The gold price has dipped from last weeks peak above $1,313 as fears of a Brexit have eased, but British investors continue to pile into the yellow metal for safety because Thursdays outcome remains highly uncertain.

Gold bullion demand surges in run-up to EU referendum, reported Londons Guardian newspaper, while a Belfast Telegraph headline read, Demand for gold rockets as investors seek stability.

Since June, the United Kingdoms Royal Mint has seen its online transactions rise 32% over Mays, while revenue exploded by almost 150%.

Possible turbulence, mint says: Overall since early 2016, demand for precious metals has risen, particularly with gold, mint official Chris Howard said. While we are uncertain at this stage on what impact the results of both the European referendum vote and the US elections will have on the gold market, with the Royal Mints trading platform and our significant gold holding, we are prepared for possible market turbulence.

The mints signature gold Sovereign coin has been one of its top sellers, Howard noted.

Gold investors stuffing safes: Meanwhile, citing Google search data, Londons Telegraph reported that worriedsavers are buying gold bars and stuffing them in safes at home, data suggests, as fears mount that a Brexit-induced financial meltdown could be just around the corner.

According to the Telegraph, the frequency of searches for the phrase home safe is reflecting crisis levels unseen since November 2008.

Meanwhile, Switzerland reports that the United Kingdom has been the biggest destination for Swiss gold exports this year, averaging over 60 mt/month since February, compared with average exports of less than 2 mt/month in 2015, the Platts news agency noted, citing growing investment demand.

As of Wednesday, the outcome of the Brexit vote to leave the European Union remains too close to call. An Opinium poll found the Leave camp leading slightly at 45% versus 44% for the Remain faction, with the rest undecided.

Negative rates bigger than Brexit: Gold skeptics think that the metals price could take a hit if the Brexit movement fails, but at least some analysts say bullion can benefit either way.

I think gold is a buy here, David Davitt of Harvest Volatility Management told CNBC on Tuesday. As we move toward these negative rates, you put dollars in a vault, theyre going to start destroying each other. Theres a possibility if you invest dollars that youll get less dollars back in a years time. So the lack of yield on gold had long been an argument, but if negative yield is throughout the economy, then gold synthetically has a positive yield.

And Rich Ross of Evercore ISI agreed, saying that whether Britain Brexits or Bremains, gold should brenefit. Ross noted that golds 20% gain this year largely occurred in the first six weeks of the year, only to be relatively rangebound since then, so Brexit wont take away that early-year advance. I think that gold works whether we get that Brexit and chaos ensues gold goes higher or if peace prevails on the Bremain, the dollar eases, providing a bid into gold and commodities, high yield, etc. So I like it either way.

Bill Baruch of iiTrader also concurred with the win-win scenario for gold, predicting in a Bloomberg interview, Golds going to be a lot higher after a Brexit. And if they vote to stay, the dollar will weaken and gold will hold ground, he said. Over the longer run, I do expect gold to be testing $1,400 by the end of August. I think theres a lot of value in this area near-term and into the long term.

Although the gold price might lose ground after a potential Remain vote victory, the metal has strong support well above $1,200. Therefore, a Brexit failure could provide gold investors with a key strategic buying opportunity.

The extremely articulate and savvy hedge fund manager Kyle Bass was quoted in 2013 saying, At some point in time I’d much rather own gold than paper. I just don’t know when that time is.

Like Kyle, many people desire to own gold based solely on the ostensibly inevitable, yet always hypothetical, doomsday predictions that call for widespread pandemonium and chaos that will ultimately render the major currencies of the world obsolete and better suited for fire starting purposes to stay warm.

However, perhaps there is a more realistic and plausible reason to own gold.

Many successful investors will often credit their success, in part, to diversification. Having assets appropriately allocated in the usual allotment of stocks, bonds, and gold ensures that a portfolio is in better shape to withstand the harshest economic times imaginable. This alone is a highly convincing argument to own gold. In spite of the idea of hedging equity or fixed-income investments, owning gold also ensures that an investor literally has exposure to the gold marketplace.

Unequivocally, the key difference between gold and any monetary currency in the world, like the American dollar, the euro, the rand, etc., is the unavoidable fact that gold cannot be duplicated. Therefore, at its very core, the fundamental law of supply and demand ought to be enough to convince everyone to own gold. Regardless if you are looking to achieve a well-balanced investment portfolio across different asset classes or are simply buying gold coins, the fact of the matter is you are gaining exposure to a market with a limited supply. But what does this entail?

