As recession fears rise, Bernstein is suggesting investors look to gold and gold mining stocks to reduce risk. The firm's global quantitative trading strategy group on Monday sent a note titled "a strong case for holding gold." "We show that from current equity valuations and from similar points in previous cycles gold and equities give more similar returns ... [to] risk assets such as equities," Bernstein said. "A material shift in geopolitical risk and a near-record build up in government debt make other potential risk-free assets more questionable and also bring a temptation to create inflation, thereby ... (full story)