I noticed that Yamana and Barrick have really low stock prices right now. I'm not someone who buys stocks very often, but this is pretty tempting. Anyone know why they're so low right now?
There is a perception that gold is going to hit a downtrend, especially after the sharp sell off last month, which didn't fully recover. The dollar is getting stronger and mining costs are still high. Gold miners' margin is dependent on gold price, which means that a fall in gold can wipe out profits. Gold stocks typically trade many times its book and earnings, so they are sensitive to gold price.
Obviously they are dependent on the price of gold, which is down mostly due to the strong US dollar and the stock market performing well.