When the gold price moves around, chin-stroking markets sages mobilise to figure out why. What is it telling us? What does it mean? Speak to us, oh shiny ancient element of our ancestors, for you hold wisdom and truth.
When you think about it, it’s a bit weird. It’s just a metal, a pretty one without question, but not a very useful one. But it taps into something deeper and holds a special place in the heart of investors, both professional and retail. For true believers, it is more than just an investment. It’s a way of life, the cornerstone of an entire personality. Only crypto can rival it in that regard.
The enormous ascent in the price of gold this year has therefore been the source of huge excitement and the subject of acres of deep analysis, as though if we can just figure out why it has climbed, that will unlock knowledge we can apply to broader investment strategies. I would argue this represents a global outbreak of huge overthinking.