Oil has this ability to grab the centre stage. A big swing in crude prices can reset inflation expectations almost overnight, unsettle central banks, and shuffle stock-market winners and losers. Think back to 2022. Crude shot up as economies reopened and supply chains buckled, feeding one of the sharpest inflation spikes in decades. The Energy sector loved it. Tech, not so much. Which makes you wonder if oil is really pulling the strings, or just playing a noisy side role?
Gold has long been a go-to for those looking to hedge against inflation or simply sleep better when markets get shaky. But here’s the question: what happens when interest rates, especially real, inflation-adjusted ones start heading north?
Rate cuts usually get investors excited. Lower interest rates, easier credit, and more breathing room for consumers and businesses alike. But what if inflation’s still hanging around, not falling, not rising dramatically either, just... maybe stubborn?
Gold doesn’t pay you anything to hold it. No interest, no dividends, just a shiny metal sitting in a vault. And yet, in today’s uncertain world, it’s becoming increasingly valuable. Why? Because when returns on cash and bonds can’t keep up with inflation, investors start to care less about yield and more about safety and security.
Europe. Not exactly the first name that pops into investors’ minds when they think “market leadership,” is it? For much of the last decade, it’s played the quiet understudy while the US tech scene hogged centre stage. But here in 2025?
