gold and oil, page-24

``At this time more than any other, investors should have a proportion of their assets in gold as an insurance policy against systemic risk or governments inflating their way out of trouble,'' said John Reade, a UBS AG commodities strategist in London. ``This does not mean that the gold price will necessarily go up. Gold could fall and still be a good hedge if everything else falls by more.''

The Fed added $50 billion in temporary reserves to the U.S. banking system after injecting $70 billion yesterday. Central banks from Tokyo to Frankfurt also added more than $160 billion into the financial system to calm markets.

``Gold does not have a counterparty risk,'' said James Turk, founder of Goldmoney.com, which held $368 million in gold and silver in storage for investors at the end of August. ``That attribute is becoming increasingly important. Gold is not dependent upon someone's promise or any company's balance sheet.''

Bloomberg this morning FYI waverers & sceptics