Platinum, used in high-end jewellery, benefited from the lift in gold. At half the price of its shiny precious metal counterpart, platinum is relatively cheap for jewellers.

It is also a metal important to vehicle production, both internal combustion and electric.

Throw in the Trump turmoil and a global shortage (due to a fall in the world’s largest producer nation, South Africa) and you set the stage for one of the most unexpected increases in value for a precious metal this year.

But crypto became even more cryptic

Donald Trump’s election was a very different story for another, much more volatile, investment class.

Backers of cryptocurrencies believed the new president would drive prices up. There was speculation that Bitcoin – then trading at about $US100,000 – would move through the $US150,000 mark.

But Bitcoin finishes the year around the $US87,000 mark, having tumbled from its October peak of $US124,700.

It’s not just Bitcoin that has suffered as investors have shunned more colourful investment opportunities due to concerns over American inflation. By some estimates, more than $US1 trillion in value was wiped from cryptocurrencies through the final three months of 2025.

The inopportune trade surplus with the United States

Australia produces very little platinum. But it is one of the world’s biggest gold producers.

The big lift in gold prices did something that had not happened since Harry Truman was in the White House – deliver Australia a trade surplus with the United States.

In January, February, March and then in July, gold was a key factor in Australia selling more goods and services to the US than buying them.

With Donald Trump attacking any nation that ran a trade surplus with the US (the penguins and seals of Heard and McDonald Islands at one point faced an American tariff hit), it could not have come at a worse time.

It hasn’t been helped by the drop-off in American tourism to Australia. There were almost 100,000 fewer visitors from the US over the past 12 months compared with the same period ahead of COVID.

American tourists aren’t getting as much value for their greenback, either.

A big global story has been the drop in the value of the United States dollar. The Australian dollar appreciated by 8 per cent against its US counterpart.

That might make it more enticing for prospective Australian tourists to check out Trump’s America – as long as they’re ready to hand over all their social media history.

The taxman cometh

Even Jim Chalmers could not believe the position Peter Dutton took ahead of the 2025 election. The Coalition went to voters opposed to Labor’s modest personal income tax cuts that start flowing from July 1 this year.