Gold has been on a remarkable run.

With returns near 40% (year-over-year) and 16% (year-to-date), gold seems unstoppable.

This stellar performance has caught the attention of institutional investors, who are now forecasting even higher prices for gold in 2025.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs, in particular, cite higher-than-expected demand from central banks, which have been bolstering their reserves — especially since the freezing of Russian central bank assets in 2022.

In fact, Goldman analyst Lina Thomas notes that central bank demand on the London over-the-counter gold market increased 5X following this event.

Accordingly, Goldman Sachs recently raised its 2025 year-end gold forecast to $3,100 per ounce (up from $2,890).

But Paradigm’s macro expert and longtime gold advocate Jim Rickards offers an even more optimistic outlook…

Your Rundown for Friday, March 28, 2025...

The 30,000 Foot View

“For the record, gold is the best-performing major asset class of the 21st Century,” Jim says. “Gold has outperformed the S&P 500 stock index since January 1, 2000.”

He underscores several key factors driving gold’s ascent, including, yes, boosted central bank buying, geopolitical unpredictability and worries about global trade.

In fact, Natasha Kaneva — head of Global Commodities Strategy at J.P. Morgan — elaborates:

• “From a macro perspective, a universal tariff scenario would likely supercharge the broad price effects for precious metals.

• “[Heightened] economic growth concerns and higher inflation risks could continue to fuel strong investor demand for gold."

Likewise, Bank of America has revised its gold-price projections upward, expecting gold to trade at $3,063 per ounce in 2025 — and at $3,350 in 2026.

But BoA analysts suggest if investors’ gold demand increases by 10%, spot gold prices could climb to $3,500 within the next two years.

If you take a look at gold’s price today (see below), these institutional investors have massively underestimated gold’s potential.

Jim’s chest-out prediction? “We expect a steady climb of gold prices to new milestones including $4,000 per ounce by late 2025,” he says, “and significantly higher not long after that.”

The consensus among these institutional investors is clear: Gold’s rally is far from over.

As Jim puts it: “Don't worry if you haven't participated in the gold rally so far. Buy some gold now. This party is just getting started.”

Market Rundown for Friday, March 28, 2025

S&P 500 futures are down about 0.20% to 5,725.

Oil is up 0.15% to $70 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is up 0.65% to $3,110.80 per ounce.

But Bitcoin is down 2.65%, just under $85,000.