Just how thick is the ice? Everything juddered last week – from AI to perceptions of Geopolitics. There are so many take aways. Are markets vulnerable to an AI/Credit Cascade event? How vulnerable are The Middle Nations (J-CAKE). China is a rising risk. Just how well will the USA handle a crisis? Is it time to exit Gold? But go where?

Gold has taken a bit of a tumble – but is the correction a buying opportunity? While the UK feels increasing glum ahead of the few choices in the November Budget, Elon Musk is confident on his demands for a $1 trillion upside bonus. They are illustrations of the contrast between hype, speculation and downside manipulation.

Gold Prices stumbled earlier this week. It is a bursting bubble? Nope. Markets will remain uncertain – while the world’s geopolitical polarity is shifting Gold remains the safe-haven play. That shift is being accelerated by events as the stability that fuelled the last 80 years of growth is undermined by bad politics and division.

We’ve seen all the signs of crisis to come. Exuberant markets priced for perfection, valuations at mindboggling levels, AI spending trillions to make millions. Yet Gold, the universal risk-off asset just hit $4000. Wake up, smell the coffee…. While you still can..

What’s not to like about markets which keep going up? Lots of participants are increasingly certain the current upside momentum is unstoppable. Some of us suffer from the problem of thinking too much and wondering if its sustainable. Being a bear can feel very lonely.

Gold has been an absolute portfolio star this year. It’s ridden the markets rising fears on sovereign debt, inflation and political incompetency. What will drive it back down? It seems unlikely fears will lessen, especially if predictions of rising instability and stagflation prove founded.

“I think there is a world demand for about five computers”

Yesterday IMB announced a new breakthrough in quantum computing. One day Qubits will make crypto obsolete. A new revolution in computing is coming, and it could well be IBM that leads it!

Gold has hit new record dollar levels – reflecting not just current uncertainty, but also the de-dollarisation narrative and it’s attractions as an inflation and market hedge, and long-term value. It’s worth keeping an eye on.

Gold – can’t eat it, can’t use it, but its everything crypto never was: tangible, exchangeable, a store of value, and a kitty for when things get tough. In uncertain markets…. Don’t forget the yellow stuff.