Some buyers turn to gold as stocks tumble

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The start of a possible trade war has hit the stock market hard, with investors looking for safer places to make money.

When stocks fall, often commodities like gold and silver go up. Gold dealers in Cedar Rapids say some people are taking the chance to buy into precious metals.

“Of course just about anytime there’s a big downturn in the market, we definitely get a lot busier,” said Chad Pettit, Ron’s Coins and Collectibles general manager.

Ron’s Coins and Collectibles in Cedar Rapids buys and sells a wide array of precious metals, but Pettit said over the past few days, almost all of his customers have been buying, not selling.

“Being able to touch it generates a lot of people because it’s something that you have any nobody else can take away from you,” Pettit said.

Meanwhile, at All American Bullion and Coins, manager Alex Ralston says he isn’t seeing more business. He said it’s because since Thursday, the price of gold has dropped 4% and silver’s dropped 13%.

He said most customers buy gold and silver looking to preserve wealth, as precious metals have generally kept up with inflation.

“A great example is a 1964 quarter. That would’ve bought you a gallon of gas in 1964, and now the silver value of that quarter still buys you a gallon of gas,” Ralston said.

With gold and silver losing value over the last couple days, some buyers see the drop as a chance to get a bargain while others see it as instability they want to wait out.

Either way, Ralston says there’s no way to predict the perfect buying opportunity.

“The worst thing you see is somebody buying something this week and selling it next week. That’s not a way to be profitable. That’s the whole idea, we want everybody to be profitable so they keep coming back,” Ralston said.

Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.