Where are the gold bugs NOW?

Gold Prices Online ^ | 06/27/2002 | Lazamataz

[Lazamataz]

Well, 'the new spoosman' and many like him have told me for months that the 'fiat' currency is worthless, and gold is the only valuable currency out there. Disregarding for a second the fact that these gold bugs are so ready to part with their gold for those 'worthless fiat notes', I would like to point out that since the height of their caterwalling, Jun 01 2002, gold is down from 326$ an ounce to 314$ an ounce today. That is a 4 percent drop in less than a month.

The 'fiat currency' people are out to lunch. I don't expect gold to do any better than index with inflation in the long run, and today managed to show a savage loss of $5 an ounce.

[disclaimer]

If you think of any survival situation, gold is always more of a problem than a solution. Take a sinking ship, for instance. Do you really think that gold will aid your chances of swimming to shore? Or consider a riot/battlefield condition. Will gold aid in your defense, or are other metals such as brass and lead (hint: bullets) more appropriate? Or consider that you are lost in a desert with no water around. Will someone trade their last drop of water for your bags of gold?

Are you sure you're not a liberal? You call this an argument? Substitute "paper money" for the word "gold" in your writing and your points fall flat. Gold is considered a natural money. If it wasn't, then why does our government have a stockpile of the stuff within our banking system??

Your reasoning ability is on par with a typical liberal off the street.

[disclaimer]

Man, are you full of youself or what?

You've got an little picture which represents, what? A self-indulged arm-chair critic with no perspective and no knowledge?

Southack is just an empty ego. I tried to enter into a reasoned discussion with the [censored] about the Japanese banking crisis. He doesn’t reason - just repeats what he hears on TV.

[185JHP]

"Gresham's Law". When a "better" port is available for those who have the power...

[disclaimer]

Discussion about the Eoro should be more prominent on this thread. The Euro is the newfangled and apparently successful competitor to the Dollar, which is an indication of the rising power of the EU, or more specifically Germany.

The Euro cannot be ignored in discussions about currency.

Agreed. I think people look at investments as "buy and hold" as worked during the bull run of the stock market. Gold is a very good fall-back investment while government fiat currency is in flux, but not one to just brainlessly “buy and hold”.

Folks are leaning, or will learn, that stocks aren’t a good investment for brainless buy and hold strategies either. Most folks are not aware that stocks have limited growth (capital gains) cycles that can last in the range of 15 years.

[Travis McGee]

If the "full faith and credit" goes bust (after an act of mega terrorism for example), the precious metals to be heavily invested in will be lead, brass, and steel.

[Travis McGee]

171 is a nice way of putting my 185.

[disclaimer]

Gold bugs love to show how the dollar has decreased in value over the years. But they conveniently overlook the fact that people have far more dollars than they did back then.

Too bad our tax rate increases based on the number of dollars we earn, not the adjusted real value of those dollars. Just something to put in your pipe and smoke.

[Travis McGee]

By and large I agree with you, and you state the arguement well.

But a few ounces of the solid gold stuff is insurance: if you ever need to escape and evade and bribe your way through customs and highway checkpoints, gold coins will be the ticket. Sometimes failing the checkpoint test gets you sent to the room where you (and your familia) don't come back.

Don't laugh. Ask any of the Vietnamese who made it to the USA in the 1970s. Or Jews who made it out through Spain in the late 1930s, etc.

One "lucky" Al Qaeda nuke could wreck our ecomomy, and then all bets are off and "full faith and credit" may become a bitter joke.

I have a few maple leaves around for the same reason I have a quantity of 5.56mm and an ocean crossing boat: insurance.

[arthurus]

My problem with this gold/fiat currency debate is exactly that: the government can (and will) screw with both entities to their own advantage

Government cannot change the value of gold. It can prevent citizens from legally holding it. It can inflate and deflate the currency but gold will retain its value against other commodities. The government hinders and damages the economy whenever it tries to manipulate the value of gold but only succeeds in making it more sought after because of its unchangeable nature.

