Recently, I've noticed that the recent trend in the gold market is quite interesting. Over the past year, international gold prices have hit record highs repeatedly, breaking dozens of records within just a few months. The main driving factors behind this are threefold: ongoing geopolitical tensions, expectations of central bank rate cuts taking hold, and global central banks continuously buying gold, which has also tightened supply.

This strong rally in gold prices has directly boosted the performance of gold-related concept stocks. I've observed that many people are starting to pay attention to companies involved in gold mining and refining, such as Newmont and Barrick Gold, which are top global miners, and their stock prices have risen significantly. Essentially, gold concept stocks refer to publicly listed companies whose business is related to gold, spanning the entire industry chain—from upstream mining and refining, to midstream licensing companies, and downstream jewelry processing.

In the U.S. stock market, there are quite a few leading gold stocks. Newmont, as the world's largest gold mining company, is quite stable and sizable. Barrick Gold, founded in 1983, is also a veteran in the industry. There are also more specialized companies like Wheaton Precious Metals, which don’t mine directly but earn revenue from precious metals through agreements with global mines, thus spreading their risk.

However, when it comes to Taiwan’s gold stocks, there aren’t that many options. I looked into it, and mainly found three: Koyo Electronics, Jinhui Ding, and Jialong. Koyo Electronics is a major player in Taiwan’s precious and rare metal industry, focusing on processing and recycling precious metals; Jinhui Ding specializes in metal resource recycling, with gold business accounting for about 30%; Jialong is a precious metal refining plant, with 90% of revenue from metal sales. Recently, these Taiwan gold stocks have also benefited from rising gold prices.

There are quite a few factors influencing gold concept stocks. The most direct is of course the gold price itself, but other factors include the global economic situation, central bank policies, production costs, and supply-demand balance. For example, when economic uncertainty increases, risk aversion rises, and demand for gold tends to go up. A low-interest-rate environment also favors gold prices because the opportunity cost of holding gold decreases.

If you want to invest in gold-related assets, there are a few approaches. Buying gold ETFs directly carries relatively low risk and offers stable returns, making it suitable for conservative investors. But gold concept stocks have greater potential—especially when gold prices rise, the profitability of related companies can increase significantly, often leading to stock price gains exceeding the gold price itself. Of course, this also means higher volatility and risk.

The advantages of investing in gold concept stocks are clear: you can enjoy gains from rising gold prices, often with larger returns than gold itself. It also helps diversify your assets and tends to perform well during economic downturns. The downside is increased volatility, with sharper declines during downturns, plus the risk associated with company management.

For ordinary investors, there are two main options. One is investing in funds or ETFs that include gold concept stocks, like GDX and GDXJ, which can effectively diversify risk. The other is selecting individual stocks directly—if investing in Taiwan’s gold stocks, you can trade through domestic brokers; for U.S. stocks, you’ll need to go through a foreign broker or overseas trading platform.

Looking ahead, I believe there are still many opportunities in the gold market. In the long term, geopolitical uncertainties, central bank gold buying demand, and de-dollarization trends will continue to support gold prices. Meanwhile, miners may expand capacity, and advancements in AI and big data are improving mining efficiency. Overall, whether investing directly in gold or in gold concept stocks, it’s worth paying close attention. Although Taiwan’s gold stocks have fewer options, there are still many opportunities worth exploring.