I bet you don’t own enough gold. Having physical gold in your possession is always a good idea in times of economic turmoil – there is no “uncertainty hedge” like it.

When gold breached the $1,000/oz mark this February, the mass media were full of reports of unprecedented coin demand and long wait times for bullion buyers. You couldn’t open the paper without seeing a piece about the gold rush.

The global credit bubble imploded in 2008. And now we are seeing extraordinary efforts to re-inflate it. But Byron King says we can’t go back to the old system now. Investors today need to protect their wealth with gold and cash. But long-term investors should base their strategy on the future scarcity of energy and mineral resources.

The short-term path of gold is still unclear says David Galland. But its a good sign that demand for physical gold soars when prices tip towards $750 an ounce. And this threshold is likely to creep upwards as the US dollar loses its worth, and foreign governments convert currency reserves for the precious metal.

The recent pull back in gold prices is seen as a buying opportunity by many. The demand is so high that the US Mint has stopped selling popular one-ounce 22-karat American Eagle bullion coins to dealers as they scramble to build the inventory back up. From Reuters:

“Nobody has the Eagles or the Buffalos right now. We bought 2,000 ounces late last week, and those were the last 2,000 ounces that we can find in the marketplace,” said David Beahm, vice president of New Orleans-based Blancard.