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Gold bars and coins vs. gold stocks: Which is better for investors right now?
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The price of gold has been on a tear in recent weeks, surging to new heights and captivating investors in the process. After languishing around $1,900 per ounce for much of last year, the spot price of gold is now hovering just under the $2,400 per ounce mark, driven by a potent combination of persistent inflation, elevated interest rates and heightened demand from investors seeking a safe haven for their funds.
This latest gold rush has prompted many to re-examine their investment strategies and weigh how to best capitalize on the precious metal’s price ascent. And, with a diverse array of gold-based assets to choose from, including physical gold bars and coins, gold individual retirement accounts (IRAs), gold futures and options and gold stocks, the question of which option makes the most sense in today’s economic environment has become increasingly relevant.
Considering that physical gold and gold stocks are two of the more popular gold investing options, it makes sense to determine which one is the right move in today’s unusual economic environment.
Explore the benefits of adding gold to your investment portfolio today.
Gold bars and coins vs. gold stocks: Which is better for investors right now?
So, do gold bars and coins or gold stocks make more sense for investors right now? Here’s what you should know.
Why physical gold bars and coins could make more sense today
For investors seeking more tangible and direct exposure to gold, physical bars and coins may be the way to go. Unlike gold-linked financial instruments, physical gold offers the reassurance of direct ownership, with the ability to hold the metal in your possession or store it in a secure facility.
One of the primary advantages of physical gold is its perceived status as a time-tested hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. As the value of traditional currencies erodes due to rising prices caused by inflation, gold has historically maintained its purchasing power, providing a measure of stability and security for investors. So, in the current climate of high inflation and economic uncertainties, this attribute has become increasingly appealing if you’re seeking to safeguard your wealth.
And, physical gold is not subject to the same counterparty risks that can plague financial instruments like stocks or ETFs. When you own gold bars or coins, you are not relying on the performance of a company or the stability of a financial institution to maintain your investment’s value. This can be particularly reassuring in unusual economic climates, when trust in other assets may be shaken.
However, investing in physical gold also comes with certain drawbacks. Storing and securing the metal can be a logistical challenge, requiring specialized storage facilities or home safes, which can add to your overall cost of ownership. The liquidity of physical gold may also be lower than that of gold-linked financial products, as selling bars or coins may involve more friction and potential transaction fees. So, it’s important to keep those factors in mind when making a decision.
Learn more about the gold investing options available to you here.
Why gold stocks could make more sense today
If you’re more interested in the potential for capital appreciation, gold stocks may offer a more compelling option right now. By investing in the shares of gold mining companies, you can potentially benefit from the underlying rise in gold prices, as well as the operational and financial performance of the companies themselves.
One of the key advantages of gold stocks is their ability to provide leveraged exposure to the gold market. As the price of gold rises, like it is today, the profits and share prices of gold mining companies tend to increase at a faster rate, potentially delivering outsized returns. This can be particularly appealing if you’re seeking to maximize your gains from the current gold rally.
Moreover, gold stocks can offer a degree of diversification that physical gold may lack. By investing in a portfolio of gold mining companies, you can spread your risk across different geographic regions, production profiles and management teams, potentially mitigating some of the idiosyncratic risks associated with individual gold mining companies.
And, gold stocks may offer greater liquidity than physical gold, as they can be traded on public exchanges with relative ease. This can be beneficial if you think you may need to access your capital more quickly or if you prefer the flexibility of being able to buy and sell your holdings on a regular basis.
However, investing in gold stocks also introduces a different set of risks. Unlike physical gold, which maintains its intrinsic value, the performance of gold stocks is heavily dependent on the operational and financial success of the underlying companies. This means if you’re investing in gold stocks, you must not only navigate the volatility of the gold market but also the specific challenges and risks facing the companies you’ve invested in.
The bottom line
Ultimately, the decision between investing in physical gold bars and coins or gold stocks will depend on your risk tolerance, investment objectives and personal preferences. Both options offer unique benefits and drawbacks, however, and if you are focused on building a well-diversified portfolio, you could also incorporate a combination of these gold-based assets to achieve a balance between stability, growth and risk management.
