An avowed Keynesian, Equities and Economics Report writer Victor Gonçalves braces against the economic gale-force headwinds that threaten to whip gold's stellar run into seasonal weakness. But, before the new year, the yellow metal will generally see more strength than weakness, according to Victor, after which "things really get sour." In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Victor says he's rooting for the juniors in the homestretch, affirming: "This is the best part about juniors—we're in results season."

The Gold Report: Victor, you and many others were expecting a major pullback in the market and we had some pullback in late October. Is that what you anticipated?

It's been a dollar vs. gold story ever since the economy ran into trouble last fall, according to Blackmont Metals and Mining Analyst Richard Gray, who sees inevitable inflation down the road. "The trouble is there are no real applicable precedents we can use," he explains, noting the prodigious amount of stimulus money flooding the economy. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Richard discusses major drivers behind gold's price rise, attributes of successful juniors and why he thinks gold's upside scenario is "maybe $1,100 or $1,200."

The Gold Report: Gold's on a roll. What's your take on what's driving the gold and precious metals sector right now?

With all the 'strong dollar' rhetoric coming from the Fed and broken-record Bernanke, it's a wonder any investors are making money. But one we know and trust is. . .because he's not listening. "The U.S. will continue to take a laissez faire approach to the dollar," says John Doody, Economics Professor for nearly two decades and current author and publisher of Gold Stock Analyst. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, John explains how he measures gold's price performance, why he believes most investors don't have enough gold stocks in their portfolios and which companies he's making money on right now.

The Gold Report: John, why hasn't the mainstream media caught on to what's going on with gold?

The dollar's not going to go straight down, according to Steve Palmer, president and CEO of AlphaNorth Asset Management:"I'm expecting the U.S. dollar to rally in the short term and gold to sell off." Forecasting a bit of a pullback in the next month or so followed by another rally before year's end, Steve also explains his 'bigger bang for your buck' penchant for exploration stories in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report.

The Gold Report: Since the last time we spoke, in February, your performance in your fund year-to-date is up, I believe, 138%. Can you tell us what sectors you focused your fund on during this year to produce that type of return?

By Brent Cook

Before getting into to the relationship between copper and pork products, I want to draw your attention to one paragraph from a commentary by Paul van Eeden that offers a contrarian, and undoubtedly unpopular view amongst the Kitco readership, of the gold market:

Gold is at an all-time high and the XAU index has recently achieved a new recovery high for the year. Is there a basis for this latest gold and silver stock rally in light of the recent 10-year cycle peak? What would be the justification for it based on the cycles? According to savvy market technician, seasoned chart reader and cycle analyst Clif Droke, the answer is that investors are responding to the 10-year cycle peak by running to the precious metals and its related vehicles by treating them as safe havens. The public's fear of a dollar collapse is no secret and has reached the saturation point.

The XAU Gold Silver Index closed 1.38% higher on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 177.22. The Gold Bugs Index (HUI) was 1.43% higher at 449.61. October gold closed 1.14% higher at $1,056. December silver was 1.80% higher at $17.81. Gold is at an all-time high and the XAU index has recently achieved a new recovery high for the year.

Consumption, speculation and growing demand by emerging economies add up to a rather rosy outlook for copper, says Steve Parsons, Senior Research Analyst for Wellington West Capital Markets. In this exclusive Gold Report interview, Steve explains how investors might capitalize on a theme that's picking up momentum on the copper concentrate side of the industry. He also sheds some light on a great copper story that's unfolding on the northern shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota, not far from the Ontario border.

The Gold Report: Steve, it's often said that copper is a great way to play a period of economic growth. Do you agree with that?

Steve Parsons: I absolutely agree. Copper is an essential metal for developing nations. Generally speaking, an increase in GDP/person coincides with an increase in copper usage. The story here is that China and India are still coming from a low base. If you look at where copper usage is in developed nations, it is upwards of 9 kilograms of consumption per person annually. China's consumption currently weighs in at approximately 3.5 kilograms per person. So China is still at an early stage of development. The move to urbanization should keep upward pressure on copper usage. By 2025, it is projected that China will have 221 cities with a population of more than one million. At present, Europe only has 35.

