Moving little faster than a 19th century stagecoach, this "secular" (long-term) bull market in tangible assets has managed to escape the notice of mainstream America or media fanfare so far in the 21st century. That is about to change.

Now that gold prices have risen above $800/oz., a new public phase of the gold rush is set to begin. Strong physical demand, a falling dollar, central bank buying, geopolitical risks and concerns about inflation are only a few of the major forces driving this gold bull.

"The era of 'peak gold' has arrived. Try as they might, miners cannot find enough ore at viable costs to replace their fast-depleting reserves, even if they dig miles into the center of the earth," reports London Telegraph.

"Gold is not a mainstream investment yet, because it's seen as difficult to understand," financial gurus tell Reuters.

Yet every day it becomes easier for the man on the street to understand that his paper dollars are becoming worth less … and his food, health care, gas, oil, gold, silver and most other tangible assets are all costing him more.

"The relatively subdued interest of the investing public, if not the investment newsletters and columnists, is in fact good news for those long the metal. It means there are a lot of people left to buy the stuff, which is not the case at bull market peaks. So even at about $800 the ounce, the real gold bull market has not begun," reports London Financial Times.

Headlines report: "Gold at 28-year high", yet often fail to mention, that after discounting prices for inflation, gold must rise above $2,150/oz., nearly three times the current price, to reach the previous 1980 price peak.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The London Telegraph reports correctly; "In today's terms, $850 gold would be equivalent to $2,000 an ounce, suggesting that the current six-year bull market in precious metals may have much further to run."

"Global commodity companies believe that gold prices will rise for years to come, eventually reaching at least $2,000 and it will probably go even higher. Investment experts say gold is the best commodity to invest in because it has stood the test of time," reports Nandita Jain of Commodity Online.

So gold is now about one third of the way toward reaching a true new high. Using the official government CPI inflation adjuster, $800/oz. gold in 1980 equates to $316/oz. gold today in 1980 dollars. So rather than being near a market top, gold remains the buy of a generation.

Economists finally agree on gold's future

Gold prices have grown about $100/oz. per year since 2003. Gold was $300 in '03, $400 in '04, $500 in '05, $600 in '06 and now $800 in '07. Savvy investors and gold experts see $850+ gold in 2008!

"A financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall of as much as 90 percent and gold soaring to $2,000 an ounce," said Gerald Celente, Trends Research Institute Director. "We are going to see economic times the likes of which no living person has seen, a panic of 2008," reports UPI.

Many analysts have jumped onto the $1,000+/oz. gold bandwagon since 2001; most of whom were not considered "gold bugs" in the past, like Citibank and JP Morgan & Co.

Forty-five prominent analysts, authors and gold experts already on the record forecasting four-digit gold prices to arrive in the years ahead. Their combined gold price expectation is $2,090/oz. gold!

Here are just five sample quotes from our 2007 "Future of Gold" financial journal. These professionals offer dozens of good reasons for owning gold today, which experts agree will drive gold prices sky high over the next 5-10 years.