The world's favorite precious metal reasserted its worth as a safe haven asset as markets tumbled in the first few days of April. As of April 4, 2025, the price of gold is up an impressive 30% in the past year and 14.5% year-to-date (YTD).
Meanwhile, as the S&P 500 plunged by 8.2% the week of March 31, 2025—due largely to the announcement of sweeping tariffs on imports from dozens of nations—the spot price of gold dropped by only 2.6% at the same time.
Increased day-to-day market turbulence and growing calls for a potential recession may prompt investors to exercise caution, and one way to do this is to rebalance portfolios toward defensive plays like gold.
And some investors might see an opportunity to make a bolder bet on the precious metal: a leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) or note (ETN). These investments can amplify gains but also have the potential to magnify losses for an overall high-risk, high-reward bet.
