Something has changed in the gold trade: Gartman

Something has changed in the gold trade: Gartman: "
Stocks pain has turned into gold's gain.

Gold prices soared to a one-month high Thursday as fears of a global slowdown have investors seeking so-called safe haven assets like bonds and bullion. And according to Dennis Gartman, often referred to as the "commodities king," the rally in gold could just be starting.

"There's a real strength in the gold market when you look at it in non-U.S. dollar terms," the publisher of The Gartman Letter said Thursday in an interview with CNBC's "Futures Now." "The difference is enormous."

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While everyone focuses on gold's move relative to the dollar, Gartman says the real story is what's happening around the world. Pointing to gold priced in euros and yen specifically, the CNBC contributor said that bullion has actually been outperforming. As he noted, in euro terms, gold is up 4.6 percent in the past two years and 6.7 percent over the past five years. Whereas related to the yen, it's up 4.8 percent for two years and 26.4 percent in five years.
Gold priced in the U.S. dollar, however, has failed to maintain its footing in recent months, having fallen 12 percent from its late January high and now tracking for its worst quarterly losing streak since 1997.
"[It's] been in a phenomenal, unending, malevolent bear market since November 2011," Gartman noted. Since that time, gold has fallen nearly 35 percent. "If you have owned gold in dollar terms it has been a terrifyingly bad trade."

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For Gartman, owning gold relative to foreign currencies should be a no-brainer. "Why would you want to fund gold in a currency that has been strong when you can fund it in a currency that has been weak?" he asked. "Monetary authorities in Europe and Japan have been far more dovish [than the Fed] and will continue to be far more dovish."

He believes gold could also benefit as the Federal Reserve further retreats from raising rates. "I'm neutral gold in terms of the dollar and long in other currencies," Gartman added."



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