Spot gold in London hit $1,299.65. The December gold futures contract traded at $1,301.30, setting new record highs, as reported in Reuters.

Gold resumed its rally mode when the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that it will provide more stimulus to the U.S. economy. That triggered commodities to move higher in anticipation of more inflation.

"Silver currently shows a powerful 'cup-and-handle' formation; we've seen similar formations for gold over the past couple of years, and each time the metal subsequently rallied to new all-time highs," notes Brien Lundin.

The editor of The Gold Newsletter -- and the host of the annual New Orleans Gold Conference -- explains, "This pattern is a potent indication of a rally ahead.

In short, silver is shining right now, and seems ready to gleam even more brightly, especially in comparison to gold. Meanwhile, one of our favorite silver stocks is Silvercorp Metals (SVM).

"The "golden" days lie ahead for silver and investors who get exposure to this commodity and stocks in the sector; in my view, there is no better silver miner than the 119 year old Hecla Mining (HL)," says Ian Wyatt.

The editor of Top Stock Insights explains, "The company is one of the oldest miners in the U.S. and operates in Alaska and Idaho.

"Over the past 12 months, silver has lagged increases in gold by a large margin and that will not last. Investors buy silver for the same reason as gold, inflation.

As of 9:00 am. (EDT) October gold futures rose $12.10 to $1,227.5 per ounce. You are probably asking why such a strong move? The short answer is that gold is viewed as a safe haven investment.

Economies around the world are getting weaker. Japan reported GDP growth of just .1% in the recent quarter. The U.S. economy is also getting weaker, rising only 2.4%.

The weak U.S. economy is putting pressure on the dollar. The September US dollar futures fell .588 to 82.45. ABN AMRO stated in Reuters, "The outlook for the U.S. dollar remains weak as far as the eye can see, with US interest rates likely to remain pinned to the floor well into 2011."

After selling off its three month lows of $1,156.90 per ounce, prices of gold have been coming back. Driving the yellow bullion higher is the euro, which is strengthening against the U.S. dollar, and rising prices of oil and even stocks.

But as gold comes back off its lows, is it time for investors to get in? If stocks continue to rise, it seems that gold could fall further.

We turned to James Altucher, managing director of Formula Capital to find out.

Gold is up and the dollar is down. The September U.S. dollar futures are trading at 85.07, down 0.316. Gold is moving up on the weak dollar and as a haven against paper currencies. The August gold futures are at 1,245.80 per ounce, up $15.30 (11:59 a.m. EDT).

What is interesting is that gold is rising in spite of Spain's successful auction of 3.5 billion euros. Spain has the third largest deficit in the eurozone and has been borrowing heavily from the European Central Bank in case it cannot raise capital on international markets.

"Gold, silver and the metals group are coming down from their January highs, on the eve of gold's nine year bull market run. Considering the gold price has had nine consitent yearly gains, and it's still above $1,000 is a feat in itself," say resource specialists Pamela and Mary Anne Aden.

In their The Aden Forecast, they explain, "Gold's bull market is solid, a new phase has begun and it's currently declining in a sharp, yet normal downward correction. Corrections tend to cause fear. And considering the volatility we've seen in recent years, the fear level rises fast.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

Curtis Hesler has accurately forecast both the longer-term uptrend in metals as well as the more recent pullback in gold. But he believes the setback will be temporary.

In his The Professional Timing Service, he suggests, "It is time to focus on upcoming buying opportunities in precious metals." Here, he looks at Goldcorp (GG) as his top pick for 2010.

It's Monday morning. Looking at the boards, the dollar is weaker and gold climbs to another record high. Spot gold in London traded at $1,133.07 per ounce. The December gold futures contract traded at $1,133.50 per ounce.

Again today, the dollar traded down, with the December dollar contract trading at 75.105, down 32 (prices as of 8:39 EDT). The other precious metals followed gold higher. December silver traded at $17.815 per ounce up 43.5 cents. Platinum was at $1,428.90 per ounce, up $41.20. Palladium traded at $365.15, up $8.40

"Silver may become the next commodity China runs up in price, just as it's done with oil, copper and uranium," exp,ains Peter Krauthis.

Here, the 20-year gold market veteran -- and newest member of The Money Map Reporter team -- looks at the outlook for silver, and the best way to invest in the metal: iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV).

"After 50 years of forbidding precious metals ownership, China's government is now taking the opposite path -- encouraging its citizens to invest in silver. Chinese investors can now buy silver bullion in 500 gram, 1, 2, and 5 kilo bars.

"Getting invested in precious metal for the long term is our end game," says Daniel Frishberg, host of BizRadio and editor of The MoneyMan.com Gold & Oil. Here's a look at two ETFs.

"It looks as if prices could go higher short term, especially if US dollar weakness continues. The risk of owning gold at today's price level is that net commercial short positions continue to increase.

"Attempts by producers and speculators to bid up prices are matched by increases in commercial short positions. Gold prices are being controlled not by physical buyers and sellers, but by futures traders.

"As the name suggests, Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) is a royalty company, one of the larger and longest-established of such companies, with a focus on gold," says resource exprt Adrian Day.

In his Global Analyst advisory, he explains, "In my view, the stock offers a combination of growth, low risk, and high potential." Here's his look at this "golden opportunity."

"In the past year, the company has acquired two significant royalty packages, the first last year from Barrick and more recently from Teck Cominco. The Barrick package includes approximately 70 royalties.

"Even before these acquisitions, it had a solid long-term growth record, in royalties and in revenues. Its pipeline is solid, including a royalty on the large Pensasquito mine of Goldcorp; when that ramps up in 2012, it will add about 25% to Royal's revenues.

"Stocks are so low that the best are bound to attract bargain-hunters ... eventually," says Timothy Lutts. One such value he highlights in The Cabot Stock of the Month Report is Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD).

He explains, "Royal Gold doesn't own any gold mines. It doesn't mine gold. It doesn't buy gold. And it doesn't sell gold. It simply owns the rights to royalties from a variety of precious metals producers."

"The major benefit of Royal Gold's approach to the gold business is that it involves no capital costs, no operating costs and no legal or environmental liabilities. The major drawback? Well, we haven't found it yet.

"Royal Gold is not large. It has annual revenues of just $69 million and 34 million shares outstanding. However, Royal Gold is the biggest company in the world that derives its revenues solely from precious metal royalties.

Investors are always evaluating the landscape to determine where they should put their money. With all of the uncertainty in the banking sector, they are moving into gold. In Europe in particular, exchange traded funds increased their holdings to more than 40 million ounces. This has the effect of establishing a cushion under the market.

The spot "gold fix" in London reached an all-time high of $1030.80 per ounce. On the futures market, gold traded above $900.00 per ounce. Traders expect the price to consolidate at these levels and move a bit higher.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"Gold has outperformed nearly all other investments over the past few years," says Mary Anne Aden in The Aden Forecast. Here, the resource expert looks at her favorite play in the sector.

"It appears as though this trend for gold's outperformance will continue in the years ahead. Why?

"According to Bloomberg, the total amount of money provided by the U.S. government to rescue the financial system over the past year and a half has been $7.4 trillion.

"That amounts to $24,000 for every man, woman, and child, and it's totally unprecedented. All of this money will eventually fuel inflation and gold is the number one inflation hedge.

"Currently, President-elect Obama and his team are busy working on how to get the economy moving again. This is their top priority and one plan involves the largest infrastructure investment since the 1950s when all of the super highways were built. This will provide jobs and it'll hopefully help spur the economy.