The roller-coaster price of gold climbed to $528 an ounce on December 12 from $459 in early November and an investment still could pay off over the next few years, according to an article in the December 26 issue of Barron's.
In addition to owning the metal itself, investors have a variety of ways to enter the market with varying degrees of risk, the newspaper said.
First, they can opt for exchange-traded funds specialising in gold, such as StreetTracks Gold Trust, which has attracted nearly $4 billion in its first year, according to Barron's. Another ETF is iShares Comex Gold Trust, Barron's said.
Riskier are gold funds, such as American Century Global Gold Fund and the Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Group. For those with greater appetites for risk, the newspaper, citing Dennis Gartman, editor and publish of the daily Gartman Letter, suggests companies such as Newmont Mining Corp or Barrick Gold Corp.
The newspaper said Morningstar equity analyst Parvathy Krishnan favours Barrick, Royal Gold Inc, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc and Goldcorp.
Frank Holmes, chief executive of US Global Investors, is partial to Goldcorp and holds more than 10 percent of Northern Orion Resources Inc, Barron's said.