Markets on alert
Against a backdrop of war, energy crisis, and instability, the markets reacted as usual: with volatility. At the height of the conflict in the Middle East, the price of a barrel of crude oil reached $120, and the world’s major stock exchanges experienced sharp fluctuations. Despite the corrections, analysts acknowledge a structural weakness: a scenario that favors a shift from the classic “flight to quality” to a “flight to real assets.”
Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum predicted that by 2026 the world would enter a period marked by fragmentation and confrontation, a forecast presented in the Global Risks Report, which was based on a survey of more than 1,300 leaders and experts. The escalation of the conflict in the Persian Gulf is the clearest evidence of the accuracy of their analysis.
At the height of the conflict, virtually all market indicators experienced significant fluctuations: the price of Brent crude reached $120 per barrel following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the S&P 500 lost about 8%, the EuroStoxx 50 fell more than 7%, and the Nikkei also saw declines. Following the announcement of the ceasefire, most of these indices began to recover, but volatility remains the prevailing trend in the market.
However, some experts are warning of signs of structural weakness. Analyst Kyla Scanlon wrote in The New York Times that the markets are ignoring the true depth of the current risk, while the safety net that the U.S. government has historically provided now has its limits.
Businesses at risk
Since Black Monday in 1987, the Fed has intervened in every financial crisis by cutting interest rates and injecting liquidity. That approach is no longer an option: a rate cut would exacerbate inflationary pressures, while mistrust among foreign holders of Treasury bonds is driving up yields on sovereign debt and narrowing the fiscal space for any new bailout program.
Against this backdrop, a shift back toward real assets is beginning to take shape: gold, real estate, infrastructure, and commodities. This includes self-storage, an industry with a market value of $60 billion that the Wall Street Journal described as “recession-proof.” Analysis by firms such as Pimco suggests that a selective allocation to real assets improves portfolios’ resilience against inflationary and geopolitical risks.
In 2025, inflows into commodity ETFs surged from $1.3 billion to $58 billion. This phenomenon is as old as modern capitalism, but every major disruption of the financial order forces it to reinvent itself. After 2008, it was liquidity; following the 2020 crisis, it was sovereign debt. Today, with both resources under scrutiny, capital is choosing to return to solid ground.
It is true that, without fail,the dollar ultimately prevails over the peso. But it is also true that this strength is relative, and that the U.S. currency is not immune to the ups and downs of the global economy. A simple example suffices to illustrate this situation: in 1964, $20,000 was enough to buy an average home inthe U.S.; by the year 2000, that figure had risen to $120,000; and today, a buyer needs $400,000 to purchase a similar property.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI,the dollar’s purchasing power declined by approximately 83% between 1975 and 2025. Meanwhile, the DXY Index, a financial indicator that measures the dollar’s value against six other currencies, fell by about 10% in the first half of 2025, marking its worst performance in 50 years. The international context marked by conflict also does not allow for predictions of stability in the near future, and even consulting firms such as Morgan Stanley have anticipated greater volatility for the U.S. dollar in 2026.
Paradoxically,it is foreign savers who suffer the most from this situation. They have no access to fiscal stimulus measures or social programs financed by the Fed’s money supply expansion, nor can they obtain cheap credit in dollars. As the Cantillon Effect suggests, expanding the money supply enriches those closest to the creation of money and impoverishes those furthest from it. Small and medium-sized savers represent the last link in this monetary chain.
Dollars kept under the mattress do nothing but lose value year after year, regardless of their current or historical exchange rate against the peso. The data shows that a dollar kept in savings is a dollar sitting idle and, therefore, a loss of capital. Generating returns is the only proven method to counteract the devaluation of money, and to generate them, it is necessary to put savings to work.
Contrary to what common sense—shaped by a lack of financial literacy—might suggest, investing is not a risk but a protective measure. It is worth noting that investing is not necessarily synonymous with the stock market. As the example of real estate demonstrates,there are assets that serve as a safety net without exposing investors to the frenetic pace of the stock market.
To give just one example, storage facilities that were worth $5 million 25 years ago are now worth nearly $20 million. Those who invested in them made a profit and avoided risk, as they are part of a mass-market industry in the U.S. with transparent valuations and a massive market.
The dollar remains the world’s dominant currency, but it is no guarantee in and of itself: this is the key point savers need to keep in mind. Those who understand this will be better equipped to weather volatility. Those who do not run the risk of getting caught up in a cycle reminiscent of the myth of Sisyphus, condemned to push a boulder uphill forever, only to watch it roll back down again and again.
Marcos Victorica is Founder and CEO of BAS STORAGE.
Company that is revolutionizing the American real estate market by creating a product based on the American economic infrastructure.