Investors Are Deaf to the Screams of Gold, Cotton: Mark Gilbert

``Gold may be screaming more about a general mistrust of the securities markets than about the prospect of rising prices. Rip, though, would be similarly horrified to see cotton trading near a 15-year high at more than $1 a pound, or wheat surging more than 30 percent in the past year, helping to drive a UBS/Bloomberg index of food prices up by about 28 percent. The official figures say inflation is dormant; the phrase “lies, damned lies and statistics” springs to mind... Every bond investor suspects that chucking billions of dollars into the global economy builds a bed of kindling; nobody wants to shout “fire!” in a crowded trade. ''