Headline: Gold's Luster a Bright Spot in Tough Economy
"Times are hard," said Virginia Rodriguez, a hospital technician and mother of two, explaining why she has used earrings, rings and a gold cross and chain bequeathed by her grandfather in exchange for loans of nearly $1,000.
The jewelry has been pledged as collateral to Provident Loan Society of New York, which operates from an austere limestone structure on Manhattan's Park Avenue South. Created amid the Panic of 1893 by tycoons such as J.P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt, business has surged during the most recent climb in gold prices.
On Wednesday, gold settled at $1,823.50 per troy ounce. Prices are up 28% so far this year, at a time when other coveted commodities such as crude oil and copper have fallen in 2011 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 2.8%.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
