By Richard Russell in Dow Theory Letters:

It's easy to be deceived by the near-term picture. By that I mean it's easy to lose perspective when you are struggling with the daily and even the weekly market action.

Over the long-term, the big fundamental picture will often reveal itself. For instance, consider this. In January 2000, the Dow was selling for just over 11000. At the same time gold was selling for about $280 an ounce.

Today the Dow is selling for about 10500, actually below its year 2000 price. Gold is selling for over 1100, four times its year 2000 price. So what does that tell us? Gold has represented the standard for wealth for over 5000 years. Consequently the above tells us that the Dow and the stock market have failed to conserve our wealth.

It tells us something else. Since the year 2000, the Fed, the know-nothings, and many analysts have been bad-mouthing gold, which some still call the "barbaric relic." In the face of all the bad-mouthing, how is it that gold has risen from 280 to 1100? Clearly, some investors have been buying the precious metal, all the while ignoring the nonsense spewed by the anti-gold elements.

Crux Note: Learn more about the excellent Dow Theory Letters here.

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