Unlike virtually every paper currency in the world, it is a certainty that central banks, or anyone for that matter, simply cannot print more gold. What is not a certainty, however, is the population of the world remaining stagnant and slow-growing for years to come. In fact, this is highly unlikely; common sense and history underscore the relationship between increased time and increased population growth.

Because of this, from the most basic level, we know two certainties when talking about gold:

1. There is a finite amount of gold in the world.
2. The population of the world is constantly increasing.

As the population increases, there will be less gold for more people, and this will result in the willingness, if not the necessity, to pay more in order to own gold. It really is that simple. The supply and demand of gold, which is ultimately a major determining factor of its price, is clearer than almost any other commodity. Moreover, from a usage standpoint, gold will stay important and relevant into perpetuity because of its financial uses, whereas a commodity like crude oil will likely face dwindling demand moving into the future as alternative fuel sources become more prevalent.

Naturally, because all of these facts lead to a logical conclusion, this raises the unavoidable question of why everyone in the world doesn’t realize this and own gold?

As it turns out, most sophisticated investors do indeed maintain a position in gold. As Kyle Bass explains again, we’ve always had a position in gold. It is important to note that if you want to have a position in gold like many prominent hedge funds and institutions, it need not be through gold futures, an ETF or other investment vehicle. Owning gold in its physical state of coins, bars or bullion is just as effective in regards to market exposure, because this is what the electronic forms of gold investing are based on, and its undeniably more exciting.

Although there seems to always be chatter of needing to own gold as insurance for the day fiscal policy globally collapses, a far more likely scenario is that gold, over time, will increase in value due to the basic laws of supply and demand and those who do not own it will miss out on an a lovely investment and diversification asset.

Some new financial heavy hitters have come out of the woodwork to emphasize that a Brexit could devastate various aspects of the British, European, and even global economies.

Billionaire George Soros penned a column in Londons Guardian newspaper predicting that a vote to leave could see the week end with a Black Friday, and serious consequences for ordinary people.

And famed British banking scion Lord Jacob Rothschild has warned that a Brexit would be damaging and disorderly, while New York University economist Nouriel Roubini said the United Kingdom would suffer significant damage.

SocGen predicts 10% gold advance: And given these projected negative economic consequences, gold would be a likely beneficiary of Brexit. Thats why one banking giant that has been a longtime bear on the precious metal is forecasting a significant move higher in the gold price if the Brexit backers prevail.

In the event of Brexit, we expect gold to move 10% higher and volatility to increase significantly, Societe Generale analysts wrote. The heightened market uncertainty in the run-up to the vote will prompt investors to seek safe-haven assets, benefiting gold and the rest of the precious metals.

A 10% increase would take gold above the $1,400 level. Thats quite a forecast given SocGens recent dislike of gold. As Bloomberg metals analyst Eddie van der Walt tweeted, Bears SocGen say gold could go to $1,400 on Brexit. Thats like anyone else saying $1,700.

All of the problems are here to stay: But as another SocGen analyst notes, even if the Brexit measure is defeated, problems remain for the global economy that will keep golds safe-haven qualities in high demand.

Whatever the outcome of the Brexit vote this week, investors will still be facing the prospect of negative rates and negative yields on a huge range of bonds, massive corporate leverage with worryingly rising delinquencies and of course expensive equity markets and falling profits, Andrew Lapthone wrote. To that extent these political events are a distraction from the main event, weak global economic growth and perverse asset markets. So whilst the market preference for the status quo might be celebrated in the short-term, actually when the fog clears, all of the problems will still be there.

And those problems also exist in the U.S. As Bill Bonner succinctly put it, Industrial production has been falling for nine months in a row. Factory orders have been going down for the past 18 months. Commercial bankruptcies are rising. And tax receipts are beginning to fall, as they typically do before a recession.

More than $10 trillion of government bonds now trade at negative yields. And another $10 trillion or so worth of U.S. stocks trade well above their long-term average valuations.

And theres more than $200 trillion of debt in the world with about $60 trillion added since the global financial crisis.

