Why gold at $1,000 an ounce could just be the beginning

[bijou]

Flagging industrial and jewellery demand has ultimately overwhelmed the gold bugs' desire to push the price through what feels like an important psychological barrier (even if it's really just a round number).

There are some good theoretical reasons why gold could be poised for a meaningful push higher, but none is quite as compelling to me as a bit of anecdotal evidence which will mean more to readers over the age of about 50 than to everyone else.


I had a call at the weekend from my old friend Jim Slater to tell me about a new investment fund he's involved with and which will be managed by his son-in-law, Angelos Damaskos. The Junior Mining fund, as its name suggests, will invest in a portfolio of smaller mining stocks with 70pc initially allocated to gold miners and the rest principally to silver, copper and uranium.

Now, if I'm ever unsure about whether an investment theme has the force with it, the involvement of Jim usually persuades me that something significant is going on. There was a time when he was involved with pretty much any deal of importance in the square mile. Remarkably, he is still active today, in (I'm sure he won't mind me mentioning) his 81st year, and there has not been an investment fashion in the past decade or so that he has not analysed with a laser-like focus and made a bundle of money out of.

He saw, and got out of, the TMT bubble after profiting from the lunatic appetite at the time for so-called incubator funds. He has already made one small fortune from the rise in the gold price over the past eight years through a company called Galahad Gold. Last year he was happily buying corporate debt at distressed prices and now it's gold again.

So what has caught his eye this time round? The advertising blurb sums it up pretty well: "given the current uncertain economic environment, the recent instability of capital markets and the unprecedented amount of money being printed, it is now a good time to invest in gold and base metal mining companies". ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/tom-stevenson/6157575/A-compelling-reason-why-gold-could-be-poised-for-a-meaningful-rise.html

[thundley4]

I think the push for establishing a new base currency to replace the American dollar may drive up the price of gold.

[JohnnyReb]

I'm just guessing but if it hits $1100 maybe some of the gold mines around here will open back up.....I'm just guessing mind you, it might have to hit $1200.

With unemployment getting damn close to 20% here, a gold rush would help out.