# The price of gold - this year's jump, is there a why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042 "2019-12-18T20:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/1 "2019-12-18T20:02:11Z")
We’ve had various discussions here, the consensus of which seems to fall either on 1) it’s silly to own gold, it has no intrinsic value, the gold market is a bubble waiting to burst; or 2) every sensible investor should have gold in some form in their portfolio. I don’t care about that debate. I am, however, curious about the market forces. In late-ish May of this year, the troy-ounce price of gold started to rise. It had been fairly steady in the 1250-1300 range, with variations up and down, for several years. By the recent peak (not an all-time peak but the highest in the past 6 years) it had risen to around 1550; since then it has settled down and stayed in the 1450-1500 range. That’s a rise of around 15%, depending on which numbers you choose to compare. I’m not surprised that the price of gold goes up and down; however, I am curious what might drive the price to rise a moderate but noticeable amount, and to stay up (for over 3 months so far). What do the gold bugs think they know? Do they see stocks as overvalued and vulnerable to a selloff? Anyone have any insights to satisfy my idle curiosity? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/2 "2019-12-18T20:46:40Z")
Endless talk about a recession? Fed interest rate cuts and Presidential meddling with the Fed? Brexit uncertainty with a parliament that couldn’t do anything until the election? Trump running his mouth on Twitter with talk of more tariffs and trade wars? I despise gold but I’m well aware that the so-called flight to safety motivates some gold investors. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/3 "2019-12-18T21:46:41Z")
“Flight to safety” summarizes my thoughts as well. Nervous investors love the idea of owning tangibles. [One recent article.](https://www.thebalance.com/should-you-buy-gold-3140477) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/4 "2019-12-18T22:37:40Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > “Flight to safety” summarizes my thoughts as well. Nervous investors love the idea of owning tangibles. > > [One recent article.](https://www.thebalance.com/should-you-buy-gold-3140477) I don’t watch much CNBC these days, but I bet they brought on the usual suspects for ‘commentary.’ ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/5 "2019-12-18T23:19:05Z")
Oh, wait, wasn’t that around the time of the yield curve inversion and everyone predicting the end of the world? ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/6 "2019-12-19T01:27:11Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > We’ve had various discussions here, the consensus of which seems to fall either on 1) it’s silly to own gold, it has no intrinsic value, the gold market is a bubble waiting to burst; or 2) every sensible investor should have gold in some form in their portfolio. Both are true. That’s why I have a small part of my portfolio in a mutual fund that invests in gold mining companies. I have exposure to the price of gold, and also have an interest in economically productive assets as opposed to lumps of metal. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-price-of-gold-this-years-jump-is-there-a-why/845042/7 "2019-12-19T01:47:43Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Both are true. That’s why I have a small part of my portfolio in a mutual fund that invests in gold mining companies. I have exposure to the price of gold, and also have an interest in economically productive assets as opposed to lumps of metal. A mutual fund or the GDX ETF?