The brief push below the lower bounds of the falling wedge pattern looks like a classic “bear trap.” Big institutional futures traders (who are now positioned bullishly) like to entice small speculators into getting on the wrong side of the trade just before letting the market run in the opposite direction.

The precious metals markets did all close lower for the week, however, so the bulls still have some proving to do.

Trump’s approval rating recently hit 50% at the same time as CNN’s ratings are tanking.

Over the weekend, President Trump sent CNN and the rest of the “MSM” (mainstream media) into a tizzy by speaking out against the latest Big Tech purge of “far right” voices.

Trump re-tweeted verboten alternative media personalities including Paul Joseph Watson and Lauren Southern.

One side of the political spectrum has determined that it can’t defeat the other side through reason in a free, open exchange of ideas. It has instead committed to silencing its opponents through organized de-platforming campaigns.

The liberal left of old, which would point to books like George Orwell’s 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 to make the case for free speech and tolerance of unpopular opinions, is no more. Today’s left is authoritarian. It is the Big Brother of Orwell’s dystopian novel.

In the name of “social justice,” self-styled “progressives” have become the book burners of our time – aiming to digitally erase unapproved thoughts wherever they find them, whether on Facebook, Twitter, Google, or Amazon.

They’re now trying to make sure people who have been digitally un-personed for wrongthink also have their access to bank accounts and credit cards revoked.

De-platforming mobs recently pushed Mastercard to create “human rights committee” to screen customers for ideological conformity.

“A small number of banks controlling most of the financial sector could effectively illegalize legal commerce by refusing to finance certain industries or process certain transactions,” warned Republican Senator Kevin Cramer.

Trump did recently issue an executive order requiring government-subsidized universities to respect free speech on campus. But it won’t stop university professors and administrators from indoctrinating students with cultish levels of political correctness.

This week, students at California State University Long Beach will vote on a replacement for their former mascot, “Prospector Pete.” For decades, Prospector Pete had stood as a symbol of California’s gold mining heritage.

All told, the gold rush produced about $2 billion worth of precious metal. It also helped put California on the map, literally, as the 31st state. California entered the Union as a free state whose constitution explicitly prohibited slavery.

But to the authoritarian left, the history of gold is “racist,” somehow, and needs to be erased. It’s a goal fiat currency pushers and rigged financial system profiteers can also get behind.

• Tuesday, May 7th – JOLTS Job Openings.
• Thursday, May 9th – Trade deficit.
• Thursday, May 9th – Producer Price Index.
• Friday, May 10th – Consumer Price Index.