Monday May 18, 2015, 8:10pm PDT
By Charlotte McLeod+ - Exclusive to Gold Investing News

The gold price has been faring well lately, closing Monday at $1,225.50 per ounce. That’s up significantly from $1,177.90, where it sat at the beginning of May.

In large part it’s data out of the US that’s been driving the yellow metal upward. For instance, jobs data released during the first week of May revealed only a small gain in employment numbers in April, increasing investors’ expectations that a Federal Reserve rate hike will be kept at bay.

The next week news hit that US retail sales for April were unmoved. They’ve now been either down or flat in four out of five months, and the announcement reignited fears that the nation’s economy has yet to recover.

That’s all certainly been a boon for the gold price, which tends to thrive during economic uncertainty. But how high can the yellow metal rise? Here, Resource Investing News takes a look at a prediction put forward recently by Peter Schiff, president and CEO of investment firm Euro Pacific Capital.

$5,000 gold?

As a recent MarketWatch article points out, Schiff has long been a gold bull, and in past years has called for the yellow metal to reach extreme heights. Interestingly, the fact that no such rise has yet materialized has not swayed his opinion — just last week he said he sees the gold price climbing to $5,000.

Putting that price in context, the news outlet notes that while the metal is up about 3 percent year-to-date, it’s hundreds of dollars away from its 2011 high point of about $1,900. And of course in turn $1,900 is a far cry from $5,000.

So what’s behind Schiff’s forecast of $5,000? Summing it up, MarketWatch states that it’s largely based on the fact that he doesn’t see the Fed’s interest rate increase coming through. He believes the central bank ultimately won’t bump the interest rate up, and told the news outlet, “[w]e’ll always have to do [quantitative easing] to offset the damage from the previous QE.”

Painting an evocative picture, he added, “it’s like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. That’s all the Fed has — gasoline. And everyone expects the fire to go out. It can’t go out.”

His advice for investors is to go long on gold as “there is going to be a huge payday.” He believes the cue to wait for is a close above $1,300, which gold last reached back in January. “That’ll change the current dynamic,” he said.

Of course, he also recommends that investors buy into the EuroPac Gold Fund (MUTF:EPGFX), which he co-manages; it was up 4.22 percent year-to-date at close of day Monday. “I think the upside in gold stocks is phenomenal from here,” he concluded.