Gold ETFs win: base metals lose

Article Excerpt

Precious metal ETFs were the star performers in August. The physical gold ETF SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) gained 12.1%, the iShares Silver ETF (SLV) rose 8.6%, and the Aberdeen Physical Platinum ETF (PPLT) improved 4.2%. Gold miners fared equally well with the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) adding 11.5% in August. For those aggressive investors that put some money into the 2x Leveraged Horizons BetaPro Canadian Gold Miners ETF (HGU), it jumped 119% over the past 3 months. On the other end of the spectrum, there were very poor performances from base metals miners as the global economy showed more signs of weaker growth. The GlobalX Copper Miners ETF (COPX) fell 17.7% in August while the iShares S&P/TSX Global Base Metal Producers (XBM) lost 16.7%. Argentina was another poor performer as its fiscally austere president lagged behind in a primary election. The iShares MSCI Argentine ETF (AGT) dropped a whopping 30.1% in the month. The global fixed income markets continued…