Wall Street was on edge last week. Concerns grew that a handful of mega-cap tech companies—including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple—are carrying too much of the market’s weight. It’s a setup that stirs memories of the dot-com bubble, when too much rested on too few shoulders. At the same time, government borrowing costs climbed in the U.S. and overseas, fueling talk that debt loads are becoming too heavy and that political pressure on central banks is making matters worse. 

Inflation fears have added to the unease. Analysts drew uncomfortable parallels between today’s landscape and the 1970s, when one wave of inflation was quickly followed by another. Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok warned that the United States could be staring down a “second mountain” of rising prices, while billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio described the outlook as a looming “debt-induced heart attack.” With the job market cooling and Washington doubling down on tax cuts even as deficits grow, the sense was that the economy is running out of room to maneuver. 

Tensions with the Federal Reserve have added to the unease. President Trump has tried to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook, made it clear that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be replaced, and pushed for more allies on the central bank’s policy committee. Such moves have raised concerns that the Fed’s independence—long viewed as vital to U.S. economic credibility—could be at risk. 

That anxiety helped push gold back into the spotlight. Prices for the precious metal climbed above $3,500/oz. last week, their strongest level ever, and Goldman Sachs suggested they could soar to $5,000/oz. if confidence in the Federal Reserve and the dollar continues to erode. Central banks have been stocking up on gold as well, with China leading a global rush to reduce reliance on U.S. currency holdings.