This is yet another potential danger to the financial and social health of America—and one which the precious metals markets appear to be taking under consideration.

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.

These moves were the first serious interruption to the bull market, which had not encountered a serious decline since the election of November, 2016. Since general market moves have been one of the most reliable historic indicators of precious metals market moves, we take a close look at these developments.