What’s going on here?

After months of flirting with their “safe haven” status, investors suddenly got the ick from precious metals – and started dumping both gold and silver.

What does this mean?

Gold is normally seen as a safety net – but lately, it's felt more like a trampoline. After notching a record high last week, the metal’s now tumbled 16%. Silver suffered even more, crashing by a third on Friday in its worst day since 1980 – with losses spilling over into Monday, too.

▶ Here's what gives. Investors are expecting the Federal Reserve’s new chairman to take a tough stance on inflation – likely keeping interest rates higher for longer – which would further prop up the US dollar.

▶ When the dollar strengthens, gold and silver become more expensive for foreign buyers. Now, combine that with how precious metals can become less attractive than interest-paying assets when rates go up, and you have a double whammy that pushes prices down.

▶ To make matters worse, the fact that so many investors had piled into precious metals in recent months made the exit very crowded. That means a lot of sellers and very few buyers, pushing prices even further down.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Focus on your tomorrows, not just today.

Gold, oil, stocks, and crypto have all crashed together in this selloff – which might make you think diversification's a waste of time. But that’s like judging a whole movie from a single chaotic freeze-frame. See, in a rush for cash, investors don’t carefully prune based on long-term logic – they offload whatever they can sell quickly to plug holes elsewhere. That means assets with very different long-term paths can end up falling for the same short-term reason. And smart diversification is about spreading out your risk over the long haul, rather than guaranteeing that nothing ever drops at the same time in a full-blown stampede.

It feels like cash is king again.

Markets have been jumping at every headline, politics have been sneaking into asset prices, and gold’s rise suggests investors are willing to pay any price for safety.

That’s why, when asked how they’d invest $100,000, these investing pros focused first on the risks: market concentration, valuations, and the sources of future returns.

Here are their most interesting ideas and my take on what each one is really doing in a portfolio – the risk it offsets, the bet it makes, and, maybe most importantly, how to make it work for you right now.

That’s today’s Insight: how three pros would put $100,000 to work right now.

Read or listen to the Insight here

What’s going on here?

Elon Musk is reportedly in advanced talks to combine SpaceX with xAI – a move that could shift the hefty costs of his grandest ambitions onto a single, supercharged empire.

What does this mean?

Musk wants two of his babies to live under the same roof: SpaceX, the rocket and satellite business – and xAI, the AI startup that hit a $200 billion valuation last September. You’ll notice Tesla’s not involved: it’s far easier to merge private outfits than to fold in a publicly listed one. But Musk’s EV brainchild has the equivalent of a guest room in the home: it’s exploring collaborations with xAI, and recently announced a $2 billion investment in the startup.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Musk needs even more money.

Musk has grand ambitions for SpaceX: he recently asked US regulators for permission to deploy up to a million AI satellites. And even though Musk is the world’s richest man, reports say he’s lining up a $1.5 trillion initial public listing for SpaceX to help fund all of that.

▶ Merging with xAI could help that cash stretch further, letting the pair share pricey resources like talent and chips.

The bigger picture: The old Tesla can’t come to the phone right now.

Tesla has been losing ground in the crowded EV market, particularly to aggressive Chinese rivals. That’s one reason why Musk has been focusing more on “physical AI” (like robotaxis and humanoid robots) than EVs alone.

▶ Meanwhile, Waymo – Alphabet's autonomous driving unit – has been busy putting more of its self-driving taxis on the road, with plans to expand into the UK and more US cities later this year. And to fund the efforts, the firm’s said to be raising $16 billion at a valuation around $110 billion – more than double the figure it fetched in late 2024.