Gold: An Investment for Decades to Come

Jake, Thanks for the newsletter. I am pretty much in sync with this writer's perspectives.

My thoughts on gold have not changed much in several years. I think it is a store of wealth and will do better in times of inflation and dollar devaluation (which mostly run together). Even if gold stays steady and goes no where against other national currencies, as long as the dollar goes down, gold will go up by the same amount, just as other dollar denominated commodities do, like oil.

Additionally, there is the risk premium put on gold for an uncertain world and, probably most importantly, the future demand that will come from Asia. Gold is favored in Asia throughout history, so that is not likely to change soon. As Asians have more disposable income, they will buy more gold, and will increase global demand. Also, the Asian (and Middle Eastern) economies will grow rapidly over the next 20 years (10% a year on average, perhaps) and will probably need 10% more a year of gold reserves to back their currency, and maybe more as they lose confidence in the dollar and shift their reserves towards gold and sell dollar instruments like US Treasuries.

So, for many reasons, I think gold is good for many years. The only reason it did poorly the past 30 years was that the dollar took the role of global reserve currency and the global central banks, especially the US and Europe, sold off their gold reserves adding supply and dropping demand. I don't think the dollar will get that "Reserve Currency" role back anytime soon after all the losses incurred by governments and dollar investors around the world the past couple years.

As you know, I own gold through VGPMX, GGN and best of all, BEARX. Even though BEARX is a bear market fund, it held its own even in the years when stocks were in bull mode because of its gold holdings. It is half shorts and half a gold / precious metals fund, with lots of junior gold producers that will do very well if gold prices continue higher.

Hope this helps.