Gold (GLD (NYSE:GLD)) and silver (SLV) have underperformed this year despite several positive catalysts including high inflation, a slowing economy, and loose monetary policy. However, energy moving higher means more inflation is likely, while the jobs report indicates the economy may be slowing.It’s been a rough year thus far for the precious metals sector, and while gold (GLD) has only given up one-third of last year’s gains, down 7% vs. a 24% gain in 2020, the miners have been slaughtered, to say the least. This is evidenced by the near 40% decline we’ve seen in the Gold Miners Index (GDX (NYSE:GDX)), and the fact that some producers have slid as much as 50%. Not surprisingly, this has decimated sentiment in the sector, with many throwing in the towel completely and others booking tax losses on their gold miners and moving money to greener pastures.
However, the trick to investing in miners is to wait for the majority to give up on the trade before putting any real money to work and to only buy the best names when they’re trading at a discount to their net asset value. After the violent correction we’ve seen, these two requirements have now been satisfied, giving the green light for investors looking for a cheap sector to begin entering new positions. In this update, we’ll look at a few of the highest-quality names in the sector:
(Source: TC2000.com)