Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Gold Is Cheap. Inflation Is Coming. You Do the Math
Barrons ^ | 09-24-2018 | Andrew Bary

Posted on 10/01/2018 6:57:57 PM PDT by NRx

Gold has gotten a bad rap.

Long seen as the investment choice of the cranky and the fearful, the metal yields nothing; as Warren Buffett has said, it just “looks at you.”

This year has been especially lackluster for gold. Its price has slumped 8%, to about $1,200 an ounce, and is off more than 35% from its high of $1,900 in 2011. Adding insult to injury, Vanguard will soon rechristen the largest gold-oriented U.S. mutual fund and shift its focus away from the metal.

But this out-of-favor asset class now deserves a place in investment portfolios.

Compared with stocks and other financial assets, gold looks inexpensive. More important, inflation is starting to pick up in the U.S. and in much of the world as central banks shrink their enormous balance sheets. And gold has represented a good defense against inflation eroding the value of a stock or bond portfolio. Over time, it has held its value against the dollar. Gold was $20.67 an ounce 100 years ago and that bought a good men’s suit. At $1,200 an ounce, the same is true today.

“Gold is rare, and it’s hard to rapidly increase the supply of it,” says Keith Trauner, co-portfolio manager of the GoodHaven (ticker: GOODX) mutual fund, which holds Barrick Gold (ABX), a leading mining company. “People have historically viewed it as a hedge against government depreciation of local currency...”

“...Virtually every government in the world is trying to promote inflation partly because there is so much sovereign debt,” Trauner says. When there is so much debt, he contends, governments have three choices: default, restructure, or inflate the currency. “Politicians, when given the chance, will choose the latter.”

(Excerpt) Read more at barrons.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Canada; Front Page News; Mexico
KEYWORDS: andrewbary; baloney; barrons; boycotts; bozos; canada; churn; churnchurnchurn; churning; gold; goldbugs; idiocy; incometaxes; keithtrauner; mexico; nafta; nevertrump; nevertrumper; nevertrumpers; nonsense; ntsa; sanctions; tariffs; taxcutsandjobsact; taxreform; tcja; trade; trumpeconomy; usmca
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last
Gold is probably cheap. But with a silver to gold price ratio of around 82:1, I'd say silver is even cheaper. Recently the price ratio has hit its highest level since the early 1990's. So yeah, I've been nibbling in silver for a little over a month. But in any event precious metals in general look to be below fair market value right now.

Just my 2¢. Do your own due diligence... caveat emptor.

1 posted on 10/01/2018 6:57:57 PM PDT by NRx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: NRx

Gold is how you buy large property (Not just land, but big-ticket items) in just about all trading economies.

Silver is how you buy food and gas in all trading economies. It’s just as important to not have a pocket full of gold as it is to have empty pockets in a crash.

That said, Did this place turn into SHTFplan.com while I wasn’t looking ? The lucrative “prepper industry” has been telling us the dollar is collapsing in 24 hours for the past literally 18 years.


2 posted on 10/01/2018 7:02:06 PM PDT by Celerity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NRx

I think a lot of people go broke speculating on silver, and I think gold as well.


3 posted on 10/01/2018 7:02:38 PM PDT by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NRx

A 21 trillion dollar debt pretty much assures eventual inflation.


4 posted on 10/01/2018 7:02:41 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death by cults.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NRx

I like “junk” silver. 1921 Morgan dollars have been reasonable lately. Or pre ‘65 Roosevelt dimes


5 posted on 10/01/2018 7:04:32 PM PDT by dynachrome (When an empire dies, you are left with vast monuments in front of which peasants squat to defecate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Williams

I can’t eat either one of those.

The commodities I do have will serve me well.


6 posted on 10/01/2018 7:04:37 PM PDT by Bulwyf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: NRx

Silver is better. Down 2/3 from it’s peak, and much more practical for most people use to buy, sell and trade.


7 posted on 10/01/2018 7:04:54 PM PDT by Hugin ("Not one step from his weapons should a traveler take"...Havamal 38)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NRx

Growth does not create systemic inflation. You will see spot inflation until supply catches up with demand; which it will. Inflation comes from money for nothing.


8 posted on 10/01/2018 7:05:27 PM PDT by Revolutionary ("Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Williams

A little bit of each is good as hedge. Speculation is gambling.


9 posted on 10/01/2018 7:05:53 PM PDT by dynachrome (When an empire dies, you are left with vast monuments in front of which peasants squat to defecate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: NRx

This year has been especially lackluster for gold. Its price has slumped 8%, to about $1,200 an ounce, and is off more than 35% from its high of $1,900 in 2011.

...

That big move to $1900 was fueled by gold’s safe haven status.


10 posted on 10/01/2018 7:06:07 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Celerity

In SHTF time, neither precious metal is of much use. The metal of choice then is lead and brass, in any caliber. A handful of cartridges should fetch a meal or some fuel at least. Just make sure you trade metal is different than your protection metal.


11 posted on 10/01/2018 7:07:29 PM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (When your business model depends on slave labor, you're always going to need more slaves.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Jonty30

A 21 trillion dollar debt pretty much assures eventual inflation.

...

What if there was a 2100 trillion dollar economy?


12 posted on 10/01/2018 7:08:39 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Hugin

There is a lot more silver in the ground than gold. The stockpiles are huge.

Not that I would invest in either.


13 posted on 10/01/2018 7:08:48 PM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: NRx

Been a while since I’ve seen anyone hyping gold.

I was a gold bug - 40 years ago.

Rule No. 1 for investing in gold - if you can’t touch it, you don’t own it. At most you might own a piece of paper. And Office Depot sells paper cheaper.


14 posted on 10/01/2018 7:08:55 PM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Moonman62

Just remember the inflation we had in the 70s which was attributed to printing money to pay down the national debt. It could happen again.


15 posted on 10/01/2018 7:10:34 PM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Moonman62

Is the US a 2.1 quadrillion economy?


16 posted on 10/01/2018 7:13:17 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death by cults.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Celerity

This is not a prepper doom porn. This is Barrons. And they are not predicting the end of the dollar. Nor are they telling people to put all their money in gold. They are however, warning that inflation is likely coming as a result of our out of control debt and that gold is at an attractive price right now. They are suggesting it has a place in a well diversified portfolio.


17 posted on 10/01/2018 7:15:06 PM PDT by NRx (A man of integrity passes his father's civilization to his son, without selling it off to strangers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Celerity

“The lucrative “prepper industry” has been telling us the dollar is collapsing in 24 hours for the past literally 18 years.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Actually, they’ve been telling us that since at least 1965 that I can remember and probably earlier. They just have a really big megaphone known as the internet now.


18 posted on 10/01/2018 7:17:06 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Stop The Madness. Do Not Respond To Vanity Posts.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Williams

How? Neither gold nor silver have ever nor can ever... go to zero. If you are buying on margin, which is a type of financial russian roulette, then yeah. But gold and silver are just a form of cash that politicians and central banks can’t print. It’s an insurance policy.


19 posted on 10/01/2018 7:17:52 PM PDT by NRx (A man of integrity passes his father's civilization to his son, without selling it off to strangers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: NRx

Seems like only yesterday that we had FReepers extolling the virtues of gold as an investment, why it always tracks the price of a good men’s suit. Or something.

Guess they moved on to Bitcoin.


20 posted on 10/01/2018 7:18:37 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson