Diversify Your Portfolio with Gold
"You must own some gold in this economic environment. Gold represents the epitome of the natural resource boom because it is the world's best barometer of inflation and financial crises. When inflation is on the rise, as it is now all over the world, gold thrives.
"And when there are financial crises, as we now have with the plunging dollar and the meltdown in the mortgage markets in the U.S. - gold gets an extra boost. Savvy investors flock to the safety of the precious metal, pushing its price even higher.
"Over the next couple of years, the price of gold should trade as high as $2,200 an ounce, just to play catch-up with inflation and the falling dollar.
"Gold could trade a little bit lower. No one can pick the exact bottom. But given the risk/reward of gold here, about $1,300 an ounce of upside potential, versus maybe $100 of downside risk, worst case, I think now is a great time to load up on gold.
"The best way for core gold holdings, in my opinion, is via streetTRACKS Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: GLD). This exchange-traded gold fund makes it easy for you to own physical gold without the hassles of taking delivery or storing the precious metal.
"You buy shares in the ETF, and they buy and store the gold for you. Each share in the streetTRACKS Gold Trust ETF represents 1/10th of an ounce of pure gold. So if you buy 10 shares, you're effectively buying the equivalent of 1 full ounce of gold.
"Second, buy shares in my top junior gold miner, Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY). Yamana is a leading Canadian-based gold miner with operations in gold - and copper - in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and the US (in Nevada).
"Yamana's management is very savvy, using the company's copper production to help cover the company's cost of mining gold. It has an immensely profitable mining strategy which has helped it become one of the lowest, if not the lowest, gold producers in the world."
Full Disclosure: I own Yamana and I trade it using the techniques outlined in Computerized Tools for Profitable Investing.
