After six years of primarily sideways action, gold broke decisively to the upside by breaking above strong resistance between $1,350 and $1,400 by soaring to near $1,450 before correcting moderately.

First, in order to compensate for the diminishment of purchasing power that usually accompanies rising inflation, investors normally have demanded higher interest rates on their investment assets. This was particularly true in the 1977-81 era when inflation soared to almost 20% and interest rates rose to roughly the same level.

It should come as no surprise that gold and silver acted similarly, rising sharply during the early hours of the crisis and retreating as tensions abated.