April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Dennis Gartman, editor of the daily Gartman Letter, is ``abandoning ship'' on his positive gold outlook after three years, on expectations that efforts to contain food prices will curb demand for the metal as a hedge against inflation.

``Governments have to get together and stop the rise in grain prices, they will do something,'' Gartman said in a phone interview today from Norfolk, Virginia. ``What if they come in and say you can't expand your positions anymore?''

Commodities are in their seventh years of gains, with oil rising above $117 a barrel for the first time and rice rallying for a sixth day. Gold lagged behind gains of most commodities in the past month, and is down 11 percent from a record on March 17.

This is the first time in three years that Gartman is not positive on gold, he said. Most of his subscribers, including large hedge funds and securities companies, probably won't sell gold for now, he said.

Gold has more than doubled in the past three years, and rose to a record $1,032.70 an ounce last month as some investors bought the metal as a hedge against faster inflation.

``The relative strength of the market has been waning since early this year, a circumstance that has bothered us but which we were willing to overlook so long as new highs were being made,'' Gartman wrote in his Gartman Letter today. ``It has bounced today, and we shall sell that bounce and exit, entirely.''

Gold for immediate delivery gained $3.29, or 0.4 percent, to $920.39 an ounce as of 11:59 a.m. in London.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 21, 2008 07:53 EDT