ARTICLE ARCHIVE

INVESTMENT LEGENDS - "DOLLAR COLLAPSE INEVITABLE"

BIG GOLD: A lot of economists, including the government, believe the worst is behind us economically. Do you agree? If not, what should we be on the lookout for in 2011? Jim Rogers: It is better for those getting all the government largesse, but the overall situation is worse. More currency turmoil. State and local problems, plus pension problems....» Read the rest

A CHINESE GOLD STANDARD?

China consumed 175.2 tons of gold in the fourth-quarter of 2010, bringing its grand total for the year to 579.5 tons, or 18.5 million ounces, according to the World Gold Council....» Read the rest

ERIC SPROTT DEBUNKS THE GOLD BUBBLE MYTH

…In their Gold Yearbook 2010, CPM Group noted that in 1968, gold held by individuals for investment purposes represented approximately 5% of global financial assets. By 1980 that amount had fallen to roughly 3%. By 1990 it had dropped significantly to 0.6%, and by the year 2000 represented a mere 0.2% of global assets. By the end of 2009, nine years into the gold bull market that began in 2000, they estimate that gold had increased to represent a mere 0.6% of global financial assets – hardly much of an increase. Gold ownership didn’t change much last year either, as we estimate that this percentage increased to 0.7% of global financial assets in 2010.1 So despite gold reaching record nominal highs, the world holds about the same portion of its wealth in gold as it did over two decades ago. While this probably says more about the proliferation of financial assets over the past decade than it does about gold investment, it is surprising to note how trivial gold ownership is when compared to the size of global financial assets…....» Read the rest

THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST GOLD

Should gold be represented in an investment portfolio? I believe it should, for a number of reasons. In the short run, gold can be a safe haven in a time of crisis. We don't know what the next crisis will be, but we have seen plenty of "black swan" events over the past two years alone; our markets and our world seem increasingly hard-wired to experience periods of crisis and calm. In this sense, gold can be seen as a short-term hedge, or a short-term speculative play on volatility…...» Read the rest

NEXT STOP $50 FOR SILVER

…Investment demand is overwhelming industrial demand by a large margin. The world produces about 1 billion ounces of silver a year to meet 1 billion ounces a demand for jewelry and industrial process. But over the past year, an additional 300 million ounces of investment demand has piled on top of that, creating the parabolic moves in prices that we have seen this year. The total demand for silver today is the same as it was in 1980, when a cornering operation by the Hunt brothers drove it to $50/ounce....» Read the rest

GOLD NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING OVERVALUED YET

…Casey, a legendary investment guru who founded and chairs his own research firm, said he would not be surprised if gold hits $5,000 an ounce in the next couple of years, as paper currencies in the United States, Europe, and Japan drop in value....» Read the rest

GOT (MORE) STIMULUS? BILL GROSS DISCUSSES ECONOMY

…PIMCO's Bill Gross isn't convinced. The so-called Bond King, whose firm manages more than $1.2 trillion in assets, is concerned the economy will stagger when the Fed pulls the plug on its QE2 program at the end of June....» Read the rest

WILL INFLATION EFFECT OVERCOME THE WEALTH EFFECT

As each day passes, with oil, gold and other commodities scaling either multi-year or historic highs, the denials of inflation become harder to maintain…. No less a voice than Warren Buffett weighed in Wednesday, telling CNBC in a three-hour interview that unless the American debt situation gets under control, inflation is the only destination....» Read the rest

GOLD SHOULD HIT $2000 THIS YEAR - JOHN EMBRY

GEOFF CANDY: What does this mean for gold prices? JOHN EMBRY: I couldn't be more bullish actually, despite the rather slow start we've had to the year - this is typical. This is now the third year in a row that gold has been leaned on at the beginning of the year and gold shares have done very poorly at the outset only to recover smartly as the year has gone on. I see exactly the same thing unfolding this year - the fundamentals are impeccable...» Read the rest

GOLD PRICES MAY STAY HIGH -- HERE'S WHY

Wall Street has been calling gold a bubble since 2005, when prices hit $500. Some naysayers remained negative even as gold rose 30% in the past 12 months. Despite gold's latest run, it was still a laggard compared to other commodities -- the precious metal didn't even place in the top half in 2010. Against a basket of 14 commodities that includes everything from aluminum to wheat, gold's 29.5% return placed it eighth. Palladium took the top spot, with a 97% return, followed by silver, with 83%. Natural gas dropped 21%, the worst-performing commodity of the basket. There are two main drivers of gold demand: What I call the fear trade and the love trade....» Read the rest

GOLD PRICE OUTLOOK REMAINS BRIGHT, SAYS EINHORN

The gold price traded near unchanged Wednesday morning, trading up $1.25 to $1,382.75 per ounce. Today’s marginal gain in the price of gold follows yesterday’s 0.4% rise, a day that saw the gold price and entire precious metals complex move higher across the board. Silver, platinum, and palladium all rose again this morning, trading at $29.65, $1,791, and $804 per ounce, respectively. More cyclically-sensitive commodities, such as oil and copper, posted gains as well on strong appetite for risk among investors....» Read the rest

5 REASONS TO STILL LIKE GOLD

Precious metals have become hugely popular with investors over the last couple of years and nothing attracts passion like gold. Whether it's Glenn Beck talking up the importance of owning the metal on his Fox show or the cash-for-gold shops popping up at retail centers like the Mall of America -- gold seems to be everywhere....» Read the rest

EVERYTHING GOLD IS NEW AGAIN

In stormy times, investors look for something solid to hang onto-something like gold. The World Bank president himself, Robert Zoellick, suggested in November that the world’s economies could use the old reliable metal to help stabilize their currencies. For these and many other reasons, professional gold-fund manager Shayne McGuire argues that gold has nowhere to go but up. The following essay is adapted from McGuire’s latest book, Hard Money: Taking Gold to a Higher Investment Level....» Read the rest