Gold investors have had a good run for the last year. The streetTRACKS Gold Shares (symbol: GLD) are up 41% over their price from a year ago this week. This is a great return but one glaring problem is that the GLD price is down 14% from its high in May. So where will gold go from here?

The chart seems to show uncertainty. As you can see, the price of gold was on a steady upward pace until May of this year. Since then the price has moved lower and bounced around between the trend lines that you can see on the graph. It has formed a triangle pattern and is currently sitting at the lower line of the triangle. The Stochastic indicator also shows that GLD is currently oversold. So these are a good indication that there should be a short-term jump in gold prices by about 4-5%.

There are also still many good reasons to invest in gold long-term. From a simple supply and demand standpoint, more people and industries are wanting gold while the amount of new gold coming to market is declining. Electronics alone consume more than 150 tonnes of gold annually and that is certainly not likely to decline any time soon. Gold is also becoming more popular as a diversification tool in many peopleââ,¬â"¢s portfolios which helps to drive further demand.

If you are interesting in investing in gold, the fastest and easiest way to invest in an asset tied directly into the commodity is through the GLD fund. Mining and processing companies that produce gold are also a good way to get the benefits of rising gold prices, as well as mutual funds that have exposure to these type of companies. There are also brokers that will simply buy actual gold bars for you and hold it in trust as an investment.

The streetTRACKS Gold Shares fund, it is an exchange traded fund that was set up to make it easier for stock traders and investors to deal with gold. You can buy or sell GLD just like any stock through a broker. The company that issues the fund holds the gold commodity for you so you do not have to deal with the added problems of commodity trading. There are several of these types of ETFs, including the iShares Silver Trust (symbol: SLV) and U.S. Oil Fund ETF (symbol: USO), and more will probably be coming to the market soon.

Price Headley is the founder and chief analyst of BigTrends.com.