Is Brexit paranoia just noise?: This litany of problems is one reason why Barry Dawes of Paradigm Securities just told CNBC that the yellow metal is bound for new 2016 highs regardless of the UK referendums outcome. There are other forces that are affecting the gold price, Dawes said. I just see this Brexit issue as just noise. Its not a major issue. Some people have made it out to be a lot more than I really think it is. The gold price was moving up quite nicely early in the year long before this Brexit issue really came to the fore, so sure, well see a little volatility. We got up to that sort of $1,350 which was my target from earlier in the year, and I think weve probably got a little bit more consolidation before we go and then I think its going to be up, and well certainly see $1,400 on my models this year, and it could be a lot higher than that.

With gold up more than 20% in 2016, the precious metal is regaining luster among rank-and-file investors, according to the latest CNBC All America Economic Survey.

Gold finished No. 2 in the financial news networks quarterly poll, garnering 21% of the votes for best investment, lagging only real estate (32%) but ahead of stocks (19%).

The poll also found that 32% of investors think that now is a good time to invest in financial markets, while 40% say its a bad time to do so. Twenty-eight percent arent sure.

Trump voters lean toward gold: The poll also delved into the investment preferences of voters in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. Thirty-two percent of Republican contender Donald Trumps supporters prefer real estate, versus 33% of Democratic hopeful Hillary Clintons backers.

When it comes to gold, Trump voters tend to be gold bugs, CNBC reporter Steve Liesman noted. Thirty-one percent of Trump voters prefer gold, versus 12% of Clintons supporters.

CNBC anchor Simon Hobbs reacted strongly to the results. Is it normal for people to rank gold above stocks? he asked Liesman. Thats a major turn in psychology there.

The typical Trump voter is more pessimistic and more angry and that shows up in their preference for gold right there, Liesman speculated.

Forward P/E ratios are high, Fed admits: In the category of stocks, 13% of Trump backers say equities are the best investment, while 23% of Clinton voters prefer them.

But where are these three investment classes headed? And which is truly the best for these times? Gold has a lot going for it right now. With $10 trillion (and counting) in sovereign government bonds now yielding less than zero, gold arguably for the first time in recent memory has a positive carry. And with the Federal Reserve now cutting back the pace of its interest-rate increases for the foreseeable future, the U.S. environment for the yellow metal also is optimistic.

What about stocks? According to the Feds own Monetary Policy Report (June 21, 2016) to Congress, equities are leaning toward pricey.

Valuation pressures have generally stayed at a moderate level since January, though they rose for a few asset classes, it said. Forward price-to-earnings ratios for equities have increased to a level well above their median of the past three decades. Although equity valuations do not appear to be rich relative to Treasury yields, equity prices are vulnerable to rises in term premiums to more normal levels, especially if a reversion was not motivated by positive news about economic growth.

Is the housing bubble also back?: And high-profile investors like Carl Icahn also see the stock market as rich and propped up by the Fed. I look at this market and you just say look at some of these values and you just have to wonder, he recently told CNBC. The Federal Reserve is holding up this economy. I just dont think you can have [near] zero interest rates for much longer without having these bubbles explode on you, so you need fiscal stimulus.

What about real estate? With skyrocketing prices for homes in places such as Seattle and Manhattan leading the way, analysts are starting to say the B word again.

When Americans start looking at housing as something to speculate on, thats actually the biggest indicator I think in this modern-day housing world of a bubble, said Shari Olefson of The Carnegie Group.

Ironically, though, even as housing prices are rising, the U.S. homeownership rate has dipped to about 63.5%, near a 48-year low. With high-quality jobs scarce and student-loan debt exploding as home values climb, the U.S. has become a nation of renters, with wealthy investors and corporations scooping up housing to become landlords.

If theres one thing we should have learned from the housing bust, its that rising home prices arent an unalloyed good, Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox noted. Rapid priceincreases in the early 2000sdirectlyled to the subsequent crash. Sale prices lost all connection with both rents and incomes; after a certain point they were going up mainly just because they were going up, and buyers feared missing out. That couldnt go on forever.

Hot air in commercial real estate: And its not just housing prices that are inflated. What is less known to investors is the massive amount of forced hot air that has been blown into the commercial real estate market, financial manager Michael Pento recently argued. For example, commercial real estate prices have increased by double digits for the past six years, according to The National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. Also, according to the Real Estate research firm Green Street Advisors, commercial property prices now exceed the 2007 prior peak by 24% overall. And in cities such as Manhattan, preferred office buildings and apartment complexes are 60% higher than what existed during the previous housing bubble. Of course, such lofty values have driven National Retail cap rates down to the subbasement of history, at just 6.5%. But this Fed-induced famine has caused yield-starved investors to embrace low income streams in the hopes if they ignore this current bubble it wont pop in the same manner as it did eight years ago.

