“Is gold worth $1,400? We think so,” UBS precious metals analyst Edel Tully wrote in a recent research report. “We like gold, and expect it to continue climbing given the current macro and sentiment backdrop.” Tully predicted that gold likely will zigzag its way above $1,500 an ounce next year, and “behave more like a currency than a commodity for the foreseeable future.”

At Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, analyst David Greely in mid-October raised his 12-month target for gold to $1,650 an ounce from $1,365, saying that the Fed’s monetary easing policy will keep interest rates low and spur gold purchases.