Newmont, Triumph Gold, Merck KGaA, Fresnillo - Proven crisis protection

Open flanks everywhere

The general conditions for a sustained rise in the gold market could not be better. On the one hand, there is the strongly growing inflation, which is seen by central banks worldwide as temporary and is neglected in favor of growth and job creation. The US Federal Reserve is meeting in the middle of this week, but a winding down of stimulus measures or even a possible interest rate hike is not to be expected. Instead, money continues to be blithely printed and pumped into the market, flanked as Corona aid. As a result, huge speculative bubbles have been created in the bond, stock and real estate markets, which could burst at any time, as was already seen in the financial crisis of 2008.

A scenario similar to the Lehman scandal thirteen years ago could now be in store for us again in China. The focus is on Evergrande, the second largest Chinese real estate developer, which has built up a vast mountain of debt amounting to USD 300 billion and could now be insolvent. As local gazettes report, the interest due on loans on Sept. 20 is on the line. Primarily Chinese banks would be affected by bankruptcy, but it is likely to affect the global stock markets like a virus.

Gold as a lifeline

As on the weekly market, the price is determined by supply and demand. The same is true for the precious metal gold. After last summer's high of over USD 2,050, the price is correcting due to the economy's recovery from the Corona pandemic. Currently, an ounce can be bought for around USD 1,750. From a chart-technical point of view, even a price below the old low for the year at USD 1,680 could cross the ticker, which would be a top entry anti-cyclically in the long term. In order to profit from the rising gold price with leverage, gold mining stocks are a good addition to a portfolio. The largest gold producers such as Barrick Gold, Newmont or Fresnillo should be on every watchlist.

In addition to the giants, mining exploration companies such as Triumph Gold also appear attractive in the long term after the correction. Although the development of the Canadians, who manage a 100% owned, large-scale land package in the mining-friendly Yukon, is more than satisfactory, company shares can currently be acquired at a discount of more than 60% compared to last year's high. The Freegold Mountain core project is located approximately 200km northwest of the city of Whitehorse and 70km northwest of Carmacks within the prolific Dawson Range copper-gold belt of southwestern Yukon. The property contains the three mineral deposits of Nucleus, Revenue and Tinta Hill. The Company also owns 100% of the Big Creek and Tad/Toro copper-gold properties near the Freegold Mountain project.

A fully funded drilling program totaling 8,000m is scheduled for the full year, with the first phase of a 19-hole, 6,615m diamond drilling program recently completed on the Freegold Mountain property in the Nucleus and Revenue areas. In the process, management enlisted the help of artificial intelligence. Minerva Intelligence's cognitive AI analysis improved technical understanding of the Nucleus and Revenue deposits by increasing confidence in existing models and identifying, as yet, undetermined limits of mineralization.

The stock market value of the innovative gold explorer is currently around EUR 22 million. Assuming further positive drill results, Triumph Gold has high long-term potential.

Level up at Merck

The pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals group Merck KGaA is also breaking new ground and investing significantly more than EUR 3 billion in innovations and capacities of its Electronics business sector by the end of 2025. The lion's share of the money spent will go toward the Electronics business sector's Level Up growth program. The Electronics business sector is expected to achieve average organic growth of between 3% and 6% per year up to 2025. Demand for semiconductor and display materials is growing rapidly at the moment, accelerated in particular by exponential data growth and high-impact technology trends such as the Internet of Things and 5G. Merck wants to capitalize on this momentum.

"With Level Up, we are expanding our global production capacities and strengthening research and development (R&D) and innovation," said Kai Beckmann, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO Electronics, according to a statement. "Our highly attractive growth markets, such as semiconductors and OLED, are currently continuing to grow at an increasing rate. This momentum allows us to significantly increase our growth prospects."

High inflation, inflated real estate and stock markets, and now the crisis in China's real estate market. The stage is set for a long-term rising gold market. In addition to the largest gold producers, an investment in the mining explorer Triumph Gold is promising. Merck KGaA invests in innovation and is well represented in promising future markets.