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- By Jeff Uscher, Contributing Writer, Money Morning-- March 22, 2013
After more than a decade of merger mania, gold miners are now looking to spin off some of their acquisitions.
By doing so, the gold miners hope for better results after abysmal performance recently, as gold prices have fallen. And, as always, gold miners' profits rise and fall much faster than the yellow metal's price.
The underperformance of the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) compared with that of the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) bears this out. GDX is down 20.5% since the end of last year, while GLD is down 4.8%.
Investors are starting to get really impatient with the gold miners - so much so that billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson is arguing some of the world's biggest gold mining companies, including AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU), spin off some of the mines that they have acquired through M&A over the past 10 years.
Paulson, the largest shareholder of GLD and AU, thinks the sum of the parts is greater than the value of the whole mining company. Paulson certainly can't be pleased with AU's 23.5% decline so far in 2013.
Other gold majors, including Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI) and Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), have already spun off some of their mines or are in the process of doing so.
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Don't Shy Away from Investing in Gold
- Money Morning Staff Reports - March 14, 2013
Gold prices were up today (Thursday) as the U.S. dollar retreated against other currencies, leading foreign buyers to favor investing in gold.
The most actively traded gold contract, for April delivery, rose $2.70, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,590.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The gold market is getting propped up by a break in the dollar index," Ira Epstein, director of the Ira Epstein division at the Linn Group, told The Wall Street Journal. "The problem is, people are not buying into the rally, they're buying it on the dips."
If gold prices cross the psychologically important $1,600-an-ounce level, confidence in investing in gold could strengthen.
Until then, it looks like investors will stay busy trying to profit from the record-high Dow.
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These Gold Stocks Are Poised to Rebound in 2013
- By Tony Daltorio, Contributing Writer, Money Morning
- March 13, 2013
With gold prices - which closed at a nearly two-week high Tuesday to $1,591.70 - rising year after year for much of the past decade, you might think all gold stocks have increased, too.
But they have not - not by a long shot.
In fact, gold mining companies' stocks specifically have lagged the performance of the precious metal for six years.
This sad tale can be seen by looking at the gold miners ETFs. The biggest fund in the sector is the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX). It holds 31 of the world's top gold mining companies including the likes of Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) and Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG).
It is down more than 20% in the last three months alone. That puts it at its lowest valuation versus bullion prices in over three years. Over the past year, GDX has fallen nearly 32%, which is roughly triple the decline of the largest gold bullion ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD).
It's even worse for the junior miners. The Market Vectors Junior Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) is down roughly 42% of the past 12 months. This ETF focuses on smaller mining companies such as Argonaut Gold and B2Gold and contains 79 stocks.
So what's behind these declines? And when can investors bet on a reversal?
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Gold Prices: Don't Ignore This Bullish Trend
- Jeff Uscher, Contributing Writer
Gold prices have been languishing in recent weeks as investors have been drawn into riskier assets such as equities.
New highs in major world stock indices including the Dow Jones Industrials and the Nikkei 225 have investors looking for higher returns.
"Investors are not really looking for safe havens at the moment," Eugen Weinberg, head of Commodities research at Commerzbank, told Reuters. "Gold as inflation protection should get more demand from investors in the second half of the year. Right now, the market participants are looking for more yield and they're finding it in other asset classes like equities."
In fact, the amount of gold held by the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) has been declining since it peaked on Dec. 10, 2012. It was at 1,353.35 metric tons then and now stands at 1,244.86 metric tons as money has flowed out of precious metals and into financial assets.
But not everyone is shunning gold - and you shouldn't, either.
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Gold and Silver Prices Boosted by These Global Moves
- By Diane Alter, Contributing Writer, Money Morning
- March 5, 2013
Gold and silver prices both marched toward their largest gains in more than a week Tuesday joining the uplifting mood on Wall Street. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average reveled in a historic rally that took the benchmark to a record high, commodities also soared.
Gold prices settled Tuesday's trading session up $2.50, or 0.2%, at $1,574.90 an ounce, supported by stimulus chatter and a weaker dollar. The safe haven metal had reached as high as $1,585.80 an ounce intraday, on course for its biggest leap since Feb. 26.
Year-to-date, gold has dipped 5.7%. The commodity logged its fifth consecutive month of declines in February, marking its longest stretch of declines since 1997.
Silver prices rose 1.7% to $28.97 in early trading, their biggest gain in more than a week. The white metal ended the day at $28.81.
While silver's slip since January has been more modest than gold's, it's well below the $34.89 it traded at during the same period a year ago.
But loose monetary policies worldwide, geopolitical uncertainties, rising oil prices and renewed fears of inflation should support, if not boost, both gold and silver prices in the months ahead.
Aggressive Global Stimulus Here to Stay
Driving gold and silver prices higher Tuesday were comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen.
