Video News/In Focus with Jeremy Szafron

Luke Gromen, Founder and President of Forest for the Trees, says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could trigger significant stress in global financial markets as energy costs rise and sovereign balance sheets weaken. Speaking with Kitco News anchor Jeremy Szafron, Gromen argued that the bond market is now the key battleground, explaining that energy-importing nations may be forced to sell U.S. Treasuries to finance higher fuel costs. He compared current conditions to the 1956 Suez crisis, when geopolitical pressure exposed vulnerabilities in the global monetary system. Gromen said the combination of rising oil prices and declining trust in sovereign debt is accelerating a shift toward hard assets. He warned that the global economy remains tied to what he described as a century-long sovereign debt cycle and outlined risks from private credit and consumer leverage tied to the artificial intelligence boom. Gromen said institutions increasingly view gold as a settlement asset and projected that prices could reach $6,000 by midyear if current geopolitical and energy disruptions persist.