The Oracle spoke and so it would be.  Gold prices tumbled and the Oracle is proven divine as ever.  As is my wont, I periodically check the financial channel throughout my day to catch the major headlines in order to have something to discuss at the water cooler.  And, of course, something to discuss with all of you.

I’m sure you all saw or heard multiple recent quotes from Warren Buffett regarding gold and it’s worthlessness.  I mean how could you miss it?  For two days Buffett buffeted the airwaves with insult after insult of gold and those who own it.  My goodness.  Could it be more obvious?  Someone had an agenda.

It’s hard to figure though.  What the heck was he talking about?  Over the last 10 years Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has returned less than 6% annually while gold has rocked the markets with 18% annual returns – even figuring at today’s low price of $1539 an ounce.  Compounding those numbers really makes one take notice of the disparity in performance between Berkshire stock and gold.  Berkshire is up 70% in 10 years and gold is up over 400%.  I’m sorry I don’t get it.  I bought some gold 10 years ago and I didn’t buy Berkshire.  Forgive me.  I’m trying to regret it but I just can’t.

That said, the Oracle does seem all-knowing as gold prices have fallen $100 an ounce as of this writing.  Let’s try to put this in perspective. In a recent article by Mark Lundeen, Mark reminds us that “since 1969, gold bull market corrections of 30%, and more, have been routine.”  That means, in order for this latest move in gold to be considered something other than “routine”, the gold price would have to fall below $1300 an ounce.

Frankly, with as much of a beating as gold has taken of late, I’m surprised at its resilience.  Every sentiment has been turned against gold.  The attack on gold has been relentless.  It’s as though someone is trying to beat every last weak hand out of the market to free up some supply.  But, that would mean there is someone out there buying as fast as the weak hands can sell.  Who could that be?

Two other articles I read today may shed some light on the answer to that question.  Frank Holmes wrote:

“Emerging market central banks continued their gold buying spree in March. UBS Investment Research says that Mexico bought 16.8 tons, Russia bought 15.6 tons and Turkey added 11.5 tons. Additional small purchases were made by Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus. We wrote a few months ago that central banks have begun accumulating gold reserves since the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in 2007, and HSBC Global Research expects this buying trend to continue for another five years.”

Then from a zerohedge article we learn that, “Soros Fund Management nearly quadrupled its investment in (GLD) to 319,550 shares.”   What do you think would happen to the gold price if the financial news headlines, touted these facts for 7 or 8 days in a row?

There are other reports that China continues to stealthily amass as much gold as we silly Americans will sell.  Is it any wonder?  Over and over again we learn the lesson that paper money is growing more and more worthless.  One minute the Yen is collapsing, then the dollar, then the Euro, then the pound and on and on.  At the moment it’s the dollar that seems to be the strongest.  Hence the lower gold prices.  But under pressure of $16 trillion of debt and rising, how long can the dollar hold up?

Make no mistake – Gold will never be worth zero!  And right now it appears to me, the small players are planning on gold to bust and the big players are planning on gold to bust out.  What do you think?

   Strong Markets, weak markets, inflating economy or deflating, over the last 11 years, 18% gains, if ever achieved with any investment, were generally lost as quickly as they were found.

For example, October, 2002, saw the Dow complete a 33 month collapse, losing 37% of its market cap.  The NASDAQ surrender was more dramatic, giving up 78% in 31 months, the S&P gave back 49%.

The next 5 years saw all indices rise dramatically off these 2002 multi-year lows.  The Dow rose 94%, the NASDAQ 156% and the S&P finished the cycle up 101%.  Only the NASDAQ, on a compounded basis, returned better than an average 18% a year for the five years, October 2002 through October 2007.

By January 2009, however, all indices fell victim to crisis seeing the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P give back, 110%, 91% and 112% of these returns respectively.

Now amidst a reported economic recovery, the indices have recaptured losses realized in the period October 2007 through March 2009.  The Dow is up 102%, the NASDAQ 145% and the S&P is up 109%.

