Nothing to Hold Gold Prices Back Now

Based upon the assertion by Ben Bernanke that the Federal Reserve is tying its QE3 program into the performance of the job market stimulus could be ongoing for the next five to six years.

with that in mind, along with the decision to keep interest rates artificially low, gold prices should continue to push up for years into the future.

The expectations are that the Fed will continue to ease until unemployment reaches about 5.5 percent. That would result in the Fed balance sheet doubling again, assuming that figure can be met over the next five years or so. If not, the sky is the limit as to how high the balance sheet would go, which will continue to devastate the U.S. dollar, and push up the price of many commodities, including gold.

As measured by the prior experience of the price of gold moving up in conjunction with the size of the monetary base in the U.S., gold prices could soar to the $3,500 to $4,000 range before it's all through. Again, that assumes the job market improves and the Federal Reserve stops printing or digitizing money out of thin air.