The price of gold rises and falls in response to an increasingly complex range of factors. However, uncertainty about the future will always tend to keep prices moving upwards.
With huge bills about to hit corporations and the federal government around the same time, the worry is that some companies will have trouble getting new loans, spurring defaults and a wave of bankruptcies.
The result is a potential financial doomsday, or what bond analysts call a maturity wall. From $21 billion due this year, junk bonds are set to mature at a rate of $155 billion in 2012, $212 billion in 2013 and $338 billion in 2014.”
While today we feel faintly optimistic about our recovery from the crash of 2008, debts of the magnitude described above should make any sane person wonder about just how sustainable that recovery will be.
As individuals, most of us know how hard it is to get out of debt when we are already spending most of what we earn simply to pay this month’s bills.
The same is true for countries. If a government is adding to its debt each year, how can it possibly pay off older debts of such magnitude?
It is these questions and the concerns arising from them that will likely keep the price of gold rising over the next few years.
Gold has always been a safe haven for wealth when people and governments become nervous about debt and the value of paper currencies.
While the issue of debt is not the only factor that will influence the price of gold over the next few years, it will certainly have a significant impact.
The bottom line? Now is still a good time to be buying and owning gold.