2026 began with two strongly divergent market narratives around inflation. On one hand, precious metals prices soared in 2025 through late January this year as investors braced for higher inflation, concerns over central bank independence and fiat-currency debasement. Conversely, U.S. Treasury yields generally declined in 2025 and continued to drift lower into February 2026 as the market appeared to shrug off prospects of accelerating inflation. The disconnect, however, came to an end in late January this year as a convergence of sentiment over sticky inflation led to a sharp decline in precious metals while U.S. ... (full story)