Gold took a breather this week after last week’s surge, as the stronger US dollar and a sharp jump in oil prices started to weigh on precious metals. In the report below, we break down what drove the pullback, why gold is still holding up well for the year, and what to watch next as the Middle East situation and US rate expectations continue to steer the market.

“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.