Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index

Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index
base data
Country	world
Stock exchange	NASDAQ OMX PHLX
ISIN	US6933271081
WKN	969104
symbol	XAU
RIC	^ XAU
Bloomberg code	XAU <INDEX>
category	Stock index
Type	Price index
family	Single index

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index is a US dollar traded stock index of international gold and silver producers. The index trades on the NASDAQ OMX PHLX (formerly the Philadelphia Stock Exchange) under the ticker symbol XAU . The symbol XAU should not be confused with the abbreviation in the ISO 4217 standard , which denotes the price of one troy ounce (= 31.1034768 grams) of gold .

calculation

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (XAU) comprises the stocks of international gold and silver producers that are listed on the NASDAQ OMX PHLX (formerly the Philadelphia Stock Exchange). The XAU represents a portfolio of hedged and unhedged mining companies whose production is secured both with and with forward sales. This is a key difference to the NYSE Arca Gold BUGS Index (HUI), which only contains stocks of gold producers who do not make any forward sales.

The XAU calculated in US dollars is a price index; dividends are not included in the calculation. The index level is determined solely on the basis of share prices and only adjusted for income from subscription rights and special payments. The weighting is based on market capitalization . Corporate actions such as stock splits have no (distorting) influence on the index. Updates are always made quarterly after the close of trading on the third Friday in March, June, September and December so that each equity component represents its assigned weighting in the index. The XAU correlates positively with the current development of the gold and silver prices .

history

Historical overview

Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index 1983–2012

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (XAU) was launched on January 19, 1979 with a base value of 100 points. Trading in options on the index began on December 19, 1983 on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX). Founded in 1790, PHLX is the oldest stock exchange in the United States.

1980 began a twenty year downward trend of the gold price and with it the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index. In order to end the economic stagnation, the US Federal Reserve took other measures to limit the growth of the money supply . This initially intensified the recession and unemployment, but these policies slowly stabilized the economy and controlled inflation. In the 1990s, under the Democratic President Bill Clinton (1993–2001) , the USA experienced a sustained economic upswing (“ New Economy ”). After an interim high on February 5, 1996 at 152.70 points, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ended trading on November 17, 2000 at an all-time low of 41.85 points. The loss since February 1996 is 72.6 percent.

Since 2001 the gold price and with it the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index have been rising continuously. This increase has a clear correlation with the growth of the US national debt and the weakening of the dollar against the world currencies. On February 28, 2008, the XAU closed for the first time above the limit of 200 points. On March 14, 2008, it ended trading at a record high of 206.37 points. Since the November 2000 low, profit has been 393.1 percent.

On November 7, 2007, the NASDAQ OMX Group announced the acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The acquisition was completed on July 24, 2008. To reflect this change, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange has been renamed NASDAQ OMX PHLX.

In the course of the international financial crisis , which started with the US housing crisis in 2007, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index began to decline. On October 15, 2008, the XAU ended trading at 95.16 points below the 100-point mark and on October 27, 2008, it closed at a low of 65.72 points. The loss since March 2008 is 68.2 percent. Many hedge funds and other investors had to sell stocks or liquidate positions in order to stay liquid in the face of the credit crunch.

October 27, 2008 marks the turning point of the downward slide. From autumn 2008, the XAU was on the way up again. On April 8, 2011, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index marked an all-time high with a closing level of 228.95 points. Since October 2008 the increase has been 247.0 percent. On May 15, 2012, the index closed at 141.60 points, 38.2 percent lower than a year earlier.

On May 15, 2012, the XAU ended trading at 141.60 points. The loss since the all-time high on April 8, 2011 is 38.2 percent. On September 19, 2012, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index closed at 194.87 points, 37.6 percent higher than four months earlier.

Highs

The overview shows the all-time highs of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index.

	Points	date
in the course of trading	232.72	Tuesday December 7th 2010
on a closing price basis	228.95	Friday April 8, 2011

Milestones

The table shows the milestones of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index since the all-time low on November 17, 2000.

First close over	Final score in points	date
50	50.36	December 4, 2000
100	101.86	November 12, 2003
150	154.19	January 31, 2006
200	202.84	February 28, 2008

Annual development

The table shows the annual development of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index since 1983.

year	Final score in points	Change in points	Change in%
1983	111.82
1984	76.06	−35.76	−31.98
1985	81.47	5.41	7.11
1986	76.26	−5.21	−6.39
1987	109.72	33.46	43.88
1988	87.01	−22.71	−20.70
1989	119.93	32.92	37.83
1990	97.04	−22.89	−19.09
1991	80.79	−16.25	−16.75
1992	71.30	−9.49	−11.75
1993	131.91	60.61	85.01
1994	109.33	−22.58	−17.12
1995	120.42	11.09	10.14
1996	116.75	−3.67	−3.05
1997	74.19	−42.56	−36.45
1998	64.97	−9.22	−12.43
1999	67.97	3.00	4.62
2000	51.41	−16.56	−24.36
2001	54.43	3.02	5.87
2002	76.76	22.33	41.03
2003	108.84	32.08	41.79
2004	99.35	−9.49	−8.72
2005	128.03	28.68	28.87
2006	142.25	14.22	11.11
2007	173.32	31.07	21.84
2008	123.85	−49.47	−28.54
2009	168.25	44.40	35.85
2010	226.58	58.33	34.67
2011	180.64	−45.94	−20.28
2012	165.60	−15.04	−8.33
2013	84.15	−81.45	−49.18
2014	68.78	−15.37	−18.27
2015	45.30	−23.48	−34.14
2016	78.86	33.56	74.08

composition

The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index consists of the following 30 companies (as of July 6, 2018).

symbol	Surname	Headquarters
ABX	Barrick Gold	Canada
AEM	Agnico-Eagle Mines	Canada
AG	First Majestic Silver	Canada
AU	AngloGold Ashanti	South Africa
AUY	Yamana gold	Canada
BVN	Buenaventura	Peru
CDE	Coeur Mining	United States
EGO	Eldorado gold	Canada
FCX	Freeport-McMoRan	United States
GFI	Gold Fields	South Africa
GG	Goldcorp	Canada
GOLD	Randgold Resources	jersey
GORO	Gold Resource Corporation	United States
HL	Hecla mining	United States
HMY	Harmony gold	South Africa
IAG	Iamgold	Canada
KGC	Kinross gold	Canada
MUX	McEwen Mining	Canada
NEM	Newmont Mining	United States
NG	NovaGold Resources	Canada
NGD	New gold	Canada
PAAS	Pan American Silver	Canada
RGLD	Royal gold	United States
SA	Seabridge gold	Canada
SAND	Sandstorm gold	Canada
SBGL	Sibanye-Stillwater	South Africa
SSRM	SSR mining	Canada
TAHO	Tahoe Resources	Canada
VGZ	Vista gold	Australia
WPM	Wheaton Precious Metals Corporation	Canada

Web links

• Index on the NASDAQ OMX
• Index at Bloomberg
• Index at Yahoo

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NASDAQ OMX: Methodology (PDF; 154 kB)
2. ↑ NASDAQ OMX: NASDAQ OMX Group to Complete Acquisition of The Philadelphia Stock Exchange ( Memento of the original from February 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , dated July 24, 2008 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Yahoo: Historical prices
4. ↑ nasdaqomx.com: Components