gold prices

Barrick has moved up recently—along with gold prices. The gains were likely spurred by the growing belief among investors that interest-rate increases have started to slow as inflation eases. That should push up investor demand for gold as the appeal of interest-bearing investment and the U.S....

BARRICK GOLD CORP., $26.30, is a buy. The company (symbol ABX on Toronto) is the second-largest gold miner in the world after Newmont (symbol NEM on New York, and a recommendation of our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter).

Barrick now plans to focus on building new mines instead of on acquisitions....

Stay away from the most-risky investments on the market, including new stock issues, so you can increase your potential for profits

A: B2Gold Corp., $4.33, symbol BTO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $4.4 billion; www.b2gold.com), owns three mines: the Otjikoto mine in Namibia; the Masbate mine in the Philippines; and the Feloka mine in Mali.

The company also has 50% interest in the Gramalote project in Colombia and an 81% interest in the Kiaka project in Burkina Faso....

Investing in gold: gold shares, gold bullion and gold in your RRSP—which is best?

Barrick has moved down—along with gold prices—since earlier this year. Gold does move generally up along with inflation; however, while inflation remains high, interest rate hikes (such as the U.S. Fed’s recent 75 basis-point rise) are aimed at controlling and bring down the inflation rate....

AMAZON.COM INC., $115.54, symbol AMZN on Nasdaq, is a buy. The company is one of the world’s largest online retailers. It’s also the third-largest digital ad provider in the U.S. Its Amazon Web Services (AWS) is also one of the world’s largest cloud infrastructure service providers.

Amazon has now agreed to add Grubhub to its suite of Prime services in the U.S.

For Grubhub’s parent, Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com, the deal is aimed at letting it expand its food-ordering reach by tapping Amazon’s membership program.

For Amazon, it gets an initial option to take a 2% stake in U.S.-based Grubhub, and U.S....

HERCULES CAPITAL INC., $14.07, symbol HTGC on New York, is a business development company (BDC).

Hercules provides senior secured loans to high-growth venture capital-backed companies in innovative industries, including technology, life sciences, and sustainable and renewable technologies.

As well, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hercules Adviser LLC, the company also maintains an asset management business through which it oversees investments for external parties.

Since its founding in 2003, the company reports that it has made more than $14 billion in loans to nearly 600 companies.

A highlight of the latest quarter was the IPO of Pineapple Energy LLC (symbol PEGY on Nasdaq)....

Nobody can predict trends in inflation or interest rates with any consistency. On the other hand, many investors have done very well over long periods by applying our Successful Investor method to their investments. This includes holding stocks that will do well with inflation—but will also prosper in an environment of stable consumer prices....

In recent years, I’ve mentioned that the world is going through a gigantic monetary experiment. At first, I was referring to the “quantitative easing” that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks began in 2008/2009, to offset the financial crisis. But the more I look at it, the more I see a process that’s been going on for a century.

A change in standards

Up till about a century ago, the world pretty much ran on the gold standard....