Yesterday, quietly, with little fanfare or follow-up mention in today's newspapers, gold bullion hit an intraday high past $750.00 U.S. per ounce. Gold is now up 31% in the past 12 months and inching closer to its all-time high of $850.00 U.S. per ounce.

Why are gold bullion prices rising so rapidly? The answer lies in the same reason the Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar, euro, yen and other world currencies are rising in value so quickly -- because the U.S. dollar is falling in value.

Gold bullion is a form of currency. And with the U.S. dollar declining in value at a rate we have not seen in decades, investors who do not want to move in other fiat (paper) currencies move into gold bullion.

For the past five years, I've written about the financial benefits of investing in gold-related investments, namely stocks. No I didn't have a crystal ball telling me gold would increase in value so rapidly.

But I did look logically at the U.S. economy and its problems, and decide long ago that the only way for the U.S. to cure its economic dilemmas was to lower the value of the greenback so America could once again become competitive. Yesterday, the "mood" of the markets was that the Fed would be ready to drop interest rates again if the U.S. economy showed more signs of weakness. Decreased interest rates in the U.S. mean an even lower valued American currency.

The big question: Do you have gold-related investments and are you profiting from the run-up in gold prices?

If you don't, I continue to suggest the shares of large, quality gold stocks. And I would buy those stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as the top gold companies have their listings there. Buying gold stocks on a Canadian exchange also offers Americans a play on the rising Canadian dollar (or should I say falling American dollar).