Unlike what the new Fed chairman, baffling Ben Bernanke, offers, each of DT’s words is carefully weighed, and needs to be scribbled down immediately for scrutiny later. DT is the person who told me to buy gold in 2003 when it was languishing around the $350 level.
I discussed his advice with several other senior financiers. They all insisted only crazies invested in gold: it was a fad for fetishists. At the time, central banks were looking to lighten up on their gold holdings. The Bank of England auctioned 395 tons of gold between 1999 and 2002 at an average price of $275 per troy ounce. Today, gold is trading at $580 a troy ounce
I scampered on to the tube and met DT at the appointed assignation venue. Bad news, I’m afraid. He’s extremely gloomy. “All stock markets are going down,” he intoned. “And it’s not a shake-out, it’s a sea change. The markets will grind lower through the summer and then, in September, there could be a major credit blow-up. Get into cash. Buy some gold. Be diversified as regards currencies.