[SamAdams76]

Even with the higher taxes factored in (and I agree the taxes are oppressive and way too high), we are still much better off today then we were in 1920. The average worker in 1920 had to really struggle to provide even a meager standard of living. These days, the average worker can afford things that even rich people in 1920 could only dream about.

Workers in 1920 wouldn't be able to put your last post into a pipe and smoke it because they wouldn't be able to afford the pipe.

[bert]

Your assessment is correct.

[winodog]

When people talk about everything falling apart and guns and ammo will be worth more then gold.That may be true but one point is overlooked. Before we get to the point of shooting each other for a can pf beans, alot will happen.

I have some gold, as much for security as anything else. America is going to have some rough economic times ahead. Before things get real bad those of us with gold will be able to get lots of food and ammo for our gold. I think that is a point many in the gold will be worthless when TSHF crowd forget.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Central banks doing what they have been doing since 1999 with the Washington Agreement. Manipulating the price. Something about to hit markets, so they are trying to drive the price down so banks and mining companies can unhedge .

This, more than anything says it all.

Get liquid people. Something wicked this way comes.

[#3Fan]

In any case, though I obviously love gold for its inherent charm and beauty (it's even more attractive than Martha Stewart!), I nevertheless fear the long arm of the government in matters relating to gold ownership. What difference does the price of an ounce of gold really matter, if you are outlawed (by government whim), from owning it in the first place?

Stash it.

[Rodney King]

I am a gold bug, and here to stay. My 1 oz Gold coin was worth $20.00 in the 1920s/30s. With either my gold coin or my fiat federal reserve note (debt), I could buy a really nice suit. Today, that same Gold coin will buy me a really nice suit, but that $20.00 federal reserve token will barely get me a set of cufflinks. I don't use my gold to "make" money, I use my gold to maintain my money.

I can't believe you wrote that. Your twenty dollar token, if put in the bank, would be worth more now then your gold. In fact, if you had a lot of gold, you would pay out a lot of money in storage.

[#3Fan]

That's been my belief for quite some time now, that if things get so bad that our currency is worthless, well, where do gold owners take their gold for redemption? And redeemed for what, exactly? More worthless dollars??

There will be an international price of gold like there has been for 6000 years through thick and thin. Go by this to make reasonable trades for the necesssities of life until things get reorganized.

Yes, give me your bag of gold coins, and maybe, maybe, I'll trade you a can of beans and a bag of rice for it.

I'll not be trading with you. In all likelihood, since you don't have any gold, you'll be the one looking for a can of beans, not I.

But don't bet on it. Because I can still eat my beans and rice. Your gold.... I can't.

How many days worth of food do you have stored at this moment? A man with $10,000 worth of gold coins (about 30 coins) has enough to eat for 5 years, not taking into account the skyrocketing gold price that will happen in the event of a U.S. dollar disaster.

[#3Fan]

Bananas were a more effective bartering vehicle than Howell's Ten grand bundles.

Bananas only last a week before they rot. Just because the dollar will crash doesn't mean that people will forget how to travel. We'll not be stranded on a Pacific Island. There will be people over here with gasoline, there will be people over there with food, there will be people over yonder with firewood, etc., etc. I guess you'll be hauling your couch around trading it for a few gallons of gas.

[#3Fan]

I've never bought a woman an expensive piece of gold jewelry.

Enough people do to keep the price high per volume.

I buy gemstones for the lady. Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, Amisthets, Opals etc. Awesome. A birthstone trinket is a requisite. I like buying rings set with modest gemstones as a gift, because you can get several of them for a lady and she can mix and match them with her outfits or mood or occasion. They're really versatile and beautiful. Those are much better gifts for comparable prices IMO than gold.

Enough people think gold is best and that keeps the price high per volume.

Women buy gold for themselves, and I'd rather not get her a necklace or pendant that she isn't comfortable wearing. Rings ... what's the look and feel today? I let women make choices about that stuff. I'm a smarty!!!

But your sample size is too.small. One person does not a trend make. Look at the world and you'll see thgat enough people have always wanted enough gold to keep the price high per volume.