How the world’s most boring investment started trading like a meme stock
BNN Bloomberg
Gold has been considered a store of value for thousands of years. In 2026, it’s been trading more like a meme stock than a safe haven.
Investors often flock to gold when crises hit, inflation spikes or stocks slump as a way to preserve their money’s worth.
But gold prices have been extraordinary volatile, smashing through record highs before posting their biggest single-day drop on record last month. Gold is now up roughly 15 per cent this year.
Gold has had monster rallies before: Its best year on record was 1979, rising 144 per cent as the US economy experienced rampant inflation and geopolitical tensions surged. And prices rallied 24 per cent in 2020 as the pandemic upended the global economic status quo.
This time, gold is benefiting from rising geopolitical tensions. And as traders bought more, the gains gathered steam, resulting in skyrocketing prices.
Investing in metals is easier than ever before: Traders can buy and sell exchange-traded funds that track the price of gold and silver just like buying and selling stocks. The SPDR Gold ETF — a popular fund that tracks the performance of physical gold — in August saw its biggest monthly inflows on record, according to FactSet data.
Israel killed another top Iranian official -- the intelligence minister -- in its campaign against the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck Wednesday amid the war’s escalating pressure on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy.
Canadian and U.S. stock markets fell on Wednesday amid interest rate decisions from the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve, with both central banks acknowledging inflationary risks from the war in the Middle East.
Israel killed another top Iranian official -- the intelligence minister -- in its campaign against the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck Wednesday amid the war’s escalating pressure on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy.
Bank of Canada holds rate at 2.25 per cent as growth weakens and oil-driven inflation risks rise amid geopolitical uncertainty.
U.S. stocks are sinking Wednesday after a discouraging report said inflation was primed to worsen, even before the war with Iran sent oil prices spiking.
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Two Canadian cargo ships are stuck in the Persian Gulf and unable to pass through the blocked Strait of Hormuz as the war in Iran continues.
U.S. stocks are sinking Wednesday after another climb for oil prices raised worries about inflation, which may have been primed to worsen even before the war with Iran began.
U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
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A key question hangs over the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting that ends Wednesday: Will central bank policymakers still reduce short-term interest rates this year, now that the Iran war has sent oil prices higher and gas prices spiking? Or will they have to stand pat for months to see how the conflict plays out?
Wall Street followed global markets higher Wednesday and the price of U.S. crude fell eased despite a new barrage of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbors.