Published: December 26, 2009

When the bank pays you nothing in interest, gold goes up. And right now, the bank is paying you nothing in interest.

Why does gold go up when interest rates are low? It's simple...

The knock against owning gold has always been that, unlike cash, it pays no interest... Compound interest is almost irresistible. If you can earn 7% a year on a $10,000 deposit, in 10 years time, it will be worth $20,000. Gold will just sit there like a bump on a log.

But every so often, like right now, paper money pays you no interest... and the scales tip in favor of gold.

That's the simple version. Let's add one little tiny wrinkle to it, so you can see why gold has become irresistible now...

The forecast for inflation in 2010 is around 2%. Yet the Fed is keeping interest rates near zero. So instead of earning nothing in interest at the bank, you're actually LOSING 2% a year to inflation. That's what's REALLY happening – the REAL interest rate at the bank (minus inflation) is NEGATIVE 2%.

My longtime friend Porter Stansberry asked me to do a study of what happens when real interest rates are less than zero. The results were astonishing...

In short, when real rates are negative, gold soars and stocks stink. And when real rates are positive, gold stinks and stocks soar.

Here are the actual results. (Note: These are COMPOUND ANNUAL GAINS.)