Posted on 07/27/2015 4:19:44 AM PDT by expat_panama
A little less than four years ago, the world looked like it was about to end and gold hit an all-time high of $1,895 an ounce.
The United States had manufactured a debt crisis, and Europe hadn't been able to manufacture a solution to its actual debt crisis, so panicky investors sought safety...
[snip]
That didn't mean, though, that gold wasn't a good short-term investment. It was. Just not for the reason goldbugs thought. Now, the problem with gold is it doesn't pay any interest or dividends, but it does cost money to store. So you have to pay up in the hope that it will pay off by going up in price. That usually makes it a pretty lousy investment. That calculus changes, though, when you're being paid to borrow—that is, when you're paying a negative real interest rate. But when does that happen? Well, when inflation is high but interest rates aren't quite as high, like in the 1970s, or when inflation is low but interest rates are lower still, like today. And that, as Paul Krugman and Larry Summers argued, is why gold prices were going up so much even though inflation wasn't.
It almost makes you feel bad for the goldbugs, until you remember that some substantial number of them are just trying to scare seniors out of their money. But the ones who aren't really thought the 1970s showed that gold went up when inflation did, so the fact that gold was going up now meant inflation couldn't be far behind.
[snip]
That sound you hear is goldbugs insisting that this is just a flesh wound.
[snip]
But don't feel too bad for the goldbugs. The best thing about predicting the apocalypse is you get to try again and again and again.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
No. Go out and invest all of your money in 1 OZ coins.
I dont care.
ANY reasonable investment advisor will tell you not to put your eggs into one basket.
Gold, unlike most other commodities has little industrial use. Sure there is some gold in expensive electronics, but nowhere near the uses of silver and platinum. So, for the most part, gold is a hedge and holder of “value.”
Therefore, traditionally, gold should be used as insurance against inflation or a hedge against the failure of a currency.
This is not brain surgery. Nor is it simply my opinion.
You can be snarky. You can make fun of me.
If retired first at 43. I just retired again from my own business at 54. I hold some gold and silver. Some of it I am taking a beating on. The rest of my investments are very conservative.
I may not be so wealthy that YOU would follow my advice. But then again, based on your answer you probably bought a ton of gold at $1800 and you are just waiting for the dollar to collapse, Jade Helm to blow up, or the resurgence of the Russian and Chinese Empires and the invasion of the US. You probably are worried about a 3rd Obama term.
Sorry, I cannot help you on any of that stuff.
If I were you...I would be hedging some of that hard metal you own by shorting some of the paper stock. But that’s just one poor guy’s opinion.
That's what the gold sales people say but it's not true --we throw it out in the trash all the time and we have to pay ro have it removed. Besides gold's good for throw-away packaging--
--it's also good for lots of other things like circuit contacts for cheap electronics etc.
I would add that even those around 50 can recall the days when you would actually buy and sell stuff with silver.
I think a recognizable quarter that is made of 90% would be of value because MOST people recognize the value.
I do not think you should have a safe full of the stuff, but a couple of hundred dollars in 90% silver would be as valuable in every day barter as ammo would be.
You should have both, in my opinion.
How about an abandoned Siberian diamond mine:
Maybe, maybe not. History does not always repeat itself, what usually happens more often is some new unforseen mess as the world steps on a dog turd that hadn't been squished yet.
For the same reason you trade with dollars now instead of bartering -- it's more convenient.
Amazing picture! Do you have the name of the city?
Many people bought and have held gold since the $250 mark. Sold much of it at $1700+. Still holding some, never bought any above $740, meaning I have still tripled my investment in 10 years. Not a bad INVESTMENT.
Good for you. Seriously.
Bought VIX options Thursday.
We are all happy.
Thanks! It’s Mirny, apparently.
yep...... me too
plus, i sold off part of the profits when it was way up there
I inherited a Savage shotshell reloader & an RCBS Rock Chucker press from my Dad’s estate.
Never thought of them before as `money machines’. Hmmm.....
I hear primers are still costly/hard to find.
I don't agree. If things go badly, after an ugly settling out period, trade will resume. If I want you to do some carpentry for me, and I have vegetables, you may not want enough zucchini to feed an army in return for your week of labor. If other people value silver, you might want the coins I got from 50 people in return for that zucchini, since it is much easier to carry and doesn't spoil. You can then trade a little silver for beef jerky, a little for flour, a little for cheese, etc.
All that junk silver will jump start a transition from barter to a trade economy and help us move out of a Mad Max world or whatever happens in an economic collapse. Gold and silver coins are scarce, and they carry real value if people see them as a convenient way of symbolizing the value of the goods or services they were traded for. Coins as money worked from 3,700 years ago to 100 years ago just like paper money today (but inflation-proof if they are not shaved down or diluted with a higher proportion of base metal).
I agree and I would not put a large percentage of one's estate into gold.
It is amazing how many people read something on the Internet then repeat it, thinking it makes them sound knowledgeable or intelligent; such as, “Gold is not an investment, but a hedge.” They have no idea what that statement means.
My grandfather explained it like this: In the gold rush days, an ounce of gold would buy a decent tailored men’s suit. Today, an ounce of gold would buy a decent tailored men’s suit.
Insurance against what?
Pretty much, give or take. It comes down to the labor needed to mine that ounce of Gold. Same with Silver. One ounce of Silver was a day’s wages. Of course, one ounce of Silver is now only several hour’s pay, but that is because of machinery and automation to mine Silver, but, if Silver bounces back up then it once again becomes a day’s wages.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.