The Powell Investigation and the Rally in Gold and Silver: What Wall Street is Really Worried About Today

On the 14th (local time), New York stocks extended their two-day slide. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.0%, and the Dow edged down 0.1%. By contrast, the small- and mid-cap–focused Russell 2000 rose 0.7%, suggesting that risk appetite was not entirely extinguished.

The data weren’t bad. November’s producer price index, released late, rose 0.2% month-over-month—below the 0.3% forecast—and retail sales for the same month increased by 0.6%, beating the 0.4% estimate and reaffirming solid consumer spending. Yet these upside surprises failed to reverse the overall selling pressure.

Policy risk was the main headwind. The Trump administration’s move to open a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, along with a proposal to cap credit-card interest rates at 10%, has shaken the predictability of financial and monetary policy. Large banks reporting earnings generally met consensus, but shares of Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo slid an additional 3–5%. Concerns over the Fed’s independence have also dampened hopes for an early rate cut.

On the corporate front, fatigue in growth stocks was pronounced. Nvidia, despite securing approval to export AI chips to China, fell over 1% as attention turned to additional security requirements and the possibility of semiconductor tariffs of up to 25%, sparking broader tech selling. Netflix dropped about 2% on reports that its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery could shift to an all-cash transaction.

Globally, the story was a flight to safe havens. President Trump’s signal that he may hold off on military action against Iran sent WTI crude down over 1%, but gold futures surged to around $4,635 per ounce and silver to roughly $92.80—both new record highs. Bitcoin also climbed into the mid-$90,000s, underlining a clear rebalancing between risk assets and alternatives.

In sum, despite stronger economic and consumer data, investors reacted more strongly to Fed-independence concerns, policy uncertainty emanating from the White House and Supreme Court, and geopolitical tensions. In the near term, it appears prudent to adjust portfolio exposures with an eye toward heightened volatility in policy-sensitive sectors such as banking, credit cards and big tech.