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In this episode of ETF Spotlight, I speak with John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, about investing in metals and miners, which are among the hottest trades this year.

Gold, silver, copper, and uranium have all surged, though for somewhat different reasons, and their miners have done even better.

Gold prices have slipped recently on easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which could diminish the appeal of safe-haven assets. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD - Free Report) is still up more than 52% year to date, and gold remains the best-performing major asset class this year.

The outlook for gold remains positive given expectations for interest rate cuts, rising debt and deficit concerns, and continued central bank buying.

Silver, often called the “poor man’s gold,” has actually outshined it this year, surging almost 68% despite a recent pullback. Unlike gold, silver has significant industrial applications in electronics, solar panels, and other technologies.

Miners, which are generally high-beta plays on the price of the underlying precious metal, have performed even better. The Sprott Gold Miners ETF (SGDM - Free Report) and Junior Gold Miners ETF (SGDJ - Free Report) are among the top-performing funds this year, up over 100%.

Uranium has also been a major beneficiary of the massive AI data center buildout by tech giants including Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Google (GOOG - Free Report) , and Meta (META - Free Report) .

While demand for uranium continues to rise, supply faces many challenges, and expanding it will take time. The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM - Free Report) has gained about 55% this year.

Copper, which is up about 26% this year, is also benefiting from the AI boom as it is used in data centers, power grids, electric vehicles, and smartphones. Recently, there have been growing concerns about supply shortages.
 

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