Gold funds have become the 'gorilla' of the ETF market

CNBC reports:

Investors can't seem to get enough of gold this year.

As gold has seen its best start to the year since 1974, exchange-traded funds that track the metal have surged in popularity. According to Stacey Gilbert of Susquehanna, long unlevered gold ETFs have already seen $7.3 billion in inflows this year.

"It is definitely a fan favorite this year," Gilbert said Thursday on CNBC's "Power Lunch." "Just to put in perspective of when we've seen those flows in the past — two months into the year — it was 2009."

Gold is free market money.