Spot gold has risen by about 20% this year, hitting a three-week high of $5,248.89 an ounce on Tuesday. It hit a record peak of $5,594.82 on January 29. That followed a 2025 surge of more than 64% in the metal widely regarded as a safe-haven investment. The bank noted that it remains firmly bullish on gold prices through 2026 and still sees a continued structural diversification trend into the metal, which it says has further room to run.

Total mortgage application volume was essentially flat, rising just 0.4% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index. High prices and a shortage of inventory are the problems.

says UBS. The threat to software-backed businesses from artificial intelligence should prompt investors to shift focus from technology to companies that toil in the physical world, like miners, power producers, and industrial firms, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equities and chief investment officer for the Americas at UBS Wealth Management. They’re called “HALO” stocks.

Phantom importers, sky-high tariffs, and suspiciously cheap shipping offers are fueling a surge in trade fraud, leaving law-abiding American businesses to foot the bill. Fueled by aggressive Chinese logistics tactics and the highest duties in a century, the suspected evasion is blunting Trump’s trade agenda while penalizing compliant companies.

to front-run a US war. Exports from Kharg Island from Feb. 15 to 20 were at nearly 20.1 million barrels. That’s almost three times the amount loaded over the same dates in January and the equivalent of more than 3 million barrels a day, far beyond Tehran’s usual daily rate. The increase comes as the US amasses the largest fighting force in the Middle East since the second Gulf War in 2003. Don’t buy oil (USO) on the outbreak of war, it may be the peak.