Dennis Gartman is an experienced commodity trader. Dennis has been very cautious about gold; he “sort of” likes gold, so he calls himself a “gold agnostic.” For this reason it’s most interesting to read what Dennis says about gold in today’s report.

“Turning, then to gold and other metals, prices turned sharply for the better yesterday as the world rushed out of equities and looked for any safe harbors that were available. Certainly the rush to the Swiss franc was obvious, as noted above, and so too the rush into sovereign debt securities. But frankly, the rush was on to gold once again. We remain long what we have referred to as an ‘insurance’ position in gold, but we own it in terms of EUROs and /or of British pounds sterling, otherwise we remain an agnostic. To assuage our friends who are gold-bug-leaners, we shall not be short of gold. Nothing likely shall ever turn us manifestly bearish of it. But for the moment we are simply hard upon the sidelines, owning only this small ‘insurance’ position and comfortably in that position.

“Might we be enticed back to the bullish side of the market eventually? Of course we might. If the situation in the global equities markets became dire, we might move from agnosticism to ‘faith.” If we were to see the monetary authorities throwing caution to the wind and massively explode their balance sheets, we might be enticed away from our agnosticism to ‘faith.’ If the political situation were to become untoward, and patently uncomfortable, we’ll throw our agnosticism in to a heap and join the gold market faithful. But until then, agnosticism works for us.”

Russell Response

I can understand Gartman’s caution. Dennis is an old-time trader, and he’s seen a lot of traders get killed by taking huge and wrong positions.

My own position is that gold is in a clear and obvious primary bull market. These situations come along maybe two or three times in a lifetime. I was convinced back in 1999 that the bear market in gold had ended with gold selling at 256. In the year 2000 they were literally giving gold mining shares away. At that time gold shares were so ridiculously cheap that I told subscribers that they should buy these stocks (many selling for just a few dollars a share) and hold them as perpetual warrants.

At the same time I told my subscribers to start buying bullion one -ounce coins and “put ‘em away.” I’ve suggested that my subscribers do the same thing ever since.

I know bull markets, and I’ve never seen or experienced a primary bull market that didn’t end with a third speculative phase — this is the time when a bull market “blows its top”. I feel certain that the current huge bull market in gold will do the same.

But I have other reasons for being bullish about gold. Gold is the only real Constitutional money. The fiat paper that we’ve been using as money is only money because our government says “it’s money.” If the US government told you that printed paper was real money and legal for the payments of all debts, would you believe them. Well, you already have believed your government.

But I maintain that the truth will out, and that fiat paper is a fraud that will be found out. When that happens and people realize that they have been hoodwinked by their government, there will be such a rush (including both fear and greed) for gold that it will make the recent tech mania look like conservative investing.

As I write at midday, Dec. gold is up over nine dollars. Gold has been up 8 out of the last 10 days. As the months go by, we are pressing ever-closer to the speculative phase of the gold bull market. That will be something and even terrifying to see.

I am pleased to say that many of my older subscribers are now in the process of getting rich on their gold holdings. I’ve said over and over that one of the most difficult things to do in investing is to get in early on a primary bull market and ride the bull through to the latter part of its final speculative third phase.

The market seldom gives you the chance to get rich. This gold market has defied the odds and allowed its early followers and believers to get rich.

Anyway, that’s my take on gold and why you should own it and why you should follow my advice.

By Frank Holmes

CEO and chief investment officer

U.S. Global Investors

I’ve done a number of interviews on gold recently and the number one question I get most from reporters is—can gold prices go higher?

My answer is yes.

Short-term, “record gold prices” are a bit of a misnomer. On an inflation-adjusted basis, gold’s real record price would be over $2,300 an ounce.

Looking at our oscillators, gold appears to be far from overbought. The chart shows the 60-day oscillator for gold (yellow) and the U.S. dollar (green) for the past 10 years as of August 31. One standard deviation represents a 7.3 percent move in gold prices.

Despite its recent run, gold was down 0.38 standard deviations as of the end of the month. More importantly, we’re not seeing the huge price spikes that are typical when investments get overheated.

