Gold Fields (JSE: GFI)

if gfi pays a dividend, does that money just sit in my account or do i have to do something with it?

@lerato_tfsa different thing. Dividend is cash the company pays you just for owning the share, your tax free account is just where you hold it tax-free.

GFI's like waiting for a Proteas century, mate. Patience pays off.

@lerato_tfsa not quite the same thing, dividend is just a slice of the profit the company pays out to you. interest is what a bank gives you for lending them money. totally different pots.

@franco_cape ja, that's the thing hey. You're really just betting on the gold price, not GFI itself.

Gold is doing well on the international markets lately, and that's good for GFI since they dig it up and sell it. At 610.28 the stock looks decent if you reckon the gold price stays strong, but it's a bet on the commodity more than the company itself, ngl.

so a dividend is like interest on my tax free account, or something different?

Dividend's different, lerato. Interest on a savings account is what the bank pays you. A dividend is what a company pays you from its profits if you own shares. GFI pays one when gold prices are good enough to make spare cash.

@k_maphosa but if gold bounces they all pump together, ja? Isn't that the whole point?

GFI's spread across four continents which is smart, but they're still just selling gold at whatever price the market sets that day. So if gold stays weak the share stays weak, doesn't matter how many mines they own.

@fees_first_dan that's exactly right, ja. Buy at R600, gold rallies, share goes to R680, you're up R80 per share without them paying you a cent.

Been holding GFI for a while now because when gold prices move up, the mines pump out the same amount of rock but suddenly it's worth way more money. That's leverage, basically, you get the upside without owning the actual gold.

Gold's been smashed lately so GFI's taking it on the chin, but the thing is they've got mines running in four countries so they're not betting everything on one hole in the ground like some outfits. Thing is, when gold bounces back they should bounce harder.

Gold Fields digs gold out of the ground in places like Ghana and Australia, sells it, and keeps the profit, so when the company does well the share price tends to go up. That's how you make money on a share, either the price rises or they pay you a bit of the profit as a dividend.

Come on you beauty, run!

@newbie_naledi gold is priced in dollars worldwide, so when the rand weakens a goldmine's output is worth more rands. ngl it's like getting a pay rise just from currency moving.

@franco_cape spot gold's been flat though, what's driving the rand move today?

614.44 now, aai jinne! Gold firing today.

R614.44, that's what I like to see.

614.44 now, lekker move today