Investors bet on metal in heavy times — sending safe-haven gold to new highs

Midas markets… Metals have majorly rallied this year. On Monday, gold and copper hit record prices, while silver soared to an 11-year high. Gold’s up 17% this year to over $2.4K/ounce, while silver and copper have surged 30% as buyers look to their shiny industrial outlooks. Copper’s used in electrical wiring and machinery, while silver’s integral to semiconductor chips (so hot right now) and other hardware like that used in phones and laptops. Both are big in renewable energy (also hot right now).

• 24K magic: Gold’s different. Most of it is used to make jewelry and bullion (high-purity bars and ingots that investors and central banks stock up on).

Gold-bar Costco haul… Analysts estimate Costco’s selling up to $200M worth of gold each month as everyday investors buy bullion as a safe haven, an asset expected to retain its value during volatile market cycles and economic downturns. As geopolitical tensions rise and Americans look ahead to an election that’s sure to ruin some Thanksgiving dinners, metals can seem like a more solid bet. China has piled into gold as its real estate and stock markets stumble (it’s also trying to reduce reliance on US dollars). China overtook India as the top gold jewelry-buying nation last year.

• Other perceived safe havens include Treasury bills; “defensive stocks,” which are known to pay stable dividends; some currencies (like the Swiss franc); and, increasingly, digital currencies (mainly bitcoin).