Long-term, I think gold prices could double over the next five years. If this happens, the effect on gold stocks could be tremendous. If gold manages to double over the next five years we could see the values of some miners triple.

This would not take place in a straight line. Investors must be aware of the volatility inherent with these investments. Assuming normal historical volatility, these stocks could up or down 40 percent over any 12-month period.

*Standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. Standard deviation is also known as historical volatility.

To receive weekly commentary from Frank Holmes and the rest of the U.S. Global Investors team, sign up to receive our free enewsletter—the Investor Alert. Visit www.usfunds.com/alert to read this week’s edition.

All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor.

By Jeff Clark, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report
I get this question a lot: “Should I buy gold now, or wait for a pullback?”
It’s a valid question. For nearly two years, gold hasn’t had a serious decline. There have been pullbacks, of course, but nothing assumption-challenging. In fact, since October 2008, gold’s largest price drop is 10.6% (based on London PM fix prices), and yet the average of all declines since 2001 is 13% (of those greater than 5%). The biggest pullback we’ve seen this summer is 8.2%. Technically the summer’s not over, but I’ll admit I’m surprised we haven’t had a better buying opportunity.
So, is now the time to buy? It depends on your honest answer to another question: “Do you own enough gold?” By “enough” I mean an amount that lends meaningful protection on your assets. By ”meaningful” I mean that no matter what happens next – another financial blow-up, accelerating inflation, crushing deflation, war, a plummeting dollar, more reckless government spending – you won’t worry about your investments.
Whether you should buy now is almost irrelevant if you don’t already own a meaningful amount of gold. If you earn $50,000 a year, how is one gold Eagle coin going to protect you if the dollar plummets and sends inflation soaring? If your investable assets total $100,000, is your nest egg sufficiently protected owning two gold Maple Leafs? This is all akin to buying a $50,000 insurance policy for a $500,000 home.
Today we face the prospect of prolonged economic stagnation, and most governments are administering grossly abusive monetary policy as a remedy. While some of the consequences are already being felt, the full ramifications have not hit your wallet yet. But they will.
If you don’t have at least 10% of your investable assets in physical gold, or at least two months of living expenses, you have your answer: Buy. Don’t use leverage, don’t borrow money, and don’t buy with reckless abandon, but yes, get your asset insurance policy and tuck it away. And then start working toward 20% (we recommend a third of assets be in various forms of gold in Casey’s Gold & Resource Report).
Back to the original question: should we buy now, or wait for a pullback?
The answer comes when you look at the big picture. If you pull up a 9-year chart of gold, what sticks out is that the price is near its all-time nominal high. One could be forgiven for thinking it looks toppy or at least ripe for a pullback. But I assert that the highs for gold have yet to be charted.
What will a gold chart look like after adding five years to it?
When projecting gold’s potential price peak, there are many ways to measure it. Conservatively, gold reaching its inflation-adjusted 1980 high would have it topping around $2,400 an ounce. More radically, if the U.S. tried to cover its cumulative foreign trade deficit with its current gold holdings, gold would need to hit about $32,000/oz.
Let’s take something more middle of the road, and apply the same trough-to-peak percentage advance gold underwent in the 1970s. (I think there’s a greater than 50/50 chance it does more than that, given the precarious nature of the U.S. dollar.) Gold rose from $35 in 1970 to $850 in 1980, a factor of 24.28. Our price bottomed in 2001 at $255.95; multiply that by 24.28 and you get a gold price of $6,214 per ounce.
Sound too high? Well, would it feel high if you had to pay $12.50 for a Big Mac? At $3.39 today at my local McDonald’s, that’s about what it would cost ten years from now if we get the same rate of inflation we had in the late 1970s.
So if gold hits $6,214, what might it look like on a chart if you bought today around $1,200?