With real estate and stocks looking frothy amid slowing global growth and a dozen other economic land mines around the world, while gold has made a steady, measured climb back into bull-market territory, a strong case can be made that the yellow metal is the best investment for the uncertain times ahead.

Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman during the lead-up to the subprime housing implosion and subsequent financial crisis, infamously never saw any of it coming.

For example, to recall just a couple of his bloopers, in February 2006 he predicted that house prices will probably continue to rise, while in May 2007 he declared, We do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.

Fast-forward to Tuesday, June 21, 2016, and current Chairwoman Janet Yellen took the hot seat before a Senate banking panel to assert that she doesn-t see a recession coming in the U.S., even if the United Kingdom votes to exit the European Union in its June 23 Brexit referendum. I think the odds of a recession are low. It is certainly not what I am expecting, she said.

Recession is already here, expert says: However, she had to admit in her prepared testimony that considerable uncertainty about the economic outlook remains. And numerous analysts think the risks are to the downside.

The U.S. most likely entered into a recession at the end of last quarter, Michael Pento of Pento Portfolio Strategies recently argued. That’s right; when adjusting nominal GDP growth for core consumer price inflation for the average of the past two quarters, the recession is already here.

Of course, Yellen is the same Fed chief who was forecasting four interest rate increases for this year after hiking the federal funds rate just 25 basis points in December for the first tightening in almost a decade.

Is this Yellen’s Bernanke moment?: Yellen also dismissed the dangers of the Feds ongoing low-rate policy in inflating asset bubbles. I would not at this time say that the threats from low rates to financial stability are elevated. I do not think they are elevated at this time. But of course it is something that we need to watch because it can have that impact, she said.

Instead of the hawkish notes she was sounding just months ago, Yellen continued to stress the message of ongoing easy-money policies. Proceeding cautiously in raising the federal funds rate will allow us to keep the monetary support to economic growth in place while we assess whether growth is returning to a moderate pace, whether the labor market will strengthen further, and whether inflation will continue to make progress toward our 2% objective, she said.

Significant shortcomings in negative rates: But the most interesting assertion Yellen made Tuesday was that the Fed, in her opinion, has the legal authority to impose negative interest rates if economic conditions warrant them.

I believe we do have the legal basis to pursue negative rates, but I want to emphasize it is not something that we are considering, she said. This is not a matter that we are actively looking at, considering when we’ve looked at that in the past we have identified significant shortcomings of that type of approach. We don’t think we are going to have to provide accommodation and if we do, that’s not something that’s on our list.

Given the Feds abysmal track record at forecasting U.S. growth rates and even its own rate-hiking path, the message here is to be very afraid. Why? Because after numerous about-faces and failed follow-throughs, most recently personified by St. Louis branch President James Bullard’s full-tilt dovish conversion, the Fed has now lost all credibility.

If Yellen is asserting that the Fed doesn’t anticipate more accommodation and that negatives rates are not its weapon of choice, then investors should have learned by now that, in all likelihood, sooner rather than later, well be looking at a more accommodative central bank that will have no choice but to follow its central-bank peers in rolling out negative rates. The time to prepare your portfolios is now.

The reserve currencies of the world are in trouble, Silver Wheaton CEO Randy Smallwood recently observed. When we see things like Brexit and German bonds trading below zero percent, when theres uncertainty in the world, people want to put their money in a safe place.

And for many investors both large and small, gold and silver bullion coins are that safe place. The worlds most in-demand bullion coin continues to be the U.S. Mints American Eagle. And so far in 2016, the silver American Eagle coin is on pace to set an all-time sales record. With 24.795 million ounces sold as of mid-June, the 2015 record total of 47 million coins is well within reach.

And its not just the U.S. Mint thats seeing massive amounts of bullion flying out the door. The Royal Canadian Mint reported that its first-quarter sales of its silver Maple Leaf bullion coin reached 10.6 million ounces, easily topping the record of 9.5 million sold in the third quarter of 2015. Q3 2015.

Australias Perth Mint also is grapping with huge demand, with sales of its silver coins doubling over the past year. And The Wall Street Journal just reported that its new kangaroo-themed silver bullion coin has been a blockbuster success, enjoying strong demand even from investors as far away as the United States.

