Brexit ignites golds biggest rally since 2008 as Greenspan sees the worst

The world has changed overnight. The United Kingdoms shocking vote for Brexit has blindsided global markets and ignited a stampede into safe-haven assets chiefly gold.

As the vote to leave the European Union became clear after the polls closed, the British pound plunged to all-time lows, while gold priced in sterling soared 22%!

And in its biggest rally since 2008, gold priced in U.S. dollars pulled off a roughly $100 blitz to hit $1,358 at its peak. It remains trading at two-year highs near $1,315, and the psychologically significant $1,400 level appears increasingly realistic. Silver also gained in the wake of Brexit, trading near $17.70 by non Friday.

A huge win, Blanchard CEO says: We view Brexit as a huge win for gold investors, said Blanchard and Company CEO David Beahm. With global growth already at or near stall speed, and this includes the U.S., recession risks have risen, and Fed rate hikes off the table for the foreseeable future. Central bankers, already out of bullets, will have to throw everything they have at this in order to try to keep some sort of calm over the markets post-Brexit. The political and financial fallout from this is far from over. Gold is the safe haven of choice right now as other EU nations look to go at it alone.

Gold dealers in London were reporting amazingly high demand for coins and bars on Friday, with some saying stocks were tight, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, newfound interest in gold was juicing trading volumes higher, said Naeem Aslam of the London brokerage TF Global Markets said. The volume we saw last night was unmatched by anything, and were nowhere near done, he marveled.

Scary carnage in stocks: Global stock markets were plunging in Brexits wake, with the Dow Jones down by as much as 500 points, and bond yields were sinking.Its scary, and Ive never seen anything like it. Were going to see outflows from basically any kind of cyclical asset. A lot of people were caught out, and many investors will lose a lot of money,said James Butter fill of ETF Securities.

And this is just the beginning of the uncertainty, with Prime Minister David Cameron announcing his resignation, and the Brexit process expected to take at least two years. In the meantime, in a potential domino effect, numerous other nations unhappy with the EU bureaucracy are expected to seek similar referendums for independence.

Fed now seen as likely to ease: And because of the Brexits far-reaching and still-unknown effects on global currencies, finance, trade, and stocks, an interest-rate increase from the U.S. Federal Reserve is now all but off the table for 2016 in fact, a rate cut looks more likely, according the futures markets.

While the Fed announced that it was carefully monitoring the Brexits fallout in financial markets, former Fed head Alan Greenspan issued a darker assessment.

This is the worst period I recall since I’ve been in public service, Greenspan told CNBC. There’s nothing like it, including the crisis remember Oct. 19, 1987, when the Dow went down by a record amount 23%? That I thought was the bottom of all potential problems. This has a corrosive effect that will not go away.

Ahead of the referendum, Brexit opponent George Soros had warned that leaving the EU would cause turbulence akin to the crash in the British pound from which he profited in 1992, and so far, this Friday is indeed a Black Friday for those not invested in gold.