The Case for Investing in Gold

http://mises.ca/posts/blog/the-case-for-investing-in-gold/

What Warren Buffet doesn’t understand about investing

http://www.sovereignman.com/finance/what-warren-buffett-doesnt-understand-about-investing-10874/

Brett Arends: In gold investing, forget the metal and focus on stocks

Although I am equally bullish on precious metals, I don't agree with the author's sentiment.  The first step in precious metals is buying the physical bullion or coins themselves.  That's the fear trade--a hedge against financial catastrophe.  Once that base is covered, then the greed trade--investing in mining stocks--is supplemental.

Buying physical precious metals is not an investment per se--it produces no cash flow and does not pay a dividend.  But it is a hedge against inflation, currency debasement, and economic collapse.  Consider physical precious metals catastrophe insurance, and your first-line defense against predatory central banks and sovereign governments enamored with the printing press.

http://www.gata.org/node/12003

If you must...

If you must gamble (and yes, investing in stocks is a gamble, and something I don't recommend to clients since most are unfit investors) my next call is buying water stocks. Living without oil will be a struggle, but we will survive future oil crises. But living without water will lead to death. Not only do we need it to hydrate ourselves, but we also need water for our crops, and almost every product we consume. For instance, It takes thousands of gallons of water just to make one pair of jeans. It obviously takes a lot more water to manufacture autos, semiconductors, toasters, etc. I'm not at liberty to recommend specific stocks (for legal and other reasons), but you can do your own research on that. Just tread carefully, and only invest if you can afford to lose some or all of your investment. Hence, for most people whose net worth is under $5 million, I do recommend applying Missed Fortune strategies developed by Doug Andrew. It's a safe, conservative strategy to provide liquidity, safety of principle, and earn a competitive, tax-advantaged rate of return.