Gold has been on a record-breaking streak. Now, the world’s second biggest bank thinks the trend will continue into next year.
On Monday, researchers at Bank of America raised their 2026 forecasts for the precious metal, predicting it will jump to over $5,000 an ounce.
That would be another huge 25 percent jump in one year. Just last week, the price of gold surged to a record high of $4,000, capping a 55 percent increase from January 2025.
It’s a huge turnaround for the bank. Just last week, it had warned that gold’s price was showing ‘uptrend exhaustion’ and could be due for a crash.
But today it said that investors show no signs of stopping their rush into gold. Fears of a renewed US-China trade war have fuelled further demand to bullion.
Even everyday Americans are joining the rush — trading platforms report a spike in interest in the metal.
‘Demand for gold remains strong,’ Bret Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro, told the Daily Mail. ‘Last week’s trading volume in gold futures hit a multi-year high on the metal’s way to its eighth straight weekly gain.’
But for traders, giving 401(k)s and retirement savings plans the Midas touch isn’t a great sign for investment.
Gold has been on a historic pricing tear this year – now, analysts at Bank of America are predicting that the trend will continue into 2026
Interest in gold proves that fear — not greed — is driving the markets: the US government is at a standstill, inflation is biting, and stocks are running hot on hype and low on profits.
Like ancient kings hoarding the metal in temples or Depression-era Americans hiding coins under floorboards, gold is glinting as the ultimate security blanket.
‘Investors are increasingly jumping on the gold bandwagon as safe-haven demand remains strong,’ David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, previously told the Daily Mail.
Abigail Wright, senior business advisor at the US Chamber of Commerce, said American companies are quietly adjusting their investment strategies to hedge against inflation and volatility.
‘It’s not about hoarding metal in a vault,’ Wright said. ‘The smartest firms use gold as insurance, not income.’
She says individual investors should deploy the same strategy. Don’t make sudden moves with your retirement savings, she warned.
Instead, consider adding a small amount of gold — just one percent to five percent of a retirement portfolio — through funds that track the metal’s price. Keep the rest in stable, long-term assets like stocks, bonds, and cash.
But while Wright suggests a more cautious approach, billionaire investors are taking a more bullish stance on gold, betting a significantly larger portion of their wealth on the shining metal.
Ray Dalio, a famous investor who predicted the 2008 market crash, has been snapping up gold. He suggests putting as much as 15 percent of your investment into the rare metal
Gold’s price is not a great sign for the US economy – normally, investors turn to the metal when they fear schisms on Wall Street. Analysts tell the Daily Mail that last Friday, when the market quickly dropped, traders flooded their cash into gold instead of crypto or other stocks
Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, who famously predicted the 2008 market crash, recommended that investors put ‘like 15 percent of your portfolio in gold.’
‘Gold is a very excellent diversifier in the portfolio,’ he told CNBC.
Kenwell also said many of his peers still believe gold prices will continue to climb. According to an eToro survey, 57 percent of investors think gold’s price will continue to rise in the short term, while 42 percent said they have gold in their coffers.
But he said there are some cracks underneath the metal’s price rise.
‘Gold is a tricky asset at times,’ he added. ‘It’s only natural to say that the rally could use a rest — and it could.’
Even if gold’s price starts to cool off, 2025’s record run is not a great sign for the US economy.
Normally, gold’s price surges when market uncertainty is high, and this year, there are plenty of worries.
Tariffs have roiled the global market, the US government is shut down, Wall Street is making huge bets that AI might eventually turn a profit, and Americans are slowly starting to lose their jobs.
But it also represents a huge financial opportunity for investors who strike before the price gets hot.
Since 2022, gold’s price has jumped more than 120 percent. Someone who purchased a single ounce of gold three years ago would have made over $3,000 on their investment.