DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF)- As some businesses are taking a hit because of growing Coronavirus concerns, the gold industry is booming. Gold prices hit a record high as a stock market rout on concerns over COVID-19 drive investors to safe-haven assets.
Michael Wittmeyer is the CEO of Dallas-based JM Bullion. His company sells physical bars and coins of gold and silver online and ships it to people.
“When the stock market is as rocky as it is now, we really see demand pour in on this because gold is seen as a safe-haven investment that fairs better during uncertain times,” said Wittmeyer.
Whittmeyer said during a normal business day before the Coronavirus outbreak, they were shipping about 1,500-2,000 orders but now it’s up to over 8,000 orders and it continues to rise.
“Trying to satisfy the demand of 4 times the volume is a challenge and we are ramping up efforts and scaling up on employees and overtime hours,” he said.
The stock market hit the panic button Monday automatically halting trade for a brief period. Because of this, Gold prices rose 0.5% at $1,678.25 per ounce. “Our industry is very countercyclical so we aren’t cheering for bad things to happen but this is an asset class that people tend to be more interested in when other traditional asset classes aren’t doing as well,” said Wittmeyer.
At one point the market was down over 2,000 Monday.
