This morning I saw on a website that the spot price of gold had soared to $1,600 an ounce, up over 30% in the past year. What can we as investors say conclusively say about gold? Two things, I think: First, now seems exactly the wrong time to be thinking about gold as an inflation hedge. Second, now is probably not a good time to be buying gold jewelry, if such is your passion.
Among “gold bugs,” the standard argument for buying gold is the risk of financial Armageddon: If the Federal Reserve mismanages the money supply, the United States will be engulfed by hyperinflation and the dollar will be debased. Only real assets like gold will preserve their purchasing power.
