Golden hour is over

When even the “bond king” says that gold is “no longer for lunatic survivalists,” you know it’s a sign the rally may have gotten a bit ahead of itself.

2025 has been dubbed a golden era for gold for a reason: The commodity has gained 29% year to date, far outpacing the S&P 500’s increase of about 3% over the same period. In fact, gold prices have set a new record high a staggering 24 times in 2025 as investors rushed into the safe-haven asset when Liberation Day tariffs roiled the stock market.

But now, as everyone and their mom takes a piece of the golden pie, some investors are moving to less expensive corners of the commodity market and helping other precious metals eat into gold’s lead.

The iShares Silver Trust, an exchange-traded fund backed by the commodity itself, officially outperformed its gold counterpart earlier this week, Barron’s reported. Unlike gold, silver isn’t just a hedge for traders: The commodity is a key ingredient in building tech such as electric vehicles and solar panels. As of now, silver has gained 24% this year, slightly less than gold’s gain.

Platinum, too, has had a stellar run this year, gaining 42%. Besides investors diversifying their precious metal portfolio beyond gold, platinum has also gotten a boon from growing demand for platinum jewelry in China, which is its biggest market. According to the Platinum Guild International, demand for platinum grew 50% year over year in China in Q1.

Even palladium is joining the rally, reaching its highest level since February 2021 yesterday.

Is this golden era rusting?

While other metals may be mounting a comeback, the fundamentals are intact for gold to keep gaining, despite the fact that it’s surpassed many analyst price targets.

After all, the factors that have been driving gold’s record run—trade war tensions, the risk of inflation rekindling, central banks guzzling gold like it’s candy—have certainly not gone away.

Many analyst price targets leave room for the metal to keep shining. For example, JPMorgan predicts gold could reach $3,675 per ounce by the end of 2025—about 8% higher than it trades today—and forecasts the commodity could even hit $4,000 per ounce by Q2 2026.

Maybe the bond king is on to something after all.—LB