Here is the articale from the Aden sisters Jon was refering to in his opinion. I have included it because his quote from them was ambigiuos to me. Was he refering to PM, the dow or overall. To me they were refering to everthing but the PM sector. Reg Mills http://www.kitco.com/ind/Aden/aden_feb292008.html Feb 29 2008 3:16PM Gold Near $1000 Courtesy of www.adenforecast.com Gold is soaring. It’s quickly closing in on the all important $1000 level but most people are looking elsewhere. The economy is the hot topic and everyone’s talking about recession. Opinions are running rampant, discussions are endless and this is making people nervous. The Fed is very nervous too. FED TO THE RESCUE, AGAIN As signs became obvious that the economy was in serious trouble, the Fed hit the panic button. This followed steep drops in the Dow Industrials and sharp declines in several of the other world stock markets. Knowing the importance of these market signals and probably fearing a crash, the Fed abruptly slashed interest rates. As we’ve often said, when push comes to shove, the Fed will do whatever it has to do to keep the economy afloat and to avoid a recession. That was clearly illustrated last month and if there was any doubt before, it’s now more obvious than ever that the Fed has been, and will continue to take the inflation path. This is not only true of the Fed but of all the world’s central banks. As you know, money has been pouring into the system for quite a while now. Credit is cheap and it keeps getting cheaper. Money is now also going to be given away to over 100 million people in the U.S. to the tune of about $150 billion. It’s even going to be given to people who don’t pay taxes, all in the hope that they’ll spend this money to help ward off a recession. If that doesn’t do the trick, we’re sure the Fed and the government will come up with more inflationary ideas, and if this results in more inflation and an even weaker dollar, and it will, then so be it. There’s really no other choice. GOLD TELLS THE STORY As our good friend Chris Weber sums up… “Investors are being handed engraved invitations to protect their wealth by getting into the prime inflation hedges: the precious metals. The way I see it, pain is inevitable in an economy that has lived beyond its means for decades, and borrowed to make up the difference. Any pain that is forestalled by cheap money and credit is going to be balanced out by the greater inflation to come. And that is exactly what the precious metals markets are signaling.” Whether the economy ends up falling into recession or not, there’s no question that gold is benefiting based on what’s happening. It’s risen strongly since 2001, it’s currently at a new record high and it’ll continue to move higher (see Chart 1A). In fact, gold, silver and most of the gold shares are about the only markets to show significant gains so far this year. This too is illustrated on Chart 1. As you can see, gold is hitting new, or multi-year highs against the euro, the Dow Industrials, bonds and oil. In other words, it’s stronger than these other markets. Gold is outperforming them and the percentage gains are greater in gold compared to all of the other markets. Simply put, gold is where you want to be. Silver is super strong too. These are the best markets, and if you’ve been banking on other markets, then you’ve probably been disappointed. That’s why we’ve consistently stressed keeping a large part of your investments in gold, silver and their shares. We also think it’s important to keep a good portion in cash, in the strongest currencies. UNCERTAINTY & CONCERN If a recession does materialize, it’s going to slow demand for most items because consumers will be cutting back. Already we’re seeing signs of this. A recent poll showed that most people plan to save their economic stimulation checks, or they plan to use them to pay down debt. If they do, that’s not going to help the economy much, but a lot will depend on sentiment at that time. For now, sentiment is down along with consumer confidence. Consumers are concerned about their jobs, a recession, housing prices, high oil prices, and even the falling stock market. They’re feeling uncertain about the future and as long as that’s the case, it’ll keep a break on the economy. At the same time, however, stocks have been moving up. The stock market is obviously pleased with the sharp interest rate cuts and the stimulation package. The market is still cautious and it’s not out of the woods. But the stock market looks ahead and if it continues to rebound, this will be a positive signal for the economy, indicating that the Fed will probably be successful in avoiding a recession or a worst case scenario, as it has in the past. KEEP AN OPEN MIND This of course is contrary to what most experts are saying. For dozens of reasons, the majority feel we are not only going into a recession, but that it’s going to be a severe one. Some are talking about the beginning of the end of the financial world as we know it. We’ll see what happens but over the many years we’ve been in this business, we’ve noticed that, when all is said and done, things rarely end up as bad as they may seem. Even though there may be many valid reasons why a worst case scenario could evolve, it rarely does. Markets survive, economies survive, people make money and they lose money, markets move up and they move down, change is inevitable but that doesn’t have to mean disaster is coming. Most important is to keep an open mind and stay flexible. Allow for surprises and don’t stubbornly hold onto an idea because you think it’s right. The markets will tell us what’s happening and if a market changes, we’ll change with it. KEEP YOUR GOLD POSITION As for gold, it should do well in either scenario. Gold rises during times of uncertainty, it rises during times of inflation and easy money, it rises when the dollar is weak, and all of this is currently keeping a strong foundation under the gold price. So again, keep your gold for the long-term. It’s today’s best investment and it’s been a great investment for years. Despite normal ups and downs, we strongly believe you’ll be glad that you continued to hold onto your gold, and of course your silver too. by Mary Anne & Pamela Aden