العاصفة المالية: الذهب ملاذ داليو والداو جونز ينهار

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, billionaire Ray Dalio kept it simple. Despite the negative chatter after gold’s recent pullback, Dalio feels that the shiny yellow metal is gold is still “the safest money.” He followed up by saying that the global system is effectively edging closer to a “capital war,” in which money itself becomes a source of conflict. Over the past month, there’s been a ton of activity in precious metals, with gold and silver continuing to rise despite sharp pullbacks. Despite the volatility, Gold is still trading nearly 8% higher month-over-month. It’s important to note that it hit an all-time high of $5,608.35 in January before stumbling on the back of Fed-driven dollar strength, but buyers returned anyway. Also, I covered Dalio recently after Davos, where he took a similar view, arguing that allocating 5% to 15% of a portfolio to gold makes sense given market fragility. In Dubai, he essentially reiterated his view, brushing aside concerns that gold is losing relevance. Ray Dalio says gold remains the safest money as global debt pressures raise risk of capital conflictPhoto by Bloomberg on Getty Images · Photo by Bloomberg on Getty Images Wall Street’s latest gold price targets Using spot gold about $4,931/oz (Feb. 5, 2026) as the baseline: J.P. Morgan: $6,300/oz (end-2026) , about 27.8% upside. Wells Fargo Investment Institute: $6,100 to $6,300/oz (end-2026) , about 23.7% to 27.8% upside. UBS: $6,200/oz , about 25.7% upside (also $5,900/oz (end-2026) , about 19.6% upside ). Bank of America: $6,000/oz (by spring 2026) , about 21.7% upside. Goldman Sachs: $5,400/oz (end-2026), about 9.5% upside. Dalio’s gold take hits differently Dalio’s sharp take on gold and markets resonates because he isn’t just a TV pundit filling airtime. More Gold: The legendary fund manager founded Bridgewater Associates in 1975, turning it into a macro machine that. At its peak, it became the most valuable hedge fund globally, managing roughly $154 billion in assets as of December 2020. Dalio speaks much more freely these days, after stepping down as Bridgewater's CEO in 2017, leaving the chairmanship in 2021, and fully handing over control by late 2022. Needless to say, his views remain blunt and sharp, focusing on debt cycles, currencies, and the plumbing of financial markets. Moreover, as per Forbes, Dalio boasts a net worth of roughly $15 billion–$16 billion, placing him in the upper echelon of investors. Related: Deutsche bank reaffirms gold price target into late 2026 Gold vs. bitcoin vs. stocks since 2020

In May, AI sales automation startup Clay said it was allowing most of its employees to sell some of their shares at a $1.5 billion valuation. Coming just months after its Series B, Clay’s offer of liquidity was a rarity in a market where tender offers, as these types of secondary transactions are known, were still uncommon for relatively young companies. Since then, several other newer, fast-growing startups have allowed their staff to convert some of their stock into cash. Linear, a six-year-old AI-powered Atlassian rival, completed a tender offer at the same valuation as the company’s $1.25 billion Series C. More recently, the three-year-old ElevenLabs authorized a $100 million secondary sale for staff, at a valuation of $6.6 billion, double its previous value. And just last week, Clay, which has tripled its annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $100 million in one year, decided it was again time for its employees to cash in on the company’s fast growth. The eight-year-old startup announced that its staff can sell stock at a valuation of $5 billion, a more than 60% increase from its $3.1 billion valuation announced in August. These secondary sales at increasingly higher valuations for young, perhaps still-unproven companies may initially appear to be a premature “cash out” reminiscent of the 2021 bubble. The most infamous example of that time was Hopin, whose founder, Johnny Boufarhat, reportedly sold $195 million worth of his company’s stock just two years before the company’s assets were sold for a tiny fraction of its peak $7.7 billion valuation. But there is a critical distinction between the 2021 boom and today’s market. During the ZIRP era, a large portion of the secondary deals provided liquidity almost exclusively to founders of buzzy companies like Hopin. In contrast, the recent transactions from Clay, Linear, and ElevenLabs are structured as tender offers that also benefit employees. While investors these days largely frown upon the outsized founder payouts of the 2021 boom, the current shift toward employee-wide tender offers is viewed far more favorably. Techcrunch event TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Tickets Live On June 23 in Boston, more than 1,100 founders come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately Save up to $300 on your pass or save up to 30% with group tickets for teams of four or more. TechCrunch Founder Summit: Tickets Live On June 23 in Boston, more than 1,100 founders come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately Save up to $300 on your pass or save up to 30% with group tickets for teams of four or more. