The founder of Yardeni Research expects gold at $5000 in 2026. That's 25% higher than the record

In 2026, gold will be worth a quarter above its current level, which is already an all-time high, said Ed Yardeni, founder of Yardeni Research, a former Fed economist and one of Wall Street's most frequently quoted strategists. The precious metal's value has soared 53% in 2025, and analysts largely see no reason to halt that rally, although warnings of caution are already emerging.

"Our target is now $5,000 in 2026. If current momentum continues, gold could reach $10,000 before the end of the decade," CNBC quoted Yardeni's note as saying. The economist published it on Oct. 8, the day spot prices for the precious metal rose above $4,000 an ounce.

Yardeni's new benchmark is close to Goldman Sachs' updated forecast. One of the largest Wall Street banks earlier this week raised its target price for gold for December 2026 from $4300 to $4900 per ounce, citing strong inflows into precious metal-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and active buying by central banks.

Gold jumped 12% in September alone, dragging silver, platinum and palladium with it. Although each new high increased the likelihood of a pullback, and technical indicators showed a growing overbought market, as the rally developed, more and more factors came to the fore, pushing gold prices up, Reuters writes.

"Right now, all the traditional drivers for gold are in play," said BNP Paribas analyst David Wilson. He expects prices for this protective asset to continue to rise for the foreseeable future: "What series of events has to happen for the world to take a deep breath and say: actually, it's not that bad? (...) Right now, it's hard to imagine what events could suddenly change sentiment about the global outlook."

"This rally is incredible, it tells us something bad is happening and we should be nervous," worries Dan Smith, managing director of Commodity Market Analytics.

Billionaire and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin is also among those concerned about the gold rally. In his opinion, it reflects the weakening of investors' faith in U.S. institutions and the dollar, as gold is now considered a safer asset than the U.S. currency. Griffin's concerns about the impact on the dollar are also shared by billionaire and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio. However, he advised investors to allocate about 15% of their portfolio to gold - more than what financial advisers typically advise for non-interest-earning assets, CNBC noted.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor