Gold - has it topped?

[Chibearsv]

Question for the financial geniuses out there.  Where is gold headed?  It's just a hair off $4950 an ounce right now.  I've sold half of what I had and I'm thinking I'd be dumb riding any more of it at this point.  I'm curious if there are other driving forces that are pushing physical gold prices higher other than market volatility due to world political uncertainty.  I've enjoyed the ride up, especially since it's topped my expectations.  Who's got some insight on precious metals?  I'm not looking to carry much risk at this point of my life.  Should I free-ride what I've got or take the return at this top?

 

[cnov]

Absolutely no expert here. 

Isn't a stock market crash the big factor that we're waiting on and yet to see? 2008 was a triple or thereabouts for gold prices. 

I'm keen to see what the experts have to say on the matter too. 

 

[joeypots]

FWIW my wife  had been holding a bag of pre '64 US coin junk silver her father gave her in the seventies.  Not huge but not nothing. Sold it a week ago. Gold is up something like 75% in a year, silver is pushing over 95$ for a one year gain of 200%. Kind of a bonanza and I bet my FIL, who collected the coins over years as a hobby, would cry to see the we got about 50$ for each dollar of coins.

Sell or hold in such a bull market for precious metals?  I wouldn't worry about missing the top and if the metal drops significantly it can always be bought again.  A trader friend of mine once said it's never wrong to take a profit.