In either case, it would be wise to carefully weigh the merits of each approach, ensuring that your investment strategy aligns with your long-term financial goals and risk appetite. By doing so, you can position yourself to capitalize on the current gold rush and potentially weather the economic storms that may lie ahead.
A passenger successfully landed a small plane on Friday after the pilot had a medical emergency, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 was traveling from Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada to Monterey Regional Airport in California, with a pilot and one other person on board, the FAA said.
The pilot suffered an unspecified medical emergency while flying, the FAA said, forcing the passenger to take the controls and make an emergency landing at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California.
The Kern Fire Department told CBS News affiliate KBAX that firefighters were called to a report of a medical emergency on the plane. The pilot was reported to be “incapacitated,” the fire department said. Firefighters saw the plane approach and land safely, then “chased” the plane down the runway in emergency vehicles to meet it.
The FAA did not release the passenger or pilot’s identities nor give an update on the pilot’s condition. The pilot was taken to an area hospital by ambulance. The passenger did not report any injuries.
The FAA and the National Transportation Security Board will investigate the incident, the FAA said.
Congolese authorities began vaccination against mpox on Saturday, nearly two months after the disease outbreak that spread from Congo to several African countries and beyond was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization.
The 265,000 doses donated to Congo by the European Union and the U.S. were rolled out in the eastern city of Goma in North Kivu province, where hospitals and health workers have been overstretched, struggling to contain the new and possibly more infectious strain of mpox.
Congo, with about 30,000 suspected mpox cases and 859 deaths, accounts for more than 80% of all the cases and 99% of all the deaths reported in Africa this year. All of the Central African nation’s 26 provinces have recorded mpox cases. Officials in Congo previously told CBS News that they’ve struggled to diagnose patients and provide basic care in the vast country of 100 million people, where a fragile, under-resourced healthcare system is also burdened by the stigma associated with the virus.
Although most mpox infections and deaths recorded in Congo are in children under age 15, the doses being administered are only meant for adults and will be given to at-risk populations and front-line workers, Health Minister Roger Kamba said this week.
“Strategies have been put in place by the services in order to vaccinate all targeted personnel,” Muboyayi ChikayaI, the minister’s chief of staff, said as he kicked off the vaccination.
Moses Sawasawa / AP
At least 3 million doses of the vaccine approved for use in children are expected from Japan in the coming days, Kamba said.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, had been spreading mostly undetected for years in Africa before the disease prompted the 2022 global outbreak that saw wealthy countries quickly respond with vaccines from their stockpiles while Africa received only a few doses despite pleas from its governments.
However, unlike the global outbreak in 2022 that was overwhelmingly focused on gay and bisexual men, mpox in Africa is now being spread via sexual transmission as well as through close contact among children, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups, Dr. Dimie Ogoina, the chair of WHO’s mpox emergency committee, recently told reporters.
More than 34,000 suspected cases and 866 deaths from the virus have been recorded across 16 countries in Africa this year. That is a 200% increase compared to the same period last year, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
A lack of diagnostic materials and basic medicines to treat the virus, which can improve survival rates, have also hampered efforts to contain the outbreak, and access to vaccines remains a challenge.
Moses Sawasawa / AP
The continent of 1.4 billion people has only secured a commitment for 5.9 million doses of mpox vaccines, expected to be available from October through December, Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa CDC, told reporters last week. Congo remains a priority, he said.
At the vaccination drive in Goma, Dr Jean Bruno Kibunda, the WHO representative, warned that North Kivu province is at a risk of a major outbreak due to the “promiscuity observed in the camps” for displaced people, as one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis caused by armed violence unfolds there.
The news of the vaccination program brought relief to many in Congo, especially in hospitals that had been struggling to manage the outbreak. Doctors with several charities working in the country have told CBS News they’re overstretched and short on supplies, even having to use tents and mattresses on the floor of makeshift isolation wards to treat a constant influx of patients.
“If everyone could be vaccinated, it would be even better to stop the spread of the disease,” said Dr. Musole Mulambamunva Robert, the medical director of Kavumu Hospital, one of the mpox treatment centers in eastern Congo.
Eastern Congo has been beset by conflict for years, with more than 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich area near the border with Rwanda. Some have been accused of carrying out mass killings.
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