Gold and silver prices plummeted this week on a spike in the value of the U.S. dollar.
For the five trading days ending Thursday, Aug. 14, the U.S. dollar index gained 2.85% against the basket of major currencies. Over the same period gold cast off 7.61% of its luster while the sliver meltdown sliced off 12.50%.
Pulling back a bit, we can see that the U.S. dollar bottomed in mid-March. At that time, gold topped out at $1,032.70 with silver at $21.36 per ounce. With gold falling 33.62% and silver falling 21.89% from their highs, these two precious metals have entered bear market territory.
Gold and Silver in Bear Market
Content Continues Below
In this new bear market, the average precious metals fund we track lost 6.09% for the week ending Thursday, Aug. 14. At the same time, the benchmark Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index of mining shares shed 5.64%.
But this week, the worst-performing funds in this sector are not the mining shares that are usually more volatile than the underlying metal. This time the price movements of gold and silver outpaced the mining companies that still should still be profitable at the relatively high current spot prices for the metals.
Leading the losers with double-digit losses, the
iShares Silver Trust (SLV), off 12.51%;
PowerShares DB Silver Fund (DBS), down 12.19%; and the
E-TRACS UBS Bloomberg CMCI Silver ETN (USV) sliding 10.67%, all track the bullion price of silver.
| Best Performing Precious Metals Funds for the Week Ending Thursday August 14 |
| Fund | Ticker | Rating | Fund Type | 1 Week Total Return |
| IPATH Dow Jones AIG Nickel Total Return Sub Index ETN | JJN | U | ETF | 2.01% |
| Gabelli Global Gold Natural Resources & Income Trust | GGN | B+ | Closed-End | 0.36% |
| iPath Dow Jones AIG Copper Total Return Sub Index ETN | JJC | U | ETF | -3.05% |
| SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF | XME | B+ | ETF | -3.28% |
| RiverSource Precious Metals and Mining Fund | INPMX | C | Open-End | -3.28% |
| Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund | VGPMX | B+ | Open-End | -3.38% |
| iPath Dow Jones-AIG Aluminum Total Return Sub-Index ETN | JJU | U | ETF | -3.61% |
| Oppenheimer Gold & Special Minerals Fund | OPGSX | B- | Open-End | -3.88% |
| iPath DJ-AIG Industrial Metals Total Return Sub-Index ETN | JJM | U | ETF | -3.96% |
| US Global Investors Gold and Precious Metals Fund | USERX | B | Open-End | -4.53% |
| Source: Bloomberg & TheStreet.com Ratings |
Only two funds on the best-performing precious-metals list this week managed to gain ground. They bucked the trend of imploding commodity prices on weaker expected economic demand.
First, the
iPath Dow Jones-AIG Nickel Total Return Sub-Index ETN (JJN) added 2.01% for the week. This roughly corresponds to the 1.81% increase in the spot price of nickel on the London Mercantile Exchange to $19,088 per metric ton.
The only other precious-metals fund avoiding a loss is the
Gabelli Global Gold Natural Resources & Income Trust (GGN) hovering at a positive return of 0.36%. The appreciation in fund's 36% allocation to oil & gas stocks balanced out the depreciation of the 60% of fund assets invested in mining shares.
Even with spot platinum prices down 5.36%, two of the fund's holdings of Johannesburg platinum miners
Impala Platinum (INPUY) and
Anglo Platinum (AGPPY) rose 12.02% and 3.05% respectively on rumblings of impending takeover bids from
BHP Billiton (BHP).
| Worst Performing Precious Metals Funds for the Week Ending Thursday August 14 |
| Fund | Ticker | Rating | Fund Type | 1 Week Total Return |
| iShares Silver Trust | SLV | B- | ETF | -12.51% |
| PowerShares DB Silver Fund | DBS | A | ETF | -12.19% |
| E-TRACS UBS Bloomberg CMCI Silver ETN | USV | U | ETF | -10.67% |
| iPath DJ-AIG Precious Metals Tot Retn Sub-Index ETN | JJP | U | ETF | -9.34% |
| ELEMENTS Linked to the MLCX Gold Total Return Index | GOE | U | ETF | -9.25% |
| PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund | DBP | A+ | ETF | -8.52% |
| ProFunds Precious Metals UltraSector ProFund | PMPIX | C- | Open-End | -8.47% |
| Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF | GDX | B | ETF | -7.84% |
| SPDR Gold Trust | GLD | A+ | ETF | -7.83% |
| iShares COMEX Gold Trust | IAU | A+ | ETF | -7.72% |
| Source: Bloomberg & TheStreet.com Ratings |
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