Investor interest in gold has stayed strong, with increasing numbers of first-time buyers, despite record-high prices for the precious metal that topped $4,000 an ounce on Tuesday. Gold has rallied even as the U.S. stock market is trading near all-time highs. That suggests that investors are hedging record-high equities with record-high gold, but there's a "growing element of hot money driving both markets, too," Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch by email. On Tuesday, gold for December delivery (GC00) (GCZ25) climbed to never-before-seen heights, trading as high as $4,014.60 an ounce ... (full story)