Nicole Lapin

Another beneficiary is gold because it is a classic safe haven play and it's performing like one right now.

Spot gold hit over $5,400 per ounce on Monday, already up 22% year to date before the strikes even happened.

JP Morgan has raised its gold price target to $6,300 per ounce by December of 2026.

That means, just to take a step back and decode it for a second, that one of the world's biggest banks is making a bet on sustained instability.

Defense, energy and gold are usually the three assets that see the biggest upswing when the U.S.

is in conflict with the Middle East.

And just to be human for a second, if it makes you feel weird to be thinking about buying stocks that rise during times of war, I absolutely get it.

Just because traders on Wall Street buy these stocks does not mean you're

you have to.

It is your portfolio.

You call the shots on how you want your values reflected in your portfolio.

But even if you don't buy any of these sectors, it is really important to understand how assets move in response to world events so that you can protect yourself.

You don't have to play offense, but you do need to understand how to play defense.

Okay, so now here's what goes down.

Travel stocks.

On Monday, airlines and travel stocks got hammered.

Middle East airspace is effectively closed.

Routes are being rerouted and consumer anxiety about travel in wartime environments is absolutely real.

Cruise lines, hotel chains and tourism exposed stocks all sold off.

And I will tell you from 25 years covering business news, it is not uncommon to see the stock market as a whole fall when there's conflict abroad.