The Price of Admission, Gold, & Housing

Each week, the Stokes Family Office staff puts together a list of our favorite news and updates on all things wealth management. From financial planning, portfolio construction, tax and estate planning, retirement plan services to anything we found interesting.  Enjoy this week’s curated list for your weekend reading!

ECONOMY NEWS

Why Has the Price of Gold Risen So Sharply?

• Econofact: The price of gold has jumped over 40 percent since the end of 2023, reaching $3,000 per ounce in mid-March 2025. This leap cannot be explained by a sudden increase in the demand for gold as jewelry or for its use in industrial production. Rather, it reflects the shifting demand for gold as a financial asset.

What Is the Mar-a-Lago Accord?

• Sløk: With safe asset flows putting constant upward pressure on the dollar, there is a need for a deal—a Mar-a-Lago Accord—to put downward pressure on the US dollar to increase US exports and bring manufacturing jobs back to the US.

What Does a Potential Recession Mean for Housing?

• Redfin: The odds of a recession have increased significantly following several weeks of dramatic government policy shifts. The housing market is relatively insulated from a downturn since most homeowners have locked in low mortgage rates and are sitting on high levels of equity. Renters, however, are more susceptible to job losses.

MARKETS NEWS

The Price of Admission

• Bilello: Before investing, many will tell you that they can stomach a 20% decline – they can “tolerate” such a risk. But when it actually happens, and real dollars are at stake, the true test begins.

If Equity Markets Didn’t Fall as Much Their Returns Would be Lower

• Joe Wiggins: It is typically not the equity market declines that do long-term damage, it is the cost of the poor decisions we make during them. Such mistakes never come with just a one-off cost, they compound over time.

A Correction, Not a Crisis

• Callie Cox: Corrections happen more often than you think. This isn’t the first time that a podcaster has panicked over the stock market or CNBC has run a Markets in Turmoil special.

• Since 1950, the S&P 500 has dropped 10% or more 34 times – about once every couple of years on average.

Stokes Family Office is 100% Family Owned, and has been continually operating in the New Orleans Area for over 35 years.  As a family office, we are focused on family wealth, financial planning, and tax planning. We are your local experts for Gulf South wealth management. Want to hear more from our team? Check out the Lagniappe Podcast.