$1,200 doesn’t seem so pricey, does it?
I’m not saying there won’t be pullbacks or that you shouldn’t try to buy at lower prices. Just keep a big-picture perspective. Let’s say gold falls to $1,100 and you’re kicking yourself for having bought at $1,200… if gold reaches $6,200 an ounce, the profit difference between buying at $1,200 and buying at $1,100 is only 1.6%. If gold gets whacked to $1,000 (at which point I’ll be buying with both hands) the difference is still only 3.2%.
Heck, even if gold peaks at $2,400, you still get a double from current levels. (But unless government monetary policies immediately reverse course, gold isn’t stopping at $2,400.)
So there’s my answer. Yes, you have to accept my projection of gold’s ultimate price plateau. And you have to sell at some point to realize the profit. But if the final chapter of this bull market looks anything like the chart above, I don’t think you’ll be too upset having bought at $1,200.
Carpe gold.

By: Julian D. W. Phillips, Gold/Silver Forecaster - Global Watch - GoldForecaster.com

– Posted Thursday, 19 August 2010 | Digg This Article | Share this article | Source: GoldSeek.com

The Kinross takeover of Red Back

Recently Kinross made an offer for the shares of Red Back with its Mauritanian gold deposits as the target. The offer made to Red Back was accepted by the shareholders of Red Back, but looked on with skepticism by Kinross shareholders. In the statement made by Kinross, the Directors asked for patience to be shown by their shareholders for around six months. In that time, they expect to reveal more of the extent of the Red Back deposits. Institutions expect to see their Mauritanian deposits reach between 10 million ounces and 20 million ounces. The fact that the deposits will require shallow low cost open mining operations make the venture capable of profits that will justify the price paid. If this proves to be the case then it marks the way forward for the big gold mining companies in expanding their resources and not relying on inherent growth.

The background of the gold mining world

The cost of finding new large deposits is climbing as are the risks attending such work in this politically greedy world. On top of that most if not all of the large deposits have been found and the large companies have to replace exhausted deposits. This means lowering their sites on the size of discoveries and entertaining the likelihood of taking over small companies, like Red Back that have already found the goods.

This can be risky, very risky for it not just a matter finding a deposit, but proving it to independent standards [403-1], doing a feasibility study, raising finance , developing the mine, reassuring investors that the political climate of the are is conducive to shareholders investment [politically favorable], then producing the gold. Ideally the deposit should be continuously expanded [Goldcorp’s Red Campbell Lake [Goldfield’s South Reef deposit etc]. This then makes the project attractive to investors as the risk declines from the discovery to production. The point at which investment takes place relates directly to the stage of development it is at.

Major mining companies need to replenish resources to continue in existence.

1. Each mine contains only so much proven gold resources.

2. The rate at which this is depleted gives the mine its life.

3. In turn, the profit path of the mine can be traced and its value established.

4. The number of shares issued to shareholders relates to the earnings the mine will achieve.

5. The dividend policy defines the cash flow to the shareholders.

6. In turn the value of the share relates to the average earnings rating in that particular market and by extension the share price.

The number of mines and their life defines the future of the mining company owning them [they used to be called ‘mining houses’]. Such large groups of mines under one roof become attractive because the life of a company extends far beyond the life of any of their individual mines.

The Prospects for more takeovers of Junior Mining companies

Since the days of accelerated production that lasted from 1985 to around 2005 [the time when the bullion banks loaned bullion to the miners to use in financing production] new deposits have become more difficult to find and bring to production. The political climate in which miners operate in the world has increased the risks associated with investment. The deposits that are out there have become smaller. Mining companies are lowering their sights and looking at deposits as small as 1 million ounces. Anything larger is more inviting. Deposits in politically favorable and mining friendly nations add to that attraction.

So imagine that you have to before a company that is producing the proven deposits and is already producing and good drill results on your properties you would not choose but go for both, provided the terms are right for you.

There are many companies out there from those exploring, to those with proven deposits right the way up to junior companies already in production. These are safer than the unknown, so, subject to the takeover enhancing shareholder value and not diluting it, takeovers are a very good way to go and a way that will be followed increasingly by large mining companies in the future.

Which are the Juniors we favor at the Gold and Silver Forecasters?

