1. Gold will top $2,400 an ounce.
The long-term bull market in gold marches on. Goldwon’t make a straight shot to a new inflation-adjusted high. Expect bullion prices to experience some pullbacks when the U.S. dollar is strengthening. The Federal Reserve has said it plans to leave interest rates near zero until the middle of 2013. As long as the real return on U.S. bondsis negative and other countries debase their own currencies, investors will turn to gold as an alternative currency and another form of protection against ongoing debt problems in developed and emerging nations.