Gold price touches $1,300 record high, a look at palladium ... and Alzheimer's treatment

The price of gold has risen above $1,300 an ounce for the first time.

The price of the precious metal reached $1,300.07 during trading at the London bullion market, before dipping back.

The latest rise has been spurred by caution over the global economy, as well as weakness in the US dollar - the currency used to value gold - which fell 1% against the euro.

The gold price has increased five-fold in the last 10 years, up from a low of $258 in 2000.

One of the factors spurring investors is gold's traditional role as a so-called "safe-haven" investment at times of economic uncertainty.

Another driver is more technical - gold is priced in dollars, and any fall in the dollar makes it cheaper to buyers using other currencies.

The World Gold Council's last report on the gold market predicted that continuing strong demand from jewellery buyers in the two fast-developing markets of India and China would help to keep the price high.

via BBC News - Gold price touches $1,300 record high.

What's up with Palladium? Why buy, even with the price high.

The Russians might be tapped out of one of their most precious natural resources...

Palladium.

And now that the country won't be able to supply the market, palladium prices could be headed for an explosive increase.

For investors, there's a small window of opportunity to get in before prices really start to take off.

.... As the global auto industry continues to recover, the demand for palladium will increase with the growing demand for catalytic converters.

The recovery of the global auto industry will push the demand for palladium higher. ...

The last time palladium was entering a similar bull market, prices rapidly surged from $160 to over $1,100 an ounce — a 588% increase!

Fortunately, palladium prices have pulled back quite a bit, allowing for a buying opportunity. And if we have a similar bull market for palladium, prices could hit $3,438 an ounce!

With palladium prices nearing $3,500 an ounce, the investment gains from this small stock will start to increase exponentially...

via Palladium Outlook for 2011: Demand Up, Supply Down.

Another major investment trend: Alzheimer's treatment.

I consider Alzheimer’s to be one of the top 10 investment trends of my lifetime.

You see, after heart disease and cancer, Alzheimer's is the third-largest killer in the United States.

Baby boomers are afraid of getting the disease. A survey conducted this year revealed that baby boomers chose Alzheimer’s as their #1 concern.

No wonder… In addition to robbing its victims of memory and independence, care and treatment of the disease in the U.S. costs more than $100 billion annually.

This is a big market that is only going to get bigger with the rise in instances of the disease.

For investors like you and me, looking for mega-trends like Alzheimer's disease over the next 30 years is going to pay off in spades. After all, any company coming up with a working cure for Alzheimer's can make up to $20 billion in added revenue annually.

The number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease grew 10% globally between 2005 and 2009 to 35 million, according to a report by U.K.-based Alzheimer’s Disease International.

And — mostly because people are living longer — this number is expected to continue climbing to 115.4 million in 2050, according to the report, which surveyed nations around the world.

With those kinds of numbers — and the positive report published last week on Anavex’s 2-73 compound — you can bet that big pharma is taking a close and interested look at the company.

- wealth daily

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. ("Anavex") (OTCBB: AVXL) today announced that the Journal of Psychopharmacology has published an original paper showing that ANAVEX 2-73 and its only and active metabolite ANAVEX 19-144 alleviate neurotoxicity and cognition deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease.

The paper, titled "Anti-amnesic and neuroprotective potentials of the mixed muscarinic receptor/sigma 1 ligand ANAVEX 2-73, a novel aminotetrahydrofuran derivative", is available online at http://jop.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0269881110379286v1?papetoc and cites biochemical, morphological and behavioral evidence from experiments conducted jointly between INSERM at University of Montpellier 2 and Anavex Life Sciences Corp.

Validated and well-recognized, standard non-transgenic animal models were used to show statistically significant neuroprotective effects via both muscarinic cholinergic and sigma-1 receptor agonism effects.

The authors compare the pharmacological profile of ANAVEX 2-73 to that of donepezil (marketed as ARICEPT(R)), the leading-selling drug approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, noting the greater potential benefits of ANAVEX 2-73. Amyloid-beta peptide has been shown to result in mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum stress, intracellular calcium dysregulation leading to oxidative stress and apoptosis (cell death). The authors point to the role of ANAVEX 2-73 in prevention of oxidative stress and apoptosis and other data suggesting modulation of Bcl-2 and reactive oxygen species.

Dr. Tangui Maurice, one of the authors of the paper, stated, "ANAVEX 2-73 reversed the neurotoxicity of an oligomeric preparation of amyloid-beta peptide used to mimic Alzheimer's in mice when given after the agent had been administered. Furthermore, when given simultaneously with the agent, ANAVEX 2-73 blocked the appearance of learning impairments. These exciting findings and the added benefit of the active metabolite conveying anti-amnesic and neuroprotective activity point to potential benefit in Alzheimer's disease for this novel agent.


Read more: http://www.drugs.com