Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam
Code:
Period Annualized Growth Rates
Range From To DJIA S&P500 NASDAQ
1 January 23, 1995 January 22, 2015 7.88% 7.73% 9.61%
2 January 23, 1995 January 22, 2015 Annualized Gold Return 6.265%
Calculate it in time spans. Like a casino churn -- in the long run you lose 
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule |
Gold isn't an investment for anyone, the function of gold is basically that of money (as opposed to fiat currency) and thereby it is supposed to "preserve wealth" (defeat inflation) and not do much more than that.
So when I look at your figure of 6.26%, its reasonable to suppose an inflation rate taken as an average over the 20 year period that you describe was probably around 6% and therefore Gold may have done its job.
However, you can look at a different time span and get a totally different result. For example, if you take the period from 1966 ($35/oz) to 2015 ($1300/oz), then
Gold is up 37 times or 3700% over 50 years - not too shabby and equates to what - over 60% per annum in USD terms?
But I don't think you can compare copper (an industrial metal) with gold (a monetary metal with very little industrial use). Maybe silver is closer to copper but not gold.