The Alchemist - Of gold and chocolate

THE ALCHEMIST

It is such an exciting time. We have a general election and a football World Cup coming up.

Those who are not driven by one are probably obsessed by the other. However, a few lost souls who do not spend their time watching replays of the goal of the month or campaign speeches may have noticed the gold price has just hit an all-time high. Gold is traditionally seen as a safe haven asset, bought when markets or politics are volatile, or when the value of financial assets is being eroded by inflation. For a while, gold bears argued it was an illiquid, old-fashioned sort of investment, like land, that had been overtaken by far more sophisticated products. They said it was much c...