It is billed as the gold debate of the year, a face-off between US Global Investors Inc. chief executive Frank Holmes and KITCO metals analyst John Nadler, that will look at the strengths and weaknesses in the global bullion markets.
Organizers are hoping that the discussion will be among the highlights of the two-day Cambridge House World Resource Investment Conference. It kicks off in Vancouver on Sunday
“These are two of the finest minds that are covering the precious metals market these days,’’ said Cambridge House President Howard Fitch.
Topics covered are expected to include the future of paper money, gold’s utility as a safe haven for wealth, the role of central banks in gold pricing, and the impact of Asian economies on gold. Nadler and Holmes will talk about how high the gold price should go, relative to currencies.
Fitch said he thinks this type of debate is needed because of the widespread view among investors that the U.S. economy is a house of cards and the U.S. dollar is falling down, leaving gold as potentially the only hard asset that can act as a store of value.
He describes the 30-minute debate as a bear versus bull type argument.
Having traded gold in his career, Nadler is expected to take a pragmatic view, while Holmes is viewed as more of an optimist.
Aside from the gold debate, the conference will feature the usual roster of investment newsletter writers and commentators, including well known names such as John Kaiser, Pamela Aden and Lawrence Roulston.
Cambridge House is expecting to see about 5,000 attendees at this year’s conference. As usual, the focus will be on resource stocks and the outlook for commodities.