After the gold rush

Filed in archive markets on July 10, 2010

So the price of gold has soared again, nearly touching all time high levels as investors are increasingly nervous about the long term economic outlook.

All this has got some gold bulls saying the price will hit $10,000 an ounce (that's right, with four zeroes) in the next 18 months. For sure, the price of gold is going up but anyone who thinks this bull market will last forever needs to take a cold shower.

As The Economist notes, gold is nowhere near the heights it achieved in the 80s.

In this video, Robert Prechter from Elliot Wave international says gold is no safe haven. "Gold tends to rise when the economy is expanding, not when it's in recession,'' Prechter says. "That old adage about gold being a hedge against chaos is backwards. It tends to do much better in inflationary times which happens in growth periods. We are now heading into deflation and Depression so I don't think gold is going to be zooming during this period."

Perhaps now is the time to sell. People rushing in to buy now are in for a rude shock.