I don't agree with Howard, but I've never shied away from listening to others' well-reasoned opinions.
I'll pose the same two questions I've been asking all along:
1) Has anything changed with regard to the problem of DEBT?
2) Are conditions in the world improving?
If the answers to the above are "No" and "Hell No!" - which is my opinion - then I assess the odds of gold's bull run ending at approximately ZERO.
March 16, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EDT
The end of the gold bull is on the horizon
Commentary: The inflation argument for gold isn’t compelling
By Howard Gold
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The last decade has been a bonanza for investors smart or lucky enough to buy gold. From their April 2001 low of $256 an ounce, gold prices soared 640% to their September 2011 peak. While large U.S. stocks slogged through a lost decade, gold returned 21% a year.
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“The last bull market for gold ended in 1980, when prices fell by 60%,” [Mark Williams, a former bank examiner who currently teaches at Boston U.] wrote. “The bubble is popping again. This time, gold could drop to $700 an ounce, more than $1,000 below its peak.”
His reasoning? Economies and banks are slowly recovering from the crash and financial crisis. The Greek debt deal averted a major meltdown in Europe. And despite central banks’ alleged “money printing,” we haven’t seen the inflation that has accompanied big runs by gold in the past.
“Gold is a hedge against inflation,” Williams told me in an interview. “You’ve seen a run-up over the last decade and there’s no inflation to speak of.”
Full story: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-end-of-the-gold-bull-is-on-the-horizon-2012-03-16?link=MW_story_popular
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