Gold smashes past $4,000 an ounce, cementing its dominance over stocks over the last 1, 5, 10, and 25 years

All that glitters is gold... especially in today’s market.

On Tuesday, the precious metal climbed above $4,000 per troy ounce for the first time, fueled by worries on inflation, soaring debt piles, the decline of the dollar, and geopolitical volatility (among other reasons).

Long considered a safe haven asset, gold bullion surpassed $1,000 during the financial crisis, $2,000 through the pandemic, and the $3,000 threshold in March, just ahead of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. More recently, both central banks and individual investors have been pilling into gold, with still stubborn US inflation, Fed cuts, and the ongoing US government shutdown encouraging investors to diversify their exposure away from USD — extending a rally that has sent prices up more than 50% this year.

With this latest run, the simple price return of gold now outshines that of the SPDR S&P 500 Trust across 1, 5, 10, and 25 years (note: dividends not included).

So, where do we go from here?

Looking ahead, some of Wall Street has mixed thoughts on gold. Bank of America analysts see the potential for “uptrend exhaustion” that could lead to “a consolidation or correction” in the fourth quarter, with many banks’ price forecasts lagging the price action of the last few weeks. Goldman Sachs analysts, however, also chimed in with a still bullish note this week, hiking their end-of-2026 target price to $4,900 from $4,300, citing central bank and ETF demand.