Wall Street Wants You to Buy Gold. It’s Still Risky.
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    HOUSE MEDIAN ASKING PRICES AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $1,764,302 (+0.48%)       Melbourne $1,066,697 (+0.05%)       Brisbane $1,181,591 (+0.51%)       Adelaide $987,749 (-0.14%)       Perth $1,041,108 (-0.48%)       Hobart $802,593 (+0.38%)       Darwin $826,337 (-2.56%)       Canberra $1,001,004 (+0.17%)       National $1,157,291 (+0.14%)                UNIT MEDIAN ASKING PRICES AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $793,689 (-0.41%)       Melbourne $524,006 (-0.53%)       Brisbane $754,229 (-3.72%)       Adelaide $563,099 (-0.55%)       Perth $593,974 (+3.43%)       Hobart $554,111 (+2.35%)       Darwin $460,457 (-0.56%)       Canberra $482,673 (+0.62%)       National $612,602 (-0.54%)                HOUSES FOR SALE AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 12,286 (+165)       Melbourne 14,524 (+136)       Brisbane 7,377 (+39)       Adelaide 2,517 (+59)       Perth 5,494 (+86)       Hobart 863 (+3)       Darwin 134 (-5)       Canberra 1,200 (+68)       National 44,395 (+551)                UNITS FOR SALE AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 9,355 (+30)       Melbourne 7,113 (+60)       Brisbane 1,331 (-14)       Adelaide 391 (+7)       Perth 1,174 (+23)       Hobart 175 (+2)       Darwin 228 (-13)       Canberra 1,190 (+19)       National 20,957 (+114)                HOUSE MEDIAN ASKING RENTS AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $800 ($0)       Melbourne $580 ($0)       Brisbane $670 ($0)       Adelaide $630 (+$5)       Perth $700 ($0)       Hobart $598 (+$3)       Darwin $750 (-$30)       Canberra $700 ($0)       National $686 (-$4)                UNIT MEDIAN ASKING RENTS AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $750 ($0)       Melbourne $590 ($0)       Brisbane $650 ($0)       Adelaide $540 ($0)       Perth $650 ($0)       Hobart $475 (+$15)       Darwin $600 ($0)       Canberra $580 ($0)       National $614 (+$1)                HOUSES FOR RENT AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 5,345 (-110)       Melbourne 7,556 (-112)       Brisbane 4,070 (+34)       Adelaide 1,534 (-9)       Perth 2,414 (-24)       Hobart 164 (-13)       Darwin 86 (+5)       Canberra 433 (+3)       National 21,602 (-226)                UNITS FOR RENT AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 7,762 (-17)       Melbourne 6,081 (+25)       Brisbane 2,126 (+27)       Adelaide 431 (+3)       Perth 667 (-79)       Hobart 84 (+4)       Darwin 186 (+14)       Canberra 643 (-7)       National 17,980 (-30)                HOUSE ANNUAL GROSS YIELDS AND TREND         Sydney 2.36% (↓)       Melbourne 2.83% (↓)       Brisbane 2.95% (↓)     Adelaide 3.32% (↑)      Perth 3.50% (↑)      Hobart 3.87% (↑)        Darwin 4.72% (↓)       Canberra 3.64% (↓)       National 3.08% (↓)            UNIT ANNUAL GROSS YIELDS AND TREND       Sydney 4.91% (↑)      Melbourne 5.85% (↑)      Brisbane 4.48% (↑)      Adelaide 4.99% (↑)        Perth 5.69% (↓)     Hobart 4.46% (↑)      Darwin 6.78% (↑)        Canberra 6.25% (↓)     National 5.21% (↑)             HOUSE RENTAL VACANCY RATES AND TREND         Sydney 1.2% (↓)       Melbourne 1.4% (↓)     Brisbane 1.0% (↑)      Adelaide 1.1% (↑)      Perth 1.0% (↑)        Hobart 0.4% (↓)       Darwin 0.6% (↓)       Canberra 1.4% (↓)     National 1.0% (↑)             UNIT RENTAL VACANCY RATES AND TREND       Sydney 1.3% (↑)      Melbourne 2.3% (↑)        Brisbane 1.2% (↓)       Adelaide 0.9% (↓)       Perth 1.0% (↓)       Hobart 1.2% (↓)     Darwin 1.1% (↑)      Canberra 2.6% (↑)        National 1.4% (↓)            AVERAGE DAYS TO SELL HOUSES AND TREND       Sydney 28.0 (↑)      Melbourne 27.9 (↑)        Brisbane 28.3 (↓)       Adelaide 25.4 (↓)     Perth 32.9 (↑)      Hobart 26.1 (↑)      Darwin 32.1 (↑)        Canberra 27.1 (↓)     National 28.5 (↑)             AVERAGE DAYS TO SELL UNITS AND TREND       Sydney 28.1 (↑)      Melbourne 28.2 (↑)        Brisbane 24.5 (↓)     Adelaide 24.4 (↑)        Perth 36.8 (↓)       Hobart 26.9 (↓)       Darwin 34.3 (↓)     Canberra 38.2 (↑)        National 30.2 (↓)           
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Wall Street Wants You to Buy Gold. It’s Still Risky.

