Gold just won’t stop going higher. The metal this week topped $4,000 per ounce for the first time, bringing its year-to-date gain to more than 50%. That advance is easily outpacing the S & P 500’s 14.5% jump. The move this week put gold up around 150% for its bull run, which began in October 2022. And while that is below the average gain seen during previous bull markets for the previous metal — 293% since 1970, per Bank of America — it has come during a shorter time span. Bull markets for gold last on average 43 months, BofA noted; the current one has gone on for 36 months. Several factors have fueled the gold rally, including easier monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, a decline in the U.S. dollar and the so-called debasement trade . But BofA strategist Michael Hartnett thinks the metal may be getting too hot. Hartnett noted in his weekly Flow Show note that his brother-in-law recently told him he was “‘Having lunch with X and he is asking should he invest in physical gold or silver or is it too late as his wine investments have been tanking?'” He also pointed out that gold has seen inflows for nine straight weeks. This week it raked in $2.1 billion, though that was its smallest inflow in three weeks, he said. Deutsche Bank strategist Michael Hsieh noted that a look at gold’s technicals point to the rally potentially peaking. “However, we do not see this as a sign of an impending correction. At most, it may point to a period of more neutral behaviour like that between June-Aug. Fair value has risen along with gold in the past two months,” he said. ( Learn the best 2026 strategies from inside the NYSE with Josh Brown and others at CNBC PRO Live. Tickets and info here . )