For Subscribers only - Subscribe through www.GoldForecaster.com

Legal Notice / Disclaimer

This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. Gold Forecaster - Global Watch / Julian D. W. Phillips / Peter Spina, have based this document on information obtained from sources it believes to be reliable but which it has not independently verified; Gold Forecaster - Global Watch / Julian D. W. Phillips / Peter Spina make no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness. Expressions of opinion are those of Gold Forecaster - Global Watch / Julian D. W. Phillips / Peter Spina only and are subject to change without notice. Gold Forecaster - Global Watch / Julian D. W. Phillips / Peter Spina assume no warranty, liability or guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any information provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any omission. Furthermore, we assume no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage or, in particular, for lost profit, which you may incur as a result of the use and existence of the information, provided within this Report.

– Posted Friday, 20 August 2010 | Digg This Article | Share this article | Source: GoldSeek.com

By Louis James, Chief Metals Strategist, Casey Research

I was pounding pavement instead of kicking rocks recently, on Wall Street of all places. There were Suits hanging around outside the familiar iconic buildings, despondently smoking cigarettes. In my surely biased opinion, the feel of the place was distinctly less energetic than usual.

But what really struck me was not one, but two guys with sandwich-board placards announcing “WE BUY GOLD” – for different companies.

Just afterwards, while having lunch at Rockefeller Center, my sister, a conservative mainstream banker, called and asked me how to go about buying physical gold. I knew that day was coming, just as I knew the Soviet Union was destined to collapse sooner or later from the weight of its own economic stupidity, but it was still a shocker when it happened.

And yet, if you ask your neighbors, you’ll most likely have a hard time finding any who own gold. My New York adventures are signs of an approaching gold mania, not a present one. But I believe more firmly than ever that it’s coming.

Meanwhile, the Wizards in Washington entreat us to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, hoping to distract the American consumer from the mounting evidence that the so-called recovery in the U.S. of Oz is faltering. Rather than let the market liquidate malinvestment and mismanagement, government intervention to prop up failed companies, bankrupt states, busted banks, and toxic business models (like condo flipping) is only dissipating vast sums of borrowed money to no useful end.

The second dip in the U.S. economy is coming, if not upon us, and that will exacerbate the rest of the world’s problems. The evidence in favor of this is so abundant, no black swans need appear on the scene to drive the point home. The next leg of this “W” shaped recession we’ve been warning about for some time is already baked in the cake. Here’s why:

Top Five Reasons Why the Economy Is Going Down

1. A “jobless recovery” in the U.S. is not a recovery. You can bail out the largest and most mismanaged companies and change the rules to allow banks to forgo reporting their mistakes, making national economic statistics look better. But that doesn’t change the reality that millions of people are out of work – since the crash, over six million more in the U.S. alone – and unable to find jobs.
2. Nor does it make it any less alarming that the rate of bank failures is well ahead of last year’s record (140), with 86 shuttered as of mid-June. Nor does it have the slightest effect on a myriad other harsh realities that politicians, as a group, are unable to face.
3. The EU’s massive rescue package has not, and will not, avert trouble in the eurozone. To the contrary, the situation continues to deteriorate, pressuring the euro ever lower and taking it to levels not seen since early 2006. In today’s global economy, what’s bad for Europe is bad for Asia and the U.S. Ominously, the Baltic Dry Index, a barometer of international trade that staged a feeble recovery following the 2008 crash, is falling sharply again.With all due disrespect for the man, Alan Greenspan considered this his “must watch” leading indicator, and it has proved a good predictor of where the global economy is headed. That would be south.
4. Just as Greece exposed the extent of Europe’s problems with the PIIGS (and they thought the “Mexican Swine Flu” was a problem!), California seems poised to upset the whole U.S. applecart if it doesn’t get bailed out. It would be hard to maintain the illusion of recovery if the most populous state in the U.S. – with a GDP greater than Russia – implodes into a black hole. Illinois, New Jersey, and at least 43 others are just behind, hat in hand.
5. From Obama’s attempted ban on drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, to the new financial regulations Congress has passed, to America’s flirtation with socialized medicine, it is clear that the U.S. has entered a new era of Big Government. Big Government, Big Debt, Big Deficits, Big Military… and surely soon: Big Taxes. One does not have to be an anarcho-libertarian to see this as a Big Problem delivering huge, negative unintended consequences.
6. The real estate markets are still an unfolding disaster. May sales of new homes fell by 30% to a record low (seasonally adjusted 300,000 units vs. 800,000 “normal” sales) and dropped another 2.6% in June. Housing starts are down similarly, and previously more rosy stats have been revised downwards. A recent report from Florida tells us that 81% of all loans in the state are “underwater,” and that nearly 40% of all Florida borrowers owe more than 150% of the value of their homes – just another hay bale in the wind. And the commercial real estate debacle we have been warning of has yet to hit the fan.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point that what’s already visibly ahead is Trouble with a capital “T” – never mind the possible black swans that may soon arrive. That said, while the global economy doesn’t need any black swans to tip it over the edge, the fact is that there are plenty of them out there, circling lower like buzzards. The BP oil spill disaster was one – a major disaster to those affected directly, but barely more than a hatchling black swan, on the global scale of things.