Today, even if we measure market performance from the lowest lows reached in July 2002 to present, (approximately 10 years) the Dow can barely show a 6% compounded annualized return.  The NASDAQ faired better at about 11% and the S&P turned in a Dow-matching performance of 6%.  This all translates to net gains of 82%, 179% and 82% respectively.

While this may sound impressive, when put into perspective, compounded annual returns of 18% would yield net returns of 423% over a 10 year period.  Obviously stocks are not the mystery investment of which we speak.  How about Bonds?  You would be hard pressed to find any bond, junk or otherwise, that produced 18% returns which leaves real estate and commodities as our last two candidates of the major investment classes.

I challenge anyone to show me a home valued at $200,000 in 2002 that is now worth $346,000 (a net gain of 73%) let alone a million plus dollars.  Consider yourself lucky if your home has held equal value.

That leaves commodities.  First to mind is likely oil.  In July 2002, as stocks bottomed, oil, based on a simple average of Brent, West Texas Intermediate and the Dubai Fateh, traded at $25.75 per barrel.  As I write, the same simple average sits at $116.46 for a net gain over the period of 352% which translates to just over 16% on a compounded annualized basis.  In other words, we’re close to solving the mystery – but not quite.

So which investment is it that has risen an average 18% a year, not only for the 10 years we’ve analyzed but for 11 years running – without one losing year?  Click here to solve the mystery and learn why Citibank predicts another 30% rise in 2012 and 100% rise by the end of 2013.

Is the economy recovering?  Are stocks about to soar?  What is today's best investment?  These are the debates we find ourselves in the midst of on a daily basis.  For every question raised there are a million opinions voiced and for every expert who speaks of recovery there is one that speaks of imminent financial Armageddon.  And while opinions vary from one extreme to the other, there is definitely common ground upon which we all stand.  We are all uncertain about the future of the economy, the state of our national debt and our own ability to survive financially when it's time to get our gold watch.

It is this uncertainty that is causing investors to shift their savings and retirement strategies.  Bonds are a good example.  When people are willing to invest for a 2% return in a 2.8% inflation environment, they are saying they are happy to lose just a little bit of what they have invested as long as the small loss is guaranteed.  Sounds funny doesn't it?  "Please guarantee me I will lose just a little bit every day you hold my money." 

Safety has definitely become a predominant theme for investors.  Too many have lived through the dotcom era, the speculative housing boom and stock market bubbles to have much appetite left for risk.  With the last 20 years of investing being wrought with risk, investors today are diligently searching for alternatives.   More research is being done and less is taken for granted.   Even the Rule of 72 has become antiquated as real negative rates of returns produce illogical investment growth forecasts.  How do you plan to lose money and retire?

As more investors do more research, one investment is standing out as a consistent winner.  Over the last 11 years it's averaged 18% annual returns. It's up 100% since September 15, 2008, the day Lehman collapsed and the credit crisis began.  Yes, gold may be today's most sought after means of storing wealth and protecting one's savings and retirement. 

Last year, gold demand, fueled largely by central bank's renewed appetite, reached 4067 tonnes.  With mining supply at just 2809 tonnes, that left 1258 tonnes to be fought over in the market place.  As is the case with any commodity, when demand exceeds supply by nearly 50%, the price has to go up.  But it's not just central banks buying more gold.  Gold demand is rising at all levels of savings and investment.       

Evidencing this trend, is the growing popularity of Precious Metals IRAs.  Yes, you can own gold, silver and variety of other precious metals in a self-directed IRA.  Because the metals are physically held in a depository in your name, precious metals IRAs are becoming a viable alternative to ETFs.  The metals in an IRA are accessible, safely stored and ready to be delivered into your hands, should you so choose and when the time is right.  

There are a variety of coins and bars that meet standards set for which metals and types of coins or bars are allowed to be held in your account.  American Gold Eagles and Silver Eagles may be among the most popular as each are guaranteed by the Federal government for weight and purity.  Indeed, these coins are the most sought after Gold and Silver coins in the world. 

