Spotting Gold in the Sieve

Over the past 25 months, the price of an ounce of gold has gone up about 50%, from about $1,100 to $1,643 an ounce. Last summer's all-time high was above $1,900. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) pretty much tracked those movements.

In a surprising development, though, shares of two of the largest gold-producing companies -- Newmont Mining (NEM) and Barrick Gold (ABX) -- have gone into retreat. In fact, their prices are now lower than where they were before the metal's run-up. Neither of these names is a fly-by-night operator. In 2011 Newmont and Barrick posted revenue of $10.3 billion and $14.3 billion, respectively. Each company recently hiked its dividend, with Newmont now yielding 3.03% as Barrick pays out 1.58%. Those are historically high levels for these companies....218 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.

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