Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Today's story was a sadly familiar one for gold investors, as gains in the stock market translated to losses in the yellow metal's price. Spot gold prices fell about $5 to $1,199 as of 5 p.m. ET, with the drop below the $1,200 level weighing on sentiment in the already battered market. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD -0.19%) fell 0.3%, holding just above its lowest levels in three years. Mining stocks took a proportionally bigger hit, with Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX 0.21%) declining 0.7%. Yet for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX 0.52%) and Barrick Gold (GOLD -1.02%), the day was somewhat brighter, with both stocks eking out modest gains.
For Freeport, today's big news was that the company agreed to restructure its employment contract with current CEO Richard Adkerson. In exchange for giving up contractual provisions that would have allowed Adkerson to receive more than $100 million in severance or change-of-control payments, Freeport agreed to give Adkerson 1 million shares of restricted stock worth $36 million. Despite Freeport's potential savings of up to $89 million from the move, many investors aren't too happy with the idea of the CEO getting a big payday given the stock's loss of more than 40% since early 2011. Still, Freeport shares gained 0.1% today.
Barrick climbed a more impressive 0.5% after the gold miner agreed to sell its Plutonic gold mine in Western Australia to Northern Star Resources for about $22.4 million. With all-in gold production costs of $1,110 per ounce during the first nine months of 2013, the plunge in gold prices has brought the mine nearly to the brink of unprofitability. Yet for Northern Star, the buy doubles its production and makes it a more viable player in the industry -- at least if prices don't fall much further from current levels.
Looking at smaller miners, the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ -0.41%) fell 1.5%, continuing its typical higher-volatility movements. With many of its components facing more catastrophic consequences from gold's drop, the small-gold-company ETF has the potential either for a huge rebound if gold prices bounce or for even more dramatic drops if gold keeps falling. Even after its terrible performance in 2013, there's no guarantee that small gold mining stocks aren't more value trap than true value even at depressed prices.