Full-grown black swans could range from no-holds-barred war in the Middle East, to a spectacularly stupid new regulation in the EU or U.S., to an exceptionally long and harsh winter. Events that would be unfortunate difficulties to a robust economy can be fatal blows to one as rickety as the world’s today.

Which will it be? I don’t know – I’m not a fortune-teller – but I don’t need to know. All I need to know is that they are out there, like sparks swirling around a powder keg – and this one has a lit fuse anyway.

The Big Question

Assuming our predictions of a double dip in the world economy are right, the big question we face as speculators betting on gold is: what will happen to gold in the next economic downturn?

Or, more specifically (and perhaps painfully): will gold and junior gold stocks get hammered as they did in 2008? Or will visible failure of the governments’ rescue attempts, and the debts and deficits left in their wake, cause gold to go through the roof and head for the moon, pulling our gold stocks along behind?

All of us here at Casey Research believe the ongoing train wreck of the global economy will send gold to the moon and our stocks to the outer planets – but that doesn’t mean it’s about to happen now. A particularly frightful black swan could set off the mania we’re expecting at almost any time, which is why we have core holdings in precious metals and related stocks. Absent that, we believe the gold market could continue its “two steps forward, one step back” progress for many months to come, with the odds presently seeming to favor a step back.

It’s easy to think that the mania is around the corner, with gold setting new record highs (not inflation-adjusted) in recent weeks – but betting that way would lead to massive losses if 2010 ends up more like 2008. Waiting for clarity, on the other hand, leaves time to redeploy cash into winning picks when it looks clear that the mania is starting.

And, as we’ve said before, in our present near-term deflationary environment, cash is not a bad place to be.

Cash and Core holdings – I think of it as C&C – never forgetting that gold is a form of cash. If gold takes off in the near future, we’re positioned to benefit. If it does the opposite, we’ll have the cash to scoop up the bargains.

Heads, we win – tails, we win more. I like it.

If we’re so sure gold and our shares are eventually headed way north, why not buy more now?

Well, if you’re relatively new to the sector and are still building your core portfolio, cautious buying on the dips is justified. But ask yourself these questions (and be honest with the answers – it’s your own money that’s at stake):

• If you had arrived on the scene in early to mid-2008 and started buying just before things fell off a cliff, would you have had the staying power to hold on and thus benefit from the resurgence in 2009 and new highs in 2010?
• Would it make you sick to see great companies on sale for pennies on the dollar, but already have all your speculative cash tied up in the market, at higher prices?

If you can honestly and without hesitation answer yes to the first and no to the second, then buying (more of) the Best of the Best now may work out well for you.

But I have one more question: why take the chance?

If we wait to see if the market corrects and it doesn’t, our profits will be lower – but so will our risk.

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating in these heady times: “Buy High, Sell Higher” may work sometimes, but it relies on someone coming along later, willing to take even bigger risks than us. Our favorite recipe is “Buy Low, Sell High” – especially if offered a shot at “stupid cheap” prices as in the fall of 2008. When it’s time to buy, with or without the lower entry points we expect, I will definitely say so in these pages.