At the National Association for Business Economics conference Monday, the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) Yellen defended the bank's $85 billion a month of bond purchases.
"At this stage, I do not see any (risks) that would cause me to advocate a curtailment of our purchase program," Yellen said.
Yellen's sentiments mirror that of Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, who thinks continued stimulus will be good for the U.S. economy. Acknowledging there are risks from the Fed's aggressive efforts to stoke the anemic U.S. economy, Yellen added there are also risks from not being aggressive enough.
This news from overseas is also bullish for gold and silver prices...
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Gold Prices Are Being Manipulated and Here's What To Do About It
If you've ever suspected gold prices are being manipulated, you're not alone--and you're right, they are.
Against the backdrop of fiscal mismanagement, political incompetence, and failed austerity measures, the world's biggest traders have all bet heavily on gold. Lately, they've been pulling out all the stops to get what they want while laughing all the way to bigger bonuses.
Today, I want to talk about who "they" are and share a few tricks you can use to capitalize on their actions without being taken to the poorhouse.
Let's begin with the concept of manipulation itself.
In order to understand the players, you have to understand their motivations. You'd think it's all about profit, but that's not entirely true.
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The Looming Gold Production Cliff That Will Drive Prices Higher
- By Tony Daltorio, Contributing Writer, Money Morning
- February 28, 2013
In recent years, global gold production has been at or near record levels. The plentiful supplies have led gold bears to argue that the yellow metal's decade-long bull run will end.
But gold bears are dead wrong.
In fact, the 'glory days' of gold production may be ending soon.
That's because some industry experts are beginning to point to a gold "production cliff' that is looming not far in the future.
And this coming decline in production can mean only one thing: higher gold prices.
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Investing in Gold Stocks
- By Ben Gersten, Associate Editor, Money Morning
- February 26, 2013
Gold prices hit their death cross last week, technically a bearish indicator, but what does that really mean for investing in gold stocks?
According to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) it means gold is headed down for the remainder of the year. In a Feb. 25 note to clients, Goldman lowered its three-month gold-price forecast to $1,615 an ounce from $1,825, its six-month forecast to $1,600 an ounce from $1,805 and its 12-month forecast to $1,550 an ounce from $1,800.
But, once again, Goldman is wrong.
"The fact is, despite this pullback, gold prices are consolidating at a relatively high level, which is rather bullish. As well, gold's price is forming a technical pattern known as a "symmetrical triangle,' which also provides a bullish setup," said Money Morning Global Resources Specialist Peter Krauth when the sell-off began earlier this month.
"The last time we had this was in 2008 to 2009," explained Krauth. "After that consolidation, gold began a multi-year climb that nearly doubled its price. I think we are in the first innings of another such cycle that could take the price much higher, and almost certainly to new all-time highs."
As for investing in gold stocks, Krauth said now's a good time to stock up on the yellow metal.
"I believe the best strategy, as gold remains in a secular bull, is to accumulate on dips," said Krauth. "So this very recent weakness has created a great opportunity for true contrarian investors to do just that and add to their gold positions."
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Why Russia is Investing in Gold More Than Anyone
- Jeff Uscher, Contributing Writer
Now we know what Russia has been doing all these years with all its oil mega-profits: investing in gold.
A Bloomberg News article Monday reported that Russia's central bank added 570 metric tons of gold in the past decade, making the country the world's biggest gold buyer. That amount is a quarter more than the world's second-biggest buyer, China.
The amount of gold Russia added to its stockpile is almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty, according to Bloomberg.
It certainly makes sense for Russia to add to its official gold reserves. Gold prices have gained about 400% over the past decade.
"The more gold a country has, the more sovereignty it will have if there's a cataclysm with the dollar, the euro, the pound or any other reserve currency," Evgeny Fedorov, a lawmaker for Putin's United Russia party in the lower house of parliament, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview in Moscow.
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Gold Prices Will Ride Higher on this New Investment from China
China remains a small player on the international gold scene, but that's about to change, and that's good news for those betting on higher gold prices.
You see, currently China's gold investors have few opportunities to play rising gold prices, which they want to do increasingly to hedge against risk and inflation. Most buy gold bars and notes to bet on higher gold prices.
But they will soon have more options.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission on Jan. 25 announced the country's rising gold demand required diversified investment instruments. It announced provisional guidelines for gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have been prepared for launch over the past few years and will be made available soon.
The CSRC said that the gold ETFs would be invested in the spot contract traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange and up to 10% on other products.
In the future, the funds could be opened up to futures contracts.
"Later on, we will further open up the market and quicken the steps to integrate into the international market," Xie Duo of People's Bank of China said. "We should actively create conditions for the gold market to become integrated with the international gold market."
Here's how this news is bullish for gold prices.
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