Are Gold Stocks a Bargain at 52-Week Lows? (GLD, ABX, NEM, GG, GDX)

Gold is trying to recover on Thursday as it moves back and forth between being a risk-trade asset and an end of the world trade.  While gold may be on the mend or at least trying to find some footing, it is impossible to not notice that the major gold stocks in many cases are down very close to their 52-week lows.  Does this make the gold giants like Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX), Goldcorp Incorporated (NYSE: GG), and Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) bargains?  And what about the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX)?  Maybe more is up to the charts than to fundamentals right now (see below).

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) is up 1.2% at $43.84, but its 52-week trading range is $42.50 to $55.95.  The market value is still almost $44 billion.  Goldcorp Incorporated (NYSE: GG) is up only $0.03 at $44.48 but its 52-week trading range is $41.91 to $56.31.  Goldcorp is still worth nearly $36 billion today.  Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) is down around $54.15 after a $0.15 drop on Thursday and the 52-week trading range is $50.16 to $72.42.  It is still worth more than $26 billion and it has a 2.6% dividend yield.

To show that these large players are not alone, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) is up 0.5% at $50.34 but the 52-week trading range is $49.22 to $66.98.

Gold itself is up almost 1% at $1658.90, but that is down from about $1,780 at the end of February and down from above $1,700.00 just last week.  If you just look at gold via the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD), it is up 1% at $161.30 and the 52-week range is $136.25 to $185.85.  The “GLD” is at an important juncture on its chart if you take a look at the stockcharts.com chart below.

JON C. OGG