Gold was acting as a safe haven for most investor’s money, however most of these same investors have had to pull their money out of gold and use it to cover massive losses from the market. The past two days alone has seen the stock market tumble over 600 points.

The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, fell $55.20, or 3.2%, to $1,686.50 a troy ounce in early trade on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This was the first time the contract had traded below the psychological level of $1,700 in almost two months.

“The most important thing that all financial markets crave…is some sense that politicians are prepared to take bold policy decisions on the economies,” said Ross Norman, chief executive officer of London-based gold-bullion dealer Sharps Pixley.

Gold prices are continuing to crumble due to the fact that investors need to put out investment fire losses in other areas, as well as sell off their gold in favor of cold, hard cash, which we all know is always king.

Gold, which has been a safe haven from global political and economic uncertainty for much of this year, has suffered a big setback this week amid losses in many other asset classes. The current state of gold is a far cry from the projected $2,000 per ounce price range that many experts were predicting.

It should be interesting to see what happens with gold during the rest of 2011. When all is said and done, gold is still probably going to be a great investment. After all, it is still gold!

Speaking at the London Bullion Market Association’s annual conference in Montreal, Som Seif – the chief executive of Claymore Investments Inc., said that the price of gold should break $2,000 a troy ounce later this year, with sister metal silver following higher and breaking $50 an ounce as investment demand for bullion continues to grow.

“Our view for gold to cross $2,000 an ounce this year. In that eventuality, silver would be above $50 an ounce, but we then see a silver price of $75 an ounce if not more” as investment demand drives an implied deficit in the market, Seif said.

This is what I have been saying all along. The economy is just in to rough of shape for precious metals not to jump even more than they already have by the end of the year. Gold and silver are both just about the only sure bets left when it comes to putting a protective blanket over your money.

You can keep a close watch on the price of gold. If you believe what I have been saying about the price hitting $2,000 per troy ounce by the end of the year, then investing in gold now would be a smart idea.

Lets look at this from both perspectives. Gold is either going to shoot up to $2,000 or more per ounce in the very near future, or it is going to settle back in at a corrected price of $1,500-$1,700. Which way will it go? That depends.

Either gold and other precious metals are about to become one of the only (if not the only) safe haven for investor’s money, or there is going to be a huge gold sell off to cover losses that are going to occur from the Greece default situation.

So much money American money is tied up in Europe that I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see a big sell off for gold, simply because most investors do not want to ride the situation out. They would rather cut their losses and continue to invest in the yellow metal after the fact.

However, other investors may want to continue to throw even more money in gold and try to keep all that money safe and just suffer the losses that can’t be helped if Greece does default.

My personal thought is that gold and silver will both be very valuable in the future, as the two metals are just about the only safe haven left for investor’s money.

I am not guaranteeing anything, but my thought is that gold will still hit that $2,000 an ounce price range before 2011 ends, and if it does, you can expect it to spike up even higher to the $2,100-$2,300 an ounce price range.

For now, the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens in Greece. You need to go ahead and make a decision one way or another involving any gold you are invested in, as you need to be ready to move on that decision when or if Greece defaults, which is looking very likely.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Royal Gold is a precious metal’s royalty company that engages in the acquisition and management of precious metal royalties and similar interests. Royal Gold’s portfolio consists of 184 properties on six continents. This includes interests on 36 producing mines and 21 development stage projects.

Royal Gold has its hands in a bunch of different jars, so with the current price of gold, it shouldn’t be a surprise that their share dividend is up. Just like many other gold companies and investors, they are trying to get all their money in some form of gold to protect it during these rough economical times.

This is no more apparent than right now, as the world’s economy is currently in a downward spiral. Investors are clamoring to get their money into gold. Prices are at an all time high, recently surpassing the $1,800 an ounce mark, and continuing to rapidly spike. Many investors don’t put their money into gold to make a huge profit; they simply put it in the there because their money will remain safe during tough economic times. Making money back is just an added bonus.

How to Invest in Gold Bullion

The ways of investing in gold can be via purchasing physical gold bullion in the form of gold bars or gold rounds, minted gold coins. Gold shares in gold mining companies are also available and various types of gold funds or mutual’s that are managed by professional investors.

Holding at least a small percentage of your stock portfolio in gold bullion is always a good idea. The relatively stable price of gold can help insure your investment portfolio against economic instability. Gold bullion prices may fluctuate over the years but gold investments are highly unlikely to get devalued and have performed well over recent years.

Gold coins have a legal tender face value in the countries currency that they were minted, and can be easier to dispose of if you need to liquidate your gold assets. Many types of gold bullion rounds or gold coins are available, such as American Eagles, Krugerrands, Sovereigns, Canadian Maples, Australian Gold Nuggets, Chinese Gold Pandas and many more.

Gold bullion bars are available in many different sizes up to the 400 ounce size. The 400 oz bullion gold bar is the London Good Delivery bar size. Good delivery bars must meet certain specifications, they must weigh between 350oz – 430oz and be of a minimum purity of 99.5% pure Gold. These London Good Delivery bullion bars are normally held by central banks and not usually held by smaller private investors.

