Top Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  ) . It's the bank the liberal press loves to hate, but a bank more investors should learn to love.

The Wall Street investment house almost always seems to make money, no matter what's going on with the rest of the economy, which is one of the primary reasons it attracts such suspicion and derision, and one of the primary reasons it's such a great place to put your money.

Without further ado, then, here are seven things you need to know about Goldman Sachs, in no particular order.

1. Outstanding share-price performance over the past year
Shares prices in the Wall Street powerhouse have gone up by 24.13% in the last year. Compare this with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , where shares have risen by just 10.22% in the same time period: a strong performance, to be sure, just not Goldman strong.

2. Strong first-quarter earnings
For the first quarter of 2013, Goldman reported a 7.2% year-over-year rise in net income on revenue growth of 1.4%:�this in a tough quarter for banks. Wells Fargo's (NYSE: WFC  ) revenue edged down by 1.4% for the same time period, while JPMorgan's dropped 3.87%.�

Top Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  Other gold miners that have seen intensive insider buying during the past four months include St. Andrew Goldfields (STADF.PK), Continental Gold (CGOOF.PK), Kinross (KGC) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  As a result, Chidley and team upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and�Yamana Gold (AUY) to Neutral from Underweight, and raised Barrick Gold (ABX), Goldcorp (GG) and Iamgold (IAG) to Overweight from Neutral.�Gold Fields (GFI) was downgraded “due to increased risk and also reduced expectations for the South Deep operation,” Chidley says.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) runs mineral properties in Canada, Finland and Mexico. Gold is AEM�� primary focus but it also looks for and mines silver, copper, zinc and lead.

Top Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Australian Dollar(AU)

AngloGold Ashanti Limited primarily engages in the exploration and production of gold. It also produces silver, uranium oxide, and sulfuric acid. The company conducts gold-mining operations in South Africa; continental Africa, including Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia, and Tanzania; Australia; and the Americas, which include Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. It also has mining or exploration operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Colombia. As of December 31, 2010, the company had proved and probable gold reserves of 71.2 million ounces. The company has a strategic alliance with Thani Dubai Mining Limited to explore, develop, and operate mines across the Middle East and parts of North Africa. AngloGold Ashanti Limited, formerly known as Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited, was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  The second largest market cap company, at $11.22 billion, is Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (AU). Its afternoon stock price of $29.15 is within 5% of its three-year low, and has experienced a more significant drop than Newmont ��it is down 44.9% from its high price of $52.86 a share.

• [By Jim Powell]

  In addition to holding Goldcorp and Barrick Gold, the fund tracks the performance of Newmont Mining (NEM), Newcrest Mining (NCMGY), AngloGold Ashanti (AU), and several other industry leaders.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  One way Yamana has kept its competitive cost advantage is through extensive sales of base-metal byproducts like copper and zinc, as both it and fellow low-cost rival Goldcorp (NYSE: GG  ) benefit from utilizing those secondary metals to offset the cost of their gold production. Peers Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI  ) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU  ) , on the other hand, face much higher costs in part because of their exposure to South Africa and its unstable labor market.

• [By Profit Confidential]

  Graham Ehm, Executive Vice President of South African-based AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU), one of the biggest gold producers in the global economy, stated the company is looking to save $500 million over the next 18 months, as capital expenditures will only be going towards their highest-quality assets. (Source: Mining Weekly, August 5, 2013.)

Hot International Companies To Watch In Right Now: CME Group Inc.(CME)

CME Group Inc. operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. The company provides a range of products available across various asset classes, including futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, foreign exchange, weather, and real estate. It offers various products that provide a means of hedging, speculation, and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk, and changes in the prices of commodities. CME Group owns and operates clearing house, CME Clearing, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts and counter derivatives transactions; and also engages in real estate operations. Its primary trade execution facilities consist of its CME Globex electronic trading platform and open outcry trading floors, as well as privately negotiated transact ions that are cleared and settled through its clearing house. In addition, the company offers market data services comprising live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports, and historical data services, as well as involves in index services business. CME Group?s customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, and governments. It has strategic partnerships with BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, Singapore Exchange Limited, Green Exchange, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V., as well as joint venture agreement with Dow Jones & Company. The company was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and changed its name to CME Group Inc. in July 2007. CME Group was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We re-established an investment in CME Group, Inc. (CME) during the period. CME is the largest and most diversified derivatives marketplace in the U.S. Its exchanges support trading across a variety of asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, foreign exchange and metals. We believe CME has the opportunity to significantly accelerate its growth rates due to the eventual normalization of interest rates and the attendant interest rate volatility. CME's interest rate trading volumes (ADV) have been depressed as a result of the Fed's zero interest rate policy and low interest rate volatility. For example, interest rate ADV was 4.8 million in 2012compared to 7.1 million in 2007, before the financial crisis. However, given the Fed's recent policy statements (discussed above), market participants are starting to anticipate an end to quantitative easing (QE). On May 30, CME experienced record volume for interest rate derivatives with ADV of 19.4 million. With the globalization of CME's business, a host of new products, and the regulatory requirement for interest rate swaps to be cleared on an exchange, we believe CME's interest rate volumes can surpass their prior peak, significantly driving earnings growth for the company.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives trader CME Group (CME) raised its quarterly dividend 4% to 47 cents per share, payable on Mar. 25 to shareholders of record as of Mar. 10.
  CME Dividend Yield: 2.47%

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Insurers such as Aflac Inc. (AFL) ,�Allstate Corp. (ALL) , Aetna Inc. (AET) , Cigna Corp. (CI) �and Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) �will also report, along with exchange operators Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) �and CME Group Inc. (CME) .�

• [By Eric Volkman]

  CME Group (NASDAQ: CME  ) is staying consistent for the moment in terms of shareholder payouts. The company has declared a dividend for its Q2 of $0.45 per share, to be paid on June 25 to shareholders of record as of June 10.�That amount matches CME Group's previous distribution, which was paid at the end of March.

Top Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are Chesapeake Energy�puts, and shares of Discovery Communications. Other new holdings of interest include Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) , and Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC  ) . Oil and gas company Halcon, operating in the promising Bakken region, as well as Texas's productive Eagle Ford shale region, among others, is expected to grow by 30% annually over the coming years. It recently reported 2012 net daily production 128% higher than year-ago levels, and proven reserves up 417%. Halcon was recently one of my colleague Joel South's top two energy holdings, and analysts at Stifel recently upped its rating�from Hold to Buy.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Monday morning, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from AK Steel Holding (NYSE: AKS) and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC).

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Basic Materials shares gained around 0.24 percent in trading on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Harmony Gold Mining Company (NYSE: HMY), up 4.1 percent, and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC), up 3.8 percent. In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.36 percent.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Monday morning, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from AK Steel Holding (NYSE: AKS) and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC).

Top Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Goldcorp Incorporated(GG)

Goldcorp Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of precious metal properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Lately, those sectors haven't done all that well. Terrible performance in the commodities markets have really hurt Canada's natural resources industry, with dozens of companies suffering from the decline in precious metals like gold and silver so far this year. Vancouver-based Goldcorp (NYSE: GG  ) and Toronto's Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) rank among the biggest gold producers in the world and have big advantages in cost and economies of scale over some of their smaller rivals. Yet the plunge in gold prices has hammered their share prices, casting a shadow over the overall Canadian market's performance.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Barrick Gold have gained 0.4% to $16.81 today, despite the fact that the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) has dropped 0.7% to $23.87 and big miners Newmont Mining (NEM) and Goldcorp (GG) have fallen 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.