The saying "all that glitters is not gold" might not be the case in the investment world these days.
Gold prices are hovering over $1,800 an ounce, up 28 percent so far this year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Other assets aren't doing so hot.
Commodities like oil and copper have fallen this year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down as well.
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Political and economic woes in the U.S. and Europe have made currencies unattractive investments at times this year as well.
Gold, experts say, will continue to shine.
From 2005 to 2010, U.S. sales of used gold jewelry and other scrap jumped 137 percent to 143 metric tons, according to consulting firm GFMS, the Journal reports.
Turn on the television and or log onto Facebook and sooner or later, someone's there offering cash for gold.
Developer Donald Trump has said he will accept a security deposit in gold at his new tower in Manhattan's Financial District.
"There's definitely more interest in people selling gold" since the U.S. government's long-term credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's in early August, Ron Lieberman, owner of Palisade Jewelers in Englewood, N.J., tells the newspaper.
Gold acts as a safe haven amid times when paper currencies weaken or when economies remain wobbly, and that's going to remain the case as long as political and spending issues plague the U.S. and debt fears grip Europe.
"The debt crisis of euro-zone peripherals remains the dominant issue," says Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, according to Bloomberg.
"Gold should remain in demand as a safe haven."
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