The Real Shock Wasn't the Correction, It Was the 'Unsettling' 30% Melt-Up in January
Cavatoni: The Real Shock Wasn't the Correction, It Was the 'Unsettling' 30% Melt-Up in January
Kitco News: 2-4-2026
The market is repricing risk as capital rotates from the "Paper Economy" of tech stocks into the "Managed Economy" of strategic hard assets.
In this episode of Kitco News, Anchor Jeremy Szafron is joined by Joe Cavatoni, Market Strategist for the World Gold Council, to break down the massive discrepancy in central bank gold buying data.
While official IMF data reports approximately 326 tonnes of net buying for 2025, Cavatoni reveals that the "true" demand—including unreported OTC flows—is tracking closer to 680 tonnes.
They discuss why sovereigns are "going dark" with their accumulation, the implications of the "Project Vault" price floors for critical minerals like Silver, and why the "violent" 30% melt-up in January was a bigger danger signal than the recent correction. Recorded: February 4th 2026.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction and Market Overview
00:08 Technology Trade Unwinds: The Rotation from AI to Hard Assets
00:29 Project Vault and Government Policy: The "Managed Economy"
01:49 Market Response and Gold Performance (Intraday Volatility)
02:07 Interview with Joe Cavatoni: Gold Market Insights
02:54 Central Bank Gold Buying Trends: The "Unreported" 350 Tonnes
06:04 Gold Market Volatility and Investor Behavior: The "Air Pocket" Rally
09:38 Silver as a Strategic Asset: Critical Mineral Risks
12:24 Central Bank Reserve Strategies: Uzbekistan & Price Insensitivity
15:52 Macro Drivers and Gold Allocation: The Tech Rotation
22:44 Conclusion and Key Takeaways