(By Peter Krauth) As gold once again breaks the psychologically important barrier of $1,000 an ounce, all the pundits are wondering if it will last.

I have to confess that – deep down – this makes me smile. The reason: I know that the real question to ask is "When will gold go on to set new highs?"

So let me cut right to the chase. This breakout run in gold prices will last.

The "Golden Staircase" tells us so.

After bottoming out about $250 an ounce about nine years ago, such key fundamental catalysts as increasing demand, lower supply, inflationary fears and a flight to safety have been driving the price of gold northward.

But gold is like any other financial asset in that prices don't rise in a straight line – especially if they're rising a long way. But they follow a clear and discernable pattern.

As asset prices rise, they often initially overshoot. Then they "correct" – fall back a bit. Then they "consolidate," or trade sideways, usually for a period of six to 18 months, but sometimes for even longer.

It's this period of sideways trading that creates the horizontal "step" in the "Golden Staircase" – a technical-analysis tool that lets us "see" the foundation for the next step up in the long-term uptrend in the price of gold.

The formation of the newest "step" in the staircase was started in mid-2007. That's when the $1,000 price level was first breached. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, when gold prices eclipsed that key barrier on Tuesday, Sept. 8, it was the fifth time they'd attempted to do so.

Each of these attempts has helped define $1,000 as a ceiling.  But in a "Golden Staircase," the ceiling eventually becomes a new floor.  So once the $1,000 price point is eclipsed in a decisive manner, it will become a key "support level" for gold prices.

You can also think of it as the top surface of a new step.

And that's precisely the juncture where gold finds itself right now. [Editor's Note: Please see accompanying graphic: "Gold 'Steps' Toward New Highs"].

From a technical standpoint, the outlook for gold is bright, indeed. But the fundamental picture is even more bullish.

Barrick's Bullish ‘Bought Deal'

Now, I realize it was probably pure coincidence that the world's largest gold miner, Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), announced it would raise $4 billion on the same day gold flirted with $1,000.  But the conspiracy theorist in me likes to believe otherwise.

For Barrick Chief Executive Officer Aaron W. Regent, this so-called "bought deal" was a conscious strategic move. Barrick has a reputation for wisely using hedges to its own advantage.  The strategy served the company well in its copper-production business. And when gold prices fell in the late 1990s, Barrick turned to this strategy again – and again benefited nicely.

Recently, however, Barrick's bankers have been coaxing the company's leaders to ditch the hedges in order. The reason: In an environment of rising gold prices, hedged bets dampen profits. Removing those hedges, by contrast, elevates profits. But it also elevates the company's risk.

So when a company such as Barrick makes a strategic decision to raise equity capital in order to close a large portion of its infamous hedge-book, that's a highly bullish sign for gold prices.

When Central Bankers Become Gold Buyers

A third Central Bank gold agreement has recently been ratified. And, interestingly, it's a weaker version of its two predecessors.

New limits will allow for only 400 metric tons to be sold annually, down from 500 metric tons in the previous deal.  The deal is bullish on its face. And, even better, this more to it than meets the eye.

You see, the last 10 years of these agreements have seen some 4,000 metric tons unloaded into the market.  And even into the face of the $80-billion-selling headwind these divestitures created, gold has managed to stage a rise from $250 an ounce to the current $1,000.

And story gets better, still: According to the World Gold Council, the world's central banks became overall net buyers of gold as of this year's second quarter – the first time that's happened since 2000.

China Goes For the Gold

In the post-financial crisis global economy, China is quickly becoming the proverbial "800-pound gorilla" – the player that has to be courted, but that can't be tamed.

And now, in a signature move, China has decided to take a remarkable step, choosing to take control of its own gold.

Just this month, in fact, Hong Kong announced that it would bring all its gold bullion back home, recalling the reserves from depositories in London.