Welcome to FinTech TV.
I'm Amy Blair.
Despite record highs in stocks and Bitcoin, Precious metals are stealing the show here on Wall Street.
Aid the government shutdown here in the US, Gold has crossed the 4000 level and top 40, 70 for the first time ever.
In fact, gold is having its best shutdown in decades.
The precious metal has jumped 5.1% over the past eight days.
Its biggest move across the last.
20 shutdowns.
Historically, gold has averaged a much smaller gain of about 0.9% during such periods, and the last time it came close was back in 1978 when it rose 4.9%.
Now economists like billionaire Ray Dalio and Peter Schiff still believe gold's undervalued while Citadel's Ken Griffin's concerned about the lack of faith in the US currency, and we can't forget about silver.
Silver is holding its own in 2nd place, making its own new record high in copper, hitting 15 month highs in September as it powers EVs and AI.
Joining me at the New York Stock Exchange to weigh in is Steve Elaine Lawrence, CIO at the Balford Group.
Steve, great to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Well, thank you for having me and I'm excited to talk about the markets and what we're going to anticipate.
Yes, indeed, because when we look at the major asset classes, whether we're talking about crypto equities or precious metals, we are seeing gains and even all-time record highs.
So first, let's start out with gold.
What do you make of the record?
Well, let me say this.
Uh, being a member of the Comex and we understand the gold market within our firm.
What I can say is this, uh, there's a gold has room to the upside.
The retracements could be very fast and very powerful and If you believe in the asset long term, which I do because there's not a lot of gold out there, there's not a lot of physical gold out there.
All right, so there are different fundamentals that are playing in above and beyond the mindset of inflation which hasn't gone away.
Yeah, and when we think about the drivers of the gains in gold, we also want to look at silver as well as copper.
So what do you make of the gains we're seeing and how is it different from the precious metal?
Well, let me just say this silver is a needed commodity.
It's there's a big difference between gold and silver.
Silver is needed and as you get involved more with AI and cell phones, it's a very large component of manufacturing.
And that's what the public really needs to understand throughout that entire process.
Yeah, and while we're talking about precious metals, I do want to get your take on miners as well as rare earth stocks.
So there's a lot happening, a lot to unpack here, but big picture, why is this important?
Well, the rare earth sector in general is going to be based on a lot of geopolitical negotiations, and we've talked about that in the past, and the tariffs or the potential implied tariffs that haven't been executed yet.
It'll come to a head.
Everyone, it's going back to the same basis I've always said before.
The world is connected.
This is where we're sitting right now is the epicenter of the world.
This is it.
This is where the world, OK, at the New York Stock Exchange and FinTech TV and the entire genre, this is it.
This is the epicenter of all the information, all the connectivity.
And that's just the reality of what it is.
And of course we are counting down the days since the government shutdown began here, so Wall Street, as well as what's happening on Main Street and the nation's capital in DC, it is all interconnected.
So we like to say this time it's different, but is it actually?
As far as I know, I'm looking at the price action of the actual markets and to describe the tug of war between Main Street and Wall Street, the market, in my opinion, is overvalued, and I expect a retracement of anywhere between 4 to 7%, but it's an opportunity for the long term.
To buy, you cannot do anything in the short term.
It's a different industry as an investor, and I think that's what the public and the viewers need to realize whether you're managing a hedge fund like I do or you know someone who's got an IRA or a retirement account.
You have to have a long term vision with high quality companies.
Yeah, so how do you find those high quality names because as you mentioned, we are seeing elevated levels for the major US stock averages, and a lot of luminaries are voicing concerns about the bubble in AI.
Well, in many industries it's always going to be about one thing is the company profitable?
We just saw a major rotation out of pharma, but the pharma companies make money.
Why did AstraZeneca decide to list in New York as opposed, you know, you know, and now the list in New York because it's really all connected.
So there are different sectors of the market, right, that you need to determine value.
You know, great pharma companies, companies like Nvidia that are game changers and Google and all the Magnificent Seven, you will take pain right if you own too much of anything.
You saw it in meta two years ago.
Meta, you know, went from 350 to 90.
Look where it is now.
That it doesn't matter how big you are or how powerful you are and how much money you have, that hurts when you see something go from $350 to $90.
And Steve, while you're on that topic, of course, as we head into year end, we're continuing to monitor fundamentals here.
So whether we're talking about Economic data, monetary, fiscal policy, what happens in the near term as well as the long term outlook.
So when we're zooming out and looking beyond year end and into 2026, what really matters, especially if you do believe that a correction is on the horizon?
You know what's going to matter is that any investor needs to understand their threshold of pain.
The market isn't designed for the short term.
Those are truly, truly for real professionals, right, and that's that's a different industry.
It's completely a different industry within an industry, and what you're seeing today with the public is They're they're smarter.
They want to be involved and And people are more independent today because we're seeing it within the job market itself.
People want to create their own destiny by being independent in one way, shape, or form, but they need to know how to educate themselves about the difference of being right and wrong.
Absolutely.
And when you think about it, we have more access to more information than we actually need now. and we have chat GBT or other GenI helping us, but of course it does take a professional to understand what to do and when to do these things.
So finally, for the viewers out there who are watching right now, what do they need to keep in mind regarding risk?
Uh, risk is always an inhibitor on yourself.
You as an investor and as a person need to understand what you deem it as risk.
You know, good things come in simple terms.
Never put all your eggs in one basket or a picture is worth 1000 words, you know, the simplicity of those statements are so powerful. are so powerful and that's what the public needs to understand.
It's understanding yourself and being honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do.
And that is the basis of being successful in anything you do.
Well, Steve, thank you so much for joining me today.
I think those are helpful analogies, not just for the markets but for life as well.
So I appreciate your time and thank you so much.
