Today we are featuring top-performing “Precious Metals" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities companies that are involved in mining of gold and other precious metals. Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Precious Metals Equity Funds.

3 Precious Picks

Van Eck International Investors Gold A (INIVX) seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in common stocks of gold mining companies. The fund was incepted in January 1956.

The fund normally invests at least 80% of total assets in the gold mining industry, with at least 25% of assets invested in gold mining stocks. The fund may invest up to 100% of its assets, or, for temporary defensive purposes, less than 25% of its assets in gold stocks. Randgold Resources Limited, Goldcorp Incorporated and Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited are among its major holdings.

The fund declares and pays dividends in March, June, September and December.

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 22, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the latest Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks featured in this week’s analysis include Barrick Gold (ABX), Eldorado (EGO), Goldcorp (GG), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Pan American Silver (PAAS), Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX), S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) and Gold SPDR (GLD).

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis is written by Charles Rotblut, CFA, Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com.

This week: Gold Miners’ Margin Problem

As gold sets new highs, it would only be natural to assume that profit forecasts for gold mining companies would be soaring too. Surprisingly, profit forecasts are not jumping.

Though some brokerage analysts have raised their full-year projections in recent weeks, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is not moving higher for most gold miners. Rather, it is essentially unchanged for Barrick Gold (ABX), Eldorado (EGO), Goldcorp (GG)

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The rally may end any day, but it didn’t end yesterday. Stocks rose 127 points, as measured by the Dow. Oil closed at $66. Gold rose $2.50.

We said we were doing some serious thinking this week. Maybe it is the season. But more and more, our thoughts become grayer. Less black. Less white. Less hard. Less soft.

A few years ago, it looked to us as though the world financial system had gone to war. We cheerfully awaited the victory parade. We figured Mr. Market would whup the feds good and hard. It hasn’t happened so far.

On one side, are the forces of a natural market correction… following a long, long period of expansion. The easier money gets, the more people tend to mis-spend and mis-invest it. Then, inevitably, their mistakes must be corrected. That’s what bear markets and recessions are for.

But the feds don’t like bear markets or recessions.

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With gold topping $1,000 an ounce today, what else is there to really talk about? Not long ago, we had a commentary on September having the best month-over-month price gains for gold and gold-mining stocks. You havenrsquo;t been able to argue with that so far this month. Read History Lesson: September Is Best Month for Gold. Martin Murenbeeld at Dundee Wealth used our commentary as a starting point to do some more research and add to the seasonality discussion. Murenbeeld used seasonally adjusted data for both the month-end and average monthly prices going back to 1972 (we used month-to-month total returns, no adjustments). Based on this, he concluded that the best months of the year are January and February, with seasonally adjusted price gains averaging between 1.5 percent and 2 percent. Did Murenbeeld dispute our focus on September? Not at allmdash;he ran the numbers our way and got the same result. His broader point is that ...

With gold topping $1,000 an ounce today, what else is there to really talk about? Not long ago, we had a commentary on September having the best month-over-month price gains for gold and gold-mining stocks. You havenrsquo;t been able to argue with that so far this month. Read History Lesson: September Is Best Month for Gold. Martin Murenbeeld at Dundee Wealth used our commentary as a starting point to do some more research and add to the seasonality discussion. Murenbeeld used seasonally adjusted data for both the month-end and average monthly prices going back to 1972 (we used month-to-month total returns, no adjustments). Based on this, he concluded that the best months of the year are January and February, with seasonally adjusted price gains averaging between 1.5 percent and 2 percent. Did Murenbeeld dispute our focus on September? Not at allmdash;he ran the numbers our way and got the same result. His broader point is that ...

Wersquo;re heading into September this week, so itrsquo;s a good time to revisit the historic seasonality of gold and gold stocks. Over the past four decades, September has been the best time for gold in terms of its month-over-month price appreciation. You can see this on the chart belowmdash;in a typical year, the price of gold in September rises 2.5 percent above its August price. The gold price has risen in 16 of the 20 Septembers since 1989, by far the best success ratio of any month of the year. What accounts for this predictable trend? September kicks off several of the planetrsquo;s most potent gold-demand drivers: The post-monsoon wedding season in India and Diwali, one of the countryrsquo;s most important festivals; Restocking by jewelry makers in advance of the Christmas shopping season in the United States; The holy month of Ramadan in the Muslim ...

Wersquo;re heading into September this week, so itrsquo;s a good time to revisit the historic seasonality of gold and gold stocks. Over the past four decades, September has been the best time for gold in terms of its month-over-month price appreciation. You can see this on the chart belowmdash;in a typical year, the price of gold in September rises 2.5 percent above its August price. The gold price has risen in 16 of the 20 Septembers since 1989, by far the best success ratio of any month of the year. What accounts for this predictable trend? September kicks off several of the planetrsquo;s most potent gold-demand drivers: The post-monsoon wedding season in India and Diwali, one of the countryrsquo;s most important festivals; Restocking by jewelry makers in advance of the Christmas shopping season in the United States; The holy month of Ramadan in the Muslim ...

Hey… how ‘bout this rally!

The Dow was up 120 points yesterday. Now, we’re beating the bounce of 1930. The post-crash bounce in 1930 lasted 5 months. Ours began on March 9 th… so it is now in its sixth month.

And like 1930, people are coming to believe that recession is almost over… and happy times are here again.

Heck, we’re sure the trouble is behind us now; 53 economists said so!

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — Recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s has begun as President Barack Obama’s fiscal stimulus — derided as insufficient and budget-busting months ago — takes effect, a survey of economists indicated.

“The economy will expand 2 percent or more in four straight quarters through June, the first such streak in more than four years, according to the median of 53 forecasts in the monthly Bloomberg News survey. Analysts lifted their estimate for the third quarter by

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 4, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks featured in this week's analysis include Monsanto (MON), Potash of Saskatchewan (POT), AK Steel (AKS), Freeport McMoRan (FCX) and Weatherford (WFT).

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis is written by Charles Rotblut, CFA, Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com.

This Week: Commodities Rally; Profit Forecasts Don't

Commodity prices have been soaring. Oil, gold, copper, wheat and corn all recently hit multi-month highs. Even the Duke Brothers are making a mint on orange juice futures.

A steady stream of economic data showing a slower pace of deterioration in the U.S. has been the primary driver behind the recent surge. Also playing a role is the combination of a higher tolerance for risk, weekly fluctuations in inventories, the spring planting season, the

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Commodity prices have been soaring. Oil, gold, copper, wheat and corn all recently hit multi-month highs. Even the Duke Brothers are making a mint on orange juice futures.

A steady stream of economic data showing a slower pace of deterioration in the U.S. has been the primary driver behind the recent surge. Also playing a role is the combination of a higher tolerance for risk, weekly fluctuations in inventories, the spring planting season, the dollar and sustained growth in China.

What's interesting about the rally is that it has yet to translate into higher earnings estimates for commodity-related companies.

Agriculture Companies

Wheat and corn futures recently set 8-month highs. Other agricultural-related futures have also soared, such as coffee. Profit forecasts for agricultural companies, however, have been trending lower.

There are 2 reasons for the disconnect.

The first is the credit crisis. Though the Treasury Department has deemed some banks too

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