Wall Street has gold fever. Investors should be careful.

By KARISHMA VANJANI
Fri, Mar 14, 2025 10:52amGrey Clock 3 min

J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs advise continuing to hold gold. BNP Paribas just raised its forecast for gold prices. For months now, BlackRock has recommended buying gold to diversify portfolios.

So far, the recommendations have been spot on. The most active gold futures contract hit another record high on Thursday, closing at $2,991.30 an ounce, marking its tenth record close in 2025. The popular SPDR Gold Shares exchange-traded fund, which tracks gold bullion, also closed at a record of $275.13.

But the megarally isn’t without risks.

Gold has now closed at record levels 10 times this year, after closing out its best year in over a decade, with 46 records in 2024. Drivers for the rally have been plentiful: Strong buying from central banks, a weaker dollar, realignment of international relationships as President Donald Trump slaps tariffs on goods from the U.S.’s closest allies, and wars abroad have pushed investors to seek safety in gold.

The conventional wisdom says the path of least resistance for gold is higher in part because prices are above their 200- and 100-day moving averages of $2,619.51 and $2,756.11, respectively, based on Wednesday’s close. When a price moves above its moving average, it is a sign that an uptrend is likely to continue.

BNP Paribas forecasts gold prices will rise above $3,100 an ounce in the second quarter of 2025. It assumes the average gold price in 2025 will be $2,990, 8% higher than its prior forecast. A price of $3,100 would represent a gain of 5.2% from its closing price on Wednesday.

“The biggest change to our previous view is the impact of the Trump tariff threats, which is resulting in fears of renewed US inflation on the one hand, and slower US and global growth expectations, on the other, driving increased safe-haven demand for gold,” David Wilson, senior commodities strategist as the bank, said in a research note Wednesday.

Still, when optimism is so widespread, it is smart to also consider the risks, even with investments such as gold that are famous for being safe.

For one, it could be said that the metal is overvalued, given that it has been in a bull market since September 2022. That raises the prospect that gold has already priced in much of its potential over the period, leaving it vulnerable to corrections. Those gains could tempt early investors to sell to lock in profits.

Gold could also struggle in a world where Washington’s efforts to overhaul the federal government prove successful, even if economists have their doubts. Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is slashing the federal workforce, which the administration has said will boost productivity, critical for economic growth, as laid-off government workers find more productive jobs in the private sector.

Economic growth and gold are inversely related. When the economy is booming, investors tend to favor riskier assets like stocks over gold, which loses its appeal.

“Such a development would be terrible news for gold whose price may then return to its historical norm, as expressed in oil-equivalent terms,” wrote Charles Gave, founder of Gavekal Research, in a research note on Wednesday. This implies a 50% fall, the note says.

On the other hand, there are plenty of reasons why prices could keep rising. An index of economic uncertainty index is high, while more tariffs would lead to inflation, both benefiting gold. The possibility that the U.S. government might value its gold holdings at market prices, rather than the current $42.2222 an ounce, would help as well.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent triggered speculation about revaluation in early February , saying the U.S. wants to monetize its balance sheet. He dismissed the idea in an interview with Bloomberg last month, but market chatter about the topic continues.

Revaluing the U.S.’s gold holdings would show interest in the commodity by the government, potentially adding to the momentum in the price. The statutory price of gold, set by law , hasn’t moved since 1973.

The evidence for gains is strong. Just don’t completely ignore the risks when putting your money to work.

