Nervous Investors Scoop Up All the Gold They Can

Gold to guns, scribe says there's profit to be made off right wingers

(NEWSER) - Move over Jim Cramer. When it comes to possibly unhinged investment gurus, Mike Madden of Salon says he’s going with Glenn Beck and G. Gordon Liddy. Ever since advertisers began boycotting Beck, gold sellers have been grabbing space. The weirdest ad features G. Gordon Liddy mocking Fed policies that will destroy the dollar. Beck himself even pitched gold during his show, as a way to avoid the dollar apocalypse. More»

Investors hedge against inflation in all currencies

(NEWSER) - Gold leapt to $1,038 an ounce today, the highest price on record, as investors bet that global stimulus efforts and rate cuts will cause rampant and widespread inflation. The precious metal’s on pace for its ninth straight positive year; the previous record was set at $1,033.90 in March 2008. More»

Versatile metal gets better returns thanks to industrial buyers

(NEWSER) - All that glitters may not be gold, but these days you might prefer silver anyway, MarketWatch reports. Silver has rocketed to the top of the precious metals food chain, outperforming both platinum and gold because it’s an industrial material in addition to an inflation hedge. But the outsize gains silver offers also come with outsize risks, because fewer people trade it. More»

OPEC expected to slash production to push up prices

(NEWSER) - Oil prices continue to plunge as demand slackens amid the global economic downturn. Oil has dropped 19% drop this week, the biggest weekly decline in five years, reports Bloomberg. Prices have tumbled 70% since reaching a record $147.27 in July, and some predict prices may dip as low as $25 a barrel. OPEC will announce a cut in output at its next meeting Dec. 17, according to a spokesman. More»

(NEWSER) - The markets ended mixed today as commodities fell across the board, leaving traders unsure of the larger ramifications for the economy, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 43.97 points to close at 11,659.90, the Nasdaq slid 1.15 points to 2,452,52, and the S&P 500 climbed 5.27 points to 1,298.20. More»