Rickards: Gold Could Ultimately Surpass $9,000 an Ounce

http://www.moneynews.com/InvestingAnalysis/Rickards-gold-9000-China/2014/01/02/id/544820

"That really is the inverse of the collapse of confidence in the dollar. The Treasury, the Federal Reserve and other central banks will have to return to gold to restore confidence."

Physical demand for gold is extremely strong right now, while "the supply of gold is disappearing," Rickards notes.

The massive SPDR Gold Shares exchange-traded fund is selling gold, which is a bullish sign. "It's going straight to China, where it's being put underground and will never see the light of day for 300 years," Rickards states. 

"China is redefining the global gold market," he adds. It's purchasing all it can "overtly and covertly" through smuggling and military channels, Rickards says.

"We're set up for a huge technical rally. At some point you're going to want your gold, and it's not going to be around."

Joe Magyer, senior analyst at The Motley Fool sees another reason to purchase gold — the future threat of inflation.

"I think the time to be worried about inflation is the time when nobody else is worried, so that would probably be now," he says, according to CNBC.

"If you bought gold at $1,900 an ounce, I don't know why you wouldn't be very interested at $1,200 an ounce."