"You must own some gold in this economic environment," emphasizes natural resources authority Larry Edelson who sees the recent setback in gold prices as "an ideal time to buy."
The editor of Real Wealth offers two "core" favorites for those seeking to invest in the sector: streetTRACKS Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) and Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY). Here is his review.
"Gold represents the epitome of the natural resource boom. It is the world's best barometer of inflation and financial crises. When inflation is on the rise, as it is now all over the world, gold thrives.
"And when there are financial crises, as we now have with the plunging dollar and the meltdown in the mortgage markets in the U.S. - gold gets an extra boost. Savvy investors flock to the safety of the precious metal, pushing its price even higher.
"In addition, there's more to the bull market in gold than just inflation and financial problems in the United States. Three billion new consumers in Asia are buying gold hand over fist! Previously in China, investors were not allowed to own gold. Now they can, and they are buying up gold like crazy.
"India has a long tradition of gold investing. But with India's economy now growing at 8%+ annual rates, wealth is being accumulated in India like never before, and gold demand is also going off the charts.
"Thus, even without inflation and a falling dollar, the demand for gold from India and China alone is enough to propel gold higher.
" It could trade a little bit lower. No one can pick the exact bottom. The risk/reward of gold here, in my view, is about $1,300 an ounce of upside potential, versus maybe $100 of downside risk, worst case.
"Therefore, I think now is a great time to load up on gold. Over the next couple of years, the price of gold should trade as high as $2,200 an ounce, just to play catch-up with inflation and the falling dollar.
"The best way for core gold holdings, in my opinion: If you don't own it, buy shares in the streetTRACKS Gold Trust. This exchange-traded gold fund makes it easy for you to own physical gold without the hassles of taking delivery or storing the precious metal.
"You buy shares in the ETF, and they buy and store the gold for you. Each share in the streetTRACKS Gold Trust ETF represents 1/10th of an ounce of pure gold. So if you buy 10 shares, you're effectively buying the equivalent of 1 full ounce of gold.
"Second, buy shares in my top junior gold miner, Yamana Gold. The company is a leading Canadian-based gold miner with operations in gold - and copper - in properties in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and the United States (in Nevada).
"The company has seven producing mines, and is expected to increase its gold production from about 1.3 million ounces of gold currently to as much as 2.2 million ounces over the next four years.
"Yamana owns 17.9 million ounces of gold, worth almost $17 billion at gold's current price. What's more, Yamana's management is very savvy, using the company's copper production to help cover the company's cost of mining gold.
"This strategy has helped Yamana become one of the lowest, if not the lowest, gold producers in the world. Its cash cost to mine an ounce of gold is almost a negative $200 an ounce.
"That means for every ounce of gold it mines and sells at say, $930 an ounce, it's really taking in about $1,130 an ounce, or almost $200 more than gold's current market price. This is an immensely profitable mining strategy. It's time to buy Yamana on dips."
Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
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