Go for the Gold?

After a dazzling 3-year run-up, goldtook a breather in the first quarter of thisyear. In fact, gold-oriented mutual fundswere the only losing mutual fund segmentin the first 3 months of 2004. Whatinvestors would like to know is whethergold can put in another rally like the onethat took it from $275 an ounce to arecent high of $433, a level not seen inalmost 15 years. Gold bugs point to internationalunrest and terrorism as catalyststhat will keep the price of gold climbing.Increased demand when the economyfinally kicks into high gear shouldalso bolster prices. Skeptics, though, saygold's luster is mostly due to the weakdollar and will fade as the dollargains. Also, central banks will start sellingmore gold once the current agreementlimiting sales expires in September.