State Street analyst says inflation wasn't bad enough for gold to work as a hedge

Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

For all of the complaints consumers have about inflation, George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors says that the precious metal needs "sustained high inflation" — which he defines as at least two years with inflation above 5 percent — and those conditions were not met, so gold didn't respond to rising prices. Meanwhile, gold has been rolling because it is a good hedge against geo-political risk and Milling-Stanley expects that to continue, given global tensions now. Moreover, Milling-Stanley expects a soft landing for the economy, though he believes that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is determined to deliver "a period of below-trend growth" to return the economy to stable well-being, and that transition could feel rough for investors. Rob Williams, chief investment strategist at Sage Advisory Services, agrees that a soft landing is likely, though he expects that the market will face more turbulence and will fly at lower altitudes as the economy slows during the rate-cutting cycle the Fed recently started. Plus, Kristine Stevenson of Proverbs 1616 — the author of "How to Avoid Trouble With the IRS 10 Best Tax Tips for the Self-Employed, Gig Worker, and Indie Contractor" — answers a question from a listener who is hoping to resolve tax problems that have arisen during a health crisis, troubles that she doesn't want to leave her kids as an inheritance.