Current:Home > Contact-usThe new global gold rush-LoTradeCoin
The new global gold rush
View Date:2024-12-23 19:41:00
2022 was a rough year for investors: Between inflation, falling stock prices, and the crypto crash, it was hard to find a safe haven.
All of that economic turmoil had a lot of investors looking at one of the most ancient places to store wealth: gold.
For decades, investing in gold has been seen as a very old school investment, for the maverick, perhaps slightly anti-establishment investor.
But last year, it seemed everyone wanted in. Global demand for gold jumped nearly 20% to a decade high.
The New Gold Investor
One of those buyers was Julia Grugen, 20, a finance major at Temple University. A few months ago, she made one of her first big investments ever. In gold.
"I went in to the coin store and it was all men," she recalls with a laugh. Grugan quickly realized she was not the typical gold customer. "I was a little timid and I had barrettes in my hair."
But Grugan was determined. She had been studying economics and finance and she wasn't interested in the investments her friends were excited about, like NFTs and cryptocurrency.
"I am that old school girl," she says. "And for gold specifically, I definitely think of it as a value store more than an investment."
Investors all over the world have been looking for a value store: a safe haven from inflation, geopolitical problems and other things that can erode the value of a country's money.
So, barrettes and all, Grugan marched up to the counter at the coin store and placed her order "I said, 'I want a 10 gram bar.'" The 10 grams of gold cost around $625.
There's Gold in Them Thar Portfolios
Millions of Americans have been doing the same. Stefan Gleason is the president of Money Metals Exchange, one of the largest gold and silver dealers in the country. Gleason says ever since prices started rising in early lockdown, his business has through the roof.
"We've seen five to ten times more order volume," he says. Right now, his team works six days a week, packing up and shipping out around 2,000 boxes of gold bars, silver bars, and coins every day.
Gleason says customers tell him the last few years have shaken their faith in the US dollar, stocks and cryptocurency. But they trust gold.
Sound Money
After all, gold is one of the oldest investments out there. A lot of our language around money comes from gold. Like sound money, which refers to an ancient practice people used to test the purity of gold.
Of course these days, Money Metals Exchange uses high tech equipment to test the purity of their gold.
And there's a lot of be tested. The company is expanding quickly: building a 40,000 square foot headquarters in Eagle, Idaho.
Mike Gleason, Stefan's brother, is the director of Money Metals Exchange. He is overseeing the construction. "Right now, we're leveling the ground underneath the vaults," he explains. "We're really building for the future here."
Countries Are Buying Up Gold
The Gleasons are betting the future is golden. After all, countries like Turkey, China, Russia and Poland are reportedly buying up huge amounts of gold. They're also worried about inflation and geopolitical conflict.
Gold doesn't have a great track record as an investment: Gold right now is worth roughly the same price it was 12 years ago. Almost any decent stock would have been a more profitable bet.
But that hasn't deterred true believers like 20-year-old Julia Grugan. She did get her gold in the end: a little bar about the size of a postage stamp. She likes to take it out and just look at it sometimes.
Gold has a lot of cultural weight
"There's so much cultural weight that comes with gold," she says. "You feel, you feel a little bougie, you feel special."
Grugan says her grandfather, a schoolteacher, invested in stocks and gold and was able to retire very comfortably. In fact, one of the first things she did after she got her gold piece was text her grandma:
"I said, 'Please tell Poppy that I just bought my first 10 grams of gold.' And she said, 'Poppy says, 'WOW. Awesome.'"
veryGood! (9711)
Related
- Michigan soldier’s daughter finally took a long look at his 250 WWII letters
- Mississippi local officials say human error and poor training led to election-day chaos
- What is dark, chilly and short? The winter solstice, and it's around the corner
- Hawaii governor’s first budget after Maui wildfire includes funds for recovery and fire prevention
- Tua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run
- Will the eruption of the volcano in Iceland affect flights and how serious is it?
- Leaders seek to expand crime-fighting net of cameras and sensors beyond New Mexico’s largest city
- 'The Voice': Mara Justine makes John Legend have 'so many regrets' with haunting Adele cover
- Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue and Billy Porter to perform at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
- Hannah Godwin Shares Why Her First Christmas a Newlywed Is “So Special” and Last-Minute Gift Ideas
Ranking
- The Masked Singer's Ice King Might Be a Jonas Brother
- Pentagon announces new international mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea
- Celine Dion Has Lost Control of Muscles Amid Stiff-Person Syndrome Battle
- Meta’s initial decisions to remove 2 videos of Israel-Hamas war reversed by Oversight Board
- Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader Throws Shade At Her DWTS Partner Sasha Farber Amid Romance Rumors
- 'The Masked Singer' Season 10 finale: Date, time, finalists, how to watch
- Norman Lear's Cause of Death Revealed
- 'The Voice': Mara Justine makes John Legend have 'so many regrets' with haunting Adele cover
Recommendation
-
Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and More React to Craig Melvin Replacing Hoda Kotb as Co-Anchor
-
U.S. passport application wait times back to normal, State Department says
-
The best movies and TV of 2023, picked for you by NPR critics
-
Minimum wage hikes will take effect in 2024 for 25 U.S. states. Here's who is getting a raise.
-
Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98
-
Mold free: Tomatoes lost for 8 months on space station are missing something in NASA photo
-
Judge criticizes Trump’s expert witness as he again refuses to toss fraud lawsuit
-
Tom Brady Reacts After Stranger Accidentally Receives His Family Photo