A highly regarded resource sector expert who discusses his field fervently whenever possible and whose writings include the top-ranking Outstanding Investments, Byron King brings his views direct to The Gold Report audience in this exclusive interview. Unconvinced that the recession is behind us, he is equally sure that the "bottomless pit" mentality of stimulus spending will wreck the dollar. Those are among the reasons he sees $2,000-per-ounce gold on the not-too-distant horizon.

The Gold Report: We've seen quite a rebound in the markets since we spoke in May, and governments across the world have begun releasing some positive economic news. Are we out of the recession as Bernanke has told us?

One of these days, pent-up demand for new cars and growing concern about the carbon footprint associated with driving vehicles powered by traditional internal combustion engines will fuel tremendous demand for lithium, a development sure to spark greater investor interest, as well. A staple in batteries for hybrids and all-electric vehicles on the road and on the drawing boards, lithium is becoming a darling among hot commodities. As one of the few of his ilk on the planet, Jon Hykawy is also in considerable demand these days. The Gold Report caught up with Jon in Buenos Aires, where he—as Byron Capital Markets' recently appointed lithium analyst—is checking out facilities in Argentina, the world's second-largest (behind Chile) lithium-producing country, to talk about his favorite subject.

The Gold Report: You've indicated strong demand ahead for lithium ion batteries, anticipating a 40% increase by 2014 and suggesting good return-on-investment opportunities in lithium companies. To what extent does the demand for batteries that underlies those expectations rely on an economic recovery?

Having pioneered the currency asset class as head of Merk Investments, LLC, Axel Merk suggests that these times—with inflation looming, the U.S. dollar failing, equity markets remaining volatile and economic recovery stumbling—might call for investors to further diversify their portfolios with baskets of foreign currencies.

Axel, who strongly recommends The Gold Report as a "brilliant resource" in his about-to-be released book (Sustainable Wealth: Achieving Financial Security in a Volatile World of Debt and Consumption), looks at the wider picture too. For instance, he tells us that while a world reserve currency is impractical, ungovernable, unworkable and unlikely, diversification within each country's reserves would make sense in the global economy.

The Gold Report: Carmel, in 2006 you started your fund, the CD Private Equity Natural Resources Fund, specifically to take advantage of the commodity super-cycle. In 2007, you stated you thought this super-cycle could last at least another 20 years. Since 2007, several key commodities are trading at substantially higher levels—even with the market adjustment of 2008. Have the market fluctuations since 2007 affirmed or challenged your view that this commodity super-cycle has another two decades to run?

Carmel Daniele: Absolutely affirmed it! The crisis that occurred last year after Lehman's collapse just interrupted the cycle, and I believe the cycle is still alive and well. And I also believe that what's happening with this crisis is actually going to seal the next stage of the super-cycle, and it will make it stronger and last even longer. This financial crisis may have dampened demand, but it has actually destroyed supply because a lot of mines have shutdown and cut off supply. And you will see when demand picks up—and it doesn't take very much for demand to pick up—there will be no supply because you can't just flick a switch on and off to turn on supply. It will take a lot of time to crank up the mines and get them supplying again to meet that demand for raw materials.

Heralded as "the best of today's best," Gold Stock Analyst author and publisher John Doody's Top 10 portfolio is up 61% through the end of July. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Doody talks about misperceptions about a summer slump, his Market Cap metric, and select producers or near producers he thinks are well positioned to thrive in the current environment.

The Gold Report: John, gold didn't hit its traditional summer slump, so what are we expecting gold to do here for the second half of the year?

Peter Campbell: Cheerful Prognosis for Dr. Copper
Source: The Gold Report 08/11/2009

http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/2915

Investors have been beaten down and battered over the last year. With correlations between markets continuing to shift unpredictably, many are uncertain about where to put their money. "It's been a strange year," says Eric Coffin, co-editor, along with his brother David, of the HRA (Hard Rock Analyst) publications. The good news, he says, is that it's probably not going to get worse than March; the bad—a bear market this deep almost always revisits the major bottom. Read what Eric foresees going forward and why he's sticking with the exploration stories that work in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report.