Perhaps the greatest attraction to precious metals IRAs, is Gold's longer term potential for gain.  Volatile markets have made it increasingly difficult for short term investors to make a safe profit.  One crisis has already struck with little warning and up to the minute before it struck, traders were buying and selling as though no danger lie ahead.  Because of the havoc then wreaked on investments, many savers and investors are adopting a longer term strategy.  They do more research, consider alternatives and are amazed at what they learn. 

For example, we recently ran a hypothetical scenario where we placed $10,000 into the Dow back in 1970.  Today, that $10,000 would be worth $140,000.  Then we placed $10,000 into gold.  The results are jaw-dropping.  Today that $10,000 would be worth $450,000.  This is not to suggest no one should ever invest in stocks.  The timing of boom and bust cycles leave savers and investors extremely vulnerable when you have all your eggs in one basket.  This makes diversification a must.

When we run our little scenario again with $8000 into stocks and $2,000 into gold, the value of our current portfolio would be $202,000.  Surely we could look back at 40 years of history and see that at times, stocks may have outperformed gold but the numbers don't lie.  Over the years and decades inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the dollar and driven the gold price higher and faster than stocks.

Today, we have every reason to believe rising debt, higher deficits and mountains of printed money will ultimately result in much higher inflation and further loss of the dollar's purchasing power.  This environment is to gold as the north side of a tree is to moss.  These things considered, along with the fact that most of the money being saved for retirement is in held within IRAs, 401ks or other retirement accounts, explains why more IRA money is moving into precious metals.

Perhaps this is the best way to make government a partner in your future.  The more they print and spend — the more you save.  To receive your own Precious metals IRA investment kit, breaking news and real time prices, visit LearCapital.com.   

It seems the Iran crisis has now taken over second position as the longest running headline, just behind the Greek crisis.  With the Greek crisis potentially – I say potentially – kicked down the road to implode another day, the Iran crisis could soon take over first place as the longest running headline in post 2008 crisis history.

More rhetoric has been passed from Iran to the world than spaghetti at an Italian wedding.  All the while, they move closer and closer to having atomic weapons.  The closer Iran gets the more rhetoric and the more rhetoric the more sanctions then more rhetoric and so on.  It's like playing chess with yourself.  You can't win, you can't lose and then finally the dog knocks the board off the table and game over.  

Few would disagree that everyday we move closer and closer to game over.  Scientists are being assassinated, diplomats bombed, threats made, warning shots fired and now reports that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make two atomic bombs.

While reports suggest there is still hope for a diplomatic solution and Iran holds to the claim they intend to use enriched uranium to fuel nuclear energy facilities, I call it all bunk.  If Iran really was going to use the fuel for nuclear energy, wouldn't you already have built the reactor and the facility and the infrastructure to integrate the new power source into the grid?  Why enrich the fuel with no place to put it once done?  Surely, if such a facility existed all that need be done is to show the world and prove your intentions.  But …  that hasn't happened so no facility … no good intentions!

Now that we have that settled, it's clear Iran is not going to stop their work and they've already told the world what they think about the U.S. and Israel.  I believe conflict is inevitable and concurring signs have begun to appear in the markets.  Oil prices are rising in fear of supply disruptions, gold prices are rising with rumors that Iran is now accepting gold as payment for oil and the dollar is down 3% from its January high despite Europe's debt troubles.  And as hard as the media tries to convince us the Dow has smashed through the 13,000 level on its way to 15,000, that move has stalled.

The warning signs are there – $5 gas by summer,  The world markets know what's ahead.  Another war is being baked into the cake.  Throw another war into the mix of skyrocketing deficits and soaring debt and we have our own nuclear economic explosion in the making.  An explosion of gold prices.  How will you protect your wealth when the purchasing power of our dollar is further destroyed by rising war debt?  Is it really inevitable?  I give it a 99% chance that military action against Iran will take place.

Now is the time for gold.

Dr. Paul points out that the Cold War ended without firing a shot and Russia had thousands of nuclear missiles. It came to an end through talk, and Russia the Empire collapsed and went bankrupt, KIND OF LIKE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE U.S. NOW!

Gotta stop pounding the war tom toms.