Patience remains the key virtue of the savvy speculator today.

—-
[Louis James, senior editor of Casey’s International Speculator, is simply the best in the business when it comes to junior mining companies – his boots-on-the-ground approach and due diligence have been making substantial gains for subscribers. It’s no coincidence that every single stock he recommended in 2009 has been a winner… and 2010 is shaping up to be even better. Read more here.]

– Posted Friday, 20 August 2010 | Digg This Article | Share this article | Source: GoldSeek.com

Portfolio Manager Joe Foster calls himself a “stock picker.” And he’s pretty good at it. Class A shareholders in Van Eck Global’s International Investors Gold Fund have seen an average return of almost 25% for 10 straight years under his care. “I’m looking for the gold companies that are going to outperform the indexes, my peers and gold,” Joe says in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report.

The Gold Report: Joe, in your view, what are the catalysts that will push gold to the next level?

Joe Foster: Well, there could be a range of catalysts, any one of which could rear its ugly head.

TGR: Which ones are most likely?

JF: The financial system has not yet recovered from the shock of the credit crisis. We’re in the midst of a historic credit contraction that could turn into a deflationary credit contraction. As the Fed and the economy deal with this, there is a range of possibilities that could create a catalyst.

One would be further implementation of quantitative easing, where the Fed steps in and buys securities in order to prop up the financial system. A second is the housing market, which looks like it’s weakening again. If we see a double dip in the housing market, it could create the financial stress that provides a catalyst.

The sovereign debt issues are something that, to me, will be on the table for quite some time. They could flare up again in Europe and elsewhere. State and municipalities’ finances are in very difficult shape right now. We could see some form of stress in the municipal bond market that could cause some sort of a catalyst for gold, as well.

So there’s a range of catalysts that could come into the market over the next year or two that drive it higher.

TGR: The Fed may look at more quantitative easing, but it doesn’t really have a lot of room to operate as far as interest rates go. What sort of economic policy does America need at this point?

JF: I think our monetary system needs an overhaul. I guess some sort of stimulus, whether it be quantitative easing or some more fiscal stimulus, might be necessary to keep the economy from going into a deeper recession. But I think plans to create a more sound monetary system would go a long way toward boosting confidence in the government’s ability to handle these crises in the future or to prevent them from happening.

TGR: Do you think what is happening now will ultimately result in a new currency down the road? Perhaps even a global currency?

JF: A global currency would be very difficult. Just to have a sound dollar again would create a lot of stability around the world. Many other countries still peg their currencies to the dollar, so proper management of the dollar would, in effect, create a sound global currency. The dollar is still the world’s reserve currency. I’m calling for some sound money policies that we haven’t seen since the dollar was floated back in the 1970s.

TGR: In a June commentary on gold you said, “states across the country are undertaking austerity measures to counter gapping budget deficits.” Could a state, or states, defaulting on loans or even declaring bankruptcy be the next leg down that turns the recession into something worse?

JF: Well, I doubt it would go as far as a state actually declaring bankruptcy. Congress looks like it’s going to approve another round of state aid to keep the states afloat. I think you would see the federal government step in before we saw a bankruptcy. But states like New York and California and others around the country are in serious financial trouble. We’ll have to see if the austerity measures that they’re implementing will keep them out of bankruptcy. I think this is more of a slow burn. I don’t see it as being the catalyst for the next leg in the gold market. I think we’ll reach the next leg in the gold market before any state reaches such a desperate situation.

TGR: How high do you see gold getting by the end of this year and through the end of 2011?

JF: I’m looking for it to make new highs as we trend into 2011, moving through the fall of 2010. The high was around $1,265 in June. We’ve been on a steady trend higher. There’s a lot of volatility in the gold market, but I would expect that trend to continue. It wouldn’t surprise me if it moved through the $1,400 level sometime during 2011.

TGR: You said that you believe that the government would step in and prevent a state from declaring bankruptcy or becoming insolvent. Do you believe the government is, to some extent, manipulating the gold market?

