Wells Fargo analysts: Gold bubble will burst

Gold prices, now driving toward their 11th straight year of annual gains after climbing 26 percent thus far this year, are set to crash and burn, a financial services company is warning.

According to analysts with Wells Fargo & Company, the precious metal is prepped to suddenly lose value, Bloomberg reports. Having seen other commodities' bubbles burst, the firm wrote the report out of consideration for gold enthusiasts, the lead analyst told the news service.

Released on Monday, the report addresses what happens when fears of apocalypse subside since investors typically purchase the precious metal when they believe something drastic will happen in the world, whether it be to banks, governments, government banks or the world. Lead analyst Dean Junkans told Bloomberg that owners of gold will be exposed to significant risk once the gold bubble bursts.

With a record price of $1,817.60 per troy ounce, gold futures are one of the commodity market's surest investments. Civil uprisings, war, acts of terrorism, fears of inflation and waning currencies are but a miniscule sampling of the various forces that push up the metal's value.

The leaders of France and Germany convened in Paris on Tuesday to discuss controlling the sovereign debt crisis tearing through the euro zone, The Wall Street Journal reports. That scourge has benefited gold futures since it reared last year.

富國銀警告：黃金泡沫將破滅

更新日期:2011/08/18 05:30 潘勛／綜合報導

國際金價迭創新高，美國「富國銀行」（Wells Fargo & Co.）分析師群十六日發表報告提出警告說，來自投資人的投機性需求，把黃金市場堆疊成泡沫，目前已隱然出現破滅的危機。

 江坎斯（Dean Junkans）領導的富國分析師群團隊在報告中說，他們已看盡以往泡沫經濟造成的損害，因此現在覺得不得不敲響警鐘。江坎斯表示，一旦投資人對世界經濟衰退的恐懼消褪，黃金市場就會出現可觀的風險。

 黃金期貨已連漲十年，今年迄今漲幅達二六％。由於近來歐洲及美國國債危機不斷升高，投資人為了避險而購買黃金，國際金價本月十一日創下每英兩一千八百一十七.六○美元（約台幣五萬二千六百元）的歷史新高價位。

 「彭博」通訊社報導，交易所買賣產品（exchange-traded products，ETP）持有的黃金部位本月八日已升到二千二百一十七噸，創新紀錄。美國芝加哥商品交易所集團（CME Group）也指出，黃金期貨及選擇權成交量本月九日達五十萬四千三百六十八口，創下新高，突破去年七月廿八日的四十六萬九千六百八十九口。

 向美國證券交易委員會申報的資料顯示，投資高手索羅斯及明迪奇（Eric Mindich）今年第二季均減持ＳＰＤＲ黃金信託基金的持股，只有對沖基金操盤高手鮑森（John Paulson）還維持該基金最大持股。