Blanchard in the News: Wall Street Journal Highlights Gold’s Explosive Growth
Posted onEveryone is a gold bug now, according to a new Wall Street Journal article, which featured Blanchard. It’s no surprise that gold is making headlines. The precious metal has soared an extraordinary 20%+ since the start of the year, while the U.S. stock market has tanked.
What’s notable about the latest wave of gold buying is that it attracting a new generation of buyers, according to the Wall Street Journal:
The metal is attracting first-time buyers, many younger than traditionally seen, seeking a stable investment as Trump’s policies rattle the stock market and escalate global political tensions. Other longtime devotees are increasing their holdings.
“Owning physical gold is moving more toward the mainstream.”
Blanchard has also noticed gold gaining followers during the dot-com bubble, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Generation Embraces Blanchard’s Investing Philosophy
Younger Americans are recognizing the value of the key investment principle that Blanchard has employed with our clients for the past 50 years:
- We believe that gold and silver bullion in physical form is an appropriate asset for a small portion of any properly diversified investment portfolio.
In other words, everyone should own physical metals. Other key tenets of the Blanchard tangible assets investment approach are:
- Everything we do is based on a long-term outlook.
- We believe in the long-term investment value of high-end rare and ultra-rare coins.
- We take the time to understand your investment objectives, time horizon, and risk appetite before recommending products for your consideration.
Historic Multi-Year Gold Rally Is Underway
Both long-time gold owners and first-time buyers are benefiting from an explosive rally in the gold market, one of the most significant seen in decades. This is a continuation of the uptrend we’ve seen in recent years. In 2024, the price of gold set forty record highs and finished the year with a 27% gain.
This year, gold continues to make history. In March 2025, gold hit a major milestone as it soared above the $3,000 barrier for the first time and then quickly eclipsed the $3,100 level. Year-to-date, gold has sprinted 20%+ higher and is still climbing. This year marks the fourth consecutive year that gold has reached new all-time highs.
What’s Driving Gold Higher Now?
Gold and silver are both benefiting from a massive flight to safety in 2025.
On April 2nd, deemed Liberation Day, the White House rolled out tariff increases of 10% to 50% on most trading partners. The expansive tariffs spooked the market amid worries that corporate profits could turn south. Some economists bumped up their recession odds forecast to 50% following the tariff news. The price increase from tariffs is expected to mean less disposable spending power in American consumers’ pockets, slowing economic growth and hiring.
The jury is still out on how the tariffs will impact the economy, but some American business owners have expressed concern about current supply channels that could become more costly.
Gold Offers Safe Haven
In the meantime, the safety of gold and silver is appealing. Gold has served as a store of value for 5,000 years and is a proven vehicle to protect and grow your wealth, especially during uncertain economic times. Because gold has a low correlation to the stock market, when stock prices crash, gold prices historically soar. Here’s a snapshot of just a few of the major indices and selected stock price performance.
Year-to-date performance
Winners
- Gold up 22%
- Silver up 16%
Losers
- Nasdaq Composite Index down 14%
- S&P 500 Index down 8%
- Nvidia down 23%
- Nike down 26%
- Dell down 32%
- Best Buy down 27%
- Williams Sonoma down 25%
- Wayfair down 45%
- Norwegian Cruise Lines down 36%
- Advanced Micro Devices down 22%
Gold Is Still Climbing
What we are seeing now is just the start of the current gold rush. As highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, Bank of America analysts raised their price target to $3,500. Do you own enough?
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