A Tale of Two Cities (part 1)

First, the good news. The equities market (as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or DJIA) has done remarkably well for over a century--in nominal terms (click on the chart to enlarge). The overall trend looks positive, foreboding continued long-term appreciation--probably due to monetary growth. In between periods of consolidation are years of bullish stock markets.

Gold vs. the USDollar

The price of gold isn't increasing in real terms--it has retained its value for 6000 years. The reason why gold prices have increased in nominal terms is due to weakness in the USDollar. This gold vs. USDollar chart gives a clear illustration of what's happening to the tenuous status of the world's reserve currency.