Robin Griffiths: Hang on to your gold

Don't be discouraged by the precious metals' latest setbacks, says Robin Griffiths of Cazenove. He's the veteran technical analyst who predicted the major market slump in 2008. Bull markets "are very successful at wobbling people out at the wrong time". Stay invested and add to your holdings.

Money printing has debased paper currencies, especially the dollar. Indeed The Fed is "trashing the dollar" to the extent that we're now "moving away from the dollar being the main reserve currency on the planet". Emerging currencies, or baskets of currencies including "something that can't be printed like gold", will take its place.

Meanwhile, it's not unrealistic to expect silver to reach $350 per ounce, says Griffiths. It hasn't reached its previous record in inflation-adjusted terms yet, and "then you add in the fact that they are printing money". Gold will reach at least $3,000 per ounce, he reckons. If Bernanke keeps printing money, it could reach $12,000. But the precious metals boom will be concentrated in the next few years: "The run-up is between now and 2015." By then "it will all be over".

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