NO SAFE HAVEN · THREE ASSETS, ONE DIRECTION

Stocks, Long Bonds and Gold Can Fall Together

Select a stress window. Bars show adjusted-close returns for liquid ETF proxies; all three were negative in every window.

0%−10%−20%−30%

U.S. StocksSPY · adjusted

−3.6%

Long TreasuriesTLT · adjusted

−3.0%

GoldGLD · adjusted

−2.1%

Volatility shock: the first sign that diversification is conditional

In February 2018, yields rose and volatility jumped. The losses were modest, but all three familiar building blocks moved in the same direction.

Adjusted-close returnSPY: stocksTLT: 20+ year TreasuriesGLD: gold trust

Source: Yahoo Finance daily adjusted-close series; calculations from period-end observations. ETF returns include distributions where reflected in adjusted close and are not identical to index or spot-gold returns.