Economy

Gold price
Gold continues to surge – heading for best year since 1979

Both gold and silver prices rose to new record highs this morning, driven by heightened geopolitical tensions and expectations of more rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. This is reported by several media outlets.

Fixed income traders are now pricing in two more rate cuts from the Fed in 2026. This comes after a series of data points were released last week, without providing a clear direction forward. Around 11 a.m., gold rose 1.7 percent to $4,413 per ounce, while the silver price is up to $69.37 per ounce.

– Central bank purchases, physical demand and insurance against geopolitical unrest continue to be the driving forces in the medium to long term, while the Federal Reserve and real interest rates continue to control short-term movements, writes Pepperstone strategist Dilin Wu in an analysis.

He adds that even new players, including stablecoin issuer Tether, have begun to allocate to gold.

Precious metals have been strong this year and are on track for their best year since 1979. 

Crypto Market
Documents: Suspicious crypto accounts allowed to continue trading on Binance

The world's largest crypto exchange Binance failed to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto transactions via suspicious accounts, even after the company reached a settlement with the US in 2023 and promised to tighten regulatory compliance, according to a review by the Financial Times.

Leaked internal documents show that trading with thousands of transactions was allowed to continue, despite warning signs of links to terrorist financing, unlikely login patterns and inadequate ID checks.

One of the accounts belonged to a person living in a slum in Venezuela who between 2021 and this year funneled $93 million through his account, some of which came from networks that were later accused of funneling money to Iran and Hezbollah.

Binance said in a response that the company “maintains strict compliance controls and has zero tolerance for illegal activities.”

The future of free trade
EU slams China’s dairy tariffs: Unfounded and unfair

The EU is criticizing China’s decision to impose tariffs of up to 42.7 percent on certain dairy products, AFP reports.

The so-called “tariff deposits” of between 21.9 and 42.7 percent were announced on Monday and will come into effect on Tuesday. They include fresh and processed cheese, quark, blue cheese and certain milk and cream products, according to the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing.

The background is an investigation from 2024 in which the Department of Commerce has now provisionally concluded that EU subsidies have caused “significant injury” to the Chinese dairy industry.

The EU questions the conclusions.

– Our assessment is that the investigation is based on dubious allegations and insufficient evidence, and that the measures are therefore unfair and unfounded, a spokesperson for the European Commission told AFP.

The streaming war
Paramount does not give up – Ellison guarantees bid

Paramount Skydance announced on Monday that billionaire Larry Ellison is stepping in and guaranteeing the financing behind the company's revised bid for Warner Bros Discovery, according to a press release.

The company states that Ellison has provided an “irrevocable personal guarantee” of $ 40.4 billion for the bid and any damages against Paramount Skydance.

Paramount Skydance's hostile bid of $30 per share, however, stands, valuing Warner Bros. at $108.4 billion, which is higher than Netflix's bid, which values ​​parts of the company at around $83 billion. 

Previous financial summit in Sweden linked to Russian intelligence affair

A former high-ranking executive at the Swedish fund platform MFEX is said to have threatened Euroclear CEO Valérie Urbain, according to DI's information.

During a meeting in 2024, he is said to have approached Urbain, shown a picture of high-ranking Russian intelligence officers and said that "two of my friends want to meet you," the newspaper writes, referring to the Belgian EU Observer.

MFEX was founded in Stockholm in 1999 and was acquired by Euroclear in 2021. He is said to have a strong interest in Russian culture and has traveled to the country 155 times in the past decade.

The man named has not yet commented on the information.