Gold is never an investment.
Gold is a hedge against bad government, and interesting times (like right now). It's something that you exchange for something more useful when good government takes over. Look for $1800 gold by this time next year.
I agree it’s not an investment. I think of it either as a speculation (for the short/mid term) or a hedge (for the very long term). People who dismiss gold always use 1979-1980 as their base period. How about we compare gold and the Nasdaq and use 2000 as our base?
14: exactly.