How should we think about gold? This month the price reached around $5,110/oz — a record high. It rose 64% over the course of 2025, and if we add January 2026 to that trend, the gain is about 92%.
One of the reasons is geopolitical uncertainty, mainly because of a dangerously unstable US president, on a scale not experienced in the 80 years since the end of World War 2. That in turn threatens assumptions about long-established trade relationships. In these conditions investors have turned to gold, the traditional haven.
Not least of gold’s comforts is that, unlike cryptocurrencies and lightning-speed financial instruments, it is a simple investment, whether through direct buying or mining shares. Everybody understands what gold is. We enjoy hearing that this country has produced more than 40% of all the gold ever mined. Local radio stations end their news bulletins with the weather report — and the gold price.
Gold above $5,000 seems unbelievable. Yet the metal saw a much greater increase in 1979 — by more than 120%, from $220-$240 in January to closing at end-December around $512. That’s just 10% of the price achieved last week.
Seen in that light, with more global uncertainty to come, gold could still have a long way to run.
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