Gold

A reader requested a test of the following hypothesis from the article “Gold’s Bluff – Is a 30 Percent Drop Next?” [no longer available]: “Ironically, gold is more than just a hedge against market turmoil. Gold is actually one of the most accurate indicators of the stock market’s long-term direction. The Dow Jones measured in gold is a forward looking indicator.” To test this assertion, we examine relationships between the spot price of gold and the level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Using monthly data for the spot price of gold in dollars per ounce and DJIA over the period January 1971 through October 2024, we find that: Keep Reading

Do gold and gold mining stocks exhibit exploitable seasonality? Using monthly closes for spot gold and the S&P 500 Index since December 1974, PHLX Gold/Silver Sector (XAU) since December 1983, AMEX Gold Bugs Index (HUI) since June 1996 and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) since November 2004, all through September 2024, we find that: Keep Reading

How do returns of different asset classes recently interact with the Effective Federal Funds Rate (EFFR)? We focus on monthly changes (simple differences) in EFFR  and look at lead-lag relationships between change in EFFR and returns for each of the following 10 exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset class proxies:

• Equities:
  • SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
  • iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)
  • iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)
• Bonds:
  • iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
  • iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)
  • iShares JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Fund (EMB)
• Real assets:
  • Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)
  • SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
  • Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)

Using end-of-month EFFR and dividend-adjusted prices for the 10 ETFs during December 2007 (limited by EMB) through August 2024, we find that: Keep Reading

Can investors holding gold as inflation hedge/equity crash protection improve performance of this position by holding gold (silver) when the gold-to-silver ratio is relatively low (high)? To investigate, we track the ratio of SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) price to iShares Silver Trust (SLV) price and switch from GLD to SLV (SLV to GLD) when GLD is overvalued (undervalued) relative to SLV. Using end-of-month prices of GLD and SLV during April 2006 (limited by inception of SLV) through April 2024, we find that: Keep Reading

Is the price of gold too high? In their May 2024 paper entitled “Is There Still a Golden Dilemma?”, Claude Erb and Campbell Harvey revisit their golden dilemma, the tug of war between dueling ideas:

1. A high price for gold today presages low future return.
2. The higher the price of gold today, the rosier its future.

The focus on inflation and gold demand as potential key drivers of gold price behavior. Using monthly data for the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) and for gold demand indicators such as exchange-traded fund (ETF) and central bank gold holdings during January 1975 (when high-quality gold data becomes available) through March 2024, they find that: Keep Reading

What are the implications of mainstream economics for bitcoin? In his March 2024 paper entitled “Bitcoin: What Does Mainstream Economics Have to Say?”, Joshua Hendrickson tackles the following questions:

1. Why does money exist and what role does it play in society? How does bitcoin fit our understanding of this role?
2. What is bitcoin worth?
3. Is bitcoin (or can bitcoin be) a sound form of money?
4. Should governments adopt bitcoin?

His goal is to decipher how economics (not any particular economist) answer these questions. Applying mainstream economic theory, he concludes that: Keep Reading

How do returns of different asset classes recently interact with inflation as measured by monthly change in the not seasonally adjusted, all-items consumer price index (CPI) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics? To investigate, we look at lead-lag relationships between change in CPI and returns for each of the following 10 exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset class proxies:

• Equities:
  • SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
  • iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)
  • iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)
• Bonds:
  • iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
  • iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)
  • iShares JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Fund (EMB)
• Real assets:
  • Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)
  • SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
  • Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)

Using monthly total CPI values and monthly dividend-adjusted prices for the 10 specified ETFs during December 2007 (limited by EMB) through June 2023, we find that: Keep Reading

Does an allocation to gold truly protect a portfolio from downside risk? In their April 2023 paper entitled “The Golden Rule of Investing”, Pim van Vliet and Harald Lohre examine downside risks for portfolios of stocks (value-weighted U.S. stock market) and bonds (10-year U.S. Treasury notes) with and without gold (bullion) based on real returns and a 1-year investment horizon. They also investigate substitution of low-volatility stocks for the broad stock market in search of further downside risk protection. Using monthly returns for the specified assets and U.S. inflation data during 1975 (when gold becomes truly tradable) through 2022, they find that:

Keep Reading

A subscriber asked whether there are any lead-lag relationships between gold, proxied by SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), and 10-year U.S. Treasury note (T-note) yields. As a proxy for the latter, we use iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF). Using daily and monthly dividend-adjusted prices for GLD and IEF during mid-November 2004 (limited by GLD) through late July 2022, we find that: Keep Reading

Why have inflation, economic uncertainty and geopolitical uncertainty not driven up the price of gold? In their brief May 2022 commentary entitled “Why Isn’t the Gold Price Higher?”, Paul Gambles and James Fraser review the times when gold is, and is not, a good investment. Based on historical gold prices, with focus on recent decades, they conclude that: Keep Reading