The precious metal is coming off its best first quarter in 30 years – gaining 16%.

The spot price has jumped from $1,082 an ounce to nearly $1,300 today.

But many of the smartest investors in the world – those with the deepest understanding of our financial system – are still piling in.

This week, Soros disclosed a $264 million stake in the world’s largest bullion producer – Barrick Gold (ABX). It’s his firm’s single-largest position. Soros also bought $124 million worth of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).

At the same time, Soros doubled his bet against the S&P 500. He now owns 2.1 million put options in the index fund.

Eton Park – a $9 billion hedge fund run by Eric Mindich (the youngest partner in Goldman Sachs’ history) – initiated a massive $422 million position in GLD.

And billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller explained at the recent Sohn Investment Conference in New York City why he believes the bull market is exhausted. In short, he told the audience to sell stocks and buy gold.

Druckenmiller has 30% of his personal fortune (more than $300 million) in the precious metal. And he explained at the conference that negative interest rates around the world make him more bullish on gold than ever…

“It has traded for 5,000 years and for the first time has a positive carry in many parts of the globe as bankers are now experimenting with the absurd notion of negative interest rates. Some regard it as a metal, we regard it as a currency and it remains our largest currency allocation.”