Capturing More Than Price Gains With Unique Gold ETFs

Gold has been on a tear. The precious metal has forged multiple new record highs so far this year. It's now up some 30% year to date, and 3.5% in the past week alone.

Relative to equities year to date, the returns of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) versus the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY) show strong leadership since mid-July when GLD (the blue line) crossed above SPY (green line). (See the chart below.)

GLD Returns vs SPY Returns since mid-July 2024

Source: VettaFi PRO

It’s been a perfect storm for gold prices.

Sticky inflation concerns, even as the data stabilizes, has been one driving factor. Another is lower interest rates. The Federal Reserve cut rates by 50 bps in September. And the market seems increasingly convinced another big cut is coming before the year is over. The macro picture has also been supportive for gold, with economic growth uncertain, softening consumer sentiment, rising debt, a recent weakening of the dollar, and geopolitical risk among the drivers of gold’s momentum.