Only mere months ago were analysts calling for individuals to buy gold like it was well, gold. Now as stocks seem to be on the up and up, suddenly precious yellow metal is less in vogue, at least by the golden standard. Gold is considered to be the safest bet in terms of commodities holding or increasing value in questionable economic times. When the strength of currency comes into question, banks around the world purchase gold as a store of currency, as gold holds value at a higher rate than its paper and even precious metal counterparts. It should come as no surprise then the demand for gold has increased over the since recession induced panic throughout the United States.Still sitting well over 1,300 per ounce, to say gold has completely fallen out of favor would be far too extreme. After all, it was only within the last 3 years, March of 2008 to be precise, that the price of gold first rose above the 1,000 per ounce plateau. Breaking 1,400 at its high water mark, it appears gold astronomical rise is finally cooling, however, largely due to the relative leveling out of the United States economy, believed to be well on its way to recovery. So is it time to sell your gold?The advice here is to hold off, which considering the conservative nature of gold price fluctuation, can be met with tempered optimism. Most experts are split in terms of where gold goes from here. Wild projections see gold going as high as 4,000 per ounce, most likely in an attention getting effort as opposed to any sort of responsible financial forecasting, while others see the market for gold dipping back towards the 1,000 mark in 2011. It’s more likely gold will rise than fall significantly (fair to assume a relative holding pattern), all depending on the health of the global economy over the coming year.