Gold bugs cheered in 2019 when the precious metal made a solid comeback, following a down year in 2018. The price of gold rose 18.9 percent last year, the highest annual increase since a 29.7 percent jump in 2010 and a big improvement from 2018 when the price was down 3.4 percent. In the early days of 2020, the price of gold has settled at $1,528 an ounce. In addition, gold miner stocks were up roughly 40 percent last year after losing approximately 3 percent in 2018.
Gold is considered a safe haven in times of economic downturn or uncertainty, and as a real asset it is also effective as a hedge against inflation. Investors can gain exposure to gold by investing directly in the commodity, buying gold bullion or gold coins, for example. Or they can invest in gold indirectly by purchasing shares of an exchange-traded fund. Another option is acquiring shares of a gold mutual fund that holds stocks of mining companies.
Gold ETFs and ETNs (exchange-traded notes) enjoyed dou