The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that it has always been something of a mystery what makes the price of gold go up and down. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that it is certainly not its uses and prospects as an industrial metal. Sure, it makes top-notch circuitry, but that does not explain why people cannot get enough of the one-ounce gold bars Costco sells. Gold has often been thought of as a hedge against inflation, but that has not really held up over the past few years, either. Gold prices went nowhere while consumer prices spun out of control in 2021-22, and then gold picked 2024 to shine as inflation came back down to target, or close to it. We cannot point to the economy as a catalyst for the rally, which has been resilient worldwide. The same goes for stock markets, which posted strong gains around the world almost without exception. Rising central bank demand for gold is definitely part of the story. Still, it is a little puzzling. Maybe we do not need to overthink it. These are crazy times. The risk of nuclear conflict has made a dramatic return, the U.S. president-elect wants to turn Canada into a U.S. state and gold is something that people can bury in their backyard when things get weird.