Should I Invest in Gold Today?

Although it's trading at its lowest level in nearly two months, gold is set for a big rebound this year. In fact, prices could rise 14.7% from the current $1,220 price to $1,400 by the end of 2017.

Because of that double-digit return, buying gold is a good way to strengthen your portfolio today.

But that's just one of three reasons to consider adding gold to your portfolio today...

3 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Gold Right Now

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Reason No. 1: Gold's Value Is Steadily Rising

Gold continues to grow more valuable over long periods of time thanks to its fundamental, underlying demand as a "precious" metal.

Over the last 20 years, the price of gold has climbed more than 250% from $348 to $1,220 per ounce. Its long-term growth has also held up in recent years with the price up 12.4% just in the last 18 months alone.

Reason No. 2: Gold Is a Strong Hedge Against Inflation

Historically, gold has been a sound way to protect your portfolio against the negative effects of inflation since the gold price typically increases alongside the cost of living.

Trending: How to Buy Physical Gold and Silver - Free Guide

During the 1970s, the average annual inflation rate sat at 7.06%, marking the second-highest decade of inflation in the 20th century. Gold climbed over 1,300% from January 1970 to January 1980. That indicates the strength of gold as an investment when consumer prices across the economy are on the rise.

Reason No. 3: Gold Adds Diversity to Your Portfolio

Every sophisticated investor understands the importance of having a range of different assets in their portfolio. These include more profitable, liquid investments like stocks and longer-term, less liquid ones like gold.

should I invest in gold today

One of the best ways to arrange your portfolio is to find investments that aren't closely tied to each other. Historically, gold has had a negative correlation to stocks. When the Dow Jones crashed 50% from October 2007 to March 2009 during the financial crisis, gold prices surged 27%. Having an appropriately diversified portfolio that mixes gold with other stocks can reduce risk while also increasing exposure to more profitable investments.

While investing in physical gold could yield a 14.7% return this year, Money Morning Executive Editor Bill Patalon says there's one gold mining stock that could offer much bigger returns. He likes the firm because it's one of the most innovative miners in the sector, and analysts say it could soar as much as 62.4% over the next 12 months.

Here's the gold miner you should consider investing in today...

One of the Best Gold Stocks to Buy Could Gain 62.4% by May 2018

The best gold stock to buy this year is Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG).

Goldcorp is a Canadian gold miner that continues to be one of the world's top producers of the precious metal. It also boasts some exciting prospects that make it one of the best investments in the gold sector.

The first reason that Goldcorp is a stellar investment is the company's rapid growth. In fact, it's announced plans to boost production by as much as 20% through 2022, which will help grow the company's bottom line as the gold price increases.

But Patalon - a senior research analyst with nearly 30 years of market experience - is mostly impressed by Goldcorp's crowdsourcing experiment...

In 2000, Goldcorp let the public choose potential gold mining sites via the company's geological databases. This public prospecting project resulted in 110 new mining sites. The company soon found that 88 of these sites - or 80% of the picks - had huge gold deposits.

"This gamble paid off, and allowed Goldcorp to leapfrog many other miners," Patalon noted.

From the stock's high price of $17.67 on Feb. 16, GG has declined 23.3% to $13.55, which most experts see as a minor price correction. In reality, this could be one of the best buying opportunities of the year for a gold stock set to soar 62.4% from its current price of $13.55 to $22 by May 2018.

Must See: Rare gold anomaly - an event so rare, it's only happened twice in 20 years! The first time it created $1.25 billion in new wealth virtually overnight. The second time, it created a cash windfall of $6 billion. And it's about to happen again. Find out more.

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