Despite geopolitical volatility, most global markets are slightly higher than two weeks ago. Gold, however, is significantly higher -----   rising five per cent in two weeks and six per cent on the month. As a result, it recently broke through its six-year high.

I often joke that gold is a hedge against the world going crazy. Why? Being one of the oldest stores of value, gold is often viewed as a safe harbour when economic waters get choppy -----  unlike fiat currencies, which can simply print more money if they feel like it.

So what has given rise to gold's resurgence? Global security concerns (U.S./Iran tensions and protests in Hong Kong), trade uncertainty (U.S./China trade war and Brexit), U.S. dollar weakness, potentially low U.S. interest rates, and a potential rise in inflation from those cuts, low unemployment, and higher priced Chinese goods, resulting from U.S. imposed tariffs, to name a few.

The obvious question is, will gold continue to increase? If the litany of issues worsens, that is a reasonable assumption. If they improve or are resolved, gold will likely fall. If they largely remain unchanged, that is trickier to anticipate. It's also worth considering that gold's six-year high has caught investors' attention, which may lead to further speculative demand.

We've owned gold to benefit from uncertain and troubled environments. And we'll likely continue to hold gold a good while longer. But we will also (as always) rebalance our portfolios, which means trimming some gold-based profits to reinvest in less loved asset classes while they await their day in the sun.