While Wall Street obsesses over who’s gonna build the best AI agent, Bay Street is reaping the rewards of a good old-fashioned gold rush.
What happened: Thanks to the performance of homegrown gold companies, Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index is up over 11% on the year and has convincingly outperformed both the U.S.’s S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
- So far this year, gold producers have accounted for four of the top five and 15 of the top 20 performing stocks on the index.
- Three of those companies, Dundee Precious Metals, SSR Mining, and Kinross Gold, all have total returns of at least 65% on the year.
Why it matters: Gold is widely viewed as a hedge against geopolitical uncertainty. In a stroke of irony, the chaos brought on by U.S. tariffs — which have otherwise threatened Canada’s resource-heavy economy — has become rocket fuel for the country’s gold sector.
Big picture: Gold has quietly become Canada’s second-largest export, and companies have been ponying up to keep the gold rush rolling. In a push to find new deposits, Canadian producers have invested $19 billion over the past three years, up from just $1 billion in 2007.
Bottom line: Unlike steel, aluminum and automobile exports, Canadian gold doesn’t hinge on the U.S. market. Last year, Canada sent $21.9 billion worth of gold just to the UK, ~3.5 times the amount it shipped to the States.—LA