Gold is once again living up to its rich name, though maybe not for long. The precious metal surged to more than $1,000 an ounce yesterday, driven largely by investor fears about possible inflation in the future, market observers said.

Investors who sought refuge in health care have reason to feel less queasy than most in a sick economy where no industry has been recession-proof. Health-care stocks posted the second-smallest loss for the past year among 10 sectors tracked by Standard & Poor’s, with an average decline of 21.6 percent through the end of January. Consumer staples and household products did a little better, with a 19.7 percent decline. They easily beat the S&P 500 index, which tumbled 40 percent.

Most Richmond-area companies couldn’t escape the stock market slaughter of 2008, posting large declines for the year. The Bloomberg-created index of the 20 largest publicly traded companies with headquarters in the Richmond area ended the year down 40.45 percent. That was worse than three widely used stock indices. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended the year down 33.84 percent and 38.5 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq composite index fell 40.5 percent during 2008.

Most Richmond-area companies couldn’t escape the stock market slaughter of 2008, posting large declines for the year. The Bloomberg-created index of the 20 largest publicly traded companies with headquarters in the Richmond area ended the year down 40.45 percent. That was worse than three widely used stock indices. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended the year down 33.84 percent and 38.5 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq composite index fell 40.5 percent during 2008.