[marincounty]

Gold has experienced rapid growth since 2008, but historically the growth curve has been flat. I have never heard a competent Financial Advisor recommend gold.

But this boom is weird? I wonder if HFT's will be to blame, when we have the crash?

[bduerst]

Gold is a good asset to hedge with, because it is typically inversely correlated with the markets. Hence the boom around 2009.

A competent Financial Advisor would calculate correlations between Gold price performance and your portfolio, and use the coefficient to recommend the right amount of gold to buy. Or they just spare you the jargon and do it for you.

[baddox]

How do you define the competence of a financial adviser?