3 Takeaways From iShares’ Gold ETF Hiccup

Some exchange-traded fund investors out there are likely scratching their heads about gold.

The market’s largest gold ETFs were thrust into the spotlight on Friday afterBlackRock (BLK) announced, just before the stock market opened, that it would no longer accept new share creations for its $7.6 billion iShares Gold Trust (IAU).

Throwing a wrench into normal ETF mechanics, as BlackRock did, can be problematic when an ETF’s supply/demand balance falls out of equilibrium. Normally, ETFs are supposed to trade in line with the value of their assets, in this case gold. When new shares are limited, an ETF’s price can jump to a “premium,” and then suddenly collapse, irrespective of price moves in the underlying asset.