By JACK WILLOUGHBY for BARRON’S

WITH THE DARK RECESSION CLOUDS SWEEPING across the newscape, gold is gaining more fans. Last week, it hit a record price of $904 an ounce before sliding back below $900.

Most investment pros agree that gold should constitute a sliver of any well-balanced portfolio — no more than 10% at any time. But how should you invest in the metal?

A recent study done by three finance professors and an executive at the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute in Virginia finds that the best way is not to hold bullion, or even to own the popular exchange-traded funds, such as the StreetTRACKS Gold Shares (ticker: GLD) or Central Gold Trust (GTU). No, sir. The best gold investments are those heavily fee-laden burros of Fundland, the gold-oriented funds. Read Full Story