Peter Lynch, one of the most successful investors of all time, once said, “You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don’t understand that’s going to happen, then you’re not ready, you won’t do well in the markets.”

And with yet another COVID strain breaking loose over the holidays, the market did just that, sending stocks and oil plummeting.

Just days before Thanksgiving, South Africa reported findings of a new COVID variant being named Omicron.

As a result, the Dow recorded its worst day in over a year, and U.S crude oil prices fell over 12%.

America wasn’t the only country that experienced market turbulence because of this.

European stocks were also shaken up as they recorded their worst period in over a year.

Of course, not every asset class reacted negatively to the news.

Gold, as it always has traditionally in similar times of economic turmoil, spiked up as investors flooded to the safe haven metal with fears that worse news is yet to come.

In a CNBC article, analyst Peter Fertig of Quantitative Commodity Research (QCR), stated in his interview:

“Markets fear this new variant could weigh more strongly on the economy than the Delta variant discovered a year ago, and this has spurred some safe-haven demand for gold.”

We all witnessed how bad the market was hit at the start of the pandemic when the Dow suffered its worst day since the “Black Monday” market crash in 1987. The index fell nearly 3,000 points and shattered the economy.

Now, for the most part, individuals know what to expect to some extent. Analysts are agreeing that one of the biggest risks to markets is the continuing variants emerging, and they’re likely to continue injecting volatility for years to come.

It’s hard to say how impactful the Omicron variant will be. Cases of the new strain have recently been detected in the US.

The Biden administration is already tightening travel rules yet again. Could another economic shutdown be headed our way?

Banks, top investment firms, and analysts all across the industry have voiced their estimation on gold potentially revisiting all-time highs in 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, will you be losing sleep wondering how much further your hard-earning savings will fall?

The choice is yours.

Call American Hartford Gold at 800-462-0071 to learn how individuals are protecting their wealth and retirement with assets like gold.