Easy ways to add precious metal exposure

Article Excerpt

Most precious metals stocks dropped when gold fell to $1,200 U.S. an ounce and silver declined to $18.50 U.S. an ounce in June 2013. Both metals have rebounded somewhat lately, with gold rising to $1,394 and silver to $23.55. Gold and silver could well regain their early 2011 highs ($1,900 for gold and $48.48 for silver) and move up even further in the longer term, but they will likely remain volatile. Higher prices would arise from investor fears that inflation or global political and economic instability will hurt the value of key currencies, such as the euro or the U.S. dollar. If you want to hold a number of gold or silver stocks, these two exchange traded funds offer top-quality global miners and low fees. ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $12.52 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index. This index is made up of 49 gold…