Gold is continuing to move sideways as investors balance a stronger US dollar and cautious Fed policy against the longer-term support from central bank demand and geopolitical uncertainty. In the report below, we look at what is keeping prices contained, how easing tensions with Iran have affected safe-haven flows, and why gold and silver still have important structural support beneath the recent consolidation.

“If you catch 100 red fire ants as well as 100 large black ants, and put them in a jar, at first, nothing will happen. However, if you violently shake the jar and dump them back on the ground the ants will fight until they eventually kill each other. The thing is, the red ants think the black ants are the enemy and vice versa, when in reality, the real enemy is the person who shook the jar.