This year for gold bugs has gone something like this: Heads, I win. Tails, I also win. The yellow metal, as hackneyed journalese demands we call it on second mention, has had quite a run. The price is up by more than a quarter over the course of 2024, hovering now at a little above $2,600 a troy ounce.
This has worked out beautifully for investors, even if often for unintended reasons. Fahad Kamal, chief investment officer at Coutts, told me this week that around a year ago, he loaded up on gold really just as a hedge. He correctly predicted that risky assets would have a good year, and took on extra gold because of its famed tendency to push higher in price when the bad stuff hits the fan and riskier assets decline — a clear danger in this geopolitical environment. This is gold’s common role as a backstop just in case something goes wrong with positive bets on riskier assets such as low-rated corporate bonds or US stocks.