Fun fact to owe the day one Troy ounce is about 10% heavier than one regular ounce.

Gold is where we're going to start from American public media.

This is Marketplace.

In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Rizzdahl.

It is Monday today.

This one is the 22nd of December.

Good as always to have you along, everybody.

It cost you as of the closed day in New York, a record $4,44, and to get yourself one of the aforementioned Troy ounces of gold.

That is yet another record high. The safest of safe havens is up 70% for the year, 7.0%. And yes, there is lots going on out there to be seeking safety from. But as marketplaces, Henry App reports

now to get us going, there is something else in the mix, too. A lot of market analysts think that

the Federal Reserve will cut rates at least twice next year. That's based on the direction the job

market and inflation appear to be heading. There are two reasons lower rates could make gold more interesting to investors.

The first is straightforward, says Paolo Pascoaello, a finance professor at the University

of Michigan.

In finance, when somebody wants to speculate on a financial asset, you want to make a bet on

stock or a bond or on gold or silver, the way speculators do it is to borrow money in order to make a bet on stock or a bond or gold or silver, the way speculators do it is to borrow money in order to make the best.

Lower interest rates would make it cheaper to borrow money to buy a bunch of gold.

The second reason is a bit more conceptual.

Instead of buying gold and silver, you could keep money in the bank.

And if you keep money in the bank, you'll be earning interest. Say in a certificate of deposit or money market account. But if rates go down, the interest

you get from the bank often goes down too. And even though gold doesn't earn you any interest,

it could become relatively more attractive. Philip Strebel is chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures.

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