The Iran war has triggered a puzzling market trend

Gold is being sold to meet margin calls, but a tweak to margin requirements is being seen by some as a signal for gold to be the pressure valve

The moment we all wondered about has come. Oil has surged past $100 per barrel and markets are coming under serious strain. When I wrote an initial reaction to the Iran war last week, markets were still clearly pricing a “nothing to see here” scenario.

With the system of global governance...