As our loyal readers know, at U.S. Global Investors we carefully monitor the price of gold. We pay close attention to the macro drivers moving the yellow metal, like government policy and cultural affinity spurring demand globally. We also monitor the micro drivers, like company management and quant factors that make one gold stock superior to the next.
Gold’s qualities make it one of the most coveted metals in the world and a popular gift in the form of jewelry – this is what I call the Love Trade. From the beginning of the Indian wedding season in September until Chinese New Year in February, the price of gold tends to rise due to higher demand from the two biggest consumers of gold, China and India.
On the other hand is the Fear Trade, driven by negative real interest rates and the fear of poor government or central bank policies that could result in currency devaluation or inflation. This fear triggers people to buy gold as a hedge against possible negative returns in other asset classes, which in turn, pushes the gold price higher.
For more on gold’s seasonal trading patterns, download the free whitepaper Gold’s Love Trade.
Gold in a Portfolio
We believe gold is an essential part of a portfolio due to its history as a protector against inflation. I’ve always recommended a 10 percent weighting in the metal, 5 percent in gold bullion or jewelry, and 5 percent in gold stocks, mutual funds and ETFs.
In fact, current economic conditions make an even greater case for gold. The stock market is still on a historic bull run, and the tax reform bill is helping ratchet up share prices. It’s important to remember that the precious metal has historically shared a low-to-negative correlation with equities. For the past 30 years, the average correlation between the LBMA gold price and the S&P 500 Index has been negative 0.06.
Gold has also performed competitively against many asset classes over the past few decades, as seen in the chart below. This makes the metal, we believe, an appealing diversifier in the event of a correction in the capital markets or an end to the bull market.
Our investment team brings knowledge and experience in a variety of fields, with one of the most notable being gold. As such, we have written numerous pieces about the precious metal. One of our most popular is the Many Uses of Gold slideshow that outlines eight different uses of gold, other than in your portfolio. From dentistry to electronics and space travel to currency, gold remains widely used in everyday life.
We believe it’s important to truly understand the asset class you are investing in, and we hope this slideshow does just that. Explore gold’s many uses here!
