Sell Gold ETF, Buy $460,000 Gold Bar

The one thing Harrods can't do, however, is advise potential investors to pick up some gold. That's where the gold companies come in.

Denver-based Newmont Mining(NEM), for example, almost tripled its net income last quarter as gold's value climbed. Canadian mining company Barrick Gold(ABX), one of the world's largest gold excavators, posted a loss after shortchanging itself through hedging, but beat analysts' estimates when the hedges are excluded. Despite a few production bumps along the way, companies like AngloGold Ashanti(AU) and Gold Fields(GFI) also have developed the Midas touch.

Wary shoppers waiting for the gilded bubble to burst can rest easy, as current conditions make gold a much less impulsive selection than Harrods Godiva chocolate or Maxwell the holiday teddy bear. Though a strengthening dollar led to an overall loss in gold prices last week, the first weekly loss since early September, that's likely a slight correction. Gold's price was up nearly 3% in October and has risen steadily from $255 an ounce a decade ago. With Bank of America's(BAC) Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan(JPM) investing heavily in gold, and analysts estimating $1,150-per-ounce gold by next year, perhaps the guys in the Reynolds Wrap headgear were on to something.

-- Reported by Jason Notte in Boston.

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