The top five gold commentators

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There are a range of commentators on the precious metals but there is a golden elite whose insights, opinions and research should not be missed by gold investors. These gold market luminaries can be found in a number of places, and come from a variety of backgrounds. We thought it a good moment to pay our respects, explain to others why these gold commentators are so notable and deserving of your attention, and talk a bit more about why we think they’re so great. Read on for a range of sources that are sure to help your gold investment knowledge.
We’ve compiled a list of our top 5 gold commentators, who are worth seeking out. This is by no means scientific or definitive, but it is a collection of bankers, investors, traders and entrepreneurs who have helped us develop our world view. We have only included commentators that are alive and thus highly accessible today, had we not the late Ferdinand Lips would have surely been included. We have also tried to keep it focused on the gold and silver markets; we would otherwise have been sure to mention the likes of wider forecasters and trend spotters such as Bill Bonner. Tell us if we’ve missed anyone off the list in the comments section below! And, while you’re at it recommend your favourite commentators or analysts.

Jim Sinclair – ‘Mr Gold’

Jim Sinclair is a legendary trader with decades of experience in the gold, silver, commodities, and foreign exchange markets. He is often known as Mr Gold because of his hugely deep knowledge of and association with the gold market. Jim grew up amongst trading royalty, his father being business partners with Jesse Livermore. He has built and sold a number of financial businesses, worked as a advisor to the Hunt brothers in the early 1980s to help run down their silver position, and has published numerous magazine articles and books about investment and the markets.
Back in 2000 Jim forecast a gold price of $1,760 in ten years’ time. His price target was hit in August 2011, rather poetically on the day of the August GATA conference in London. Can he correctly forecast the gold market again? We cannot say for sure, but Jim is better placed than almost anyone else to try. Gold investors will be greatly helped in their journey by this market heavyweight.
You can regularly hear Jim speak on King World News, and we also highly recommend his website that is a fantastic free resource for gold investors: www.jsmineset.com.

Ben Davies

Since founding his precious metals fund in 2007, Ben Davies has shot to prominence in the precious metals markets where he is one of the top commentators and investors. His place at number two in our list is all the more remarkable because he is many years (in some cases decades!) younger than the assembled company. His historical grasp of the gold and silver markets lacks precious little when compared to more senior others listed here.
Ben was previously a trader in the fixed income markets, and was previously head of trading at RBS Greenwich Capital in London. We had the pleasure of interviewing Ben earlier in 2012. Ben’s fund, Hinde Capital, produces some of the best research for gold and silver investors. Hinde’s research is deep, extensive and highly educational, but be warned it can sometimes be over 50 pages long. Ben’s reports cover a range of areas from the danger of gold ETFs, state intervention in markets, and even short term market updates with a specific market call. There are few, if any, who can call markets consistently over the short term, by Ben, like Jim Sinclair above, is one of the best placed to do so. His piece ‘Silver Criticality’ was one of the best short term calls in the volatile silver market. He told us he had to rush this out in 24 hours, in time with his suddenly building hunch about a drop in the silver price. Ben’s research will also direct you onto other great academics, analysts and traders, such as Peter Bernholz, Didier Sornette, Benoit Mandelbrot and others, whose research, books and insights will also help your investing and world view.
You can read reports from Hinde Capital here, and Ben also features regularly on King World News. You can enjoy Ben’s Tweetstream and personal insights into his business life via @HindeCapital.

Eric Sprott

Eric Sprott has many decades of experience in the investment industry and founded the now >$11bn Sprott Asset Management. Eric is one of the most eloquent speakers and writers in the precious metals markets, and another very popular conference speaker. His analyses of wider macro issues affecting currency wars, leverage and debt, and state induced imbalances is superb. Eric is a thought leader for investors, and savers might benefit from listening carefully to him on why keeping money in the bank is not necessarily a safe investment.
Eric is another investor not afraid to call individuals and institutions to account. He is an outspoken critique of the meddling of central bankers, and campaigns for greater fairness in the precious metals markets. Specifically Eric has a grievance with the price discovery process that sets the gold and silver prices. He believes the paper and derivatives markets set the gold price, when it is in fact the physical market that is the real and honest market investors should participate in. It was for this reason that Eric called on silver miners to think differently about the silver bullion product they produce.
Eric appears regularly on King World News, and he and others from Sprott AM write excellent monthly newsletters called ‘Markets at a Glance’.

James Turk

James Turk is another godfather of the gold market. He was a trained banker, with Chase Manhattan Bank, before moving into the investment and trading worlds. James also managed commodities for an Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund, and has written “The Freemarket Gold & Money Report” since 1987. James’ analysis, and his ‘Fear Index’, have become greatly respected in the precious metals markets.
James is a great student of sound money and Austrian economics, and is now heavily focused on educating investors and voters. He co-authored ‘Dollar Collapse’ with John Rubino, a financial book about the demise of the dollar and how to profit from it. The book and the associated website (DollarCollapse.com) come highly recommended; you can also read our comment and analysis on this website. James’ GoldMoney Foundation does great work spreading the word about gold, silver, and the problems in the global financial system. The foundation’s interviews with academics, politicians, investors and traders may well aid your gold investment knowledge.
James is another regular on the financial news site, King World News.

Jim Rickards

Jim Rickards is an investment banker with over three decade’s experience in the markets. He is also a trained lawyer and has served as General Counsel at several financial institutions. Jim was the principal negotiator of the government-sponsored rescue of the LTCM hedge fund collapse of 1998, and also assists the Department of Defence in their understanding of financial warfare.
Jim has become a well-known figure in the precious metals markets due to his breadth and depth of financial knowledge, including monetary history and gold. He is another favourite on investment podcasts, financial news shows, and money websites. Jim’s book ‘Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis’ became a New York Times bestseller, and is now a much read and cited financial book. During the promotion of this book economist Nouriel Roubini called out Jim via Twitter for his discussion of the gold standard. In our humble opinion Jim proved to be much better versed in the detail of this technical discussion than Mr Roubini, who continues to broad cast strong opinions of the direction of the gold price without much of a record.
You can regularly hear Jim talking gold, the markets and the economy on King World News, whilst his regular blogs on Seeking Alpha are also highly recommended. You can follow Jim on Twitter via @JamesGRickards, for an amusing and insightful Tweetstream.
The golden quintet
We hope you enjoy listening to and reading these commentators. We think you’ll find their analysis educational and even eye-opening. Sir Isaac Newton once quipped: “If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants [sic]”. You may well be able to use the individuals above to do similarly, and understand more about the future of the gold and silver prices. (As mentioned above do use the comments section below to add your opinions and favourite gold commentators.)