It’s up 55% this year and up nearly 25% since late August – trouncing US and global stocks and stealing headlines . It plays on trade war angst, lingering inflation fears, geopolitical gyrations – and of course, its own iconic and distinctly glittery allure.

But the price of gold, after hitting an all-time high of $4,359.40 on Oct. 20, has since tumbled 4.5% inside of a week. If you rode gold’s rocket ride up, good for you. But that makes this an even better time to address – steely-eyed – just what gold actually is.

To be clear, in this column I will not be forecasting gold’s price, down or up. I learned not to do that 50 years ago – and needless to say, I like to predict lots of stuff. My last gold column, from December 2023 , showed how the most common arguments for gold are myth

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