With what wizardry is this? After three espresso shots, live gold price fluctuates like a cocked-up Wall Street dealer. Let’s pull back the curtains on the reason this ancient metal cannot remain motionless for five minutes.

Gold is not traded in a vacuum. More frenemies than in a high school drama club. Its chain is yanked alternately by the currency, interest rates, and geopolitical messes. When inflation rears its ugly head, gold usually stands around like it owns the area. Whispering “rate hike,” nevertheless, see it scurrying behind cover.

As you read this right now, some lazy hedge fund guy in loafers is very likely causing gold twitch just by blinking wrong. The current price shows a worldwide yelling match between:

Dragons of central banks gathering bars

Miners gathering barely sufficient to keep up.

Lunch money traders gamble on futures.

Mumbai jewelers running on Friday’s supply

Especially nasty is the dollar-gold tango. Since gold is priced in dollars worldwide, everyone else requires more local currency to purchase the same ounce when the greenback grows haughty. Demand wags. But when the dollar has a cold? Like 1980, gold parties like this.

This is where things start to go strange. Though its daily movements give Bitcoin a run for its money, gold is meant to be “safe”. One minute it’s like a rock, then it jumps $30 since someone coughing in the Federal Reserve causes stability to change. The spot price you are seeing? For London, those represent 400-ounce bars. Your neighborhood coin store marks premiums faster than a concert scaler.

Industrial demand hardly counts here; gold’s primarily about sparkle and terror. Phone lights at bullion dealers as rockets fly or equities collapse. The worst part is that occasionally real markets—actual metal changing hands—and paper markets—futures contracts—move in opposite directions. Like a dog trying to waggon its tail while it is wagging.

observing real prices? Don’t fall under hypnotic influence. The true essence comes from:

The bid/ask spread—that is, how dealers make money—

How quickly following declines, prices recover?

Whether Asian and European markets share New York’s views

Pro tip: Often gold performs better when you’re not looking at it. Most large swings are explained by those clever overnight movements. Unless you want heart palpitations, set price alarms.

Recall – that flickering number is not some abstract idea. The exact value humanity assigns to the crushed stardust we excavate to be buried once more in vaults. Makes perfect sense, then?