The price of gold rose to $4,462.10 per troy ounce on the COMEX futures market today, setting a new record high for the precious metal. Gold has now risen 69% year to date, far outpacing the S&P 500, which is up 17%.
It’s no secret what’s driving gold: political chaos, cheap money, and the collapse of Bitcoin have all underlined gold’s status as a safe haven in a time of trouble.
The U.S. was pursuing a third Venezuelan oil tanker today in hopes of impounding it, as part of President Trump’s push to destabilize the Maduro regime. In Eastern Europe, Ukraine bombed a tanker in the Mediterranean that was part of Russia’s illegal “shadow fleet” of vessels that keeps Moscow supplied with cash in spite of international sanctions.
Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts have been worrying about the U.S.’s ever-weakening labor market. Increasingly they are betting that the U.S. Federal Reserve will lower rates more than once in 2026 even though—until recently—only one cut was priced in. Lower interest on dollar-denominated assets is bad for the value of the U.S. dollar—and thus savers seeking to preserve their capital appear to be fleeing to gold.
