A stock market crash is lifting prospects for gold and silver bullion, since those precious metals tend to rise when equities fall.

At times like now when stocks are taking a dive, precious metals become a much more attractive investment as an alternative to plunging equities. Between Feb. 24 and the close of trading on Monday, March 16, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) tumbled 31%, the S&P 500 dove 29% and the Nasdaq tanked 30%, but gold dipped less than 9%.

Chart courtesy of YCharts

Investors in general should be heartened by a new federal government plan to address the economic hit caused by the coronavirus with a $1 trillion stimulus proposal that would include measures to put money into the hands of consumers. The spending package also would include support for virus-afflicted companies, such as $50 billion in assistance for commercial airlines struggling mightily amid the public health crisis that has decimated demand for travel, and up to $500 billion to boost small businesses and address other critical needs.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods. of Successful Investing, to discuss investment strategies.

Paul Dykewicz interviews Bob Carlson (left), who chairs the Board of Trustees of Virginia’s Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System and leads the Retirement Watch advisory service.

Paul Dykewicz gathers investment tips from Hilary Kramer, whose advisory services include 2-Day Trader, Turbo Trader,High Octane Trader, Value Authority and Inner Circle.

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Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce,Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus and other publications and websites. Paul is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is the editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Paul also is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz.The book is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Paseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulDykewicz.