Hormuz Mine Threat Emerges; White House Denies Tanker Escort

The Strait of Hormuz handles 20% of global oil flows. Mining threats there mean supply disruption risk jumps overnight. White House denying escort missions tells you they're worried about escalation. When energy markets get spooked, precious metals benefit from flight-to-quality flows. We've seen this pattern before in 2019 and 2012. COMEX gold positioning shows funds are still net short, so any geopolitical premium gets magnified. Silver follows gold higher but with more volatility. Physical premiums typically expand during Middle East tensions as retail buyers front-run potential supply chain disruptions. Stack what you can while dealers still have inventory at current spreads.