The Gold Report: So, Eric, what do you make of this market? Is the rally going to continue or are do you see us moving sideways for a while?

Increasing the money supply invariably leads to inflation—but that's not the only factor driving it. "Populist policies that are focused on protectionism and unionism will force inflation in America," says Frank Holmes, CEO and chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors. While he doesn't anticipate across-the-board inflation, he does foresee certain commodities having stronger inflation than others. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Frank discusses changing patterns in commodity prices and how investors can gauge where they're headed next.

The Gold Report: Frank, U.S. Global Investors has published a chart showing copper price fluctuations on a monthly basis with 30-, 15- and 5-year trend lines. Can you speak to why that chart is important?

The Gold Report: When we interviewed you back in December 2007, you mentioned an analytical tool and techniques that you felt would apply not only to small caps but also the international marketplace. Have those served you well since then?

Ryaz Shariff: I don’t think anything really served well in the later part of 2008, unless you were heavily short. We certainly felt the pain by being involved in some of the smaller stories and the hedging vehicles we’d typically used in the past didn’t compensate for the immense erosion of value in the small stories. These analytical tools and techniques have given us long-term opportunities to make significant money. They are intact and will make us money in the future, but last year was definitely an aberration.

With a number of factors coalescing in the not-too-distant future, the bulls will restore golden days for gold, according to Brien Lundin. As editor of Gold Newsletter, one of the world's oldest and most respected precious metals and mining stock advisories, he should know. With a transition toward an inflationary environment underway, he figures that the worst of the financial crisis has passed and that the market "generally" will not test new lows. In this exclusive chat with The Gold Report, Brien also says we may be surprised to see how quickly greed and speculation replace the fear and trepidation that have gripped the market for the past year or so.

The Gold Report: You were discussing the hazardous transition from deflation to inflation the last time we spoke. At that point, we were in a deflation and you said that the market would test new bottoms before we moved into inflation. Indeed, the market has tested—and bounced back from—new bottoms. Do you think we're still in a deflationary environment?

The Gold Report recently caught up with newsletter writer and analyst Lawrence Roulston of Resource Opportunities, who's been travelling to learn more about the state of mining worldwide. In this exclusive interview, Roulston provides his thoughts on the outlook for the economy and what factors impact gold and other metal markets. "As the Western world gets back on track," says Roulston, "commodity prices will continue higher."

The Gold Report: Lawrence, you have just returned from trips to Dubai, Hong Kong and Europe. What does the rest of the world think of the health of the U.S. and European economies?

David Morgan, whose interest in silver dates to the tender age of 11, returns to The Gold Report today to discuss the latest buzz about his favorite subject. One of the world's leading authorities on silver as a commodity, an investment, a safe haven and an increasingly important manufacturing metal, he expects this year's stronger-than-anticipated late spring climb to lose momentum before the end of the month. Longer term, though, the founder of the respected monthly, The Morgan Report, sees silver appreciating at a faster pace than gold. And while he also likes the idea of monetizing silver—rather than gold, because silver is far more liquid—that's one wish he does not expect to see granted.

The Gold Report: Last month saw the biggest single gain in silver since the 1980s. Why did this happen when it did? And what should we expect in the months to come?

Consistently urging investors to be patient and disciplined, practicing what he preaches has earned Adrian Day a sterling reputation and recognition as an authority in both global and resource investing. In the long term, he anticipates much more upside in gold juniors than seniors, and in the short term—specifically this summer—he looks forward to an "extremely good buying opportunity" among some of the juniors he follows.

In this exclusive Gold Report interview, the President of Adrian Day Asset Management also says he sees gold "convincingly" breaking through the "magical big round number" of $1,000 within 9 to 12 months and expects gold to outperform stocks "fairly significantly" over the next year or so. That doesn't necessarily lead him to an optimistic economic forecast, though. Because the recession gripping the globe is the result of "secular deleveraging contractions" (interest rates too low and money too easy), Adrian thinks it will take a long time to pull free.