Latest Salvation Army Gold Donations

This time, two reports. One's from the Southeaster Missourian, which reports that an anonymous donor in Cape Girardeau put a 1-oz Krugerrand in a kettle. The same story reports that the Salvation Army sold it for only $500.

The second's from Clarksville, Tennessee: someone dropped a 1 oz gold Eagle into the kettle.

Jim Rogers Says Gold Not In Bubble, But Prefers Silver

He was one CNBC recently, and this report shows he considers gold at least a hold right now:

He is holding gold right now and despite the recent spike in the metal's price, said he things the market is not experiencing a bubble.

"I wouldn't think of selling," Rogers said. "If gold goes to $1,000 (per ounce) -- or pick a number -- I hope that I'm smart enough to buy more."

With central banks now buying gold and many people worried about paper money, gold will be a great investment over the next decade and relatively few people are invested in it, he said.

However, Rogers currently prefers silver because it's been beaten down more relative to its all-time high.


Update: The Jim Rogers Blog has an important transcribed snippet from that same interview, in which Rogers says that a drop in gold to $1000 would make for a buying opportunity.

A Point To Ponder: If Gold's Rocketing Up, Why Not Gold Stocks?

This point's been made by Cam Hui, a "Humble Student Of The Markets." He calls attention to the fact that three major gold-stock indices have yet to confirm their early-2008 highs even though gold itself has shot up way past its own.


There's an easy answers to his question: the financial crisis drove gold stocks down along with other stocks. Each gold index saw a decline of 66-75%; subsequently, each has about tripled. The leverage has been there, but from a panic-low base. No-one knew that gold would hold up back then; most everyone had assumed that gold would be pilloried too. It seems that the financial crisis saw a "buying opportunity of a lifetime" for gold stocks.

I should add that the low for gold stocks was hit in November 2008, not in March. A gold junior I'm watching, currently at 14.5 cents, traded at two cents at its November '08 low.


Update: Adam of Gold Versus Paper concludes that the divergence means that gold stocks present opportunity - he's careful to specify "run-of-the mill" ones, presumably producers - and notes that gold stocks show no hint of bubble-like behavior.

Gold Skeptic Nouriel Roubini Says Goldbugs Nonsensical

As excerpted by Mac Slavo, Roubini says that there are only two reasons why gold can go up: inflation, which is nonexistent right now, and economic Armageddon, which has been avoided.


Slavo hints at a possibility that Roubini didn't mention: potential inflation, currently bottlenecked by a tightening of lending by U.S. banks. Also unmentioned is the U.S. dollar's fall.

Blogger Weighs Question of Gold Bubble.

That blogger is Raphaël Kahan, who's put together several metrics stretching over the past forty years to see whether or not gold's in a bubble. Most of his metrics show gold as not being undervalued, but only one - gold in comparison to the CRB commodities index - shows bubble-like behavior. He explains that this frothiness could be drained by commodities rallying too, which he expects.

He concludes that gold is not in a bubble, the gold bull market's intact, and a further drop to $1000/oz represents a buying opportunity.

Investment Manager Believes Gold Went Too High, Too Soon

From the blog Fi$cally Fit comes an analysis from investment manager Paul Schatz, who got skittish when gold was rocketing up towards US$1000. He believes that gold is (or was) on the verge of a bubble, which has resulted in "bubble-esque" behavior until last week. He believes that the gold bull market will avoid going back into bubble mode if it consolidates "over a period of months" at about $1000.

Another Physical Gold Trust Coming

This one from Sprott Asset Management, an investment company long involved in the precious-metals and mining industry. The new trust aims to raise up to US$575 million.

Interestingly, Sprott Asset Management itself owns about $700 million worth of physical bullion.