Some folks just can't deal with anything that deviates from the official line of "buy stocks and hold them".
Those folks probably don't remember the 70s, where not only did we have a bear market in stocks and bonds, but inflation that ravaged what little gains were to be had. Of course, if you owned gold or other hard assets in the 70s, you did quite well.
In addition to the fundamentals associated with our economy (which don't look good), historically there have been 15-20 year cycles associated with paper assets vs. hard assets. In the 80s and 90s, we saw a bull market in paper (stocks and bonds) and a bear market in things (gold and commodities).
Now things have flipped. We're in a secular bear market in stocks and bonds and a bull market in commodities, including gold. Once the sheeple are fully on board, that means we're in the last phase of the bull market and it would be time to sell. We have a long way to go until that happens. Until then, I plan to enjoy the ride!
Most folks have a very small time horizon, that's for sure.
Which economic fundamentals don't look good to you now?
Yes, the 70s. The best thing to have going into the 70s was a really nice house with a big, big fixed rate mortgage. You then had the pleasure of sticking it to the bank by paying them with money that was losing 20% of it's value a year, at some points, while taking the full appreciation on your house. Lots of people bought houses in the seventies for $40,000 and sold them in the 90s for $500,000 or more.