Gold entered Q2 at around $4,700 an ounce. As of June 30, 2026, it is leaving at $4,015. That is a gold price decline of roughly 14% — the worst quarterly performance since Q2 2013, according to Reuters, when the Federal Reserve’s taper tantrum sent bullion down 22.8% [Macrotrends, historical gold price data]. The mainstream explanation is correct as far as it goes: higher rate-hike expectations, a stronger dollar, elevated real yields. But it misses the inversion that makes this quarter genuinely unusual. Gold is falling during a war. That is not how it is supposed to work. For decades, Middle East conflict has been ... (full story)