Although gold has always occupied a unique place in the world’s economic history, John Meyer of SP Angel recently discussed during a Bloomberg interview why so many analysts and gold investors are now focused on the yellow metal. Bloomberg notes in the interview that the price of gold is off to its best start in 2016 since 1974.

While some young analysts who have never seen truly difficult markets sometimes ignore the importance of gold holdings, Meyer’s comments show the errors in such an attitude.

A Lifetime of Insight and Experience

Meyer is a highly respected industry insider who is also a partner at SP Angel. He is world renowned as a market strategist and expert on mining and economics. His views often help shape markets, and he had been ranked the Number One metals and mining analyst in the United Kingdom numerous times. Meyer has worked for several major securities firms, including Goldman Sachs.

It is worth noting that Meyer’s views are not merely subjective opinions. He begins his interview by reviewing the numerous troubling dynamics and risks affecting world economic markets. These include:

  • Threats to the stability of the world banking system
  • Global governments are running out of tools and options for managing their financial difficulties
  • Concerns over new QE measures by the European Central Bank
  • Actions by Russia and China to exert more influence in the markets, especially with their efforts to degrade the value of the U.S. dollar by aggressively buying more gold

The market response to these issues according to Meyer is that large gold buyers are moving back into gold, including increasing physical holdings. He notes the total ETF holdings are moving back up steadily, a solid indication of growing confidence in the gold market by gold investors. The ETF factor is significant as Meyer sees the selling of these securities during the economic downturn by large houses as Lehman a major factor behind the decline in global gold prices.

Learn How to Avoid Costly Rookie Mistakes & Invest in Gold Like a Pro!

Get Free Gold Investor Guide

Meyer Recommends Buying Physical Gold

In addressing the best way to add to gold holdings, Meyer takes the position that owning physical gold has less risk than purchasing ETFs or other securities. He points out the ease of finding reliable ways to store the gold, as well as the liquidity of the market in buying and selling gold.

While Meyer does not address the issue in this interview, he has previously noted the advantage American gold buyers and precious metal investors have relative to investing in physical gold. By having the ability to buy physical gold and hold it in precious metal IRAs or portfolios, including both bullion and gold coins, Americans have many more options than merely buying gold jewelry or securities.

As the world’s markets continue to show extreme volatility and attempts to address their many threats and challenges, buying gold continues to be a common strategy by many well-informed investors and traders, such as John Meyer.