Interest Bearing Checking Accounts Return Higher Than That Offered By Gold

Gold's best year in three decades has yet to match the returns of an interest-bearing checking account.

Investors who paid $850 an ounce back then earned 44 percent as gold reached a record $1,226.56 on December 3, in London. The S&P 500 stock index produced a 22-fold return with dividends reinvested, Treasuries rose 11-fold and cash in the average U.S. checking account rose at least 92 percent.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, gold investors are still 79 percent away from getting their money back. Strategists and fund managers at Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS), HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HBC), SCM Advisors LLC and Brinker Capital Inc. say buy-and-hold investors
shouldn't always own bullion. The accumulation of gold is part of a record $60 billion that Barclay’s estimates will flow into commodities this year.