Bitten By the Gold Bug
Time to Buy, or Sell?
Gold in Ancient Rome and Today Is Gold A Currency Hedge?
Then Why Buy Gold?
Central Bank Insurance
How to Buy Gold
Scandinavia, Europe, and Toronto Oh, and the Mayan Calendar

By John Mauldin | December 17, 2012

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.” – H. L. Mencken

Possibly, the question I am asked the most is, “What do you think about gold?” While I have written brief bits about the yellow metal, I cannot remember the last time I devoted a full e- letter to the subject of gold. Long-time readers know that I am a steady buyer of gold, but to my mind that is different from being bullish on gold. In this week’s letter we will look at some recent research on gold and try to separate some of the myths surrounding gold from the rationale as to why you might want to own some of the “barbarous relic,” as Keynes called it. My personal reasons for owning gold have evolved over the years. I will tell you the story of my own journey, and you can decide for yourself whether to think about coming along.

I cannot start this letter, however, without a brief but sad note about the tragic events at Newton. As a parent I cannot imagine the anguish and horror at learning that my child was murdered while sitting in her first-grade classroom. The senseless wasting of so many young lives leaves me profoundly saddened for our country and culture. There is not much that I can say other than to extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims – and perhaps to wonder about the wisdom of relegating violence to the level of an arcade game in the movies and games our kids watch and play.

Bitten By the Gold Bug

I wandered as an innocent bystander into the world of investment newsletter publishing in 1981-82. Back then it was a world inhabited to a great extent by “gold bugs” of one variety or another. The investment newsletter world was in its infancy, and I was something of a direct- mail wizard, brought in to weave my magic with mailing lists and fluid copy. You can’t write……

…..read the rest of this exhaustive analysis HERE (13 pages). At least read “Time to Buy or Sell” on page 3.