bullion

A working gold toilet seems a much better use of bullion than, say, making it into bars and then just having it sit, useless, in vaults in Fort Knox.

Even though bullion futures were holding on steady on Friday, gold-mining stocks opened in the red.

The World Gold Council’s quarterly report, published on Thursday, showed that demand for bullion hit a record high over the third quarter thanks to a continued buying spree from investors and central banks.

The move means bullion is now trading about 9% short of the record high it hit earlier this month.

BlackRock’s Investment Institute, headed by Jean Boivin, thinks central bank buying will remain a “persistent factor” in boosting gold prices, and sees that bullion as a “tactical exposure in portfolios.”