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Gold Crashed 30% This Year — Now It's Climbing Again. Should Your TFSA or RRSP Be In It?

  August 12, 2026 If you've only glanced at the gold headlines this week, you've probably seen some version of "gold near two-month high." That's true — spot gold touched an intraday peak of US$4,434.84 an ounce on Tuesday, its best level since June 5, before settling back to around US$4,382. But "two-month high" undersells what's actually happened to gold in 2026, and that fuller story is the part that matters if you're deciding whether to put any of it in a TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA right now. Here's the short version: gold went nearly vertical in January, hit an all-time record, crashed by close to 30% within weeks, spent the spring and early summer languishing near US$4,000, and has spent the last six weeks clawing about 10% of that back. Where it goes from here is genuinely split among the banks that cover it professionally. That's the setup worth understanding before you buy. The wildest year gold has ever had Gold entered 2026 already o...
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Oil prices slump to six-month low amid weak demand and oversupply

 


Oil prices have fallen to their lowest level since June, as concerns about weak demand and oversupply weigh on the market. The spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has led to new travel restrictions and lower economic growth expectations, reducing the outlook for oil consumption. At the same time, oil producers have increased their output, creating a glut of supply that exceeds demand.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels last week, while gasoline stocks jumped by 5.7 million barrels, indicating sluggish demand for fuel. The EIA also lowered its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2023 by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.1 million bpd.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) echoed the bearish sentiment, saying that the Omicron variant is expected to temporarily slow the recovery in oil demand that is underway. The IEA also cut its demand projections for 2022 and 2023 by 100,000 bpd each, mainly due to the expected impact on jet fuel use from new travel curbs.

Oil prices have also been pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar, which makes oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies. The dollar has risen on expectations that the Federal Reserve will tighten its monetary policy sooner than expected to curb inflation, which hit an 11-year high in November.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled down $4.42, or 5.9%, at $70.62 a barrel on Wednesday, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark, dropped $4.60, or 6.2%, to $69.34 a barrel. Both benchmarks have lost more than 10% since hitting multi-year highs in October.

Some analysts expect oil prices to rebound in the coming months, as the impact of the Omicron variant fades and demand recovers. However, others warn that the market could remain volatile and oversupplied, especially if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) decide to increase their production further in January.

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