IAU is a grantor trust that holds allocated gold bullion in vaults. Each share represents a fractional claim on physical metal, so the price tracks the spot gold market minus the trust's expense ratio, which iShares lists at 0.25%. There is no operating business, no dividend, and no derivative overlay. The return engine is simply the gold price.
GLDI is an exchange-traded note that tracks the SPDR Gold Trust and synthetically writes monthly out-of-the-money covered calls against that exposure. Premiums collected from selling those calls flow through as monthly distributions.
Gold spent most of 2025 and early 2026 acting like the one asset that couldn't be rattled. Then tariff escalation shook the foundation. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) slipped 2.43% over the past week even as the fund sits on a 19.1% year-to-date gain and a 75.96% return over the past year. Even the most defensive trades carry risk when macro stress is broad enough.
Gold pays no interest or dividends, making its appeal highly sensitive to what investors can earn elsewhere. When real yields fall, gold becomes comparatively more attractive. The 10-year Treasury yield has dropped from 4.29% in early February to 4.06% as of early March, coinciding directly with gold pushing to new highs.
A quick look at the website of Tucker Carlson - one of right-wing America's most influential personalities - shows his current preoccupations: criticising protesters in Minneapolis, selling baseball caps with insulting slogans and encouraging his fans and followers to buy gold.
Over the past two years, the price of gold has surged, with the metal rising by more than 2% last week (Monday, 2nd June 2025) to its highest in over three weeks. Global geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainty have put the price of gold in a strong position, with many experts believing there has never been a better time to invest in the metal.
Gold investment should not be dependent on whether the market is either surging or falling; you should be more focused on whether your financial situation enables you to do so at that particular time.
The influencer found the offer more than reasonable given that the spot price was around $3,020 and dealers generally purchase at slightly below market value.
