by Martha C. White Gold recently hit a record high. Owning gold as part of your investment portfolio may still make sense — if your goal is protect yourself against a volatile stock market, rather than chase profits. The price of gold reached its highest-ever on Monday, with spot prices briefly touching nearly $1,944 per ounce, well above the previous record of roughly $1,921 that was set in September 2011. Gold prices tend to rise when the value of the U.S. dollar or Treasury yields fall.