Mini-Case How Rising Gold Prices Hurt Harmony 
The notion of gold as a store of value has flourished since September 11, 2001. On that horrible day, the price of gold stood at $288 an ounce. Three years later, it was around $420 an ounce. Harmony, a South African mining company, should have flourished as well from the jump in the price of gold. However, the rising value of the South African rand has stolen much of that gain. On the day the Twin Towers fell, the dollar bought 8.62 rand. Three years later, it bought only R6.35. Gold is priced in dollars, but South African miners are paid in rand and their wages have risen rapidly as well. Harmony has felt the pain. When gold was at its dollar low in April to June 2001 (2001:Q2) of $252, Harmony made a profit of $20 an ounce. In 2004:Q2, with gold at $390, Harmony lost about $50 an ounce.