Not sure what specifically triggered the pre-market thrust in gold and in the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), but there are probably 10 fundamental reasons we can come up with, aside from the resumption of the “flight-to-safety” excuse.

Right now, every time I think about the reason for a powerful new upleg in gold prices, my mind gravitates to the following thought — that questions about the efficacy of the most powerful governmental institutions on the planet (the Fed and the BOJ) might slowly but surely be eating away at investor confidence that current eco-financial problems can be appropriately dealt with, and remedied.

Once CONFIDENCE starts to deteriorate, it will gain momentum rapidly, which will “force” money into gold and out of all types of sovereign paper. At that point, should it emerge, gold will be the main game in town.

See our chartwork on the GLD.