Commentary
Gold, traditionally an inflation hedge and a haven investment during times of market duress, has not been an effective investment this year.
Inflation has been elevated. The Consumer Price Index was up 8.5 percent in July versus a year ago, slightly lower than the 9.1 percent year-over-year reading in June. And despite a recent U.S. stock market rally, the S&P 500 Index remains down 10 percent year to date. And gold’s theoretical nemesis, bitcoin—which some experts dub as “digital gold”—is down almost 50 percent on the year.
All of this suggests a perfect backdrop for gold to outperform, right? Wrong….