Some people think it has no utility. Other people have pretty reasoned arguments about how gold maintains purchasing power across the centuries.
Now, most people are kind of neutral on gold and are off arguing about other things. I am thankful we are done yelling about gold. Because now we can talk about the real reason you should own gold.The real reason I have been talking a lot about portfolio construction lately. Most idiots have an 80/20 portfolio or a 90/10 portfolio or even a portfolio that is 100% stocks.
Want to know the risk/return of that portfolio? It gives you almost the return of the 80/20 portfolio with half the risk. You actually can have it both ways. You can have a portfolio that returns a lot, with a lot less risk. You just have to get creative! And you have to be willing to own some things that you wouldn’t ordinarily own.
President Trump just nominated a guy to the Board of Governors who, if confirmed, would be the most dovish person at the Fed. Interestingly, he used to be a hard-money guy and had a change of heart. Or an ideological transformation. Or maybe his metamorphosis was born of political expediency. Whatever.
The fundamentals of gold are lining up for the first time in a while. I am not the first to observe this. I think people are being very conservative about their gold forecasts, after being burned pretty badly the last time.