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Here’s how gold’s price has jumped in the last year (and why you should still invest)
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The price of gold broke yet another record this week as it hit $2,439.98 per ounce on May 20. While the price has dropped slightly since, gold has seen overall sustained growth in the opening months of 2024, with no clear limit in sight. This has piqued the interest of prospective investors and given ones already invested in the precious metal ample opportunity to grow their returns.
For beginners still considering gold, however, it helps to know how much the price has risen so far this year — and how much it’s grown dating back to May 2023. With these figures known, investors can better determine if gold is worth investing in this May. To that end, below we’ll illustrate exactly how much the price has changed, and why a rising price is just one of multiple reasons to invest in the precious metal now.
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Here’s how gold’s price has jumped in the last year
On May 23, 2023, gold cost $1,975.17 per ounce, according to American Hartford Gold. But on May 23, 2024, the price of the metal was $2,361.66 per ounce – just under a 20% growth rate. That’s a tremendous increase for any investment, but particularly one like gold, which isn’t typically known for its ability to generate relatively quick profits. Instead, it’s often more useful as a hedge against inflation and a reliable portfolio diversifier. Still, if you had bought gold last May and sold it this month, you could have made hundreds of dollars on your investment.
So you should invest now or has the price growth offset any potential gains? There’s a compelling case for acting now. That’s because many experts expect the price to continue to rise, and some even argue that it could hit $3,000 an ounce sooner than later. And, at some point, the price will become prohibitive and too costly for beginners to take advantage of. It makes sense, then, to buy in now before the next big price increase. As mentioned, however, today’s price isn’t the only timely advantage gold can offer. Below, we’ll break down two others.
Start investing in gold before the price jumps again.
Why you should invest in gold as the price rises
As appealing as a 20% growth rate can be for any investment, gold has other benefits that can help investors in today’s inflationary environment. Here are two major ones:
- A hedge against inflation: Gold can hold steady and often even increases in value during inflationary periods like we’ve been experiencing since 2022. And while inflation dropped slightly in April, it’s still more than a full percentage point above the Federal Reserve’s target 2% goal. It makes sense, then, to add some gold to your portfolio now while inflation is still a concern.
- A portfolio diversifier: Gold is a smart way to diversify your portfolio to better balance the performance of other, more volatile assets like bonds and stocks. Because of its consistent value, gold can help when other assets underperform, as is possible in today’s unpredictable rate climate. Just make sure not to overinvest in this protection, either, as many experts advise limiting gold to a maximum of 10% of your overall portfolio.
The bottom line
Now is an ideal time to invest in gold. Thanks to a rising price, its ability to hedge against today’s still problematic inflation and the diversification it can provide to an otherwise stagnant portfolio, many investors would benefit from adding the precious yellow metal right now. But with the potential for the price to continue heading upward, many should consider being aggressive this May before the price — and the benefits gold can provide — grow too far out of reach.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.