Stephen Leeb, of The Complete Investor, a well reviewed investment newsletter, has been bullish on gold for quite a while. Here is one of his latest quotes:

As part of last weekend's Super Bowl activities, I enjoyed a non-alcoholic brunch with several friends, one of whom was a man with exceptional expertise and academic standing in the areas of taxation, economics, and law. Both of us share dismay over the last year's stock market melt-down. We also have a rather pessimistic outlook on the world's long-term future, though for different reasons.

For us, as you know, the biggest danger today is the inevitable shortages of natural resources. For him, it is America's lack of fiscal responsibility. He expects the U.S. to default on its massive obligations to foreigners. And we have to admit that is a possibility. It is hard to imagine such debt being paid off or even managed without our government printing massive amounts of cash and devaluing the currency, which would naturally contribute to higher inflation.

Given this man's appraisal of the situation – which is shared by many today – I was surprised to learn that he had no investment in gold.

Well, perhaps I wasn't too surprised. After all, precious metals have been off the radar screens of most investors for so long, even the most well-informed have completely forgotten about them. However, my friend quickly agreed with me when I pointed out that, with the U.S. dollar likely to lose value rapidly, it was essential for him to add gold to his investments.