The legacy media has spent months painting a doom-and-gloom picture of the economy, but the "smart money" doesn't seem to agree. The stock market has been on a steady climb since it declined in April following President Trump's initial tariff announcement (which was met by media panic). The S&P hit another record high this week, its 33rd of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial and NASDAQ have also been at or near record highs for months.
Much of this surge has been driven by AI-fueled tech stocks. But experts also believe it reflects faith in the overall economy. "Investors for the most part feel comfortable and confident that they're not going to lose their job, they're going to have a little bit of money left over, and they can buy some things they put off for the last couple of years," says Derrick Kinney, money and business expert. "So clearly there's a level of confidence---not uncertainty---but more confidence right now than we've seen in quite some time."
More surprising than the stock market surge is the price of gold, which is on its own historic heater. Gold is up more than 50% this year, and has now surpassed $4,000 per ounce. This is out of the ordinary since gold typically does well when the markets are jittery or in a slump. But Kinney notes that gold demand has grown as it became a hot commodity in middle America. "Even Costco is now selling gold bars," he says. "It's enabling mainstream America to have access to what was often thought of as exclusively for wealthier people."
"Now that gold is more mainstream, more people are buying it and finding that it's a great way to hedge some of the volatility in their money."
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