most closely watched development over the weekend was the progress in talks between the United States and Iran. Based on the weekend news flow, there has been some progress, but the core issues remain unresolved. Since the Strait of Hormuz was blocked a month ago, Gulf countries’ crude inventories are also nearing full capacity. If, during this two-week ceasefire window, the United States and Iran still fail to reach a better agreement that ensures safe passage through the strait, the market is likely to further lift long-term inflation sentiment, creating trading opportunities in the forward contracts of many commodities.I. Focus on the Forward Crude Oil ContractWhen this round of oil price gains first began, the market initially believed the blockade of the strait would be only a sho

Last week, we were expecting the situation in the Middle East to stay within a relatively controllable range and, as a result, for financial markets to remain broadly stable. However, judging from last Friday’s and early this week’s surge in oil prices, even though there are still no clear signs that the war has formally widened, the risk of it spinning out of control is already on the table. If, at this critical juncture, Trump still cannot come up with a credible exit plan, both financial markets and geopolitics may be hit by a new tsunami. The impact of oil prices on the global financial system and on people’s daily lives via inflation is self-evident. Yet in just a little over a week, we’ve seen a 60% spike in prices, while the key Strait of Hormuz remains in a state of abnormal, semi‑

The much-watched Iran situation officially entered a new phase last weekend. A U.S.–Iran “hidden move” style decapitation operation quickly carried out targeted killings of Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials. Markets reacted in the usual way: gold and crude oil jumped, while stock index futures opened lower. $Gold - main 2604(GCmain)$ $E-Micro Gold - main 2604(MGCmain)$ $United States Oil Fund LP(USO)$ $WTI Crude Oil - main 2604(CLmain)$ After this knee-jerk reaction, the real question is bigger. Is the Middle East—always unstable—just going through another short shock? Or are we about to see a lon

The US dollar experienced a rebound last week, prompting us to temporarily exit our previous long positions in the Euro. However, the fundamental factors underlying the dollar have not undergone any substantial changes. Therefore, we expect the magnitude and momentum of this rebound to be limited. We will closely monitor developments this week; if price action is favorable, we may once again seek suitable non-US currencies to go long. Analyzing the weekly chart of the dollar over the past few weeks reveals signs of a pause in its downward trend. Furthermore, last week's weekly closing price returned above a crucial new long-term trendline, indicating that range-bound consolidation and volatility are likely to unfold in the near term. As long as there is no bearish engulfing pattern this we

Since the crash last October, the weakness in crypto has not eased. With ETH breaking below 2,000 last week and BTC approaching the 60,000 level, the crypto complex has essentially been abandoned by the market. This also means its value as a leading indicator is no longer valid. After last week’s wide-range swings, precious metals are expected to enter a period of back-and-forth between bulls and bears.​ Using Bitcoin as the reference point, price broke below two key levels in a relatively short time: 100,000 and 80,000/75,000. The market’s rebound attempts have been feeble and did not even reach 100,000. Price has now fallen back to the lows from before Trump was elected; if this zone also breaks, there is basically open space below. This area also marks where many ETFs initially built po

After a near-vertical rally, gold and silver were finally “punished” last Friday, with both plunging sharply in a single day. Silver, measured from its peak, even suffered a drawdown close to being cut in half. After such a violent round-trip, do ordinary investors still have a viable trading opportunity?​ From a volatility standpoint, the current environment is no longer suitable for the vast majority of retail and traditional precious-metals traders. Moves that used to take a full year can now happen in a single day or within a week. This kind of irrational volatility also means the old stop-loss logic and methods stop working. Whether you try to buy the dip or fade a rebound, there’s a high probability you’ll get stopped out. And if someone dares to skip a stop-loss to avoid getting wic

Last week, the upward momentum in precious metals ignored clear overbought signals on both daily and weekly timeframes. Gold and silver kept hitting fresh all-time highs, with silver firmly breaking above $ 100.This week, gold $Gold - main 2602(GCmain)$ has already climbed past the 5,000 mark, potentially opening the door to even more explosive gains.Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar $USD Index(USDindex.FOREX)$ is teetering on the edge of a major long-term trendline breakdown. If current support fails, the dollar could face a depreciation of 10% or more.On the news front, last week should have been dominated by easing geopolitical tensions—but investors weren’t buying it.Notably, the long-standing

Key point：Whether gold can post a meaningful new high is a key yardstick for judging whether silver is due for a sharp pullback.Driven by silver’s relentless march to new highs, gold finally showed some movement last week. However, on the one hand, even as futures made new highs, spot prices have not yet kept pace; on the other hand, the futures “new high” itself looked more symbolic than decisive. This reluctance to follow silver is concerning. Although silver has effectively been the true leader since April this year, gold’s historical status means its value still cannot be ignored.​To break its prior historical high, gold futures took two months—far behind silver—and even after the breakout, the contrast between the two is stark. When silver broke out in November, that week produced a s

Year-end is usually a quiet period, when markets thin out and traders take time off—but hold on and get through this week first. For FX traders in particular, after several years of dull price action, the key that could set a major move in motion for 2026 may well be this week.​More specifically, beyond the Bank of Japan’s impending rate hike, close attention also needs to be paid to possible shifts in monetary policy at the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. If the major G7 central banks all choose to bring their easing cycles to an end, while the United States—under a new Fed chair in the future—moves against that trend, then the trend driven by rate differentials/spread differentials could be enormous.​The U.S. Dollar Index has already shown signs of weakening across 2025; s

Last week, silver surged to a new high even as gold’s performance lagged significantly, far exceeding my earlier expectations. In hindsight, this trading and manipulation pattern bears resemblance to that of Ethereum/Bitcoin this year: the larger-cap asset first posts consecutive new highs, followed by a rapid rally in the smaller-cap one to hit an all-time peak. While such fundamentals-defying gains have proven short-lived in the crypto market, one should not go against the prevailing trend.Silver recorded a weekly gain of over 10% last week, and the emergence of a new high means there are no technical reference points to rely on. As long as it trades above the 54.4 level, the market is clearly dominated by bulls. Since its 2022 low around 17.4, silver has seen a rally of more than 300% i