What's interesting is what's happening to gold right now.
From today's WSJ:
Two big factors behind optimism for gold: China and India, where increasingly wealthy and status-conscious middle classes are driving up demand. According to the World Gold Council, gold demand in the first quarter of this year rose 26% in tonnage terms and 32% in dollar terms from a year earlier. Demand for gold-based jewelry -- a significant source of overall demand -- jumped 72% in India (one of the biggest consumers) and 14% in China (a source of huge potential growth). Increasing demand also comes after overall production from gold mines declined from a peak of 2,621 metric tons in 2001 to 2,464 metric tons in 2004, according to Gold Fields Mineral Services, a London precious-metals consultancy.
The decline in output was caused by a slowdown in mining activity when prices plunged in the 1990s, says Peter Grandich, managing member of Grandich Publications, a Perrineville, N.J., metals-mining trade group. But since 2001, when the U.S. economy entered into a recession, gold is up 70%. Exploring for new mining has picked up, Mr. Grandich says, though "like a battleship, you just can't turn it around on a dime." |
