WHY THE $400 GOLD RUSH HAS ARRIVED -Craig R. Smith

Dec. 1, 2003

Today, gold closed above $400 for the first time since March 1996. The weaker U.S. dollar was the big story, "In spite of a slew of positive economic and jobs data," says CBSMarketWatch.

Since 2001, a growing army of analysts, economists and responsible journalists have announced that gold is in a confirmed, fundamental, technical or "secular" bull market.

So $400 gold is no surprise to our readers who understand that the "big picture" requires looking at the whole, sad economic truth ...

-> STOCKS: Bear market "sucker rallies" since 2001 could last a decade.
-> CONFIDENCE: Consumer trust is badly tarnished due to scandals on Wall Street.
-> DEBT: Looming deficits on every level of government, trade, business and consumers.
-> DOLLAR: The euro, yen and juan are challenging the buck for international value.
-> COMMODITIES: $30 oil and rising CRB index is adding to inflationary pressures.
-> WAR: Dark cloud of global terrorism and a protracted war in Iraq or elsewhere.
-> REAL ESTATE: A bubble in housing prices will be popped by higher interest rates.
-> GOLD: The ultimate form of money -the perfect hedge- is on it's way to the moon!

Here's why ...
** The technical breakout of gold from a 15-year downtrend in 2002.
** Gold alone creates financial confidence, independent of Wall St.
** Supply & Demand: The annual shortfall of physical gold between world production and world consumption over 1,500 tons.
** The trend of diminished gold mine hedging/increased “buy backs.”
** Strong demand for gold from Asian/Arab countries, gold dinar launch...
The list goes on and on ...

This new bull market in gold could last a decade or more, so please get used to it, as the saying goes.

Even the most bullish stock market analysts will concede ... that the potential of a severe long-term bear market in stocks and the U.S. dollar is very possible -- because all markets are cyclical in nature.

Smart money is betting on a major paradigm shift leading investors to sell dollar-denominated assets and buy hard assets -- like gold and other commodities. But this just part of the new gold rush story ...

UNITED STATES RARE GOLD COINS: THE TOP PERFORMER

So far, very few people noticed that gold was the best performing market sector in 2001 and 2002, and more importantly, that gold's uptrend is just beginning.

The last time we saw this major shift into hard assets was in the early 1970's when gold rocketed from the low $140/ounce to $850/ounce in January 1980. Bullion rocketed 600% and U.S. rare coins jumped up over 1000%!

Remember: All gold is NOT created equal, nor does it perform equally!

High quality U.S. gold pieces ($20 Liberty and $20 St. Gaudens) prices exploded upwards during the last gold rush in 1979. Prices have already quietly creeped up 42% to 80% -- just since January 2001. (See charts)

... but prices are still less that one-half of the market highs during the last bull market in 1989.

High quality U.S. gold pieces are 100% private and very liquid. So, over the last (nearly) three years; a $20 Liberty in Mint-State 65 condition has grown 80% ... while gold bullion grew by 46%.

This historical growth differential clearly underlines why I feel that the best way to take advantage of the emerging bull market in gold, as well as having personal financial protection, is by purchasing investment-grade U.S. gold numismatic coins.

In 2001, we said is was time to Rediscover gold ...
In 2002, we said The New Gold Rush was on ...
In 2003, we've said Gold is The Color of Hope ...
and so far, we have been right on target, along with many other astute financial writers. Please read them and then take action!

Please, don't put it off another day, register to request any of our FREE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ... to help you "do your homework FIRST" ... as is the popular phrase goes.
Happy 2004! ...CRS

Craig R. Smith, is author of Rediscovering Gold in the 21st Century: The Complete Guide to the Next Gold Rush. Craig is helping radio listeners daily to understand this 21st century gold rush, which started back in 2001, and is now moving to the next stage. Craig has been featured on CNNfn as a regular, CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, WSJ, NY Times as the “go-to guy for gold” news and commentary.