Jamie Dimon Says Gold Could Easily Go to $10,000

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn’t exactly what you’d call a gold perma-bull. Nevertheless, even Dimon couldn’t resist weighing in on gold’s future with a strongly bullish call.

Gold’s climb to $4,200 per ounce must seem remarkable to a big-bank executive who doesn’t typically pound the table for precious metals. The evidence can’t be denied anymore, though, as the value of gold against the deteriorating U.S. dollar continues to climb in 2025.

Per Bloomberg, Dimon recently stated at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women conference in Washington, “I’m not a gold buyer; it costs 4% to own it.” Presumably, he’s referring to the potential costs of storing and insuring physical bullion.

Certainly, there are ways to benefit from a gold-price rally without paying 4% in annual costs. For example, owning shares of carefully selected resource businesses can allow investors to participate without the need for physical gold storage.

In any event, 4% per year would be a tiny price to pay for anyone who has owned gold this year. It should also be a small price to pay if the gold rally persists, which Dimon seems to expect to happen.

Courtesy: ZeroHedge

Of course, some other commentators have been bracing for a gold rally for years. In hindsight, given the magnitude of the nation’s mounting debt load, it was practically inevitable that gold would gain value as a safe haven and fiat-money alternative.

At this point, it’s not a question of whether gold will continue to gain value, but rather a question of how far it will go. Dimon is evidently prepared for substantially higher gold prices, as he declared, “It could easily go to $5,000, $10,000 in environments like this.”

It’s difficult to know exactly what Dimon was thinking when he referred to “environments like this.” Perhaps he was alluding to global uncertainty and instability, or the growing U.S. and global debt, or central-bank stockpiling of gold, or the constant printing and spending of government money.

Or maybe Dimon was thinking about all of these contributing factors. Either way, the JPMorgan CEO concluded, “This is one of the few times in my life it’s semi-rational to have some in your portfolio.”

Courtesy: @KevRGordon

It’s interesting that Dimon would give gold a backhanded compliment, saying that it’s “semi-rational” to own gold now. It has been more than just “semi-rational” to own gold this year so far, as gold is easily outperforming stock-market indexes such as the S&P 500.

But again, since Dimon represents a traditional bank, supporting gold ownership isn’t his main priority. It’s just a bit odd that he would propose $10,000 gold, which is more than double the current price, but then balk at the idea of paying 4% per year to own it.

Incidentally, Dimon also remarked, “Asset prices are kind of high,” and added, “In the back of my mind, that cuts across almost everything at this point.” Maybe that’s why he’s reluctant to acknowledge that it’s fully rational to own gold now.

It’s possible that some asset classes are richly priced, but gold shouldn’t be lumped in with all other financial assets. As long as the aforementioned factors still apply (dollar debasement, central-bank stockpiling, etc.), the value of gold can easily increase against fiat money, both in the U.S. and worldwide.