The stock market has performed badly to start off 2014, but surprisingly, gold has jumped after a terrible 2013. Is 2014 the year to buy gold, or will prices simply fall further after a brief rise?
In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, looks at the gold market and its prospects for 2014. Dan notes that last year, gold and silver prices plunged, sending SPDR Gold Shares (GLD 0.34%) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV 0.04%) to big losses. The Federal Reserve played an important role in that drop, as investors feared higher interest rates would drive gold owners to sell in favor of income-producing investments. As stocks fall, though, Dan suggests that fears about a stalling economy could help gold recover. Moreover, he points to gold-mining stocks as even more beaten-down victims of 2013's gold plunge, noting the even bigger drop in Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 0.60%) and pointing to low-cost miners like Goldcorp (GG) and Barrick Gold (GOLD 1.68%) as potential candidates to weather the gold storm and come out more profitable than ever if gold prices hold up.
