Uncertainty Restores Glitter to an Old Refuge, Gold

[groovedaddy]

It is the resurgent passion of the doomsday crowd, a bet that everything will go wrong. No matter what has you worried, they say, the answer is gold.

Inflation, deflation, government borrowing or the plunging euro — you name it — the specter of these concerns has set off a dash to gold, driving the precious metal to new highs and illustrating how fears of economic turmoil have moved from the fringe to the mainstream.

And gold bugs, often dismissed as crackpots who hoard gold bars in the basement, are finally having their day.

“I just think you’re in a world where a lot of chickens are coming home to roost,” said John Hathaway, manager of the Tocqueville Gold fund. “Gold is an escape hatch.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/business/13gold.html?th&emc=th

[PSPS]

1. Let me guess. The NYT just sold some ad space to a gold dealer.

[phantom power]

2. I'm curious about how many people have 'some' metals. Say, around 5% of their assets.

You don't have to be a economic survivalist to think that owning a little gold is a useful hedge.