In fact, gold usually finds its legs whenever stocks like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:, NYSE:BRK.B) are rolling over and playing dead. “The shift is part of a strategy to ‘de-dollarize’ the Russian economy and lower its vulnerability to U.S. sanctions.” As this chart shows, the Central Bank of Russia dumped most of its U.S. Department of Treasury holdings last year, unloading about half of its dollar reserves. Traditionally, thegold marketwould gain strength whenever fixed-income assets like bonds and certificates of deposits were paying yields that were below the rate of inflation.