Top precious metal stocks for uncertain times

Article Excerpt

Most precious-metal stocks dropped, along with the market, in March 2020. They then quickly reversed that trend to soar for investors, in part because of gold’s appeal as a “safe harbour” in times of economic uncertainty. In fact, in August 2020, gold jumped to over $2,000 U.S. an ounce for the first time ever. Gold stocks also jumped. Gold prices then drifted down to about $1,800 as pandemic fears lessened. They then spiked to over $1,991 in March 2022 as Russia invaded Ukraine. Gold then dropped again, to as low as $1,622 in late 2022, before spiking to $2,051 in early May 2023. Prices have since dipped a bit to today’s price of $1,934. That recent fall reflects new stronger-than-expected U.S. job numbers, which suggest a longer period of rising interest rates may be needed to tame inflation. Going forward, we think top-quality gold and silver stocks are still buys. That’s in part because of their prospects for increased production and cash flow—regardless…