The last two days, I’ve been talking about commodity stocks.

But while people go rushing off to look at copper and silver stocks, let’s not forget the stellar run gold had in 2025.

So far, gold is off to a decent start in 2026.

Trading around US$4,470 per ounce as of this morning. That’s up ~69% from a year ago.

Not a bad return for the ‘boring’ safe-haven asset.

I’m broadly bullish on commodities for 2026, and gold is a big part of that.

Central banks keep buying. Geopolitical uncertainty is rife. And the US dollar faces headwinds as rate cuts continue.

Yet I think the second half of 2026 could be when gold truly shines.

Can gold really do it again?

I’d say, most likely it can — and the big investment banks agree…

Goldman Sachs sees gold hitting US$4,900 by year-end 2026. JP Morgan is even more bullish at US$5,055. These aren’t fringe voices.

If economic growth slows or geopolitical tensions escalate, gold should be able to back it up.

The second half of 2026 is when I expect the debasement trade to take hold of the market’s attention.

Once Trump’s new Fed pick has had time to bed in…and potentially cut rates, then the market will likely see the spectre of inflation.

And that could put a fire under the gold price.

Here’s two examples of less looked at names in the gold space that fit the profile for when the market gets hungry for more aggressive gold plays.

Small-cap gold stocks
could shine: 2 examples

When gold producers print cash at these prices, the market often develops a taste for smaller capped players.

Black Cat Syndicate [ASX:BC8] is one example. This WA gold producer is capped at roughly $990 million and up over ~140% in the last year.

BC8 owns strategic milling infrastructure across multiple regions and controls over ~2.5Moz in resources. Operations are now generating solid cash flow.

These kind of ‘ramp up’ plays can do particularly well if the gold price charges higher.

Close to my home, there’s another example, Kaiser Reef [ASX:KAU], which acquired Tasmania’s Henty mine in May 2025, targeting a ~30,000-ounce-per-annum operation. Its market cap sits at roughly ~$180 million.

Henty has JORC reserves of 1.2Mt at 4.0g/t, and KAU recently increased processing capacity by 33%.

Both companies are emerging producers generating real (and hopefully growing) revenue at gold prices like these.

As prices threaten to grind higher through 2026, these kinds of companies can see greater benefit than more established producers.

Anyway, there’s a couple examples of small-cap gold companies.

And my outlook for gold in 2026 — look out for the second half of the year!

There’s plenty of food for thought as the whole commodity complex gets going in the new year.

Happy hunting.