Mining shares can be lucrative but their performance depends on the success of the mine and the general standing of the mining company you are investing in. Therefore mining stocks may not follow the general trend of the gold fix market, but can outperform the market if the mining company is particularly successful.

A precious metals gold managed fund can provide a more diverse gold stocks portfolio. The funds manger may invest in various precious metals and gold shares spreading any risk between a selection of stocks. Precious metals mutual’s are available that also invest in other metals such as Silver, Platinum and Palladium as well as gold stocks. Gold and Silver ETFs are also very popular.

Or are they?

The Washington Post has a great article on why some investors are fearing the sudden rise in gold, and also why some investors think $1000 is just the beginning. Inflation on the rise, the dollar weakening and a market that isn’t quite sure why it’s almost back at a DOW of 10,000. That’s what has investors scratching their heads and disagreeing.

One things for certain, gold and ETFs like GLD could still be good buys if we continue to see the fed printing money, and worldwide banks scooping up gold as a hedge to the weakening dollar.

Now if you have less than $100,000 at each financial institution you could be safe.  But, your money could be tied up for a while trying to get it back essentially from FDIC.

Investing in and buying gold on the other hand may be the safer way to go.  It’s real money. It’s what your dollar used to be based on before we went off it.  Gold still has universal value around the world.  Although there have been many other things created which could probably win you a few points in a barter, gold is the precious metal that wins out time and time again.

So don’t go throwing out that old jewelery,  don’t look past those flakes your grandma gavea you when you were younger and maybe take a look at some of the options you have out there to buy gold.  Such as gold ETFs like IAU.

Gold is now back over $900 an ounce, and as analysts continue to predict oil heading higher, gold may still be a great buy for those looking to get into a precious metal that will continue to be in high demand for years to come.

We report all too often on this and our other precious metals network blogs that this is a great time to buy precious metals like gold and silver. Why, because inflation is here, oil is rising, and the world economy is growing at a faster pace than ever before. Buying into metals that provide industrial needs as well as ornamental products is most likely going to prove to be a great move.

The Feds may not be able to affect this precious metal as well as some analysts thought.

We’ve already seen the price of gold make huge strides toward $1000 per ounce and now with gas in the US creeping over $4 per gallon, the price of gold could follow up just the same. A new article, on the front page of money.com talks about .

Now may be the best time to buy into the gold rush before it happens. One of the easiest ways to get into that is to buy a gold etf like GLD. It’s easy and not as expensive as buying and storing gold bullion.

Properties of Gold

Gold is a good conductor of electricity and heat. An important property of gold is that it is resistant to corrosion: it does not react with air or any reagents.

Gold has the metallic properties of being malleable and ductile. The property of malleability lets gold get hammered into thin sheets without breaking. Its ductility allows gold to be drawn into thin fires. Gold can be melted and stored in different shapes. It also has the ability to mix with different metals and become alloys.

Applications of Gold

Jewelry: Gold has always been thought of as the pure metal. The brilliant yellow and the excellent luster have drawn people towards it for centuries. More than three-quarters of the world’s gold is consumed as jewelry. Gold’s ductile property makes it an excellent choice for casting jewelry. Gold combines excellently with silver, copper, platinum, aluminum, nickel, zinc, palladium, and cadmium to deliver a variety of differently-colored alloys.

Electronics: It may come as a surprise to know that the most precious ornamental metal also finds its use in electronic equipments, thanks to its electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion. A certain amount of gold has invaded the information technology and electronics industry, and rightly so. Gold can be traced in your daily electronic and digital equipment like cell phones, computers, calculators, televisions, credit cards, and digital equipments. Gold comes to the rescue when handling very small voltages. You would argue why silver and copper cannot be used in such devices. Here, gold scores a brownie point because of its resistance to corrosion.

Engineering: Gold is used in numerous engineering applications as a lubricant. Gold is used in thermocouples and potentiometers. Gold is also used in architecture as glazing material for buildings; it helps in keeping the buildings well heated and ventilated. Gold has also found limited use in industrial brazing.

Medicine: From being present in surgical instruments to providing diagnostic support and cure in certain diseases, gold has gold has found some place in medicine. Certain compounds and isotopes of gold are used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Lagophthalmos, and some cancers.

Dentistry: Being biocompatible and chemically inert, gold serves as a great solution when the human body’s need for a metal in the mouth! Gold and its aloys are safe for the human body, making them the preferred choice for filling in cavities, inlays, crowns, and bridges.

Miscellaneous: Gold also finds its use in photography as a printing medium. Though tasteless, Gold has now entered the gastronomical zone, being served in food. In countries like Japan, tea, deserts and cocktails are now being served with gold dust and flakes! Apart from being ornamental, gold is being used in the beauty industry to aid beauty. Gold facials have gained popularity across nations. Some cosmetic companies are adding gold in their products. The ductility of gold has founds its use in embroidery as well.