The gold price plummeted

In the span of just a few trading days last week, the gold price plummeted from a high of $1,910 an ounce last Monday to a low of $1,712 three days later. The folks who never owned gold in the first place, and who have always held the precious metal in contempt, rushed to declare the “end of the gold bubble.” Many of the folks who did own gold wondered if the naysayers might be right this time.

But a few of the folks who own gold, especially those who have owned it for a while, recognized the selloff as the price of their success. In other words, the selloff was only painful if you were one of those investors who actually owned gold. And if you actually owned gold, you probably purchased it for less than $1,712 an ounce, maybe much, much less.

A $200 selloff in three days is not nothing; but it may not be that much worse than a jellyfish sting in Cannes. For perspective, $1,712 would have been an all-time record high for gold as recently as August 5! And even after the recent selloff, the gold price is up 10% over the last 30 days and 45% over the last 12 months. The S&P 500 Index, by comparison is DOWN 6% during the last 30 days and up only 15% during the last 12 months.