No amount of wishful thinking and baseless proclamations will change that. Owning gold stocks (miners) instead of the actual physical metal (in other words, processed and refined with appropriate hallmarks and in tradable form) is a losing bet. Investors should ignore the siren song of gold mining shares.

At their highs last week, gold stocks had increased eighty percent from their lows just two years ago. If you had bought then, and held through a thirty percent drop in 2023, you would be up about seventy percent at current prices. That compares very favorably to gold which was up fifty-five percent over the same period. Congratulations if you benefited from that.

If we go back to early 2022, however, gold stocks peaked, then lost more than fifty percent over the next several months. Physical gold over those months was dropping, to be sure; but, gold’s decline was only half as much as gold stocks. The net effect is that gold is currently up twenty-five percent ($2000 to $2500) since March 2022, whereas gold stocks are down ten percent.

If you are an owner of gold stocks for longer than the past two years, the news only gets worse. Since August 2020, the price of gold has increased by twenty-five percent and gold stocks have declined by twenty percent.

None of this is unusual or unique. Nor, should it be surprising. After gold and gold stocks peaked in 2011, the yellow metal began a highly volatile descent with its price dropping from $1895 to $1060, a loss of 44%. Not to be outdone, gold stocks seemed to give up the ghost, losing more than eighty percent by December 2015.

From that point to the August 2020 peaks, the gold price nearly doubled from $1060 to $2060. Gold stocks bettered that with an increase of two hundred fifty percent. Wonderful! Fabulous!! Except for some overlooked details.

As we said earlier, gold stocks had previously fallen twice as much as gold had, leaving them way behind gold when the move upwards started in early 2016. Even with their temporary outperformance, gold stocks peaked in 2020 still down more than thirty percent from their peaks nine years before, in 2011.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Currently, thirteen years later, gold stocks are down forty-five percent from their highs in 2011. Gold, on the other hand, is up thirty-one percent. Gold stocks failure to keep pace with a rising gold price over time is shown on the following chart…

HUI to Gold Ratio 1996-2023

Except for three years between 2001-04, gold stocks have continually lost value relative to gold. The increase during that time was more a catchup for the ground lost after both gold stocks and gold peaked in 1980.Since gold and gold stocks peaked in 1980, gold has been a better place for your money. Ironically, that is true on both the upside and the downside. As I said in a previous article…

(watching the) “price performance of gold stocks is like (watching) a marathon runner who continually loses ground to the competition, but occasionally runs really fast to catch up; never quite reaching his previous place, then falling further behind (over and over).

If you currently hold gold stocks and have benefitted from the latest sign of life/dead-cat bounce in share prices, sell them. Any outperformance is temporary and won’t last. If you want to own gold, then buy gold with the sales proceeds of your gold stocks. (also see Gold Stocks vs Gold – Choose Gold and Gold Has Done Its Job – Isn’t That Enough?)

Kelsey Williams is the author of two books: INFLATION, WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT ISN’T, AND WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR IT and ALL HAIL THE FED!

By Kelsey Williams

http://www.kelseywilliamsgold.com

Kelsey Williams is a retired financial professional living in Southern Utah. His website, Kelsey’s Gold Facts, contains self-authored articles written for the purpose of educating others about Gold within an historical context.

© 2024 Copyright Kelsey Williams - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.