Have you tried to buy gold coins or bars in the last few months?

If so, you already have a good idea of the "distortion" I'm going to tell you about today. Right now, the premiums on gold bullion coins and small gold bars have shot up to as much as 15%-20%, sometimes more. That's if you can find any to buy.

The reason: "Large purchases of coins are perhaps the ultimate sign of safe-haven gold buying," said John Reade, a precious-metals strategist at UBS. I said the same thing to a MarketWatch reporter who called me up several weeks ago to talk about gold bullion.

If this were a full-on, mom-and-pop gold mania, it'd be a sign of the top. But this is different.

A recent Financial Timesarticle said gold buying is being driven by professional money managers and the "very rich," who are hoarding the metal in vaults. Peter Munk, founder of Barrick Gold, recently said just about the same thing to a group of power brokers in Davos, Switzerland. Munk said he's never seen such strong interest in physical gold ownership.

Something strange is going on. People are paying double-digit premiums for gold bullion... and yet quoted gold prices are still well below their March 2008 highs of just over $1,000. The CBOE Gold Index, at around 151, is more than 30% below its all-time high. The bellwether gold stocks like Barrick and Newmont are still 30% off their all-time highs... But the high premiums on bullion coins and bars indicate the published gold price could be too low by as much as 20%.

People can't get enough real gold in their possession. They're buying gold coins so fast, the U.S. Mint has rationed them, trying to fairly distribute the supply among throngs of customers.

But at the "risky" end of the gold spectrum, gold stock prices are so cheapinvestors can buy gold exploration projects for less than nothing.

Everyone is terrified of risk. They look ahead and see nothing but disaster for years to come. All they want is investment insurance: cash, gold bullion, and nothing else. They sure as hell don't want "risky" natural-resources stocks.

The distortion has created a paradox: There's almost no risk left in risk. That's no typo. I said, there's almost no risk left in risk. Say it a different way and it becomes clear: Risk is dirt cheap. Safety, the safety of Treasury bills, is way too expensive, selling at the equivalent of almost 29 times pretax earnings.

How can you and I take advantage of this distortion? First off all, get acquainted with gold stocks right now. Do it this week. I recommend starting with a unique group of natural resource stocks called "prospect generators."

If you dislike the mining business because it's too risky and capital intensive, I agree completely. But prospect generators aren't mining companies... 

Mining companies use enormous machines and armies of people to dig gigantic holes and pull tons of dirt and rocks out of them. That's how they make a living. Prospect generators just employ a few smart guys who know their geology. They get ideas, find a partner – and hardly spend a penny of their own money.

Let's get one thing straight. I'm not saying natural-resource exploration isn't a highly risky business. It is. Most exploration stocks are terrible places for your money. There are perhaps 5,000 of these little companies in the world. Only about 400 of them are worth knowing anything about.

But the best among those are so cheap right now, they could easily double or triple your money this year.

Good investing,

Dan 

Editor's note: Dan Ferris is a regular contributor to DailyWealth, a free investment newsletter focused on the world's best contrarian opportunities. We write with a simple belief in mind: You don't have to take big risks to make big money with your investments. 

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