JF: I think that’s speculation. I haven’t seen solid evidence that the government is manipulating the gold market one way or the other. Even if they are, I think the market will determine where the gold price goes in the longer term.

TGR: You have managed assets for investors since 1998. In the post-2008 era, are you managing your gold fund the same way you did in the pre-2008 era?

JF: Well, we’re using the same strategies or similar strategies now that we have since this bull market began in 2001. Relative to our peers, we’re probably overweight in juniors and mid-cap companies and underweight in the large-cap companies. Some of the fundamental strategies that we use remain in place.

I would say that the big difference is that, prior to the credit crisis, we spent a lot of time explaining to investors why they should invest in gold as a hedge against financial stress. Since the credit crisis we don’t spend much time explaining why you should invest in gold because investors get it. Everybody gets it now that gold functions as a sound currency and as a financial hedge in times of turmoil. Read More…

– Posted Thursday, 12 August 2010 | Digg This Article | Share this article | Source: GoldSeek.com

By Jeff Clark, Senior Editor, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report

The talk of a possible double dip is now common banter on TV investment programs. And indeed, deflationary forces seem to have the stronger grip right now than inflationary ones. So if deflation is the next reality we have to face, what happens to our favorite stock investments?

There’s lots of data about what gold does during periods of high inflation, but less so with deflation, partly because we don’t see a true deflation all that often. But of course we’ve got the biggie we can look at, and the seriousness of the Great Depression can give us a big clue as to how gold stocks behave in a true deflationary environment.

First, we know what happened to the stock market in 1929, and in that initial shock, gold stocks crashed too. A rally ensued in most equities until the following April, including gold stocks. Then the Dow took a one-way elevator ride down for the next two and a half years.

What did gold stocks do?

From 1929 until January 1933, the stock of Homestake Mining, the largest gold producer in the U.S., rose 474%. Dome Mines, the largest Canadian producer, advanced 558%. In spite of the gold price being fixed at the time, gold stocks rose dramatically.

At the same time, the DJIA lost 73% of its value.

And the chart doesn’t show that you could have bought both stocks at half their 1929 price five years earlier, which would have led to gains of around 1,000%. That’s not all: both companies paid healthy and rising dividends as the depression wore on; Homestake’s dividend went from $7 to $15 per share, and Dome’s from $1 to $1.80.

Yes, volatility was high in the gold stocks throughout the depression, with occasional wild price swings. But after the 1929 crash, much of the volatility was to the upside.

The bottom line is that the two largest gold producers – during a time of soup lines and falling standards of living – handed investors five and six times their money in four years.

What about gold itself? On April 5, 1933, President Roosevelt issued an executive order forcing delivery (i.e., confiscation) of gold owned by private citizens to the government in exchange for compensation at the fixed price of $20.67/oz (you can read the original order here). And less than nine months later, he raised the gold price to $35, effectively diluting every dollar 41% overnight and swindling everyone who had turned in his gold.

We don’t know exactly what an untethered gold price would have done during the depression, but given its distinction in history as a store of value, we believe it would retain its purchasing power in a deflationary setting regardless of its nominal price. In other words, while the price of gold might not rise, or could even fall, your best protection is still gold.

But with all this said, the overriding concern isn’t deflation. Yes, economic growth will likely be flat for years, and many Americans will see some hard times ahead. But deflation won’t win; in a fiat money system, any deflation will be met with an inflationary overreaction (as we’ve seen). And the worse the deflation, the more extreme the overreaction will be.

In fact, I think there’s another round of money printing before this year is over. And sooner or later, that extra money is going to dilute every dollar you own, giving us an inflationary hit as bad as the deflationary one we got during the Great Depression.

It’s for this reason that I continue to urge you to own physical gold, in your possession and under your control, given its reliability as a store of value in both inflationary and deflationary environments. If you don’t have a meaningful portion of your investments in physical gold, I think you’re playing with fire. And those who play with fire eventually get burnt.

Want an easy way to start buying physical gold? I arranged for some seriously discounted bullion in the current issue of Casey’s Gold & Resource Report, which you can check out risk-free here…