Investing in precious metals

I'm not really nervous about the economy. I have a fairly stable job in a fairly stable industry. No matter how stable everything seems, things can change in the blink of an eye. I'm sure one month ago the employees at Bear Stearns felt that their jobs were stable as well. We all see what happened there.

I feel like I should diversify my portfolio more. My 401k is fairly diversified although it's not my largest asset. I own 3 individual stocks which are all worth more than my 401k. That won't be true for long though. Within the next 3-6 months, my 401k should surpass the total of 2 of those stocks. The 3rd stock is worth about 5 times as much as my retirement plan so it will take a while to catch up to that.

I have a equities, cash, and some bonds. I've been investigating investing in gold and/or other metals like silver and platinum. With gold selling for over $1k per ounce, I wish I had invested in it long ago. I thought about buying coins. I can put them in my lock box to keep them secure. The good part about coins is that they are portable and fairly liquid.

I'm undecided because this might be the top of the market. That's true of any investment though. I'll look into making more investments this year. It's time for me to get serious with my investments.