The main eye-opener thus far this year has been the metal’s lack of price volatility.

Despite last week’s move by the U.S. Federal Reserve, America’s central bank, to tighten monetary policy a notch, gold prices surprised many observers of and participants in the gold scene.

Gold prices of late have been testing support just under the market, if you will, preparing for a healthy rally into higher territory.

Rather than ending 2016 on a strong note, the biggest surprise to many was the failure of gold to surge higher in the wake of Donald Trump’s election as the next president of the United States.

Contrary to our expectations and nearly everyone else’s who pays attention to the price of gold, the yellow metal has, since Election Day, shed nearly 15 percent of its value in U.S. dollars.

Gold has been trading inversely to equities – and, consequently, the yellow metal stands to gain much when Wall Street tumbles, an outcome that seems increasingly likely as world stock markets edge higher.

You wouldn’t know it reading the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, or the other popular investment news sources . . . but thus far this year gold prices are up some 16 percent, making the yellow metal just about the top-performing investment asset class of 2016.

After some three years of disappointment, 2015 promises to be a good year for gold investors.