Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Gold Soars Past $4,400

e-crow/iStock via Getty Images Listen below or on the go via Apple Podcasts and Spotify XAUUSD:CUR ) soars past $4,400 on rate-cut bets as silver explodes to historic high. (00:24) Waymo ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) resumes robotaxis after blackout in San Francisco. (01:44) Baidu ( BIDU ) partners with Uber, Lyft to test Apollo Go robotaxis in UK . (02:45) This is an abridged transcript. Gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) has topped $4,400-per-ounce for the first time. As of the time of this recording, gold is up 1.6% at $4,412 per ounce and is on course for its best annual performance in more than four decades. Silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) also rallied, with spot prices jumping 3.3% to a record $69.44. Both metals are set for their strongest yearly performance since 1979. Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice in 2026 after a host of economic data last week, while President Trump has also advocated for looser monetary policy. Elsewhere, rising geopolitical tensions in recent weeks have further strengthened the safe-haven appeal of gold and silver. The United States has tightened its oil blockade on Venezuela, increasing pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s government, while Ukraine has, for the first time, attacked an oil tanker belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Gold-backed ETFs have seen inflows rise for five straight weeks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and World Gold Council figures show total holdings in these funds have risen every month this year except May. Waymo, owned by Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) has resumed its robotaxi service in the San Francisco Bay Area as of Sunday evening, after suspending operations due to a widespread blackout. The power outage left several autonomous vehicles immobilized . Videos shared on social media showed Waymo vehicles stopped in traffic lanes or blocking intersections, which worsened congestion at a time when power failures had already disabled traffic lights. “While the failure of the utility infrastructure was significant, we are committed to ensuring our technology adjusts to traffic flow during such events,” a Waymo spokesperson, Suzanne Philion, told CNBC. Amid the blackout chaos, Tesla ( TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk posted on social media platform X that "Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by SF power." To note, Tesla ( TSLA ) does not provide driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco, and its local rides use vehicles equipped with FSD (Supervised), a driver assistance system. Baidu ( BIDU ) is teaming up with Uber ( UBER ) and Lyft ( LYFT ) to bring its Apollo Go robotaxis to the UK, as the Chinese firm continues to expand its global footprint. Uber ( UBER ) will begin testing the robotaxis in London in the first half of 2026. Lyft ( LYFT ) will test the initial fleet with dozens of vehicles in the city next year, with plans to scale to hundreds from there. Baidu's ( BIDU ) Apollo Go has operations in 22 cities around the...

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