We live in a very odd investment world these days, and gold may be about to get even more popular.
There are record low interest rates across the world, including in Australia.
Central banks have printed so much money over the past decade. Will that keep going?
The United States is running a deficit despite being in a strong position with its jobs market and business conditions. If the US economy and economics head downwards in strength then it may lead to market participants looking for an alternative place for holding money instead of the US dollar.
It's probably not going to be the Great British pound with Brexit. It's unlikely to be the Euro – some question whether Europe will continue to use it for the long-term due to the mis-match between economic and political policies across the countries. Perhaps the currencies of Japan and Australia may go up in popularity? The only countries I would personally want taking on the mantle would be Australia, Singapore or Switzerland, but that's not likely to happen either.
Therefore, after thinking about all that, gold could become more popular because it's universal and doesn't face political pressures. Ray Dalio is also thinking about gold at the moment.
But you can't exactly transfer physical gold like 'electronic money' (or cryptocurrencies). It needs to be shipped and guarded. Who knows what's going to happen? I don't know and no-one else does.
But, perhaps ASX gold miners might be beneficiaries. There could be a lot more demand for gold in the coming years.
So should you rush out and buy shares of Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM), Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)?
Foolish takeaway
The gold miners been great performers over the past year. But does that mean they're good buys today? I really don't know. It might have been an idea to own shares of them at a cheaper price, but I'm not sure today.
