Gold Rush 2.0? How IAMGOLD is Defying Market Chaos and Leading the Charge

February is off to a challenging start with the announcement from the White House that they will enact a 25% tariff on Canadian imports. This has created a lot of uncertainty in the markets regarding the impacts, and with literally thousands of companies affected, investors are left stunned by what the fallout will be—much like when your uncle first teaches you how to play the card game 52 Pick-Ups. As trading begins, with this new information resonating in the North American stock markets, everyone is making their bets, both emotional and educated. Given that the markets are extremely efficient, it will no doubt take a few days for these bets to manifest into a new trend that the SIA platform will lock onto. It will be important to keep a close eye on the relative movement, which we will begin to articulate over the balance of this week and next. One theme that began materializing late last week was the gold trade, which has been strong over the past month but really kicked into high gear late last week. Two companies that have been super resilient over the past month are Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM.TO). Today, however, we will discuss another name that has been ranking high in the SIA Metals and Mining Sector Report: IAMGOLD Corp. (IMG.TO). IAMGOLD has posted a 21.67% return over the past month and is sitting on top of a massive 182.50% rate of return over the past year. In doing so, it has bubbled up to the top of all of the SIA reports on the platform and is proudly commanding position #7 on the SIA S&P/TSX Completion Index Report, ahead of some star-studded names. The attached SIA matrix position chart above shows that IAMGOLD has been a top performer within the SIA Mines and Metals Sector Report since entering the favored zone in February of last year—exactly the type of movements that rules-based SIA practitioners prefer over the relatively laggard names. So, as both gold bullion prices surge higher and investor interest continues to grow, IAMGOLD may be presenting itself as a leading, relatively outperforming opportunity for those looking to gain exposure to this sub-sector. In the attached point-and-figure (PNF) chart, we have engaged the SIA overlay tool that illustrates IAMGOLD's high rank within the SIA S&P/TSX Completion Index Report. The clipping shows the remainder of the reports in which IMG.TO is a SIA favored constituent. Support on the chart is now at the 3-box reversal level of $8.33, with additional support on the black intermediate positive trend line at $7.70. Resistance, on the other hand, is calculated with the PNF chart initially to the $10.16 level, followed by a further extrapolation from prior PNF consolidation ranges to $11.90.

Seen another way, we have presented an SIA monthly candlestick chart to further illustrate the breakout that may be underway with IMG.TO shares as they move beyond the old longer-term resistance level at $7, which now serves as the new support line on its multi-year chart dating back to 2020. While the metals and mining sector is currently unfavored within the SIA Sector Report, the precious metals sub-sector may be the area of strength compared to other industrial metals like copper, which may have investors nervous given the cross-currents within the economy. But within the group, IAMGOLD is showing a perfect SMAX reading of 10/10, which is another vector of relative strength, this time against a basket of alternative asset classes.