The financial markets are as shocked as anyone else that Trump, against all odds, nominated a serious person to lead the Federal Reserve.

For many months, traders have been pouring cash into the dual inflation bet of gold and silver, on the expectation that Trump would succeed at pushing the Fed toward easy money. When monetary policy is loose, such as through ultra-low interest rates, the money supply rises faster than usual. When the money supply rises faster than usual, inflation picks up, and the dollar is devalued. When the dollar is devalued, the nominal prices of commodities increase. And when investors anticipate commodity prices to increase, they tend to put their money in precious metals.

That is why gold and silver are the world’s age-old inflation hedges. And they have been on a tear this year —........

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