As 2011 comes to a close, it's a great time to look back at what happened to the stocks that interest you. By making sure you know the important things that a company accomplished -- as well as the setbacks it experienced -- you can make a better decision about whether it's a smart investment for your portfolio.
Today, let's take a look at Central Fund of Canada
Stats on Central Fund of Canada
Year-to-Date Return | (4.2%) |
Assets Under Management | $5.05 billion |
Current Investment Mix | 53.4% gold 45.3% silver 1.3% cash |
CAPS Rating (out of 5) | *** |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
What happened to Central Fund of Canada this year?
As an investment vehicle that owns gold and silver bullion, Central Fund's fortunes ebb and flow with those of the precious metals markets. This year, shareholders saw huge moves, especially during the spring, when a huge move upward in silver gave way to an even sharper decline. That had a much smaller effect on gold ETF SPDR Gold
In recent days, precious metals have taken a big hit as the European crisis continues to unravel without major progress. Miners like Yamana Gold
Bullion investing has created plenty of controversy, and the huge volatility reflects disparate opinions about it. But with millions of ounces of physical gold and silver bullion in a vault, Central Fund has the assets to back up its investment objective -- and will continue to do so well into the future.
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