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW “We’ve done a lot of tenders, and I haven’t seen any drawbacks yet,” Nick Bunick, a partner at the secondary-focused VC firm NewView Capital, told TechCrunch. As companies stay private longer and talent competition intensifies, allowing employees to turn some of their paper gains into cash can be a powerful tool for recruiting, morale, and retention, he said. “A little liquidity is healthy, and we’ve certainly seen that across the ecosystem.” At the time of Clay’s first tender offer, co-founder Kareem Amin told TechCrunch that the main reason for giving employees a chance to cash some of otherwise illiquid stock was to ensure that “the gains don’t just accumulate to a few people.” Some fast-growing AI startups are realizing that without offering early liquidity, they risk losing their best talent to public companies or more mature startups like OpenAI and SpaceX, which regularly offer tender sales. While it’s hard not to see the positive aspects of allowing startup employees to reap cash rewards from their hard work, Ken Sawyer, co-founder and managing partner at secondary firm Saint Capital, pointed to unintended second-order effects of employee tenders. “It is very positive for employees, of course,” he said. “But it enables companies to stay private longer, reducing liquidity for venture investors, which is a challenge for LPs.” In other words, relying on tenders as a long-term substitute for IPOs could create a vicious cycle for the venture ecosystem. If limited partners don’t see cash returns, they will be more reluctant to back the very VC firms that invest in startups.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) took another header on Thursday, tumbling 650 points and following the rest of the market lower as investors rotate firmly into a flight for safety. Broader equity indexes are down across the board, and the VIX “fear index” is sitting at its highest levels since last November. Equity rout drags crypto and metals markets lower The Dow Jones’ 650-point (-1.3%) tumble was matched by a 100-point decline (-1.44%) in the S&P 500 and an accelerating 415-point (-1.82%) drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Despite posting upbeat earnings, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) shares sank over 5% after investors balked at the tech giant’s expected AI capex rising to $185 billion in 2026. Qualcomm (QCOM) also fell around 8% as the global AI-fueled chip memory shortage forced the company to soften its forward guidance for the upcoming year. Spot Gold and Silver prices are taking fresh hits on Thursday. Spot Gold prices are down 2.2% on the day, with Silver bids down sharply, sinking 15.5%. Bitcoin also turned even more bearish, falling nearly 8% and sinking below 68,000 for the first time since late 2024. US economic data continues to sour Investors are struggling to shrug off downbeat US economic data. US Initial Jobless Claims rose to 231K, well above the 212K forecast. US Challenger Job Cuts also soared, hitting 108.435K net job reductions, the worst January print since the tail end of the global financial crisis in 2009. JOLTS Job Openings also took a turn for the worse, sinking to 6.542M versus the expected upswing to 7.2M. Dow Jones Daily chart Technical Analysis In the daily chart, DJIA trades at 48,846.92. Price sits above a rising 50-day EMA at 48,558.27 and remains well above the 200-day EMA at 46,128.31, keeping the medium-term trend pointed higher. The Stochastic (14,5,5) has eased from overbought to 52.65, signaling moderating upside momentum and scope for consolidation. The trend bias stays bullish while the short-term EMA climbs and maintains its lead over the long-term measure. If momentum fades further, price could pull back toward support at 48,558.27, with deeper support at 46,128.31. A renewed uptick in the oscillator would revive the advance, keeping the focus on trend continuation rather than reversal. (The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)