U.S. dollar index hits lowest level since March 2022 as gold surpasses $5,200 for the first time ever

Gold just blew through $5,200 for the first time ever, now up 18% in January alone. Even intraday dips aren’t slowing it down.

Donald Trump, speaking Tuesday in Iowa, brushed off concerns about the collapsing dollar. “No, I think it’s great,” Trump said when asked about the sharp drop in the currency’s value. He claimed the dollar is “doing great” and that fluctuations are normal. “I want it to be — just seek its own level, which is the fair thing to do.”

Trump also hinted he could manipulate the dollar’s strength, saying, “I could have it go up or go down like a yo yo,” but dismissed that as artificial.

He slammed China and Japan again for devaluing their currencies, saying he “used to fight like hell” with them over the yen and yuan. “They devalue, devalue, devalue,” Trump said. “It’s hard to compete when they devalue.”

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 hit a new all-time intraday high of 6,978 on Tuesday. Traders are bracing for the Fed’s first policy decision of the year, expected later this week. The central bank is expected to hold rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, but all eyes are on signals about the path ahead.

Fed funds futures still price in two 25bps cuts by year-end 2026, per CME FedWatch.

Retail investors just dumped $171 million into the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) on Monday, marking the largest single-day inflow ever into the ETF, according to VandaTrack. That’s nearly double the 2021 “silver squeeze” peak, as the fund surged almost 6% on the day, extending its 2026 gains to over 52% after a 145% rally last year.

Ashwin Bhakre, an analyst at Vanda, said silver has become retail’s new obsession. “Silver has just become retail’s new favorite toy,” Ashwin wrote Tuesday, adding that the chase in silver is now more aggressive than the classic AI trade.

The rally is spilling into mining stocks. Hecla Mining and Coeur Mining are seeing fresh inflows at over twice their usual pace, with their shares soaring 40% or more since the start of the year.

But it’s not a one-way bet. Vanda’s data shows retail investors are also piling into the ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL), making leveraged bets on a crash. Bhakre said this sets up a “two-front war” in silver.

Still, it’s not just another squeeze attempt. Ashwin noted that retail is now structurally repositioning for a longer-term hard-asset cycle, moving beyond short-term plays.

Deutsche Bank just upgraded CoreWeave to buy, with analyst Brad Zelnick lifting his price target to $140 from $100, signaling a 42% upside.

Zelnick said Nvidia’s new $2 billion investment, announced Monday, cements CoreWeave’s long-term position in AI infrastructure and strengthens its technical leadership.

The capital will support CoreWeave’s plan to build out 5 gigawatts of AI factories by 2030, according to both companies. Zelnick called it a move that secures access to critical resources while also deepening CoreWeave’s integration with Nvidia’s future compute architectures.

Zelnick added that CoreWeave’s GPU-level economics remain healthy, and its asset quality supports the upgrade. He acknowledged that while nobody can predict how AI evolves in calendar year 2026, all current signals point to demand continuing to outpace new capacity.

The partnership could also lead to Nvidia incorporating CoreWeave’s SUNK and Mission Control software into its reference designs, opening the door to a high-margin hybrid and multi-cloud software opportunity in the future.

Valuation has pulled back to reasonable levels, Zelnick said, and he’s now bullish heading into CoreWeave’s Q4 2025 results and first-ever full-year guidance for CY26, expected soon.

If CoreWeave delivers on its current buildout plan, Zelnick believes consensus revenue forecasts could rise sharply through the year.

The stock has surged 146% since its March IPO, though it’s still down 46% from its June peak.