Lots of the posts here are the kind of "unless you own gold you're stupid, you're dumb, you just don't understand".
Well it ain't necessarily so. Gold has a habit of ending its bull run with a gut-wrenching crash when the feeling wears off, and I probably became a contrarian in 1980 when I saw loads of people including a couple of friends lose heaps.
I certainly enjoy the debate though and I can tell I'm mostly (not all though) debating with enthusastic amateurs who haven't experienced a sudden and unexpected implosion.
Take notice of bankers? No thanks, they're just as prone to herd instinct as everyone else, I wonder how the central banker whizz kids that bought tonnes of gold at its peak a few weeks back are feeling now?
I can tell you for sure there isn't anywhere near the gung-ho attitude on this thread there was a few months back.
Gold has never in its history had a prolonged bull market and I don't expect it be any different this time, that there is a huge difference between the returns on junior gold miners and the actual POG must be sounding a warning to canny punters.
There is a few political and economic contrasts between now and 1980, but it won't be "different this time".
Having a certain amount of gold in your portfolio can be very useful and there'll be some gold shares in the BT Natural Resources Fund I've been in for many years, but overexposure is tempting fate, history's on my side on that score.
