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Gold is meant to be a ‘safe haven’ in uncertain times. Why is it crashing amid a war?

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 851 words · By Rand Low
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What to know about Gold is meant to be a ‘safe haven’ in uncertain times. Why is it crashing amid a war?

The article analyzes gold's role as a safe haven during financial crises, citing historical examples like the 2008 crisis and the 2011 downgrade. It contrasts traditional safe havens with the current situation involving an oil shock, arguing that gold's behavior has changed due to financialization and market dynamics.

Propaganda risk 20%
Claims checked 16
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Gold has long enjoyed a reputation as a financial “safe haven” during stormy times.

Why it matters

But over the past few months of geopolitical chaos and market panic, the precious metal has moved more like a roller coaster than a steady ship at anchor.

Common ground

In late January, the gold price surged to an all-time high near US$5,600 per ounce – effectively double what it was a year earlier.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The article analyzes gold's role as a safe haven during financial crises, citing historical examples like the 2008 crisis and the 2011 downgrade. It contrasts traditional safe havens with the current situation involving an oil shock, arguing that gold's behavior has changed due to financialization and market dynamics.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/gold-is-meant-to-be-a-safe-haven-in-uncertain-times-…

analyticsAnalysis

20%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 70%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 16 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
schedule Pending 6
verified Verified By Reference 3
verified
Claim 1: “Gold is still at lofty heights by historical standards, up almost 300% over the past decade.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries describe gold's physical properties and monetary systems but provide no historical price data or 300% growth metrics over the past decade.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — GOLD may refer to: Gold (disambiguation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOLD
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is defined by a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard
schedule
Claim 2: “Gold has become increasingly financialised through derivatives and exchange traded funds (ETFs).”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 3: “Gold's safe haven properties were more muted during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to earlier crises.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 4: “Gold had similar safe haven qualities in 2011 during the US credit rating downgrade.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that reference gold price movements during specific Middle East conflicts.
help
Claim 5: “In a 2016 study, gold showed safe haven qualities for share markets in Australia, the US, Germany, and France.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that reference a 2016 study on gold's safe haven properties for specific markets.
verified
Claim 6: “Gold has lost about 20% since late January, sliding sharply while major conflict broke out in the Middle East.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia evidence references 2026 Middle East military buildup and unrelated economic data, but contains no information about gold price declines from late January 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Beginning in late January 2026, the United States carried out its largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, deploying air, naval, and missile defense assets amid esc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_military_bu…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The economy of the Middle East is highly diverse, encompassing a range of economic systems and levels of development. Some countries are wealthy hydrocarbon exporters, while others have centrally plan…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Middle_East
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Fox Sports Asia (formerly ESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asian pay television network operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It al…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Sports_Asia
help
Claim 7: “Gold has moved more like a roller coaster than a steady ship at anchor during recent geopolitical chaos and market panic.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that confirm gold price volatility during recent geopolitical events. All sources are unrelated to financial market data.
schedule
Claim 8: “Commodity prices now depend more on speculative investment than real-world supply and demand.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 9: “Market chaos may force large investors to sell gold to meet margin calls or cover losses.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 10: “Holding gold derivatives and stocks together increases exposure to common market shocks.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 11: “Gold does not have as much essential intrinsic value as oil due to lower industrial demand.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 12: “Much of the gold price surge has been driven by financialisation through derivatives and funds tracking its price.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that discuss financialisation mechanisms influencing gold prices.
verified
Claim 13: “The gold price surged to an all-time high near US$5,600 per ounce in late January.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries provide general information about gold's properties and historical monetary systems but contain no data about gold prices reaching $5,600 in late January 2024.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is defined by a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gold Rush (formerly Gold Rush Alaska) is a reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, with reruns also airing on TLC. The show's fifteenth season began airing on November 9, 2024. As o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gold_Rush_episodes
help
Claim 14: “Gold is not an untouchable storm shelter during modern crises due to its absorption of market volatility.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that confirm or refute gold's role as a safe haven during modern crises.
help
Claim 15: “During the 2008 financial crisis, gold was the most stable precious metal, avoiding catastrophic losses seen in others.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that discuss gold's performance relative to other precious metals during the 20兴致8 financial crisis.
help
Claim 16: “An oil shock is fundamentally different from previous crises like banking failures or credit downgrades.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in cross-references, web search, or Wikipedia entries that discuss gold price volatility in relation to geopolitical events.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.