We thought wed sell 5 million in the first year, then maybe 7.5 million in the second as the coin became more well known but the best-laid plans dont always go the way you expect, CEO Richard Hayes told the newspaper. Weve had to ramp up far more quickly, and the 5 million we planned to sell in the first year, we will more than double that.

To accommodate the renewed clamor for precious metals, the mint is expending its production capacity from 12 million coins per year to 22 million.

With the Federal Reserve announcing at its June meeting that it would leave interest rates unchanged and would slow the pace of its anticipated future rate hikes, look for bullion sales to remain elevated for the foreseeable future.

And when weighing whether to buy U.S. Mint-produced bullion or coins from foreign mints, consider this: In addition to commanding higher premiums than many other equivalent bullion coins, the $1 silver American Eagle as well as the $50 gold American Eagle enjoy the advantage of legal-tender status in the U.S.

That means that in a major crisis, these coins which of course are worth more than their respective face values because of their metallic content can serve as easily exchangeable currency. Coins from foreign mints, as beautiful as they are, dont have that advantage.

Gold continues to cool its heels after the tragic killing of a British Parliament member last Thursday, with the latest polls on a potential United Kingdom Brexit showing that momentum seemingly has swung back to the Remain camp.

We did have momentum until this terrible tragedy, said Nigel Farage, leader of the UKIP party and one of the leading advocates for a Brexit. It has had an impact on the whole campaign for everybody, he said of MP Jo Coxs killing. When you are taking on the establishment, you need to have momentum.

With the Leave camps push slowing at the moment, stocks surged Monday and gold dipped, trading near $1,285 in the afternoon.

Shock waves threaten global growth: However, this is a race down to the wire, and no one knows the outcome. But the ramifications could be huge, with The Washington Post warning this week that Britains departure from the European Union could send shock waves across the global economy and threaten more than a trilliondollars in investment and trade with the United States.

Along with a possible deep blow to the global economy, the Brexits potential to unravel the cohesiveness of the European Union has led another major investment bank to issue a bullish pronouncement for gold prices.

Citi Research says the yellow metal could surmount the $1,350 level if the Leave camp prevails. We believe a Brexit result could see gold prices eventually hit levels above $1,350/ounce even if a proportion of the risk is already baked in to current prices and even if the USD (U.S. dollar) likely rallies on any knee-jerk reaction, its analysts wrote. In our view, gold would rally on potential asset market drawdowns, a spike in vols, further yield compression and greater risk of the Fed being on hold for longer.

Buy the dips, analysts say: Conversely, with hedge funds placing near-record bets on golds continuing upside, investors should expect a pullback in bullion prices if the UK votes to remain, but nothing approximating a crash, Citi added.

Even if the Brexit does not occur, the low-interest-rate environment going forward still favors the metal, which has shown strong support at the $1,200 level. I still think now one has to buy on dips, MKS trader Afshin Nabavi told Reuters.

Gold is more likely to trade lower ahead of the Brexit vote given its strong rally over the last few weeks, added Altavest co-founder Michael Armbruster in comments to MarketWatch. Gold bugs looking to get long may get an opportunity to buy near these levels. The big picture for gold is still quite bullish as real interest rates remain negative nearly everywhere, including here in the United States. We look for gold to make another push higher after the Brexit vote.

Risks are not trivial and are rising: After all, take away the Brexit issues, and fears of a slowing global economy remain. The ratio of the gold price to the slumping copper price has driven home those concerns. And Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg is warning that risks are rising thanks to the 3D: debt, deflation, and demographics.

I may not see a recession around the corner, he wrote in detailing his firms reduction of equities exposure, but I am not exactly whistling past the graveyard either. The risks are not trivial and are on the rise, but even if a downturn is averted, we are likely to remain in a stuck-in-the-mud global economy, with no leadership, diminishing returns from monetary stimulus and still little in the way of a fiscal response.

The bottom line is that the Fed has waved the surrender flag at its meeting last week, and thus higher rates arent coming anytime soon. Indeed, expectations for the next rate hike have been pushed to 2017, 2018, may be even ?? noted Komal Sri-Kumar of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies.

Stay tuned for more clues about the Feds next move as Yellen speaks before a Senate panel this week, but in the meantime, prudent portfolio diversification remains key in the days, weeks, and months ahead.