Market insights from the analyst desk.
Long-form research on policy, custody economics and the structure of the physical gold market. No forecasts dressed up as certainty, no sponsored placements dressed up as analysis.
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If your dealer fails: what happens to your metal
Bailment, unsecured claims, pooled accounts and insurance wording. The custody structures that survive an insolvency, the ones that do not, and the six questions that separate them.
Read the analysis- Analysis7 Aug 2026 · 17 min read
How much gold: what allocation research actually supports
The 5–10% rule of thumb has a real basis in correlation and drawdown behaviour, and clear limits. What gold does to a portfolio, when it stops helping, and how to size it honestly.
- Practical4 Aug 2026 · 15 min read
How to verify a gold bar without destroying it
Serial checks, dimensional density, ultrasound, XRF and the specific failure mode each one misses. A practical verification ladder for private buyers, ordered by cost.
- Practical30 Jul 2026 · 16 min read
VAT, capital gains and the tax geography of European gold
Investment gold is VAT-exempt across the EU and the UK, silver is not, and the capital gains treatment changes completely depending on which side of a border you buy from. A jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction map of what actually applies.
- Analysis18 Jul 2026 · 14 min read
The impact of Basel III on physical bullion liquidity
How the Net Stable Funding Ratio reshaped the economics of unallocated gold accounts — and why the spread you pay as a retail buyer traces back to a bank capital rule.
- Geopolitics11 Jul 2026 · 16 min read
Central bank accumulation: a ten-year horizon
Sovereign reserve managers have been net buyers for over a decade. The composition of that buying tells you more than the headline tonnage.
- Strategy4 Jul 2026 · 13 min read
The cost of storage: allocated versus unallocated
A full accounting of custody economics — vault fees, insurance, audit, withdrawal charges and the costs that never appear on a pricing page.
- Market Structure27 Jun 2026 · 12 min read
The premium cycle in retail bullion
Retail premiums are not a fixed markup. They expand and contract with mint capacity, secondary supply and the emotional state of the buyer base.
- Analysis20 Jun 2026 · 11 min read
What the gold–silver ratio does and does not tell you
The ratio is one of the most quoted and least understood numbers in the metals market. It is a relative-value gauge, not a forecast.
- Strategy13 Jun 2026 · 15 min read
Goldsparplan: the case for boring monthly accumulation
The German-style gold savings plan is unglamorous and mathematically robust. What matters is contribution size, premium discipline and fee drag.
About our editorial
- How often do you publish?
- The analyst desk publishes long-form research most weeks, typically at the weekend. Breaking developments are covered on the live news wire rather than in editorial.
- Is any of this sponsored?
- No. Editorial is produced independently of commercial relationships. Where a platform we cover pays a referral fee, that is disclosed on our methodology page and has no bearing on coverage or scoring.
- Do you make price forecasts?
- Rarely, and never as a headline. Our work focuses on market structure, cost mechanics and the flows that shape them — variables a reader can actually act on.
- Can I republish an article?
- Short quotations with attribution and a link are welcome. Full republication requires written permission.
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