Gold Rally Over? Don't Bet On It

Think gold's rally is looking tired? It might be time to think otherwise. Analysts raised their 2011 forecasts more than for any other precious metal the past two months, predicting a 10th annual advance, data compiled by Bloomberg show. To boot, Bloomberg reports the most widely held options contract on gold is the December $1,500 contract. Bloomberg goes on to highlight that investors have accumulated some 278 tons in gold assets this year through 10 exchange traded products. That's good news for funds like the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, the second-largest ETF in the world by assets. Hedge funds love gold and gold ETFs. Just look at George Soros. Despite Soros Fund Management LLC's sale of 341,250 GLD shares in the second-quarter, the fund still owns 5.24 million shares of the ETF. The median forecast for gold by 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg is $1,500 sometime next year. Of course, GLD isn't the only game in town. iShares COMEX Gold Trust IAU offers bullion-backed exposure at a comparable expense rate. For those craving Swiss storage, the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares SGOL is the way to go. Leveraged plays are also worth a look for short-term traders. The ProShares Ultra Gold ETF DGP attempts to mirror twice the performance of gold bullion as measured by the U.S. Dollar p.m. fixing price for delivery in London. The PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN DGP is another option to consider. This ETN tracks the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity index - Optimum Yield Gold Excess Return. Beat the market consistently by receiving real-time trade alerts from the ETF Professor!