Gold did really well from 2010 to 2012. That wasn't stock market fears. It did well because of fear the Fed was going to create hyperinflation. That hyperinflation never happened and gold has since fallen. I personally wouldn't be surprised at all if took gold another 26 years(2038) before gold gets back to the levels it saw in 2012. It is a commodity. With commodities you get volatility similar to stocks but long term returns similar to inflation. I don't get the fascination.
This is all wrong. From 2001 to 2011, gold went from less than $300 an ounce to over $1900. That was a 533% increase over a decade.
Over that decade, we had many events that traditionally help gold--terrorist attacks, war, asset (stock, fixed income, and housing) meltdowns, and unprecedented economic measures put in place. Was there a fear of hyperinflation? Yes. But that was just the tail end of the gold rally.
Moose has a good point about recency bias. Stocks are up, gold in down...so stocks must be the best investment, right???
I'm not saying precious metals are better than anything else. There is manipulation and high transaction costs. There is an unfavorable long-term capital gains tax rate on collectables, which applies to physical gold and ETFs like GLD. Gold obviously does not reproduce so a gold bar won't become more gold a year from now.
But don't write off the stuff as if it is dog shit and stocks are the only path to prosperity. Markets are all about supply and demand. The tide can turn at any time.