Corrections & Amplifications: The most active gold futures contract closed at $2,991.30 on Thursday. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it closed at $2,984.30, the price of the front-month contract.

Write to Karishma Vanjani at  karishma.vanjani@dowjones.com undefined undefined



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More Big Companies Bet They Can Still Grow Without Hiring

JPMorgan Chase has a ‘strong bias’ against adding staff, while Walmart is keeping its head count flat. Major employers are in a new, ultra lean era.

By CHIP CUTTER
Mon, Oct 27, 2025 3 min

It’s the corporate gamble of the moment: Can you run a company, increasing sales and juicing profits, without adding people?

American employers are increasingly making the calculation that they can keep the size of their teams flat—or shrink through layoffs—without harming their businesses.

Part of that thinking is the belief that artificial intelligence will be used to pick up some of the slack and automate more processes. Companies are also hesitant to make any moves in an economy many still describe as uncertain.

JPMorgan Chase’s chief financial officer told investors recently that the bank now has a “very strong bias against having the reflective response” to hire more people for any given need. Aerospace and defense company RTX boasted last week that its sales rose even without adding employees.

Goldman Sachs , meanwhile, sent a memo to staffers this month saying the firm “will constrain head count growth through the end of the year” and reduce roles that could be more efficient with AI. Walmart , the nation’s largest private employer, also said it plans to keep its head count roughly flat over the next three years, even as its sales grow.

“If people are getting more productive, you don’t need to hire more people,” Brian Chesky , Airbnb’s chief executive, said in an interview. “I see a lot of companies pre-emptively holding the line, forecasting and hoping that they can have smaller workforces.”

Airbnb employs around 7,000 people, and Chesky says he doesn’t expect that number to grow much over the next year. With the help of AI, he said he hopes that “the team we already have can get considerably more work done.”

Many companies seem intent on embracing a new, ultralean model of staffing, one where more roles are kept unfilled and hiring is treated as a last resort. At Intuit , every time a job comes open, managers are pushed to justify why they need to backfill it, said Sandeep Aujla , the company’s chief financial officer. The new rigor around hiring helps combat corporate bloat.

“That typical behavior that settles in—and we’re all guilty of it—is, historically, if someone leaves, if Jane Doe leaves, I’ve got to backfill Jane,” Aujla said in an interview. Now, when someone quits, the company asks: “Is there an opportunity for us to rethink how we staff?”

Intuit has chosen not to replace certain roles in its finance, legal and customer-support functions, he said. In its last fiscal year, the company’s revenue rose 16% even as its head count stayed flat, and it is planning only modest hiring in the current year.

The desire to avoid hiring or filling jobs reflects a growing push among executives to see a return on their AI spending. On earnings calls, mentions of ROI and AI investments are increasing, according to an analysis by AlphaSense, reflecting heightened interest from analysts and investors that companies make good on the millions they are pouring into AI.

Many executives hope that software coding assistants and armies of digital agents will keep improving—even if the current results still at times leave something to be desired.

The widespread caution in hiring now is frustrating job seekers and leading many employees within organizations to feel stuck in place, unable to ascend or take on new roles, workers and bosses say.

Inside many large companies, HR chiefs also say it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict just how many employees will be needed as technology takes on more of the work.

Some employers seem to think that fewer employees will actually improve operations.

Meta Platforms this past week said it is cutting 600 jobs in its AI division, a move some leaders hailed as a way to cut down on bureaucracy.

“By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,” Alexandr Wang , Meta’s chief AI officer, wrote in a memo to staff seen by The Wall Street Journal.

Though layoffs haven’t been widespread through the economy, some companies are making cuts. Target on Thursday said it would cut about 1,000 corporate employees, and close another 800 open positions, totaling around 8% of its corporate workforce. Michael Fiddelke , Target’s incoming CEO, said in a memo sent to staff that too “many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life.”

A range of other employers, from the electric-truck maker Rivian to cable and broadband provider Charter Communications , have announced their own staff cuts in recent weeks, too.

Operating with fewer people can still pose risks for companies by straining existing staffers or hurting efforts to develop future leaders, executives and economists say. “It’s a bit of a double-edged sword,” said Matthew Martin , senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “You want to keep your head count costs down now—but you also have to have an eye on the future.”

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